The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-03-01

communication in yesterdays Express, on The
third page, department of that paper, usual
ly reserved for literary trash, hence we failed
to see the alderman article until to-day, when
our attention was called to it.
Alderman Lockwood is chairman of the
so-called public Improvement committee of the
city council, and no doubt has made an honest
ehdeavor to post himself upon this important
question, but just now seems to be haunted
with but one example of perfect road building,
to-wit: that ON south Flores street put down
during Ihiclepapa's time; which he calls a
Clifford road," but which is not Telford
road. This strip of street is favorably situated
having natural drive way on either side that
has relieved it from the burden of traffic. Other
streets were similarly paved at the same time,
bat being used constantly and not properly re-
paired are nearly worn out.
Alderman Lockwood combats the wooden
block pavement and cites an engineers opn-
ion of such pavement in Chicago and in Wash
ington as instances of failure. Yet he fails to
tell us that the wood pavement prevails in
Chicago. So far as Washington is concerned,
its street work has been on scale Of magnti-
cent jobbery-one style of pavement was
scarcely down before it was torn up to make
way for another; and at present the asphalt
blocks, the most extensive kind of pavement,
is the last adopted--and it makes street SUI
peror to the Belgian blocks, which Alderman
Lockwood mentions as the climax Of street
pavements.
On the wooden block question we have
cited the fact that in London one of the most
used streets is being paved with that material.
We also cited the experience in Brownsville
and Galveston. Lockwood talks about the
difficulty in securing foundation for a wooden
block pavement, which demonstrates the fact
that he never saw one put down, and don't
know how it is done.
Now we will ask Alderman Lockwood if
he can cite the use Of Clifford road, in any
business street, in any business city in the
world. Such roads are very applicable to out
side streets and public drives, but they do not
come up to the requirements of business
street that should be so constructed as to be
swept as clean as a pin. You can't keep 4
Clifford road'' clean. St. Louis has had the
experience of macadamizcd streets and is
crying out for paved streets.
We have the finest material in the world to
make good roads, and il it is properly handled
our streets can be put in good shape; but it
would be better to simply leave the natural
road beds undisturbed other than to drain
them, rather than throw the peoples money
away upon badly constructed streets. Our
natural roads are excellent for at least half the
year.
Alderman Lockwood's opinion about tax
ing the cost Of street paving upon the COM
munity at large, is as erroneous as his ideas of
street paving, and his instance Of the poor
man having his homestead sold under the
present charter regulations, applies very mea-
gerly with his recently introduced ordinance
in which he designated streets entirely occu-
pied by the rich, for improvement, and he
would tax the poor people to the extreme
limit of the city, and sell their homesteads
from under them to pay the bill of paving the
centre of the city. Small as our city expen
ditures are, comparatively, they are absorbed
by the ''center of the city,'-gas, water, po
lice and even the street commissioner with his
mud brigade, are entirely confined to the CEN
tire, while the great outside, where everybody
lives, is left to the tender mercies of wind and
weather. The poor man for whom Alder
man Lockwood's heart bleeds, whose home
stead would prospectvely be sacrificed in the
application of the requirements of the charter,
could appeal to the council, and we feel GER
tain they would relent and save him by re-
hitting his tax, especially as they could do it
at the expense of the general taxpayers.
The provisions which Alderman Lockwood
objects to, are eminently just and have be-
come the settled municipal law Of the land,
as being founded in strict equity and justice.
To tax the citizens of Avenue d to pave Ave
nue. c is an injustice; or TO make the entire
property of the city bear the expense of paw
ing Commerce street is too unjust to be toll
Grated for moment.
Irish-A IN erican A Imanac.
We have received copy of the Irish
American Almanac for 1852, published by