The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-06-07
Mr.. Morley Has Something to Saw.

For the first time, we believe in the history
of our city, city engineer has been discovered
who has some views and is able to express
them, about street Improvements. Mr.. Isaac
Morley, assistant city engineer, makes repor,
10 the last meeting of the city council in rela-
tion to his work of asceraning proper grade
for certain streets or district south of Com
merce street to Arsenal street, and makes the
following suggestions:
would suggest that, as rapidly as the
grades are completed, or as soon as conven-
lent thereafter, the council, if it approve the
same, shall, by ordinance. adopt said grades
as the established grades of the city; and,
that, in the future all improvements shall be
made IN conformity Herewith, that the citizen
shall not be encouraged to make his improve.
ments under system of arbitrary and discon-
nected grades which must ultimately lead to
great inconvenience and loss, if not to trouble
some and expensive litigation.
suitable book, entitled "Grade Book"
should be adopted, into which the adopted
grades should be copied upon a reduced scale,
be placed in the engineers Office and TO be
used by him in all subsequent improvements
where grades are concerned. Every citizen
wishing to make improvements on his proper
ty, by building or otherwise, should be fur
nished with the correct grade.
The original profiles and grades should be
filed away for future reference and also as a
safeguard agains accident to the 'GradeBook. "
Upon street affairs Mr.. Morley says: Street
repairs and improvements-In all future re-
pairs and improvements made by the street
commissioner, he should be furnished with
the proper grade marked upon the ground
where such improvements are to be made,
leaving it to his judgement whether the streets
shall be fully or only partly brought to the es-
tablished grades.
The kind ofrepairs to be madelBut little
reflection will be necessary to show that much
of the public funds may be expended with but
little permanent benefit to the public, unless a
careful, systematic, and intelligen. method of
procedure is adopted.
The chief road material for road making re-
pairing, seems to be what is usually called
''gravel," but strictly speaking it is mixture
of stone and clay. This mixture, as | have
seen it placed upon some of the streets of the
city, contains fully fifty per cent of clay. The
consequence is that after every rain, even upon
the best repaired streets, mud, in a semi fluid
state, is to be found in every part of the city.
and so 1t will forever be so long as the pres
ent system remains in force.
Has the city any remedy? Do not attempt
to do too much; but, do it we'll. Let the So
called gravel be screened in dry weather.;
let the screened earth be hauled to
the nearest street, below grade, and
there be deposited in an intelligent man.
ner; let the stone be broken to a pro-
per size, and placed in layers, at the proper
grade, of or four in depth. properly rolled,
or thrown upon the public travel; at the end of
the year, what has been done has been well
done, and, the foundation for permanent, in
tellgent improvement made.
Respectfully yours, ISAAC MORLEY,
Superintendent of Public Improvements.