Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-05

tenance at q cost Of &c cents per yard
above q FIVE yeGr rate.
st. Louis has just adopted q fifteen.
year guarantee plan. In this city |
think a similar or ten year guarantee
should be contracted for. II will cost
q trlhe more at the outset, but In our
system of government liable to con-
slant change streets after oncs paved
are liable to be neglected and ruined
for want of timely attention. BY a
guarantee of maintenance, q plan now
generally In vogue in European cities,
TIE governments of which are more
stable than u own, pavements can
be maintained In a u~niformally good
condition for many years.
How about the other classes OF
p~avements2
AS TO WOODEN PAYMENTS
l find them growing into disuse In the
larger eastern cities. In Washington
they are nearly all torn up, and what
is left of them is 30 full of ruts that
the streets are worse han II not paved.
La Cleveland they are now nearly all
replaced by Medina sand stone.
A part # this failure l attribute to
the want of proper foundation. In
London wood is fast s%upplanting
granite at an increased cost, aud has a
durability Of from 10 to 10 years.
But there 1t Is carefully selected. 1t
is laid upon q concrete foundation and
the joints are filed with an ssphsltio
cement. Laid In that manner wood
Is the best pavement in the world. 1t
is adaptable to high and heavy grades,
is easy on horses, noiseles,, elastic,
affords easy traction, and owing to it's
treatment with creosote, an antiseptic
material, absorbs none or little mols-
ture and approaches asphalt In sanitary
value more than any other pavement.
The present cost of creosoting In this
country precludes the use of such
pavement, unless works could be es.
tablished here and freight thereby
saved
Can not wood be Burnetized2
Yes, and to a certain extent to ad-
vantage. I have a letter from Shaler
Smith, chief engineer Of the st. Louis
bridge, who has experimental success
fully on dogwood, the poorest of all
material there. He says wood prop
erly Burnetizsd and treated with q
covering of asphaltic cement or coal
tar to prevent absorption of moisture
will do remarkably we'll. But after all
the cost of wooden pavement u%ntreated
lad upon a concrete foundation is
greater or ss great as asphalt. Kansas
City pays 50 "a per square yard for It's
wooden pavement laid upon concrete
bed. At that price l Am satisfied we
can get an asphalt pavement laid with
q ten year guarantee of maintenance.
MACADAM PAYMENTS
mako very fine boulevards and are ex-
cellent country road ways, but I find
the cost of maintenance in streets is
so great as to preclude the idea Of
their use in any but ill-frequented
thorough fares. The streets of owe,
one.ffth of the whole city of Paris
are macadamlzed. The chief engin'
eer of streets in his report of 1880
made at the instance of the American
mlnister says their annual mainten'
ancs AYERS ges 81 cents per square yard
annual repairs on some OF the stree,i
cost as high as 81 SO per yard.
The same experience Is reported II
this country, and the general tenor o
engineer reports is against the use O
macadam pavement in frequentec
streets Ct the cities. Macadam would
do we'll upon our outside roads and OF
the hill sides, and even there I shoult
recommend the Parislan plan of mac
adamizing is to Is feet of the cente
only and paving the sides with SAM
or limestone blocks. This woul'
afford easy footing I'm the center of tn
street at all times, and dry ant
clean road ways at the sides subjecte'
to heavy wash in the rainy season.
If the city proceeds to pave
all you outline, will not tina
make taxes very high thi
! yesl2 No not near az high as peopl
imagine. Under our law only one
fifth the cost will be due this year an,
the rest payable in quarterly install
ments once agar. Rents and proper
ty will advance more rapidly than tn
accumulating taxes, besides these i'm
provemsnts In the city, will add sue
au impetus TO private enterprise this
taxable property will very material
increase, and this at the very tim
ether cities are passing through a tiuar
cisl crisis.
How about the
SEWERAGE WORK.
We have built in the past 16 month
over 8 miles of small sewers, q mile
large sewers, and I am now preparin
detail estimates for a very la,gs extel
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