Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-24

Made by a Fill Bridge "A gum ent.
on Both sales.--future Money Wanted IL
Complete the High SchoOl-A Rundrs d
Thousand Needed for New JaiI-Coun
~ Roads, Etc.
Last evening there was quite large
gathering at the city hall of citizens tC
consider upon the matter of issuing bonds
by the city of st. Paul and the county Of
| Ramsey, for various public improve
ments, such as roads, parks and public
buildings. Among those present were
Nessrs: c. D. Gilfllan, Conrad Gotzian, O.
G. Cullen and W. R. Merriam, of the leg
islature delegation; AI5erm en- Mccarthy.
council; ". P. Murray, city attorney;
Wiley, Schurm eier and Krch of the coun-
| ty commissioners; Col. Harrington, of the
board of public W orks; George Benz, of
the board Of education; Daniel Getty,
from the country; ex-Alderman Willius; Mr..
Rundlett, city engineer; Mr.. j. j. Egan,
county attorney, and Capt. Berkey. Be-
sides these three men there were number
of private citizens, so that altogether there
was quite good sized gathering.
THE MEETING.
After electing Aid. Otis as chairman and
Ald.YanSlyke as secretary, the meeting went
to work, and before it got through it gave
the whole city and county business
| quite a lively turning over, especially the
matter of issuing the large amount of bonds
asked for. The first matter taken up was
the Seventh street improvement-tha is,
the proposed roadway on down Seventh
street over the ravines through which run
the st. Paul & Manitoba, and the ST. Paul
& Duluth railroads. The talk when it COM
menced upon this matter was loose, wan
dering and uncertain, simply be-
cause the gentlemen present
were without the nee
essary data upon which to proceed. Mr..
Rundlett was sent for to furnish the nee
essary facts as to the cost of the proposed
| structure. The proposition is to grade
Seventh street from Kittson street to Hoff-
man avenue. and fill up the ravines, max
| ing solid fill, and roadbed sixty-six feet
in width. Mr.. Rundlett, when he came in
informed the meeting that the cost would
probably not be less than $2O5,OOO. That
is to say, $4,000 for the improvement
over the st. Paul & Manitoba road, S15O,OOO
for everything from Kittson street to Hoff-
man avenue, except the bridge over the st.
Paul & Manitoba road, which will cost
$4,000. Mr.. Rundlett further estimates
that the street will furnish about four
tenths of the dirt with which to make the
fill, and that the rest must come from pri-
vate property.
Mr.. Merriam tried to find out how much
- 10
property, but Col. harrington could not
tell him, as the matter had not gone far
enough for him to know.
Mr. Murray in response 10 some inquiry
explained what the general idea was
about the matter of where the as
sessment should be levied It should
be placed on both sides Of
Seventh street and pretty broadly, too, as
all the property around would be bene-
flied. 1t should also come up this side of
the western end, or beginning of the i'm
provement.
Mr.. Gilfllan expressed himself as being
decidedly in favor of roadway. 1t is the
most substantial kind of improvement and
the only one that ought to be placed there.
Put solid roadway across
these ravines sixty-four feet wide and it
will be piece of work that will last for
ever, and it will accommodate five times
as much business as would an iron bridge.
With an iron bridge every time you come
to it you have got to stop your horse and
walk across. With solid roadway there |
would be no trouble of this kind This |
would make great deal of |
difference when you come to consider that |
all the streets on Dayton's Bluff will con-
verge upon that bridge or causeway. In |
his opinion, if a bridge should be placed |
there it would always be a matter of re-
greet, and would not accommodate the bust
ness of that great thoroughfare. He
also Explained about bringing the |
water into the city. To bring it across
there with bridge would not be thought |
of for a moment. 1t could be done safely |
and easily with a roadway.
Aid. Dolan argued that it would be a
great mistake to make a fill. 1t would |
cost too much and bridge would be bet
ter. The fill would be enormous, not less
than 1000 yards, and only $4,000 would |
come out of the streets. The general i'm
preston seemed to be that the bonds ought |
to be authorized by the legislature and the
matter was laid over with a view to giving
the committee appointed at a former
meeting an opportunity to get an estimate
of the cost from the engineer and to con-
fer with the railroad people.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
The proposition to have the authority |
granted by the legislature for the city to
issue $4,000 in bonds with which to com
plete the High school was the next
matter taken up. Mr.. George
Benz, the representative of the board of |
education, was called upon to explain the
demand. He stated the whole case, how
the High school building was started, the
steps taken to erect the building, the con-
tract, the rise in material after that con-
tract was let, and the consequent deficien-
cy, and concluded with the statement that
the money must be obtained with which to
complete the building or else it must be
fenced up.
Mr.. Gilfillan cautioned all to go slow, as
the bonds were running up pretty rapidly.
Capt. Berkey, while in favor of high
school, thought the board of education
ought to explain how it came about that
$4,000 in bonds were now asked for in ex-
cess of the contract price In his opinion
$4,000 ought to have built theHigh school
building. 1t certainly is not a credit
able structure as it stands. He cautioned
the gentlemen present that they ought to