Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-29

estimate S7, 743.3 As matter of course
 no one wishes any extra unfair or unpro
 portionate valuations, still l cannot see why the real and personal
 property of the city is not worth eS much to- i day as it was ten years ago. Can someone
 explainP
 1 make this statement for the further pur-
 pose of asking if it does not furnish one req
 son for our seeming increase of taxation | from the fact that 1-2 mill tax on the 1 grand list of 1874 will amount to within five
 hundred dollars much as the grand list of 1 1884 at II mills.
 | TAX COMMITTEE.
 l The Tax committee appointed under the | provisions of an act of the Legislature in l 1882 for the purpose of settling the unpaid 1 taxes and assessments from 1873 to 1881 held one hundred and twenty meetings and acted upon four hundred and fifty three applica- 1 tions for settlement and reported the result | of their recommendations to the Board of l Aldermen, the Selectmen and Board of Edu- cation, most of which recommendations were l unanimously approved by the several author tiles named.
 In their deliberations the committee exer-
 
 general principle of taxation, and examined each case solely for the purpose of finding if there were any equities that would justify them in recommending, in whole or in part, ihe relief asked for. In very few cases was the abatement of the principal allowed, the great mai ority being for portion of the ln- terest only.
 The result has been that nearly all of the applicants accepted the recommendations of the committee and promptly paid upon the turns agreed thereby accomplishing what was intended in the passage of the act; the speedy settlement of large amount of &C., cumulated back taxes and assessments, esti mated by the committee to amount to from $125, 900 to $15O, ,O0O.
 The committee in their "general report" approved and adopted by the Board of Alder men August 6, 1883 recommend that all claims for assessments due prior to August l, 1882 be placed in the hands of the Corpor- ation Counsel by the collection for enforce ment, but that all persons who shall pay the same before April I, 1884 with interest at 4 per cent. and leins, the collection be author l izsd to accept the same in full. together with a like provision as to taxes due the city on the list of 1881 and prior thereto with inteIr est at per cent.
 The result of the labors of the Tax com mittee has in my judgment been beneficial to both city and town.
 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS. During the past year the Board of Public Works, owing to the limited means at their disposal, undertook nc very noteworthy pub lie improvement. outside the construction of few much needed sewers, paveuents, side
 walks and bridges, and the widening, ex
 tending and grading two or three public streets.
 PAvEMENTs.
 From the very able repeat of the city engineer it appears that Telford pavements were laid in portions of DixweIl Kimberly and Whitney avenues, and that the area of pavement laid during the year, including the asphalt and granite over the bridges. was 30, 403 square yaIds, and cost $39, 844
 57. Tine length was about one and one sixth miles and added to that previously laid makes the total length of paved streets in the city approximate sixteen and one half miles, about three-fourths of which, or | twelve and a half miles being Telford, the remainder mostly Belgian, with few speci- mems of other varieties, including the granite dimension block" an improved stone pave ment, vastly superior in every respect to the old style Belgian. The report says there are a little over 130 miles of streets within the limits of the city, seven eighths of which are to-day unpaved, the question there fore, as to the most suitable pave ment for any particular locality be- comes of great importance and deserves your careful consideration. The mainten- ance as well as costs enters as a large fscto- into the solotion of the problem, it being easy to see that pavement suitable for dinary use in out suburban streets. if laid in street subject to every heavy traffic, would in few years cost more for repairs than the original cost of construction. The cost of repairs on the Telford roads last year was $11454. In the report which 1 take pleas ure in referring to, will be found careful statement giving full detail of the approxi- of nd Hn ability of various kinds of pavements com prising the dimension granite block" the Blgian, Telford. coal tar mastic Asphalt both trinidad and Neuchatel-and the mod ern wood as laid in London, all of which should be carefully examined in view of intelligent understanding of the end far the cheapest.
 The streets of the city have been kept ex- ceptionslly clean during the year, save per haps in the early spring owing to the ice. This work was for the first time done by contract, it having heretofore bsen done by the superintendent of streets under the di- rection of the Board of Public Works. New bids for the current year were asked for, and although lower in their estimates were all rejected. While each method has it's advantage, regret that the lowest bid was not accepted and the experiment continued, to enable us to more fully study and escer- tain which is the most economical. as mo- one will quest on our duty to adopt the one that will best serve our interest As gen eral rule open competition under the con- tract system will prove far the cheaper, as the contractor has direct personal interest at stake, requiring careful study and contin ued watchfulness for Q successful fulflment of his undertakings. This may be illustrated by the savings, as shown between the high est and lowest bids an sever and pavement contracts amounting to $347, ,371.7S.
 BRIDGES.
 There were NO bridges constructed, that it is safe to say, will prove the best, most durable and least expensive in repairs ever built by the city; one on Lamberton street, at the junction of Arthur and John, over the N Y and N. H. railroad, the other at Gainesville on Grand street, over the east channel of Mill river. The Lamberton street bridge is what is termed an iron plate girder bridge, is made the full width of the street, has creosoted southern piue floors, with wearing surface of Neuchatel as phalt. This bridge was built by the city and railroad company, each paying one half; the total cost to the city was $is,5 ,500.-
 The Barnesvill bridge is also an iron plate girder bridge, similar In character to the Lamberton street, with the exception that the under floor is heavier, being in two courses cross timbered in order to support the wearing surface of five inch granite blocks. The bridge has forty foot span, roadw ferty-tGo feet wide, with ten-foot sidewalks, covered with Neuchatel asphalt mastic; its cost was $9,1O1.46. The N. Y, N. H and H. railroad have also constructed a new iron bridge over their railroad in Fair street, of the full width of the roadway and street, with ordinary plank flooring. This bridge is great improvement over over the old structure with its unsiRhtly and dangerous center truss, the entire width of roadway being clear and unobstrueted to travel Let us congratulate the company, with trust that they will continue in we'll doing until all of their bridges are of like character and convenience The Chapel street bridge over Mill river, and the Grand street over the Ouianipiac, have been retimbered and re- planked, at an expense of $4, 261 64. The cost of repairing these old style wooden roadways is much greater than is generally supposed, and demands attention. From an estimate by the engineer it appears that on seven bridges enumerated, the general aver ago cost per square foot for the past twelve years has been 6.3 cents per annum, which, capitalized at five per cent. is about $11.25 per square yard, showing the economy that would have resulted if, in their original construction, a more liberal expenditure had been made for permanent work. More or