Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-30
NO. 26.

ters that seem to me worthy of your consid- eration.
 believe that the permission given to the Board of Public Works to allow horse rail road companies to lay the center-bearing or fiat rails ought to be revoked and reconsid- cred, and that no more such rails should be allowed to be laid in the city on paved
 streets.
 Of the various rails in use the ordinary
 steel rail used on the steam railways is by
 far the best rail for the company and for the
 public.
 While it may at the outset cost a little more than the fiat or center-bearing rail, it is
 more durable and useful and hence ultimate ly cheaper.
 The steel rail is far better for the public because the pavement can be so laid along side of it as to cause but little damage to the wheels that are driven over it. The center-bearing rail is not only a source of annoyance to wheels, but it is mnch more dangerous to life than the ordinary steel rail by reason of the greater number of ac- cidents which it's use must necessarily cause. The steel rail now laid in Meadow street, between George and Water streets is a sam pie of what l believe all the rails in use on all the horse railroads of the city ought to be.
 There is another question to which I desire to call your attention most particularly. It IS the subject of paving our streets. It is a topic that will bear d great deal of study and investigation. A well laid sewer, when finished and paid for, ceases to be a source of outlay for many years; but the pavements, matter how well laid, are constant source of expense. Therefore it becomes of great importance, especially as we are steadily increasing and extending the area of pavemeRts in streets, to know what kind of pavement is the best all things considered. believe that it will be generally conceded that for streets resorted to for heavy carting granite block is the best kind of pavement to be had. Of course there are varieties of block pavements, as of everything else all InoSt but do not propose to speak of them in detail but in general. Situated as we are, with abundance of paving material within easy hauling dis ! tance of the center of the city, we ought to be able to solve the question more readily ] and at less expense than cities possessed of no such advantages.
 As you are well aware, the so-called Tel \ ford pavement is laid on many of our prin- cipal streets, and it is a constantly increasing source of expense to the taxpayers. When first laid these pavements are paid h for by assessing the owners of the property fronting on the streets paved two-thirds of ! the whole cost, one-third to the property ! owners on either side, and the balance, one third is paid by the city at large After a pavement is finished the entire eX- pense of keeping 1t in repair is borne by the city.
 In the estimates for the present year $16,- 800 is set aside for pavements, while | $15, 900 is appropriated to repair the streets | already paved, and this $15, 1000 does not in clude any part of the salaries of those who have the control and supervision of the work.
 We have a trife over eighteen miles of paved streets against forty-fonr miles of sewers, so that you will see that the sub ject of pavements is apt to become of much pecuniary importance when it already costs as much annually to repair the pave ments we already have as we feel able to ex- pend in new pavements, while are spend ing practically nothing to keep our sewers in repair.
 To show you the relative cost of maintain ing the block and the Telford pavements ob-
 serve the cost of the two following pavements from 1874 to 1885, both years inclusive, both running parallel, but one block apart, and both of equal length: Chapel street, from Olive to East, Belgian block pavement, $2. .393. 95. Wooster street, from Olive to East Telford pavement, SIG, 0,918.4O. For the last ten years the cost per annum for the care of Belgian pavement was CONTINUED ON FOURTH PAGE.