Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-05-30
The H-street Improvement.


EDS. RECORD. UNION: The petitions pre-
scented to the City Fathers by property
owners on H street, asking them to reject
the bids made by Touhey & Ewing for the
grayeling Of the street from Tenth to
twentieth, and postponing further adyer-
Using for bids until there may be oppor-
tunity to get gravel other than that owned
by the bidders, that there may be fair COM
petition, were signed by property-owners
representing large majority Of feet of
each section from Tenth to Seventeenth
and from Seventeenth to Twentieth. MANY
OF these persons had signed the petition
under representation that the cost of the
improvement would be less than So per
front foot. 1t was talked even as low as
81 so, and even less than that for the sec
ton above Seventeenth street. The bids
as they are put in average below Seven
teenth So % per foot above Seventeenth
81 "a per foot. A person owning forty feet
on corner below Seventeenth street has
to pay $203 go, or S. 90 per front foot. The
next, or an inside forty foot, will cost
$104 40, or 81 81 per front foot. This ex-
cess to the corner is according to law; it is
very clear that the law is wrong. This
shows that eighty feet on corner costs
1903, or So So per front foot.
We are told by Mr.. Ryan that the streets
have been improved on that basis, hence
we should not now complain. A long list
OF prices showing the cost of other streets
was given. The width of street graveled
here is but nineteen and half feet the
price seems excessive. The comparisons
made with other streets have been with
full-width streets, thirty feet to the side, or
more than 90 per cent. in excess of this
street. which would carry the average of a
full street width up to about s. per foot.
The way to have a beautiful city is to
lnaugurate just rule of improvement and
let contracts, as private individuals would.
The excessive taxes that are required to
meet the interest on The debt hanging over
this city are the result of careless or fraud
ulent management. The fees and per diem
OF the City Surveyor is matter that seems
not to be thoroughly satisfactory to every
one. One hundred dollars per block for
services where the grade has been es.ab-
hshed and paid for looks excessive also. If
ten blocks cost 81 900, it would not take a
large amount of graveling TO maSe the
office OF Surveyor very lucrative one.
10 sum this matter up, there are some
reasons again graveling II street. Graveed
streets are not good pleasure drives for the
people or horses. The car track spoils H
street for business drive, and people will
shun it if they can find another street to
OrlVe IN or out on. street ought to be
graveled TO Thirty first, and the city and
county should pay the expense, less, per-
haps what the cutters would cost as far out
as such plan were called for. L street
should be graveled to Twenty eighth, on
the same plan, and n street. Also Twelfth
street to the American river bridge Twen-
ty-first street from street to Y street, and
Ninth street to Y street, and Y street to
Twenty-first. If such a system were
adopted there would be graveled streets
enough to carry all the heavy traffic from
and 70 the country and in the city. The
contemplated Improvement to H street is.
in the opinion of some, positive injury to
the street as pleasure drive. Many signed
the petition to improve, feeling that way
under the pleading of those of contra opin-
ion and representation of light cost The
bids have produced change of feeling,
quite q strong one. G. w. HANCOCK