Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-03-04
ASANITARY VIEW.
The Materials for Street Paving
Considered.
A Medical Authority Discusses the
Various Materials Used ana Asserts
that Cedar Blocks are Not Injurious
TO Notwithstanding Of Interest.


to Notwithstanding OF Interest.
Just at this present time when street
paving in Rock island in the near future
is q certainty, and wte the different ma
terisls used for such purposes are cons
sidered with more or less favor. anything
pertaining to the same will be read with
interest. Like the other materials used
cedar blocks has its friends and its ene>
mics in Rock Island, but the chief srgu-
ment in objection seems to have deriva-
ton from sanitary standpoint. In view
OF such facts, an extended reference to
the subject in volume IS Of the Encyclo.
pedia of the Practice of Medicine, by
Ziemssen, will be of interest and value.
Says the article:
AT the present day, street pavements
are included among the more important
sanitary works, and properly so, since it
is an essential condition of public health
suoS al tOWu iohuWd1o' VI WudtCNCi NC~
scription, should be well drained, nom
retentive of filth, and as noiseless as pos
sible. A thoroughly we'll paved
town, other things being equal,
must of necessity, have lower
death rate than one with the OPP
posite condition of its streets and
alleys. Evidence could be cited confor-
mitory TO this statement. In the con
struction of street pavements, 1t is OF
primary Importance that every sanitary
advantage should be secured. Until re
Gently this phase OF the subject has been
pretty generally ignored. The question
OF the kind of pavement best adapted fol
ordinary traffic and best suited to meet
the requirements of public hygiene. is
not SO easily determined. The principal
kinds at present in use, are the cobble
stone, the mscadamized, the granite
block. the wood and the asphalt pave>
ment. The two last are proba.
bly preferable, from sanitary
standpoint. The cobble stone pave.
ment has been much used 10
the United States, the stones being
easily procurable from the gravel of the
diluvium, or along the seashore on river
beaches, have been generally resorted to
as an economical and durable material
for covering street surfaces. IL stones
OF the harder variety, and of nearly
equal size are selected. and il they are
closely set and well laid upon good bed
of gravel and sand, they make cheap
end substantial pavement, which affords
secure footing TO horses and has the
advantage of being easily repaired. But
there are serious objections to this kind
of pavement from 9 sanitary point OF
view. The most prominent Of these
arises from the fact that it is the most
difficult pavement 10 keep clean. From
the shape of the stones it is impossible
TO At them to each other so as to form
perfectly smoo.h surface. and,
therefore. the spaces left between them,
at first covered up with clean gravel, soon
become filled with filth, W hich it is found
permeates the underlying earth, so that in
time the bed of the street becomes sstu
rated with impurities in the most concen-
trated form. Everyone is, perhaps. ia.
milisr with the very offensive black earth
uncovered by the removal of an old and
worn out curbstone pavement. The
eHuvia arising from The surface of this
hlth>laden soil exerts baneful influence
upon the health of ii ose who are com
PEELED to breathe an atmosphere thus
vitiated with impurities. Particularly is
this the case in narrow, crowded streets,
where the evil is inter sified by the want
OF proper ventilation.
Another objection to this kind of pave
ment-aud in fact to most stone pave>
ments--is the noise created by the rat
Ting OF vehicles over the rough surface.
To persons in sound health and of strong
constitution, it may o5 matter OF tri-
vial concern; they become accustomed to
1t and apparently in no wise suffer from
its effects. But to persons of a delicate,
nervous temperament and to the sick,
this nuisance is particularly distressing
Granite block pavements are
open to the objection that their inter-
stices collect filth which it is impossible
to remove, even by the best managed
plan of cleansing. The cubical stone
blocks are displaced under the prodigious
traffic. the corners ano edges are worn
away, the surface gets to be irregular,
the joints are widened. The filth of the
streets gathers in ruts and joints. is re-
cruited by new access ons of animal de-
posts, diluted by ram it ferments and
forms putrescent organic mire, becom>
ing, in course of time. q source Of nox-
ious miasmss. In hot and dry weather
these nausesting deposits pass into the
atmosphere in the form of unhealthy va
pors, or pulveriZed and drifted by the
wind, cause Inconvenience and poison our
lungs. Indeed, in repairing old pave
ments, black layer o. ground, saturated
with sulphuretted hydrogen, is found be-
low the stone blocks. and bears witness
to the infection of the subsoil by the
soakage of contaminated water. Prof
Tyndall has established by experiments
that large proportion of the particles
of dust in the rooms OF London houses is
of organic origin, and other experiments
have demonstrated that horse manure, in
a state Of decomposition, is a permanent
ingredient.
The wooden pavement has been
brought forward within recent years as a
substitute for cobble stones and granite
blocks. 1t is claimed for it that it meets
the objections encountered in stone pave
ments. 1t has been extensively used In
the United States, and at one time stood
in good repute. but it has been generally
abandoned, the main reason for its dis
use being on account Of its tendency to
decay. In England there has been q
sharp contest between various kinds of
pavements. particularly those made Of
granite, asphalt and wood, which has
been decided after prolonged compare
tive trial, in favor of the last. and the
corporation of London has confirmed the
decision and recommended the adoption
of this style of pavement for the thor
oughfares of that great city.
Ii the proper kind and quality of wood