New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-13
THE PAVEMENTS.

Law one ounce too much stress on INC "reconeu
and diseraceful condition of the city pave
ments. He wrote with quiet emphasis as pc
,ame him. but there is nothing to prevent every
citizen from translating his remarks into lar
moro energetic language. plain-spoken man
,ybo was aware of his own infrmity OF temper
once CONGRATULATED himself upon having felon
ON one of his fingers, saying that IL gave MN
a perfect justification for letting OIL s.eain
whenever he felt like it, If the people OF New
York have come to regard the pavements IN
that light their easy liberation of the misery
loss and humiliation which they inftict Is ex-
plicable. but there seems to be no other way
Of accounting for it, The foreigner arriving
IN this city invariably has two topics ready to
his hand in writing home. The hrso departing
steamer conveys letter describing our lovely
harbor and our horrid payements.
We observe with regret, though not WIN
surprise or direct disapproval, that Mayor
Grant is disposed to think that we are restncOeu
to granite blocks and asphalt for street sur
faces that the latter is likely to prove sans-
factory only in favored localities. and that tne
former must continue TO be our main rehahce'
Undoubtedly that is the conclusion to which
long experience and numerous experiments
tend but it should be remembered that Ohe
experiments have for the most part been alinoS'
worthless as means Of test and comparison
Without attempting to exhaust the hst' we IT,
call the wooden blocks set on end when "ero
tried ON Sixth and Seventh aves. Nassau-st'
and in some other localities; the tar mixture
miscalled asphalt which made Fifth-aye. al
most impassable for months and the metallic
cylinders with composite filing and packing
which had a good beginning and wretched
end on Cortlahdt-st. But most OF the mani
fold experiments in various directions nave
been conducted in an ignorant, shpshod man
ner. and some Of them were nothing more thau
corrupt Jobs. At various times and places
during the last dozen years asphalt has Deen
applied by one method or another. ana lha'
substance is now in use on small scaie
here and there throughout the CITY,
After iolting over the wales and noun
tains. TO which we are unhappily accustomed, II
is delightful to come upon one OF these smoo'h
surfaces which, nevertheless, are subjected 10
not unreasonable criticism. In wet weather
they are slippery, and those who have seen
their harness cut to pieces in the process OF
helping a horse-perhaps lame horse-to his
feet are apt to conceive a prejudice against
them. But at least part Of the trouble that
horses find is due in general to the fact that
they have not been brought up to smooth pave
ments, and in particular to the circumstance
that they come Unexpectedly upon these isolated
stretches of asphalt.
II is asserted also, that asphalt is not adapt
ed to withstand either the enormous trailc
which the shape Of the city brings upon rev
Of its main arteries or the alternate freezing
and thawing which is one OF the conditions oil
this climate. In reply to the first objection II
may be said that some of the new pavements
which are giving much satisfaction in London
are subjected to at least as great average wear
as our principal streets and with reference TO
the second that more than one large city whose
climate is as unfavorable as ours has long had
the use and enjoyment of smooth pavements OF
which asphalt is the most conspicuous ingredi-
emit. If the granite blocks, properly laid and
cared for, made oven fairly satisfactory pave
ment the case would be different. but at their
best they are rough and noisy. OF course as
Mayor Grant says they are outrageously mai
treated in this city, ruthlessly ripped up at the
behest of private interests, and shabby re-
placed under the averted eyes Of incompetent
officials. But the fact that the law permits
this suggests that, while the city cannot be too
prompt in taking the first steps toward an ade-
quate system of improved pavements those
FIRST steps ought perhaps to be in the direction
Of further experiments rather than OF an enor-
nous immediate outlay, while yet the law re-
mains unchanged. Moreover. there is uni
yersal demand that electric wires shall go under
ground Some of the conduits are ready, but
many miles of streets will have to be opened
before the system can be completed. II we
are to have new pavements, we don't want the
first of them torn up before the last Of them
have been laid down.
On the whole. we are inclined to think that
the time required to secure modification Of
the law which places the streets at the mercy
of corporations and to enforce the law which
directs that the people shall no longer be placed
at the mercy of overhead wires is good time
to make few honest and efficient tests of
paving materials We are not prepared to say
that granite or asphalt or wood or any other
substance is or is not the best street surface,
and it is because we think that everybody else
| is equally incompetent that we should like to
see the question decided as soon as possible.