Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-12-21
THE MUNICIPAL MIRROR.
WHAT IT REVEALS WHEN HELD UP TO
THE PUBLIC GAZE.
Seen in Our Own Abiding-PIace as
Others See Us-How to Inn
prove the Picture.

| PAOhC AhC
EDS. RECORD UNION Various mean
have been employed to induce people t.
come to this beautiful State to live, and
have thought it might be interesting t,
know how strangers are impressed afte
they arrive here and determine to cas-
their lot with the people of the Capita
City. Four years ago, while living in tn
East, determined to come to California
was conversipg with newspaper editor
and told him l had concluded to go t.
Sacramento. He asked, What do 70,
want to go to that sleepy town for?" 1 re
piled, 81 have decided to go to Sacramento
and am going, and shall take my family
with me"
In due time l arrived here, and at onct
began to look around for signs of sleepi
ness, for l had expended 81, 100 to come
| here, and | expected to make this my
home. l at once became interested in tht
state of things here. The buildings in the
| business portion of the city looked squatty
and very unpretentious, but on investiga.
| ton | ascertained that an immense amount
| of business was done in them. The church
| structures thought were not quite up to
! the average, yet fairly good The school.
houses presented a good appearance, and
| the residences doomed up to good advan-
tage. l said TO myself, well, we can get
along very well with what we have seen
and now, what about the people-that ami
mate part of the community For, when
you have examined a building you know
all there is of it, but you must live, mingle
and associate with the people before You
can know them. | say, unhesitatingly af-
| ter having lived here nearly four years
that there is as good class of people here
as have met in Europe, where 1 spent
twenty years, or in New York, or New Jer.
| sey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois OF
| Canada, in all of which l have visited and
taken observations. People here are
/ friendly, considerate, kind, courteous and
polite, and make very desirable friends and
acquaintance.
There are too many hoodlums and loaf.
ers allowed to remain in town. and great
many public resorts and questionable places
that ought to be suppressed. The laws are
good, but not well enforced. The Sabbath
is desecrated beyond all bounds of propri-
ETY., and politics-well perhaps they are as
pure here as in most places. Now, if the
city is beautiful and well situated, q good
business and railroad center, with good
churches and schools, and a real good po-
lite, obliging class of people, good systems
of street cars. Quincy cabs and other con-
veniences for travel climate UNSURPASSED,
the surrounding country all that could be
desired, what's it that prevents Sacramento
from being the banner city of the State?
! l have been told by prominent people
property owners and cspitalists-that
you had flood over quarter of century
ago, and that it retarded the progress OF
the city for some time. l see no danger OF
that now, for the levees are solid and Sc
cure, and there seems to be widespread
confidence in the permanent prosperity of
the city. In my opinion, the greatest
drawback to the growth of the city-that
which disgusts strangers and new settlers
most-ls the muddy streets. This, know,
is an old matter, but one that requires the
most serious attention by those who have
the welfare and prosperity of the city at
heart.
l hear remonstrsnces on all sides of the
excessive cost of grading streets, and not, I
think, without cause. A property owner
said to me only this morning: 81 will not
pay S. per foot for grading l street, al
though it needs it badly Another citizen
owning property, the rental of which is
about $50 per month, paid S640 as
his share for grading his half the street
upon which his property is situated.
Instances might be given dd intiaitJtnl of
cases of those who have had to pay such
enormous sums to get rid of the mud
Others, again, who own property are abso-
lutely unable to bear such heavy tax for
grading. Yet, in my opinion, Sacramento
will not grow as it otherwise would as long
as our streets present such piliable plight
as they do every winter. Again, it must be
remembered that people visiting our city
for health and pleasure come in the winter
lust when our streets are at their worst,
and they leave the city with feeling of
horror at the mud. | was riding on j.
street car the other day and a lady rang
the bell to get off at Seventeenth street.
The car stopped, but she could not get off at
that crossing, because of the mud and was
compelled to ride up to Eighteenth street.
l went up to Twenty-seventh and " streets,
and lady living there, having three chill
dren of school age, said that four times a
day she had to carry her children across
the street on account of the mud. Other
wise they could not 90 to school.
l have seen grOcers' and butchers wagons
sink to the hubs in mud, and on n and
Twenty seventh streets horses have waded
knee-deep in water. Some will say: "But
we have had so much rain y Very true
then all the more need for better streets.
Others again may say: I'VE have only TO
endure the mud for few months
l grant it, but we could dispense
with a good deal of dust in the
summer, and then have an abundance left.
| unders. and that Seventh street was graded
a few years ago, but every year for the past
four years 1 hsveseen men scraping the mud
OFF that street into heaps, to be carted away,
and then, late in the season, that same
earth Tor some like it, has been brought
back to FL up low places, to be carted off
again in the form of mud; and, under the
present condition, that process must be
continued indefinitely, which. with the
watering of the streets in the summer
months, are items of enormous expense to
the city.
Now, what is the remedy? Let New
York. Washington and Chicago, each OF
which has miles of beautiful streets and
oouleyards as smooth as floor, answer the
question. They have neither mud nor dust.
The plan TO adopt, as outlined by Mr.. Ray,
for improving our streets, is the best / have
seen introduced, and ought to be carried
out First, there must be good, solid
foundation, say Of granite blocks or large
chips; then smaller chips; then only
enough gravel to fill up the crevices, and
all thoroughly rolled; then a coating OF
bituminous rock, such as is used at the
Southern Pacific depot here and at the en-.
frances to the Capitol. Such a street would
last for a great many years.
Let the hoodlums and loafers and tramps
be compelled to break the stones, and the
city could furnish them for nothing, and
then be money in pocket. The cost o.
such street would be fully one-half les:
than formerly, as outlined by Mr.. Ray. Their
visitors coming here would point witt
| pride to our lovely, clean streets.
CHARLES MEALAND, NJ. d.
ATKINsoN's BUSINESS COLLEGE.