The Monmouth inquirer., 1893-04-27

that one of the engines is out of service
for want of repairs. There were nine fires
more or less destructive during the last
year, ending on the LIST of April, brief
history of each of which will be found in
the report.
The Chief renews his recommendation
for the repair of the boiler of steamer No.
/, and also calls attention to the fact that
the doors on some of our public buildings
open inwards instead of outwards, as re-
quired by law, and to the absence of ade-
quate fire escapes on the Rothschild fac
tory. He also calls attention to the ne
cessity of locating more hydrants or the
purchase of more hose, and recommends
an electric fire alarm to connect the vari-
Gus parts of the town with Firemens Hail.
All these suggestions should receive the
careful attention of the incoming Board.
STREETS AND SIDEWALKS.
There has been more than the usual
complaint during the winter of the con-
dition of the streets. and not without rea-
son. 1t should be said, however, that it was
more on account of their unsightly ap-
pearance than because they were not at
all times passable There were many
rough places in the streets, caused in part
by the setting in of winter before the fill
ing of the trenches for the sewer system
had settled, and partly by other causes
common to all gravel roads. The winter
was an especially hard one on such roads.
The ground froze to an unusual depth.
There were numerous storms of snow and
rain, and constantly alternating periods
of freezing and thawing weather The
frost below the surface prevented the rain
fall from finding its way into its usual
channels and the natural result followed.
AS soon as the frost was out of the ground
the streets immediately dried off, ena-
bling the Street Superintendent to use the
scraper, and within week afterwards our
streets were put in fairly good condition.
The bad condition of the roads was not
peculiar to Freehold Except in sandy
sections the same conditions prevailed
everywhere. Evenin cities where thestreets
were paved the weather prevented street
cleaning to large extent, and relief came,
as it came to us, only when the rigor of
the winter was relaxed.
There are now twenty-six miles of
streets and eighty-six crossings within the
town limits to be cared for. Considering
the amount of money available for that
purpose, it is not to be expected that the
Board can do more than to apply the
usual cheap materials and to keep them
during the favorable seasons of the year
fairly well scraped, the crossings cleared
when necessary, and the cutters free for
the flow of the rainfall.
During the past year there have been
applied to the streets 1000 loads Of Shark
River gravel and 500 loads of sand Two
hundred loads of dirt have been removed
from South Street, one mile of new streets
have been opened and filled, and six new
culverts have been laid.
AT special meeting of the Board held
at the request of the Board of Trade, on
the evening of March 23d, the subject of
the improvement of the roads in the town
was generally discussed. During the dis
cussion the suggestion was made that the
employment of an officer having some en-
gineering skill, accustomed to directing
labor and assuming necessary responsible
tiles, at a sufficient salary to compensate
him for the service, might result in giving
us better roads. In view of the arguments
and suggestions made at that meeting the
Board of Commissioners adopted reso-
luton requesting the Board of Trade to
submit to the annual Citizens Meeting
resolution embodying the same for the
consideration and action Of the meeting.