The morning call., 1893-02-01

| order mat man WOuId, Dy us Scient9uC skill
and industry, complete the wateTy Ink.
| Man, however, has been slow, exceedingly
| slow, to realize the paramount advantage
| of such q worlds waterway. 1t is now
some forty years since an lnteroceanic canal
was first talked of across the lsthmus Of
Panama, but neither that one nor the vastly
less costly and more practicable one at \ lea
ragua is anywhere near completion. Even
the passage of the bin guaranteeing the
Nicaragua canal bonds seems yet far down
on the horizon Of the future. When we
consider the great expense 10 which rail-
ways submit to lessen distances aud thereby
shorten their lines. and when we consider
the tunneling and bridging they construct
for the same reasons, what are we thinking
of when we neglect to cut continent In
two and thereby save 10000 miles Of ocean
travel and q passage through the most for
bidding and bOSterOus seas on the globe.
Furthermore, when we think OF the I'M
mense amount of capital and labor eX-
pended, and the immense stretch Of some
1900 miles Of country spanned with ties,
tracks and tTestles. in the construction of
the Central and Union Pacific railways, it
is surprising that this immeasuTably greater
interoceanic project should continue to
langush by shameful want of enterprise
and parsimOny that is even more foolish
than misery.
About Street Pavements.
How to pave city streets is an unsettled
question in every city of the world. San
Francisco is still working on the problem
and is still far from solution. We have
tried everything from wooden blocks and
planks to stone and bitumen. The pave
ment question is still an open and highly
important one TO all citizens. What is the
cleaneSt best-wearing and easeSt-ridlng
roadway? Let US see what older cities use.
Glasgow lays a smaller stone block than
ours on a concrete foundation two feet
A . 10 r,oT-c - In of
sand and cement is brushed into the spaces
between the blocks. and over this is spread
surface of gravel and tar. This makes q
solid, even street which viii never wear
ont. 1t is expensive at first. but in the end
il is the cheapest On London's best bnsi-
ness streets the pavement IS wooden
blocks soaked in tar and set like the
Glasgow stone. BituminOus rock Is
also used, but it contains a large
percentage OF paTatfne. of which there is
none in our own patent s0-called bitunlinOus
pavement, and paraffne is the essential ele-
ment in btumnOus rock. Macadam is used
extensively in London. but it is a macadam
unknown 10 San Francisco 1t is laid in the
thorough British style. Layer after layer
Of coarse rock is rolled in by steam rollers,
aud then finer and finer rock is ground 10
until a surface as hard and smooth as pol
ished granite is obtained. These mscadam
roads are built with that all-important
| end In vew-a high crown in the center, so
| that the water can readily run off The
! abundant rains of England keep the mac
| adam roads well watered. In a climate like
ours macadam is unsuitable, because any
! thing Ike cOpl0us watering Is too costly.
| The most popular pavement to-day IN the
large cities of the world Is stone. All
! of the large cities of the East use 1t
| more or less. Stone is the chea pest, clean
| est and most durable material for city
/ streets. It's noise and uneYenness are It's
| 70 hp al-1 tut ha 9 of Rome shr "
! that stone blocks properly laid are as
/ smooth as bitumen or wood. The Appian
/ way is said 10 be the finest roadway IN the
/ world. Ii is surfaced with stone blocks.
! All the streets of Rome are now laid with
/ small blocks about four inches square and
ten inches long. These are taDered and
J driven into a sandy clay soil. The surface
! only is Clipped smOoth and the edges are
! beyeled When these are driven ID they
are like so many wedges, there being no
! space between them. They are not set at
! right angles with the sidewalks, but dia-
/ mond-shaped Therefore wheels passing
over them do not strike square on the
! blocks. but only over the edges Of them.
! thus reducing the jar 70 a minimum. This
! pavement requires no patching and IS pTac-
| tically everlasting It is a very cheap pave
/ ment and, as we have said, il rides as
/ smoothly "a bituminOus rock.
0verbuiIding in Residences and DWELL
iHgs.
The assertion may at first seem strange,
| but 1t Is true, that nearly every manor
| shall we say woman, for she rules IN this
maJtpr-in the erection Of the homestead.
| OYerbuilds. This s particularly true of
| the milliOnaires. The Flood, Stanford,
Charles and Mrs. T. 3. Croker, Hopkins.
| Cotton, Graves and many other mansions
are evidences Of this. Not one Of them
| would bring fifty cents on the dollar Of what
the houses cost. with the present value of
| the land added. The rich men, but not
! nilllonaires, who build houses costing from
$4,000 o $50, 600. are as badly in the mud,
| prop rtionateiy, in this mater as the mil
overDuld, and as large and expen-
siye houses with some of the
peculiar lay ont cranks in them
which the average buyer does not ap-
| prove are not In demand, they are hard,
| very hard, indeed, to dispose Of, and can
hardly ever be sold at their full cost even in
the most improving residence situations.
| Descending still lower in the monetary scale
| the man who should build 5000 to 5000
house generally ends by finding himself in
one that cost 5000 to $1,000 He is cramped
in his business By tails original overcast not
less than by the extra money needed Ia
furnish. and the subsequent extra cost Of
care and servants. For all these reasons
there is no trueT proyerb than that fools
build houses and wise men occupy them
occupying them, too, let il no: be forgotten,
al the wise mans own price OF purchase.
Brick Buildings in the Fire Limits.
There is only % per cent Of brick build
ings IN the fire limits OF this city. Although
this condition OF things is menace TO the
city, yet our eXper ence is that about so pei
cent Of intending purchasers object 10
property in The fire limits, because they
would soon have TO replace the wooden
buildings with brick or stone. Ii these peo-
| pie had their choice they would be almost
certain to build solidly; but because there
is a simple law OF economy which com els
them to use fre-proof building material
they refuse to buy. 1t Is cheaper In the end
to build OF brick. Then 1t is unfair TO ones
neghbOTC TO keen an infammable house
between fre-pToof ones, The wooden
building is protected by the brick one, and
yet this protection is not mutual, for
The former Is much more likely TO get
afire than the latter. Fire proof buildings
rent better and pay better rents. too, while
risk is reduced to a minimum Those
wOuld-be buyers who raise such small
objections. aud refuse TO buy good business
property because they would have to re-
build in brick, never will make money in
real estate, for the safest aud surest sec
ton 10 invest 10 is within the fire limits
Recent Sales.
The property on the southwest side oil
Beale street, 81 g east of Harrison. 31xS9 e
in size, has been sold for $500; not yet OF
| record.
The property on the northeast corner oil
Jones street and Maggie lane, betweet Post
and Geary, 50Xl37 g in size. has been sold
for SIS, 800; price put in DEED $40.
The property on the south side OF Green.
witch street. 142 east OF Baker, 20 :6xl20 and
22:6 on rear street. has been sold for $1,000
price put in deed $40.
Tue property OIL the west side Of Fillmore
street, 164 g north Of Union, 25x10o in size
has been sold for $500: not yet Of record.
The properly on he south es' corner oil
Fillmore and Plxley streets. betwee FilUeri