The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-29
WATER SUPPLY.
We Will Get 1t When the
Commissioners Are
Ready to Act.
THEY ISSUE THEIR DEFY.
Some Shrewd Remarks About Ha-
bitual Cynics-Work Done
on the Streets.


The members of the Street and Water
Board held a meeting this morning. The
members were in a very happy frame OF
mind, for one of their clerks had prepared a
lot of typewriter matter about what the
Commissioners have done, what they are do
ing and what they propose doing, which the
Commissioners considered one of the best
comic almanacs they had ever read. 1t was
chock full of SMART sayings. This docu-
ment was labelled annual report" 1t was
in part as follows
THE REPORT.
"An unerring guide-board to the prosper
ity of a community is found in the number
and class of petitions for improvements
which are aSseSSable. People are often
DESTROYS of obtaining something which must
be paid for out of the general fund, but when
they make request for that which when fur-
nished must be paid for directly by them
selves, we take it as an omen for good.
"The list of assessable improvements which
follow, have been wholly or practically com
pleted during the year. They denote a
healthy growth and auger well for the pros
perity of our city.
Germania avenue. from Carlton av enue. TO
Thorne street. (abeut threerfourrhs of q mile in
iength) graded and tagged.
Halliday street, from Communipaw avenue.
TO Newark & N. Y. R. R., graded and paved
with new Belgian block.
Sherman avenue, from Hutton street. to Grit.
18th street, graded, curbed, tagged and paved
with Belgian block.
Brunswick street. from Newark avenue, to
Tenth street. graded curbed, refiagged and
paved with Belgian block.
Seventeenth street, from Henderson street to-
jersey avenue. graded, tagged, curbed and gut
fers paved.
avenue, graded, tagged, curbed and cutters
paved.
Arlington avenue, from Bay View avenue to
Myrtle avenue. an eighteen inch pipe sewer.
Central avenue, from Irving street to Hague
street., a thirty and twenty four inch brick
sewer. ..,.....-.
Charles street. from Nelson avenue to Sum
init avenue, a twenty four inch brick sewer.
Henderson street, from Seventeeuth street to
Fifteenth street. 8 fifteen inch pipe sewer.
Ocean avenue, from Stevens avenue to Gator
avenue, q thirty inch brick, twenty-four inch
brick and twelve inch pipe sewer, alternating
under each sidewalk.
Virginia avenue, from Bergen avenue to Jack
son avenue. a twenty four iucn brick sewer.
Magnolia avenue. from Chestnut avenue to
property of Pennsylvania r. R., a twelve and
eighteen inch pipe sewer.
Baldwin avenue, from Magnolia avenue to
Psyonia avenue, a twenty-four inch brick. sewer
P TO PAVED E
sfThe year just passed has witnessed a
wholesale removal of our old and barbarous
enemy, the cobble stone, and the subStitu-
ton therefor of something more modern.
We hope that in a few years this relic OF an
early municipal venture will ave entirely
disappeared from our roadways. As a sub
stitute we have, to a great extent. contented
ourselves with square Belgian, not that we
believed it to be the best pavement obtalna-
BILE, but rather that it could not be classed as
experimental, and when cost was con-
sidered, furnished a fair road at
not too high a price. The test OF
a good pavement is the wear return it gives
for its cost. Day by day and year by year
its various phases must be put to the test OF
practical application, and it is well to con-
tinue the use of that material from which
good results lave been obtained in the past;
but when a new article has given such salts
faction in other large cities that its authori-
ties see fit to classify it as a standard pave
ment, it would seem to US that the time for
local experiment had begun. The world is
moving and we feel that this great metro
politan city of the State should move with
it. In this city the road of experiment is full
of pitfalls, n they who venture upon 1t are
quite sure to incur %reproach; yet it seems to
us desirable that such ventures should from
time to time be made. In accord with this
view we endeavored during the past
season to initiate for trial in this
city, two articles-frst, asphalt, which has
been used largely and satisfactorily else
where; n second, an article denominated
Staten Island syenite,' which is SO highly
that it has been placed along the dock
fronts where not only is the traffic greatest,
but is also the heaviest. In fact, no more
severe test Of a pavement could be had. Our
attempted experiment with asphalt was, as
the result of the active busine rivalry of
competing bidders, taken to the courts and
nulliied. This was naturally disheartening
QnH Nrdf uot-u lOofhInN in 1-ICnp To tho
reception which awaited our syenite venture,
which, for the purpose of better under
standing, let us divide into two chapters.
THE VENTURE.
HChapter 1. Under q general call for paw
ing such streets OF parts of streets, as might,
from time to time, be designated, we invited
proposals for furnishing and laying this ma
terial. There were five () competing bid
ders, and, in accordance with the right and
with usage, we awarded to the lowest bidder,
designating as streets to be paved, Jersey
avenue, from Montgomery street to Grand
street, and Warren street, from Grand street
to Dudley street. The material was prompt
ly furnished and subsequently laid. That
for Jersey avenue remained ON the adjacent
walk for at least two weekt prior to being
laid, and during that period was critically
examined by number of interested citizens.
Th consensus of opinion seemed to be that it
was a good article. 1t pleased those in front
Oh whose premises III WAS 10 US ldlus III gave
great satisfaction to the observant resident
elsewhere, and we congratulated ourselves
on what we believed to be a successful exper-
iment.
ssChapter 2. The condition of Ocean ave-
nue. having long appealed to us, and the i'm
pOTtunities of the residents of that section
for its improvement having become stronger,
we finally assented to its being repayed. 1t
was originally paved with m~acadan1, and it
being necessary that, prior to repavlng,
some portion of the roadbed must be first re-
moved, in order that a proper grade might
be maintained, the Chief Engineer was di-
rected to prepare specifications embodying
this factor. When completed, they formed
the basis of a new advertisement soliciting
proposals for this work only. In this
letting, bidders were not confined to syenite
but proposals for granite and trap rock were
also invited. There were received four
proposals for syenite exclusive of one which
was declared informaD, sere1t for granite
and sic for trap rock; the lowest price per
yard for each was $2.47, $3.50 and $3.50 re-
spectively.
SIT will be noticed that the price quoted to
us for syenite was eight cents per yard lower
than granite and seventeen cents per yard
higher than traprock, SO that it became
necessary to inquire more closely into their
respective qualities and market values in
order that the best bargain for the city
might be made.
INVESTIGATED AND FOUND.
sWe found upon investigation hat the city
a. RHEUMATIC