Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-06-06
BoTcH WORK.
Mayor Kiiduff Getting. After the Traction
Co with n sharp Stick.

Mayor KiIduff Getting,After the Traction
Co with n Sharp Stick.
If anyone ever questioned Mayor Kill
duff's ability to make good stump speech
he should have been around to hear his
grafton on West Maip street last night in
front of the Bronson library. The mayor
stood on one of the ties looking along the
| new road bed of the Traction tcompany's
rails, when a reporter happened along and
casually remarked:
We'll, are you satisfied with the job?'
mo" he said, Cooking up with sur
prise, his face turning pale and his
eyes almost shooting out of their sockets.
| ''who with any regard for the condition of
the public streets of the city could say he
is satisfied with such work as that. Here
they have gone and changed the bed of
| their track into the middle of the street
without saying word about it to anybody,
| leaving one of the handsomest streets in
the city so that it is almost useless for
public travel on either side"
The reporter ventured the question,
chow can they do this without permission
from the re ad board?'
This seemed to nettle the mayor all the
more and he did almost everything except
swear.
Permission p he said. What is the
| they can go ahead and do what they please
withor without permission? They agreed
to put back the paving blocks on South
| Main street in the same manner as the
city had done and leave the place in as
good shape as they found it. What have
| they done? Hired an inferior gang of
workmen and instead of using sand bed
they have made bed of dirt and used the
same kind of stuff for filling in between
the blocks, when they knew the city
always used a good sand bed and also used
new sand for the joints. Those people
are doing things to suit their own purpose
and with an utter disregard for public con-
venience. They cannot be watched. A
man can't be in different places at the
same time. We had to appoint an in
spector, George Byrnes, to watch them on
South Main street and we would need
some such person every place they have a
man at work"
Whats the matter with writing it up?'
was the next question.
Write it up as much as you please, -
came echoing back, land say what you
like and then you won't have the story
half told"
Mayor Kilduff City Engineer Cairns and
Street Inspector Kelley made another in
spection of the work on South Main street
being very poorly laid the grade between
the rails had been lowered from one to
two inches. The mayor will insist that
the whole business be torn up and relaid,
| and if the rails are not raised to the
present grade of the street the company
will be compelled to relay the pavement
the whole width of the street to conform to
the grade of the tracks.
Superintendent Bradley was interviewed
this morning and admitted that the mayor
had found fault and justly, too, with the
manner in which the paving had been
done on South Main street. But" he
said, las much of it as has been done and
does not meet the approval of the mayor
would be taken up and le-laid to the salts
faction of the city. 1t is all being done
subject to the approval of the city engi-
neer and We shall change until it meets
his approval. The rails on South Main
street, for about $50 feet below the DEMO
GRAFT Office, are not laid to the proper grade,
but they will be changed and set to grade
AS quickly as possible" tt e changes on
West Main street, Mr. Bradley said, he
had explained to the satisfaction of the
mayor. The main track was supposed to
| follow the original course. The side track
had been changed so that the cars will en-
ter the main track about fifteen or twenty
feet east of the former place. A crossover
had also been put in opposite the Bronson
library building. Looking at it now one
would suppose that the bed had been
moved couple of feet farther out into the
street. But that is not the case. The
track has been raised just below the SOL
diers' monument with the permission of
the road board to raise the rails above the
pool of water that had been known to col
| lect there whenever q shower occurred.