St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-24


must be unable to get city jobs and
grossly corrupting in its tendencies.
If a few are to be favored in this
way who are to select them and wDat
shall be the test? Such practices are
sure to degenerate into plain bribery
by use of which those in possession OF
municipal power will strive for It's re-
tention. The existing system for the
performance of this class of work s.
wasteful, in the further respect, that
in many cases 1t does not insure the
performance by the employe of the
full service he ought to render. Two
or more men are often sent for the
doing of some odd job, when one mall
would be ,iu te- sufficient.
STREET SWEEPING.
Most OF this work is now paid for
out of the fund in question, but scme
special assessment The question how
should all street CLEANING and sweep
ing be done and paid for along the
asphalt pavements of the city, will
hereafter be important.
The rate of the tax levied for street
care and maintenance averages at least
l mill upon the dollar of valuation. The
asphalt pavements must be regularly
year, when bare of snow, or they are
converted from things of convenience
and beauty into filth heaps. The cost
of sweeping these pavements properly
and thoroughly will necessarily be
considerable, but doing the work well
will be worth the money. Who should
in jusice stand the expense? The
streets so paved are all our great
thoroughfares. They exist not alone
for those who live or dc business along
them, but for all our people. The
property facing on them is valued, for
purposes of taxation, the most highly
of ali our property. Hence this prop
erty pays into the street fund an
of fn1I 11r~
er than other property. Under these
circumstances, it should seem no more
than fair that all the money contribu-
ted to the street fund by properties
along the asphalt pavements should,
as far as necessary, be used in the care
and preservation of those streets, with
out putting any additional tax upon
| such property for that purpose. 1t
hardly seems just to take the money
paid for street repairs and cleaning,
say by the owners of Summit avenue
property between Selby avenue and
Dale street, to some other part of the
town, and spend it, and then make
such owners pay over again for the
front of their lots. Yet that is pre-
| cisely what is being done every year.
No change in the charter will be nee
essary to enable the council to in
| augurate a fair and correct policy in
| the particular suggested.
For street sprinkling purposes the
city is divided by the board of public
works into districts.
! Streets to be sprinkled in the several
| districts are designated by the common
council, and the work is let by con-
| tract, based on competitive bids, in
vited by public notice.
The contract price for sprinkling in
| 1894 was S37 634 81; in 1895 S35, 500. These
| sums included payments by the con-
tractor to the water board for the
necessary water, amounting to about
| $4,000 per year.
The execution of sprinkling contracts
| is under the immediate supervision of
sprinkling inspectors.
Of these during the present season
there We're five, with a salary of $50
per month. Each served six months
! and thirteen days, and earned 1856
81, $50 in all.
The total cost of sprinkling is as
sessed upon the property abutting on
the streets sprinkled. In 1894 it was
SAL, ,95S.74. For 1895 it has been about
the same. This class of work seems to
be on a fair basis at the present time;
| and the committee has discovered no
cause fer introducing material changes
in the system of doing it. Letting the
| contracts by competitive bids should
| insure fair prices for the work, and
| attention by the sprinkling inspectors
| should insure their performance by the
| contractor.
STREET LIGHTING.
This is done by contracts made under
the direction of the city council.
In the present year, 1886 miles of
| streets have been lighted by 1928 gas
| lamps, 3 331 gasoline lamps and "a cleo
trio arc lights.
| The contract for the gas lamps re-
| quires a lighting power of 16 candles
each, and that for gasoline lamp a
| lighting power of 16 candles each. The
| "a electric lights, which have mostly
| hann clustered crOSSinpS of ~
! inent thoroughfares, are of the class
| commonly known as 2,000-candle pow
| er each.
Their precise lighting power has not
| been definitely determined, but it is
| supposed to be somewhat in excess of
| LOCO candles each.
All street lamps are required to be
kept lighted the entire night, from
| dusk to dawn.
| The gas lamps are provided by the
contractor, the ST. Paul Gas company,
under provisions of it's charter Which
require the city to pay the gas COM
pany interest at the rate of 8 per cent
per. year upon the cost of all lamps,
| posts and pipe connections ordered
by the city for street lighting. By the
terms of the existing contract be-
tween the gas company and the city,
this rate of interest has been reduced
to- per cent. Up to the beginning OF
this year, the total cost of gas lamps
ordered by the city, and erected by
the company, was $S3, ,9sS.61. The obll-
| cation of the city to pay interest upon
the cost of lamps remains so long as
| the lamps are maintained by the gas
company in such condition that the
same may be gotten ready for light
| ing upon reasonable notice from the
| city to light them. Should all the
lamps be eXtinguished by order of the
city, interest on the cost of their erec-
| ton would nevertheless continue until
| all the lamps were removed by the
| company.
| The gasoline lamps, including the
| wooden posts that carry them, belong
to the city, the same having been fur
nished by the gasoline lighting con-
tractor, as ordered by the city, at a
| stipulated price.
One-half the cost of lighting the gas
lamps is borne by the city
The contracts for lighting in force
the present year fix s29.52 per year as
the price Of each gas lamp, and 1896
per year as the price of each gasoline
lamp. The arc lights, all furnished by
the gas company, are required to be
kept lighted from dusk. to midnight
+! The price per year for them has been
$127.75 each.
The foregoing items would bring the
expense of street lighting, for the year,
up to the following figures:
interest on cost of lamps .:: S'5'saS SsaS 20 20
| Iotal ........................ .$108, ,427 rs
| "a electric arc lights ............ 3,704 Is
1881 gasoline lamps ...... 33,176 T6
| Total NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. .S145, 1903 81
| Fines imposed for unlighted lamps
will slightly reduce the above amounts.
! Whether or not the volume of light
} per lamp required by the contract is
actually furnished, has not been the
subject of systematic or efficient test
In fact, no tests at all, Of the lighting
power of the gas lamps, has been made
for years. The gas company, how
| ever, claims that the gas furnished
has uniformly been superior in illum-
mating power to the standards of the
world, and to the requirements of it's
contract with the city. The late presi-
dent of the company declared before
the committee his willingness to make
oath that, at no time within some
years past, has the lighting power of
the gas made here fallen below twenty
candles for burner using five cubic
| feet per hour.
The adequacy of the lighting of our
streets under existing arrangements Is
a mere matter of personal observation,
and something Of which every citizen
| is as well preDa RED to illdpe aa tho