The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-11-09
IT WILL COME LATER
Park Street Is in Excellent Shape
for Paving. =
MAYOR THOMPSON SAYS SO
But the Treasury Is Weak Yet. and.
of Course. the Work Must Be
Postponed - The Rail-
road Is Finished.

The work of the street railroad COM
pany in West Park street, was COM
pleted yesterday and the work in East
Broadway will be finished in two or
three days more. The company in lay
ing its double track has been compelled
to plank the center of the street. and
there is no doubt that this has made a
decided Improvement in the street. The
company has planked Park street from
Montana to Arizona for a space "a feet
wide.
OF the so feet width which Park
street has, Is feet is devoted TO side
walks, and this added to the "a feet
which the company has planked leaves
80 feet of the street still devoted to
mud and water.
Since the advantage is seen of the
plank pavement laid by the street rail-
road company a number of business
men on Park street have expressed
themselves favorable to the plan of
paving the rest of the street. If this
is not done 1t is certain that In the
spring the mass of mud which is dis
tributed all through Park street, will
be concentrated into the portions not
planked, and will make them veritable
rivers of mud. The movement to pave
Park street has not yet attained any
deal of talk about ii.
1t is estimated that 1t would cost
about $1,000 to plank the rest of Park
street. Both City Engineer Blackford
and Mayor Thompson expressed them
selves yesterday very decidedly against
planking the street. They thought IL
would be a serious mistake to do that.
and one-half inch plank, but the OFF,
Gals did not regard this as durable or
suitable for the street as a whole.
City Engineer Blackford thought
Park street should be paved with cedar
blocks; that he considered the best
pavement on the whole for Butte.
II am in favor Of fir blocks" said
Mayor Thompson. II don't think cedar
blocks would last very long here. The
fir blocks have been tried in Helena,
and have been very successful. That
pavement over in Helena has lasted
three or four years now and think Ii
good for 10 years more. 1t won't be
any experiment to use fir blocks"
AS to the advisability of paving
Park street, the mayor said he thought
Park street should be the first street
paved in Butte. 1t perhaps has more
traffic than any other street and is in
terrible condition for several months
every spring.
II am ready to go ahead with the
paving of Park street." said the may
or. Just as soon as the property own
ers of that street express themselves
unanimously; or nearly unanimously in
favor of 1t. The property owners will
of course have to pay most of the cost
of paving, and they should be agreed
on the subject before the city takes ac-
tion. The city treasury is still in rath-
er a weak condition, and for that rear
son I am not in favor of pushing the
paving business. But II the Park street
people want 1t they can have II. There
is no doubt that 1t is greatly needed"
1t is not generally known that such
Is the peculiar grade Of Park street
between Montana and Main that on
the north side of the street water runs
from west to east and on the south
side 1t runs from east to west. During
the freshet season therefore the water
that runs down Montana turns east on
the north side of Park to Main, crosses
Park street at Main to the south side,
and then runs west on Park to Mon
tana, and thence down Montana. This
popularity adds greatly to the muddy
condition of the street when a thaw is
on.