The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-27
An Interesting Suggestion Concerning
 Street Paving.

Street Paving.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 I am much interested in the subject
 of the paving of our streets and desire
 to say few words which it seems to
 me are worthy of consideration, inas-
 much as experience has had part in
 the forming of my opinion
 For several years I was member
 of the board of compensation and it
 was during that time that an Elm street pavement was laid from State street to Temple street. It was concrete of broken stone and alleged asphalt
 The asphalt employed was supposed to be from Trinidad, but it was so adul- terated with coal tar that in summer it ran like molasses and in cold weather was ground by passing wheels into fine powder, which penetrated into houses, melted and caused much dam age. The board of compensation de- cided after a meeting, in which the residents on the street were present as remonstrants-Judge Blaekman called it that wax pavement-that it was not just to assess for it and that the pavement ought to be removed and the council so decided.
 I allude to this as showing the dan ger of using Trinidad asphalt. It is naturally so thick that coal tar Is all most necessarily used as an adulterantI in order that sand may be mixed with it. But there is an asphalt which Is much used in the streets of San Fran cisco which Is perfectly adapted for pavements. It oozes through the sands in San Lius Obispo county and Is uni formly mixed with the sand before 1t reaches the surface. It is trans ported in large blocks and looks much like camel coal. It is thrown into heaters and at once applied to the street prepared for 1t. It hardens rapidly and makes a surface equal to the best street pavements of Washington or Paris. The question of freight would be very important element in the ex- pense of using 1t.
 There is still another good paving | material very convenient to our city. 1 About twenty years ago I had my at l tention called by analysis to the iden- l tity of a valuable English clay much | used In the manufactures of tiles, with | the mud of our harbor. During the | dredging of the channel I procured a | cartload of this clay and had 1t turned | and burned and am satisfied from my | experience then that 1t will vitrify and | make an enduring paving material. | The economy of utilizing this mud or clay lies in the fact that congress spasmodically appropriates one hun dred thousand dollars, more or less, for the dredging of our channel and this money would enable the city to procure | material and a plant which probably | would not seriously exceed in cost the amount of the appropriation. Formerly | the mud has been taken to deep water and dumped. Instead let the loaded scows be hauled up on ways-say on the East Haven shore-and there the clay be prepared for the manufacture of the needed brick.
 This clay or mud has during untold centuries been brought down the river from the North Haven flats and the lightest part deposited at mean tide until in places there is to it a depth of at least sixty feet. When the channel Is dredged the renewed accumulations are pushed forward by the super-in- oumbent weight from the banks of the channel and are of the finest possible grade of clay. There is in the clay l. very minute shell which reduces the weight fully 25 per cent. below that If the average brick and Is valuable yitrifying element. There are probably difficulties in securing an from the government if t is demonstrated that there is value Il the dredged material; none, how 'ver, probably that a proper presenta- ion of the case might not remove. When the great number of bricks re- luired in the future Is considered, if l hat mode of paving is approved, the cheme does not seem sn very wild. It appears worth mentioning at least in his connection.
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