Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-03-13
STREET PAVING.
Novaculite, Something New And Said to Be Superior to Stone or
 Brick.

Brick.
 The question Of street paving be ing now under discussion by our city fathers and our citizens general ly, the object to get the best possible paving at the least cost being of vital importance to our tax payers, we take pleasure in giving the following taken from the Memphis Scimitar which was handed us by Alderman Hightower. It will be seen from the extract that many towns and cities are now using "novaculite, :" which, it is said, will never wear out and possesses many other qualities superior to the best granite or brick. Mayor Clapp, of Memphis, has been i'll correspon- dence with the persons who have "novaculite" on the market. and he is so impressed with it's qualities that he is strongly in favor of paw ing one of the most important streets of Memphis with the new substance. The extract referred to is as follows:
 "Tl. B. Mcfarland appeared before the Council last night to support A. |C. Bryden, of St. Louis, who is at the head of the company that manu- factures this pavement. and who came to Memphis on purpose To lay his material before the Council. The proposition of this company is this: They say they cannot afford to lay less than five blocks of the pavement in any one place, as it re- quires a considerable plant to manu- fracture and put it down, therefore they offer to lay not less than five squares of this novaculite pavement on ST. Martain street, nine inches deep and maintain it for five years, keeping it in repair for that time, the city to retain certain per cent of the cost price by way of indemnity i'll ease the company fails to carry out it's agreement of maintenance, and for this pavement the city is to pay S1 40 per yard, to be paid in in- stallments as the work progresses. It may be stated by way of com pafison that a brick pavement costs about $2.50 per yard, and the granite pavement about $3 9 per yard. The manufactures of this pavement claim that it possesses all the quai- ties of smoothness and elasticity at tributed to asphalt and all the dura- bility of granite or the best quality of brick. This novaculite comes from Alexander county, III. It is a sort of stone which is ground into powder and this being mixed with water forms q solid substance and makes the pavement. The surface can be,made as smooth as asphalt. MT. Bryden explained last night the process of manufacture. The orlgi- nal stone quarried in Illinois is ground and crushed to a powder, then, after being conveyed to the. place where if is to lay, if is mixed with water and put in the form of the pavement. No other substance is used but water-that is, no com posite material that is likely to de- cay or deteriorate under the influ- ence of climate.
 Mir. Bryden explains that the ma terial does not wear, does not re- duce to dust, is elastic, and although it has been in use for several years there is no indication that it will ever wear out. In case it is desired to take up a section of the pavement this can be done by drilling it out. Afterwards the particles drilled out can be replaced in their original posi- tions, water poured in and all the pavement solidified. Mir. Bell said that the stone when powdered con- tains about 95 per cent. of silica, and this when mixed with water forms a cement so hard that it cannot be scratched with a knife. To show that it cannot be affected by climat- ical conditions, he states that it can neither freeze nor burn.''