New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-17
WHERE REFORM is NEEDED.
DEFECTIVE LABELLING OF STREETS AND
NUMBERING OF HOUSES.
STREET SIGNS WRONG IN SOME PLACES AND
ABSENT IL MANY oTHERs-MIsLEADlNG
ARRANGEMENT OF NUMBERS ON
HOUSES AND STORES

ARRANGEMENT OF NUMBERS ON
HOUSES AND STORES
Among the enterprises undertaken By Brcokiyns
last Republican administration. and taken up ny
the present Republican officials. which Will enc III
,os.in, hene0t to every resident Of Brooklyn IS the
labelling Of the streets with new sishs. Inns "oN
has attracted little attention as coihpaIe1 VIZ.
several Of the pretentious uncertainties "a
Commissioners White and Wills partly because "
calls for smaller appropriations and Is csri,ea Oh
oust,y and gradually but 1t viii receive the nearly
suppor, Of all persons who ever have occasion 20
use the public highways. AID that means Heali!
everybody.
Brooklyn at best IS not remarkably WcH-ii
ranged city Boston, by common consent, hoids 'e
rec,rd FOR crooked streets and general ccihpeNit!
of pan bit Il Is little short OF certain tiat II
second city were TO be officially named III 'e'pe.
10 intricate and eccentric arrangemehe OF s"es"
BROOKLYN would win the unenViable disti0''oi''
souarcs arc In all conceivable shapes known 10 ."'
mathematician from the square~cornered recta"s,eS
to .r,ansies rhomboids and trapezoids AS 'he Guy
grew ans rapidly spread out to IN" soa'h ana cas-
n section at a time was laid out, possip! WITH s'''
care on some bodys part. but TO present appear
aucss .yi,h little attention from the surveyors Ana
So AT present none but the most accomplished e"-
rcrt on city geography has the temerity 10 MAKE
expeditions to Us various districts without previously
consulting a guidebook or plying conductors WIZ" 4
dozen or two questions about the proper route ~
take his journey. 49,,
IN tho last ten or nfteen years the confusion thus
,,s,,,iug fran, the city's defective and intricate
,i,r has heen doubled By the destruction. in one
way or another. OF the signs placed on the corners
-rsc an..cuatei street lamps when they were me-
used were highly satisfactory as gnhie pests "
cause they were so arranged mat the letters Oo''
MAINLY be seen at night Bat when gas was re-
n,,ced tv electricity FOR Illuminating purposes the
old uos;s were selected by the small DoyS as soou
targets for all kinds Of abuse The ola ie''eis VIZ
retained as long as they lasted. but that was not
long Then the framework o: tho globes was re-
moved by the Superintendent of Streets ana Inc
names OF the lntersecting streets were place." ''o'
mica on. above the other the tops OF the Ola
posts For time this scheme seemed 20 De sue
cessful but the small boy soon began TO get III ms
good work again, and the days OF uselun'ss 'o'
me reiuvenated guide posts seemed 20 nc III pr
portion 10 their distances from schooi"ouSss, w.,
snovbaus and other missiles failed 10 do me "o'N
=. rc,noyng the signs, mischievous hahds were
-eady TO twist them around 50 tna' fui'oi-S'' i0
instance would have as many names a. '"eie
streets crossing II. and there was the same iue'
81 rul;on-sts crossing the one long thoroushia'e
Or the thousand. of posts which were ht'eu ou' WI"
va crossed labels not than one IN twenty
now remains intact. Either one or both OF INC
names have been lost, or both' py INC "'''"s
process have been made useless
THE SMALL BOY NOT ALONE TO BLAME"
Tho -nlschevous small boy has not. however, been
the only means OF destroying the usefulness u TIC
signs Awnings erected over the sidewalks sign
boards and numerous other objects nave peeh a.
lowed 20 cut off the view OF the signs from one sue
or another Many property-owners have in part
made good this wre,ched state OF affairs by placing
or their houses and business blocks SIGNS OF 'A'r
own which, however, are tucked away wherever II
seemed most convenient to place them, me M
work have doubtless helped matters 10 s1vaa a eH ~
system Hundreds of waysarers seeking for a sign
10 guide them in their weary Journeys nave Dfel
games Of Side The thimble before they could ind
he to send them me on same ne pre-
vail. AS rule one sign can De iound on h,,, Eve;
II is not probable that single election district can
be found where there Is any regularity IN tne ntt
Of The streets IS inadequately done as TO be al
most useless In many ,e 1t the person can
walk for twenty blocks at time without hndlng d
ssn There are r Has26n, 10 10 Ss rnT
and on several other streets which are amply
n tbe Tw.ntyh.a and fwen;y-hfh wards where.
on Saratoga-ave. from Broadway to East New
,hree sjsns can be found In Howard and Hopkn-
aves. in the same number Of blocks the Work
streets from Bsdfordave the city line are In this
wre.ched condition.
A HINT OF IMPROVEMENT.
1t would be impossible to enumerate all OF the
streets which sadly need the attention of the Super
White when In Office. began the work OF labelling
the streets Mr.. Willis. his successor has taken II
up and Nicholas /. Flocken. his Superintendent OF
Streets will shortly advertise for bids for as many
new signs as can be purchased with the available
appropriation OF $1,000 Mr. Flocken says mat he
viii first give his attention the business districts
Of the city and WILL before entering the residential
sections see that the main thoroughfares OF ousi'
ness activity are well cared for The varied con- n;
The city make impossible the laying down of any
xed rule rssardns tho location OF the new sgns
object upon the buildings at the corners The rule
crossing on the uptown side. the uptown corner
will be Labelled. and the other signs VIII De Riacd
cagonal,y across the streets. II Is not considered
necessary to place them on all four corners The
new signs have letters two and one-haIi ihches
eS ane sse SoSa asts Of viii
be used Will purchase signs which will be used as
Ti.ibush-ave. q II Coari-st. i in Thirdave 6: in
Tifth.ave:. 81 IN Broadway. IS in Manhattan-ave,
IS in Bedford-ave. and II in Grand-st.
II poperty-owners insist in their unwingness 10
be done except 10 pass the corner by and leave it
unmarried. Il Is no, probable; however that many
new signs. wh.eh are attrasiiye in appearance
been cared for the work viii be extended into the
parts of the city occupied by dwelling houses APP
The work Will be steadily pushed TO completion
NUMBERS NEED ATTENTION.
Not less deplorable than the erra,c labelling o.,
the streets which characteriZes Brooklyn's
thoroughfares Is the defective numbering OF the
houses and stores. Owners OF houses have ap-
parently We'd with each other In finding for the
numbers OF their dwellings places which would es-
cape the notice OF the passersby In many cases
the numbers are on the right hand door. which
ID generally opened back in the daytime. II thus
becomes necessary. In order to read the number. 10
climb part way up the steps. In other houses the
figures are placed upon the glass of the vsstibuie
door, and cannot be seen II the outer doors are
closed. In vast number of cases the houses arc
not numbered at all and the wayfarer has TO try
back" TO hunting phrase. until he takes an
observation from a numbered house, and then cacn.
lates the numbers as he goes along. This method
OF getting ones bearings Is frequently nenectve:
because many numbers In certain blocks are skipped