The herald., 1897-11-09
PASSED AT LAST
Ordinance of Intention for Spring
Street Resurfacing Adopted

1t was not until the afternoon session
looked-for petition to have Spring street
resurfaced with asphalt from Temple
stree. to Ninth was presented. The
petition was in the usual form and pro-
vided for the work at a cost of not more
than cents per square foot. 1t was pre-
sented by Mr.. McGarvin, who has been
circulating it for some weeks. AS soon
as it was read 1t was sent at once to the
city engineers office for the purpose of
ascertaining whether there was a ma
jority of the frontage represented upon
it. To do this required some time, and
in order that the matter might be dis
posed of at that session a recess was or
dered. AS soon as possible the city en-
gineers force compared the signatures
with the official map and made up their
| report Of the result, which was at once
submitted to the council. 1t was found
that the total frontage on the petition
was 61S7.S feet. The total property line
involved measures 10,793.7 feet, of which
1896 feet is majority. 1t will therefore
be seen that the petition contained near
ly 800 feet more than the necessary ma
jority.
Accompanying the petition was the
ordinance of intention for the work, and
Mr.. Nickel moved the suspension of the
rules so that the ordinance could be
placed upon its passage.
This gave Mr.. Hutchison an oppor-
| tunity for which he had probably been
waiting. He rose and violently opposed
| the passage of the ordinance at that
time, saying there was no need of undue
haste. He thought the matter might be
deferred for a time, but IL he had any
reason for so wishing he did not make it
clear to those who heard his harangue.
| During it he took occasion to assail the
three leading papers Of the city, but did
not specify which papers he meant. The
burden of his song was that the papers
were subsidized, and along that line he
| talked for ten minutes, arguing that
the Spring street improvement was the
work of the papers of the city. His bid
for notoriety had no effect upon the mat
ter under discussion.
Another question was unexpectedly
| injected into the matter of the improve
ment of Spring street. Earlier in the
session the Los Angeles Oil Burning and
Supply company brought up the matter
of the specifications for asphalt work,
claiming that under the present specifl-
cations they were shut out from compe-
tition in street work. In this connection
they presented a communication from
the Merchants and Manufacturers as
sociation in which a change of specifica-
tions was urged. Another communica-
tion was received from the oil producers
trustees in which 1t was stated that the
present specifications were unfair and
that they worked hardship to the Oil
men here, as they prevented the sale
locally Of the asphaltum that was in the
| oil. Attorney Marble appeared for the
| company and made an appeal for q
change. His argument was about the
same as when, several weeks ago, he
appeared before the board of public
works and asked consideration of the
matter.
Mr.. Grider moved to refer the Spring
street matter to the board of public
works.
At the request of Mr.. Mathuss, City
Engineer Dockweiler explained the
present specifications under which the
| Spring street work will be done. He
| spoke on the subject for half an hour,
stating in detail the result of the inves-
!
| legations that had been made of the sew
eral kinds Of asphalt. He urged that he
be allowed to make tests of the several
well-known brands for future purposes.
After the matter had been spoken on by
nearly all the members, Mr.. Dockweiler
was instructed to prepare a report as to
the best method of conducting these
tests and submit it at the next meeting
Mr.. Nickel stated that he did not &c
on record as opposing any home product
but he wanted Spring street improved
| and he believed the people wanted it
| The amendment of Mr.. Grider was los
and when the original motion to pass tn,
/ ordinance of intention was put it wa
! adopted by vote Of seven to two
: Hutchison and Grider voting in the neg
) ative.
ROUTINE BUSINESS