The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-09

in Worcester was settled by the heavy
ram of last Sunday, and the street de-
partment has had time to turn its at
tention. now that the important matter
OF outdoing the Consolidated in child s
play has been properly seen to, to the
cleaning OF the sidewalks and cross
walks and the preparing for big
thaw that will have to come before
long.
Up to date, however, nothing that
makes noticeable impression on the
optic nerve has been done Yesterday
the men in the employment of the
street department put in several hours
! in smoothing the snow track on the
boulevard for the convenience of the
owners Of speedy horses who wanted to
! try them in the afternoon and could
not do so unless the holl6ws in the road
were filled uD and the whole surface
or the avenue smoothed down for
them.
So far, however, those who have no
| horses and are compelled to use the
plebeian sidewalks. have not had any
| thing but speedways arranged for
them. Jack Frost has made a first
| class toboggan slide on every cross
walk in the city, and, with the excen-
tlon OF very few in the centre of the
city they remain in all their slippery
clouds. - 0'i' Inc
Within in quarter of a mile of the
city hall, few of the crosswalks have
been cleared and are in fairly decent
condition, but it is saying nothing but
the strict truth to declare that in every
other portion of the city the cross
walks and the sidewalk are in a con-
| altion that is positively dangerous to
life and limb
Few of them are cleared of the thick
coating of ice that covers them, and
| such thing as sand is foreign to their
nature. There has not Deen as much
sand put on the sidewalks and cross
walks this winter by the street de
paftment as ought to be found in the
makeup Of a pound of sugar. The
crosswalks are so dangerous in MANY
parts OF the city that onfy the surest-
Footed people dare to travel over them
and 1t is no uncommon sight to see
people turning out into the street
through the banks of snow that line
the way rather than risk their lives
by a fall on the uncleaned walks.
Whle things are in this condition the
street department makes no effort TO
remedy it as far as can be known. on
the west side, especially along Pleasant
street hill the walks that lead over
the cross streets are like a pane of
glass in their treacherous smoothness.
ana II is only with the EXTREMIST care
ana agility that person can get acre IS
them without being sent on a flying
career that ends in the hospital.
Most of the househoders in the CITY
nave mad the grace to clear off their
| SIDEWALKS as they are obliged to. but
they needn't have unless they felt like
| IL. The street commissioner would
never have made any kick about if
through the police department. where
the remedy lies for negligence in this
respect. The street department is sup
posed to see to the removal of snow
from the sidewalks in front of houses
! having no tenants or in front of vacant
land where the owner is not to he
touched to do the trick but if it had
not been for The Spys protest against
the neglect of the rights of the citizens
on the part of the department. nothing.
in this line would have been done m
to date.
Early yesterday morning the denart-
ment put men at work on the desert
ed sidewalk that was mentioned in
The Spy's columns, and also got in some
work on other sidewalks in the vicinity
on Hawthorne and Downing Streets
Some few buried stretches on Main
street were also eXhumed as the di
rect result of The SDy's protest
The people Of the neighborhood have
I been wondering why something was not
| done in the matter as long as thew
had waited nearly two weeks to have
the snow removed that was due to come
off In two days under an effierant ad-
ministration of the department, but
they had to wait till The Spy took up