The Jersey City news., 1898-12-13


ford us rather more than an average
share of satisfaction. Such piece OF
work Is the repaving Of Mont somery
This street has several times in recent
years been patched and repaved In a
more or less Indifferent manner. but the
work never proved satisfactory and soon
after o1r Induction into offles Il was CON
Guided that a pavement of the best char
acter should be placed. in this thorough
fare. Our specifications were prepared
with such object in view, and on June q,
1897. a contract was awarded for the work
on the basis OF S1.S1 per yard, including
concrete base. Il the specifications were
to be lived up 10 the price quoted was
ridiculous. but specifications had been
in the past SO silccessfuliy lodged that
perhaps Il was nor unreasonable for a
we're to prevail and that such work al
would produce profit would pass muster.
but such a rigid censurpslaip was estab-
lished By the late Chief Engineer tMr.
L. d. Fowler that the Illusion ifSit ex-
isted was soon lispelled AS All Instance
of the care exercised Il can be stated
blocks first delivered an street were 5 re 2
jected During me expe,fion ~ ra,,fra II
ascertainment was made thar the sewer
in street required nartIaJ h,1t inmep5ia ~ q + q
reconstrloti5il nd This moi bvina beeo
foreseeu q fonsss,11e,,t ,3a,av ras,,i}asI - &,
the confracfor beinr reiia~sd 81 ,is ~ ',l
snonsihiiitv ~ as r.
eessjfafe1 II 5ai, es she VIZ slie ,ss ns
work hv ~ rai,I, ~ g q lns
fhs rer+i,,s ? ~ 5 81 ~ =. III
t,s,1 III, AZ - Z flet III the paldhcs
sfsj,o 49,, - 800, q sess9 pel square yaru-
bsrs - ~. 80 si,gs anu rs
abIv with slat ssa ps,lynei coshpare favor
AVSNI saf1. si1t talq Fl, a1ny,MheTe; ~ wv :. &
Tlu,f,,s. = tsaS 5eS- y = Isf1fA YIN
tbt p,,s ,te 81 ~ = became apparent
~ soud be racan 5aalls va lo ene deF
- - III. Srlo Wy Ks leesn nstIueleur ana specltl-
e,5 ,,re ~ fhs attdlninent OF lnat
ed anu a.. Gontract was
Wbie we rs ,,sa o r,s sGtoper II lsyt
= y, ,iitg * We naa preparea lpr work petter
on ,ar 3 : ~ Y ~ n.y. Idisuiaisa s
ys ,a4 @ .egAsspaloissiiy NE Il
fnr ,ea ~ otnsry slreet,
o,,a,a'ti tI - .iie pssaIilhs q
: 1 - i ~ 3 ~ vle.s stfset WoTk
sert5nn fhas thino b1t sya,.,, =.
class wa,Id safisfr they, y, - tlasy ttse
nreferrsd ", tns,h ~ laee they
Fl, y, + a III ~ s., ~ s II r. = ~ f ~ u
M s,s,,,t aSs Vial lney derined an lnIeraor
ed. ana some portion Of s1S the the work having
mil fhsl cn,sra efr,,. ra,,astad ~ ~ re.
lievaf, The ra1,,sest basnp sranted We
amended our snecifica fions rsadverfised
eantract ti5s inyyeaf iii hairg . az ,,ar
ne = ii3w w l ssl
11ena ~, M, tfg. s fs;5
sf5IJa "a ~ r rf,EyTIrTpN 10,
flut afforts r by;,ssr l,ai,t = laeeiffir r.
c,ersnefifinn II, sgsnhslf sas.ing seemed fn
hay baa n xrai f5ax 1ap
ofls when a spasn1odie coTifention among
tha various Competing companies gave
promise OF good results But such con-
fentions failed in lasting qualities, and
the nature of recent bidding compels us
to assume that an understanding existed
among the .scompetitorsn (?)
That the prices quoted for asphalt work
were being gradually increased to a figure
practically prohibitive became obnoxious
IL apnarent and a remedy was at once
applied. which. while perhaps heroic. was
certainly effectual Proposals which had
been previously received and the lowest
of which indicated price of S2.26 per
square yard for such paving was re-
jected. Declaration was made thaI. the
maximum price that would be paid by
the city for the best grade of work was
S1.73, and in the face OF Such declafatlon
proposals were again sollcltea Win result ssaiit
that new tender was maoe at apouI "
sta, which was accepted, ana aWaru
made accordingly.
Wheuher this actlon py tne coInlans .lpall,
correctly foresnadows What they conseil-
plate Ior tHe lusu zNe uD 70. 70. @ my y y . !,
but we do know that we VIII not fecede
from the poslIion We navS ,s, tahei "a TrTi
sucn slana snolid assoie ;t IL ~ ~,
asphait pelng tag n sil.S sae elsy he Inora1
direction In TINS we expect the moral
support OF every cltl2el;, Iz ll;,1,,r,zn7nr
MACADAMi T Y 1AN E.-4 slls ls1s !. :. - 7,,,
Our past experience WIN r.
pavement mas req " ~ coiiuell,t IN, 1id
ill-adapteu Tor use IN cues. oilee 1 laiu \
and the abutllns pfopeIty aSssSseu' ss7.s.,sl,
therefore II becomes u Pciiiidhe5lt eliai ls -
on the city for maintenance ana resloIa.
ton If It IS not given great cale y
speedily disintegrates ana our annuai
output for its sprinklng and TOP aress.' s.
ing has so increased that during the lasl
fiscal year the amount expended closely
approximated S., 3SO NOTWITHSTANDING
our past experiences ana consequeinill .ls,. Is
fusals to pass favorably. on petlllons
comprehending this grade OF work, prop
erty owners in certain localities We're so
irnportunate in their requests that we
reconsider our determination, that we
finally agreed to try in a few exclusively
residential localities the effect or spe-
cifcation which compels contractor. 10
maintain the roadway for five years, and
several contracts have been let on that
basis We are not wholly convinced OF
the wisdom of this venture, in fact we
view II with not a little suspicion, and
have but to say in extenuation of our
course that the residents Of the localities
henefitad were SO positive that their
streets would give good wear in return,
tI,at We have made the experiment with
tIe hone of beirg convinced
r JCENSIe MONEY FRITTERING
Az Is generally known the fund from
which we draw the monies to pay eor the
rernnsfruction Of streets is derived from
The smol1nts received by the city for
iiano, licenses At, the time of the in
s1isstinotIy orasi5eel Thai II should be ex-
ei,1s,veIv ,ised for fhe repair and nam
tf,,s,,ce az naved streets. and when q
f,5,,d of s,1cb naaenitllde could be utilized
aSi.S ss,,s;,,slu f,1 s3,nh snecific purpose it
S1.s ~ b,,t natural II exnecf that q great
Ssa1 Ma1 oa,,ld ba : q ccason1ished This en-
peefatia,, nraved a reality and the i'm