El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-07-09
Those Streets And Cutters

The street commissioner has had his
force hard at work for the last two
days to grade the cutters on the two
blocks of San Antonio street that have
been in such bad condition.
AS these cutters are nothing but
dirt it is impossible to keep horses
from making holes wherever there IL a
hitching post, aud these holes fill up
with nasty water and filth and the
stencil is something terrible.
One of the merchants on San Anto-
MO street yesterday, in talking to a
HERALD reporter, said; THAT hole
out there near the front of my door is
SO nasty and smells so bad that
closing up shop and going home, for
1 am disguised with the whole outfit
of this city administration. 1t seems
strange to me that they cant spend
few hundred dollars to fix up our
streets ashley should be, and especially
the main street,
A few doors from the first place men
toned the HERALD's man stopped to
look at the work going on, and the
odor which was stirred up as the men
hoed out the gutter was so terrific that
he had to move along. At one place
along on this block the sidewalk was
partially flooded; the property Is that
of Richard Caples, an ex-
mayor of Ell Paso. Here the sidewalk
is too low by four or five inches and
the water that should be in the gutter
had encrOached on the sidewalk fully
three feet. This water on the side
walk was not only nuisance from it's
stencil, but was in the way OF the peo-
pie passing.
While the reporter was looking at
the work going on, one of the mer-
chants asked what was being done,
and on being informed the merchant
said, THAT hole there is Disgrace to
the city and it is injuring my
business. You may not believe it,
but it If SO. The ladies all COM
plain who come into my store to trade,
and ask me why 1 don't fix it. 1 tell
them it is not my businessto repair the
streets, it is the city's business, but it is
injuring my business and don't know
what am going to do. 1 hope il they
get it cleaned out this time they
will keep it cleaned out all the time,
but am afraid they won't and in few
days it will be just as bad as it has
been this tjme.''
While this merchant and the re-
porter were talking another man came
along and joined in the conversation.
Said he, "Look at that pile of gravel
WHICH Was jumped IN Tue RuGGer tnere.
Now that was great mind that con-
ceived the idea of dumping that there.
I wonder what he thought he was go
ing to gain by doing. that. He did more
harm than good for he now has the
pleasure of removing it. Oh! these are
great minds some of our city officials
have"
The reporter broke away and left
the two men still talking. On coming
up the street he met man who is con-
sidered good contractor, and of
course as the one conversation on the
streets was about the cutters he began
to talk of them. 81 don't see why the
city won't spend few hundred
dollars for the repair of the
cutters of these two blocks, as they
certainly need it bad enough" The
reporter asked him what it would cost
the city to give the two blocks good
cobble stone cutters, and after q
little figuring he said: "The
man who would undertake the
job could put down q three
foot gutter with four inch dip and
make it out of six inch cobbles for
about S115 a block, both sides, and
then make enough money to feel we'll
paid for the contract