The morning news., 1899-12-20
BRICK WALKS OUT OF DATE.
Ex-ALD. KROUsKOFF SPEAKS FOR
THE sOUTHsIDE.


Beautify That Section-SOme
Change Should be Made An the
Sidewalk System Which Would
Permit of Uniformity, He Thinks.
Ex-Alderman Krouskoff thinks that
some step should be taken to put stop to
the further disfgurtng of the southern
section by the indiscriminate laying of
brick sidewalks in close proximity to those
of artificial stone. 1t was Mr.. Krouskoff's
idea that all the sidewalks in the section
south of Anderson street should be of ar
tifcial stone, and when a member of the
last Council he introduced and had passed
an ordinance to that effect
The ordinance required that all the prop
erty owners in that section should lay ar
tifcial sidewalks within a specified time.
There was a decided protest from the
property owners, especially the larger
ones, and when the Myers Council came
into power the ordinance was repealed. In
lieu of the Krouskoff ordinance another
sidewalk ordinance was adopted requiring
the property owners TO construct side
walks on the principal streets in the
SOutNSlh SSStAOh ann SpSCAlylilB HSllOuS VI
six, eight and twelve months within which
the property owners were allowed to COM
ply with the ordinance. If, at the expira-
ton of these periods, the walks had not
been laid the director of public works was
instructed to proceed to lay the walks. the
cost of the same to be assessed against
the abutting property owners
As was to be expected the majority of
the property owners paid little attention
to the requirements of the ordinance, and
the six months period having
expired some time since the city
begun laying the walks. The
property owners were still given the
option, however, of laying artificial stone
or brick walks, and many availed them
selves of the opportunity 20 lay artificial
stone. 1t has been a matter of frequent
comment that the property owners who
protested most strongly against the re-
quirements of the Krouskoff ordinance,
have nearly all of them since put down
artificial stone and some of these very
property owners are now kicking because
their neighbors are using brick. Brick
being the cheaper material is used by the
city, and as the work is done on large
scale the cost is less to the property own
ers than If they had made private con-
tracts for the work.
The Bull street property owners have al
most to a unit, made use of artificial stone
and the few who have not yet laid side
walks are expected to follow suit, as most
of them nave expressed the intention of
doing. The city has completed the work
of laying sidewalks on Drayton, Jefferson
and Barnard streets, and is now at work
on other streets. AS the majority of the
property owners who intend laying arti-
fetal stone walks have already done so,
the brick walks are being sandWiched in
between in front of the dots of owners
who are not so particular as to material.
This is not satisfactory TO those owners
who went to the expense of laying artl-
fetal stone, with the belief that this would
be the prevailing material In that section.
This is particularly the case in the south
eas tern section, where a number of hand
some residences have been erected, whose
owners have gone to the expense of lay
ing artificial stone walks, as one brick
walk in a block destroys the whole er-
feet
1.-The city has made q great mistake in
constructing brick walks or in allowing
the property owners to construct such
walks in the southern section" said Mr.
Krouskof yesterday. "a splendid oppor-
tunity was offered for securing walks of
uniform material and that of the best
throughout the whole southside section
This opportunity has been allowed to pass
but it is not too late yet to remedy a part
of the evil. Where the majority OF the
property owners have already provided
artificial stone walks provision could be
made for a degree of uniformity by pro-
viding that intervening walks should be
laid with the same material. At one end
of Eighth street there is an uninterrupted
stretch of three or four blocks of artificial
stone walks with the exception of one 90
foot front which has been recently laid
with brick, and which greatly Injuries the
effect"
The worst feature of the business, Alder
man Krouskoff thinks. is that not only are
property owners allowed to put down
brick walks in close proximity to artificial
stone walks, but that the city itself is do
ing this. The consequence is that brick
walks are being Joined to stone walks, or
brick walks are to be seen on one side of
a street and stone walks on the other.
Mr.. Krouskoff said that he was at loss
to suggest a remedy for this state of af-
fairs unless, as may be the case, the
Streets and Lanes Committee or the di-
rector of public works, has the power to
say which material shall be used In this
case he thinks that it would be a very
simple thing for them TO direct that uni
formity should be preserved by filling out
the vacant spaces where stone walks have
already been laid with similar material
This would do away with the patchwork
effect.
Mr.. Krouskoff believes that the day of
the brick sidewalk for up-to-date cities
has passed. Brick was all right for side
walk purposes" he said, "in the days of
talow dips and when kerosene oil was
regarded as a luxury, but in these days
of telephones, electric lights and automo-
biles the brick walk is a back number
and should be relegated TO the past where
1t belongs. Council has recognized this
in the of a n NH fat,
requires that all new walks laid on Bull
street and on the intersecting streets be-
tween Drayton and jefferson shall be of
artificial stone. II seems 10 me that Bull
street south is just as good as Bull street
north and that Seventh and Eighth streets
and other streets in the southern section
are entitled to just as good sidewalks as
the streets in the northern section of the
city"
There are many other property owners
in the southern section who agree with
Mr.. KrouskOf on the sidewalk