The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-03-26

curling, grading and paving has been
done!"
1t would be Impossible to give infor-
nation in q newspaper article. 1t has
been going on continually for the past
four years, and you have only to look
around you to see it for yourself. 1t has
not been confined to any particular sec
ton of the city, but almost every street
and community has felt some Of the
wholesome results of our system OF
street Improvement. We have not done
! all that we desired to do for our city.
but we have given to the work of beau
tifying and improving our city, the very
! best service of which we were capable
under the circumstances.
| We would like to answer this qucs
| ton in detail, but it would take page
/ after page of your paper for us to do
so. If any one wishes to know where
this work is, and will drive over the
city, he will find it almost every where
and the work will speak for itself.
Question 4. How much money has
been used for street improvements out
side of the bond issueT'
! During the four years since the pres
ent system of street improvements was
J
of the general fund of the city S49,-
4S791 not including the street commits
sioner's salary, proyinder, smithwork
and pumps.
| Question 5. 'Why the curbing. grail
/ ing and paving has scattered so
much!"
| When the people voted for the bonds
for street improvements, we promised
/ that the work should be distributed as
/ equally as possible, consistent with the
general good of the town, between the
four wards of the city.
we nave striven faithfully to comply
with this promise, and with the single
exception of being compelled to spend
a good sum around the capitol square
| (Which really benefits everyone in the
/ city) it will be found when we exhaust
the bond money, that we have treated
every ward with equal justice. We did
not think it would be right to take one
or two streets or any part of the city
and spend all of the bond money on
| them and leave the other parts of the
city unimproved. We realized that $780,
600 would not go very far il we attempt
ed to grade. curb and pave the streets
| as we came to them, consequently we
thought it would give greater satisfaction
and benefit more people by reaching ont
into every section of the city and
grading and curbing the streets as we
proceeded and getting the streets in
readiness to be macadamzed and conf
| pleted at some future day as the work
progressed.
/ We have however pushed the work
of matchmaking also as rapidly rs We
could get out and crush the stone at
our quarry near the city.
BY adopting this system we have been
able to grade and curb over sixteen
miles of street, on which good brick side
walks have been or will be put down
within the next few months. This will
give us good sidewalks nearly all over
the city and our people will not be COM
PEELED to wade in mud to their shoe tops
every time it rains.
We have studied the problem of street
improvements for our city as carefully
of doing, and the plan adopted by us was
in our humble judgment the best which
could have been devised under the ex-
listing conditions for all parties con-
! cerned, rich and poor alike. We honest
iy believe that had this money been
4 +,
as some seem to think would have been
the best plan, it is our opinion that it
would have given widespread discol-
tent, except among a few who were
benefited, and that it would have been
useless to have even attempted another
bond issue by vote of the people,
whereas now nearly every one seems to
be pleased with the improvements which
how lrn, n e.t, nofy =
be much easier to get the people to vote
for bonds since they have seen these
Improvements than it was before the last
election ON bonds. Our streets are just
now in a condition to be improved very
rapidly, large number having already
been graded and curbed and being
ready for the finishing touches.
We have the city rock quarry now
well developed and a railway bull. out
to it and we are in better condition
TO push the improvements successfully
than ever before. We think 1t would
be a fatal mistake to check these i'm
provements at the present. They should
go ON with every possible dispatch, and
the people should in our humble judg-
ment vote for the additional 100000
for street improvements, whether the
present street committee is retained or
| not.
RECEIPTS DURING PAST FOUR
YEARS.
From general fund ........$ 49,ES7.91
From the bond money -. 55,C19.OI
Total .SIU4, .bO.oS
DISBURSEMENTS.
For laying S2,421 feet curb
/ ing at 20 ..........$ 16,zS4.2O
Grading 1926 cubic yards
of earth at % ........... 36,554.OO
Macadam, ordinary, Is blocks
at 10000 ............... 100000
Macadam shell rock, two
blocks at 1000. ........I. 100000
One block vitritied brick. 10000
Paving belgian blocks 16,4l7
square yards at LOO. $3.50. 1G,411.0O
Cost of building railroad to
quarry -. ............ 2,474.7s
Cost of machinery, equip
ping quarry -. 100000
| Cost of rock crusher, put
! ting up and equipping =. 941.20
Paid ON steam road roller. 2,GS792
Work done on the capitol