Omaha daily bee., 1900-01-31
determine upon the necessary right OF way
for said work.

work of engineering Department.
The work of the engineering department
I'm the past year has been exceedingly ,eN-
acting and In view OF the small apportton-
mcut was conducted under difficulties.
Field engineers To las on. work cOulu not
at times be secured under the a9proDrta-
ton limitations, as only temporary tm-
ploymcnt could be given them, so that at
times such men as could he secured were
shifted from positions of inspectors TO po-
sttuus Of engineers with varying salaries
per diem and per month. one Of the most
useful of these Was the late Nj. Cowlcs,
whose efficiency and faithtulncss deserve
special commcudation 1t has boon exceed
inglN d|lSCuuraEing ana demoraliHlnS 10
members of the engineering corps who have
for years studied and devoted time to the
selves getting smaller month"; salaries
ethan the mon working under them.
The drafting d' partment during the past
year has consisted mainly of one man, with
occasional helpers OF Held men curing
rainy or othe" inclcment weather. 1t has
been impossible under such conditions to
Keep Nv pla prphles, cruss-section rec
ords, maps ANA rawlings of numerous mis-
cellancous projects and make all maps of
streets opened, dedicated or closed. required
the county records. The that
because one man could do .he work during
a year when nothing was going on 1t should
not cost more now will not hold when eX-
tenSiNe work of every nature Is being car
ried on and should be mapped out and re-
corded during the progress of the work
to avoid CrrO..
In addition to the work of the drafting de-
partment the revision and correction of the
mouse numbc records are much needed. This
was nearly completed after much study i'm
1875. In 1895 the work was undertaken by
men entirely unfamiliar with the city and
the plan heretofore devised and as a result
much confusion has been developed by their
attempts. which VIII take considerable labor
to correct. y tabulated list of the work
done by the office force of the engineering
department accompanies this report In 1t
will be found i'm detail the extent of work
accomplished. Suffice it to say. that every
special tax levy for parks, houlevards, street
opening, sewer, paving or grading work was
prepared by this department, as also all or
dinlnceS for establishing and changing
grades and creating Improvement districts
OIL every nature, as well as reports upon
every petition for work.
Street Work and street Cleaning.
This, though done under the Board Of
Public Works, comes directly under the gen
eral charge of the city engineer as eN-
oticio chairman of said board. During the
Quoted directly under my personal super
vision. During this time the city was COW
perative demands OF public traffic required
to be removed with the greatest possible dis
patch. BY the proper organization of a
number of gangs, with foremen instructed
to select the most able-bodied men and
teams, with the power to dismiss anyone
failing to attend strictly to work, the clear
ing of the streets was accomplished at a
rapid rate. Instead of hauling the ice and
SllO" 10 ne IlNtl, as ldu Dbtn heretofore
done, appropriate manholes in storm sewers
were designated for the material to be
dumped into and as a consequence the hauis
We're all made quite short.
The cleaning of the streets during the re-
nnalndcr of the year was conducted as in
the previous year, without sprinkling and
entirely by hand day labor, and cost in the
aggregate nearly $lI, 100. About 81, 100 of this
was expended for three light one-horse box
carts employed exclusively in the business
center to keep the streets clear of loose
pauers of every nature. The cost of clean
ing the city exclusively by hand has beer
so great that / have endeavored to asCer-
tain by comparison the cost and methods
of cleaning In vogue in other cities.
With the use of proper sweeping maChin-
cry and sprinklers this cost could be re-
duced, with better results, to one-third that
amount. The charter prohibits the cleaning
or streets by contract. but it does not pro-
htbit Uhe city from purchasing or leasing
machinery and employing men by day labor
TO handle the machines and the work. This,
as all other work done upon the public
streets, is required to be done under the
supervision and control of the Board of Pub
lie Works. In violation of this provision all
the street sprinkling has been conducted
upon the streets of Omaha by a member
of the city council and the workmen en-
gagged in this work, when importuned not
TO sprinkle excessively upon sections of the
streets by the street superintendent or his
foreman have openly. detied them to help
themselves. The effect of such procedure is
the same as official interference in sidewalk
construction.