The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-09-11
STREET IMPROVEMENTS
A FEW POINTS THAT WILL INTEREST
CITY TAXPAYERS
Recently $4,000 to $4,000 Tons of
Rock Have Been Placed on the streets
of wTimington-Relatfve Cost of the
Street Work Done by the City-Supe~
rior Rock Now Being Mined at the
City Quarries.


now under way are on = larger and
more comprehensive plan than ever
before in the history Of the city.
Within the past few months there
has been mined and put on he streets
between 1900 and $1,000 tons % rock.
and much OF the rock IS equal IN quail
ity TO granite. A speciment OF he rock
now being mined. on exhibition At the
city hall, looks very much Ike granite.
Before the quarry was opened. the
streets and wharyes committee en-
deavored to make = contract with the
Castle Haynes Company. but owing
TO the inability cf that company 10
convict labor, the contract
was never consummated. The city
was then confronted with the alterna-
tive OF buying granite away from
home, or undertaking he venture OF
opening a quarry near by.
Granite could not be put on the
stress for less than $50 a ton. and
with the limited % the city.
the amount OF Improvements possible
on such a high basis OF cost would
have been too limited 10 have tusti-
fed the investment
4 deposit OF rock near the eastern
limits OF the city was now TO exist.
but its extent and character were un-
ascertainable. However, c was
reason TO believe that a deposit similar
in character 10 the Castle haynes
rock could be found in sufficient guam
tity TO justify the experiment OF the
city's quarrying its own supplies 80
.an- u-ara az nne.a "a kan ~ this end
The result OF the venture has been 10
disclose a vast deposit Of various
grades OF shell rock. sope OF which Is
as hard as granite. and il j. found in
sufficient quantity = meet all the de-
mands of the city f. y-ars. This quail
ity OF och 3 no. ling put on the
streets a. A cost ne = exceed Sl2o per
ton. while the softer grades will show
a lower cost.
The Castle Haynes rock has never
cost less chan $1.20 PEI ION put on the
streets. and is Of muca Inferior quail
~ 10 the rock now being used. 80 that
the relative ~cheapneSs of the work now
being o is apparent. Under the
Wright administration the contract
for the Castle Haynes rock VAS S1.24
F. O. B.. track Wilmington, which rep
resented at the lowest stimat Sl.is
per ton delivered on the streets.
Had a contract been closed for Cas-
tie HAYNES rock or granite the money
| would have gone to a corporation n
the transportation companies, where
as. every dollar now paid for perma-
nent improvements is 10 local labor.
and goes back Immediately into the
channels of trade in the city. To give
an idea of the extent to which the
community has thus been benefited,
it is only necessary to mention that
at one time there were employed on
permanent improvements $50 men at
wage average of sL00 per day.
The uncertainty of the character and
extent of the rock deposit p~recluded
the possibility Of putting the work
out at contract before the quarry was
| opened, and now that the city has one
TO the expense of opening the mine,
buying machinery and building a turn
pike half mile long, 1t is considered I'M
questionably cheaper to operate the
mine than ii is TO let the work out by
contract.
In respect of the character of the
work, il is to be noted that the prin-
cipal streets sue as Fifth street and
the gaps filled in On Third and Front
streets, are being m~acddamiZed in &C
cordance with the theory of the au-
thor of this principle Of road building.
The rock is put on in five sizes to a
depth never less than S inches from
curb to curb. thus preventing the
chipping off of the edges of the road
bed, SUCH as occurs on q narrow CEN
tire road. This character of road will
compare ~favorably with the Market
street improvement, and in respect OF
cost il is $1.20 per ton against $3.50,
the material for Market street having
beer let out al contract of S1.S5. +. o.
b. wharf.
The value of good roads can be APP
preciated in the great economy in horse
power, as shown by the following
table:
Character Resistance
of Road. Equal to.
Sand. Is of a load
Ordinary earth........ lilo OF a o
Ordinary macadam..... lbs OF a load
Viteriied prick .....-...1-12 of a o
The outlay IN street improvements
Is returned 10 the community many
fold in the way Of appreciation in the
value Of property. so that rightly CON
sidered. the expenditure is on invest
ment account
Obviously the streets and wharves
committee has given the matter Of
permanent street improvements
thoughtful consideration. and il Is
worthy Of note that there Is nothing
to liz that the work has been
planned on any other intention than
to accomplish the best results for the
city as a whole, and in contrast 70
former methods, evidence is entirely
wanting to show that political aspira-
ton or private pressure has had any
part indicating the work 10 De o
A Popular Odd Fellow