The suburban citizen., 1900-08-18
G66d Roads R5tss
Detective city Streets.

"Y lie movement for better high.
ways was undertaken mainly
to effect the improvement Of
those roads which lie outside
the limits Of towns and cities and, IN
large part, traverse purely rural dis
tricts The mileage Of such roads Is
very great; their condition is often de-
plorable; many of those who use them
most appear Indifferent to their i'm
poyement and violently opposed to
spending any money on them, or even
to changing time-worn methods of
maintenance. These conditions have
proved serious obstacles to the general
Inauguration of road Improvement, but
by united and prolonged effort and
years Of work they are gradually
being surmounted.
The condition, however, of the
streets, in most Of the towns and cities
which do not come within the scope
of the good roads movement is, rela-
lively, about as bad as that of the
country roads. In some of the towns
and cities few streets are paved at all,
and in most of them much of the pave
ment is rough, badly laid, and poorly
kept. This seems the more strange, as
the wealth, progressiveness, CONNER
cial activity and intelligence Of the
country are concentrated in large
measure, in and around the centres of
population.
1t would appear that the needs of
modern life should have long ago led
all places Of any size or pretense to IA
cilitate local development by afford
ing commerce the best possible means
to prosecute it's undertakings by pro-
viding smooth, paved ways within their
borders for quick and easy transpor-
tation 1t would seem that disease
should lave been warded off death
rates reduced and regulations for
healthfulness sought after, by laying
pavements easily and cheaply cleaned,
and equal to the requirements Of mod
ern sanitary methods. 1t would be
supposed that the recreation of the
populace would have been everywhere
provided for by the construction Of
boulevards, parkways and parks that
would provide place for pleasant
change and healthful exercise in leis-
ure moments. In short, there are
many reasons why, the more dense
the population and the greater the vol
ume of business transacted the better
the pavements should be.
1t is seldom that such is the case,
and it is the more curious because
Americans usually demand in large
measure all those things that make
for their comfort and pleasure, and it
the more disgTaceful because the ne
cessity for something better is con-
stantly and painfully apparent and
the facilities and means are at hand
to provide all that can be required.
A gentleman just returned from
abroad has stated that our city streets
compare even more unfavorably with
those Of foreign cities than do our
country roads with their country roads.
1t is not difficult to believe this,
Though the round cobble is perhaps no
longer laid, there are streets where
their abominable surfaces must be ira
versed The forms of block pavement
more generally used can be made to
give good results, but they rarely do
so. owing to being improperly laid on
soft foundations, which speedily allow
them to sink in spots, and depressions
soon appear in which the water stands
after every storm.
But it is not necessary to enumerate
the defects of city streets-they are
obvious to the millions who tread
them daily. Their improvement on
scientific lines is a constantly
growing necessity.