The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-02-09
THE STREETS
Complaints of System
Of SprinkIing.
Opinions Of Merchants--How Sprink-
ling is Done--SIippery Streets
Waste Of Water.

That the street sprinltling in Homo
lulu is done too we'll is evidenced by
The many remarks passed and COM
msnts made by pedestrians, drivers Of
buggies and carriages, and, last but by
no means least, by bicycle riders. These
latter. between the slippery slush left
in the wake Of the water cart and the
.rarelessness OF incompetent drivers,
have a struggle for safety while on
sheir wheels,
The way the public thoroughfares
are drenched with water is unreason-
able. Instead Of a light sprinkling ev-
cry hour or so the cart passes over the
streets. flooding them so that the gut
tsrs drain the water that the dust does
not absorb. Traffic soon aids the wa
ser in converting the roadway into an
expanse of slippery surface dangerous
10 bicycles and detrimental to We
hicles. Twice day Fort and King
streets are flooded, making them ex-
tremely bad for people who are walk
ing, and causing a vehicle used in a
shopping expedition to look like 1t had
come over five miles of country road.
Several well-known merchants,
when asked their opinions regarding
the operations of the street sprinkling
carts, stated them in no uncertain
manner.
One said: at Is an outrage the way
Hha nnrtnL1fnn a-f~ a..
make mudholes In our principal bust
ness streets; the rain is bad enough,
but the carts repeat the abuse daily. 1t
does the road no good and the best
roads in the world would be soon worn
out by this daily practice of drenching
with water. Why is the sprinkling not
done oftener during the day and a
little more llghtly?"
a well-knOwn Fort street retailer
said: 1T Is impossible to realize the
mud that Is brought into stores by peo-
pie unless one Is i'm a store all day
and sees u accumulate. Lately, and
before the rain, we employed two boys
TO do nothing but watch out for mud
and keep the floors free from it. Some
people must walk, and, necessarily,
must cross streets. Every time a per-
son steps into the roadway of Fort or
King streets he gets into mud caused
by the sprinkling carts. think If the
watering cart was TO make more fire.
quent trips and discharge less water
the nuisance would be abated. The
idea Of street sprinkling is to keep the
dust down and not to wash all the top
ping of the roadbed In order to avoid
the necessary trips for sprinkling the
streets properly"
Il am in favor" said a prominent
Fort street merchant, "of organizing
a hui of merchants and employing
some one To- sprinkle the streets who
will do 81 properly. There is no doubt
there is money in the job, even when
properly done, which is not now the
case. The aggregate Of money paid
by the merchants and others at the
present time is perhaps larger than is
generally understood. 1 can testify
that our customers, especially the la
dies, are mostly the complainers
against the present system of street
sprinkling. the men, mostly drivers
and bicyclists, grin and bear it. Some
thing should be done in the matter;
and " the present street sprinkler does
not take the hint further steps should
be taken in the matter by the mer-
chants and residents in the business
portion of the city"