The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-07
PAVING THEIR TOPIC
CITY ENGINEER CLAUSSEN RE-
TURNS FROM CONVENTION
AT NIAGARA
CREosoTED WOODEN BLOCKS
New Pavement FavOrabIy Comments
ed Upon by Many Delegates, and
Local Experiment May
Be Suggested.

Oscar Claussen, city engineer and COM
missioner of public works, returned Sat-
urday evening from the annual conven-
ton of the American Society of Munich
pal Improvement, which was held this
year at Niagara City from Oct. to 4
inclusive.
Reviewing the work of the convention
with the G o b e, Mr.. Claussen said
You know our membership which
comprises only about ninety persons in
all, consists principally of city engineers
and members of boards of public works
The proceedings of our conventions are
constituted very largely of papers on
different subjects of interest, which are
prepared by individual members on re-
quest, and before they are presented to
the main body are submitted to the COM
mItteeS on those respective branches and
approved by them There were about
half OF the members of the society pres
ent at the convention this year, and on
the whole the work was highly inter-
eSting.
Of course, great deal of attention
is always given to the question of pave
ments, and the most novel topic intro
duced this year was the recently intro
duced material, creosoted wooden blocks
Several companies in the East are now
making these prepared wooden blocks
and they have met with some favor.
AS they We're introduced only about four
years ago it cannot be said that there
has been any thorough test of their
durability, but I understand that they
nave been laid to some extent in Indian
apolis and thus far have proved salts
factory. I was rather amused at one
of the members of the board of public
works of Newark who in this connec-
ton said that the engineers had first
taken up wooden block pavements then
asphalt and then brick, and each time
mad believed that they found just the
right thing. That I do not consider to
nave been the case at all. The engineers
have, it is true. tried the different paw
ing materials as they were introduced.
but | for one have never thought, nor
do I think now, that the truly perfect
material has been found All materials
nave their advantages and their disad-
Vantages, and even those are dependent
on conditions under which they are en-
ployed
FAVORS AN EXPERIMENT..
AS to my personal opinion of the pre-
pared wooden blocks for use in st. Paul,
L will say that should like to see them
tried In making this paving material
the Southern hardwoods are used, and
that would make it proportionately ex-
penslve In this city. 1 should say from
what information [ have been able to
gather that the cost here would be about
81. 70 per square yard for the pavement
laid.
One subject in which we have all been
very much interested for some years past
is the utilization of general city refuse
in the production of steam Several pa
pers on that question had been partially
prepared, but not completed, and there
fore they were not presented before the
convention. They WILL however, be in
corporated in the printed proceedings
ana circulated among the members.
ST. PAUL SHOWS UP WE'LL.
Before the convention I made trip
to New York city. which, as We all
know, is renowned for the cleanliness of
It's streets, and I will say that in that
respect st. Paul is even ahead of New
York. L must say that in a. general ap-
pearance the streets of our city compare
very favorably with those of any of the
places I have been in. Within the past
six months I have traveIe quite extern
slvely through the larger cities of the
Unite States, and l have found that on
the whole our pavementS, with the excep-
ton of the old wooden ones, are in bet
ter condition and better kept than those
OF any of the other cities. Buffalo, for
instance, prides itself on it's pavements.
but on one of the principal streets
through which visitors must pass on the
way to the exposition I saw number
of holes. The conition of Buffalo pave
ments, or for that matter those of Gin
cinnati, Cleveland, Detroit or in fact any
of the other cities I have been in, do
not compare with ours.
In the course of my travels I also
noticed the manner of street lighting en-
ployed in the different places In most
cities where they have underground wires
I found that they have straight poles,
and Brooklyn was the only one where
I saw the poles with projecting brackets
like ours