New-York tribune., 1901-01-20
SANIT4TION AND AUTOMOBILES
THE BENEFIT To PUBLIC HEALTH OF
ASPHALT PANEMENTS.
From The Hospital.

From The Hospital
If. believe be Tie ease. the motor car
has great future before it, the whole question
OF the pavement of our streets will haN" to b'
rec"nsdered. Regard fer the horse has hitherto
dominated the whole question Of ruldHays. Obj
yiOuSly the smoother and the harder the surface
of road the less will be the power required to
move whe eled vehicles upon il. But unfor-
nunateiy the harCer aud the smoother the sur
face of the road the re difficult il is for the
horse TO obtain a foothold. Hence the objec
tions so often raised To the of asphalt not
withstanding that it is ir itself an almost ideal
material from which To construct road surfaces
1t is hard il is smooth, il is durable It is capable
of beinG repaired bit - biz without tearing up
the whole roadway, and above all it can b. kept
clean. liut the horses slip, and his has been
a fatal obstacle.
With the intr 1lY e,ion OF the motor. however
the conditions may l. altered ard if con
slider the immense ADVANTAGES which asphalt
possesses from a sanitary point "f Ni-W and Tn"
from lis srnootdnoss We may hc quite sure that
in proportion as the hoTS. becomes uon-"s-en-
tial the Us" of halt or some similar smooth
and Cleanly road surface viii come more and
more int" vogue in all towns wheT. the gra -icntS
allow of itS employ meat Ii - the sanitary as
pect of asphalt pavement .thirh cialy ap-
IealS L. 50 far IL seems (" bc he only
form Of road suIldo" which is capable Of being
kept d.c-utly clean. and this is a matter of tho
first importance. II is not a. mrT, question Of
taste and aesthetics
If ~ are To- accept the conclusions arrived At
by Dr Waldo. medical officer of health To- IN"
parish of =. George the Martyr-cuuo iusious ar
rived - after very careful investigation Of the
facts very considerable proportion 81 the NOR
talty from i.trghdl IN" of the most fatal of
diseases among town children. l. due L" the pol
lution Of milk and other articles Of food with
street dust. IN other words With dried hors.
dung highly charged with dclcteTIous micro
organisms. Filthy street dust "" must always
HAY, with us. unless have streets that We
wash. Ii is probably to the facility with
which asphalt can be washed that wr must look
for the expla aaation II the largely diminished
death rates which have been noted in certain
towns after the introduction Of this material As
a paving.
1t is claimed that in New York the death rate
fas gone down from 81. per l.Wp in lN12 To
~ per l.psI in lS.ni. when the cleaner streets.
due to tho large extension Of asI halt pavement
hal begun 10 show their inhuenc" upon the
health Of jhe population: and although We can
hardly doutt that the Introduction of asphalt
WAS, in this ease. only one item in general
Improvement in sanitary conditions the benefits
which have already resulted IN London. in Paris
and i'm many other ldrg" towns from the use uf
asphalt in courts and alleys hav" been such as To
show how greet wound be the advantage OF its
more extended use. Not until all our streets
are uroVidcd with hard smooth surface. which
can be thoroughly Ccansci. shall We even begin
To See what town life night he made IL rs t1
the motor car that Inust look To bring this
much needed ref Irm within the range of prac-
tcal politics.