The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1901-03-13
BENEFIT THE PUBLIC
Asphalt Pavements Improve Sani-
tary Condition of City.
smooth ana Hard Roads n Necessity
where Automobiles Are Used
Reduced Death Rate Result
of Cleaner streets.

If, as we believe to be the case, the
motor car has great future before
It, the whole question of the pavement
of our streets will have TO be recon
sidereG Regard for the horse has
hitherto dominated the whole question
of roadways. Obviously the smoother
and the harder the surface of a road the
less will be the power required to move
wheeled vehicles upon it. But unfor-
tunatsly the harder and the smoother
the surface Of the road the more dir
foult it is for the horse to obtain a
foothold. Hence the objections 30
often raised TO the use Of asphalt, not.
withstanding that il is in itself an
almost ideal material from which to
construct road surfaces. It is hard,
IL is smooth, it is durable, 1t is capable
of being repaired bit by bit without
tearing up the whole roadway, and
above all it can be kept clean. But the
horses slip, and this has been fatal
obstacle, says the Hospital
With the introduction of the motor,
however, the conditions may be altered.
and if we consider the immense adj
vantages which asphalt possesses from
a sanitary point of view and the econ
omy in motive power which must re-
suit from its smoothness we may be
quite sure that in proportion as the
horse becomes non-essential the use OF
asphalt or some similar smooth and
clearly road surface will come more
and more into vogue in all towns where
the gradients allow of its employment,
1t is the sanitary aspect of asphalt
pavement which especially appeals to
us. So far it seems to be the only
form of road surface which is capable
of being kept decently clean, and this
is matter of the first Importance. 1t
is not a mere question of taste and
aesthetics.
If we are to accept the conclusions
arrived at by DR.. Waldo, medical Off
Ger of health to the parish of St
George the Martyr-con illusions ar.
rived at after very careful investi.
cation of the facts-a very considerable
proportion of the mortality from diaT-
rhoea. one of the most fatal of dis.
eases among town children, is due to
the pollution of milk and other articles
with dried horse dung highly charges
with deleterious micro-organisms
Filthy street dust we must always
have with us. unless we have streets
that we can wash 1t is probably to
the facility with which asphalt can be
washed that we must look for the eX
PLANTATION of the largely diminished
death rates which have been noted in
certain towns after the introduction
of this material as paving.
It is claimed that in New York the
death rite has gone down from 1897
per 1000 in 1892 to 26 per 1000 in 1895
when the cleaner streets, due to the
large extension of asphalt pavement,
had begun to show their influence upon
the health of the population; and al
though we can hardly doubt that the
introduction of asphalt was, in this
case, only one item in a general i'm
provement in sanitary conditions the
benefits which have already resulted in
London. in Paris and in many other
large towns from the use of asphalt
in courts and alleys have been such as
to show how great would be the ad-
vantage of its more extended use. Not
until all our streets are provided with
hard, smooth surface, which oan be
thoroughly cleansed, shall we even be-
gin to see what town life might be
made. It is to the motor car that we
must look to bring this much needed
reform within the range of practical
politics.