The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-25
WANT A NEW PAVING
PETITIONS FOR whitaker
STREETS IMPROVEMENT.
TO REMOVE CAR TRACKS,
STREET RAILWAY UNDERSTOOD To
be WILLING,

III the City VIII Guarantee the street
VIII Not &c Used by Amy other
Line-Petitions VIII Probably Ask
for Vitrined Brick PavIng-Ordi-
nance 10 Pave CASTOR street Like
ly to BE Introduced at Next Meet
ing of City Council.
There is determined movement on foot
to have Whitaker street paved with vitri-
fed brick or asphalt and 1t would not be
at all surprising if the tracks of the Sa-
vannah, Thunderbolt and Isle of Hope
Railway Company are removed before the
improvement is made.
Several petitions will be in cir
culation among the residents and
property owners of this street within
a few days and from expressions heard
on the streets will be freely signed. The
effort will be made to have the street
paved with something besides cobble
stones even though the car company
should not agree to remove it's tracks.
None of the street railway officials
would discuss the matter. In the event
that the street is paved and the car tracks
remain in place the company will have to
pay a large assessment, which is not very
pleasant information for the officials.
1t is pretty well understood that the COM
pany is willing to take up the tracks If
II is assured that no other line Will be
permitted to use the street. This would
force the traffic on the Abercorn and
Barnard belt line and the company would
lose nothing by the change, but In point
of fact would gain, because of the fact
that 1t would not have to pay it's share of
the paving bill. Then, too, there would
not be the expense of keeping the line in
repair, Which In itself is no small item.
This will probably be the outcome of the
present agitation and an early adjustment
of the matter is anticipated by those who
are In a position to know.
Alderman Watson, chairman of the
Committee on Streets and Lanes, is anx-
ious to have CASTOR street paved. He
said that an ordinance to authorize the
paving of the street will probably be pre-
scented TO Council at the meeting next
week.
There is some division of opinion among
the aldermen as to the advisability of
paving the street. Some are influenced by
what they have heard of the objections of
a majority of the property owners to the
street being paved, while others have
been informed that the majority is the
other way.
Communications were sent out by the
director of public works, asking the prop
erty owners with what material they
would desire the street paved The reply
was, in the majority of cases, that vitiri-
fled brick were preferred. Some of the
property owners, it was said, had given
an expression of preference under the i'm
preston that the paving had been decided
upon by the city, and that 1t was only a
matter of determining upon the material
Many property owners, though, have in
formed the authorities they would like to
have the street paved.
The Mayor and some of the aldermen
want it fully established that the major
ity of the property owners want the street
paved before they vote for an ordinance
authorizing the work. protest against
the street being paved was circulated by
Mr.. W. II. Wade some time ago, and
nearly. all of the property owners signed
it, but it is claimed that it was signed
in a perfunctory way by some, who have
since concluded that they would prefer
to have the street paved. The argument
is used by those desiring the pavement
that the work could be done now at less
expense to them than at any time. prob
ably, in the future, for the reason that
the city will have to bear the entire ex-
pense of putting back the pavement that
was disturbed by digging the sewer trench
along the street.