Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-04

business portions or the city,
vitality AFFECT the city's interests, and III
would suggest that each of us should,
ton and study OF them.
/ congratulate the heads Of the various
WORK dome d1ring the past year. and /
would urge them to exercise the utmost
care during the coming year hat the best
sary expenses avoided.
Gentlemen of the council, / thank you
orable body during the. year that has
passed and 1 trust that the year 1909 will
ests Of the city intrusted to our charge.
Report of the City Engineer.
City Engineer Rosewa;er also sent in
his report at the same time. 1t follows;
OMAHA, Feb; i lso2-To the HONORABLE.
the Mayor. and City Council-Gcntlemen;
! have the honor to herewith submit state
and public Works departments CONQUERED
under my directions during the year 1901
as city engineer and ex-ofncio chairman of
In addition to this I also herewith sub
nit data relating to municipal taxation In
Omaha and other cities, In order to cor
rect false conceptions resulting from mis-
representation and perversion OF pubic
The city Of Omaha has been repeatedly
misrepresented by It's local press as over.
taxed to an extent to drive away capital
has been inexcusably exaggerated and
made TO appear nearly double what It
tions issued at the expense OF the city.
appear in the United states Statistics e.
Senp sanS ss0 SspoTs, Zen tSSm Which TSicR Z vas s%s
legal limit OF bonded Indebtedness is 10
per cent of the assessed value. This, In o
S Tsn sss e e9lu% n ss L stSen Is ss'sO sS ccS' sSSa
as a matter of fact the bonded debt Of
omaha is less than that or over 10000
and the. United States census statistics
show It to be.
/. refer to this and the other tax data.
s ehtnSus as f GTt p Sf fh Servant Has Of Of P aKEe city city a md
city It's proper credit and 70 aid by lifting
past few years. II all the energies Of
and misrepresentins we're devoted to ups
nftinE and presenting conditions IN their
Deo. asn,, p nUhiic seenntuamrsssn. w9IIo Sd I'M
AS shown here. Omaha's debt iS not only
100000 less than represented. but Its gem
cities of the United States ranging from
$1,000 to 100000 in population. Its expendi-
very lowest of these cities and the cost of
street cleaning is shametully, too low, that
for 1901 being 80 per Pc cent less than the
The total annual expenses for oficial sal
aries and department employees. including
than 10 per cent OF the city tax. And yet
the ever-recurring EFFORT in the adjustment
trated IN attaching this 10 per cent and
trouble with Omaha t%axasion 3 not that It
ateiy distributed. The fault is with the
system and not the tax itself. This fault
the state laws requiring. all property to be
assessed at its fair value are knowingly
and w%iilfullg, violated by both county and
10 and 90 per cent valuation, respectively,
and in doing SO go astray by really assess
cent Of their values. This perversion OF
law by assessors. who. under instructions,
infectious ana results in false tax returns
by all citizens.
Contract Work.
The contract work of 1901 may be sum.
married as follows:
CURLING, s.S5S iineai feet.
A AsesSdIs pa s1iSS' m I SIio miles
~ sewers constructed, s s2-1oo miles.
yiaduct over Twenty-fourth street. 1,O5l
The details as to cost, ETC., are shown in
the appended tabular exhibit. Although
S HoEE .Ea5 less h eT SrsTSdTn Sfsrs e son s :
involved more labor on the part OF the en-.
gineertng department than in 1880. The re-
means to avoid le SPEn contests on sas SO over take
a for paving work required. constant and re
! peated Investigations and reports as Il
: property ownerships and signatures. From
the numerous petitions for public improve
1 msnts filed the previous fan and in tn,
: stimate we're required to be made Il
. avoid delays, after final, concurrence upor
! ton upon many OF the proposed Improve
: ments was anticipated to be reached 50
. not later er than On August SE%s I, b snf u RaSaaS SSi,
4 the dllatory proceedings on the part o.
!. the property oE.. rs. Induced largely BY
contracting interests, deferred tRss begin
: ming OF work until after November, ant
a nearly all the seasons work reached cul
% fRs Ssst ABOUT ef th the e name time eSsssln5 q
e e weeks what should oSdiSariiSy S be done |
: proved Prov . e%aeesdinsly 'fEanvaosfsaKSie ana anSd the seas de
= tails Of plans had been SO Thoroughly con
Z through the greater part Of becember
I and as. a result every contract for repavinI
{ entered ea, Into mt prior to December was car
As viii be seen by reference to appende
tables, there still remains In the city I2i
o miles of remnants of old wooden pave
streets, several miles of which are peti
n i Seps awe f sRe coming 70 Sea Pe T fasss De y
titioned for. with the contracts now 1
!. hand or ready for work early In the sea
son a~ggregattng in estimated cost owe
100000.
hi Construction of Sewers.
The construction OF sewers turing 19C
was also delayed by the tardy action q
property owners especially In district M
252. embracing a very extensive system I
or the northeast section OF the city, GOVERN
part Of the former exposition ground,
"A These were, however, completed by tn
~ contractor, Mr.. Connolly, late in DecembeI
l. with the exception Of several eight-ine
lateral branches, the completion OF while
was partially enjolned by the court at III
instance of Mr.. William Redick, upon IN
ground hat IL built the tar levy woul
ls embrace his property in the area benz
nted. In view Of this injunction. the eft
e. was put 20 considerable expense In n
II hllinB trenches already ~excavated and r,
N 4 moving the material which had been ID
N livered upon the ground.
Independent OF the construction OF ne
3 sewers in the past year, a very interes
At ing feature In sewer construction, or rattle
ef OF the old main brick sewers. in some
10 which from eighteen to twenty-four year
rs wear had worn down and cut out In place
from four TO eight inches In depth. TIL
In work was done by damming up the no
~ with the use Of a canvas sheet and san
Is bags and applying Stag and granite an
W Gin rock concrete In place of brick mi
Mt sonry. Considerable amount OF repairs
-