Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-10-14
ALDERMAN MCKENZIE SPEAKS
Continued from Page l

! that the merchants have % right to a
voice in the matter Of sire is. We
believe they ha ee a right TO voice ir
this matter and we are glad TO see
they propose to use It,. Then they
say they are going to take some meas
ures to satisfy themselves at least as
'axpayers, that there is no better way
than at present of'caring f)rthe streets
than In vogue at present. This is
good business and we feel Ike congrat
ulating them on The stand that they
ave taken But where is the rem
edv We are waiting to hear what
they have to say about reducing The
nuisance %, better, abolishing the evil
entirely But all they say is if there
is no better system to adopt than at
present, we are Sorry, that's all.
We would like to tell them there is a
remnd and the street commissioners
are trying to get the Merchants Asso-
cation to understand it. 1t is this,
when a permanent road Is built it is
first of al necessary that the place
where such street is TO be constructed
should be thoroughly drained. 1t was
for this purpose we asked for 5 per
cent tax this summer to begin the lay
ing Of surface sewer that would be
adequate for all time. 1t was then
necessary to remove all the trees,
posts and poles that st-od In the gut.
Ter back into the curbing Of the side
walk SO that such surface sewer could
be constructed Systematically and of
a substantial nature. Hence the tree
cutting that has caused such howl
from the association. TIE association
says they are losing business by the
condition OF Main street. Whose
fault is it? What became Of the
members Of the association when the
public meeting was called last June in
the city hall to consider resolution
offered by the street commissioners,
with req ard to bonding the city for
certain amount for the purpose Of
building and maintaining permanent
highway? They were conspicuous by
their absence We hope they will
consider themselves interested enough
that when the next meeting is called
for this purpose they will make 1t a
point to attend in ocdy and talk the
matter up as though they really meant
1t. They also say that other CT les
are making more progress on this line
than Barre. But why so vague, my
dear merchants. Why don't you
name some city that is doing
more on these lines than Barre.
Why cont you come down to facts,
instead ofjgeneralities. We :are dealing
with facts, and the challenge the Mer.
chants Associ alton to name single
town or city in the New England
states that is similarly situated that
IS doTng more than Barre with the
tools that We have here. With the eX
,eption Of Main and Summer streets
md portion Of Currier iparls, the
entire city is built on side hill, the
streets are all new and If the appro-
oriation to the street department. was
.hree times the amount, it would take
every dollar Of ir to take care Of the !
tide streets. On page l76 Of last
FEARS report you will notice that there
vas sum OF $500 SCI aside for
streets for this year. II you really !
want to know just where this money
1as gone come to the next meeting OF
he board and hear their report read.
Vow just a word as to the cost Of con.
truction OF permanent road. Ac
'ordlng to U. 5. department Of agri.
culture, bulletin No 95, the cost Of
dacadam is from $4,000 to $4,000 per
nile for road from IS to 20 feet in
width. Treeford road costs $4,000 per
nile for the same width. In Massa.
,husetts at. the present time they
ire paying from $4,000 10 $4,000 per
nile. II you would put mile Of the
'25O0O article on our main street 1t
would take three years at the present
appropriation to do it and the rest OF
;he city wouldn't get single dollars
v nth OF repairs or improve ments.
Il you want good roads you must trsu
procure modern machinery to make !,
them with. A l5-ton ROLLER costs
$500 and cruSher costs $4,000 and
even when you get these things will
Y say that macadam or treeford will
stand he heavy trucking that daily
goes over our main streets. You will
nave to pave Main street aud at the
very least this will cost from 50 to S5
/ square yard. We hope this agita.
lion will 60 on until something def.
late is done. We will be pleased to
answer any questions that may be ask
ID through this paper or otherwise.
Thanking you for using so much Of
our valuable space we are yours for
)etter roads.