Evening journal., 1905-04-24
WANT NO MORE
DUSTY STREETS
Citizens of Wilmington Are
firing of Dirty Macadam
PavementS
BRICK PAVING EQUALLY AS BAD

.'Macadam paved streets are thing |
of the past" said a weu-known citi- |
zen to a reporter for The Evening
Journal today. 1--WE are doing entire
Iy too much Of this kind of paving and
the sooner we do away with it the bet
ter will become the health and COM
fort of the people"
That macadam pavements unless
kept continually watered are a nui-
sance is a well-known fact Pennsyl-
vania and Gilpin avenues on a windy
day are avenues of dust French street
Is full of holes at crossings and so on.
The conditions are the same all over
the city wherever there are macadam
paved thoroughfares. Not only is this
kind of paving a failure, but brick
pavements appear equally as bad and
in consequence through the operations
of street car. telegraph and telephone
companies and the city departments,
the streets Of Wilmington at the pres
ent time are in a miserable condition.
Though guaranteed for five years,
brick paving has proven almost as
disastrous an investment as macad-
am. Wherever it is dug up it can
never be restored to its original level.
Consequently the spot of every exca-
walton is soon marked with deep de-
preston if not an actual hole. Nu-
merous streets paved with this mater
ial are simply a succession Of pitfalls
in which wagons heavily laden fire.
quently become fastened and require
time to pull out.
While the Street and Sewer Com
mission has but little money to expend
on street improvements, many believe
there should be some way of Overcom-
ing the defects Of macadam and brick
paving.
Asphalt is used in many large cit
les and has proved to be the best paw
ing material, and it is pointed out that
I'm 'the future it would be we'll 20 use
it here at least as much as possible and
w erever practical.
9fCOST OF MACADAM PAVING.
eMacadam paving costs about AZ cents
iesquare yard to lay and where there
III much travel continual repairs must
IL made to keep it in good condition
N,t the expiration of a short time after
Y,ginally laid the stone begins to turr
ta powder and the street becomes
Neap Of dust which makes the lives O
mrsons living in such thoroughfarel
Emisernble and tends to promote un
healthy conditions. 1t wears into hole
and unless repaired constantly become
worse than cobble pavement.
SAYS ASPHALT IS THE BEST.
street Commissioners. Frank w. Pier
, son was interviewed on the subject ant
admitted that asphalt was the bes
paving material but said it could no
be used to any great extent in thi
dity owing to steep grades in many o
The streets He said that i'm sue
thoroughfares as Market street an
Delaware avenue. where there is bu
little grade. asphalt pavements woul
be the thing. but in a majority of tn
streets paving of this kind would b
dangerous as it offers no foothold fo
horses
Mr.. Pierson was asked his opinio
regarding macadam as q paving mater
ial and said that this kind of materi;
made the best pavement for the lea.
money.
Does It not cost as much annual
to keep it in repair as to lay it origin
ally?' he was asked.
THAT is not true; flor instance tai
Gilpin avenue. The department hf
made no repairs in that thoroughfai
for three years"
Il admit there is a better pavemel
than macadam." said Mr.. Pierson, 'bl
this department has but little none
to spend on streets and must make
reach as far as possible. If macada
thoroughfares are kept watered the
make fairly good pavements."