Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-02-17
MANY TIP OVERS.
Eusinsss Administration Did Not Es.
 lisve in .smovinf Snow.

lisvs in .smovinS Snow. Hold on, now; don't throw all those chunks of ice at Superintendent Hotch- kiss of the street department. He is not wholly responsible for the present deplOrable condition of the streets. The business administration thought it was equivalent to throwing away money to be cartng snow off the streets and concluded to let it remain there until the sun converted it into water in the spring and then it would find its way into the catch basins aud ttence into the Naugatnck river. But things didn't work just right. The trolley company kept tossing the snow t. either side of its tracks and this was continued until the frozen snow got piled up so high above the rails that nobody could drive about the streets, and after making q desperate effort to allow it to remain there until the thaw the situation became so grave it had to be met, and at last force of men was set to work picking up the ice. Of course it is costing considera ply more to get rid of it now than it would if it had been taken hold of be fore the snow got beaten down ana frozen, but that can't be helped.
 Nobody ever saw such ruts in the streets. In some places the rails are so far below the frozen snow it is Il sure tip over when runner slides down the great precipice. Yesterday two hacks were put out of business oh East Main street, and it was pity Mayor Elton and the board of public works were not present to hear the drivers declaim. A beer wagon came 1 to grief in the Brooklyn district and the. tip over was so complete every thing in, the vehicle rolled out, and to use the language of n resident of that part of the town. lager was running all over the neighborhood. Bully for the business administration. ioh Scouldn't get q schooner" for love or money from the other fellows.
 Another tie-up which caused some comment occurred this morning in tho. double tracks on Bank street, opposite Plume X Atwood's. The delivery wagon of Lilley. Swift X Co got stuck and it was some time before things were righted. The delay cause big blockade and during the tie-up some hard things were said of the street dc partment. the trolley company and ev erybOdy else who is supposed to have anything to do with directing the mOve- ments of the city government.
 1 But this was not all by any means. The big tank belonging to the Standard Oil Co rolled off the runners in the tracks on Cole street and floundered about in the snow like q sea horse taking a sun bath on the beach. This was another big job and everybody had to wait or take another route until it was jacked up and put back on the runners. Whew. We must stop. One would want d newspaper as big as one of the New York Sunday papers to tell all this story. and then things would | have to be boiled down.
 ! Another bad feature of letting the snow stay on the ground until it turned into ice is seen in the condition of tho sidewalks. Nearly all the streets are foot or more above the walks and during the daytime when the sun melts the fee a little it runs all over them so that no matter how hard peo- try to keep the walks clear of ice and snow they cannot do it. and as con. { sequence pedestrians are safer on the. streets than on the walks. So far as one can discern with the naked eye there is not dozen crosswalks in Wa. terbury. although before winter set in one could be found at nearly every other turn of the road.
 The special committee on assess ! mlufS boyinu finished its r,b.,.. .>r i tho books. it should he directed to see what they can do towards locating over hundred missing crosswalks. and then it would bc up to somebody to put them in proper condition for public travel. Almost everybody yon i meet is saying clIss words about the i superintendent of streets; but this is not right. It is trut that his work ls not shining success. hut is he wholly tO blame: It costs money to take care of the streets and crosswalks. but some of tho members of the present administration and their friends never could understand why such service could not he rendered to better advan tage and at less expense until they got try at il themselves. They started out to experiment. hut instead of n,ak. i ing money they lost heavily. and yoh see the result
 ! By the -. remarked republi. can this morning. ''I think we made a mistake. It looks to me now as ir tli,. whole administration was in with the trolley company and the Consolidated and didn't care a tinker's dam about i the public This may he overesti- mating the fact. but if is no wild as. sertion to say that probably never dur. ing the history of Waterbury were So many men connected with the city gov. rrnDcnt at the same time who ha6 iions of their own in inc fire and used their official prestige to accomplish their ends. Tho aldermen hay. gone out of business for season and when they start up again there will bc noth- l ing on hand except routine matters | One of the aldermen wants to know { why the board of public works didn't instruct the city attorney io oppose the water company's measure as wcli as the double trarking uf the street. aid a commissioner of public work, would like fo have somebody inform him why the aldermen siarkrll their guns and disappeared from the field when the real fighting was about to commencc Meanwhile the taxpayers arc getting it in the neck and to do them justice if ought 10 l,e remarked thai they appear to be taking fl good naturcdly.
 
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