The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-05-22
Ex-CounciIman Picked Up
Many Valuable Points from
His Visit to Germany.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
OVERHEAD WIRES, STREET I'M
PRovEMENTS, GRADE CROSS
INGS AND FRANCHISES ALL
TOUCHED ON.

Ex-Councilman Blickwedel, who re-
Gently returned from an extended
trip through Germany, submitted an
interesting report to council last
evening on municipal government in
the Fatherland. Mr.. Blickwedel was
given vote of thanks for his report,
which is as follows:
To the Mayor and Common Council
of the City of Richmond, Indiana:
Gentlemen:
Believing that you might be inter-
ested in hearing something of my re-
cent trip to the Old Country, l will
try to give you some information with
reference to some of the things that
attracted my attention, such as the
manner of telephone, telegraph and
electric light wire construction, and
also street railway and steam rail-
road construction in the several cit
les that l visited. In the large cities
in the eastern part of this country it
is noticeable that the railroads are
fast doing away with grade crossings,
the tracks either being above the
roadway or below the surface of the
street, and all wires are placed I'M
foreground. In Germany this system
prevails in all the cities that l visited.
The only wires that are placed above
the ground are placed on top of the
buildings and attached to iron poles,
this is especially true Of telephone
wires. My attention was especially
cd fn he Of
ings and street railroad accommoda-
lions on account of the condition this
city is in at the present time, it be-
ing almost impossible on account of
the dangerous grade crossings to get
street car line to the North part of
the City which is fast building up
and is certainly in need of street car
service. The fact that the Reid Me
mortal Hospital is also cut off in an
other reason why some effort should
be made to force the railroad COM
pany to either raise or lower their
tracks in order that these grade
crossings can be done away with.
Cleaning and Repairing Streets.
Another thing that l noticed was
the matter of Street construction,
and the manner in which they are
kept clean. In the residence districts
asphalt is used to a greater extent
than any other material, and on the
streets where their is any heavy traf-
fic there is a great deal of brick, BIZ
tulithic, and granite block used. In
Germany the streets are all cleaned
by hand, and the revenue to pay for
such cleaning is almost all raised by
vehicle tax, and while there are a
number of cities that visited in this
country whose streets are clean, none
of them can compare with the cities
of Germany in this particular, espec-
tally. In the business part of the cit
les in Germany snow is never allow
ed to lay on the sidewalks or streets
during the daytime, it is all hauled
og in the nighttime and the street
railway companies are compelled to
see that that portion of the street be-
tween their tracks and for certain
distance on each side is kept entirely
clean and free of snow.
Awarding of Franchises.
Another source of revenue to the
several cities is the fact that fran
chise is never given away, the corpor-
alton receiving a franchise is COM
PEELED to give a certain portion of it's
profits to the city. In the laying Of
conduits for underground wiring, Ga
subject with which this city is at
present struggling,) l found that
great many of the cities of Germany
and some of the cities in this country
are constructing them under the side
walks, and it is said that this man.
ner of construction is much more
satisfactory than placing them in the
| streets. l also found that a great
| many of them are owned and con-
trolled by the municipalities and are
a source of revenue to the city.
| l desire to say in conclusion that
my trip was one of extreme pleasure
and satisfaction to me in that it ena-
bled me to meet great many of my
| friends and relatives and to see many
| improvements that have been made
in the old country. I also wish to ac-
knowledge my appreciation for the
leave of absence granted me by the
Common Council, thus giving me an
opportunity to make this trip.
| Respectfully,
A. w. BLICKWEDEL,
| Ex-Councilman of the Fourth Ward.