Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1903-1917, 1908-02-21
LOOKED AT TAR MIXER
Bridgeport Pays Six Gems q
Foot For Sidewalks.

/ MuyOI IHOHus, DuptIlutcuucuJ hlls
duff of the street department, the
commissioners of the department of
public works and Assistant City
Clerk Lawlor and William Mccarthy
went to Bridgeport yesterday and
looked over the plant of Burns &
| Co, which includes tar mixer, such
| as Waterbury needs to order to give
the best results In making and rc-
| pairing sidewalks. The party left
here at $40 o'clock in the morning
and were back before in the after
noon, so that they didn't have much
time to take in the sights at the Park
CITY, After the inspection Mayor
Thoms bid the party goodbye and
| took train for Philadelphia. where
he expects to do some business for
the city regarding street sprinkling.
The tar mixer at Burns & Cos
plant was made at the Iroquois Iron
Works, Brooklyn, N. Y. 1t has been
In operation at Bridgeport about
four years and cost little or nothing
for repairs, while doing it's work In
a most satisfactory manner An
engineer and three common laborers
make up the whole force of hands
| needed to run it. One man fills the
sand into buckets which are carried
by means of a chain to a revolving
barrel ten or fifteen feet above the
sand pit. Here the sand is emptied
and kept whirled about until it is
thoroughly heated, after which it is
n O rvj n Mt \,
onds" are removed from the stuff
and both brought within reach OF
tanks, where the quantities of sand,
tar and pitch are measured into a re-
ceptacle where all are churned up
and made ready for use. Under
meath this there is room to back q
cart so that the material may be
dropped into it and hurried along to
wherever it is needed. 1t will mix
cart load of top dressing for walks
in less than five minutes and do it
much better than it can be done un-
der the old plan, no matter how
many men you might have em-
ployed.
In reply to question put to Mr.
Burns by a Democrat reporter re-
garding the price paid for construct
ing new sidewalks in Bridgeport, the
contractor blushed, and replied:
I'm almost ashamed to tell yo:
Six cents foot is all we get, and
others do it little less now ana
then. We ought to have more. We
couldn't live if we looked to side
walk work alone, but, of course, wo
don't. We turn our hands to almost
everything We see an honest dollar
in and between the whole of them
we manage to get by"
We'll. now" chimed in William
Mccarthy. the sidewalk expert in
Waterbury, Il don't see anything
very hard about that. Six cents
foot is 81 cents a square yard, and
that's more than it costs us in Wa
terbury, and we have to get along
without modern methods. With such
a mixer as You have we could reduce
the cost considerably. OF course
private corporations get anywhere
from so cents to 81 a square foot.
but the city is able to do first-class
job for about so cents, even though
We are somewhat handicapped for
apparatus"
Mr. Burns: II don't see how you
can do it, We can't do anything like
that in Bridgeport. Material is high,
labor is expensive, and you have to
take into consideration the deprecia-
ton on your plant, so that at the
price you say you build sidewalks Ia
Waterbury firm couldn't exist long
at that figure here. You must hav'
some secret that We know nothing
about. Have you any objection to
telling us what II is?"
Nobody answered the Bridgeport
mans query, but II brought dis
cussion' on the relative merits of
heavy and light curbstone, blue
stone curbing and cement, which
lasted for probably an hour, and tie
disputants were just getting into IL
when Mayor Thoms intimated that
he wanted to make sure not to miss
his train. The principal speakers
were Mr. Burns Of Bridgeport and
Mr. Kilduff and Mr. Mccarthy of this
city. The different kinds of NJ
terial used we're also aired and il
was interesting to note that the ex-
perts differed from each other vsts
widely on this point, although all
agreed that the sidewalk which was
soft for some time after II is laid Is
unquestionably the best and will be
in good shape when the one that
dries quickly has gone to pieces
Mayor Thoms. Commissioners
Dennison. Hook and Walker
put many questions TO Mr. Burns, all
of which were answered in a manner
which showed that the contractor
thoroughly understands his business
and wanted to give the visitors the
full benefit of his knowledge of the
machine. Two representatives of
the Bridgeport Boiler Works attend
ed the session at the Burns plant.
One of them, Mr. Smith, who is very
well known in Waterbury. is agent
for the mixer. He was not prepared
TO say just how much II would coas
to deliver 1t in Waterbury, but to the
best of his judgment ii would not
exceed $500. IL such a plant
should be purchased Il is understood
that IL would be set up in the old
in the rear Of the city
yard. recently abandoned by the rsiI-
road company and turned over TO the
city as part Of the agreement en-
tered into In the railroads contract
with the city last year. But nothing
has been done to bind the city 10
anything, and things will remain in
that shape until bids for such a ma.
chine have been received from other
firms who deal in that line OF ma