The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-06-10
BlTULIThlC
WAS FAVORED
Councilme0 Present Written Account
of Street Observation.
Wood Block Too Slippery.
Verdict.

! A formal report giving the men,
bers the benefit of their observa-
tions, was presented at the meeting
of the city council last night by the
party of counc1lrnen who had visit.
ed Atlantic City, Wilmington and
Baltimore to inspect paving. The
councilmen reported that they had
viewed many different kinds of paw.
ing and recommended the Bitulith-
ic. In the party were Councilmen
Rose, Craumeu, Bahne, Hake, N.Y.
ers, Bentzel, Lish and Bremen. The
report follows:
To the Members of Select and Com
mon Councils of York City, Penn:
The undersigned members Of
City Councils visited Atlantic City,
Wilmington, DEL, and Baltimore,
Nd, and made careful and thor
ough examination OF the street paw.
ing in those cities.< We were given
an opportunity to inspect all the
different forms of pavement, Btu
lithic, brick, asphalt and wood
blocks.
At Atlantic City, Tennessee ave.
nue. for one square is paved with
wood block, and looked fine. We
were, however, told by teamsters
whom we questioned that it was
very slippery in wet weather and
that horses frequently fell on it. A
gentleman whom we asked told us
that this pavement cost $3.29 per
square yard. We noticed some
brick paving around the railroad
station and in the alleys, some of
which was good and some showed
the result of wear and tear and was
very rough and uneven.
Atlantic avenue, which is the
main business street, was paved
with Bitulithic, hundred feet wide
and five miles long. This pavement
is now in it's fourth year and was in
perfect condition. In addition to
Atlantic avenue, there are twelve
other streets paved with Bitulithic.
We rode or walked over these streets
and we did not find single hole or
worn place. We were informed that
the city has laid ovssv 100000 yards
of this form of pavement, $1,000
yards of which were laid last fall,
and we understand that the city ex-
poets to lay more of it this season.
We talked with number of city
officials and other citizens, and all
seem enthusiastic in their praise of
the Bitulithic pavement, preterring
it to any other form of paving.
We met the chief of the fire de-
partment, who made a run for us
from two of the fire stations and we
| noticed that the horses, although
smoothly shod, did not slip at all
while running at top speed on the
Bitulithic pavement. The Chief
told US that the horses seemed to
know the pavements, that they run
with perfect freedom on the Btu.
lithic, but would Immediately slow
down when they struck the brick or
asphalt. In general, we noticed
that the streets of Atlantic City
were kept in splendid.:condition. 1t
is the cleanest city we have ever
seen.
From Atlantic City we went to
Wilmington, Del, and drove over
about three miles of streets. We
found brick, asphalt and Bitulithic.
We saw on Market street, the main
business street, one square of as
phalt and one square of Bitulithic
Immediately adjoining. which we
were told the city laid five years
ago az a comparative test. The
Bltulithic was, as far as we could
see, in as good condition as were
the Bitulithic streets that we're laid
last year, but the asphalt was a
mess, full of holes and worn places,
though we were told that it had
been repaired several times. The
brick streets were in wretched con-
dition, some of them almost impas-
sable. The Bitulithic paved streets
were apparently as good as at At
lantic City, though a year older.
There are about 100000 yards of Bit
ulithic pavement in Wilmington,
but we did not see any asphalt ex-
cept the one square above referred
to.
From Wilmington we went to
Baltimore, Nd, and spent four
hours driving and inspecting the
streets. The first Bitulithic in Balti-
more was laid in the spring of 1906,
Twenty-fifth street. 1t was in per-
feet condition. There are 5000 yards
of this pavement spread over thirty
seven streets. The amount laid in
each year az given US by the super
intendent who did the work is as
follows: 1908, 34,546; 1907, 55,422; 1908,
1892; 1909. 81 $40 yards. If it were
possible for any pavement to be
better than we found in Atlantic
City, it is here in Baltimore.
In conclusion this committee has
to say that in our judgment the
Bitulithic pavement is far ahead of
any form of pavement we have ever
seen. 1t is smooth, without being
slippery. There is a slight give to
it, which makes it very easy on
horses. It 10 clean, sanitary, quiet
and best of all, it is durable. We
earnestly recommend it's construc-