St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1911-04-21
Collier Takes a Hand
Portland. April 10. 1911


they attempt to impress on the readn,
public the fact that they are the embodi
ment of truth and purity The soul o
honor. Had any one suggested tina
these two were not honest men2 Why /
il necessary for honest men to prefac,
their every remark with the assurance
that they are suchp
The trouble surrounding the question
which they would have the public be
lieve that they are discussing, to-wit
Westrumite Pavement, is simple one
II arose from natural causes aud had
natural result, they each know that y,
we'll as the writer, but, for the purpos,
of befogging the real question, they re
suit to calumny and SANDER
Inasmuch as a great deal has beer
said, pro and con, relative to this ques
tion without, in my opinion, stating IN,
matter as IL really occurred, ! will at
tempt to so briefly.
According to their report these gentle.
men, who went as committee, arrived
| in Chicago for the purpose of investigat.
| ing hard surface pavement on January
| II, 1911. They Immediately went to
their task and spent ten DAYS of constant
work In Chicago, East Chicago, Whit.
llEf AlhlliNibnAf AiNANtNh tihIINf hilil
Ravenwood. In all of these places, am
informed, Westrumitc pavement had
been laid. They interviewed property
owners, officials, fire departments and
others, and, "got all the Information oh.
tainable from all other sources" They
found Westrumite pavement in perfect
condition, mot one crack, or flaw or one
spot to be found"
They returned aud reported TO the ler.
sey street property owners and all were
delighted to hear that they had found
"the best pavement IN the world today"
The report was transferred to the coun.
cil the council heard the same and de
cided TO so improve the street Next
was TO adopt specifications. These were
furnished by the agents of the Wcsttum
lie company aud filed with the council;
the council referred them 90 the city en-.
gineer. The city engineer examined this
document and put his stamp of disap-
proval on each page thereof. That was
the commencement of the trouble. The
council asked the agents OF the company
II the specifications were the same ~
those used In eastern cities. They were
assured that they were one and the same
Both councilmcn Hitler aud Davis asked
them u there could be any mistake about
this and they said none; that they could
rely on the fact that the specifications
offered TO the council were the same rs
those used In the cities which had been
visited by the committee, or words TO
that effect. Upon these representations,
the council ordered that the spccifca
tions ne adopted over the objections of
the engineer. As city attorney, adyis.
eel the council that this could not legally
be done and We stopped here.
In the meantime certified copies OF the
specifications used by this company In
the East In building hard surface streets
IN the eastern cities, which had been Wis.
tied by the committee. were received by
the engineer aud what did we find
Don't any one suggest Joker; no, not
that; but a set OF drst.class specifications
for hard-suriace streets, Specifications
which met with the approval OF the city
engineer, and 40 well did they please
him that he took them as model after
which to fashion those for pavement OF
Jersey street.
These were presented 10 the council
aud read aud objected 10 by the West.
rumite company. They refused, In other
words, 10 Use specifications the same as
the company had used In the streets In
other places. Then We were confronted
by this question: II one set Of specifca.
tions, which were approved by the city
engineer, will produce a good hard sur
face pavement Ia the city of Hammond.
will am entirely different set OF specifca
tions which were disapproyed by Our
engineer, produce a like hard surface
pavement IN the city OF 81. Johnsl liI
not, then of what value was the report Of
the committed That was the beginning
Of the controversy aud the only cause OF
the delay.
While this argument was in progress,
| addressed several letters 10 city engi-
neers Of eastern cities where Westrum-
lte pavement had been used, asking
them their opinion Of this pavement and
filed a copy of my communication and
also the replies with the council. re-
ceiyed some information relative 10 this
pavement aud | would like 10 ask the
that, while they were cob
tanning information from all other
sources, did Il not appear 20 them 20
rall on the Board OF Local Improvements
IN the city of Chieagol This board con-
sisted OF i've members aud a secretary,
and has charge aud supervision OF hard
surface street pavemenIs and had laid in
hat city many blocks Of this "best pave
nent IN the world today" aud were pos
iessed OF public data concerning same.
Ny letters addressed To the city engi-
neer of that city was referred 10 that
board for a reply and after considering
.ame they instructed their secretary,
Charles A, V. Standish, 10 answer same
and, over his official signature and at the
OF said board, among other
lhings stated:
"WestTumtte pavement you speak Of
Is n. G.. What was laid IN this city Is
worse than useless. Over in
the city OF Hammond, where you also
visited TO obtain information from all
other sources, there was a like board
with like duties, You didn't think il
worth while 10 call on theml Well
John Kane, of that city, was chairman of
hat board aud had been for seven years;
Peter l.. Davis had been honored with
4 seat upon said board for a period of
i've years. They both state that as such
1fhcers they had made careful obserya-
lion OF Westrumite pavement"
The chairman states that, "WestTum-
lie is a good dust arrester, but later il
dries out, the surface wears off and blows
away, all of which takes place reasonably
At period of eighteen months after the
of the improvement"
The other member says, "In my opin-
ion, Westrumite as dust layer is good,
but as a permanent improvement do
not consider that it is good"
A. NJ. Summer, president OF the First
National Bank OF Hammond, Indiana.
in answer TO am inquiry made by w. b.
property owner ON Jersey
street, states as follows: "Westrumite un-
and discontinued here and
in Chicago"
Now it does seem to me that such in
formation might have been considered
Of some importance TO the property own
ers on Jersey street and il NAV that this