The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-11-22
PUBLIC OPINION
) eAANNNAANNAANe
About City Planning.

About City Planning.
To the Editor OF The Gate City:
In general the plan of this city in
having most of its buildings not
with the world is good as it per
mits sunlight in every room and 5.
there is no cool. damp. northeast
room. But light is not all. nor is the
sunless room altogether nuisance in
summer. The houses could be set
on larger lots In any position to suit.
A much more important point than
light is cellar room and drainage. EN-
perience shows that In wet weather
houses on side hills have wetter eel
lars than houses on level graded
streets, or streets with nearly lever
bitches and with houses near the
street. No doubt the distance to
keep away from the ditch has not
been scientifically determined. mas
much as much depends on the charac-
ter of the soil, as well as the position
selected in reference to change in
soil.
Surface water is tina. which the soil
will absorb and retain. Subsurfaee
water is that beneath the stirred soil,
and 1t is to be found on side hills as
seep water and in low places as stand
ing water or run-off Hence street
should follow the hill around on the
line of seepage nearly, with a grade
just sufficient to prevent standing
water. The deep water is thus caught
so that the black or deeply stirred
land above is not nuisance to the
yellow or tougher land below. II
Keokuk is ever to have any part OF
the craft idea 1t must grasp at once
the great importance of getting soil
fit TO work at as early date as the
season and good management will per-
nit
There need be no alleys. but each
lot would need a culvert in front OF
it This can be so constructed that
the bitches can be narrow and deep
and the culvert would catch most OF
the rubbish that overfills sewers. Be
sides if twentyfour feet long each cut
vert furnishes a proper place for
vehicles to stop. The long open road
ditch is ever a nuisance to cross as
well as because it sweeps rubbish
right up to the crossings till the
wafer and mud go over or on the foot
ways. while the roadway below is de
| faced.
Some may say the contour NEARLY
| idea for streets is not natural. The
lreply is that nature is study as YET
and natural slopes as related to soils
and vegetation is a subjec. not much
reduced to figures. If one cannot use
mathematical demonstrations it does
not follow that he need not use com
mon reasoning. The cross streets will
all come in at the foot of hills, which
/ is just the point at which the black
| loose soil accumulates and becomes
supersaturated with water which
must proceed on nearly level bottom
/ course. Anyway this plan can easily
vary the width of streets and SO avoid
serious cuts, leaving lots too high, OF
fills. leaving them too low.
1t is expected in this plan to have
much thought brought out as to how
| to use slopes SO as 10 get the mos,
home space possible under a giver
roof and foundation cost. using base
ments under houses and cellars under
porches so as to control emanations
temperature. etc The east porch
should be preferred as it is the best
!, shelter to be had summer and winter
for outdoor living, except during =
1 few days each year of southeast cold
damp winds.
There is no word in English moi
Latin that means the house that
makes health. Salutifferum comes
nearest, but "um" makes poor ending
for house, while the rest OF the wore
/ is no better than salutarium or sani
tarium. II lot slopes toward this
street a cellar at the back part of tn,
house, while duly warm and cool vii
need surface ditch or tile drain vel
back of the cellar, roughly estimated
as five fee. back for every foot deptt
OF cut and this might mean too much