Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-09-30
ISSECONDAVENUE
DISAPPOINTMENT
TOTHE OWNERS?
Claim Made That Shoddy Work
Is Being Done by the
Contractors.
CONCRETE LOOKS LIKE JOKE
Newspaper Man Digs Through Five
Inches Of It With Wooden
Lath for a Tool.

Property owners along Second ave.
nue., instead OF becoming reconciled
to the quality Of paving which is being
put in by the Mccarthy Improvement
company of Davenport, are growing
more displeased as the work progress
es. II is held by some who pretend TO
know that the concrete foundation of
the paving is joke and will not hold
up under even ordinary traffic. much
less the kind that the main business
street OF city OF this size is subjected
to. To back UP their contentious, the
directors ask comparison between the
concrete put In by the Mccarthy COM
pany and that put in by the street car
company. The latter is solid and sub
stantial while Mccarthy concrete is
full OF loose rock and sand and appar-
emily has no consistency whatever At
least that is the claim.
DIG THROUGH WITH LATH.
A newspaper man yesterday after
noon dug hole FIVE inches deep, or
clear through the foundation, in front
OF The Argus office. his only tool be-
ing wooden lath. and that without
point. II would take an hour OF work
with a pick TO dig five inches in the
street car companys concrete
Inspector o. S. Holt, hired by the
city to see that the work is properly
done, says that the contractors are
living up to specifications, which, in
cidentally, are the specifications used
In New York. Nevertheless. II appears
to some of the property owners that
they are getting the had end OF the
bargain, and that II behooves the ciNv
10 Investigate the matter thoroughly
and at once. before a course of asphalt
binder hides from view the mixture
that purports to be concrete.
NEED CONCERTED ACTION.
Some 10 days ago a meeting of
Second avenue property owners was
called and The Argus supposed II was
for the purpose of getting in touch
with the city regarding the paving
II seems, however, that such action
was not contemplated and at any rate
there has been no concerted action
with the city, such as is needed in
Ndbt ls uOt dS IL De
ANOTHER FLAW FOUND.
Following g controversy this morning
as TO the amount of concrete in the
paving foundation, City Engineer Wal
lace Treichler and others dug through
the foundation In front of the State
bank and found It only three and a
half inches In depth. Thereupon the
engineer gave orders that the required
FIVE inches be laid before the asphalt
binder was put down. and the work Al
that particular point was stopped
Representatives Of the company ex
planned the shortage of material in tbs
foundation by saying that allowanc,
had not been made for the crown il
the street and that II would have mean
an inch and a half more binder ant
asphalt than called for in the specif
cations
BLOCKS FOR INTERSECTION.
President J. r. Porter OF the Tri-Cit,
Railway company this morning state,
TO representative OF The Argus tina
the track intersections OF Second ave
nue. and on Twentieth streets. vii
nc paved with wood blocks so that tn
job will be a uniform one all the wa
through. lie said that the railwa
company had no intention OF maxim
patchwork job and had never cor
templated leaving the old brick in tn
intersections. When apprized of tn
fact that they had been left there. h
stated that he would look the matte
up at once and haze wood block
put in.