Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-10-16
THE
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
To The Business Men and Citizens of

To The Business Men and Citizens OF
Ottawa
After a residence OF over seven and
one half years in your city, and a
member of your clubs and various or
ganization, am about to leave my
position as engineer maintenance of
way on the interurban railroad Dur
ing my last few years here an unfor.
tunate situation has arisen. which |
believe is my duty to place clearly
and fully before you.
On last Tuesday the commissioners
of the city OF Ottawa passed certain
resolutions authorizing the discon-
tinuance of car traffic over those por.
tons Of the downtown district now be-
ing paved, for period of three days,
or seventy,two hours. for the alleged
purpose OF allowing the grout filler in
the brick surface of the pavement to
attain set. This resolution may
mean the transferring of passengers
for one, two, three or four blocks It
may mean that this inconvenience will
be thrust upon yourselves and upon
the people entering or passing thru
your city, one, two. three or four times
just as your representatives in the
city government see fit to impose.
AS the engineer for the interurban
company, who has had charge of the
construction work In the rebuilding of
tracks in the downtown district at
present, and in west and south OF
tawa in the past, during the contruc.
ton of brick payements, feel that
should offer my views on the subject
to you for whatever value you may
attach to same
1t is contended by the commission.
ers that the jar of car operating over
the track upon which a grout filler
is being applied causes the bond to be
weakened or broken between the
grout and the brick, and that within
a short period Of time the brick will
work loose and the pavement between
and along the rails be ruined In
answer to this contention, | invite a
public inspection of the job of pave.
ing between the interurban rails on
I
to the inside of the rail have in some
instances been bedded to high, leaving
them so that the langes of the wheels
strike them; that the course of brick
Immediately adjacent to the outside of
the rail has been laid so high. so that
when sand was spread the thread of
the wheel has started to settle and
| crush the outside row of brick. fur.
thermore, 1t will be noticed in a mum.
Der OF places that the joints in the
granite block have not been properly
filled II these joints have been pro.
perly filed where has the grout gone
to-? ! suggested TO your commission
that we test the comparative strength
OF the grout binding between the rails
OF the interurban track with the grout
binding of the brick laid outside OF the
internrban track and removed from 1t
by several feet. II Is my opinion that
where the pavement has been properly
laid between the interurban rails, that
Is where the hanges or threads OF the
car wheels do not strike the impro.
perry laid brick or granite stretchers,
that the grout binding is identically as
strong between the rails as on the out.
side pavement. furthermore called
the attention OF the commission TO the
pavement constructed in the interur.
ban tracks In west Ottawa and In
South, in which portions OF the city we
operated regularly during the paving
and grouting, and the brick In the
track In these two last mentioned
districts, where they were properly
laid. have az good grout binding to.
day as the adjacent pavement on
either side OF the track. II was fur.
ther contended by one or two com.
missloners that the Jar OF the cars
broke the contact or binding between
the wooden ties and enclosing con.
crete. To this made the answer that
the man who can make concrete and
wood for an adhering union has for.