Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-10

nearly everybody has his own house. II
hope you can get that dopy old board To
do something To the other streets in this
vicinity" WAS tho general comment that
came from the hoIsnhoders around tho
Boulevard neighborhood For the most
part, therefore the Boulevard il too rough
| and not fit for a man to ride in n car over It.
if no wants To enjoy himself, and take tho
ride as punishment Of some vile sort.
Coming down to the other side to-
! day, we travelled over Front street ana
| Lancaster avenue and found conditions
on those two stroots also vory poor.
! Second street for tho most part also WAS
rough and poor To travel on. That was
also the condition on several moro streets
in that vicinity, and also many other
| STREETS visited were either entirely unit
| for travelling or go patched and fixed
| UP TINT it seemed shame Tor city oil
| the wealth of Wilmington to permit streets
| Of that typo To be representative OF 1T,
| and act ns poor advertisement for 1T.
| Surely. men today said, with Whining
| ton having n acoro Of millionaires III its
| roll of citizens is getting along with such
| poor roads and without any protest from
them. It seems like shame that a town
should So neglect It's bost assets, good
| streets and avenues.
Furthermore, another person, IN com
manting on the type of the mon working
ON the boulevard, said. "Why il it that
those men employed on this work are all
| old men and what is Che pay TINT they
| GET Does IL seem possible that only
| decrepit aurt Of mon will accept jobs with
| the Street and Sewer Department If
regular wages arc paid?
| And So H. went from ono question To
| another but none Of thern secnnd TO
| have n bit of praise either for the head
| of tho department or any of its works
| 1t seemed. indeed that for this little
| protest Nv the Non-partisan League,
| n lot Of old soros were opened, and they
| all searn tn rest on the Street and Sewer
| Department.
GENERAL prRCuasTos
Engineer Simon, replying 10 questions
| asked bv William NJ Connolly, said many
streets in Wilmington arc of macadam,
| but the materials uaed on other strcets arc
| like those utilized in other citiea Many
streets here havr no base, evidently being
| laId on Clndcr
Andrew ] Gross stated Vandcver
| avenue was IN bad condition two years
after II was paved and had been repaired
| three times IN 10 wears. He did not think
| heavy traffic caused the avenues present
| condition
| Andrew | Johnson said he did not
| come To the meeting as q representative
| of tho Street and Sewer Department bnt
| attended q citizen and taxpayer lie
| thought Engineer SImonR report WIS
cmincntlv far, but cnntended that Viii
/ mingtons streets are not worse than
!, streets IN Philadelphia
| Mir DAVIS announced that an invI-
tation sent to Mr. Johnson was inter
copied Gang tactlcsf Mr. DAVIS COIN
mented
Mr. Johnson again complimcnted Engi-
necr simon. saving
''The engineers report IL admirable.
| clear and lu,id aud am infatuated with
| it"
| Mr. Inhnson said The street and Sewer
| Department recognizes the need of inn
| proved STREETS. but IL unable to better CON
| dItionq bceausc 81 lack of funds Had
! Counc,l appropriated enough money
streets would he ~ better condition
/ Traffic. increasing IN volume and weight.
| il destructive ~ streets Should the league
influence Council "a appropriate all tho
money the Street and Sewer Department
nreds streets would 10 put IN good con
/
| roachcd nv fairly good streets. some cx-
| coIlont. lilo referred to criticism ot Della
| ware avenue The railway - ~ q worn
| out condition and needs rebuilding Had
| everything warranted tho aVenue would
have h,cu rrpavod last wear. Contracts
| for having certain STREETS were awarded IN
| 1916 and the contractors lost money
Iavlng water and gas pipes and lowering
q sewer DELAYED street paving until lHl',
| when some ~ II was completed by strau-
ing every nerve. This spring all tho CON
| crrtc mon Who could be got werr put
| to work. and next rrpalr men were em-
| plovod lets bc fair Mr. Johnson OK
! plalned lie had tho utmost confidence
| IN has associates. and he believed Council
| did IT., best, but with AN that the street
and Sewer Department did not havo
| enough money Macadam streets, with
heavy traffic. need constant repair Few
| persons know the TRIALS and trlbulations
| the directors have, aud much OF tho crltI-
| clstn Is due u mlsinforInauon-
Mr. DAVIS asked MIR johnson how much
money was spent IN the past year for
street repair, but Mr.. Johnson declined
| To answer the question, saying he would
not submit To hcckllng.
= II pcuzick described the condition
| Of various thorougifaTcs. He SAID Della
ware avenue is unfit 10 be repaired. The
| boulevard is being repaired but repairs
| wont prevent II becoming . sore West
| Front street and Lancaster avenue are
| in poor condition aud West Second
street Is rough
DIR. John =. Jones said WIlmiugtonIans
paw heavy taxes and should have good
streets If Council were responsible the
taxpayers should get alter It While
u0uI THO