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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



permanency and, consequently, cheapness can not be surpassed. 

 When first used, these blocks ^vere quite large, and the size has 

 been decreased until the best stone pavements laid at the present 



Cobblestone Pavement ox Saratoga Avenue, Bhooklyn. 



time in Great Britain are six-inch cubes, or still smaller, with a 

 surface four inches square and a depth of seven inches. 



But stone pavement when most carefully laid and maintained 

 is noisy and unpleasant to ride over, and in these days we can never 

 reconcile such a pavement with a handsome residence street. The 

 writer experienced a distinct shock when on riding over Euclid 

 Avenue, in Cleveland, last year, he found it still paved with Medina 

 sandstone blocks, and it seemed that this famous street was still 

 living on the reputation which Bayard Taylor gave it years ago 

 as the handsomest street in the world. 



In looking about for something more quiet and smooth than 

 stone, the first material tried was wood. In London the first wood 

 pavement was laid in the Old Bailey in 1839, and was soon followed 

 by many others. None of these pavements lasted more than seven 

 years, and, as they cost more than granite and were so short-lived, 

 a prejudice arose against them, and as they wore out they were 

 mostly replaced with granite. Since that time wood pavement 

 has become popular again, and a large area is now covered with it. 

 The material most generally in use is Baltic fir, though there is 

 quite a large amount of Australian hard wood which is more du- 

 rable. The people of London seem willing to bear the greater ex- 



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