142 TJIK PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. IX. 



Vegetable substances, containing within themselves elements of 

 decay and putrefaction, should be rejected from sanitary con- 

 siderations alone ; but in addition to this, their combustibility, 

 softness of fibre, permeability, and cost are serious obstacles, and 

 experiences on both continents, under varied conditions, have 

 proved wood-pavements failures as to durability. 



Wood-pavements have been laid down in New York for thirty 

 years, and are now altogether condemned, the surveyors describing 

 them as "Avorse than worthless," Thirty years ago it was laid 

 down in Oxford Street, and was generally condemned by the shop- 

 keepers as an offensive nuisance, and it was soon discarded. It 

 is the dirtiest of all pavements, the most expensive, and the most 

 unhealthy. The easy removal of mud, slush, and other accumula- 

 tions from the surface of the asphalte, is not by any means so 

 attainable on the wood-paving. Owing to the porous character 

 of the material, a large proportion of the refuse soaks in, and in 

 hot weather or during stress of traffic the smell and the offensive 

 particles are given off to add to the impurities of the atmosphere. 

 On the contrary, where the road and footways arc properly 

 asphalted, the whole may be so washed with a hose that not even 

 a particle of dust shall be left on a summer's day. 



As a matter of health and comfort, then, the wood-pavements 

 are clearly inferior. But besides being by far the most offensive 

 of all forms of street-paving, it is also the most troublesome to put 

 down properly. It also requires more frequent renewals than 

 any other form. Wood was laid in King William Street four 

 years ago. It has since then* been entirely relaid, and is more- 

 over in constant repair, no part of it lasting three years at the 

 outside, and some scarcely two years. 



Although much improvement may have been introduced in the 

 manner of laying it down, yet its inherent defects will always 

 prevent its forming a perfect roadway. In a state of decay it is 

 both offensive and unhealthy. It is also most costly to repair. 

 The New York surveyor states that the yearly repair for stone 

 in 1874 was £87 per mile, for wood £392 per mile. Are rate- 

 payers prepared to pay a rate for paving four times in excess of 

 that now paid, and that for a bad pavement ? 



In times of slight frost the wood-paving is exceedingly dangerous, 

 owing to the continual moisture of the surface of the wood which 



