STREET PA VEMENTS. 545> 
as durable as they are pleasant in other respects, while at the same time they wil^ 
still remain less expensive than stone. 
As to stone pavements, the Guidet, Belgian, and Camp or Medina sand- 
stone, are equally valuable and durable, each being first-class for streets upon 
which heavy traffic is done, and each being decidedly objectionable everywhere 
else But to give the best results at the heavy cost of such pavements they 
should be kept scrupulously clean ; otherwise they have all the inconveniences of 
slipperiness, dust and slop, in addition to the almost intolerable noise which essen- 
tially belongs to them. On heavy grades the stones should be set sloping, so as 
to produce projections at their edges for the benefit of the draft animals in pulling 
up or holding back in going down. Without attention to this, much of the ben- 
efit of the stone surface is lost, from the fact that so much smaller loads must be 
hauled over them. 
The ideal pavement in our opinion is that composed of asphaltum, either in 
solid sheets or in blocks. It is noiseless, indestructible by the elements, smooth, 
impermeable by liquids, easily cleaned and when properly put down, exceedingly^ 
durable, besides being easily put in perfect repair when cut or broken for any 
reason. 
The foundation should be of the best quality, as it should for all other pave- 
ments, and the asphaltum mixture put on in sheets on level stretches and in suit- 
ably sized blocks, laid as above, upon all steep grades. 
As to the comparative durability of these three styles of pavement, assuming 
the foundation to be about the same in each case, experience shows that stone 
blocks of good quality will last the longest time, wooden blocks the shortest and 
asphalt blocks will come between the other two. In the matter of cost, wooden 
blocks will cost least, asphaltum next, and stone most. In cost of maintenance 
and repairs, rock comes first in point of economy, asphaltum second and wood 
last. In regard to hygienic value, asphaltum stands conspicuously first, stone 
next, wood last. 
After carefully considering the matter as a home measure, while I am satis- 
fied that the above summary is correct, I am also quite convinced that be substi- 
tuting a cheaper wooden block for the cedar, and expending enough more upon 
the point of making the pavement impervious to water from above, to actually 
accomplish it, we can have a cheap pavement in this city which shall possess all 
the good qualities of both stone and asphaltum, at a lower cost than either, and 
use no materials except such as can be found in our immediate neighborhood. 
At the present time there is a growing sentiment among the people of St. 
Louis in favor of pavements made of fire-clay brick, which have been carefully 
tested and pronounced a success in a report made by a committee of engineers 
and citizens. Among other things they report that '^ these bricks show all the 
endurance of granite," " they make a smoother, cleaner, and less noisy street," 
"are more easily repaired," "give better foot-hold to horses," "neither fire nor 
frost affects them," and "that streets can be made of this material at half the 
cost of granite." 
