206 GEOLOGY OF OHIO 



The public are certainly entitled to a considerable reduction in prices; 

 $10.00 per thousand ought to buy good vitrified blocks in any town in 

 central Ohio. 



One reason for this elevation of prices which has been mantained so 

 far, has been in the fact that municipal corporations have been the prin- 

 cipal buyers of the wares. It is a shameful fact, attested to by many of 

 the most prominent makers of paving material, that the venality of those 

 who have conducted the public business has hitherto greatly increased 

 the cost of brick pavements to the public. It is certainly a misfortune 

 to the industry that its product is bound to be marketed principally to 

 municipal corporations, if not directly, at least indirectly, through the 

 contractors who agree to furnish material and build the streets. One 

 great source of expense to the manufacturers and therefore to the public 

 has been the unskillful and prejudiced inspection, to which the paving 

 material awaiting use in city streets has been subjected. Large lots have 

 been condemned by reason of the failure of small samples; or have been 

 rejected on account of trivial surface defects or color. 



The present development of the paving brick industry in Ohio has 

 been put in shape in the following table as far as the data have been avail- 

 able. 



