PARK AND CEMETERY. 
150 
damage suits. In nine cases out of 
ten accidents occur upon sidewalks 
where the transverse slope is exces- 
sive. 
Plank sidewalks formerly laid in 
enormous quantities are growing more 
and more unpopular each year, and 
every city which has any left is get- 
ting rid of them as fast as possible. 
They are constantly out of repair, 
and are the source of much annoyance 
and endless damage suits. 
If the property upon streets where 
walks are to be laid is largely unde- 
veloped, and the cost of permanent 
walks would be a burden, use as a 
temporary material cinders, gravel or 
macadam. Any of these materials, 
properly laid, make a safe, comfort- 
able walk to travel over, and last for 
many years. 
Of the materials used for perma- 
nent sidewalk construction, tar con- 
crete is the cheapest. Walks made of 
this material are extensively used in 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 
These walks are usually 3 or 4 inches 
in thickness, consisting of a founda- 
tion of cobbles or broken stone and 
tar composition; a binding course of 
fine gravel and tar composition, and a 
wearing surface of sand and tar com- 
position, each layer thoroughly con- 
solidated and rolled separately. Walks 
of this material cost from 5 to 8 cents 
per square foot. A fair average price 
is 7 cents per square foot. These 
walks when new are rather attractive. 
With the tar filler affected by weather- 
er, they are naturally rather soft in 
summer and hard in winter. Like all 
pavements of tar composition, the 
tendency is to crack and disintegrate 
under the extreme climatic conditions 
of New England. When these' walks 
get worn down to the binding course, 
they are anything but comfortable to 
travel over. 
Ordinary brick has been extensively 
used as a sidewalk material. Go to 
New Haven or Cambridge and you 
will find many miles of brick side- 
walks. No special precautions are ne- 
cessary in laying brick sidewalks, ex- 
cept to get the foundation well com- 
pacted. Upon this base is placed a 
layer of sand, and the brick are laid 
upon this sand cushion in herringbone 
style, and rammed to a smooth sur- 
face. Brick sidewalks cost a little 
more than tar concrete, the prices 
ranging from 7 to 12 cents per square 
foot; 9 cents being a fair average. 
Brick sidewalks wear well, but usual- 
ly wear unevenly on account of the 
variation in the hardness of the brick. 
They are usually slippery in winter 
because the soft bricks absorb mois- 
ture which freezes, and the hard 
burned bricks are slippery because of 
their hardness and smoothness. 
Flagstones are very generally used 
for sidewalk purposes, especially for 
business streets, on account of their 
strength and great wearing qualities. 
In Hartford probably 95 per cent of 
the walks are paved with this mater- 
ial. If laid with a proper base to pre- 
vent the heaving of the stones by 
frost action, flagstone sidewalks are 
very satisfactory, but if poorly laid 
with the joints uneven, the results 
are equally unsatisfactory. If you 
have ever tripped over one of these 
joints _when travelling beyond the 
speed limit, you have probably not 
forgotten your experience. Flag- 
stone walks cost from 18 cents up, 
per square foot, depending upon the 
size and thickness of the stones. Af- 
ter the foundation is prepared, the 
stones are imbedded upon a sand or 
cinder cushion. 
THE DECAY OF 
Responding to repeated criticisms of 
the bad condition of Central Park, New 
York, Commissioner Herman recently 
removed Superintendent Frank Joyce, 
“for the good of the service,” accord- 
ing to a local interview with the com- 
missioner, who goes oh to speak as 
follows of the condition of the park : 
“If I am in this office another year I 
shall go to Albany and ask for the resto- 
ration of the separate police squad, and, 
no matter how unpopular the measure 
may be, I will endeavor to have the old 
regulation against automobiles put in 
force again. When the matter was left 
to the Department’s discretion, there was 
a local ordinance prohibiting the motor 
vehicles from coming into the park. But 
the automobile owners, hungry to get at 
our smooth drives, secured legislation 
over our heads nullifying the ordinance. 
Now, it is impossible to keep those 
drives smooth, because we have not 
money enough to make over our roads 
to meet the needs of rapidly moving 
autos. These dirt roads of the park are 
built for light carriages only. When the 
automobile folks secured the law giving 
them entry, they should have been con- 
sistent and got an extra appropriation to 
rebuild the drives. They make a bad 
matter worse by putting chains on their 
wheels to prevent skidding. If asked to 
remove the chains because they tear the 
surface of the road, the auto owners ask 
me if the surface of the roads is of more 
importance than their lives, and assure 
me that riding without chains would be 
dangerous. It wouldn’t be dangerous if 
Sheet asphalt sidewalks are very 
little used, largely on account of their 
excessive cost. Equally satisfactory re- 
sults can be obtained with much 
cheaper materials. 
Concrete sidewalks, commonly 
known in this vicinity as granolithic, 
are growing in popularity very rapid- 
ly, and thousands of miles are being 
laid each year in all parts of this 
country. This material seems to be 
replacing all other materials, especial- 
ly in the residential sections. Side- 
walks made of this material are 
smooth, hard and durable. 
The cost of granolithic sidewalks 
varies from 10 to 25 cents per square 
foot. In Minneapolis, they are laid 
for 8 cents a square foot, but the 
walks there are not a typical grano- 
lithic. A reasonable price is from 15 
to 20 cents per square foot for a walk 
from 12 to 15 inches thick made up of 
a cinder base and with a concrete sur- 
face 4 or 5 inches thick. 
A GREAT PARK 
they paid any attention to the speed 
laws. 
“Concerning the other matter, the po- 
lice, there is everything to be said in 
favor of a separate force. We need 
patrolmen here who know the park and 
can appreciate it. 
“Another thing needed in Central Park 
is entire making over or resurfacing. 
The soil is worn out, and that, rather 
than daily neglect of makeshift piece- 
meal renovation of a spot here and there, 
is largely responsible for some of the 
conditions complained of. The sod 
should all be ploughed under and then 
covered with a new and fertile top soil. 
That would give the trees the nourish- 
ment they need, and make the lawns 
what they ought to be. The cost of 
this resurfacing or rebuilding the park, 
as the technical term is, would be about 
$150,000, and would require a year’s 
work. But we can’t get it. We asked 
for the maintenance of all the parks this 
year $850,000, and were cut down in 
the budget to $663,000. Our appropria- 
tion is based on the old lower grade of 
expenses, notwithstanding the fact that 
our cost for labor has gone up because 
of the increasing prevailing rate of 
wages which we are obliged by law to 
pay. And, of course, the prices of ma- 
terials have gone up, too.” 
Naturally the automobile owners got 
excited at this suggestion and laid the 
damage to the poor construction of the 
roads. They suggest improved methods 
of construction and oil sprinkling. 
