Show IS TOO LATE TO PAVE Main Street Merchants Object to Tearing Up the Street The City Engineer and Board of Public Works Believe It Miould Be Postponed Until prinpr I When will you begin work on your pawIng paw-ing contract asked a HEUALD reporter of Mr Culmer of the CulmorJennings paying pay-ing company That question we have asked us not less than fifty times a day said Mr Culmer and he added it all depends on the city engineer Tne engineer is confronted by a great many questions that he has to settle in a business way without regard to public clamor Whllothere are members of tho city council who after procrastinating all summer insist that the contractors the next moaning after the contract was awarded should have began hauling stone and plowing up the street there are several side issues that must first be settled While the contractors claim to have enough stone blocks already out to pave several blocks and could easily dump them down and obstruct business and offer a further icupejiment to trade by ripping up tho roadway the experience in paving State road has tayght the engineer and the board of public works a lesson that tbey propose to profit by in handling the Main street job t jobThe Main street merchants have also something to say In the matter They are now fairly into the busy fail tradA and even if all the materials were ready it would be a serious matter to taom to have the street torn uo during this season of the year If this was the only objection it would not be sufficient to put the work over until the spring as the advantage of paved street during the wet montHs in the spring would overcome this > objection But tne fact that the street railway lines have not yet ordered the now rails and crossings which they must procure and that it will take several weeks to secure them and soveral more weeks to put them down besides the unforsosn delays that always al-ways pop up Those Who watched tho progress of work on the State road remember remem-ber the serious delays caused by the Rapid Transit people waiting for their rails The dragcmg of the work on the State road was tho cause of no end of complaint yet it did not compare with tho inconvenience inconve-nience and injury to trade that would bo sure to occur if Main street was suddenly torn up and in all likelihood remain in the chaotic stale all winter The work on State street occurred during a favorable time of tho year whon there were no rains and the traffic on that thosoughfare is not onefourth that of Main sticot The season sea-son has now so far advanced that winter may sot in at any time and if ibo orders were given tomorrow to begin work it would be the middle of December before the street railroads could bo put in shape to allow the contractors to move on with their work If the contractors are forced ahead at this unfavorable l season and the weather becomes frosty it will be impossible to do the concrete con-crete work without danger of impairing cement Neither can the asphaltum bo laid during frosty weather and if the contractors con-tractors against their protest were compelled com-pelled to go ahead they could very easily excuse any defective work by claiming that it was caused by cold weather There is also another matter which must be considered and which is of great importance im-portance The American Natural Gas company has a franchise to lay its pipes on the a treats and this work should be done before the paving blocks are set for it matters not how much care is taken in re setting them the street is never left In as good condition as if it bad never been disturbed dis-turbed I In view of these facts the board of public works will in all probability direct that the natural gas company must lay its pipes oy a certain time and that the street railway company must have its material all on tbe ground say by the 1st of April or the 1st of May The CulmerJennings Co shall bo required re-quired to have all the mono cut by tbo time named With all the materials ready to slap down the mere matter of placing them together need not take but a few months at most The time selected for paving business streets should be June July and August when there is but little traffic on the street and the merchants have little trade to handle If there is anybody to blame for the delay de-lay that will necessarily ensue it is the city council and after procrastinating all summer sum-mer if instead of jumping around and dancing Jigs now they will go right ahead and map out the work for next summer sum-mer that they export to accomplish let the contracts now and contractors can be ready for business at the time stipulated they will act like sensible business men If West Temple street is to be paved next summer now is tho time to pass the ordinances and not next spring or next falls fall-s the case was this year 1 |