Show OTJE FATHERS they aee to try asphalt sidewalks TO experiment ON TWO BLOCKS FIRST then if satisfactory to continue the good work the city council met in special session on friday night with mayor dusenberry in the chair the absentees were alderman holdaway and coun cifors tanner bean and dixon judge dusenberry stated in behalf of the D R G W that that company was ready and willing to empty sixty car loads of gravel on first street to help the city grade that thoroughfare the offer was accepted and the matter referred to the committee on streets and alleys with authority to take such steps in having it spread on said street as may be necessary A petition waa presented from mr john deal of the D E G TV eating house asking permission permia sion to reconstruct the sewer leading from their kitchen the petition was granted on condition that the matter be done under the direction of the supervisor of streets the matter of paving the business streets of provo with asphalt was then taken up the agreement between provo city and the utah asphalt co presented by alderman alexander at the last session coming up on its second reading mr scott stated that he had in company with some other members of the council inspected the asphalt walks laid around judge residence by the utah asphalt co he had to confess that was the beat work tho company could do that it would be a great disappointment for the city to undertake the enormous expense of laying such asphalt walks for they would not be as good as the public expected he would favor experimenting on one block before too much work was done he did not know but what gravel walks were as endurable and as satisfactory as asphaltum anyhow they were certainly cheaper judge dusenberry president of the utah asphalt co here arose and stated that life was too short for the council to say that gravel waa as good as asphalt if such was the stand to be taken by the council then would be no use to argue in favor of asphalt for sidewalks he claimed that the eye of experts had pronounced the walks laid around his residence as being the finest walks in utah territory and that aliey would endure when other walks had gone the men constituting the asphalt company were not men who were in the habit of engaging in wildcat wild cat schemes they were men who had looked well into tho matter before doing anything material in organizing for the carrying on of the business of laying asphalt walks an expert was to be bent for from st louis to undertake the supervision of the laying of the walks and it would net pay for the company to guarantee anything anat they were not confident thuy could perform mr david holdaway thought the city would undertake a big affair on limited experience if it signed a contract for the laying of asphalt walks on the conditions specified in the agreement read no one knew definitely the enduring qualities of this article and he would sooner favor experimenting on a small ecale first he did not advocate spending the peoples money lavishly on something no one to know anything about were the material known to be what it is represented then he would say let the sidewalks be laid but until it was known he would not favor any expenditure of the cites revenues judge dusenberry suggested that if the council had any doubts as to the genuineness of the article that only a couple of blocks be contracted for the mayor here suggested that a half block be laid judge dusenberry replied that the corpany would not bother over such a small distance there was ao sense in such a proposition mr brown thought the city would be doing a foolish thing to contract for the laying of asphalt walks on such limited demonstration he would like to see it thoroughly experimented mr hansen had seen asphalt roads where tens of thousands of people passed over them every day and he was prepared to say that the walks around judge residence was as good and apparently as lasting as any he had seen still he was in favor of waiting to see what effect the frost and the elements generally would have on them mr david holdaway said that he would favor experiment ine on bot more than two blocks at the least then if it proved a success continue the good work on all the other walks mr alexander stated that tho property owners who had some time ago expressed their willingness to pay a special tax for the labine of asphalt sidewalks now complained of the shape the matter had taken and were not as willing now to stand the expels as they were when they first heard of the subject besides which they thought provo waa not metropolitan enough as yet to stand the expense of walks after considerable more discussion mr maiben moved that the be referred to the committee an streets and alleys with authority to contract with tho utah asphalt co for the laying of two blocks and one crossing the council then adjourned till the i session |