less thaw severe direct tests: their engineers had to pile wood upon the asphaltum pavement, pour petroleum over it, and light it. When the fire burned most lively, and there were plenty of red-hot coals underneath, the space was cleared and nothing but little flames were noticed, which immediately died out. G. A. Shaw, the head of the London fire-brigade, who attended, declared expressly his faith in the harmless nature of the pavements during conflagrations. There is no doubt that asphaltum pavements may occasionally fail, but, when they do, this is attributable not to the material, if unadulterated, but rather to the method of its application, which requires skilled workmen, whose eyes and hands are quick and directed by an intelligent mind. The District of Columbia has about $1,750,000 invested in concrete and asphalt pavements, including the various patented mixtures and the natural asphaltic rock, and, though a certain degree of success has been attained under some of the patents, this does not appear to be uniform and under control of the engineers; nearly all show clear evidences of disintegration, and are periodically in need of repairs or resurfacing, which latter means virtually a failure of the patented process, while the pavements of natural rock rather improve by wear, and their first cost, in depreciated securities, was but $4.25 per square yard against $3.20 for the patented admixtures.
After these explanations, based on personal observations, as well as on the results of the experience of the leading engineers in this branch, the conclusion may well be drawn that asphaltum roads are destined to be the city pavements of the future—a destiny which is determined by the progressive spirit of the age, and which cannot be retarded for any length of time; it involves the interests of all, both high and low. If the most elegant and most frequented streets have the privilege to lead the van, it ought to be appreciated that the luxurious life of the higher classes depends upon the strength and activity of the children of the industrious classes as much as upon the toil of the farm-hand who, fortunately enough, is enabled to recruit his strength in open fields; hence, justice should be done likewise to the demands of health for the poorer classes, who, in consequence of the highly improper laying out of the cities, as bequests of by-gone generations, are frequently doomed to live in alleys and lanes, and these should be drawn into the vortex of a reform which, when accomplished, will gladden the humanitarian, whose head and heart are in sympathy with civilization in its noblest aspect.
Washington, March 26, 1875.
