THE BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS AND  STREET PAVE¬
MENTS.

The very heart of the work performed under the direction of
the borough presidents is the making and the maintenance of
street pavements. A well-paved street does much to make a
city fair and healthful. Upon it are dependent pleasure in driv¬
ing, swiftness and economy in transporting goods, the life of
wagons and horses and the health of the population. There is
a direct connection between a noisy pavement and the nervous
systems of the people who live near it. A pavement filled with
holes and depressions invites the accumulation of rubbish and
filth. A poor pavement cannot be kept clean, so that organic
diseases attributable to unclean pavements, can often be traced
further on to the inefficiency of the highway engineer.

Defective pavements are also a menace to life and limb.
Suits for personal injuries due to the alleged faulty condition of
streets, are frequently brought against the municipality; in fact,
forty-eight of such actions, involving the total sum of $436,250,
were pending in the courts on December 31, 1905. These suits
concern the Borough of Manhattan alone.'*'

In the borough of Manhattan there are 487 miles or 9,270,770
square yards of pavement. The value of this pavement, esti¬
mated at the absurdly low figure of $2.50 a square yard, is $23,-
176,925. This is merely an arbitrary estimate and in no way
represents the investment in pavements in the Borough of Man¬
hattan. It fairly indicates, however, the financial importance of
the problem dealt with by the bureau of highways.

*As bearing directly upon this subject tbe following letter was sent by
Comptroller Metz,  on August 1, 1906, to tbe respective borough presidents :

"Numerous claims have been filed with tbe department for damage alleged
to be due for personal injuries received in accidents due to tbe negligence of
the City of New Xorb in not properiy protecting its bigbways.

"In some cases tbe cause of tbe damage was tbe dangerous and defective
condition, of the pavement. In other cases it appeared that contractors who
received permission from tbe city to malie exca,vations in connection with either
public or private work, have neglected to properly safeguard the same, or have
neglected to surround tbe excavations with lights which would act as warning
signs.

"Again, tbe accidents which resulted in injuries were due to obstructions
which were permitted to remain in the street without proper warning being
given of the existence of tbe same.

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