REPORTS 
 
 ON A 
 
 Proposed Issue of Special Revenue Bonds to 
 Supplement Budgetary Appropriation of the 
 President of the Borough of The Bronx 
 for Highway Maintenance 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 Hon. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Mayor 
 
 Chairman of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 
 JUNE 24 , 1909, AND JULY I, 1909 
 
 Commissioners of Accounts 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
 
REPORTS 
 
 ON A 
 
 Proposed Issue of Special Revenue Bonds to 
 Supplement Budgetary Appropriation of the 
 President of the Borough of The Bronx 
 for Highway Maintenance 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 Hon. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Mayor 
 
 Chairman of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 
 JUNE 24, 1909, AND JULY 1, 1909 
 
 Commissioners of Accounts 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
 
35M 
 
 flARTIN B. BROWN 
 A PRESS 4 
 
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 Office of the Commissioners of Accounts/) 
 Stewart Building, 280 Broadway, l 
 New York, June 24, 1909. 
 
 Subject —Proposed issue of Special Revenue Bonds, to supplement bud¬ 
 getary appropriation of the President of the Borough of The Bronx 
 for highway maintenance. 
 
 Hon. George B. McClellan, Mayor: 
 
 Sir —At your direction we have caused a brief examination to be made 
 of the records of the Bureau of Highways of the Borough of The Bronx, 
 and of the earth and macadam highways in that borough, with a view to 
 testing the necessity for the issue of revenue bonds in the amount of 
 $220,000, requested by Borough President Haffen in a communication ad¬ 
 dressed to the Board of Aldermen under date of May 24, 1909. While it 
 was not possible in the time at our disposal to make this examination as 
 exhaustive as we would wish, nevertheless we are of the opinion that such 
 results as we have obtained are conclusive. 
 
 In his letter of May 24, 1909, to the Board of Aldermen President 
 Haffen states that his budgetary appropriation for maintenance of highways 
 for the year 1909 was $224,924 less than the amount appropriated for the 
 me purpose in 1908. This is substantially true, and it is pointed out that 
 the necessity for such a reduction was very fully set forth in our final report 
 to your Honor upon the accounts and methods of the office of the President 
 of the Borough of The Bronx, filed on June 16, 1908. Therein it was re¬ 
 ported that an exhaustive, painstaking and accurate test of the efficiency of 
 the highway labor gangs in the Borough of The Bronx demonstrated that 
 a waste, due to inexcusable idleness, had taken place in the payrolls of these 
 gangs, amounting to 50 per cent, of the total amount expended by the Bureau 
 of Highways. In other words, had a system of supervision and control over 
 the labor forces of this borough been established and enforced by the 
 borough officials, it would have been possible to achieve the same results 
 upon the highways of the borough with half the number of laborers then 
 employed, and at half the cost to the City of New York. This being the 
 case, and bearing in mind that the appropriation for highway maintenance 
 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 5453 
 
4 
 
 allowed the President of the borough in 1908 was $823,500, it is apparent 
 that a cut not only of $224,924, but even of half the 1908 appropriation, 
 namely $411,750, might well have been made in voting the 1909 appropriation 
 to this borough, had the President been prepared to exact of his employees 
 a full return in services for the wages paid them. 
 
 We also remind your Honor that at the time of the making of the 1909 
 budget the matter of highway maintenance was referred to a select com¬ 
 mittee consisting of the engineers of the Board of Estimate and Apportion¬ 
 ment and the chief engineers of each of the five boroughs. On the basis 
 of the report of this select committee a sum was appropriated to the 
 Borough of The Bronx for this purpose which amounted to a cut under the 
 1908 appropriation of the sum of $224,924, above stated. It is to be re¬ 
 membered that the report of the engineers was signed by the engineer of 
 the Borough of The Bronx as well as by the other members of the com¬ 
 mittee. It is therefore clear that two independent and unrelated bodies of 
 the city government, considering the question of The Bronx highway main¬ 
 tenance independently and from different points of view, both arrived at 
 the conclusion that the amount of money theretofore expended by that 
 borough upon highway maintenance was unnecessarily large, and the more 
 liberal estimate of the two—that of the engineers—resulted in the cut which 
 was actually made by the Board of Estimate. 
 
 It would therefore appear that unless some new and extraordinary 
 condition had arisen in the Borough of The Bronx since the investigation 
 made by the Commissioners of Accounts and the report rendered by the 
 select committee of engineers, an issue of bonds, placing at the disposal of 
 the Borough President a sum of money equal to that which was saved to the 
 taxpayers by the cut in the 1909 budget, would be an act of nothing less 
 than profligate waste. It was our endeavor therefore to ascertain whether 
 such extraordinary condition had arisen, and, further, to learn the actual 
 effect upon the highways of The Bronx of this cut under the budgetary 
 appropriation of 1908, by test of the present actual condition of those high¬ 
 ways. 
 
 The specific reasons offered by the Borough President for the proposed 
 issue of bonds, taken from his letter of May 24, are as follows: 
 
 “ Further, these residents along the earth and macadam roads of 
 
 “ the borough have been for years accustomed each season to have them 
 
5 
 
 “ repaired and rounded up as often as it became necessary to do so, as 
 “ well as sprinkled during the summer, but who are now daily com- 
 “ plaining of the apparent neglect of the city to properly serve them, 
 “ and they are clamoring for relief.” 
 
 \1# v f * ^ vix v*. 
 
 / |* 'I' 't* '(* 'I* *1* 'f' 
 
 “ During the last two months the highways of The Bronx did not 
 “ receive the full attention heretofore given and absolutely necessary for 
 “ their proper maintenance, and the streets in certain sections of our 
 “ borough were of necessity neglected, due to lack of funds, and con- 
 u sequently citizens were justified in the complaints they made.” 
 
 We addressed a letter, under date of June 15, 1909, to the President of 
 the Borough of The Bronx, in which we requested him to furnish us with 
 the following information: 
 
 (a) The detailed items forming the basis for the estimate that the 
 sum of $152,500 will be needed for supplies, etc., in the current year, as 
 stated in your letter to the Board of Aldermen under date of January 25, 
 1909. 
 
 ( b ) A list of the streets in the Borough of The Bronx whose main¬ 
 tenance has been neglected owing to lack of funds and whose condition is 
 such as to justify the complaints of citizens, as referred to in your letter 
 to the Board of Aldermen under date of May 24, 1909. 
 
 (c) A list of all complaints made by property owners regarding the 
 condition of streets which were remedied by the maintenance force of the 
 Bureau of Highways in the current year. 
 
 ( d ) A list of all complaints made by property owners regarding the 
 condition of streets which were not remedied, or which were unduly neg¬ 
 lected by the maintenance force for the Bureau of Highways in the current 
 year. 
 
 ( e ) Those streets which, in your opinion, are not in a condition of re¬ 
 pair equal to that of former years. 
 
 This he did by submitting certain lists under each of the requests noted 
 above. Thereupon we directed our engineering staff to make as full an ex¬ 
 amination as the time at our disposal would allow, of the information fur¬ 
 nished by the Borough President, testing by physical examination the con- 
 
6 
 
 dition of those highways claimed by him to have been neglected owing to 
 lack of funds and whose condition he claimed justified the complaints of 
 citizens. Herewith we give the results of that examination. 
 
 (<*) 
 
 Request of the Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
 (a) The detailed items forming the basis for the estimate that the 
 sum of $152,000 will be needed for supplies, etc., in the current year, as 
 stated in your letter to the Board of Aldermen under date of January 25, 
 1909. 
 
 Information Furnished by Borough President. 
 
 Supplies—1909. 
 
 Feed. $5,500 
 
 Ashes. 7,500 
 
 Lumber . 6,000 
 
 Coal . 1,200 
 
 Sand and filling. 1,500 
 
 Paint . 1,000 
 
 Repairing asphalt. 5,000 
 
 Brick. 2,500 
 
 Hardware and tools. 3,000 
 
 Gasoline and oil. 400 
 
 Horseshoeing . 2,500 
 
 Veterinary services. 600 
 
 Oil for macadam. 1,000 
 
 New carriages and harness and repairs to same. 3,000 
 
 Automobile supplies, repairs and garage. 1.200 
 
 Mill and shop work, castings, etc. 600 
 
 Broken stone, 55,000 cubic yards at $2 
 
 $42,500 
 
 110,000 
 
 $152,500 
 
7 
 
 Of the above items the time at our disposal permitted us to test only 
 the most important. The principal item is that of 55,000 cubic yards of 
 broken stone and screenings at $2, amounting to $110,000. We find that the 
 deliveries of stone during the year 1907 amounted to 53,873.8 cubic yards, 
 of which 48,973 cubic yards were charged to appropriation account at $2.15 
 per cubic yard, amounting to $105,291.95, and the balance, 4,900.8 cubic 
 yards, at $1.58, were delivered on old 1906 contract, corporate stock ac¬ 
 count, amounting to $7,748.26, making total expenditure for trap rock 
 and screenings for 1907 $113,040.21. The deliveries for 1908 we find to be 
 as follows: 20,364.6 cubic yards at $1.90 and 11,026.6 cubic yards at $2.15, 
 amounting to $38,658.54 and $23,707.19, respectively, or a total of $62,- 
 365.73 charged to appropriation account, representing a total of 31,391.2 
 cubic yards. In addition to this amount there were also delivered in 1908, 
 under an old 1906 contract, corporate stock account, 21,317 cubic yards at 
 $1.58, amounting to $33,680.86, making a total expenditure for the year of 
 $96,046.59. 
 
 In the present year, during the period to June 17, 7,179 cubic yards at 
 $1.90, amounting to $13,640.10, have been delivered on 1908 appropriation; 
 3,079.4 cubic yards at $1.58, amounting to $4,865.45, delivered on old 1906 
 contract (now completed), corporate stock account, making a total delivered 
 to June 17, 10,258.4 cubic yards, amounting to $18,505.55. 
 
 Two additional contracts have been awarded under 1909 appropriation, 
 for 15,000 cubic yards at $1.90 and 9,000 cubic yards at $1.85, respectively, 
 under which no deliveries have as yet been made. There were, however, 
 available for use in 1909, on June 17, delivered and undelivered, a total of 
 34,258.4 cubic yards, amounting to $63,655.55. 
 
 The proposal is to add to the 34,258.4 cubic yards, of the value of 
 $63,655.55, an additional 55,000 cubic yards at $2 per cubic yard, amounting 
 to $110,000, these latter funds to be furnished through the proposed revenue 
 bond issue. If this were done it would make a total of 89,258.4 cubic yards 
 of trap rock for use in 1909, as against 53,873.8 used in 1907, and 52,708.2 
 cubic yards used in 1908, or an excess for 1909 over 1907 of 34,384.6 cubic 
 yards, an excess for 1909 over 1908 of 36,550 cubic yards. We find no con¬ 
 dition in the highways which would justify so great an increase in the cubic 
 yardage of trap rock required. 
 
3 
 
 According to the Borough President’s estimate of requirements for 
 1909 there will be large excesses in various items over former years. We 
 consider that a comparison of the requests with the actual expenditures in 
 former years may be most clearly shown by the accompanying graphic chart 
 marked Table I. 
 
Table: X 
 
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IO 
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 Request of the Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
 (b) A list of the streets in the Borough of The Bronx whose main¬ 
 tenance has been neglected owing to lack of funds and whose condition is 
 such as to justify the complaints of citizens, as referred to in your letter 
 to the Board of Aldermen under date of May 24, 1909. 
 
 Information Furnished by Borough President. 
 
 Under this request a list of 106 streets was submitted by the Borough 
 President, of which it has been possible to make a physical examination of 
 but 92. The inspection of these streets covered a period of three days, was 
 made by automobile, and in the course of the inspection a distance of about 
 200 miles of Bronx highways was covered. The engineering staff was in¬ 
 structed to report the condition of the streets examined under five classifi¬ 
 cations, namely: 
 
 Excellent. 
 
 Good. 
 
 Fair. 
 
 Poor. 
 
 Bad. 
 
 The conditions found were: 
 
 No. of Streets. Percentage. 
 
 Excellent. 7 7.6 
 
 Good. 55 60. 
 
 Fair.'. 17 18.5 
 
 Poor. 11 12.2 
 
 Bad . 2 2. 
 
 92 100.3 
 
 The foregoing is further illustrated by a graphic chart hereto attached 
 and marked Table II. 
 
 This result very effectually disposes of the contention that any unusual 
 condition of disrepair exists at the present time. 
 
12 
 
 We quote from the report of our examining inspector, Mr. Stewart, 
 upon the present general condition of the streets examined: 
 
 “ At the present time there are relatively very few such streets 
 “ and roads that are not in excellent condition, or at least in such good 
 “ condition that little or no repair work is necessary, or if done would 
 “ be effective in making them better in anything except appearance. 
 “ For the few that do require such repairs and attention the large ma- 
 “ jority are unimportant as traffic routes and in many cases have few 
 “ residences upon them. On those streets where complaint might 
 “ reasonably be made of their condition the roadway is often almost 
 “ entirely blocked in places by encroachment of building material for 
 “ new structures, etc. This is a matter which I believe is under the 
 “ control of the Borough President in the issuance of permits for the 
 “ placing of such material. Others of these streets require little but 
 “ the removal of what debris may have accumulated upon them together 
 “ with an occasional small repair which has developed or as noted was 
 “ left over from last fall, matters of a very small amount of time and 
 “ labor.” 
 
 (0 
 
 w 
 
 Request of the Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
 ( c ) A list of all complaints made by property owners regarding the 
 condition of streets which were remedied by the maintenance force of the 
 Bureau of Highways in the current year. 
 
 ( d ) A list of all complaints made by property owners regarding the 
 condition of streets which were not remedied or which were unduly neglected 
 by the maintenance force of the Bureau of Highways in the current year. 
 
 Information Furnished by Borough President. 
 
 (c) A list of 86 locations concerning which complaints were received. 
 
 (d) A list of 25 locations concerning which complaints were received. 
 
 Upon both of these heads we quote from the report of our examining 
 inspector, Mr. Stewart: 
 
 Items c and d. 
 
 “ In reference to these items typewritten lists of locations were 
 “ furnished by the office of the Borough President of The Bronx and 
 
13 
 
 “ are herewith appended. Upon receiving these lists an examination 
 “ was made of the written complaints which referred to these locations, 
 “ together with all papers attached thereto, and notes were taken which 
 “ would give an idea of the kind of attention required and the amount of 
 “ labor and material each location would represent, also noting that 
 “ these complaints were made during the current year. It was, of 
 “ course, impossible to make a physical examination of the locations. 
 
 “ These two lists (c) and (d) contain 106 locations and are rep- 
 “ resented by about 94 written complaints. The items enumerated in 
 “ these lists are not of an extraordinary character which would demand 
 “ an extra amount of money; they are of the ordinary nature of com- 
 “ plaints such as are continually occurring, and for this reason it would 
 “ not be a good basis for an argument that more money is needed than 
 “ that provided in the original appropriation. 
 
 “ Item (c).—The results of this examination are as follows: 
 
 “ Locations—82. 
 
 “ Class of work— 
 
 “ Complaints missing. 4 — 4.9% 
 
 “Routine work. 71 = 86.6% 
 
 “Improvements . 4= 4.9% 
 
 “Emergency . 2= 2.4% 
 
 “ Nothing to be done. 1= 1.2% 
 
 “ 82 = 100.0% 
 
 “ Classed as to importance as follows: 
 
 “ Very small. 13 = 15.9% 
 
 “ Small . 45= 54.9% 
 
 “ Fairly large. 14= 17.1% 
 
 “ Large. 4 = 4.9% 
 
 “ Very large. 1= 1.2% 
 
 “ Complaints missing. 4— 4.9% 
 
 “ Nothing to be done. 1 = 1.2% 
 
 “ 82 = 100.1% 
 
14 
 
 “ As will be seen, Item (c) has 82 locations, 86.6 per cent, of which 
 “ require ordinary routine work, and 70.8 per cent, are small or very 
 “ small, thereby indicating ordinary work which can be readily handled 
 “ by the appropriation and keep within the same. 
 
 “ Item (d ).—This item consists as follows: 
 
 “ Locations—24. 
 
 “ Class of work— 
 
 “ Routine . 23= 95.9% 
 
 “ Improvements . . 
 
 ‘‘Emergency.. 1= 4.1% 
 
 “ 24 = 100.0% 
 
 4= 16.7% 
 
 4~ 16.7% 
 
 6= 25.0% 
 
 10 = 41.6% 
 
 “ 24 = 100.0% 
 
 “ As will be seen, Item (d) has 24 locations, 95.9 per cent, of which 
 “ require ordinary routine work, and 33.4 per cent, are small or very 
 “ small, and 66.6 per cent, is for large and fairly large. No doubt when 
 “ these latter items are looked into and inquiries made it will be found 
 “ that the demands of the people are more than is fairly reasonable and 
 “ usually granted, and more than would ordinarily be granted, and 
 “ therefore a large part of this 66.6 per cent, will be laid over for other 
 “ years and then not laid over for lack of funds but more for lack of 
 “ real logical and immediate demand.” 
 
 The conditions found under Requests C and D are further illustrated 
 by the accompanying graphic charts entitled, respectively, Tables 3 and 4. 
 
 An examination of the complaints on file in the Borough President’s 
 office indicate that the number received in 1909 is not materially greater 
 than those received in 1908. Throughout the year 1908 approximately 580 
 complaints were received relating to the condition of highways. In 1909, 
 to June 20, the period of the year during which the greatest cause for com¬ 
 plaint exists, 340 have been received. 
 
 “ Classed as to importance as follows: 
 
 “ Very small. * . 
 
 “ Small . 
 
 “ Fairly large.. 
 
 “ Large. 
 
16 
 
 (0 
 
 Request of the Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
 (e) Those streets which, in your opinion, are not in a condition of re¬ 
 pair equal to that of former years. 
 
 Information Furnished by the Borough President. 
 
 (e) A list of 147 streets. 
 
 A very careful examination made of the streets submitted by the Bor¬ 
 ough President in the list under request ( b ) above, convinced us of the use¬ 
 lessness of devoting time to an examination of the streets in the list sub¬ 
 mitted under request (e), it being our opinion that if those streets which 
 the Borough President alleged were the subject of clamorous complaints, 
 referred to in his letter of May 24, were found to be in as good condition 
 as in previous years, an examination of the streets concerning whose dis¬ 
 repair there was only his personal opinion, would be superfluous. 
 
 Bearing upon the entire subject of the Borough President’s request for 
 an issue of these revenue bonds we caused a careful analysis to be made 
 of the monthly disbursements from the maintenance appropriation of high¬ 
 ways in the year 1908 and in the present year up to and including the month 
 of May. These disbursements, by percentages, were as follows: 
 
 Percentage of Appropriation. 
 
 1908. 1909. 
 
 January . 3.21 1.57 
 
 February. 4.45 2.82 
 
 March... 5.48 3.71 
 
 April . 6.93 6.18 
 
 May . 8.72 10.20 
 
 June. 8.49 .... 
 
 July. 8.09 - 
 
 August . 9.91 .... 
 
 September. 8.45 .... 
 
 October . 10.45 . ... 
 
 November . 6.02 .... 
 
 December. 5.26 .... 
 
i7 
 
 To further illustrate this condition we present herewith a graphic chart, 
 marked Table V., showing the same facts. It will be noted that the chart 
 shows in the month of May, 1908, a payroll expenditure that approximates 
 $72,000, while in the month of May, 1909, it was approximately $60,000. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that the time of the year when most work is 
 required upon highways due to natural causes is the late spring and early 
 summer. It is then that it is necessary to put the highways in condition 
 after the winter and early spring have disrupted them. 
 
 Assuming that the same ratio of expenditure is maintained throughout 
 the remainder of 1909, the year can be completed within the appropriation 
 now at the disposal of the Borough President and a very material balance 
 be left available for the purchase of supplies. In fact, it would be possible 
 for the Borough President to continue throughout all the remaining months 
 of 1909 at an average expenditure per month equal to the expenditure in the 
 month of May and yet finish the year within his appropriation and have a 
 balance of $14,000 for the purchase of supplies. This, however, the past has 
 demonstrated is not necessary since the expenditures always fall off largely 
 in the months of November and December. 
 
 At the time of the submission of the first request by the Borough Pres¬ 
 ident for an issue of $220,000 of revenue bonds he stated, in his letter of 
 January 25, 1909, that he estimated that the payroll expenditures from 
 January 1 to the middle of March would be about $60,000. As a matter of 
 fact an examination of his accounts shows that only $36,000 was expended 
 for this purpose during that period, demonstrating that the estimate of the 
 Borough President was $24,000 or 66 per cent, in excess of actual require¬ 
 ments. It is nowhere shown by the Borough President that he has caused 
 a revision of his request to be made on the basis of the expenditures for 
 these three months, so that it is unquestionable that the pending request is 
 clearly excessive even on the basis of his own statement as to the condition 
 of the highways. 
 
 The graphic chart is suggestive in another respect. It illustrates how 
 expenditures in The Bronx have increased extraordinarily in the months 
 of August and October, this in face of the fact, known to all engaged in 
 highway maintenance, that the late summer and early fall are the seasons 
 of the year when the least expenditure is required to keep the highways in 
 condition. In this connection it is to be noted, and it is not without a bear- 
 

 1 9°9 
 
 •Showing Percentage Of 
 Annual Appropriation Used 
 P*r month in the 
 Bureau of* 
 
 H I G HWAY3 
 
 Borough of The Bronx. 
 I9o8 — )g©9 
 - 0*0 - 
 
19 
 
 ing upon the request of the Borough President under consideration, that 
 these are the months which respectively precede the primary and general 
 election days.- 
 
 It is recommended that the request for the issue of special revenue 
 bonds be denied. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 (Signed) John Purroy Mitchel, 
 
 Henry C. Buncke, 
 
 Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
20 
 
 Office of the Commissioners of Accounts/ 
 Stewart Building, 280 Broadway, 
 
 New York, July 1, 1909. 
 
 Subject —Proposed issue of Special Revenue Bonds to supplement bud¬ 
 getary appropriation of the President of the Borough of The Bronx 
 for highway maintenance. 
 
 Supplemental Report. 
 
 Hon. George B. McClellan, Mayor: 
 
 Sir —On June 24, 1909, at your request, we submitted a report in re¬ 
 gard to the earth and macadam highways of the Borough of The Bronx 
 with a view to testing the necessity for the issue of revenue bonds in the 
 amount of $220,000 requested by Borough President Haffen in a communi¬ 
 cation addressed to the Board of Aldermen under date of May 24, 1909. 
 
 In the time allowed us it was not possible to make as exhaustive an 
 examination as we wished. With an additional week at our disposal, how¬ 
 ever, we have practically completed the examination and we present herewith 
 a supplemental report, setting forth certain facts which it was not possible 
 to include in our earlier report. The two reports should therefore be read 
 in conjunction. 
 
 (a) The detailed items forming the basis for the estimate that the 
 sum of $152,000 will be needed for supplies, etc., in the current year, as 
 stated in your letter to the Board of Aldermen under date of January 25, 
 1909. 
 
 In our report of June 24 we discussed the item of $110,000 which the 
 Borough President informed us was necessary for the purchase of 55,000 
 cubic yards of broken stone at $2 per yard. In addition to this $110,000 
 there remain $42,500 for miscellaneous supplies which, in his letter to the 
 Board of Aldermen of January 25, 1909, the Borough President stated it 
 would be necessary to purchase during the current year. Herein we confine 
 our discussion to the items making this total of $42,500. 
 
21 
 
 The Borough President submitted the following itemization of the 
 
 sum asked for: 
 
 Feed. $5,500 
 
 Ashes.;. 7,5 00 
 
 Lumber . 6,000 
 
 Coal . 1,200 
 
 Sand and filling. 1,500 
 
 Paint. 1,000 
 
 Repairing asphalt. 5,000 
 
 Brick. 2,500 
 
 Hardware and tools. 3,000 
 
 Gasoline and oil. 400 
 
 Horseshoeing. 2,500 
 
 Veterinary services. 600 
 
 Oil for macadam. 1,000 
 
 New carriages and harness and repairs to same. 3,000 
 
 Automobile supplies, repairs and garage. 1,200 
 
 Mill and shop work, castings, etc. 600 
 
 $42,500 
 
 It appears from an examination of the accounts of the Department of 
 Highways, Borough of The Bronx, that the amount of $35,646.96 was 
 charged against the 1908 appropriation for the same items of supplies listed 
 above for purchase under the proposed special revenue bond issue. In other 
 words, it appears that $6,853.04 more than was spent in 1908 is desired 
 by the Borough President for highway supplies for 1909 (exclusive of 
 broken stone and screenings). 
 
 On June 22, 1909, there had been charged against the appropriation 
 account for the purchase of items, as noted above, $8,179.96. There were, 
 moreover, outstanding liabilities for these items chargeable against this 
 account in the amount of $7,533.90, a total expenditure for the six months 
 of $15,713.86, making the prospective disbursements for the year on this 
 basis in the neighborhood of $30,000, as against the $42,500 asked for under 
 the proposed special revenue bond issue. 
 
 Later in this report (page 27) we discuss the question of supplies in 
 relation to payroll expenditures and show that with the money now at his 
 
22 
 
 disposal it will be possible for the Borough President to have nearly $100,000 
 for supplies (inclusive of broken stone and screenings) for 1909—a sum 
 greatly in excess of his present rate of expenditure during the first six 
 months of this year and sufficient to meet his needs. 
 
 (b) A list of the streets in the Borough of The Bronx whose main¬ 
 tenance has been neglected owing to lack of funds and whose condition is 
 such as to justify the complaints of citizens, as referred to in your letter to 
 the Board of Aldermen under date of May 24, 1909. 
 
 Under this request a list of 106 streets was given us by the Borough 
 President, of which it was possible at the time of the submission of our last 
 report to make a physical examination of but 92. We have to date com¬ 
 pleted the examination of all of the 106, the results being as follows: 
 
 Condition. 
 
 Excellent. 
 
 Good. 
 
 Fair. 
 
 Poor. 
 
 Bad . 
 
 Not examined or not found. .. 
 Hardly could be called a street 
 
 N umber. 
 
 Percentage. 
 
 8 J 4 
 
 8.0% 
 
 59 H 
 
 56.0% 
 
 1 7 
 
 l6.0% 
 
 1034 
 
 9 . 6 % 
 
 3 
 
 2.8% 
 
 2 
 
 1.9% 
 
 6 
 
 5 - 7 % 
 
 106 
 
 100.0% 
 
 These results which, it should be understood, were obtained by very 
 painstaking physical examination of the streets in question^, clearly show that 
 64 per cent, are in good or excellent condition and that only 20 per cent, 
 are below the standard of fair condition. 
 
 These conditions are further illustrated by a graphic chart hereto at¬ 
 tached and marked Table VI. This chart supersedes Table II. on pages 10 
 and 11 of our report of June 24. 
 
 ( c ) A list of all complaints made by property owners regarding the 
 condition of streets which were remedied by the maintenance force of the 
 Bureau of Highways in the current year. 
 
24 
 
 As stated in our report of June 24, we made an examination of the 
 written complaints referring to these locations. The results of the com¬ 
 pleted examination may be stated generally as follows: 
 
 The 82 locations submitted by the Borough President in response to our 
 request for information under this heading extend from the Harlem River 
 to the East River and the City line. These complaints have been made by 
 citizens, civic associations, policemen, firemen and employees of the office 
 of the President of the Borough of The Bronx. They were made in re¬ 
 gard to snow and ice, holes, depressions in highways, readjustments of curb¬ 
 ing, cleaning out gutters, repairing board and cinder sidewalks, cleaning up 
 garbage, removing stones and boulders from the highways, street repairs 
 in railroad area, cleaning of crosswalks, etc. 
 
 The results of the examination of complaints are given in the following 
 table, which shows, first, the nature of the complaint, and, second the per¬ 
 centage which the complaints of the same kind bear to the whole number: 
 
 Nature of Complaint. Percentage. 
 
 Snow and ice. 2.44 
 
 Cleaning up garbage papers, stones, dirt, etc. 25.00 
 
 Cinders wanted on sidewalks. 18.29 
 
 Holes in roadway. 6.10 
 
 Petition for pavement. 1.22 
 
 Material on sidewalks. 1.22 
 
 Macadamizing . 11 • 59 
 
 Depressions . 3-66 
 
 Washouts. 1.22 
 
 Readjusting curbing . 1.22 
 
 Dust. 2.44 
 
 Oiling . 1.22 
 
 Crosswalks. 3-66 
 
 Board walk. 5-49 
 
 Screenings . .61 
 
 Paving. 1 22 
 
 Repairing of sidewalks. 3-66 
 
 Attention to sidewalks. 1.22 
 
 Unknown . 8.54 
 
 Total. 99-96 
 
25 
 
 It will be seen that these complaints are of routine character and are 
 not of such an extraordinary nature as would demand more than the usual 
 expense for maintenance. 
 
 ( d ) A list of all complaints made by property owners regarding the 
 condition of streets which were not remedied or which were unduly neg¬ 
 lected by the maintenance force of the Bureau of Highways in the current 
 year. 
 
 Since the submission of our report of June 24 we have made a physical 
 examination of 14 of the 24 locations given us by the President of the 
 Borough of The Bronx. This examination discloses the same conditions as 
 were found by the analysis of the complaints mentioned above under section 
 (c) of this report. That is, the complaints relate for the most part to minor 
 repairs of ordinary routine nature, the necessity for which was taken into 
 consideration when the budget was made up. For instance, one complaint 
 dealt with a condition which could be remedied by a dozen boards and 
 sleepers. Another complaint was in reference to the presence of snow and 
 ice on steps. In two or three locations given in this list no cause for com¬ 
 plaint could be found; indeed, in one of the complaints the borough in¬ 
 spector himself reported that he saw no reason therefor. On two streets 
 mentioned in this list highway gangs were found at work macadamizing, 
 which hardly supports the Borough President’s assertion that these streets 
 are being unduly neglected by the maintenance force. Another complaint 
 requests a cinder path to be laid across lots, and upon investigation of a 
 location given in this list conditions were found which have existed since 
 the early part of the year 1908. 
 
26 
 
 An analysis of the complaints submitted by the Borough President 
 under this heading discloses the following general conditions: 
 
 Nature of Complaint. Percentage. 
 
 Snow and ice. 4.17 
 
 Paving. 4-17 
 
 Holes in roadway. 4.17 
 
 Cleaning. 4.17 
 
 Remacadamizing. 56.23 
 
 Depressions . 6.25 
 
 Washout. 4-17 
 
 Board walk . 4.17 
 
 Attention needed to sidewalks. 4.17 
 
 Sewer trench filled.. 4.17 
 
 Petition for cinders.. 4.17 
 
 Total. 100.01 
 
 In connection with this whole question of complaints, upon which the 
 President of the Borough of The Bronx laid such stress in his letter to the 
 Board of Aldermen, dated May 24, 1909, we have made an examination of 
 the complaint book of the Bureau of Highways. This examination may be 
 
 summarized in the following table: 
 
 Total complaints made by citizens, January 1 to June 30, 1908. ... 331 
 
 Total complaints made by police, January 1 to June 30, 1908. 334 
 
 Total. 665 
 
 Total complaints made by citizens January 1 to June 30, 1909. ... 385 
 
 Total complaints made by police, January 1 to June 30, 1909. 219 
 
 Total. 604 
 
 In other words, the number of complaints from January 1 to June 30, 
 1909, is 61, or 9.2 per cent, less than the number for the same period in 1908. 
 
 This hardly bears out the statement made by President Haffen in his 
 letter to the Board of Aldermen, above referred to, that “ residents along 
 the earth and macadam roads of the borough * * * are clamoring for 
 
 relief.” 
 
27 
 
 (e) Those streets which in your opinion are not in a condition of 
 repair equal to that of former years. 
 
 Since the filing of our report on June 24 we have made a physical ex¬ 
 amination of 85 of the 147 streets submitted to us by the Borough President 
 under this heading. The results of this examination are as follows: 
 
 Condition. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Percentage. 
 
 Excellent. 
 
 . I 3-92 
 
 16.3% 
 
 Good. 
 
 . 49-75 
 
 58.7% 
 
 Fair. 
 
 . 12.33 
 
 H- 5 % 
 
 Poor . 
 
 . 8.75 
 
 10.2% 
 
 Bad . 
 
 . 0.25 
 
 0.3% 
 
 
 85.00 
 
 100.0% 
 
 The foregoing is further illustrated by a graphic chart hereto attached 
 and marked Table VII. 
 
 Bearing upon the entire subject of the Borough President’s request for 
 an issue of these revenue bonds, we beg to call particular attention to the 
 graphic chart hereto attached and marked Table VIII. Figures (a) and 
 (b) on this chart are also to be found in Table V. of our report of June 24 
 and are here reproduced for the sake of comparison with figures (c) and 
 (d). Figure (c), as given in Table VIII., shows the possibility of using 
 the 1909 appropriation as it now stands, assuming that the same amounts 
 will be expended in November and December, 1909, as were expended in 
 November and December, 1908, and that the same amounts will be expended 
 in June, July, August, September and October, 1909, as were expended in 
 May, 1909. This latter assumption, it will be seen, is most liberal, as in 
 past years the expenditures of June, July and September have seldom if 
 ever been as high as the expenditures in May. This assumption, as shown in 
 figure (c) would leave a balance of $51,359.03 for supplies for the year 
 1909. 
 
 But there is another way of approach to this question of supplies. For 
 the first five months of both years the average ratio of payroll expenditures 
 (1908 to 1909) is 1.988. If we apply this ratio to the months of November 
 and December, 1909, we find that the payroll of November, 1909, should 
 amount to $25,000 instead of $49,554.18, or a difference of $24,555.18; and 
 
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29 
 
 the payroll of December, 1909 should amount to $22,000 instead of $43,- 
 269.73, or a difference of $21,269.73. The sum of these two differences 
 amounts to $45,823.91, which, added to the amount available for supplies as 
 indicated in figure (c), i. e., $51,359.03, would mean an amount of $97,- 
 187.94 which could be expended for this purpose. In other words, if the 
 same ratio of expenditure is followed for the last two months of 1909 as 
 was followed for 1908, there will be left a balance of $97,187.94 for supplies, 
 instead of $51,359.03. 
 
 Figure (d) shows the 1909 appropriation as indicated in figure (c) in¬ 
 creased by the amount of $220,000. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 John Purroy Mitchel, 
 
 Henry C. Buncke, 
 
 Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
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