OCR Text |
Show M ' i ' - I j! GOOD ROADSAND THEIR MAIiraANCT H; Interesting Information Regarding Most .Important l 1 Subject. di ! (By S.F. Johnson In Downey ldiihoan) K I The government and tho soycrclcn K stnte's ot" our Union nro at present m ; considering tlio passage ot somo laws Bj I on the very Important subject ot good Bj' roads and our own stato Is represent- B' J ; cd In tho halls ot Congress by men B fl who aro taking an actlvo part In liav- B fcj I ; lng tho bills on good roads passed by B,i our national assembly. Tho good roads K i I i movement has taken such a firm B, $M t hold In all our states that wo In tho fljj mi j ; rear futuro will seo every Individual B; M I possessed of tho desire ot having B fl j 1 1 roads that will bo a credit to tho na- B' j$j I ; tlon, stato and community. B $r j A community Is sometimes Judged K ffl I by tho appearauco of its cemetery. Ir. Bi El j tho futuro our Gem stato will be i'i j jiidgcd by the good roads. I It is Interesting to nolo tho active ! j part that tho farming communities ! j tako in building and maintaining ' roads. In the stato ot Minnesota t r.vhero tho soil 1b deep, tho farmers havo what is termed a "road drag," ni t constructed on very primttlvo prin- ij 1 clples, but this drag Is used v.;. a very good success. Miles and miles I I of road crt built by tho method or dragging. It is absurd to think now jj i ot dumping a load of gravel in a mud 8 I puddle in tho mlddlo ot a public rouo. i' ' Tho cractico is abandoned In that j I state, grovel being used for concrete 1H !jjjj i (astruntlon purposes. Tho lush holes B It are filled with common dirt and B j!h p packed firmly. Then after tho first B jjj t rain, when tho dirt begins to form a B t ),j crust, tho drag Is put in use. A short B jH pieco of road is worked at a time, B jjjj ., going over it several times, if nccea fl j' sary, untH there appears a nlco B '( ? crown in tho center of the road; tho B jjjjj ' '' road is then In fine shape for travel. B 1 S In most parts of tho state ot Iowa B ' I ' tho drag Is being used with great B 3 , success. The drag Is made of a B K split log or a squared timber sawed B' j to the right dimensions, then shod B' i with a sharp piece ot iron, so as to B , M , cut off cleanly all weeds and draw B.'i y ' the crust and dirt to tho center ot K 9 tho road. A short drag Is prcforablo B 8 ' to a long one; It cuts better' and Is B jj ' easier handled by tho horses. Th B jj drag is made ot heavy -wood and tho B'l ,, chain attached so that it will cause tmV u downward pull. Bj','J It lb lidtculous to think that a road Kl j drag should bo used tor the construe' Hf j . tlon of all roads. Hond constructing H j ' machinery Is now being Invented, and K, como of theso machines aro already H Ul in uso In somo parts ot the country, H a ' but it is folly to expect that good V - j ' roads can be built and constructed by K 'I taxation. It Is a fact that a coromun B. ? lty or county will novcr possess the B fi financial ability to perform this litr- B jjf ( portaut work; benco tho agitation In HB If cur national assembly. HBj ;5I ' The 'royal highways'" In northern B j i Europo wero not built by taxation, BB f'j i tho governments of Sweden, Norway BB j and England realizing tho Importance BB ' of havlug tho farmers got In touch BB'' ' with tho cities appropriating tho BB ' ' means. Tho products of tho farm in Ij'J I theso countries nro carried to tho ' j largo and small cities at a less ex-jj ex-jj J penso than in our own country nnd j. s at n largo saving to tho consumer. ' Tho farms aro tho backbone of this BB i f( I country and aro entitled to recogul- BB ' tlon. Krco rural delivery routes nro BB M installed, and with good roads tho BB .i farmer will bo encouraged In his hard BB labors to follow civilization and cdu- BB . cato his children. BB g. Owing to tho general bad condition BB ; tho rural roads ot tho west arc in dur- BV ( lng at least ono half ot the year, tho BB nvurago cost by animal power Is about BB SO cents per ton pur mllo. For tho BB samo cost railroads haul freight nboul BB s fifty miles; steamers on tho great BB ' lakes, 200 miles; electric lines from BB ' flvo miles upwards. BH Congress, in Murch, 1893, appointed BBjS; General Hoy Stouo to Investigate and BB?" gather data of the cost of bulldlui; BBf' roads uud tho cost of hauling freight BB over them. lie reported to Congress BB that the nverago cost ot hauling per Bfl! ton per mllo throughout tho United BB States was us follows: BB. Eastern states 32 cents BB) Northern states 27 cents BB; , Middle Southern states,. 31 cents BB Southern (cotton) 25 cents BB I'ralrlo states 25 cents BB I'aclfc Coast states .... 22 cents BB The averago of theso is 2C.C cents BB per ton per mllo on an averago huul BB' of eight miles. General Stono's 03- BB t'.raato waB based on tho total ton- BB' nago moved by animal power on the BV! ronds in 1892. BB,. In England and Franco wbcro the BB- roads nro good, tho averago cost ot BB. I antnml haulago Is about 10 cents pc BB' , ton per mile. B B General Stone says that this Is a BBuABBBBk serious matter far the public to elder. "Tho French system 'of roads, long considered tho best In tho world, was bonded by Napoleon III. for ?C,000,-. 000. Nearly $012,775,000 has already been spent on that system. Tho general public has very little conception of tho cost of tho construction construc-tion nnd maintenance of good roads At tho International road congicsa held In Paris in 1008, tho fallowing illustration il-lustration showed tho enormous co'it of roads gathered from governmoii: statistics ot Great Urltaln, Franco and United States: Great IJrltnln, J1.000 to $0,000 per aillc; width, 20 to 30 feet. France, $0,000 to $7,500 per mile width 25 to 50 feet. United States. $5,415, average. Tho averago width of road surfaced with macadam Is 134 feet In tho TjUj-ted TjUj-ted States. Tho maintenance ot tho roads In Great Urltaln costs $350 per mile. In France, $257 per mile. In tho Now England states this cost runs from $100 to a maximum of $200 per mile. Tho Department of Agriculture calculates cal-culates that 300,000 miles of roa'J must bo improved boforo the public road Bystem of tho country will bo worth talking of. New York stato has bonded Itself for $50,000,000 and $5,000,000 a year is now being expended tor good roads in that state. New York heads the list ot states which have mado progress. prog-ress. Georgia is second, and has built 4,344 miles of road in flvo years. That state employs 4,500 prisoners on the public roads. Our sister Btate, Utah, is trying the employment of convict labor on the public roads, and so far as is known the results aro encouraging. Prison labor on public roads is a success in Europe. There Is a general sentiment among tho people that our government must lend its aid for tho Improvement of our highways, as it has lent its aid for tho construction of railroads, the improvement of our vatcr courses and tho protection ot our harbors. There nro at present thlrty-flvo highway bills in Congress asking for federal aid for good ronds. A good roads convention Is to 'e held at Logan, Utah, under tho auspices aus-pices of tho Intcrmountain Good Roads association, Juno 12, 13, 14 next. Eight hundred delegates avo expected to bo present from Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming nnd Colorado. Important subjects aro to bo discussed nt this convention; men of prominence and national reputation repu-tation will address tho delegates on national legislation for tho betterment ot tho ronds In this country. Tho official of-ficial call for tho convention has been Itsued nnd ono clause in tho Invitation Invita-tion reads: "Tho respective governors of tho stntes Interested nro entitled to -p-point twenty dolegntes; commissioners commission-ers ot each county in said states' five; each good roads district or asocli-tloii, asocli-tloii, fho; each chamber ot commerce com-merce or commercial club, five, nnd each development association or other organization for Industrial promotion, flvo." Tho Downey-Marsh Valloy Commercial Commer-cial club should bco that a delegation Js appointed from this part of our stnto that wo inny learn something on this very Important Issuo nnd bo benefited by tho demonstrations to bo given In good rond building. Machinery Machin-ery will bo on exhibition for tho delegates dele-gates and ovory offort will be taken to Interest every citizen. Senator John T. Morgan has said: "Not only nro good ronds pleasant and ornamental features of a country, but they aro tho wisest and most economical econom-ical bestowal of money and labor. Every clvillzod country Is measured by its ronds as much ns It is by Its industries, In the cstimoto that men plnco upon its value" |