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Show NtGLECTED COUNTRY ROADS. America Is .l.ist 1 '., -i ,, , .. t,, :..I.,0 II... Ne.,.silv ..I Itrl'i.rm. II II M ladam, in V, there has been practically :i!.-.itfe i-i the scientific -wiistrne-Wi.ei..rroa.ls..cepti.i cities.. Tliegreal national bei.elit Macadam conferred i" ,lr-",'tO- -in-M Ly gov- ei.iineid crai.t- a'aoit j; ., j?10 0(H) ;:! liif oil. ie.l honor of l.ni-blbood winch as .Inline.!.. ,)e great tv.tson land undoubtedly the principal .one. fot Ibis lack of interest and appreciation ol 111 be bian.l in the tact that railroads, since : thu .lay of Macadam, have to a great e.l. removed the pressing need of i good common rc,a,K i 'I'l.e Pullman and Wairner have super-! super-! d..-d the old time coach, and the freight i tuna instead of tlie wagon is now the r Tl tl n I el ! meiit of a system of good roads in the ; I. iiiied States is due to the enormous) 1 expansion of our railroad system is i t leai ly illustrated in the history of the ! Cumberland or old National road, once . c teemed tlie most enduring monument iof the public services of Henrv Clay. ; Passing from Cumberland. Mil., across ; the- Alleghauies ami across Ohio and ; part of Indiana, tlie road, before the d.v i velopment of railroads, became the chief j highway of travel and trade Towns, villages and taverns roe 'along II t 1 1 rl i ishr-d extraordinarily, but now, except ! when they are at the intersection of railroad rail-road lin.-s, have fallen into decay. The road itself l,a-.h.-,.j, neglected and the greater part of it is fast returning to the condition of a mere muddy country road, tlie tolltiates liavinsr disappeared ami wnh their departure also passed the only reliable 'source of income. - The states and counties into whose jurisdiction jurisdic-tion the road has fallen have lamentably failed to appreciate the great advantage of keeping it in repair, ami even the magnificent bridges which span the rivers and creeks are slowly yielding to neglect. lhe Cumberland road presents the most striking illustration in the United Siates ot a it ret forward move in th direction of a great system of national and state roadsTaiuentably unsupported by public appreciation, ami foresight With the failure of revenue from the road liself, owimr to the diversion of travel to railroads, there was not sufficient suffi-cient prevision on the part of the people to devise other means of maintaining the road and building others like it until I Ml 1 1 tl I II f Ohio, the fields of Indiana and the prairies prai-ries or -"the west, macadamized roads should stretch like ribbons of silver, bind ina together citvand country by roads easy and delightful to travel upon. . Within the la.st year or two, however, there has liegun a movement for belter roads that is arousing public interest oieTinaueiit advance iirroadimLiuli' about to commence. Kailroads, it has I II t ti t f tie needs, to say nothing of the comfort "and happiness of the people. For three or tour months ot the year the greater part of the rural population of the United States is practically shut off from neigh-noring neigh-noring towns ami tne nearest railroad by mud roads whose passage at times is almost impossible. 1 Farmers themselves, with a patience not to be commended, have suffered the inconvenience and discomfort, while year by year their farms, in consequence, have decreased in value and farm life has become more and more unattractive The so called "road working" of most rural regions is unworthy the name anil is almost a useless expense of time and labor. What is needed is the awakening awaken-ing of the people to a realizing sense of the utility and financial benefit of good roads and the application of scientifio principles of roadmaking and repair. ' Poor country roads thus entail yearly a great expense to the farmers: who have to use them not only because of the smal I load a team can draw, but also on account ac-count of damage to vehicles. In Illinois, according to . Professor J. W. denks' "Road Legislation . for the American State," it is found that a full load can be carried on the state roads only three months during the year, two-thirds of a load, three months and half a load sir months. .. Oood dirt road3 in this state would reduce re-duce the cost one-half and good permanent perma-nent macadamized roads three-fourths; hence it has been estimated that the defective de-fective highways of Illinois how cost the state an extra $15,340,320 for hauling and depreciate the value of its farms 160,-000,000. 160,-000,000. . If the figures be even approximately approx-imately correct the movement for better roads should meet with .the hearty indorsement in-dorsement of the people of Illinois, and legislation with a view to improving the roads of the state should occupy a foremost fore-most place in the next session of the general gen-eral assembly. Chicago Herald. How Bad Roads Hinder Kara! Growth. Lately a northern man, who thought of buying a tract of land for occupation and handsome improvement somewhere in Maryland in the vicinity of Washington, Washing-ton, undertook to explore the region in question, but was so much disgusted by ' hi3 experiences in trying to find his -way through the labyrinth of wretched country roads, wholly unprovided with -guideboards, that he abandoned the idea of settling in a country so wanting in the rudimentary elements of civilization. This case affords an illustration of the way iu which the want of good roads hinders the growth and prosperity of a, country. Petroit News. Wood 89 a Road Material. In the battle of the. road materials, wood holds the held at least in tha large parish of Keusington, where 200,-. 000 square yards of wood blocks are down. Various sorts have been, tried-fir tried-fir deals, beech, jarrow . and V6n oak; also various methods of laying The present wood paving is laid on a foundation foun-dation of concrete, composed of six parts of Thames ballast to one of Port- laud cement. This is worked to a perfectly per-fectly smooth face, cu, which, vyheu it is hard, the wood blocks, are laid in transverse trans-verse rows. Louden Daily Jews. 1 |