Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1853-02-16
Plank and Stone ponds.

u O. "AcSseuSIr, IN speak
ing OF the Importance of having good
ROADS, and OF the comparative advantages
70 De derived from different kinds, and
their cost of construction. thus compares
RANK with GcAdamized roads:
Within few years the State of New
YORK has made the matter of laying plank
roads part and parcel of their system of
economy. Wilful ignorance is the only
assiguable reason why SO many are OPP
posed to plank roads. These were the
kind of men who thought it worse than
insanity to take up McAdam's, instead of
the old system of piking. Yet what a
difference did this make upon the matter
Of locomotion when put into the hands of
the right kind of men-and noao. these
very men who were so bitterly opposed to
McAdam. take him up and oppose Boul-
ton, with all their former fervor But let
US commence at the head of the affair and
see some of its differences.
In kiugsford's history of plank roads,
We find that the first time plank was ever
used on this continent, was on the road
leadIng eastward from Toronto, in Upper
Canada, in the year 1866. This road,
he says, was laid with twelve feet plank,
without any principle of construction, ex-
eept laying the plank on stringers. He
quotes minute of the proceedings OF the
Board of Trustees, wherein they state
that the success of the experiment excee
ded anything which they could have an
ticipated, both with regard to the ease of
travelling, and the triling expense neces-
sGry to keep it in repair. They state that
She road has given more general salts
faction to the country AMI it is evident.
from the experience, that the cost is not
more than one. fourth that of q stone road;
and the expense of repair upon Nc Ada
mixed road being greater than they anti
eipated. they have abandoned the idea of
stoning the road entirely, and have con-
Eracted for continuing the plank. Here
is evidence taken from road built 1Uih-
out 9ystena, as early as 1836,-whereas,
the matter of planking has since then been
reduced to science.
Now, if it can be shown that plank
road can be constructed with n capital
infinitely less-that the cost of repair Is
less, that the horse can perform more Ia
Dor, ar the same amount of labor with
greater ease, then the point is gained, and
they should be constructed i'll preference
to any other. To settle the matter. of
draught, it is only necessary to quote an
incident of New York State road, where,
on = wager. two horses of ordinary size
drew n load of iron weighing SIR tons, a
distance of twelve miles to Syracuse, with
out any extra strain. Persons may say
this is exaggeration but there being lit
tie or no resistance upon the plank, there
is no knowing what good team can do,
the only danger being in overlooking the
vehicle. Some persons argue that when
they have such load, they cannot tell
when they overdrive their team, and fear
that they will verify the adage, Its the
pace that kills This is, to say the least,
sheernonsense or hollow fallacy. Anoth-
er inquiry is, the comparative cost OF the
two roads. This depends somewhat up
on the face of the country through which
the roads pass The lowest price ut which
any good McAdamized road has been
made, when it has been carefully tested,
is ascertained to have been S2,233 per
mile, the range being in all cases from
So. 500 to $4,000. The cost of plank
road will vary in different localities but
we may safely put the range of 81 200 to
So, 500 per mile. This places the medium
of construction, and when once construc-
ted, the cost of repair is but a trifle, mere
nothing. compared with that OF Mead
amized road. 1t is put down at $40 pei
mile per annum where there is an extra
ordinary item of expenditure but ever
where there are slides to such an extent as
to stop travel. (as frequently is the case
on the road from Pittsburg west, we find
that in the face of these difficulties the road
is paying dividend of twelve per cent
and laying by a sinking fund sufficient tc
re-plank the road in six years. This road
costs heavy amount of money, coming
as it does, easily over those hills, which
heretofore had to be climbed at slope oil
from to degrees, yet it pays the above
handsome dividend, which will, have nc
doubt, be almost doubled in another year
or two, since the present cost of removing
slides will be done away. Now this road
is but. as it were. a bra ich of the old
Washington and Pittsburg turnpike, and
charges about the same amount of tolls
at least not any more, and the turnpike
stockholders have never, in Is or &c
years of active operation, received one
single cent of dividend.
To proceed with the comparison o
cost. we will take two roads for years
the time required to revolutionize the
plank road:
Original cost of Plank road
per mile. $500
Seven years repair at $40. &c
Cost of re-laying-sth year, 1888
Total. S315e
Original cost of McAdam
road per mile, $500
Eight years repair at $3.50, 1o4C