Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1858-07-27
Road Making.

IL
now word TO say upon the practical working
of different methods of Laying out and Of Re-
pairing Roads
There is a want Of unity and of system in the
manner Of locating roads; many of them are
laid out with reference only to the immediate 4
convenience of a few who petition for them
while distant towns only approach each
other by of these local roads winding
about in every direction, and through every
mans barn yard In every instance Of the To- (
cation cf town roads with witch [ am acquain- +
ted. very few persons having interest in the
matter allowed to control the location. The
mass Of the town and their representatives ear 4
ing but little If the residents along the line are
satisfied, generally allow locations 10 be made
along section farm lines often to the lasting
detriment Of all who ever after the road
Land owners, unwilling to have their lands cut
up, do not sufficiently consider the loss 10
/ themselves of expanding for all time to come
so much extra labor in overcoming the hills, !
holIows and angles of their own choosing The
community ought 10 look to it that the general
interests shoal' not be sacrificed for the sake
Of individuals, and that when individuals are
injured they should be compensated. 1t is bet
ter to pay a hundred dollars for the right of
way through a field for the sake of 4 good To-
cation than to lose ten dollars every year in the
extra cost OF going round it.
These detects demand some general Legisla-
tive enactment giving to some suitable persons,
and under suitable restraints, the power to To-
CAFE roads Of any desired length and through
any number Of towns without being compelled
to submit to the special interests and caprIces
Of those towns Of individuals except 50 far
as to give every community its due weight in
the general direction of its roads, and to see
that one Is injured without compensation -
ia system of main roads having reference 10
the lEtcrcommunication OF towns be first loca-
ted and then branches and branchlcts for
neighborhood use laid out subordinate to them,
and having in view the future as well as the
present wants OF the people, all forming togeth-
CT scheme centering at each considerable
town. ramifying like the branches Of river
along whose borders many OF them may most
properly be located, and inosculating like the
veins of a leaf, as in the most complete man
ner and with the least length Of road to satisfy
the requirements of the whole community there
would be less need of such continual changes
Is are now common, and such continual waste
Of labor as Is being lost on abandoned roads,
which under the proposed system would be
concentrated on definitely fixed locations
Under the system of Road labor now in gen
cral use, nearly all the work is done by men
working out their assessed taxes 1t is well
Z known in what an idle and sbiftIess way a great
part of this work is done. Path masters too Of
ten know little or nothing of their business.
which DO one works at long enough to learn by
experience they apt to confue their effec-
tive iabors to such roads portions of them Of
ten oflittle general importance, as they them
e selves most travel, they can have no systematic
! division of labor when there Is so much irregu-
2 iarity of work and men and tools and teams.
0 and a great deal Of labor is lost for want of
t knowing how roPerly tc direct ii.
The method Of constructing and repairing
roads by CONTRACT is free from these defects and
has many important advantages. The contrac-
: tor Is or should be. and may be, an experienced
= Roadmake.. Being ,pecuniatily interested in
the work he viii naturally apply to it all his
skin so as to make every stroke tell towards
lis completion. He VIII make use of all the
tools and appliances which science and expert
cace have shown 10 give efficiency TO labor.
> and lis entire operations VIII be directed by an
: energy and a system that VIII render the result
1o'' q imam l. On DC e'iec'ea IN
: '''e'
"a '''7 = IN -&n no system no matter how
absurd and eyl nsive that has once become
fastened upon and incorporated into the habits
Of people can he changed for one ever 50
80 '''''' = new without . great str0s
vas. -, - eiil'l''ft 81 argument and
- -'.'' .I'''' oy 'he contract vs.
~ -,'', ''''''''i' y io''d "'.N may be done
: 81 '''''' .e77 cos' 'h"h ~ ne E7ery-man-
i workout Als-owu-taX system, does not to many
, persons seem 40 he a sufficient argument In fa-