Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-06-14
Editorial Correspondence Of the Free Press.
Letters from the West Indies.
No XIV.
The ST. Croiz Road system.

puolic roads Oh the lsland-TOads unsurpassed
in smoothness and frmness Of surface by any
roals Of considerable extent which | ever saw.
The roads Of the famous Central Park Of New
York City-Which are under daily inspection
and receive the daily labor Of skilful hands
are superior but Of course Nc fair comparison
can be made between the drives and walks Of a
park Of few hundred acres extent, devoted to
the recreation Of great aud dense population
like that Of New York city, AMI the public roads
Of an extended and sparse agricultural commu-
nifty like that Of the island Of ST. Croix. Moth
ing like the excellence or Which l speak,-I an
told-is to be found on the West India Islan Is
generally On the contrary, If am rightly in-
formed, on most Of the Islands the public roads
as whole are as notably bad as the roads Of
St. Croix are COOL \ brief account Of the sys-
TEN under which the excellence Of these reads
is maintained can hardly fail to interest many
readers Of the FREE Pass.
Two or three points relating to the subject
may well be noticed in the way Of preliminary.
First. The public roads Of the island. as I
mentioned N one Of my earlier letters, wefe laid
cut auI established urder the direction Of IN
engineer evidently os ability aai good sense,
within a few years after the island came under
the Danish Government in the fore part Of the
last century. Apparently very little change
has been made in their location. though most
likely some new ones Of short extent have been
established. Long ago, therefore, the road bells
generally mus, have been brought 10 a stable
coul;. q, aui saving the effect Of casualties, at
tent only needs to be given 70 a preservation
Of the urface to 4 moderate depth.
Second. There are no effects Of frost TO con
tend with. Fhe wash from rams is the only
disturbing agency, beyond the natural wear
IRON travel and the sweeping of the surface by
winds
Th.rt. The rock which is broken up to re-
pair the roads with. though considerably diverse
in its character in different parts Of the Island,
is all Of il, so lar as saw, such rs 70 be pretty
easily broken into small pieces by the hammer,
and to be readily crushed to comparative fine
ness by the wheels Of the ponlerous Wagons,
used to carry loads Of two to three tons weight,
or even more, to and from the estates the rock
is also very near the roads over all the island
For Tic purposes Of road repair ani main
tenance (aal flr some other purposes) the isl
and is Iiy.lei b. arbitrary lines into fye or SIX
divisions called Quarters, each quarter having
@ particular name-such as " Kings quarter, 80
" Company's quarter, - "Eastenl quarter &c.
This division was made long time ago. The
two ,5wus, Christianst.ll AMI Freicrick.teiI,
are not included in shes, Quarters, AMI the
csarge Of the roads in them falls upon the p
lice and small gangs Of latorels consisting Of
prisoners from the jlils, uu ier the direction Of
drivers, are constantly employed 10 keeping the
town streets in repair and in a proper state Of
cleanliness.
The maintenance Of the public roads Of the
Island Outside of the two towns aforesaii) falls
upon the Estates. and ,he system under which
it is dcue-is as follows:
There is one chief ofiicsr-the Superintendent
Of Roal-, appointed by the King Of Denmark or
by the Governor acting for the King. The pres-
ent urerintendent-now very aged and for
some years past too feeble in body to leave his
own house and nearly blind-has held the Office
for the last twenty years and with such singu-
lar ability and integrity that the Governor has
thus far refused to accept his resignation not
vitistanding his infrmities. His power over
the department intrustei to him is about as
absolute as can well be conceived. What he or
der to be done, has to be done, and no mistake
-s4d the fairness Of his decisions is acknonl-
,jg.i by everybody.
Fr each Quarter there is appointed a Quar-
ter rfficer-nominated by the Superintendent
and appointed by the Governor--also eertsin
number Of Inspectors. The Quarter officers
have a general watch and care over the roads Of
their respective Quarters, to note where repairs
are to be made and Of what description, to d.
rect concerning the same or report TO the Super
irtenlcnt for direction if the case demands It.
The distribution Of the labor Of repairing tn,
roads is III this manner. One third Of the worl
is assigned to the several estates in proportioI
to the number of acres pertaining to each, with
out any regard to the use or value Of the land
Two thirls Of the work Is assigned to the severa
estates according tc ,he number Of human be
ings without reference to age, sex or condition
pertarningto to them seyerslly. The number Q
acres belonging to the estates is known by re
corl. The changes in the number Of persons ol
the estates are 50 frequent and great that
census for this purpose is taken yearly and nc
long before the annual distribution of the wor
is made out Combining these two bases-th
number Of acres and the number Of individual
it becomes a matter Of calculation to deter
mine what portion Of the entire labor expen:
on the roads should be assigned to each estate
The entire length of all the public roads IS al
curately known, about ninety thousand feet as
| Was pld. calculation Is then made 10 ue'el
mine how many feet OF road should be assign'
to each estate, granting the roads to be Of un
form character. If then any noticeable dl
erence Of expenses appear, such az the man
tenance Of bridges, or places Of e1trsordiual
hazards the Superintendent takes them into col
sidsratiOn in assigning the length of road VIII
any particular estate is to have in charge.
also determines what particular piece Of road IA
to the charge Of each estate. Through the Quar-
officers or police men, the owners and nanAg
Of the several estates are served with timely
tees Of this dis.Iibuton for the year.
When the time for the annual and main