The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1878-12-27
Some Errors In Road Mending, as Prac-
ticed In Darlington.
To tie Editor of The R1is


experiences oftwenty-five or thirty years ago can
not have forgotten what fearful undertakingit
then was, during an open winter, and in early
spring, TO travel by carriage, or even on horse
back, through The village of Darlington! The
mud, for width and depth, at such seasons.
was really frightful Those not familiar with
the road imagined that they would never ret
through; and those who were acquainted with
it, feared that they must succumb at each sue
caedmg effort. This road was particularly
dangerous, when, after he mud had been worked
to great depth, slight freeze would occur
not quite sufficient to bear horses weight, but
| enough 10 almost prevent him from eXtrcatng
his feet. The writer particularly remembers
such an experience upon cold and very dark
| night about twenty five years ago. The horse
which he was riding became alarmed from in
| cessantly breaking through the crust and sink
ing deeper than his knees and us he plunged
aimlessly from one side of the road to the other,
In the deep darkness, as well as in the deep mud
in vain hope Of finding trmer foundation, we
felt, while remembering the now invisible num-
| erous fence-stakes, and projecting tree limbs
| Astounding on either side, that really our last
hour of life had certainly come! This avenue
of public travel had become SO bad that it could
be no worse, and then land not till them did the
people of the town and of the neighborhood de-
| tcrmine upon taking measures for mendng mat
| tiers. The deepest mud-holes were from time to
| time filled with stone In a rough way, until fl
nally, after a number OF years, the main street
through Darlington became pretty well "piked"
| For the final accomplishment of this piking, the
| people are, perhaps, more indebted t. the ener-
| gy and perseverance of the late John NJ. Cooley
| than to any other individual.
This piking, as before remarked, was rather
| rudely and roughly done, it being the work of
various individuals at various times but still il
| kept US out of the mud and we could get along
through the village in the winter and spring Just
us easily and as pleasantly as at any other season
| Indeed It amounted to great improvement.
But alas for poor, short-sighted moItals, expe.
ricnce is not only the sole school at which The
majority of us will ever learn, but many of us
| seem to require su"h teaching time and again,
| even in the simplest lessons Of life. In All evil
| hour, during the latter part of last summer III.
| road superN isor came along with fu force 81
hands, plowed deep bitches along the sides t.,
| let dit dug down whatever small emhankmen :
| that could be found, and even carted cart h from
q considerable distance, al great expense, oi
| course, to cover this rough pike smoothly over,
| in many places ten or twelve inches deep. Tm
| weather was then dry, and rs this covering Of
| cal th concealed all the rough stone, the drive
| through Darlington was but little short Of
splendid as some termed it, Those who did not
| know Darlington twenty-five years ago w,r,
delighted at this great improvement. The SUI
| pervlsor was auded to the skies for the extraUI
binary favor he had in the goodness OF his heart
bestowed upon Darlington! Indeed, one enihu
siastic correspondent of The Eyis, residing lat
terly in midst, in lavishing great praise upon
the supervisor for the wonderful benefits he hac
| showered upon us, was led to express regret
that the law did not allow such supervisors T.,
| be elected for life
Short-sightcd mortas. Look now at the re
suit, even in this brief time Winter has scare ell,
| set in, Christmas has not yet arrived, and yeI
| there is more and deeper mud through Darling
| ton than there has ever been during any winter
| ar spring within the last ten years At hi,
very time, Dec. IA, while the roads are compare
| lively good elsewhere, it is necessary to ploC
through our village in the slowest and mos
toilsotne walk. II il sad case of retrogressiol
In the matter of road improvements, and shoulc
| be held up to the gaze of every road-mender-
We not only have the mud to contend with
which is nearly impossible, but the wheels GU
through to the rough pike underneath making
1t just as rough as though there was no covering
| upon the stones. Instead of one evil, we now
have two, the deep mud and the rough stones
| We thought to-day as our vehicle was dragged
through this mud, and over the intolera
bly, rough, stony places, now constantly encoun
| tered in journeying through Darlington, that i
the supervisor would only come along now, will
| his scraper, and scrape of all this mud that ht
was at such pains In putting on, how Thankful
We would be! If was only for the present We
| might endure 1t; but this seems to be case o
permanent injury. The only remedy that we car
see is to pike it all over again. Judging from
the many difficulties encountered in raising tn,
| necessary labor and money for the first rud,
|
this injury to the road shall be properly repair
| ed.
The moral regarding our text at the outset
upon the school of experience must now be ap
parent to our readers, viz: Never cover pike
no matter how rough it may be, with a thick OIL
even thin coating of clay, or other earth onl,
with little sand If anything. lmmediately
above Darlington there Is q sample of pikng
done under the supervision oc Mr.. Thomas A
Hays, during his residence In our midst, that
every one might resort TO as an example worthy
ofadoption. The materials that he had to work
with, too, were the most unsuitable kind fol
the purpose, being chiefly nigger-head stone. II
is now perfectly dry, and is always a beautiful
drive, no matter how much mud there may bt
in Darlington, or elsewhere, and is an improve
ment for all time at point where formerly
the deepest of mud was to be found during the
greater part of every winter and spring. We
travel this pike almost daily and never without
calling blessings, for his good work, upon the
head of Mr.. Hays W. s. F.
Darlington, Nd, December II, 1878.