The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-01-29
About Country Roads.

we never brag about the common
wagon roads of the country. If they
were capable of being transported, we
should not be tempted to exhibit them
at any international fair. Our highest
authority on the subject declares that
the common roads of the United States
are inferior to those of any other civil
lied country. All our citizens who
have been abroad agree in the above
opinion. Even the barbarous Turk
construct better roads than the civilized
American. We "beat the world'' in
the matter of wheeled vehicles of every
kind, but we pay very little attention
to the roads over which they are to run.
We have neglected the science and art
of road-making almost entirely. Few
treatises on the construction of such
roads have ever been published in the
country, and they have had very linn
tied sale. With road on nearly every
section line, one may travel hundred
miles without finding an expert at road
making.
There are various things that serve
to account for the badness of our roads.
The country is new, and the construc-
ton of fine roads is usually the result
of considerable time. Our population
is scattered, and to supply. all portions
of the country with good roads would
involve a heavier tax on the community
than is required in countries that are
Gensely peopled. In the West, where
the roads are generally worse than in
any section of the country, farmers
are commonly engaged in improving
their property, and they find it hard to
make public Improvements at the same
time. As rule, the roads are more
numerous than the wants of the general
public actually require. Every farmer,
even if he owns but forty acres of land,
wants a road on one side of his prem
Uses, and he expects that it will be laid
out, constructed and kept in repair at
public cost. The great number of roads
serves to make them all very miserable.
Our numerous railroads have oper-
ated against the construction of earth
roads Of the excellence of those found
in foreign countries. The fine roads
seen abroad were generally made be-
fore railroads were thought of, and the
present generation is only taxed to keep
them in repairs. Many portions of the
West were supplied with railroads be-
fore any earth roads were constructed.
This being the case. settlers only con-
cerned themselves about roads leading
from their farms to the nearest station.
In some sections so many railroads were
projected that farmers waited to see il
one would not pass their doors before
they thought to construct a common
road to a station on some existing rail-
way line at considerable distance from
their places. As q rule they were
heavily taxed in some way for the rail-
roads, and they accordingly thought
themselves too poor to spend much on
common roads.
In many portions of the prairie region
of the West materials for the construc
ton of public road-beds are scarce, and
the ordinary soil is as bad for making
roads as it is good for producing crops.
It is soft, porous, retentive of moisture,
and easily washed. On the low and
flat prairies there are few facilities for
proper drainage. The bitches made at
the sides of roads for the purpose Of
carrying off water are easily filled with
earth, owing to insufficient fall. In
many cases the bitches become simply
reservoirs for holding water. The
porous character of the earth of which
the road is constructed causes it to alb
sorb the water and to keep it saturated
for days and weeks after rain. Such
is the action of the water in bitches on
the roads they are intended to drain
that the public highway affords much
poorer passage for teams than the ad.
joining private fields or open prairies.
Another thing that has operated
against the construction and mainte.
nance of good roads is the general lack
of local pride concerning them. Towns
emulate each other in the construction
of school-houses and other public build.
ings. There is great rivalry among
different denominations about the build
ing of elegant churches. But there
seems to be no pride. emulation, o.
spirit Of rivalry on the subject of fine
roads. It is often difficult to find q hal
! in . village of sufficient capacitv to &C