The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-02-07
HOUSEHOLD AND iARM.
BOttomIess Roads.

A Bloomington correspondent of the 7ri.
bune few days ago wrote of the condition of
that part Of the country as follows
"Never in the history of Mclean county has
the mud been more destructive q trade and
enterprise than just now, and the Whole of Cen
trail Illinois is similarly afflicted General
stagnalion and paralysis have ensue A com.
plete and eilectual embargo has ren placed
upon all traffic between city and farm. Not a
pound Of grain is coming in, not "A loof nor Il
horn. The supply of produce Is bought IN
entirely 10y rail. Coal can scarcely be deIiv
cred in the city. The day Of hand-cans Is near
at hand for delivery wagons must give up the
streets.
What was true of Mclean was equally true
of all other counties IN the state. Evry open
winter causes a similar mud embargo On bust
ness and transportation. What is the remedy
for this state OF things? Two years ago the
state of Illinois was u sea OF mud iot three
months At that time all sorts OF suggestions
were offered. Brook gravel and macadm had
many advocates; turnpiking was held mp as
the remedy by some others proposed broad
tires tor wagons-whch was good suggcs.
ton for merely scottish or muddy roads. but
not for bottomless pits and horrible mire. One
correspondent timdly proposes tile drain
laid longitudinaily along the middle OF the
highway with suitable outlets, and at the depth
of thirty to thirty SIX inches, according to the
nature of the soil. lie suggested side bitches
of the ordinary kind but did not seem to care
much whether the road was fiat or turnpiked
did not made much difference. His idea
was thai the tile drain (say six.inch pipe,
would draw off TIE water and render the sur
face of the road dry and firm comparatively al
all seasons of the year. lie cited the case OF
an almost impossible farm lane of his leading
from the man road some forty rods to his
farm building, that had been converted into 9
fine, dry winter road by the simple process OF
running under it siX.inch tile pipe, which
absorbed the surface water and discharged into
ditch outlet of the country road. The writer
gave it as his opinion that what cured his deer
mud lane would also cure any "bottomless'
highway.
And now comes Mr.. Prime, an intelllgen
farmer of Dwight, who pretty strongly corrob
crates the thing theory as remedy for the eX
listing condition of Illinois roads. In his let
ter tO the Tribune yesterday he says:
81 do not know of a greater source OF pleas
ure in an open winter like the present, If you
own u farm than to see the water discharge
from your tiles | make it a practice every
day to 90 out and note the different changes
and condition of the soil, and observe thu
length of time that it takes to dry up low piece
L
farmers who have their land tiled who know
how much water a siXlnch tile, with goot
fall, will discharge in twenty-four hours. Re
liable tables which | have before me put i
down as follows With "a fall of two inches
in every 100 feet q slX-nch tile will discharg,
439,29l gallons every twenty-four hour" NJ.
tile have been running now full for ten days
and, according to this table, would have dis
charged 1891 POI gall ons of water. Had itno
been for the tile the greater portion of this wa
ter would have remained upon the land for al
indefinite period.
THE next point upon which | wished to ct
tain some knowledge was the condition OF tn
E ground where the tile were laid. | wake
over an entire string eighty rods long in m
corn.field. did not sink into the ground a
inch. | was able to walk in the same name
each side of the tile distance of nearly tw
rods AS soon as | was beyond the pointfror
which the tile were working and drawing tn
water towards themselves, | sank into the mu
at least five inches Ia fact, 1t was utterly in
possible to walk at all, owing to the terrlbl
condition of the portion of the field which ha
not been tiled. | make the assertion that tn
facts as | found them IN the corn-field upo
the 18th of January, 1880, solve the whol
question of country roals. Here is corr
field A tile dries it for the width of nearl
sixty feet dry that you may walk or hat
load upon it with ease. Ordinary roads al
about forty feet wide,-just twice as wide {
are necessary. Put tile down in the cent?
of the road, and am satisfied that the days
mud bloekades will be only recollection
the past-Chicago Tribune.