Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1883-04-12
Aending Roads.

The following, from the Netr York 7iiJ-
uae, leads US 10 suspect that the writer may,
at some time, have been a visitor in our
State. and. perhaps, to this particular por-
ton Of 1t. He says: Having lately wit
messed the annual operation of mendng
roads IN the country, We are in mood to
protest against the whole miserable system
"a system adopted in early times. aud in
somt measure necessary IN the first settle
ment of a new country, but utterly incom-
pstibie with the idea that We are progress
slye neople-because in the matter OF road
making there is no progress visible.
Our country roads are annually repaired
by a tax Of one days work upon each poll,
and money assessment upon property, to
be worked out or committed at the rate of
sixty-two and half cents per day and this,
too, at a time when days labor is worth
dollar or more. Ii is easily conceived what
sort Of days work are done upon the road
Men who have absolutely nothing TO do. and
mean to do nothing, go out at the call of the
road master to waste time enough to cancel
their road-iaN. We cannot tell at what age
of the world this road-law was made. but
We can tell that il was not made to suit this
age. And we have ocular demonstration.
htdN N4l' iupNtN Idll the road
master is generally worse than wasted
We saw men at work last week digging
black muck out Of ditch where road passed
aswampy place, and piling it up in a cart-w
TO nil ruts and level the surface. This is
worse than wasted labor-it Is a waste Of Il
valuable manure, withou; a single iOta Of
benefit to the road. 1t never will compact
into a solid track. If wet it will wash into
and down the brook: if dry. II will turn to
dust and blow away. One load OF gravel
would be worth more than the slow and easy
muck-diggers would put on the road in
week. In another place, for a dozen rods in
length, the road-menders had piled up a sort
OF winrow of sods piowcd from a grass plat
upon one side of the track. These. when
worn down by the travel, were expected
10 I'LL dIshlng cavity where the same sort
of material probably had been put a dozen
times before. aud as often turned TO paste
and washed down the hill.
In dozen places of half-mile-long road
up and down hill, the washed-doan earth
OF former mendings, was sho,eled from its
lodging places in the hollow center Of the
track, or used TO form miniature dam, to
turn the rain-waror of through the stone
walls into the fields. Next wear this same
dirt can be shoveled lower down and applied
again IN the same senseless. useless wav 4
few hours al breaking stone or carting gray
ell would do more TO repair the road than a
week of shovellng sods and loan, sand
In no department Of rural labor is there
so much time wasted as IN the annual re.
pairs Of country roads and in nothing that
farmer undertakes does he seem so abso-
lutely incompetent as in this particular
branch Of business. lie positively discards
all science. ignores all experience. and will
fully persists. while mending his roads, in
never mendng his WAYS.
We say nothing of LAYING out new roads.
because IN that there is one object aimed
at tha; j. generally accomplished that Is.
straight line, without any regard ID nier,e-
ming obstacles. Or. If this j. not aimed al.
aud the necessity Of a crooked line i. ac-
know lodged. 1t all generally be found carried
over the steepest hills, when 1t might Just As
easily wind around and reach the summit by
an easy grade. What # il should take
little NOR, work at tir,t, Il would take les.
ever siter. Besides, what an immense az
gresate saving OF transit power over good
road. compared with one that i, oni, posi-
81, passable
Our whole system of opening and repair
lng roads belongs TO an ancient and semi
barbarous time, aud j. UNIV orihs the present
age. and ever, legislative a.,emhlage that
neglecis 10 reform the system j. derrlici in
It's duty. let the people and the press for
once unite and call for better lava law
that will not sanction such q waste Of labor
"A law that with far less expense viii give
u far better roads Throughout, the State