The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-05-21

FROM FIFTH DIsTRICr.
70 HAMsLEN ooUNTY, Tenn. ] IN

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Fl 10 .HAMBLEN CoUNTY, Tenn, al
.l'2s s2s1.o {. {. May 18th, 1884
!. To the Editor OF The Morristown Gazette
OUR PUBLIC ROADS.
: Il have been looking for our road
4 eyerseer round for sometime to war;
his hands to work the road The
way the overseer has been doing, il
to hurry and get through planting
corn, and call IN his hands to work
the road. They go and work gen
orally about four days in the spring,
and work no more. until fall, The
everseer then calls them to put in
the rest of their time, and the work
done in the spring has disappeared
and gone forever. Then we have
to do it over again-that is, chea0
our tobacco tacice, when there wasn't
much strength in it at first The
way the roads are worked, general
Iy, is we have a few picks and show
els and a sledge hammer, The
hands use the former tools and the
boss uses the latter implement. But
how7 BY laying it on the ground
and sitting on it. The "sledge' is
necessary tool to be used on our
public roads. The idea of digging
and throwing dirt in the road is, to
my Judgment, nonsense. This way
has been followed for many years,
and as yet we have no good roads
and we never will have as long as
this miserable practice is kept up,
Our reads the past winter have
been almost impossible in going to
church, town, or mill, or, in fact,
anywhere else, on account of the
bad condition they have been in
and the mean system attached
thereto. If the present way-the
old way of working the roads-is
continued think it won't De long
till we will have to stop travelling
them and go through the woods
and fields-and when 1 am forced
to do this, / will stop working the
roads, 80 s'iaisd it,''se1'
Now, after trying the old way of
working the roads SO long, will not |
the people take the proper steps to
have better roads, or will they still |
pursue their present course which |
is disgrace to our country? can |
safely say that it would be much |
better plan for each of the respect
i've road-overseers to employ team
and driver on their divisions as it |
would render the work better and |
more rapid. Let the team be used
to haul rock to be putin the road
bed wherever needed and let the |
remainder of the hands help in the
loading and unloading ofthe wagon,
besides digging and shoveling when
otherwise not busy. One team can
do more lasting geod in one day
than ten men can do digging and |
shoveling in two days. 1t there is
no team put on the road, then l
would suggest that some of the |
hands be put to carrying rock for |
road purposes. Some. might say |
this was too hard q job. True it
would be hard job to do for Uncle
Sam, but wouldn't this be better
than working always and never
have any good roads :? Even if each
hand didn't carry but six rocks
apiece in day, it would do more
real good than could be done any
other way If the people had COM
menced this rock work when the
reads were first put upon them, the
reads at the present day would have
been almost a solid bed of rock from
end to end If they are to be oper-
ated in the future as they have been
in the past, they will be ne better
off . thousand years hence, as
will be demonstrated, should any
of the present road travellers, bosses
or workmen be lucky enough to be
on hand at that eventful period to
take look at them. sssla 81 baA
q Now, won't the bosses study about
this matter, and when they 60 to
work the roads again work them
right Let us have good reads.
This is what we need. aA1 /
s a.a,s f.ianss A. RoAD HAND.