Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1884-02-27
he freeman.
EREERoRN, Mimi, Jan. Is, 1884.

rbe days have perceptibly heightened
.nr,no is beginning to draw near, and
although it will be some weeks yet before
fine activities of another season commence
wo have turned the corner aud are being
hurried on towards it. February Will soon
ho succeeded by March, and March will
oiy. Mace to April showers and sunshine
,Lor will come seed time end hard
a,ors We have no especial reason to
,,a;o of our winter. There has, as
49,, loon no deep SHOWS and no So called
..,,,i,z,rjs " Til the first of February
thore was hardly snow enough to make
s,sichng good. Winter closed in with
,ao 9ronnd remarkably dry. There were
.r,ir. in the fall, and when winter came
,ho sooS was very sparing. Every
m,.o.,orpl snow storm proved failure.
noo or two little ilurries giving US from
ano ,ra half to three inches of snow was
n ,hot was yo1chsafed US. 1t was not
ono,cb and teamsers complained bitterly.
# j.. a, lille provoking when one is hauling
.,beayy load of wood or grain Or hay on
slel, TO come to bare place several rods
IN l,notb where the snow is all blown out
Of the road. lelyng it rs dry as IN MD
.,mmor bu our farmers here had to
encounter Just such difficulties as that IN
their eaming this winter. However, there
X aIways some compensation for every
H. All agree that the deficiency OF snow
This winter has not made teaming as dlfh-
emit as the superabundance of it did last
winter. SO we can fall back upon the
consolation that things might be worse.
last winter the snow Just mocked at the
efforts made to keep the roads open. O1e
d,ysro, ,d> would be oblterated the next.
last year we lodged in every direction TO
e,c4pe the drifts; this year we dodge in
every direction to find them.
Oar roads in this country are made With
peculiar liability to the inconvenience OF
heinz bare in the winter season unless
there is an excessive amount of snow
Where the prairies are level, the ground
i,,pt to be too wet TO make Il good road in
i,s natural condition. Water stands on it,
and it som cuts up into ruts. TO remedy
,bs evil the roads are "piked y and the
ike has to be very narrow and steep.
ne dirt is scraped from the sides of the
road into the center in the ordinary way,
only the Ildge must be very narrow for
tie rayeI to pass over, while there are
wide rcughs in the ground on either side,
10 hold the water in summer and the Stow
IN winter Roadmakers tell US this is a
Wis. Improvement on It's original condi
,on and that it is the only plan that can
I'M lie to work iu our peculiar soil, and
1geore it is necessary TO fix them this
7ty. but | consider it wrelched neces.
ay. The roads never get smooth in the
simmer and in the winter they are always
hare, As for the ruts, should be sorry
to be held accountable for all the profan-
j'y they have caused. The soil here has
inst that plastic nature when it is wet that
it Yields but little resistance to a wagon
wheel. At first n little rut that holds
some water, then little deeper one and
more water is held in them, and soon the
wheel cuts down nearly or quite to the
hub. If it finally dries out and becomes
hard, one Can imagine what an intolerable
nuisance it must be to drive over such
road. II The Iu,s were of uniform depth
il would help the difficulty, but one
moment the wheel is down as deep as the
aN'etree will let it 20 and the next it will
mount 10 the top Of some hardened limp
OF mud brought up and deposited in the
way by The wheel Of some wagon that had
preceded yours, and before you have had
hardly time 10 congratulate yourself that
you are on the top Of the ground again.
down It goes into the rut once more. Woe
to the luckless driver that isn't on his
guard, He is liable to be lurched under
iA4 horses heels any moment Watch
covered carriage on the pike away ahead
Of YOU. How it tips first tc one side and
then to the other, as if some malicious
demon had graspel the axles and was try
ing 10 see how much shaking the top had
strength 10 stand and how much the pa
terce OF the occupants would endure. Ii
some machine could be devised for
smoothing off the roads after every rain
Storm and some plan could be invented
for having them used, this evil might be
IN large measure overcome. But we
haven reached that stage OF civilization
and public spiritedness yet. However,
'lseVIl pertains TO the summer and not to
The winter, and 10 remedy 1t then will not
te-pus now. These pixies are raised just
lsh enough to catch all the wind, so that
.5e snow cannot remain on Them. Then
when ditches or fences prevent going one
side, there is no other way but for the poor
horses to pull the load over the dry dirt
This has been the condition of things this
"ln'er till recently. The poor fellows
W1o had TO haul their wood thirty miles
complained loudly. Last week there was
heavy fall of snow which for wonder
'ad perfectly still, and for time now The
going has been magnificent. If we should
happen to have no blockades from snow
this winter, it will be an anomaly.
One day this winter has gotten itself a
name for its coldness-" cold Friday -
the first Of January, The mercury was
below minus thirty all day. and in the
midst of strong wind had to face it for
Six miles across the prairie and ] found it
Struggle for life. Mercury froze that
night Lis wonderful what an activity is
jeyeloped in a person by such an atmos'
P0cre Everybody who has anything to
10 IN the street becomes all at once
Irmarkably nimble. The old man oil
seventy steps as lively MS the young man
I" thirty. Very invigorating the atmos'
pierre is at such times. We have had sew
eral snpcinans of thia axhilaraiinO weather