Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-11-13
PRESS. FRIDAY, lss5--TwEIvE PAGES

ture of men making road for the town,
sitting around loafug and smoking, when
what is needed is work.
While Mr.. Primes reflections are in n
measure sound, there are some reasons
for poor roads which he does not notice.
Chief among these is ignorance of road
building. The tough clay subsoil of the
Vermont roads makes excellent founda-
ton for road bed and if plked up enough
to permit drainage will settle down after
the spring rains as n firm, elastic and dry
carriage way, at no great expense. The
trouble is with the mud holes" and the
exceptional strips of road, built upon II
treacherous side hill of soft clay with no
bottom. or through some swamp. The
town or school district surveyors are al
ways tinkering up these expensive loca-
tons with brush or the trunks of trees or
other temporary eXpedients, which be
come Il nuisance. Such locations should
be avoided, as Il moderate grade is far pref
cradle to a level road through a slough.
Vermont abounds in stone the pastures
and moving lots which line the road sides
are full OF them, and what needs to be
learned is the value of stone in reclaiming
the mud holes. If these sinks were drain
ed, and then foundation laid of large
stone, two feet below the surface, topped
with larger and surfaced with stone
broken to the size of butternuts, there
would be Il permanent improvement, pay
ing large interest on the outlay. Every
well governed town should aim to let no
season pass without the accomplishment
of some definite improvement in the high
ways,-a new bridge II new and improved
location and the abandonment of some old
and troublesome one the cutting OIL OF
underbrush where it obstructs views per-
haps alone worth the cost of journey
the avoidance so far as possible of those
terrible drawbacks to country driving,
railroad crossings the cutting down of
steep grades and the filling up of ravines
and the reclamation of pieces of bad road
by use of the principles of Macadam.
The horse scraper, which has been in
PRODUCED largely of late years, is Il great
assistance in road-making but instead of
being seized us the means and OppOrtu-
nifty of more perfect bodybuilding, it is
too often awaited of as the way of doing
still more hastily and cheaply the work
which was done too poorly before. The
/ scraper should be matched with roller,
but Il roller is of no use unless it rolls.
The secret of getting good interest on
the cost of machines of this character is
to keep them going.
Every state ought to have Il highway
association of persons interested in high
ways to arouse interest IN the subject, di-
rect attention to the model towns, spur up
the laggard and work for general ends
and purposes. Not Il little good would be
accomplished by circulating elementary
works on road-buildng and bridge-buid-
inG suitable to New England. The rail
roads have state commissions and large
+ literature, besides beng managed by the
/ best civil engineers they can command.
/ The peoples roads shift for themselves in
Il happy gO-lucky way. The country can
win back the population of the city, ut
/ least for II portion of the year, if it will
take a liveller interest III these subjects.
/ But the chief value of it lies in the inn
provement of the property directly bene
! fitted. We need II highway association
very much in every State to contest with
the railroads the possession of the high
ways. How many important thorough.
fares are rendered unsafe to driving by
railroad crossings which, if they cannot
be replaced by grade crossings, might Il,
least be tagged? Who will take up this
work and be the missionary of highw ny
reform and highway protection