The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-11-11
Improving Country Roads.

Mr.. William c. Prime of the New York
Journal Of Commerce, who Travelled extern
sively in Vermont the past summer, has
been giving his Impressions of the country
roads in this state, and finds much fault
with them The Springfield Republican
finds some causes for the poor roads in YER
mont and elsewhere which Mr.. Prime has
not noticed. 1t says:
Chief among these is ignorance of road
building. The tough clay subsoil of the
Vermont roads makes excellent foundation
for road-bed and, if piked up enough to
permit drainage, will settle down after the
spring rains as firm, elastic and dry car
riage way, at no great expense. The trouble
is with the mud-holes and the exceptional
strips of road, built upon treacherous side
hill of soft clay with no bottom, or through
some swamp. The town or school district
surveyors are always tinkering up these ex-
penslve locations with brush or the trunks
of trees, or other temporary expedients,
which become nuisance. Such locations
should be avoided, as moderate grade is
far preferable to a level road through a
slough. Vermont abounds in stone; the
pastures and mowing-lots which line the
roadsides are full of them, and what needs
to be learned is the value of stone in re-
claiming the mud-holes. If these sinks were
drained, 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 a
permanent Improvement, paying q large
interest on the outlay. Every well-governed
town Should aim to let no season pass with
out the accomplishment of some definite i'm
provement in the highways--a new bridge;
a new and improved location and the
abandonment of some old and troublesome
one; the cutting out of underbrush where it
obstructs views perhaps alone worth the
cost of journey; the avoidance, so far as
possible, of those terrible drawback to coun-
try 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 Mac
adam. The horse-scraper, which has been
introduced largely of late years, is great
assistance in road-making; but instead of
being seized as the means and opportunity
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 a roller, but a roller is of
no use unless it rolls. The secret of getting
a good interest on the cost of machines OF
this character is to keep them going. Every
state ought to have highway association of
persons interested in highways to arouse
interest in the subject, direct attention to
the model towns spur up the laggard and
work for general ends and purposes. Not a
little good would be accomplished by circu-
latlng elementary works on bodybuilding
and bridge-building suitable to New En-
gland. The railroads have state commits
sions and large literature, besides being
managed by the best civil engineers they
can command. The peoples roads shift for
themselves in happy-go-lucky way. The
country can win back the population of the
city, at least for a portion of the year, if ii
will take livelier interest in these subjects.
But the chief value of it lies in the improve
ment of the property directly benefited. We
need highway association very much in
every state to contest with the railroads the
possession of the highways. How many inn
portant thoroughfares are rendered unsafe
to driving by railroad crossings which, il
they cannot be replaced by grade crossings
might at least be tagged? Who will take
up this work and be the missionary of high.
way reform and highway protection?"