The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1886-10-08
The Egis & Intelligencer
Bel Air, Md, October s. 1856.
COUNTY ROADS.

Good public roads make the kingdom worth
more than horse. TO enrich your county make
good roads. To make purchasers want your farms
affair business prices, make your roads good and
keep them good.
Ithas become the fashion, with some farmers
when they set new fences along the public roads
TO set them outside of the old fence and In some
instances, within six or eight feet of the centre
on the public road without first examining the
Act OF Assembly passed shortly after the burning
OF the od court t House unless he has clear evi,
leave 1t It's full legal width of thirty feet.
In looking at road laws applicable:to Hartford
county, you Will ind by the Code of Public Lo-
cal Laws, page 81, that no public road In Har-
ford county shall be less than thirty feet in width
,rhere are number of roads in our county that
have been encroached upon and have not the le-
gal width; If the owners of land through whose
farms such roads pass were notified that they
have no right 10 take from the travelling public
what the law says the public are entitled to- viz
roads thirty feet in width, we think they would
generally TX their fences on the proper road line.
We think this habit of encroaching on the roads
with fences has grown UP without any evil or fe-
lonious intent. Wherever man supposes he is
entitled to land along a public road beyond his
oil fence enclosure, the. Laws of Maryland, con-
tanned in the Code. provide exactly what is re-
quired of him to do before he undertakes to
change the former lines of public road. He is
required TO have the road surveyed and If the old
the time the court house was burned, then the
law provides for the appointment by the County
commissioners OF commission to re-survey and
mark and bound said road, and whoever disre-
CARDS these plain provisions of the law is law
breaker.
No doubt the County Commissioners, on proper
application made to them, would take legal steps
u remedy this evil.
Good roads with sufficient width for the easy
aud safe passing OF teams can scarcely be too
highly esteemed in any neghborhood. Good
roads are not only pleasant and convenient to
travellers, but materially increase the value of
farms through which they pass. If man has a
farm for sale and desires to attract buyers and
has road running through his farm it will pay
well to give that road good travelable track,
amply wide for all kinds of teams to pass with
safety. Nothing improves county so much and
80 increases the value of its farms and other real
estate as good and wide roads.
In some parts of Hartford county roads are me-
cossarly billy, and the long years of use, winter
frosts and summer rains, have reduced some of
them to mere cutters. In many places even light
wagons cannot pass each other. This is notably
the case in the beautiful and fertile Deer Creek
country. For instance, the road on the south
side of the creek, from priesthood Bridge to
Stumps or Hopkins Corner, is about one mile
long, aud we are sure the safe travelable track
on this road does not average over ten feet in
width, II so much. In some places it is only
about eight feet wide. There are so few places
on this road that teams can pass, that sometimes
teams meeting have the trouble OF loosing their
horses and lifting their wagons past each other
Several instances of this kind have recently hap
pened. This would be very unpleasant if ladies
were the drivers-possibly there would be some
Almost a twin brother to the road mentioned is
the road leading from Windmill Hill by Deaths
Ford to Judge Prices gate
No stranger, travelling these public roads,
would suppose for moment that they belonged
to the enlightened and prosperous people of Har-
ford county, or any other people who are able to
pay taxes for road purposes. These roads
are scarcely safe for equestrians on counting ex-
petitions, although they usually ride very close
together. 1t might be useful to place fiagmen
and danger signals on roads of the class named
until our worthy and efficient Board of Commits
sioners can have something better done for them.
The Commissioners have recently had just such
roads repaired and made safe and we know they
are not unmindful of these, and have faith that
they will soon have them improved. Our county
fathers have had to nudge the taxpayers little
stronger than usual in the late levy, on account
of the disastrous floods of last year, but all pro-
gressve and fair-minded people look at the num-
Der of handsome new iron brinees built, and the
vast improvement in the public roads since the
Hood. and say, well DONE good and faithful SER
wants -" sc.