The Arizona sentinel., 1889-07-20
COUNTRY ROAD MAKING.
nov TO overcome Some of the Difficulties
IN Securing Good Roads.

Oe universally applicable, for the
reaon that formations of soil are so
vailed that what is practical and ap-
pr0ed IN any one locality is not suited
TO ne conditions found in other places.
Ihs the plan of constructing roads on
hat clayey lands differs from that
foud most effective in rolling,
graelly or sandy country. The great
estiltficulty in securing good roads is
! foud where the natural condition of
Thugs IS most easily overcome, or
whre roads are fairly good the year
rond for the passage of light loads.
'here roads are almost impossible
at ertaln seasons of the year for the
oronary purpose of travel, the people
alog them are prodded into some in
tellgent effort by these regularly
recrrlng periods, and so the most ap-
proed methods are likely to be en-
ploed. But the greatest need for
missionary work lies along those roads
vince no great engineering skill is
required to keep them in such repair
thatthe public does not enter a vigor-
Gus protest against their inefficiency.
Ihoe who have been accustomed to
hlllSr undulating roads from boyhood
do ut appreciate the difficulties they
voluntarily encounter on every passage
ovel them. Hills or grades that do
nOt'Xceed one foot in thirty are not
serius obstacles to overcome, but all
graes of hills sleeper than those that
came dug down to lengthen the grade
shotd at once be attacked and per-
sistatly worked until a grade of one
in tirty is reached. At this grade
the ngle of repose in a horse is not
CHARGED, and he is able to trot up or
dow with light carriage with but
littlextra effort. No gravel or other
surfse application should be made
untiEhe grading is completed and the
roaded slightly rounded, so as to be-
comeeadily drained of surface water.
If hill can not be economically cut
downt is often better to go round it
than o compel the travel to go up a
steegrade. BY studying the system
of rcd dynamics it has been found
that is better to go twenty feet fur
ther,n a level than to climb one foot
in hight-that is, it is as easy to go
2,00feet further as to climb 100 feet,
or tat the longest way round on a
leve is the shortest way home, and it
is fClnd also that the distance is not
so much increased by little devia-
ton as is usually supposed. A de-
fiecfon p curve of 100 feet between
twopoims 600 feet apart only adds to
the dishnce 80 feet, and between
points nile apart one-ffth of mile
defectio. adds but 400 feet to the dis
lance. little observation of the
paths mde by animals across uneven
surfaceswill show that they always
make a path as nearly horizontal as
possiblealong the line of direction,
and they avoid short cuts that must
be made by climbing. When an as
cent must be made it is always along
the line of the lightest grade. We have
very little appreciation of the aver
sion tn horse we are driving has for
the ste0 grade we force him to climb.
1t hasbeen found by careful expert
ment TINT the horse power-cOmputed
by Watts as raising $4,000 pounds one
foot pc minute-exerted by draft on
the rod is equal to tractive force of
120 pdnds for light hours at % miles
per hur. This is considered the unit
of pUer for road service, where the
tracks level, hard, and smooth. Any
Obstruction, therefore, whether it be
an uBven surface or a steep grade,
rendcs the travelling difficult for the
horsdn the degree of unevenness or
of s,epness of the grade. If the
grads l in 80 the horse can draw
two-lirds of it's load on level; if l
in 24t can only draw One-half, or if 1
in 10 then it can only draw
one-urth of its load on
a lei. 1t is true that for short
distaces or for brief time a horse
can Jaw five or six times its constant
loadn level. Except for short dis
tano it is inhuman to require the
hors to draw more than double its
moral force which is required when
the 'ade is in 80 or So, according to
wheer the surface is hard or I'M
evel On a level gravel road the
hor can draw a load in round num-
Der fifteen times heavier than it's
tratve power, or 1900 pounds, and
thr times this load, or 5,400 pounds,
on hard, broken-stone road, and 49,
400n railway track.
God roads seem more of necessity
to lose familiar with them, and no
bet spur to endeavor can be fur
nisd than a half mile of good level
grsl road between sandy or billy
strehes of highway. Good gravel is
nefy always found in a sandy coun-
trpnd there can be no excuse except
inference for poor billy roads, for
thtoad work, if intelligently applied,
ca'educe the grade and spread gravel
to 'ect an entire revolution in country
trel.
cd roads are an Indication of thrift
an intelligence in the people. No
hi-spirited, enterprising farmer can
pait the road passing through his
fa or past his front gate to be an
eyore and nuisance to the public.
Anooth. well-kept road proves the
accent owner to be thoughtful,
ceful man and adds largely to the
we of the property. And every