Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1889-12-05

1
easier and cheaper to keep in good re-
PAIR, and will last many years longer; {;
while its advantages, and the savings
to those who daily use it, will very
much more .han compensate them for
the extra expense they have been put
in the building.
Mr.. Edwin Chadwick, speaking on
this subject, at the Institution Of Civil
Engineers, remarked:
"In the present condition Of the
country. it is Of vast Importance to re-
ducc the cost of transit to the utter
most. If by the improvement OF the
rural roads, four horses could he ena-
bled to do the work Of FIVE, the saving
of the country in agricultural horses
would not be less than seycn millions y
year.
1T the city traffic be taken into con-
eideration, We believe the cost Of transit.
to be saved by improvement IN roads,
would not be less than from ~ to 20
millions IL year
A mile of good macadamiz"d road
is more easily supported than poor
horse.
Prof. Jenks says:
On Illinois roads full load for g
horse team can be carried for three
months Of the year, two-thirds Of
load for three months. and hnlf load
for six.
"If the average load is not as low as
in Illinois it will come near it. The
Illinois roads cost SIS, 5000 in extra
hauling and reduce the value Of farms
ut distance from railway depots by
$l6O,O0O,00O. If Illinois spent $3.50.
100000 on good roads the total inter
est on this sum would still leave sutfi
clent OF the sum now spent on hauling
to build new State Capitol every year
to say nothing Of the nervous wear and
tear and the prismatic profanity induc-
ed by country roads when the frost is
coming out. Good roads would save
the State it's State taxes every year, and
the labor misdirected and wasted on
roads now would go far toward making
good highways.
Good roads are then unqnestionably
. cheaper to maintain and to use than
poor ones.
1t is safe to say that perfect road
once ald down will cost tar less to keep
in repair from year to year, and at the
end Of 20 years will have required far
smaller total expenditure than poorer
road costing half us much and improp-
erly made.
A properly built highway, construct,
ed upon any one of the systems accept
ed as the best for their various purposes
and locations, must necessarily be made
with solid and 6rm foundation. effect.
ually separating the surface from the
soil below.
1t should be thoroughly drained and
provided with water courses 1T the side,
and hard and compact surface, AS
smooth as the nature of its composition
will admit Of, and Tree from mud, dust,
and loose stones.
To reach this degree OF perfection,
the best obtalnablc materials must b.
used. 1t requires good labor, ample
time in construction, and above all, the
science and skill of professional cngl-
peer, whose business ls road making.
Certain kinds of roads are accepted
as the best under certain Clrcumst'an-
ccs. For the country, it ia essential to
make use of such material rs nature
furnishes for each locality, but more at
tention should b. paid than generally
is, TO the first principles laid down by
such road builders as Macadam & Tel
ford 90 tar, certainly, ss they provide
for thoro drainage, and for homogcne
ous even surfaces of the best materials
within reach, and then for systematic
care and repair.
Country roads need be 10 wider than
Is absolutely necessary for the accom-
modation of the traffic and travel that
will come upon them. In many places
a road wide enough for single team is
all that is necessary, with suitable turn
outs, for 1t is unwlse and expensive to
attempt to maintain country roadway
wider than the requirements of the
community demand. The sides can be
grassed down, making the road more
agreeable to the eye and \ source OF
comfort in the greater freedom from
dust.
For suburban roads nothing can be
better than what IL known as the Mac.