Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-08
The Western Pennsylvania Society
Takes the Problem Up
AT THE LEGISLATURES REQUEST.
Colonel Roberts Says There Are Over
$4,000 Miles in the State.
THE ROADS LEADING INTO PITTSBURG


to the Legislature, and the chances are that
the deliberations of that body, instigated by
the Governor, will be aided largely by the
Pittsburg thinkers.
This committee held meeting yesterday
in the rooms of the society, in the Penn
building. The gentlemen who compose the
committee are Colonel T. P. Roberts,
Chairman; Alexander Dempster, ex-City
Engineer; Charles Davis, County Surveyor;
j. H. Johnston, of the Panhandle railroad,
and Arthur Kirk. They met and trans
acted the preliminaries before getting down
to actual business.
AT the meeting the various generalities
regarding the question of improving the
roads was discussed at length. The mem
bers pored over statistics in regard to the
number of miles of country roads there are
in the State. The manner of bringing the
matter before the people interested was
talked about and the question of who should
pay for the improvement was brought up.
1t was thought the State would bear good
share of the expense and the balance could
be borne by the various counties, cities and
townships.
COLONEL. ROBERTS EXPLAINS.
1t was agreed that the hardest work the
Legislature would have would be to bring
the matter favorsbly before the attention of
the farmers and others in the country. The
committee will meet again soon and if the
matter can be put in shape in time it will
be sent to the Legislature for use. In re-
gard to the scheme of improving the roads
a visit was made last evening by DIS
PATCH reporter to the residence of Colonel
Roberts, on Beech street, Allegheny. The
Chairman of the committee said:
1.-The committee will be very untiring in
their efforts to have the State improve the al
most impossible condition of the country
roads, Pennsylvania isaway behind the times
on her highways, there being not decentone
running out of this city. We have collected
statistics which show that there has been
very little improvement on any of the
country roads within the past 40 years.
Since the dawn of railroads there has been
no attention paid to these highways. The
main turnpikes have been abandoned, and
in there place is nothing but mud runs
which are kept up by the townships. In
New York, Massachusetts,, Ohio and Ken
lucky the people have taken the matter up.
As q result they now have thousands of
miles of good macadamized roadways in
those States. In 16 counties in the blue
grass region of Kentucky there are over
{, 900 miles of this kind of road.
BY LEGISLATIVE REQUEST.
In Ohio they passed recent law that the
roads may be improved at the option of the
people living along both sides within the
limit of one mile. All over the State the
people have improved the roads. The tax
is fixed so as not to exceed 10 mills on the
dollar in any one year.
The matter was first brought to our at
tention by the receipt of letter from one Of
the Allegheny county Representatives.
Senator Newnyer is interested in the
scheme and will push forward anything the
society suggests. We have concluded that
it is high time the State was improving the
roads, and weintend to see if it cannot be
done.
e There are only four roads now running
out of Pittsburg and Allegheny that are of
any account. They are owned by turnpike
but they are far from being good
roads. They are the Greensburg, Perrys-
vile, Butler and Brownsville roads 1t is
possible that the State could purchase and
put them in frst-class condition.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
The question that will bother the COM
gotten up to cover the matter. I think the
State will have to delegate some authority
to the various counties to keep the roads in
order. The State should undoubtedly bear the
greater portion of theexpense. If we gel the |
matter started they will certainly do it. The
farmers will not take kindly to the matter
at first, but they will see the advantages to
be derived from it. A great many of them
are tired of being taxed from to mills on |
mud roads that are impossible at certain |
seasons of the year. If the money that has |
been spent in the past 20 years making i'm |
had been put in good road at |
first, we not only would have had better |
roads but the tax would not now be so |
great.
The roads are precisely the'sam as they |
we're 40 years ago. During wet seasons the |
farmers are unable to take advantage |
IF the high market prices on produce |
n the city on account of being unable |
% get to town through the mud. 1 have
been in Washington county five or six |
niles away from any railroad, and seen hay |
stacked up that could not be moved on ac- |
count of the impossible roads. AT the time |
he price of hay was very high. When the |
-oads got psssable and the hay moved to
he city the market price had declined. If |
he roads had been in good condition the |
armers could have moved their product |
Ind taken advantage of the high market.
MoNoNGAHELA RIVER TRADE.
If we had good roads the cost of transpor-
alton would be considerably lessened. 1t |
low takes twice as many horses to haul a |
leavy load as it would if we had good road
beds. The bad roads also have the effect of |
irving the wealthy people into the city to
i've. If we had good macadamized roads |
he wealthy people would live in the coun-
nv and use the roads as driveways.
have figured it up that there are over
Is, 900 miles of almost abandoned roads in |
his State: The improvement of country
-oads has become so obsolete that there has |
not been book published on roadway
building for 80 years. 1t is false idea that |
he railroads came to supplant the roads.
Instead of doing that the railroad companies
encourage them.
L know that it is fact that the steamboats,
,unning up the Monongahela river have
ost thousands of dollars on account of the
roads leading to the steamboat landings
being in bad condition. When the roads
ire good the shipping is always heavy. 1t
is well-known old saying that came from
Europe that the condition of the public
highways is the best index to the character
IF the people. On some roads in Europe
,ne horse will haul three or four tons. On |
he roads around this city the farmers are
happy if their horses can haul half a ton
,ach."
An Oil Works Fire.