Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1890-05-17
Eng LIsH AND. AMERICAN ROADS.
What Experiment Has ProYed..-Some
II Opinions from Rhode Island.

Z |sESGLISHsAN AMERICAN ROADS
8 What Experiment Has ProYed...Som
Opinions from Rhode Island.
Experiments, SON the amount 0
attractive force required to move
a load showsrllat it will take elgh
sEhnrses to$ilraw a truck and LOAF
1--we ighings9 !, 900 pounds on firm sol
covered with gravel four to 81.
slsineh9 ssdeep, On seartIl emlmnk
lime mt iIlsgocd condition the work
s:3scan7bes done@by' a force eqnalins
aif,horses. On bro
4 kensTone road in good condition
1.-The samesload can be hauledrbysa
sEforce ofone aha9one quartershorses
land on the same road IN badcon.
klition, witl.sruts four:sto4 four and
one llalfs inches deep and thick
5mfiSi;; 6vesF horses will sbe required.
lsButsonsa good, dry pavement one
good horse cansmove the same load
allsIay.
Onsthes suhlect,of good and bad
roads the following from the pen
lof the LATE ORD. G. Holland draws
a comparison nnfavorable to the
existingeroad system. in America:
ssThe point which 1 wisllto I'M
press upon my American reader is
simply this: tlatthe English horse,
employed in the streets of city or
on the roads Of the country, does
twice as much work as The Amuri.
GIN horse similarly employed in
America. This is the patent, nm
deniable fact. No man can fail to
see it who has has eyes about him.
How does he do it? Why does he
doit? These are most important
Questions to mr. Americana. Is the
English horse better than the
American horse? Not at all. Is
he overworked? I have seen no
evidence tl,athe is. | have sees
hit one lame horse in London.
Tile sample tx lanafion is that the
Englislman has invested in per-
feet and permanent roads what
the American exnends in perish.
able horses that require TO he fed.
aye are using today in the lir-
tie town of Springfield inst twice
AS many horses as would he npces-
.sary TO do its business if the roads
all over the town were as goo,l as
Main street is from Ferry 10 Cen.
tral. We are supporting h1n,lrels
Of horses to drag loads through
holes that,nnght to lie flied. over
sand that should be hardened,
through mud that ought not to ex-
ist. We have the misery of bad
roads and are actually or practl-
cally called upon TO pay n premi-
nm for them. 1t would he demon
strably cheaper to have good ,oadS
LA, HAP .znl 9&pri miles Of good. .lnacalam-
lied road is more easily supported
than a poor horse"
The expense of building good
roads is an important item. and
the macadam is too expensive for
country hyways and crossroads.
and, in fact, is only feasible where
travel is extensive. Macadam 30
feet wide and Q inches thick in
the center requires $500 tons of
broken stone to the mile. The cost
of stone varies from 20 cents to SO
a ton. and this would bring the
the cost of surface material up to
s3.S5O to $1,000 a mile. A maca-
dam road has recently been made
near philadelphia at an average of
abont $4,000 ! mile for six miles,
but there was good foundation
to work on. At bridgeport, Conn.
forty miles of good macadam. Is
TO 20 feet wide. intending grading,
cost a trifle under $4,000 n mile.
The committee on improvement
of highways, Rhode Island tllvis
ion of the League Of American
Wbeelmen. recently received two
Important letters upon the subject
of oood and bad roads which are
of general interest. Ex-Governor
Henry Howard, of Rhode Island,
says:
II am very glad to learn that
there is some prospect of leglsla-
ton in regard to our faulty high
way system. When l returned
from my first and prolonged visit
no Europe could scarcely believe
thar l had all my life been familiar
with such roads as met my eye on
nv return. In no part Of my trav-
els had l seen roads so poor as is
the rule in our country towns; and
I had been in some ont Of the way
places, too. We are more waste
full in this respect than IN all other
things pnt together. Comparing
1.-THE rural sections of Europe with
those of onr country, there is NC
doubt, I think, bnt that . horse
+. there performs donble the duty lie
docs here, and therefore is worth
twice as much. 1t would be the
highest economy to put all ON
roads in permanently good con
dition. When it is once done the
annual expense is as nothing tt
the money which is expended nov
! Mithnnt any henefcial results