The Newtown bee., 1890-08-22
STRATFORD.
STONE BALLAST vErEp AGAIN.

Wednesdays special town meeting de-
cided the road question by the passage
of this resolution, offered by Il. b. Fair
child and amended by Cortez Wheeler:
Resolved that the selectmen be authorized
and instructed to laade, drain and stone bal
last the upper and lower roads leading to
bridgeport and that they be authorized to
draw upon the town treasurer tor such sums
as they may require for defraying the expens-
es of said work, such expenses not to exceed
$500 per mile.
This settles the vexed question and the
roads will now be stone balasted with
macadam crushed stone, such as is used
In Bridgeport and elsewhere.
At , 30, when the meeting was to be-
gin, hardly II man was in the hall. At
40, they were called together and Town
Clerk Stage read the warning, similar to
that for last Fridays meeting. Freder-
lex j. Beardslee was called to the chair
and Thomas Il. Fairchild offered reso-
luton to grade, drain and stone ballast
or gravel the upper and lower roads to
bridgeport, at cost of not more than
$4,000 per mile. :. X. Bunce thought
that the matter had been well discussed
and that time would be saved If the meet
ing would simply vote by ballot for
"stone ballast" or gravel" the money
question being decided later. Cortez
Wheeler offered to amend by striking out
the words Tor gravel" Elliott j. Peck
enquired whether the motion was legal,
saying that vote already existed in
structlng the selectmen to stone ballast
the roads. The chairman explained that
there had been several meetings, with
whose proceedings he was not altogether
familiar on account of absence, In regard
to this matter and a legal question had
ton as to the legality of Mr. Fairchild's
motion and the chairman explained the
position of the selectmen. Mr. Peck sug-
gested that the chair inform itself more
fully and was told that it might be done
II the meeting adjourned week. On
motion OF Seymour Wells, the resolution,
which had been lost sight of in the dis
cussion, was again read, with the amend
ment. Charles Warner wished the form
er stone ballart resolution read again.
George Bartram asked If he was correct
In assuming that no provision had been
made for paying for this work; if
so, the resolution was void. Seymour
Wells said that the resolution had been
passed upon by competent lawyer and
was o. X. Thomas Munson, who asked
II tho vote had aver haap raSninlad wag
told that it had not. Mr. Peck again
raised his point of legality, which the
chair could not sustain. Seymour Wells
wanted the road repaired Mt once; If the
majority wanted stone ballast, it should
be put down by all means, but the ques-
ton should be decided by ballot. f. A.
Benjamin thought that the meeting ought
first TO vote on the amendment. ii. T..
Stage asked the selectmen for informa-
ton about macadamiZed roads and was
told by Selectman Samuel c. Lewis that
three inches of fine gravel or sand should
be placed on the road, followed by the
crushed stone, then by sand, gravel or
fine stone; at least, so he had been told
by good authority. The selectmen pre-
ferred gravel simply because, after in
vestigation, they had concluded that
gravel, run through stone crusher,
would make an excellent road ut reason
able cost. There was no quarry of suit
able stone in town, all that was available
being either too soft or too expensive.
The gravel, under present conditions,
was far cheaper than stone. The select
men were not opposed to stone and
would follow any instructions from the
meeting. Selectman X. w. Curtis said
the selectmen were willing to screen the
gravel and crush the larger stones, il
that would be satisfactory. Replying to
John w. Beach, Mr. Stage gave his opin-
ion that the resolution to shut out gravel
would entirely prohibit stone ballasting,
as gravel entered largely into the con-
struction Of all such roads, but Seymour
Wells said that, In his judgment, the res
olution called for road built In the us
ual way of macadamized roads. Mr.
Wells was evidently tired of the discus
sion of trivialities and wanted the ques-
ton decided properly and quickly. The
chairman did not understand that gravel
from the ferry bank constituted stone
ballast, neither did he understand that
gravel would be entirely excluded. II.
ii. Russell enquired IL the material being
put on the lower road would bring good
results; also the cost. Selectman Lewis
again explained that satisfaction had
been given elsewhere by gravel roads
why should they not here, with better
materlals Gravel would not cost as
much as stone. Here Seymour Wells
tried to silence the selectman, saying
that his remarks were not to the point;
but Mr. Lewis was allowed to proceed |
and was asked IL he could state, approx |
imately, the cost of the gravelled road. |
1t was, he said, from $500 to $500 per
mile, according to the distance from the |
gravel bank. Elliott Peck then arose |
and, in his inimitable way, produced fig
ures, based upon the piece of road al
ready gravelled and its cost, to show
that the cost of a mile of grayelled road
would be $2360, without rolling or finish
ing. These figures had been prepared
with some difficulty, for there were DIFF
ferent statements, though each on good
authority, of the length Of road complet-
ed. +. A. Benjamin, in a few well
phrased sentences, referred to the exper-
iments of John MacAdam, the Scotch
man who discovered the system Of road
making which bears his name and is now
In universal use and said that, with all
his seeking, MacAdam could find moth