Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-09
IRON is ALLAH.

A Correspondents Takes q Bold Stand
Against Stone PIkes-On Muck and
-MeteOroIogy-Sarcast filings at Modern
Men With Ancient Ideaa-Ths Features
Of the Coming Country Road.
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATcH.1
THERE is something pathetic, and yet. at the
same time. almost ludicrous, in this annual
cry for better roads. Through the long, drying
days of the glowing summer and the hazy,
shimmering. slumbrous autumn, when the
country road lies hard and compact on the land
scape, not whisper on the subject can De
heard. Not much thought is then given to the
changing conditions that every one knows are
bound to come The winter may be close and
cold one, and If so there are only few weeks
Of tribulation before closing up in the fall, or
after the break up in the spring; so the
chances are taken and . hope is sandwiehed
between Providence and the weather.
But when phenomenallv mild winter occurs,
preceded by damp and cloudy autumn, when.
for from four to six months, country roads are
almost impossible, then it is that the wall as
sumes its highest pitch. Then discussions are
in order; the road topic becomes prominent at
farmers Institutes resolutions are passed, the
daily and weekly press joins in the chorus and
this turmoil continues until the hot
May-day sun bakes the mud into q
few months of compactness. when the
past, with all its woes, is forgotten.
When the corn is planted, q few days Of So
called road-mending is grudgingly indulged in,
which mending is probably done under the
supervision Of some aspiring local pol1tica1
genius who understands probably as much OF
scientific road construction, as he does OF the
procession of the equinoxes.
With pathetic tenderness that Is touching
to the beholder the muck that the rains had
i r. - L. ~Nn1lrr
turned. again to harrow the soul and provoke
the profanity. when next there is harmonious
relationship between muck and meteorology.
One would think that century were ample
time in which to impress lesson, but II isn't.
On this road lesson three centuries have failed
most signally.
A Melancholy Fact.
TO-DAY there are men who hold out the
idea to their fellow men, that they have
grappled with natural physics and have wrested
from nature some Of her innermost mysteries
men too. who hold high civic positions, and
who stand up in learned solemnity and advocate
that on this road matter, We must do as the
Romans did some thousands Of years ago.
1t is q melancholy fact, and one that is mourn
full In its consequences, that many men have
the mental peculiarities Of blind rams. each Of
which must butt his own individual head
against the wall; to be assured that there ls
wall in the vicinity. On what other hypothesis
can It be accounted for, that during the last
so years, the State of Pennsylvania has ex-
pended over $500 600 900 on public roads. and to
day has barely decent. serViceaDle State or
county road In the Commonwealthf And Wnas
Is true OF Pennsylvania Is measurably true OF
all the other States. And IL the same process
be continued through millenniums, there viii
be the same monotonous butting against the
same dreary wall by successive generations OF
the same kind Of heads, and the country roads
will be no better after the expenditure OF bill
lions Of dollars on them than they were CEN
tury ago.
Now. an Improvement in this direction must
be feasible. practical matter, and must be
practical, comprehensive, commOn-sense in
Its application. Mere philosophizing, theoriz-
thing more substantial is called for. The labor
thrown away on the old methods Of muck ma
nipulation Is q minor item compared with the
appalling loss sustained BY the country in the
vast aggregate OF unperformed labor and the
added cost to transportation by reason Of inefn-
cient roadway.
Why Macadamiziug 10 Objected To.
IT Is proposed to macadamize the roads Of the
country, but this method, when practically
considered, presents insurmountable diff
culties. 1t is true, a road Of this kind can be
made and may be made, when the combination
Of conditions is favorable. But It can never
become . general road and As will be shown; IL
ought never to become the road of the future.
There are States in which all the available
stone would not pike the one-tenth part Of
their common roads. It il question II the
general piking of all the roads OF the country
would not require all the stone that could be
got at, in the United States, and If, all things
considered, such roads would not reach an ay-
erage cost Of anywhere from N,0O0 to $4,000
per mile.
This may seem like an extrayagant estimate,
and yet 1t Is probably inside OF the actual facts
There are tens Of thousands Of miles Of COM
mon road. yes, hundreds Of thousands Of
them. that would require the building
Of railroads to them on which to trans
rial required in their construction. It
seems incredible that any one conversant with
the physics Of the case and capable Of either
anaiytically or synthetically grasping the situ-
alton. should soberly advocate such prepos-
This Is all the more remarkable when It Is
considered that this Is an age Of iron, when
buildings and bridges are Of iron, when the
vessels that cleaVe the oceans are OF iron, when
our country has already 10000 miles Of iron
railways, when horse cars cable cars, electric
and all other cars are run on iron tracks, and
yet men stand up in the face Of all this. then
turn their backs TO the fight, SO as look along
the lines Of their shadows and virtually ex-
claim:
"Iron Is great, It will float It will bridge It
viii build It will fence Ii will talk it will make
all other kinds Of roads and 40 all things else,
but we must pike the farmerI Iron is Allah,
pike is his pr0phetp
And vet by every suggestion of analogy and
analysis, by every principle Of evolution and
every Law OF PFogrsssige gTSxitatsio1. g i Is as
metallic king will be the feature Of the road Of
the future.
The Coming Common Read.