Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-31

THE DIFFERENCE IN FIGURES
In"Gilmore's Practical Treatise on Roads,
Streets and Improvement" the following ta-
BILE, resulting from trials made with dy-
namometer attached to a wagon moving at a
slow pace upon a level, is given to show the
force of traction in pounds upon several diff
ferent kinds of road surface Unfair condition,
the weight of wagon and load being one ton
of 2, 240 pounds:
Pounds
On Telford road 46
On road covered with SIX inches Of broken
stones laid on concrete foundation ........ 55
On road made with thick coating OF gravel
laid on earth, from 140 to o..................1H
On common earth road. ad..........-....-....-.zVo .zVo
This shows that it requires three times as
much force to pull load over o common
country road as one macadamized, and more
than four times as much power as on Tel
ford, or one of broken stone on concrete
foundation.
Farmers of Irish birth have told me of
the grand roads of Ireland. heard many
of the Dutch farmers of Butler county boast
of the roads of Germany, and many of the
travelled, intelligent grangers of wealth
talk Of their knowledge of French, English
and Scotch highways. All of them admit
that the roads here can not be improved
very substantially unless macadamized.
Yet SO
UNIFORM is THIS IDEA
that plenty of plain, everyday Pennsylva-
MIA farmers, who know nothing about the
highways of foreign countries, would de-
scribe to YOU how, by their actual expert
ence in 20, 40 or 60 years of farming, they
had finally come to the conclusion that dirt
roads are a complete failure; how they had
tried this and that plan, and how they
found that where the roads were not built
at once in approved macadam style, the
only way to make them permanent was to
throw in stone year after year until bottom
was found. A few did find who eontended
that with properly made drains, we'll
graded roadbeds, and some legislative at
tention to the width of wheel tires, it is still
possible to have good dirt roadways, but in
the end they all had to confess that where
the discovery of oil, the building of great
factory, or some other cause, would sud
denly lead to heavy hauling in that locality,
the roads could not last because there is no
bottom to them.
ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE.
In the first week or two of THE Dis
PATCH expedition used to think that the
road we travelled on one day was better than
that we had the day before, or that the road
on the third day was worse than any we had
yet struck, but driving month and half
over about 200 miles OF these roads, 1 have
come to the conclusion that there is abso-
lutely no choice between the dirt roads of
Pennsylvania. with the exception, perhaps,
of Erie, Crawford and Mercer counties,
where greater proportion Of sand in the
soil prevents SO much accumulation of water
on the surface, and thus avoids deep mire.
But in Western Pennsylvania, as q whole,
where we had dirt roads, we had bad roads,
Nd xr6a hod
good roads. Some days the sun may have
dried up the mud, and it may have been
rather pleasant riding, but II hours of rain
would make them bad again; and in every
instance where we encountered a locality
where there was heavy hauling, such as in
the oil, gas or lumber regions, the roads
were practically ruined. With dirt road,
weather must always be taken into consider
alton. When it was necessary for our ex-
ploring party to make appointments ahead
by mail or telegraph it was
FOUND TO BE IMPOSSIBLE
to do it, for perfect as the roads may have
been at that time, we could not count with
any certainty upon what they would be to.
morrow. 1t depended entirely on how
much rain fell that night, or the next few
days, as the case may have been. 1t was
all different when we were riding upon a
or shine, and we could estimate our rate of
speed to a nicely.
"But how much is it going to cost to ma
cadamize the principal roads of Pennsyl-
vania, and where is the money to come
from?" is the question asked by two-thirds
of the farmers, before they will say they are
ready to begin a general improvement,
Agricultural interests declare that they are
already suffering from heavy taxation.
Many of them believe that they are bearing
heavier burdens than the corporations. One
would think that at first blush it seems like
relief to the farmers to say that the State
will take the roads under its charge, and
care for them. The proposition to appro-
pirate something like
TWO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
annually out of the State Treasury to re-
building these roads would really be State
aid, but more than one careful, calculating
tiller of the soil has raised this perfectly
logical point: If two millions are to be
given out of the State Treasury every wear
Tor this purpose, two millions will have to
be put into it every year too, and how is
that two million to be raised? There is a
great fear everywhere that the State move
ment contemplates general taxation on the
farmer alone for this purpose, but some
others believe and hope that the State
treasury, also containing money put there
by taxes on city corporations and other
moneyed interests, would directly devote
part of that to road improvements; thus
improving the condition of the farmer, he
at present having TO pay the entire cost of
the country roads himself.
The trouble lies right here. The rebuild
ing and macadamizing of the principal
roads of the State would undoubtedly be a
very heavy expense for the first few years.
or as long as the rebuilding would con-
tinue. The work will, however, be finished
some time, so that that is
ONLY THE FIRST COST.
Yet, it entirely takes away the enthusiasm
OF the man, who, conlessing that be would
save money if he had better roads, and ad-
mitting that the only way to make good
roads is to macadamize them, hesitates at a
temporarily increased taxation. He entirely
loses sight of the tact that after the roads
are once built taxes will be reduced to the
minimum. Then, taxes for the roads main
tenance would really be trlval-far less
than they are at present This is state
ment that cannot be gaipsaid. We found
it true on the part of the old National road
between Washington and Uniontown, The
cost of keeping that thoroughfare in repair |
IS less than any II dirt roads of equal length
in either of those counties. Why? Simply |
because it was properly built in the begin |
ming and we'll macsdamized. We also found
1t fact on the old Pittsburg and Philadel- |
phia turnpike, as showed at some length |
rfi