Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-04-16
a MODERN INSTANCE.
John cilmer Speed Writes of the Roads
Of AN Isolated Township.

tAA0-CA Which, III AAlC 1lIlOD anu
is a landmark for mil around was estab-
lished in its present location 15e years ago.
In the churchyard there are tombstones
commelnorating worthless who passed
over to the great majority ten, twenty and
thirty years earlier. Until after the war
this, an exclusively agricultural section,
was prosperous in a moderate and quiet
way, though there has probably from the
beginning never dwelt within the town
ship man who could really be called
rich During all this time and up to the
present there has never been mile of
railroad in the township. and the farmers
have been absolutely obliged to depend
on the highways and country roads to
get their surplus products to market. 1t
is seven miles from here to the county
town, though only about four miles OF
this distance is within the township.
This is the chief highway, and every man
in the neighborhood is obliged TO use this
highway more or less.
Upon inquiry | found that the total
mileage of the township roads is thirty
FIVE If this total were divided into
three classes we should have five miles
in the first class, ten in the second and
twenty in the third. These three classes
should define about in this way:
LIST Class-The main highway over
some part of which al the people of the
township must drive in order to transact
business at the township village and
postoffice and the county seat.
I'd Class-Roads over which, to reach
the main highway, the jewellers in GER
tain sections must go.
Sd Glass The roads subsidiary to
those of the second class and necessary
to very few persons.
How any of these roads came to be
located as they are do not know. Ger
, tainly they were not Laid out with ref
erence to the topography Of the coun-
try During the century and a half
in which many of these roads have been
opened there has been first and last a
/ good deal of stone put in the center of
the roads. but it is true also that there
never has been mile of road constructed
in method any engineer or skilled road
builder would commend. The worst
feature, however, is the method of main
tanning these highways. For many
years past the tax levy for roads has been
81 900 per year. Such sum could not
be expected to go very far with thirty
five miles of road.
But, then, the one principal highway
across the township is only five miles
long, and upon it, think, fully one-half
of this sum should be expended, while
one-half of the other half should be ex-
pended on each of the other classes There
seems to be no system, however, regulat-
ing the expenditure of this money, which,
by the way, is not money. But as TO that
directly: The township committee appor-
! lions the levy among the various dis
tricts, each in charge of n road overseer.
In this, kissing goes very much by ia
yor, Notwithstanding the fact that every
man on the committee, and indeed every
man in the township, has direct personal
interest in lettering the condition Of the
roads. But as they lack the knowledge
without which roads can neither be
built nor maintained-it does not make
much difference how they divide up the
spoil.
When the spring planting is over the
overseers summon the farmers to come
and help work the roads. They know
that all of them mean to work out their
tax. and their labor is accounted for at
81. so per day. when the regular rate OF
hiring is only 1925. No one pays his
road tax in money except those who are
nonresident owners, and one or two
Others, perhaps. The overseers get their
men out, and then it is bad time for the
traveller. They don't work very hard
fortunately. and the levy is soon ex-
hausted. Were it not for these two
merciful facts the roads would be i'm
passable nearly all the time. Theil
method is simplicity itself. They pillow
up all the sod along the sides of the road
and throw it into the center, together
with what mud they can find in the
bitches. All stones are carefully thrown
AGAINST the fences ON either side. This
method of working the roads is in sec
tion where nearly every field has on its
surface an abundance of loose stones
which only need to be broken slightly tC
make the best kind of road material
Besides this there is an abundance Of
limestone easy of access and gravel a;
well.
Who can compute the amount Of loss
the various generations who have dwell
here in the last century and half have
sustained by reason of these ill con
structed and wretchedly maintained
highways. 1t would sicken me to 60
into the computation.
Now as to what it would cost to thor
oughly equip this township with excel
lent roads. | estimate that $4,000 pei
mile would build the roads IF the frs
class; s., 900 per mile those of the secont
class and $1,000 per mile those of thu
third. This would make a total of $3.50,
600. That seems an enormous sum wher
Il Is taken into consideration that the
assessor only found $S5O,OOO in the town
ship last year. But look at it in an
other way. This particular section II
H. odort.ad for country homes