Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-10-21

Thos- 81 France Hear Thst nisiin~tiar
uow Money tsr Them = Raised.
The beat way 10 see and study u road
u TO walk over II During the past two
months ! have been walking over tho
country roads Of France They arc the
best IN the world They are perfectly
smooth, but never slippery always free
lrum dust IN dry weather and never
muddy after raini they ara soft enough
10 afford q good footing tor horses aud
hard enough 10 be- imperviuus 90 water
and 10 bear without breaking the heay
lest Of loads Tho Frenchman's team
never has 10 do an ounce Of unnecessary
pulling There are never any long
stretches Of yielding mnd or clinging
mud through which the load must be-
dragged The result Is that tho maxi.
mum load iof horse here is nearly
three times as great ~ the average maxi.
mum load Tor hpfsr IN America That
means, practically. that one horse here
does three times as much work rs one
horse doc, In America. and. therefore
that thu French iarmerin order 10 achieve
the same results only has TO buy and
maintain one-tmrd ~ many draft mi.
mails a. does bis American couircro.
There Is considerable saving there.
There u nothing ut an complicated In
the way these French roads are built
They may b. generally clnssed under
the macadam headinI although some 81
them are madoof screened gravel THIS
occur, however. only In those localities
where 1t would bo expensive 70 obtain
good stone Tor breaking No arbitrary
rule has been adopted ~ 20 the material
10 bo used--all kinds arc utilized That
which is easiest obtained and therefor
cheapest Is always selected. Limestone
IA nor, plentiful than anything else. and
therefore h oficnest used. but slate
shale aud not inifcqucntly gueiss ar
also utilized Then. also. as have said.
screened gravel comes into play when,
no other material ia easy Of access. Nm
Is there amy fixed depth which all French
roads must have. THIS important q1cs.
ton Is lofS wholly 10 the Judgment OF
the men supervising it, construction
The coating u broken stone 10 some
times only six inches thick Eight
inches OF prepared material ARE oftcner
inierposed between the earth and thu
roads surface, and sometimes the road
IA rs many ~ ten inches deep.
Il Is morc tho attention given TO the
highway after tue baiidou have com
plcicd their wor. than it Is tho original
construction which has brought French
roads 20 near 10 perfection Tho system
Of road maintenance In vogue In France
would. Ia "a fow years. change any road.
no matter how bad II was. into good
one without any formal ncunsiruciion.
The secrri u tho Frgnohmans SUCCESS
as a road builder Is tha. he realizes the
very important fact that no matter how
well road Il built Il will dcprccia,e
with tho lapsc II timo II IL Is not CON
siantly watched and cared for. Eternal
vigilance 1. his motto
There arr road officers constantly on
the alert and people working on the
roads under special direction. Every
seventy TO ono hundred feet along the
roadside will be found one or two yard,
Of broken stoLo 10 be used In ca.o Of ~
pairs. This Stone IA broken 10 that II
will pass through about "A 2.iuch ring.
The road viewers are well educated men.
highly scientific IN their attachments. and
have TO do not alone with the roads them
selves, but bridges In all their lie.
tails-masonry. drainage, aud, In fact,
quite a range Of civil and mechanical ca
cheering These men give this work
their undivided attention and subject the
roads TO constant inspection.
Most oi the labor which comes nndei
their direction IL dono by farmers OF
peasants who aro working ont their road
tax, pteferrlng, as they do, TO do Thu
rather than make payments In cash
However, there Is nothing pcrfunctory
about this service. II must be- Of a high
character aud subject 10 the inspection
and approval Of q competent official A.
tessmrnts aro made NJ tho beginning OF
each year Tor the amount required fot
various improvements, which Is more ui
less, according 20 tho expected require.
mcnts. The necessary cash IA secured
through a vehicle tax. which amounts TO
one dollar year on two wheeled carr
and two dollars year on % four wheeled
cart Whsnit Is conddered that tho roat
taxinust bcworkcd ont or paid, not alont
by those who live along the roadside. but
ns well by others whose private roadway,
connect with them, It Is easy to see tina,
the great labor Of preparing ard caring
for these highways Is lightly distributed,
The drainage Of the roadway Is quite
rs important as their composition. There
Is a grass plot about ak feet wide on
each side Of the mAinway, and littl,
gutter is formed by raise In this grnsi
space, but cut through II and to III,
midn gutter on the side arc constantly
recurring small bitches They arr usn
ally about n foot wide and are not often
more than three or four inches deep
They occur about every thirty or forty
feet on each side Of the roadway, an,
connect with deep gutter ON the on,
side Of tho grass plot, This main gutter
Is about five feet wide. Tho roadway
Itself varies from fifteen to eighteen fct,
In width LOUIS II. GIBsoN
10 Fouet, Brittany.
I aaaa=--a
= rrasclcd na5y.