Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-12-15
GOOD COUNTRY ROADS.
The Question OF Drainage of Primary
Imporianee for Stone or Dirt.

Except III the vicinity of the largest
cities in TINS vast country, with its mil
hons Of agriculturists buried for six
months * each year il the obliv y Of
winter SHOWS and vernal mud. the coun-
try roads are disgrace and menace TO
human life. Our present road system,
as we term il. was never intended to be
anything more than makeshift to cover
the immediate necessities of pioneer lifc
IN the half century covering the period
from 1880 to 1880 we expanded our great
railroad system. 1t seemed that sooner
Or later we should be able to hear the
scrFam Of the whistle at our very doors,
and we were proud Of the praise be-
slowed by the world ON our railroads.
Latterly we have been compelled to hear
with shame-because of the truth of the
ass rtion-that our earth roads are the
YER worst under the sun. The fact
must he apparent to every man that our
roadmaster system fails at every point
TO meet the necessities of our increased
population and advanced agricultural
interests. The work that is done Is for
the most part thrown away from lack
of knowledge of the fundamental prin-
ciples Of road construction.
In the United States the almost uni
yersal custom of road building Is direct
taxation. A supervisor is appointed for
the year. whose principal qualification
for the office is his ability to do nothing
which entities him TO about three dollars
a day for himself and his horse to look
after the roads of his district. He per-
forms this duty by calling out his neigh
bors to work out their tax. Usually no
one among them knows much about
road building, but every man, being one
of the sovereign people with vote, con-
stitutes himself an inspector Of highways
and requires a great deal of time to COM
municate his views to the supervisor.
As an instance of lack Of practical
knowledge Of road building, which char
acterizes the ordinary supervisor, tie
following extract from a letter Of Mr.
Selim II. Peabody, Of the Worlds far
liberal arts bureau, to Colonel Pope is
amusing. 70 say the least: "A crossroad
was required toconnect a highway along
a ridge with the road in the valley be-
low. four miles distant, passing all the
way through a primitive forest. The
appropriation was barely sufficient to
build one-half the road. and the super
visor was bent ON building the full
width from the valley half way up,
stopping in the midst Of the uninhabited
timber-a road from somewhere to mo-
where. An engineer theorist, however,
suggested that he build half width,
running clear through, with the result
that, calling out the men who lived
above and wanted TO get down, with
those from below who sought to reach
the ridge, he got a useful single track
from the ridge to the river as well as
the reputation of being man of supe-
nor Judgment
It is now generally understood that
our railway system has about reached its
economic limit The iron roads have come
as near our farms as possible. We must
now 60 TO meet them. The real cost Of
transportation still remains in hauling
our crops from the fields TO the store
house and depot. Whatever we suffer
from high tariffs on railroads, the chief
trouble is that as yet we have devised no
method to cheaply haul our crops out Of
the fields without large waste and wear
and DELAY. Our shame is that we are
driving our horses in the Eighteenth
century while our steam engines run in
the Nineteenth.
The stubbornness of our farmers in re-
sisting change which will add one-fifth
to their producing capital in the next
half century can be overcome only when
they see that their losses by the present
system far exceed any saving that comes
from working out their taxes.
The goal at which we should aim as
our ultimate is either the macadam or
the telford stone road. The cost of these
1oes not materially differ, the telford
when well laid costing the larger sum.
The grading. draining and forming the |
-oadbed are of the same character and |
require about the same amount of ma
.erial. The telford as ordinarily laid. |
costs about twice as much as
he macadam. The latter is considered I
by most engineers fully adequate to
he needs of this country. 1t consists of
i roadbed constructed of stones not to
exceed in diameter an inch and half.
The harder the rock used the better
he road The thickness of the stone
,ed should be twelve or fifteen inches,
much is laid but six inches.
The telford is laid ON a bottom of larger
tones placed points upward. Macadam
toasted that he could build permanently
God roads over boys, and he did it,
sing thickness of seven inches only.
n this country it is not probable SO thin
layer would suffice on account of the
evere freezings in winter breaking up
he solidity. The average cost of good
lacadam is about $1,000 for a 3O-foot
pad and half that sum for a road of
fteen feet The roads proposed by the