Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1892-06-16
aGRIg IyJR AsL
! a GOOD county, Road.

e,ff
ssfo,f New York, recently delivered
an address upon road building
before the Supervisors Of Onon.
sdaga county and others at the
rooms Of the Syracuse Business
Mems ASSOCIATION. In the course
Of his address Mr.. Sweet said;
II Will now give you my reasons
why tits all wrong to round up q
road Of any width anywhere ex-
cept a paved street, forSif ! could
have my way upon g macadam
road i would have it all inclined
one way. Upon a paved street in n
q city, perhaps. / would not. If
YOU build a road and round itup
! like this, and you leave the dirt all
soft, just as soft as q plow or drag
will leave it, The first man who
drives over it will drive straight
on top of it, just as near as he can.
II is soft, his wheels go in, ne
{ makes a rut. His neighbors fol-
low him, and by the time the
fourth wagon has gone over that
road the ruts are ficiently deep
to hold water, practically, the
whole length of the road if there
comes a shower. Immediately
your road is softer there than IN
any other part, because it is hold
ing the water. The next man that
drives along can scarcely drive
anywhere else except there, and
there commence your ruts. When
YOU go on driving, going deeper
You split them up, getting series
ofruts. If you do not drive IN
the rut your wagon is tipped from
three to FIVE times as much as !
would make the road incline to
& commence with.
81 would make the road incline
only one foot in sixteen feet, which
;. a,,4sE, o;ant to take off the water,
provided that you have no ruts. Ii
you make your road incline all one
way the first man that drives over
il cannot drive upon the top. he
can drive anywhere upon it. IL
makes no difference where ne
drives; it is all just alike. have
heard men say, 1T would wear
your linch-pin all out on one slde'
but Itell you, you cannot find one
placea quarter Of q mile IN ten
miles driving that your wagon Is
not inclined as much-stop any
where you have mind to-as u
wonld be, on this road, either to the
right or to the left, besides the
iolting and the rattle and spring
banging going in and out the ruta
that YOU have on your }roab that is
rounded up.
Now / am enming to the point
ofS how to keep from having ruts
upon this road tits simply, that
only one wagon should be made
with the tires at least onesthlrd
wider than they are now, and that al
the hind wheels of every four r
wheeled vehicle should be made
the width Of the tires that are on
the wheels and one inch besides
wider than the forward axles, SO
that the hind wheels shall not
track in the width of their own
tries and an inch space between
{ the tracking of the wheels, provid-
ing the man. was driving perfectly
straight.
r would let the carriage maker
make his fore wheels of the wag-
ons any with he chose to, but the
hind wheels should always berthe
width of the tires, and one inch
wider than the fore wheels on each
side. ] would also, if l could,
make a law stating how wide those
tires should be, SO that every wheel
that passed over that road should
become a roller down instead OF a
cutter up, as your wheels are to-
day. The wheel produces the
narrow ruts and becomes a cutter
mp, a disintegrator and destroyer,
in fact, as much as you can possibly
make it unless you make your
wheels narrower, a destroyer OF
your roads, a destroyer of your own
money as completely as you can
possibly constructit.
'sNow, you may take what is
known as the ordinary three
quarter buggy, and put on il, as
they do now, a three-qnarter tire.
I would make that tire, by Law, an
inch wide atleast, ifnot IL inches,
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