The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-04-20
oDRoAp
How Shall We Obtain Thsm?-somo sug
gestions About Road Duildinc and Need

N'tAoh uoh ktoAh ttuttutuE anu Neeus
FOR ne Mtditontr.
Good roads have ever been essential
TO the prosperity aud welfare Of civil.
lied nations. They form a primary ole
mcnt in developing the natural re.
sources Of a country, and as ono OF tho
chief factors that tend to promote the
interests Of commerce, and chiefly agri.
culture, they should bc regarded Us ono
OF tho most important departments OF
public improvement. There arc very
few, II any, living industries that arc
not In some way, benefited by good
roads, and some industries are entirely
dependent upon them. Especially Is
this 80 OF agriculture, tho noblest and
most important vocation OF lifc. Agri.
culture has been pronounced the foun.
dation Of, civilization aud commerce,
and 1t is also tho Indispensable support.
or OF national lifo. II then the success
OF agriculture Is dependent upon orr
public highways, the very cxistance OF
civilization itself mus. also be depend
ent upon them. II this be tho cuso and
II our civilization Ia measured and regu-
lated by tho quality and condition. OF
our public highways, We arc still capa.
bio OF attaining Il much higher standard
OF lrt and skill than VIC o possess.
Ihe American pcOple have made vast
strides toward perfection IN most Of tho
arts and sciences, but in this ono par.
ticular department they arc shumefully
behind. Although tho art OF road build.
ing dates back from time ilnmemorial.
America has utterly failed to demon.
strate any ability or skill in that direc.
ton. AS regards this condition OF
affairs the cause is simply thoushtlcss.
ness, carelessncss, or ignorance OF tho
subject. The fault lies with the people
as well as the Legislators, and appar.
emily, those people who ought TO DO
most interested and benefited give tho
subject tho least thought or consider.
alton.
Tho amount Of taxes gathered in some
districts OF the United States, il seems,
would in n very low years DO sufficient
to place the highways OF those districts
on an equal footing with the highways
OF France. But these taxes, instead OF
being used for public improvements
for which they Wero intended, are ar.
propriated to some,other purpose, from
which the taxpayer. receives no practi.
cal benefit, and the roads remain in the
same condition as before. Thus it is
mismanagement or lack OF skill that
causes this condition OF the public roads.
How shall we obtain good roads ? The
remedies that can be brought to bear
upon this much needed reform are
many, but all Of them, in order to &c.
complish their ends, require diligent
and continuous work. Ono and prob.
ably tho mos. etiectual way Of bringing
it 10 the attcntionfo. the people and ex-
citing their enthusiasm would be to
have the newspapers become interested
and publish continually the value and
advantages OF good roads, and, if
necessary, to keeplSgi,ating the subject
to the public untilSthe proper steps be
taken or the work, really begun. "
Another etfectual way that will bring
about road improvement is to interest
one or all the political parties, have
them adopt it as part. OF their platform,
proclaim it in their campaigns, and
other parties will be quick to follow.
The partyin power would thcE lcgislate
in its favor, in order to gain strength
and the good will of the people. There
arc other. methods that will assist in
this enterprise, tho ends OF which
could be accomplished without difficult
ty ii undertaken properly, but the two
just mentioned seem the most practical.
Who should construct and have
charge OF the public roads? No person
but educated, skilled and well equip
ped engineers should, be employed to
construct and take charge OF the public
roads; because to construct them prop
erly us they are in the most parts OF Eu-
rope, it requires the same skill and
ability that it does for a railroad or 4
canal. The work must be done in a
systematic way which is the cheapest.
Where should the, roads be built?
This question is the most important. A
road should be built on the shortest
possible line between two points, but
s%traightness must often be sacrificed to
avoid natural barriers, and in order to
secure good gradients. which should be
no sleeper than ito rise one foot in
thirty, and some advocate one in forty,
which is often impossible in q diversi-
fed country. The old lines now in use
in many parts OF the; country must be
discarded. Especially those that were
built by u forefathers straight up the
side OF one hill and down the other in
order 10 save a few rods OF tillable
ground.
The most important part OF a road is
its foundation. 1t should be hard, firm
and dry. Tho width should be at least
thirty feet, and roads OF Importance,
where travel is extensive, should be as
wide as sixty feet. The width of the
carriage way may be from fifteen 10
thirty or fifty feet, depending upon the
amount OF travel there is upon the road.
The middle OF the road should DO ele-
waited sufficiently to turn water; but the
fall from tho middle 10 each side should
not exceed six inches in twenty feet.
OF the Two great rival systems OF road
building, viz, M0cadam and Teliord,
the latter seems the most substantial.
Neither Of these systems are vet we'll
known to the American building. 1t is
sufficient to say that Macadam's prin-
ciplo OF road building was simply bro
ken stone consolidated to the thickness
OF ten to twelve inches, while Telford's
plan was to build q solid foundation OF
large stone and cover with small bro
ken stone. Different material! may be
used, but tho best method OF finding the
best material and tho best system OF
building is to experiment with each and
await tho results.
The next important subject is drain
age, Tor water is the most destructive
element that comes in contact with tho
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