The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1893-03-18
GOOD IN ROADS.

lions OF aSr1cuiLuflSlS buried IOr SIN
months of each year in the oblivion of
winter SHOWS and vernal mud, the oun
try roads are a disgrace and menace to
human life. Our present road system,
as we term it, was never intended to be
anything more than a makeshift to cover
the immediate necessities of pioneer life.
In the half century covering the period
from 1880 to 1880 we expanded Il great
railroad system. 1t seemed hat sooner
or later we should be able to hear the
scream 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
very worst under the sun. The fact
must be 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
versal 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 a 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, the
following extract from a letter OF Mr..
Selim H.. Peabody, of the Worlds fair
liberal arts bureau, to Colonel Pope Is
amusing, to say the least: IA crossroad
was required to connect 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 no
where. An engineer theorist, however,
suggested that he build a 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 a man of supe-
rior judgment"
1t is now generally understood that
our railway system has about reached its
economic limit. The iron roads have come
as near u farms as possible. We must
now go 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 ne
method to cheaply haul our crops out o.
the fields without large waste and veal
and delay. Our shame is that we are
driving our horses in the Eighteenth
century while our steam engines run il
the Nineteenth.
The stubbornness of our farmers in re
sisting a change which will add one-fftl
to their producing capital in the mex
half century can be overcome only whel
they see that their losses by the presen
system far exceed any saving that come'
from working out their taxes.
The goal at which we should aim a
u ultimate is either the macadam O
the telford stone road. The cost of thes'
does not materially differ, the telfort
when we'll laid costing the larger sum
The grading, draining and forming tn
!; roadbed are of the same character ant
require about the same amount Of ma
terial. The telford as ordinarily laid
however, costs about twice as much a
:, the macadam. The latter is considere'
!, by most engineers fully adequate t
the needs of this country. 1t consists o
:. a roadbed constructed of stones not t
exceed in diameter an inch and a half.
Inc udTUtI TIC IOCh uScu CuO OCCIC
I the road. The thickness of the ston
bed should be twelve or fifteen inches
although much is laid but six inches
The telford is laid on q bottom of large
stones placed points upward. Macadar
boosted that he could build permanent
: good roads over boys, and he did il
1 using O thickness of seven inches only
f In this country it is not probable SO thi
a layer would suffice on account of tn
q severe freezings in winter breaking u
y the solidity. The average cost of goo
macadam is about 81, 900 for a 3O-fot
; road and half that sum for a road
= fifteen feet. The roads proposed by tn
5 Richardson bill for New York state al
5 to be nine feet wide and to cost BIT
J. 2 1000 per mile. Fifty dollars will kee
S a mile of good road in repair for on
year.
Y While an important phase of the que
d ton is how to secure stone roads, anotht
point is how to build our dirt roads unit
we can get rid of them. The princip
of any good roadbed, whether of stol
;, or dirt, is drainage, and no road that
- not properly drained can ever be ell
- than an eyesore and a waste of GOO
!. money. It is not necessary that it shoul
y be rounded, but it is imperative that
i be underdrained. The plan adopted
road builders in Europe to get a GOO
bottom is to dig bitches four feet deep {
ooch Sido an1 another down the cantor