The record-union., 1893-08-05
IN ILLUSTRATION.
A Case Where They Propose TO Bond
the County.
The Question in Kern County of Doing
Permanent Work on the
Public Roads.

Public Roads.
The RECORD-UNION has had a good
deal to say about good roads. II has ad
vocated the policy Of building permanent
roads even if it is necessary to issue
forty-year bonds to do 50, because it has
been demonstrated that it is cheaper to
build good roads at a spot cost than to pay
a large annual tax tor dirt or coarse gravel
roads; that actually the cost can be re-
duced one-half by the plan, and during
the life of the bond the people have the
benefits of the good roads. For instance,
II the taNis twenty cents year, but ten
or fifteen cents will borrow the money
and provide for payment of interest and
redemption of the bonds, then it is
cheaper to borrow and build than to pay
| twenty cents annually for old-fashioned
roads. In Kern County this idea has
been taken up and is about to be voted
upon. While the following article is
local to Kern. yet as it serves to show
how sentiment is coming around to the
right point. we reprint it from the Kern
County Echo:
day they will proceed to issue the call
for the county bond election.
The resolution of intention adopted by
the board at the June meeting sets forth
the buildings to be erected the roads to
be improved and the respective amounts
to be used for each. The sum total was
S230,OO0. Of this $50, 900 was for bridges,
which, We have since been informed, Is
to be eliminated. The remainder is not
large issue tor such a county as this.
and should be increased, and it is our
purpose at this time to show wherein it
should be made greater.
One item in the schedule of roads is:
| "From Rosedale TO X ern City, by way of
| Twenty-tourth street, $1,000" That is
! badly needed improvement, but the sum
named is either too large or too small, de-
! pending upon the nature of the work con-
templated. If it is intended to simply
round up the center Of the road for drain
age purposes $1,000 is an unnecessarily
/ large amount. The distance from the
Rosedale store to Kern City is, approx
| imately, eight miles. The earth to be re-
moved is OF very friable nature, there
are neither rocks nor stumps to contend
| WITH and it can be graded up for less
than S625 mile.
But what earthly advantage is to be
gained by scraping that loose sandy soil
up IN ridge along the center of the high
way? That is an idea that we gained
cable to our surroundings. They lived in
wet country and rounded up the center
of the road so that rain would run of, and
the surface soon became dry. No one
will pretend that the Rosedale road ever
needs drying out, for if there is a single
| day in the year when it is too wet there
are 800 when it is too dry.
! Now it is fair to suppose that the peo-
| pie favor the creation OF a debt for road
| purposes 1t Is to secure some permanent
improvements. No careful business man
| bOrrows money for mere temporary adj
| vantage except in case of an emergency,
| and that does not exist in this case. Ii,
| then, it is proposed to make perma-
nently good road between these important
points-and we insist that it is not good
business policy to go in debt for any
other result-it is plain that S., 900 is not
enough. AS we have already remarked
the sum named is either 100 small or too
large.
Why not make some good roads? Our
county is strong and healthy; the people
must constantly come and go over the
country roads for the transaction of daily
business and to market their crops; there
IS no kind of public property-nothing
for which they pay their money-which
farmers use so often, so constantly and so
unavoidably as the public highways
! Why should they not demand and wbv
should they not be conceded some good
| ones?
| 1t is hardly necessary to prove that the
ROsedale road, because of the nature of
the soil, can not be made good road
without the addition of some foreign sub
stance, for the point is admitted, The
| question then is: Shall we gravel that
piece Of road?
The item Of cost is the only answer to
that. Let us make a few figures and see
how big an undertaking it is.
y gentleman who has had some axDari-
ence in gravellng streets in the CITY in
which he lives, told the writer a short
time ago that he could crush the rock
big, hard boulders off the beach in his
case and spread the broken stone for fifty
cents a cubic yard, where the haul was
not more than mile. We believe that on
the eight miles of road under considera-
ton it could be done for an average of
81 30 cubic yard. Laying the gravel or
broken stone sixteen feet wide and an
average OF six inches deep, ,5645 cubic
yards to the mile would be required
L, ,4l6 yards for the eight miles of road !
AT 81 % per yard the cost would be SIS 624 |
| That is not a large sum of money. con
siderlng the resulting benefits. Almost |
every dollar Of it would go into the pock- |
cts of the farmers and teamsters about |
town, who would be glad to put on their |
teams and wagons TO do the hauling. 1t |
would make no heavy draft on the com |
munity, but every dollar expended would |
enter at once the channels OF trade, where |
it is certainly badly needed. This would |
help 10 tighten the burden to some ex- |
tent. But the road itself would be well |
worth every cent it cost.
Some of the other roads leading INTO |
town would require similar treatment. |
The one on the township line, south from
the Methodist Church, should be graveled |
at least as far as the Brink ranch-say |
two and one-half miles.
From there on south the soil is much |
more compact and cohesive, and fairly |
good earthen road can be made on it. 1t |
is mistake, however, to spend $1,000 on |
that road and 5000 on Union avenue. a |
parallel road but one mile away Better |
spend the whole $1,000 on one of them |
and make a good job Oft.
1t is not 100 late yet for the Supervisors
to change their estimates, and we hope
they will consider this matter carefully
before acting. 1t seems probable that If
we do not get some good roads out of this
/ deal we VIII not get them for many years.
| II bonds be voted now we can't issue
new series for many years. and these
roads are badly needed now. They will
be OF great value in many ways.
VIE ETDCn T1nDO1n