Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-03-11
Berkeley County Roads.

Roads and fences are the heav-
lest burdens with which farmers
have to contend. Still we will
contentedly jog along and bear
these burdens of our own maxi
ing, which we could easily throw
aside, and devote our attention
to crying out against Govern
ment oppression, and demand
Free Trade or Protection as the
within strikes us. The trouble is
that when the roads are dry,
was going to say good. but they
are newer that for when they are
dry they are rough when wet
you swamp; but when dry we
won't talk about them when
they are soft we growl and there
it ends. Now | will admit that
it is a good deal easier to find
fault than it is to find remedies,
still we have to find out the seat
of the disease before we can hope
to find remedy. Our Legisla-
ture is now wrestling with a road
law but as the Hon. Stuart Wal
ker says the average lawyer
knows as much about astronomy
as he does about roads. We can
not hope for much from that
source. What are the defects in
our style of roads, too much mud
and not enough McAdam. / have
travelled over some of our county
roads and | think | know what
the fault is with some of them.
Many of the road beds are lower
than the fields on either side of
them, making very good bitches
to drain the fields but rather poor
roads. Then they are too mar
row, no room being provided for
bitches on either side, which is a
fatal defect to any road. Anoth-
er and | think the great blunder
is the want of proper breakers.
Why | often see a stream of wat
er flowing down the centre of the
road for two and sometimes three
hundred feet without any at
tempt to turn it off. No matter
how slight the grade, breakers
ought to be placed close enough
to prevent any stream from get
ting in and following the wagon
ruts. The road centres are too
often the lowest instead of the
highest part of the road. Where
stones are put on they are only
about half broken, and are spread
over the sides of the road instead
of being left high in the centre.
Another thing which / have no.
ticed in several places is that
when the roads were laid off the
idea seems to have prevailed that
any place that was too steep,
rough or swampy for any other
purpose, must of necessity be a
good place to make a road. | can
account for some of their loca-
lions in no other theory and that
the farthest way around was of
necessity the nearest way.
These are only a few of the most
glazing defects. Now for some
of the proposed remedies, and
right here l want to say that l
am in favor of any organized eff
fort to improve our roads. The
proposition that was made two
years ago to borrow and pike the
roads still seems to me the most
practical, but if any plan can be
suggested which will give better
results, those of us who are in
favor of the bonding system
will be with you. All must
admit that the present system is
a failure. A county supervisor
of roads seems to me to be a ne
cessity or a road commission for
each district. Too much of our
money and labor is squandered
were it possible for wheat to ad-
vance to 81 for ten days not more
than one half of the farmers in
this county could move their
crops on account of the roads.
So come let us reason together
and see if there is a remedy.
FARMER.