The Opelousas courier., 1894-12-15
FARM AND GARDEN.
TRoLLEYs AND A

pIo>C"
For several years past there has
been a Jealous agitation il favor OF
the improvement of country roads. AS
pointed out from time to time in this
paper, this agitation, this movement,
is now resulting in a practical better
ment of the highways in many locail-
ties, and a general discussion of ways
and means to such ends in almost
every enlightened neighborhood in the
country.
But the road-improvers and the
makers of road laws need to be on
their guard, for it has teen demon
strated time and again in the near
neighborhood of large cities that SO
soon as country roads in populous
neighborhoods or between prosperous
villages have been graded and paved,
the builders of trolley railroads pounce
upon them and divert them almost
completely from the purpose for which
they were intended. The extension of
trolley lines into the country should
be encouraged in all proper ways, but
the public authorities, the lawmakers
and the people should insist that these
trolleys should be located in proper
places. Such proper places are got
upon paved roadbeds, nor yet on ne
spaces between the pavements and tie
bitches. ]
The pavement of a macadamizeH
roadway is meant to drive on: it is iIS
jured very seriously by having a horse
car track on it; for driving purposes it
is ruined by having a trolley track
upon it-ruined as completely as
though an ordinary railroad track were
placed over the pavement. Nor should
the spaces between the pavement and
the bitches be used for railway tracks,
for these spaces are admirable driving
roads more than half the time, and the
rest of the time are needed for drain
age purposes in taking the rainfall
from the pavement to the bitches. A
railway track of any kind would in
terrupt this drainage. which is Of the
greatest possible Importance, as the
macadam pavement is, after all, as
much in the nature of a roof as any
thing else. The inventor of this sys-
TEN of bodybuilding maintained that
if a road-bed were made dry by drain
age, and kept dry by an impervious
covering, it would carry any load that
could be placed upon it. And the ex-
periencc of four generations has
proved that Macadam was right in his
theory. But if we break this roof for
a railway track, Or if we interrupt the
surface flow Of water by a railway
track on the side. then the whole pur-
pose of the road construction has
been defeated.
1t is desirable, however, that trolley
lines should be located near to the
for then they are easily accessi-
Bile. The natural place for them is on
the roadside beyond the bitches. This
involves the expense of grad
ing for the railway roadbed, and
hence the builders of trolleys endeavor
secure permission to put their lines
on the roadbed, where everything has
been prepared in advance. This is as
wrong as it can be, for such locations
not only ruin the roadway, but make
it dangerous to life. There should be
Incorporated in every road law that
no permission should be given to place
a railroad or the roadway without re-
the question to the popular
of the township, and requiring
that the railroad should then pay a
rental of not less than ten per cent.
per annum on the first cost of the
'oadway. Such a provision of the law
would compel trolley roads to seek and
ind other locations for their lines, and
would leave the common roads for the
uninterrupted use for which they were
Intended.
When the railroad came into exis-
,ence, two generations ago, the effort
o secure good common roads in Amer
ca was abandoned, because it was fam
led that with the development of the
abroad the common road would not
re needed. But experience has shown
hat the greater the travel on the rail
Dads the greater the travel on the
common roads, and hence that the lat
er are really a greater necessity than
YER. And we will learn the same les
on from the extension of the trolley
ystem, for travel begets travel. How
Inwise it will be, therefore, just as
We are on the v of securing for u
and our children a good system
f country highways, to give them
yer to these private corporations for
use quite foreign to that for which
We improved them!-Harper's Weekly.