St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-10-06

LOADED WAGON On NACADAN 1OAD, AZ
JUNCTION WITH ORDINARY DIRT ROAD.
sportsmen. But the bicycle-riders
spoke words of wisdom and truth, and
these In time found Judgement in tho
minds Of the menwho were At flrst in
clined to scoh. The great argument
that has always been used to encour-
age practic3 action has been that II
any neighborhood once had even .
small section of good roadway. tho
people would quickly realize the ben
efits Of good roads, and see to It that
the whole neighborhood was supplied.
Now this was . good argument. and
the prophecy it contained has been full.
filled in several instances.
In 1855 the New Jersey Legislature
itants of townships to place all rosds
and streets within the township under
the management Of the township COM
mittee, and to raise money by bonds
for grading, macadamizing and i'm
proving the same Under this law
several townships Of Union county
took action very quickly. Indeed, the
law was passed 1t the instance OF en-
terprising Union county men. When
. good system of roads had been COM
pleted in parts Of that county the So
DIAL and economical conditions were At
once changed. Property-owners who
could not find purchasers for lands
that were then Improbable were now
unwilling to sell At prices fifty and
one hundred per cent larger than
those 1t which the lands had gone beg
ging. Building sites were In great de-
mand for country places for city men.
and the farmers were happy in an un-
accustomed prosperity. The example
Of Union county was followed in that
immediate part of the state. but now
. moro liberal law with state aid has
tor = time put . stop to this kind Of
improvement by townships- But In
another part of the state there has
been . moro striking and more inter
esting instance Of how much better
roads viii be demanded SO soon "a the
people know what better roads are.
Moorestown, In Chester township of
Burlington county, is about ten miles
from Philadelphia. 1t IL . Quaker
neighborhood, and the Friends are .
notably conservative body Of men.
The section is admirably adapted to
the growth of vegetables and small
fruits, and the excellent markets In
Philadelphia are to = great extent sup
piled from there. The soil is sandy
where It Is not clsyey, and sometimes
1t is both. Till within three years
past the country roads have been ~
bad rs roads could be. In summer and
autumn they were more than fetlock
deep In = heavy dust through which
wagons were drawn with toilsome
wearineSs; in the winter and spring
many q these roads were almost Inn
passable, and the farmer who sent =
loaded wagon away entered upon rs
hazardous . venture "a the merchant
who despatched ships to unknown
seas. When the team would return
was only a matter OF conjecture. and II
the load weighed two tons. four horses
were needed to drag it through tho
sand and miro, and even then the
wagons often stuck. The conservative
people OF Moorestown several years
ago lost patience with some Of these
bad and dangerous pieces OF road. and
the township Of Chester appropriated
81. 500 to macadamize such places. The
township Of Cinnaminson, adjoining,
did likewise, and during the summer
several little stretches of good stone
road were laid. For the first time in their
lives many Of the people Of the neigh
borhood saw . piece of good road. 1t
is true there were turnpikes in the
township coated with gravel. and one
or two with : rubble-stone pavement
ON them. but these were not good
rood roads at al except when com
pared with the sandy roads before
mentioned. Now there was m inn
mediste demand for stone roads in al
the chief highways Of the township
Under the law Of 1885 the township
voted 70 issue bonds for 1000. and to
spend this money for macadamised
roads This was done the next year.
and for this sum the township secured
twelve miles Of roadway nine feet
wide. This was 1t cost Of . tribe
over $500 . milA It IL true that the
grading 20 be done was not heavy, but
then again the stone had TO be brought
. great distance. Where grading i |
heavier and rood stone near ct hand