The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-07-25

gest track IS feet wide having "a poUColn
LAYER of 6 inches of coarse sand and u SUI
face of 10 inches of broken rock or gravel.
Sand is a very effective foundation when
confined. and is only improved by being
wet. And if it work into the metal II
will only increase the cohesion, and any
settling or sinking will take place evenly
by reason of the uniform spread OF the
sand bed within its limits of motion. L
| had thought this solution OF the bad Dol
tom roads original, but there IS morning
new under the sun, and L ma that Inc
specification has been used on DOGGY
| New York road with excellent results.
In most soils. however, if the question
of drainage and culverts be skillfully mani
aged, it will be found sufficient to roll
| from to II inches of good maca1am into
two or three layers, the larger stones ht
about 2 IL inches in the bottom, aud 2
inches, IL inches, and screening on top,
in the order given.
Rolling is an important matter. Steam
rollers are better than horse lars, and,
weight for weight of actual rolling. are
very much cheaper. Judicious sprinkling
should also be kept up during the work.
| No rule can be given for this. but the be-
havior of the metal win act as gnidc.
Macadam himself, who has become, as
| it were. the tutelary divinity of country
roads. relied entirely on the traffic TO
compact his road surfaces. This, how
ever. is very rough on the horses, and be-
sides wears out larger per centaga If tho
material.
There is horse roller made with a
water tight drum, which upon being filed
increases the weight of the machine very
greatly and gives more satisfactory re-
suits than the ORDINARY one.
For compactng roads IN The first IN
stance rollers with revolving discs If DIFF
fering diameters have been fe2ommen led
as giving good results.
CURLING becomes q question in DarticI-
lar cases. Whe: timber IS at hand it can
be used in the rough for thi, purpose. Too
much can not he sail as to the desirable
ty of keeping the track Gear of the mad
of adjacent sideways, which by the way,
should generally be used by the people
in good weather.
AS to maintenance it should be continu-
Gus. and no road should be allowed to de-
velop weaknesses that are not immediate
ly attended to.
Widening the tire of our heavy wagons,
and ITO some extent of our carriages, has
am important bearing on the subject. In
wheels should not track but move in
parallel lines, thus serving i'm their very
progress as q sort of q modified road
roller.
Frequently the chief expense indicated
by this bare outline will be the placing
of the material along the lime of the road,
and in this connection | have the follow
ing suggestion to make: Most farmers
have a spare team and a little idle time.
The county commissioners might ar
range, where possible, for the receipt of
loads of road maternal at stated points on
the work. These loads (they should also
be yards) to be receipted for by tickets
signed by the surveyor. The price should
be fixed ON the basis of So per day for q
man and team. The idiosyncrasies OF
men, mules and horses vary very greatly.
Let the data be arrived at from the work
of an industrious man with an average
team. BY this method some of the profits
of construction will be secured to labor,
and the money will remain i'm the cOmmun-
ity.
In conclusion, and bearing in mind the
great variations which must necessarily
characterize undertakings in different 10
calities, such as the relative nearness of
material character of foundation, topog-
raphy, and possible land damages, it may
be said that good roads i'm Texas cam be
built at from $500 to $4,000 per mile for
by-roads and from $4,000 to $4,000 per
mile for the best highways.
Let us say that county can not do
with less than four good arterial roads
from the county seat to the county line.
say so miles of road then ut seems clear
that the sum of 100000 can be prOttaIbly
expended in good roads by any county of
the first-clasS.
By the undertaking of public works ON
large scale our court houses will become
more than ever the seat of government,
all the offices will be of more Importance
to the public. Everybody will acquire
new interest i'm "politics," or, to use %
better word, i'm county affairs" and an
important help to the thrift of the people
will be inaugurated
A strong social bond, now only felt in
cities, will be created-a pride in ones
county as such. Life in the country will
be robbed of that intolera5le ennui that
is ever driving the boy from the farm
to the city, ambitious ITO sell goods and to
earn wages which for the most part are
a toll upon his kind. And as the country
life expands, and attracts youths from
the city to the farm, to its healthier Ia
boris, and its more wholesome pleasures,
surely the strength of the State is better
nourtshed than by the growth of those
vast aggregations of bricks and mortar
which are overshadowing the republic
with an ever-increasing spectacle of the
terrible inequalities of life.