The record-union., 1896-03-24

the amount of money paid annually in
patching worthless roads were expend-
| ed in the construction of good highways
| the people would be astonished at the
mileage of good roads they would have
in ten years.
He said that the bicycle is condemned
by many because. it is alleged, it has
been the means Of depreciating the
value Of horses. Such, he had found, is
not the case. San Jose is the best
wheeling town in the State, and it is
also the best livery town in the State,
and good roads had made it such.
Mr.. Irvine touched on the subject of
sprinkling. He condemned the popular
method of waiting till June or July be-
fore sprinkling is commenced, whereby
cut-up roads remain bad; roads should
be sprinkled whenever they need it.
| When the City Trustees had ordered
the construction of new sprinkling wag-
ons he had written to them from River
| side telling them what he had learned
from personal observation on his trav-
! els through the State and described to
them an ideal sprinkling cart, holding
| twelve to fifteen hundred gallons of
water, with wheels non-tracking and
with eight-inch tires so that every time
wheel is turned thirty-two inches OF
road bed are rolled, instead of being cut
to pieces by narrow tires. But the re-
ply was the wagons would pull too hard
| and overturn. The truth is nothing OF
The kind will happen.
"The wide tire is the road preserver;
the narrow tire is the road destroyer
We allow six or seven-ton trucks to
come on our streets with three-inch
| tire, when they should not be less than
six or eight inches wide"
Commissioner Marsden Manson was
| then called upon. He said he should
have been very much pleased to have
spoken at some length, but on account
of very severe cold he was unable to
deliver an address. He complimented
| the young men present on their interest
/ in the road question He laid down as
the fundamental principles of road con-
struction, first, a proper firm, drainable
surface on which to put the road; and,
second, good material, well rolled and
well put down on that surface.
On motion of Frank M. Woodson, the
following Committee on Resolutions
was then appointed by the Chair:
Messrs. Daniel Flint, C. A. Luhrs and
Frank NJ. Woodson, and the committee
retired.
Commissioner J. L. Maude then fol-
lowed with a very interesting address.
He posed as the bicycle fend" of the
bureau He illustrated many of the
points brought up by him by what he
had seen on the trips Of the bureau in
road inspection through the State, COW
ering some 1000 miles. AS to tire width,
he had seen a vehicle composed of two
wagons hauling logs on a county road;
the estimated weight was thirty-two
tons, on eight wheels, with two-inch
tires, or sixteen inches bearing surface.
Compareth with $1,000 ten-ton roller,
with five feet bearing surface, needed on
roads. Legislation must be had to pre-
vent such abuse of public roads Such
legislation exists in France, in which
country everything Weighing over five
tons must be hauled on rollers.
To illustrate the saving effected by
good roads, Mr. Maude recited the case
of farmer in Sonoma County who told
him he found it necessary to use four
horses to haul one cord of wood a day
to market over a poor road, while under
the improved condition of affairs he can
now haul, under a bond expenditure
for permanent roads, three cords of
wood day with but two horses.
He outlined what he considered the
solution of the road problem in Cali
fornia, namely, the division of roads
into three classes, State. county and
district roads. There should be three
State roads running north and south
fJ1ee r.cxf c-iS Slc
one through the valley counties, and
the third along the coast, with several
lateral roads from east and west, in all,
six or seven State roads. One cent on
an assessed valuation of 500 will give
$50 miles of such road every year, and
this tax on a home of average value
would be but a few cents. The second
class of roads, the county roads, will
serve as branches to the State roads,
and will be maintained at the county
expense.
The district roads should be formed in
a manner similar to the formation of
school districts and maintain roads as
exits from the various farms on their
lines to the county and State roads
Such will probably be the idea Of dis
tricting the State that the Bureau of
Highways will present to the next Leg
islature but notifications may be made
and new ideas develop.
Mr.. Maude advocated the employment
Of convict labor on bridges and roads
and in the preparation of road material,
especially to get out stone for bridges,
and showed that it is economy to en-
ploy it and actually in the interest of
free labor by keeping money at home
now sent away for steel plates, and by
employing masons to lay the stone. He
favored the use of stone as a material
for bridge construction all the time, and
cited figures to substantiate his views.
The stone bridge across the Napa River
at st. Helena, which win last for ages,
cost but $14, 500, as against higher
sum bid for the construction of a steel
bridge whose life is but forty or fifty
years.
He dwelt at some length on the State
quarry and rock-crusher at Folsom, and
said that General Roy Stone, Chief of
e i r r.f