El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-05-31
STEEL RAIL COUNTRY ROADS.
Proposed Experiments by Secretary of
Agriculture Wilson.

Proposed Experiments by Secretary of
Agriculture Wilson.
"Flat rails of steel, at the present
cost, offer the best and cheapest ma
terial," the secretary of agriculture
said today in the course of a talk about
the good roads. He is going to give
| farmers an object lesson. Gen. Roy
stone, who is the head OF the bureau
| in charge of road making experiments,
! has been directed to build a sample
road of steel bars on the exposition
grounds at Nashville. But the prac-
teal efforts of the department will not
| stop there.
| 81 propose" Secretary Wilson said,
to have sample steel roads built at
| several points in different parts of the
| country, to show the county commits
| sioners and courts and the people gen.
orally what can be done. The advant-
age of steel roads, in the reduction of
| the pull required to move a load from
an average of 10 pounds per ton on
macadam road to s pounds on the steel
| track, is sufficient to overcome mary
| objections but, in fact, the objections
to steel roads have mainly disappeared
| under the present Investigations. The
| obstacle OF original expense is over
come by the reduced price OF material,
and the anticipated high cost of main
tenance avoided by doing way entirely
| with wood in the construction
| OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
Replying to some of the objections
| which might suggest themselves to steel
rails for country roads, the secretary
said:
1.-The danger of horses slipping on
the rail in going up or down hill is met
| by indentiDg the rails used on grades
sufficiently to catch the calks of the
shoes without roughing the tread for
wheels. The difficulty of low joints
| is met by making the joint stronger
| than any other part of the track, and
| the danger of forming rut alongside
| the rail is overcome by making every
rail joint serve as remOunt' fer
wheels. The form of rail proposed is
an inverted trough with slightly rails
| ed bead on the inside. The rail is bed
ded in gravel laid in a trench, which is
we'll drained. a little gravel is spread
| between the rails for the horse path.
| The rails are tied together at the ends
| and in the middle. The present designs
] is for an inch tread: 1-l6ths of 1 inch
! thick"
| Under the present administration of
| the department of agriculture the
movement for good roads is to be push
| ed in other ways than by the introduce
| tion of the steel rail plan. 1t is hoped
| to have in progress at or near the agri-
|
| stations in the various states the max
| ing of various kinds of improved roads.
| This is to be brought about by cooper
alton of the government, the local au
| tn critics and the manufacturers of
road making machinery. The govern
ment will furnish the engineer and the
instructor for the students and also
skilled operators of the machines The
manufacturers will furnish the plant.
al
roads are built supply the means to
pay for material and labor. In this
way, at comparatively small outlay,
Secretary Wilson thinks d great deal
of instructive work may be performed.
''The work will begin at the New
Jersey gricultural college at New
Brunswick, where fund of about
$4,000 will be provided by the local
authorities, and at Geneva, n. Y,
where contributions have been made
by the city, the experiment station and
private Individuals amounting to about
S6000," said the secretary. I'm sec
tionS where stone IS scarce, as in
Central Illinois, experiments are being
made for the construction OF brick
roads. AT Monmouth a road has been
made for the construction of a single
course of vitrified bricks set on edge,
laid on sand feet wide, between curbS
of oak plank and borders of broken
stone to a distance of , feet on each
side. This road has not been in use
long enough to be fully tested, but has
given a favorable impression at the
outset. 1t has been recommended that
an experiment be made with brick
tramwayS for wheels and gravel be- |
tween for the tread of horses, ana it is !
quite possible that steel trackways
may be prOiiJably substituted for brick. !
TEST OF BRICK ROADS.
"a more thorough test of brick roads
has been made in Cuyahoga County,
o., where they have proven so salts
factory that they are being extend d .
in several directions. The plans for |.
their extension call for a stone curbing
on both sides of an S-foot track of
brick. The remainder of the road, 20 /
feet wide, is graded, bat not paved. |
These roads, however, have been ex-
pensive and have required much heavy .
grading. The cost of paving is much /
higher than that OF a Steel trackWay at I
the present price of that material
THE cost of macadam roads has been |
reduced within a few years. Under |
the most favorable conditions, where !
labor can be obtained for zoe a day,
where coal for steam-pOwer is low, and |
where the rock is alongside the road.
a tirst-class maaadam road inches
thick can be built on a grade previous
ly constructed and briged for $1C0 per
mile for each foot OF width. From this |
minimum price the cost ranges all the
way up to $4,000 mile for a 16-foos |
track. Gravel roads cost less than ma