Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1897-08-12

congratulate you, Mr.. Overseer, said
the Spectator, ION the good road you
have made. 1t is fine, fine!'' The rug
ged face Of the overseer was wreathed
in smiles, and his cheeks glowed with
pleasure Then, as he spoke, his look
became serious.
"Well, l tell you how it was, Mr.
Spectator. Last fall took drive down
to Blank manning "a large town co
miles away and three counties off-"and
l seen some roads that made me ashamed
Of the old mudholes up here, and says
to myself. If ever l work the roads Of
my district again, will have good roads
too. So | asked EN- how they did it,
and, by George, they tell me that they
didn do nothin but keep the stones
outen the road, keep the sods off, and
open up the bitches so as the roads
wouldn't wash. And that's all done
this spring, but kept on a-doin it, and
though WE bad the worst washes this
summer | ever see the roads in my dis
triet have been better than they ever
was afore. Next year" be continued,
II mean to tell the town committee that
| Will take a mile more Of road, and
den I want no more MONEY than | been
gettin."
Now, on this little excursion from
home, this honest old farmer had learn
ed the real secret Of road making, and
he had had the sense to apply it whom
be resumed work ill his district. Water
is at once the NEST destructive and the
most beneficial force that the road maker
and the road repairer has to contend
with and to count on. If it be harnessed,
SO to speak, 1t can be made to keep the
roads clean and smooth and hard; if 1t
be uncontrolled, it is sure to wash the
roads into ruts and make them all but
impossible. Drainage is the most essen
tial feature of road, and in most in
stances this is simplicity itself.
In the Spectator experience he has
rarely come across Il country road maker
who did not believe that the sods taken
out Of the side bitches should be put in
to the road to be ground up into dust by
the wagon wheels, converted into mud
by the rains and finally washed back
into the bitches again. This process OF
Us the road so worked is usually-in
deed, in nine cases out of ten-better
when the repairer puts his hurtful hand
upon it than ut any other time.
1t is so easy to make good dirt road
and to keep it in order that it seems
ever wonder to the Spectator that in
this country, where the people plume
themselves upon their ingenuity and
adaptability, they should keep on being
stupid i'll this very important matter cf
read repairing Tho Spectator knows
from actual experience that in the aver
age country nei5hborhood the roads can
be kept III most excellent order ten
months in the year with the money that
is now spent on them. If elementary III
stiuction III drainage could be giyea to
the overseerS Of the roads, then the
powers Of nature, row only destructive,
could be made to do most Of the reces-
suy work Of road repairing. The spring
rains can he made to do the work Of
road scrapers, and the summer rains
Will more frequently than not suffice to
keep the roads moderately free from
dust.
\ good dirt road should have slight
crown, SO that the water will drain each
way from the center to the side ditch
and there should be no Intervening strip
of sod between the roadway and the
hitch. The second requirement is most
important, and it j. almost universally
lisregarded. Tho sod is tougher than
dirt, and it also becomes higher The
grass being permitted to grow, its edge
forms a ridge which interrupts the
drainage, and then, when the rainfall
IS heavy, there is sure to be gully
above the ditch-a gully which in a lit
tie while Will extend into the roadway
and mako it more or less impossible.
The crown to dirt road, or to any road
for that matter, should be higher on
grade or hill than on level stretch.
The rainfall on hillside runs of with
greater velocity and therefore does more
damage. Therefore it should be diverted
from the surface of the road even moro
quickly at such places than where the
grade is level. These few simple en-
gineering principles, it seems to the
Spectator, could be inculcated and the
rural population relieved of a very
heavy burden without any cost what
ever in the first instance Outlook