Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-04-01
su.o..t,on, Relative TO Road Making.

rela tive 70 the matter or highway I'M
movement should be kept up, especially
at th;s season when everyone, that
travels upon the roads, has thrust "po"
his attention. nilly-willy, such impress
sive object lessons as ought to rendef
his mind plastic to any advice susses-
tive of relief OF course everyoooy
realizes, to some extent, feeble though
this realization appears to be IN alto-
gether too many instances, the need pl
better roads and some of the innumer-
able advantages that would result
therefrom. The question Is how TO oo-
tain those results. The cost or the
telford or macadam road is appalling
to the State and to the ordinary COM
munity. Accordingly some seem to
give up all hope, and lean dreamy
upon the hoehandle while working
out" their tax. Perhaps when we put
our convicts to work upon the roads
we shall find it practicable to build the
best but meanwhile every facility Tor
improvement, slight though that I'M
provement may be. should not be over
looked. Every suggestion that promises
value should be needed and no EFFORT to
make the most of what we have should
be spared. Writing down these self
evident truths is much like repeating
well worn axioms that are in every
ones mouth. Nevertheless the need
of constant DINING on this subject is
too apparent. Accordingly advice.
however commonplace provided 1t be
valuable, will bear repeating over and
over again. For this reason we Will
give the following contributed to the
New England Farmer by ]. ]. II.
Gregory, the Marblehead scotsman.
There is comparatively little that is
novel in his suggestions but they are
practical and may prove helpful:
THE town of Middleton. Mass. has a
population of less than thousand with
SO miles of public road. When / To-
Gated my seed farm there about 20
years ago, the roads We're kept after
the old fashioned way without the use
of road machine and farmers worked
out their taxes under the supervision of
road master AS was usual under
such conditions the roads were abomina-
BILE: one could locate the place where
each load of gravel had been put year
before by the hillock in the middle of
the road bed. The long hill roadway
leading to one of my farms suggested
the dried up bed of river, sunken a
foot or more below the level of the Dor
dering roadside, it wound its way down
the decline with every here and there
big boulders protruding. In response
to my complaint the boulders were re-
moved and it was patched up after
fashion. A few years ago some enter
prising citizens, against strong OPP
position. caused a town appropriation
of $3.50 for a road machine. Since then
the change for the better has been re-
markable. The cost of maintaining the
roads is but two-thirds what it was
under the old system while their vast
ly superior condition is obvious.
I note that since the machine has
DCCh uoCd SNdiSciy dAS Siu'Si 10 SeAA sSNs
the little that is scraped from the side
being sufficient to bind the soil in the
centre. A wet, muddy section can be
cheaply mended, either by roughly
paving with good sized stones, averag-
ing about as large as child's head.
put close together large ends down.and
then covering with gravel, or at as my
suggestion a springy spot near my
house in Marblehead was remedied.
The water worked out on a slope and
made muddy section in summer and
an icy one in winter; by digging down
to where the water started, and rough
ly wallng the spring. it was conducted
by an iron pipe to the roadside. On
any land but clay there will be noneed to
remove mud before laying the large rocks,
provided there is hard bottom for them
to rest on. The presence of ledge will
interfere more or less with the best
work of the road scraper, but the towns
are few where there is not sufficient
road availa BILE for its use TO make the
purchase first class investment. In
Middleton it saved more than 1t cost
the first year of it's use and the yearly
amount since for road appropriations
show that it has continued to pay over
100 percent annually ever since. When
the matter Of purchasing one comes be-
fore town the simple question to be
decided is whether to continue on in
the old way or have roads hundred
per cent better at two-thirds of the
cost"
1t may be we'll to supplement what
Mr.. Gregory says with this quotation
from Bill Nye: 1.-THE country system,
as know it, is about as poor and in
sufficient as it could be. With a road
overseer in each road district, whose
duty it is to collect so many days
work, or so many dollars from each tax
payer in the district, of course, no tax
payer would pay dollar when he can
come and make mud pies on the road
all day, and visit and gossip with the
neighbo.c and save his dollar too" It
was Nye who concluded that an all
wise Providence never intended that
AO~ .>t-