Evening star., 1898-12-17
CRUDE OIL ON COUNTRY ROADS.
Remarkahie Results of Experiment,
Made With Its Use in Iowa,

L toA' lie Ct LOUIS Republic.
Maj, NJ Meigs. civil engineer of Keo-
kuk, Iowa, made short address at YES.
terday's session of the Missouri Good Roads
Association, which. In the opinion of many.
was the most interesting part Of the day's
work. He opened new field of inyestfga-
ton, and PROPOSED experiments in securing
good roads along line practically un-
known outside Of a few localities in the
east 1t Is his opinion that the use of crude
Oil may prove a panacea for bad roads in
localities where road material is hard ia
obtain.
He said his attention was first directed to
using OIL on the highways by reading q
newspaper clipping from a PENNSYLVANIA
town. 1t seems that a leaky oil pipe near
the town In question was responsible for
the discovery. This pipe was near a place
IN the road that was invariably impossible
during the season of spring and fall rains.
"hen the leak occurred in the pipe the
ground became saturated to some extent
Win OIL, ana very soon 1t was noticed that
the mud dried up and the surface of the
earth became hard and remained So 1t ap-
pears that SO notorious was this piece of
bad road that the effect of the oil on il be-
came matter of so much comment that
presently the experiment was repeated in
other localities, and with the same effect.
AlaJ. MelgS said that he sent a letter to
the officials of the Standard OIL Company
and asked them to furnish him some crude
OH for experimental purposes. They for
Narded tank containing Ii0 barrels, with
lhelr compliments and wishes for success.
Seine eight barrels of this oil have been
used on notoriously muddy road near
keokuk with most satisfactory results.
Maj MeiSs said that it was no trouble
anywhere to keep dry roads in good condi-
uon at minimum expense. Oil will prevent
the earth from becoming wet by forming a
waterproof crust. So far as he has carried
on experiments, a barrel of crude oil is suf-
hcient for strip of road 100 feet long and
l. feet wide. Ths cost of the oil at the
wells Is about ninety cents q barrel No
other material, he said, is so cheap, and no
other VIII prove SO effective In conclusion
he said that he would send oil free to all
wishing to make experiments if they would
pay the freight.
Maj. Meigs' speech caused a great deal
of comment. To the delegates it seemed to
OF N an entirely new field. Many ques-
tions were asked him, all of which he
answered as his information warranted. He
explained the well-known theory that oil
and water will not mix, and made it apply
to the question of good roads. The earth
was porous enough, he said to retain the
oil and cause it to shed water, so that
where the oil took hold moisture must de-
part, and naturally the earth became COM
pact.
1t is maintained that no roads are so
good as dirt ones, when they are dry, and
none so cheap. In many localities material
for constructing macadam or gravel roads
must be brought long distances, and conse-
quently is quite costly. But from what
Maj. Meigs said 1t was thought possible
that with the aid of crude oil earth could
be utilized at much less cost than mac
adam and gravel, even when the latter was
near at hand.