The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1898-05-26
sec
GOOD ROADS NOTES.
Value OF Goni Roads Everywhcre.

or many years past lnG I&F!AGI"
anl suburban residents OF this great
republic have been hard AZ work help
ing the railroads extend their lines
everywhere. Just get q railroad
through my property, and my fortune
is made" has been the expression OF
more thRn one extensive landowner.
And he has gotten the railroads, with
great l,enei;t to himself and his yicin-
ijy. By their means lie has been en-
a6leil 10 get out to the centres Of civi-
lization, and to bring his produce 70
Good markets.
long ago he should have devised
some way by which the public high
way could be improved and made even
more useful to him than the steel
tracks OF the great trunk lines.
There is at present under consider
alton plan for the introduction of
horse,ess carriages, with wide-tired
wheels, for the main thorougnfares,
through thicLly settled localities. the
carriage itself TO be of the ordinary
pattern, and coupled to i one or more
cas-. cf very light and strong con
s5vuct:on. Tais Vehicle could be run
regardless Of the grade, and, to some
extent, OF the state of the roads.
Rats and ridges OF any ordinary char
aeter will not obstruct the progress of
this car, neither will the weather have
any effect upon it.
Tne horsemaN's worry is his horse
and harness, aad al anxiety on this
score IS done away with By the horse
less carriage. The running gear of
the vehicle will be placed under a
metal guard, resembling al old-fash-
ion dripping pan Inverted. This af
fords protection to the gear, aud con-
hnes the mud to the lower portion of
the equipment. conducting generally
to the comfort and the cleanliness of
the passengers and car alike. While
O. high rate of speed would be desira-
able, it is not expected that this will
be one of the main points, although
excellent time can be made where the
roads are good. This plan will un-
questionably necessitate the widening
OF the ordinary track; but this is O
matter very easily managed. If Only
wide-tircd vehicles were used, the cost
of work on roads would bereduced to
very low figure. Imagine a horse
less carriage with six or eight-inch
s;eel tire, which would act like aroller,
and smooth down most Of the irregu
larities on the roadway.
The suggestion that there would be
humping and bouncing is scarcely
worth consideration. Joltiag comes
from sudden contact with a single
point. A wide tire wheel would cover
so much surface at one time that most
of the jolting could be avoided, and,
except upon very hard, frozen ground,
would wear down the surface as it
went, leaving nothing to bounce and
bump on.
It is an interesting fact that much
of the good-roads enthusiasm has been
stirred up by the manufacturers and
riders of bicycles. The wheelman
must have good road, and there be-
ing 50 many of him, the beginning of
the movement was not in the least
difficult.
Too much cannot be said against
the inertness of certain localities and
the atrocious management Of certain
bits of road. There are regions where
one may ride for miles upon roads
that are almost as smooth as q floor;
then suddenly the rider encounters
which is a veritable Slough of Des-
pond--a long stretch Of deep holes,
ridges and cut-up surface, which is 4
disgrace TO the community that toll
crates it.
1t is the sheerest nonsense to say
that such pieces of road cannot be
made passable. Such assertions show
more and more clearly the need Of
Government supervision of roads, and
the Importance of intelligent and
painstaking work from the foundation
to the surface. New York Ledger.