The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1899-12-30
CECIL COUNTY ROADS
LCOmti'attd from Page |.

the southern pos tlOu ~ B'ir "nl"fN, ne
grades for the most part at nut exc .sive,
s fc, in hundred heiug the naXtl0um
Where the grad : occur the Ioid way has
gradually been worn down by the action Of
the water and narrowed, but On the aver
age the Travelled portion Of the losd is about
ii feet, varying from 10 TO Is feet The
width between the fences or hedges is from
80 TO 30 feet In some parts The road
sorapeIs have been used for shaping up the
road way, the turf and dnt as the sides
being put upoH tht middle OF the road
The bitches are about 3 feet from the fence
line. Clay and sand either sppar ite, or
mixed form the soil of the road bed. a
portion of tie road frnm Chesapeake City
has been made into good shell road.
Perhaps no better example OF II clay road
can be found than the one from Elkton t.
North Eat. Dining the w,nt,r months
and wet Gather lhis road is practically
impossible Some attempt has heon made
to raise the road way by throwing clay from
the SUES 10 tlle celltPT, NUt the a'lS SOON
wash il back into the bitches. To put this
piece OF road into pas-ablt condition wouid
require the construction OF deep side.
ditches thorough under drainag" aud
filling in of the road way with good gravel.
The only long stretch Of stone road in
the county is between Eikton and ProHi-
dence. The !atger part of the cost of its
construction was borne by the late VIM.
N. SngeI'y, the o"nrr Of the p2rer
mills at Providence and pulp mill 1T
ElNton, who fou I'd it inp2rttiye 10 have
God connec ing road This road was bulls
between 1SSG and 1897. during which time
thu county appropriated from 5000 to $500
annually to"ard the cost OF construction.
The total cost Of the road is report Il to
have reached $50 900 The bed of this
road consists Of two layers of stone, the
first cnarsely and the second finely broken,
covered with a rather thick layer of cinders.
The cinders aided in smoothing up the
road in the beginning, but now have been
ground to II ti"e dust that ia very disagree
able in either wet or dry weather.
In the spring and summer the roads are
shaped and the bitches p'nsd. When the
character Of the soil will permit the shap-
in. is usually done with the road machine.
II is not uncommon to see as the result OF
repairs, mounds of the sod along the center
OF the road.
Broken stone has been used to very
limited extent. 1t is spread ard left loose
to be compacted by the traffic. Dirt is
o.trntimes thrown over the stones to
smooth mp the surface hat in no instance
has smooth road resulted. Tie stone is
not broken small eHOug and the tgatlic is
insufficient to compact it,
The repairs are made under the direction
OF 80 supervisors, 10 being assigned to each
district. The pay of the supervisors is
81 p per day. Each employs from : to 10
men accordirg to the circumstances, who
receive :l.12 per day.
The roadmachnery Owned by the county
consists of Il road machires and q stone
crusher, the total cost Ct which was $500.
About $50 is spent annually on repairs to
this machinery
There are very few farm wagons pro.
vjded with wide tires and it does not seem
to I've the custom to order Shem for new
wagons
The northern section OF the county is
well provided with variety OF good road
materials. Between Conowingo and Rising
Sun is a large area Of gabbr0 or trap, while
sOuth Of Port Deposit, near E!kton aud at
Numerous other places there are lodges Of
trap that rank with the best road metals in
the state. At Port Deposit also, granite is
| quarried extensively and the smaller pieces
are crushed to size suitable for use on the
roads. In the southern portion OF the
county, gravel ind oyster shells form the
local road-metals.
The following table shows the amount
that has been expended upon the roads
daring the last ten years. No division of
the cost has been made, so that only totals
for the different years can be given. The
| figures were obtained from the office OF the
County Commissioners.
Total amount levied for roads and
bridges:
1889 . . . . . . SIS, 900 90