Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-07-20
GOOD ROADS AND BAD
WHAT is BEING DONE FOR THE M
PRoyEMENT or HIGHWAYS.

subject Of vast agitation. begun frs
10y whcelmen, taken up 10y the govern
ment and now a matter of l.gislatlv,
consideration the country over. A.
result. ten states have exhibits AT IL,
present universal exposition In Parii
illustrating how perfect roads ought :,
be built. This from a country that still
has, In part, the worst roads ia III,
world Is rather daring hut il Is also m
Indication Vi what is being done III,
ten states In question know what they
are talking about. They ltl the worst
roads. and now they have tor. at least
they are constructing the best. The
first among these Is Massachusetts
the second. New Jersey.
1t will be a matter of news 10 many
20 learn that the United States govern.
ment has gone into the road question
In the most energetic and thor.
ough manner Imaginable and having.
through the department of agriculture.
studied what constitutes n good road
and why good roads are needed, has
gone TO work to spread the information
and teach the people. Ii has expert.
ment stations in every state in the
Union. where lessons in roadmakiny
are taught. Hundreds of pamphlets
showing just how a good road is con.
structed and how 1t may be preserved
have been published by the govern
ment and may be had for the asking.
Object lessons in road building are
given annually in every state in the
Union, when in some worst sections a
quarter or half or even a mile of ex-
cellent roadway is constructed. and
the people shown how and why IL
ought to be done. These object les
sons, begun in 1894, have done more
than anything else TO start the great
movement which is now furthering the
construction Of perfect roads the land
over.
The government in these exhibitions
ordinarily constructs three specimen
roads-a modern macadam a sand and
an ordinary dirt road. When these
roads are completed, a heavy farm
wagon, loaded with produce. is drawn
VIVA NtNi VI tAtlIl. anu llt amount OF
force required 10 haul it is determined
by the use of a trackometer. This in
strument is so constructed as to accu.
rately register every pound the horses
pull at every stage of the haul in plain
view of those in its vicinity. 1t is
made clear by these experiments that
a team harnesSed in the ordinary way
Is subject, under the best conditions, |
to a continuous jerking motion. which |
must, on even the smootheSt country |
road. greatly increase its fatigue. On |
a dirt road in bad condition this Jerk. |
ing becomes a succession of heavy |
blows transmitted to the team by |
means of the collar. They are cruelty
painful, bruising the shoulders. harass.
Ing and tOrturing the animals. con.
stantly lessening their value as well
as directly decreasing the amount of
the load that it is possible to haul.
During one of these experiments a
team of small mules readily drew u
bales Of cotton on a heavy Studebaker
wagon up 10 per cent grade of the
macadam road, the trackometer indl-
eating a pull of 1000 pounds. The
same team was stalled completely in
going down 6 per cent grade of the
sand road after pulling the indicator to
1000 pounds. Nine bales of cotton
were removed before the load could be
again put in notion The driver re-
fused to venture at all upon the dirt
road with the IL bale load.
In addition to this lesson, there are {
many others regularly administered. |
mus the government has photographs
taken showing the exact process of
proper road building, which it exhibits
at fairs, expositions and meetings of
all kinds where good roads can he :
talked over. Indeed. the agri-
cultural department is a great believer {
IN photographs, and no opportunity is
lost to flash a convincing picture be-
lore the eyes of the unbelever. The
picture of a road before and after if
has been improved is one of the most G
common kind. That of a horse unable e
to pull even light load on a bad road r
yet drawing a heavy one on a good n
road, Is also common. Thus the great Y
work Is furthered. q
Another part of this government t
says a writer in Pearson's Y
Magazine, Is that of advocating the b
guiding OF steel track wagon roads. t
which is an entirely new scheme, but b
which has proved a wonderful high. f
way idea. Briefly, it is a system of q
aging wide steel rails upon ordinary e
highways. The road thus laid consists fl
II two parallel lines of steel plates or a
ais, eight inches wide, laid at a sutH- d
'lent distance apart to receive the Ii
wheels of vehicles of standard gauge IL
lhese plates, or tracks, have a slightly Il
Upward projecting fange on the inner D
'dge, so as to prevent the wheels Of [,
'rdlnary vehicles from easily leaving Il
ne track. At the same time the flanges.
'elng only one-half inch high, are not
u rise sufficient to prevent vehicles
rom leaving the track for the purpose G
Il passing other vehicles Whenever the t
river SO desires. These steel tracks a
re not supported by wooden cross ties
+ longitudinal stringers of any kind, S
'ut are made solid in the road by a
anges projecting both downward and
UPWARD, which are imbedded in the
oncrete Of the roadbed. 7
one OF the experiments made by the
oVernment consisted of having
eavy load of II tons drawn by 20
orses over common road, which lay r
the street track road, and
hen having the same load drawn by +,
ne horse on the steel track road. This
BAD was % times the weight of the -
nimal and was easily moved with :,
ght harness. ',