Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-07-27
GOOD r GA S AND. BAD
WHAT - Being DONE FOR THE M
PRoVEMENT or HIGHWAYS. 5.5s

/ .' 4
Ten states Have Road Exhibits II
Il the Paris Exhibition-Work Of the
S$ National Government-Experi
With the Trackometcr. s5::E l f$5 4 n
Il The good road question is today the
subject Of a vast agitat ton, begun first
BY wheelmen, taken up BY the govern
ment and now matter Of legislative
eonsid eration the country over. As y
result, ten states have exhibits at the
present universal exposition In Paris
illustrating how perfect roads ought to
be built. This from a country that still
has, IN part, the worst roads In the
world is rather daring, but 1t is also an
indication Of what is being done. The
ten states ID question know what they
are talking about. They had the worst
roads, and now they have Tor, at least.
they are constructive the best. The
first among these is Massachusetts;
the second, New Jersey. .,.@ y. ss$H=. !,
It will be a matter of news to many
to 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 good road
and why good roads are needed, has
gone to work to spread the information
and teach the people. It has expert:
ment stations in every state in the
Union, where lessons In roadmaking
are taught. Hundreds Of pamphlets
showing just how a good road is con-
/ structed and how it 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 q
quarter or half or even mile Of ex-
Gcellent roadway is constructed, and
the people shown how and why II
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. " >gg /, Fl q. 5:isss Il sa2
The government In these exhibitions
ordinarily constructs three specimen
roadsa modern macadam, a sand and
an ordinary dirt road. When these
roads are completed, heavy farm
wagon, loaded with produce, is drawn
over each Of them, and. the amount OF
force required to haul it is determined
by the use Of a trackometer. This in
strument is SO constructed as to aecu-
rately register every pound the horses
pull at every stage of the haul in plain
view Of those In its vicinity. It Is
made clear by these experiments that
a team harnessed in the ordinary way
is subject, under the best conditions,
to continuous jerking motion, which
must, on even the smoothest country
road, greatly increase It's fatigue. On
a dirt road in bad condition this jerk
Ing becomes 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 1t Is possible to haul. 5 h.
During one Of these experiments a
team Of small mules. readily drew Y
bales Of cotton on q heavy Studebaker
wagon up a 10 per cent grade Of the
macadam road. the trackometer indi-
eating. a Dull Of 600 tnonnda; .! The
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