The suburban citizen. (Washington, D.C.) 1891-1902, 1900-10-06
God Roads R55tss

Solving a vexatlous Question.

Solving VexatiOus Question.
T T ORSEMEN, bicyclists and
Nj automobile owners are still
trying to solve the vexatious
question Of good roads. All
agree that the country should contain
enough good roads, so that everybody
who wishes to move about either for
business or pleasure should have an
opportunity of doing 80 with the great.
est possible comfort and economy.
But what kind OF road will best suit
all persons is the question on which
all seem to split. The farmers declare
that the roads ought to be OF stone
so that farm produce may be taken
to market for twelve months in the
year instead of for only nine months,
the time in which a dirt road may be
used ordinarily by the farmers. The
farmers put up a strong argument
saying that the farmer Is 81" rex
bone of the Republic, and tha viz
the farmer does not prosp' r.. IAN
be no general prosperity. IAen the bi
cyclist comes along with a splendid
argument to show that a stone road
jOggles too much for the wheelmen.
The cyclists declare that the road
ought to be either of ordinary dirt or
of macadam where 1t will not pay to
have asphalt pavements for the wheel
men. The automobile men who are
now rapidly increasing in numbers
rather side with the farmer who needs
n rock road that can be used in all
kinds of weather, but the driver of
light harness rigs or the rider Of
horses steps into the contest and de.
clares that stone roads injure all
horses that have to travel faster than
a slow jog trot. The horsemen de.
clare that the stone pavements breed
all kinds Of trouble for horses that
travel moderately fast, including the
horses driven by tradesmen and dellv.
erymen. The injury of the stone
roads, they declare, are TO the foot,
leg and lung. Dr. II. II. Kane, Presi-
dent of the Drivers and Riders
League, Of New York, is out with a
statement ON this subject, which viii
no doubt attract the attention Of all
classes concerned, and which may lead
to a compromise in the demands made
hereafter by the various organizations
with the happy result that everybody
will get some of the things he desires
even If he does not have the whole
road to himself. The plan proposed
by Dr. Kane is as follows: First,
there should be one road along the
main artery Of traffic to and from the
principal markets built Of stone for
the farmers and all others who have
to do heavy trucking; second, on either
side Of this stone road should be dirt
road about eight feet wide for the es-
pecial use of horsemen and all kinds
Of harness vehicles. The dirt road
might in most cases suffice for the
wheelmen, but in case there was any
unusual demand for increased space
for bicycle riders, DR.. Kane would rec
ommend that on the outside of the
dirt road there should be a specially
constructed bicycle path. This plan
of having a complete road, the horse
man thinks, would give every class OF
road users the kind of q road it needs,
and would insure harmony among all
road users. He says that the members
of the L. A. W. are strong enough gen.
orally to get what they wish, and in
some sections the farmers prevail and
they get what they wish. The riders
and fast drivers, be says, have never
made much united effort to get what
they want, but he believes the time Is
coming when such action will be nee
essary for the preservation of valuable
horsefesh. He contends that the pro.
posed plan would enable the farmers
the wheelmen, the drivers and riders
as well as the automobile men to work
together for a composite road-centre
stone, eight feet on each side dirt, and
bicycle paths on the outside.-New
York Sun.