Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-01-11
Commits ,ioner Wall ON ''GoOd Roads"

Commits sioneT Wall ON 'sGOOd Roads"
state Highway Commissioner w. b.
Wall spoke at largely attended farmers
meeting held at Vergennes last Friday on
the subject OF road improvement.
The Free Press made the following
"A new and what proved to be very
popuIsr feature introduced at these meet
ings, was an address on Good ROADS by
state Highway Commissioner Wan OF
Randolph, Mr.. Wall is a new man before
tba Farmers. and he confined himself
largely TO what HI d been done, rather
than any theoretical treatise on road
building. -,-- A.
81 ,fteF few Introductory remarks Mr..
Wall showed that in productive SOIL,
beautiful scenery, pure wafer goou
schools and able men and women YER
mont is leading state and the only thing
lacking is good highways. dooa roaus
are profitable both for the health ana
temper OF citizen, increase the value OF
his real estate and ars OF distinct financial
advantage in enabling him at the same
expense 10 accomplish four times as mueh
work on the same highway, where Tor
century hundreds upon hundreds 81 ooi-
lars had teen expended In only temporary
repairs and without increasing one Whlt
the utility of the road for hauling pur-
poses !,
.sFhe first thing to be sought for IN
making good roads is, in my Judgment,
GOOD drainage; then you must build, TAX
/ Inc into account the soil and the material
Won can obtain. The best material Tor
permanent road making is, undoubtedly,
| stone, next to that gravel l THINK u
the soil Is sandy, which makes II as
bard f1r teams as mud, use clay and
gravel. which generally makes very good
1 road. No road should be less than IL feet
4 wide. SO that two teams can pass without
breaking of; the center should De hlgh
enough 10 let the water drain on the ioau.
/ should the land be so low as 10 MAKE
drainage impracticable, l wouid adVlse
| raising the road until sufhclent uralnsse
can De obtained by ditching in the center
1 ~ the road, four feet and two feet deep,
making, every few rods, the same klnd OF
ditch from the center OF the road TO lts
edge. and fiji all with stone, then build
4 your road above that. -,
uIn the last year there have been III
miles OF permanent road built IN the
state. In this mileage Addison stanus
one OF the first among the counties, anu !
consider this the hardest county IN tne
state to build good roads. IL the people
continue as they have begun, aud l am
snre they will. il will be but few years
before the main thoroughfares oil our
state are permanent roads
| especial emphasis was laid on the fact
that the eff lrt was not to institute +
given syst, m OF extensive roads tnrough
out the state, but the state bad appointed
= commissioner for the purpose OF seeing
that the discarded stone wall, granite and
marble chips, the sand bank or clay SOIL
in the different locations OF the state were
nut into permanent work on Vermont
highways so far as the state tax raised
for this purpose, was able 10 do II. lie
t1ld how by proper drainage ana lhe use
Of CLAW in one Vermont town, a strip OF
sandy road that had been known as a
horse killer for decades, had been mace
into piece OF road as solid and permanent
as any macadam road in existence.
aUne surprising fact brought out was
the amount that has been accomplished
nv state supervision during the past year.
Mr.. Wall stated that II all the permanent
roadway built during the past season
could be placed together we would nave
permanent roadway lit miles in length
or solid road reaching from burlington
~ Rellogs Falls. This is greater show
inc than for the whole period from lSe-
Ia lses. the time the law requiring per
cent state highway tax has been on tne
statute books. This, too, has been accom-
plished at practically no expense 20 the
State for the present commissioner IS not
anthorized 10 issue a voucher which VIII
allow the state tax to be drawn until the
,srp,anent road work has been completed
and inspected and the saving In interest,"
mas heen considers bly, more than enough
, "a nav the com missioner's salary. ina.
yraat interest was shown in the subject
was evidenced by the questions whicn
we're asked at the close and the ready
answers given showed that Mr.. Niail was
fully conversant with hissuolect.