The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1901-02-06

and without great lOss VI neiSJ'
that they should be properly con-
structed, the ground we'll drained,
the roadbed graded, shaped and roll
ed, and that theJ should be surfaced
with the best material procurahle;
that they should be properly main
tanned or kept constantly in good re-
pair.
All the important roads in the
United States can be and doubtless
will bs macadamized or otherwise
improved in the not distant future.
This expectation should govern their
present location and treatment every
where. Unless changes are made in
the locatios of the roads in many
parts Of the country it would be worse
than folly to macadamize them. ''Any
costly resurfacing of the existing
roads will fasten them where they
are for generations" Gays General
Stone. The chief difficulty in this
country is not with the surface, but
with the steep grades, many OF which
are too long to be reduced by cutting
and filing on the present lines, and
if this could be done it would cost
more in many localities than by relo-
eating them.
Many of our roads were originally
laid out without any attention to gen.
eral topography, and in most cases
followed the settlers path from cabin
to cabin, the pig trail or ran along
the boundary lines of the farms re-
gardless of grades or direction.
Most of them remain today where
they were located years ago, and
where untold labor, expense and
energy have been wasted in trying to
haul over them and in endeavors to
improve their deplorable condition.
The great error is made in continu
ing to follow these primitive paths
with our public highways: The right
course is to call in an engineer and
throw the road around the end or
along the side of steep hills instead
of continuing TO 90 over them; or to
pull the road Up on dry solid ground
instead of splashing through the mud
and water of the creek or swamp.
Far more time and money have been
wasted in trying to keep up single
mile of these "pig track surveys
than it would to build and keep in
! repair two miles of good road.
Another and perhaps greater error
is made by some persons in the West
who continue to lay out their roads
on ''section lines" These sections
are all square, with sides running |
north, south, east and west. A per
son wishing to cross the country in
any other than these direction must
necessarily do so in rectangular zig
zags. 1t also necessitates very often
the crossing and recrossing Of hills
and valleys, which might be avoided
if the roads had been constructed on
scientific principles. |
In the prairie State Of Iowa, for
example, where roads are no worse
than in many other States, there is a
great number of roads having much
sleeper grades than are found in the
mountainous Republic of Switzerland
In Maryland the old stage coach
road or turnpike running from Wash
ington to Baltimore makes almost a
''bee line," regardless of hills and
valleys, and the grade at places are
as steep as 10 or 12 per cent, where
by making little detours the road
might have been made perfectly level,
or by running it up the hills less
abruptly the grade might have been
reduced to 8 or 4 per cent, asis done
in the billy regions Of many parts OF
this and other countries. Straight
roads are the proper kind to have,
but in hilly countries their straight
ness should always be sacrificed to
obtain level surface so as to better
accommodate the people who use
them.
Graceful and natural curves con-
forming to the lay of the land add
STATE OF OHIO, CRY OF TOLEDO,