The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1901-04-05
BAD ROADS REMEDY.
HOW TO SECURE IMPROVEMENT
ECONOMICALLY.
Suggestion That Country Highway
BE Divided Into SectiOns-An At
tendant to Have Constant Charge
of Each Division.

tendant to Have Constant Charge
of Each Division.
From Harper's Weekly Copyright, 1900. By
Harper Brothers.
Farmers object, and with justice, to
stone roads costing upward Of $4,000
per mile. The farmers of nearly every
state in the Union oppose state aid be-
cause of the fear they have that the ex-
travagance of expensive stone road en-
gineers, who build well and then fail
to maintain, may be saddled upon
them. On the other hand, the idea of q
constant attendant appeals to the farm
ers as n rational method of evolution
toward better system of roads at the
same time that it trains experts to care
for them.
In order to secure satisfactory and
economical improvement Of our cOun-
try roads, therefore, the writer, Daniel
B. Luten, in Harpers Weekly, would
advocate system by which the roads
should be divided into sections Of from
10 to 20 miles in length and man en-
ployed for each section to devote his
entire time and attention to the i'm
provement of that section. The at
tendant should provide team and wag-
on whenever needed. He would re
quire no assistants. He should be held
to strict attention to duty and to a
strict observance Of hours, whether In
wet weather or dry.
Ruts would be eradicated by filling
with harder material; the surface
could be smoothed by scraping with a
wagon tire drag if no better tool were
available. Chuck holes would be fill
ed with broken stone or with gravel
or with clay and sand or with the best
quality of material available Main
tanning a smooth surface for the es-
cape Of water is all that Is necessary
10 prevent softening of the road sur
face, even with earth roads; keeping
the road carefully crowned, smooth
and free from ruts is more effective in
dispOsing of 'the greatest enemy Of
good roads, than the most elaborate
system Of foundations and under
drainage, but the necessary smooth
ness can be attained only by continual
watchfulness. Excessive dustiness
could be allayed by an occasional
sprinkling, but the distribution of traf-
tic, made possible by the smooth sur
face, would decrease the wear and also
the necessity for sprinkling. The at
tendant would find time for planning a
systematic method Of identifying the
roads Of his section. The side bitches
should be cleaned; the roadway should
be cleared of weeds, which too often
are able to appropriate the roadside
as their highway for dissemination.
The expense of constant attendance
on our country roads could be decreas-
ed to minimum by decreasing the
number of miles in a section, admit
ting, Of course, that the benefits would
be correspondingly decreased. There
can thus be no argument against it's
adoption on the ground Of expense by
the poorest communities. By allotting
sections Of from 10 to 20 miles to each
attendant the expense per mile would
not be greater than under the present
system. 1t is remarkable what a small
amount Of material is required for re-
pairs if those repairs be made prompt
ly, and still more remarkable what a
great amount is required when repairs
are made but once a year. The larger
part Of the cost of road materials is la
Dor in preparing, transporting, han
ding and placing. Labor can be far
more economically purchased by en-
ploying one man for a long period of
time than by employing many men for
a shorter period. The most of the at
tention needed by road does not re-
quire team labor, and it is this kind Of
attention that is most neglected under
the present system, until at the end Of
the year 1t requires a great deal Of eX-
pensive team work to make it good.
The constant attendant system OF
maintenance applied to our present
roads would in time develop them into
a system Of hard roads that could be
most economically administered by en-
cheering superintendent. For the
present, however, there is no good rea-
son why the officers who at the present
time superintend road affairs in county
or township would not prove satisfac-
tory as superintendent of the road at
PENDANTS. The reason that these Off
GERS are frequently a failure under the
present system is because they are call
ed upon to fill a position requiring ex-
pert knowledge that they do not DOS
sess. To superintend experts and to
see that they devote full time to their
duties is more simple matter and a
line In which every farmer who en-
ploys hired hands has had experience.
The superintendent would, moreover,
have the assistance Of every resident
or the section, for the property owners
would now be the employers of the
road attendant instead Of being tho
road workers. 1t would be to the in
terest of every one to report defects to
the road attendant, who would apnlv
the remedy without the delays that are
fatal to road surfaces
The system thus outlined is essential
ly system Of maintenance, but when
applied to inferior roads it becomes
also system of construction by grad
ual improvements, the safest and most
economical way. 1t gives training to
local experts at the same time that
1t secures to the road what the road
most needs-continual repairs with the