Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-03-28
GOOD ROADS.
Practical Information Showing the Al
vaptages of Highway Improvement.

Practical Information Showing the Al
vaptages of Highway Improvements. Z
Assistant City Engineer Francis A.
Price has received copy Of the report
| OF Henry l. Budd, commissioner OF
public roads for New Jersey, fos the
year 1900, which contains much In.
tereating information in the matter Of
road Improvement. Numerous illustra-
tions, in addition to the detailed
descriptive matter, show that much has
been accomplished in the betterment Of
roads in our sister State since the State
Aid law went into effect.
Concerning the advantages Of guod
roads and the losses from poor ones,
Commissioner Budd says: THE spien-
did road conditions existing on the CON
tinent of Europe can be duplicated
here. The question Is one for the people
themselves to solve, and it is actually
being solved in the United States today
by the voluntary action Of communities
10 various sections Of the country. For
example, | heard that that there we're
some especially good stone roads being
constructed in the State Of New York,
so | went there myself, and to make
sure that | should make a thorough
test | went in the midst of Janiiary
thaw. l got a pair of horses and q
light buggy to test other roads around
| the country and | found that with q
great deal Of difficulty 1 could drive
over them. But 10 the section where
the farmers had been building the
stone roads / found that two tors Of
hay were being hauled with two ordi-
nary horses on a common narrow tired
wagon. | said to the farmers: How
did you get sta ted in this business Of
building roads?' Thoy said I'VE started
it ourselves. We thought We could do
something, as our fields are full of
stone, with stone fences along the road,
so We scrared together enough money
to buy rock cru5her, hired an engine
to run it and arranged to bring in the
stones and haul back the crushed
stone They have actually gone so far
as to petition the Legislature for the
privilege of increasing their taxation
beyond what the law allowed, and the
result is that all the farmers in that
township are anxiously waiting for the
roads to be extended into their particu-
lar neighborhoods. l said to them:
Doen't this pile up your taSesY
Why, one farmer said, in this one
week, by the advantage of having these
stone roads and getting to market with
my hay, when it sells at a good price,
my teams have earned So every day,
while my neighbors' teams on the other
roads are eating their heads of. We
could not afford not to have these
roads; we do not care anything about
the taxation. Taking the proper cost
to be tie present cost to the farmers in
the good-roads district OF New Jersey
where there are actually as good roads
as are found in any part of Europe.
found that the cost of hauling over the
ordinary roads of the country ia just
about three times as much as the cost
of hauling over good stone roads. Where
q load is three tons on good roads It is
one ton on the average farm roads. The
actual cost of moving products is not
the only loss by bad roads by any
means. Farmers lose by not being able
to get to market when the market ia
good, by the WASTE of products that
cannot be marketed at all on account of
bad roads, by not being encouraged
to cultivate things that require a
speedy market, and in a great many
other ways. y
"One reason why the boards of trade
and the commercial bodies in the United
States are getting interested IN good
roads is the fact that the whole bust
ness of the country is suffering for the
want Of them. The farmer, when he is
able to get to market, generally finds ii
forestalled and himself Obliged to shin
TO some distant points, while the
farmers along the railroads of the lar
West or on the good wagon roads Of
OHIO Indiana, New Jersey and Canada
are supplying his home market"
The statement is made in the report
that in Hamilton, Ont, the process of
using coal tar as binder 10 the con.
struction OF roads is meeting with sue
cess. The tar must be pure coal tar,
free from all foreign substances and
containing not more than per cent OF
| water, and shall contain an analysis
not less than SO per cent of pitoh.
Great care must be taken when mixing
the tar with the broken stone and piac.
ing the stone IN position; also, with
the rolling and the final mixture for
binding on the surface. The cost of
new construction In Hamilton IL So
cents per square yard. Such roadway
| IS impervious to water, frcst proof in
winter and prevents mud, dust and
loose stones from accommodating 10 sum
mer. They have the general appear
ance OF an asphalt pavement, are nearly
smooth, cost but little, remain in per.
feet condition for years, are never dusty
or muddy. and the foundation stones
never work to the surface. Such roads
are noiseless and attractive and are
said to be Just the thing for residential
sections Of cities.
The book il we'll worth the perusal
OF anyone who is interes ted in good
roads. The sentiment in favor of road
improvement is growing in Delaware
and the indications are that in the
near future move will be made in the
right direction. 4