Carlsbad current., 1901-02-16
OUR COUNTRY ROADS.
hALF A CENTURY BEHIND THOSE or
TaE oLp WORLD.

froGrrtssN~ IN Nearly All other
Fieids of Human Esaeavor. Our
Highways Are Abom abie--Aato-
mobiles May Hasten Improvement.
The Chicago inter Ocean has been
promoting the great automobile meet
and exhibition held IN Washington
park this month IN the belief that the
Interests OF the horseleas vehicle can
be best served by a thorough demon.
strntlOn under best conditions OF the
good qualities OF tho AUTOS. In addition
o. being demonstration OF the auto.
mobile the meet served 90 emphasize 10
the farmer and the country residents
thc great importance of good ronds.
II viii no doubt be- slow work 20
teach the farmer that his best interest
He's with better rondA Dnd tlsl the
present ~ stem Of construction and oc.
cnsionnl repair viii not meet the re.
uuirements ~ future methods Of trans
portntiOn. The owners of automobiles
have already found II 30 their interest
~ take hand In this good work. and
with their help extensive additions 10
the decent highways Of this country
may Do expected within Il few yenrs.
"Whnt In needed" says n writer IN The
Hub. ''is q rtlff law IN every state put.
ting premium on smooth rondH and n
TAX on bad ones. establishing a system
OF rebates from the county taxes on all
wagon tires three inches or more in
width and providing the necessary ma
chinefy .ar The uniform enforcement ~
such n statute Even the most hcnlght-
ed community chn appreciate the logic
of n road tax. and with Intelligent. hon.
est supervision tO fcc that the road
work II properly done most Of the
denominations now called country ronds
should soon give plnce 10 hard. smooth.
well kept highways. bringing business
to the farmers aud opening up the
country 90 higher state Of settlement
aud profitable operation"
Regarding the great question of econ.
omy Ia good roads. the following stalls
tionl mnttcr from The Scientific Amerl.
can IL significant.
"rhcrc IL food for thought IN the re-.
port ~ the Maryland geological survey
for 1900. In the lirst place. We are told
that tho people of Maryland have *.
lNu'lNN 'tNl lllk wv lAHl WI liNiH upon
the fo called construction nnd repair Of
their own roads the sum ~ no less than
fG.GO1.OOO. II seems thnt the greater
part ~ this money hns been FILTERED
AWAY Ia the attempt TO rcpnir roads
which have been poorly laid out IN the
flrat place nud for the lack of certain
necessary engineering qualifications
can Ia the nntufr of things never bo
mnde Into good roads. Az an ins,Anco
of this II may be mentioned TINT mnny
of the common roads have no natural
drainage. We nrc told that most Of
thcm are IN poor condition for part
of the year aud some VI them for the
whole IL months
"As the result OF II careful estimate
mndc 10y the survey II In shown that
The farmers of the state of Maryland
etprnd S3uOo.up u year more on their
hauling over the present poorly built
highways than would hc necessary II
the hauling were done on first class
ronds. These figures ARE to be- com.
pared with the Information collected
by the department of agriculture ip
1890, when, as the result of data re-
cclVcd from over Loo counties la VA.
rlous parts uf the United States. Il waa
nAcrriAincd that the average cost of
hauling one ton for one mile over conn.
try rpndH was 20 cents. which was juat
three times M much ns the average
cont ~ hauling over the improved mae.
adam runds or six European countries.
IT this large sum of money represents
tile loss To- the state of Maryland from
poor roads. II is easy to say that the
total loss throughout the whole United
STATES represents a figure 80 great that
II must have an important bearing up.
on the prosperity of The country II
largo aud practically upon the farinlng
Interests 40 such.
AT FIRST sight u seems Incredible
that IN country 80 progressive as ours
The condition OF tho common roads
should he over a half century behind
that of the old world u Is true that
The vast extent of the United states
aud the great mileage OF our roads IN
some states relative 10 the density of
The population may he offered ~ nn ex.
cnEe Tor cur hackNurdnrss. but while
this plea may hold good ms regards the
shlhly populated western aud southern
states u cannot ho applied 10 the older.
more pupulous aud WEALTHY sections VI
The couutry."