Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-03-21
THE BEAUTIFUL ROADS OF
FAIRFIELDS.

AhE oEAOIIEOL hOADS OE
FAIRFIELDS.
EDITOR CITIZEN: While the peo-
pie OF other sections are being caused
much Inconvenience by the bad con-
ditions of the public roads, the spirit
moves me to say few words about
the state of the public highways in
the prosperous district of Fsirfelds.
Four or five years ago there was
much Dragging about the nice smooth
roads that were made with the road
machine under contract 1t was
thought that under the new system
there never would be any more
trouble with bad roads and that the
day of mud-holes and quagmires had
gone, never to return.
To-day there are long stretches of
road surfaces that are as level as any
engineer could make them, but in.
stead of being hard and easy to travel
over, are kind o. SOFT. as the surface
is nothing but wster from q few
inches to two feet deep. OF course,
a nice level sheet of water or ice
makes . pretty surface for q road,
but it is not satisfactory, especially
when person wants to get his horse
along at more than snail's pace.
There is a saying that ssnature
iabhers, q vacuum" and that the
Provident old lady always proceeds
to I'LL such vacuum with the material
nearest, to hand. Those nice oval
road beds put up by the road ma
chine are made by creating q vacuum
at the sides thereof, and IA yerv
little work is ever done except by the
machine, the trenches do not extend
at tangent, SO the water might run
to the nearest waterccurse, but fol-
low the road. Water 10 seeking
level howsinto the nice little trenches
along the roads and stops there.
When the swamps overflow the water
piles mp, so to speak, in the road and
soaks into and under the bed making
the splendid, soft mud we are now
enjoying, and which is 80 easy on the
hoofs of the horse, whatever it NAV
be upon the balance of his anatomy.
1 &as over to Reedville the other
day, aud the roads were just be-yuti-
ful. The consistency Of the clay
was Just right for making those
lovely dogs and cats and pies that we
used to make when we were KIDS.
Mr.. Editor, and the thought came
to me, "ohl if i were just o boy once
more" What splendid time iconld
have right there in the main street
in that nice mud. But stern duty
kicked me along on my business.
30 did not get chance to leave
behind me any models in clay. I
didn't ride, however, / took to water
as the dryest way Of locomotion as
far as it wonld carry me, and, then ]
took to the, mud. As / fioundered
along could have exclaimed with,
the Rsalmist. Had 1.-the, winGs of
9 dove ! would fly" but az the winps
didn't materialise, Istill floundered.
Patches of light yellow clay here ans;
there showed where the bottom had
dropped out, and the passing vehicles
seemed to have dropped in. Just
before 1 got to- Reedyille / passed q
horse cart with one barrel of tar ip
it and ! stopped to watch it-tbe
horse would lunge along q few yards
and then stop, apparently meditatinr
whether to drown himself in the
mud holes or pull through. Some
times one wheel would be down nearly
to the hub, and sometimes. che other.
and then; again both.
VIM. Blundon, cashier of the bank.
got stuck in the mud Just; below
Lillian Sunday night. His horse
snapped the sipgletree and walked
opt Of the shafts. Wasn't that a
nice pickle to be ing Mr.. sBiundon
had tosget out in mud half leg deep.
with his patent feathers and best
toggery on. II he didn't say any.
thing 1t ls an indication that. the
bank Will soon have to get, another
cashier. as Mr., B. will soon leave us.
TOR everybody knows that the good
siways die young, and his time is
short. DIR. CockreA ia said to have
lad his buggy shafts. broken bv
getting in one Of the numerous ouac.
mires along our Highways, and lots
OF other people have met With similar
misfortunes. Over in Hacks Neck
where some of the road beda look
like . 'tator row, they are having
trouble also. One man was carrvinS 2
his little boy to school in q buggy.
and the wheels sank down 90 deep in
the aides Of the tater.row road that
the buggy steps dug into the ridge and
the driver had to get out and pry the
wheels up, 90 the horse could get
along.
# one could hide slopg the high.
way and listen to the sound that
came to his cara when q, courting
couple we're pssaing he might hear
something like this: As the horse
drew nearer he would hear q sound
of "slosh, slosh, slosh, slosh, sock-up.
sock-up, sook.up. sock-up,n ss the
ateed slowly picked his way over the
contract-made roas.s Then he might
hear the murmur of the lovers voice,
interpreted with the sounds of the
road somewhat thusly,
sparling, by that bright (sock- up
sock-up) or above us that seems TO
tslosh. slosh) look down upon us
with it's kindly (sock-up, sock-up)
light. l VOW to always (slosh, slosh)
cherish you, and never will / give