Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1902-05-16
About Roads.

much road let to contract to one
man. TIE roads are laid out in Sec
tions of some 5 miles and more then
one man often gets one, two, three
or more section-wpIl his bid for
keeping in repair so much Of the
road is so low that he cannot afford
to hire teams and hands and put up
his road in week or ten days. but
he has to Use his own team and his
boys Cor he has them to feed any
Way in order to save Il dollar from
his job, aud he gets his road i'll or
der probably in 60 or SO days later
than it should be done. This de-
lay is caused too by this man hav-
ing to stop every few days and
spend few days 1T home on his
farm-he must keep up his farm
work-he stops work on the roads
, and does his spring blowing, works
few DAYS again on the road and
then stops to plant, works a few
days more and then quits till fall.
Then the same thing occurs over
again. In the meantime if storm
occurs and trees are blown across
the road, or freslet causes wash
out. the public has to put up with
the inconvenience. or repair the
damages temporarily until word
can be sent, often miles to the con-
tractor to come and repair certain
damages, who will possibly come
along il! IL week or ten days and
repair the damage. The matters
drag along just this way ayear in
and a year out we have bad roads.
This is all wrong and here is my
remedy and I believe if given fair
j trial it would prove an effectual
one.
Instead of letting whole sections
of road to one man, and one who
NAV not live near the road he is to
keep up and who probably meyer
has an occasion to run q wagon
over the road once in a year, let
! the roads to contract to men who
live right on the road they are to
keep up and who probably has to
travel the road every day iii the
week, and let him contract to keep
up, say half mile Of section one, or
one mile or one and half miles, Oh
so much as he is wiling to lock
after if only the strip of road ex'
tending along his farm.
This man is interested in sc
mach road and wants good roac
along his farm and his neighbol
who keeps up the mile next to hin
will see that his part is as well done
and as well looked after us his
neighbours.
Then a very great advantage III
this is that the contractors are al
WAYS on hand and all damage done
to roads can be repaired at once
In passing over their section day
after day they will keep out al.
loose rock, vii! keep all water
brakes, bitches, and culverts open
and keep the water out OF the road
without which 10 road can be kept
up.
This may give the Road Com'r a
little more trouble in filing MP a
few more papers ETC., but it has
always been my private opinion
that this dignitary ought to do
about five tunes the work he does
to earn the money he gets any way.
Or if our Supervisors oyerrule and
override our Road Com'r in every
thing when it canes to letting the
roads to contract, why Hot dispense
! with the commissioner and let the
Supervisors look after the road
themselves.
This arrangement would be a
benefit to our people aside from
giving us all good roads-it would
enable many poor man to pay his
taxes before that 5 per cent. penal
ty is added, or the sheriff drives off
his COW. or his pet lamb.
| believe this would give us bet
ter roads for less money. Then
600, when such great damages are
done to roads as we have sustained
last winter and this spring they
would be diyided up among many
road men instead Of a few who go
back to ''pap' and cry for help and
an extra JOB, and never fail to get