The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-13

| UcMl ICDOTE OF tne tnlfu an
nual convention of the Good
q Roads Association of New
York State. This report gives lot
of valuable information as to the
| progress of the good roads movement
building of o3S miles of good roads
| on the other side OF Lake Ontario. 1t
is stated that no less than twenty coun-
ties in tho State have arranged for the
! this year. that Sc6O,000 was raised Dy
all that was needfui to secure the
spending Of the money this year was
the appropriation OF & like amount by
the State Legislature.
There is also given good deal Of in
formation as to the building OF roads,
the npkeeping OF the same, and the
value OF efficient highways to com
munity. Repairs of stone roads, it is
said, should begin as soon as they are
opened for traffic, as the attention
the receive the first few months of
their life determines their usefulness
| and length OF life. Long experience, it
Is declared. has clearly proven that
better results are obtained and at less
cost by maintaining the roadway in
good condition at all times. by sys.
tenn of continuous small repairs, rather
than by leaving it until it is practically
Worn out. and then thoroughly repair
Ing it, The cost of repairing should
not exceed $50 per mile.
The value of the wide tire is thor.
oughly appreciated in New York. It
is worse than useless, the report says,
to create expensive and yallla ble high
ways, and then allow them to be cut to
pieces by the use Of narrow tires. 1t
was, therefore. recommended by the
convention that q State wide tire law
be adopted which would be simple in
its requirements. positive in it's eli
forcement, and that the same should
go into force within two years from
date. Ihe value of good roads and
wide tires combined is we'll Illustrated
by two statements set forth in the re-
port. One of these is to the effect
that careful estimate shows that it
costs twenty-five cents to carry ton
a mile on the ordinary roads Of the
State. Another statement is contained
in letter from 4 man who has large
brick works three miles from Syracuse,
N. Y. "For twenty-five years." says
this man. Il have been hauling bricks
from my yards to the town. Within
the last few years threc-uUarters OF Tie
road over which / haul has been paved
Before the Improvement OF the road
the usual thing was to maui 1000 bricks
at lcad-sOmetimos not more than
600 or 7G0 being taken in-and two
loads made q days WORT, in the fall,
when the roads We're bad. New, en-
improved reads, 1900 to 1900 bricks
are being hauled at load, and three
loads are being delivered per day.
Wide tires he adds, "ave chearer
than the narrow tires because the cost
OF resetting is reduced by one-half and
the broad tires wear at least twice as
long. Ey the Improvement i'll roads
and the adoption o. wide tires. very
near twice the quantity OF brick is
hauled to-day that was hauled former
", and the wear and tear has been
reduced by twenty-five per cont
They have had the same trouble over
the statute labor system in New York
that tL"y have had here. but o,.r neigh
Dors are improving in this line rs we
are here. Twenty years ago. when q
Dill WAS Introduced in the State Legls
lature providing, that everybody should
pay The statute labor TAX in money
the author OF that bill bccamc the most
unpopular man III ti.e Assembly. To-
day no less than 1870 townships, with
1000 miles OF highway have adoprcd
the system oi committing the ctatutc
labor tax Oh the basis CT fifty cents on
the dollar. 1t is now proposed to go Il
step further and apply prison labor to
the building Of highways. 1t is pointed
ont thai in North Carolina. with the
help o. convicts. roads mucadaL;zed to
depth Of six to eight inches and fiji
teen to twenty feet wide. are built ut
Il cost OF S1100 TO Sl700 per mile. While
the same grade of reads no better
constructed. are costing from $4,000 TO
$1,000 mile in the NorIh@rn Siates.-
Toronto Weekly Sun.