Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-03-19

lido not condemn the road mscbins-it
Is one Of the best implements that we
have connected with road management
bat do condemn the bad use of It. That
machine should have been brought out a.
soon as the snow was OF, as soon as It
could be operated, whcn the road WIS soft
and plastic and could be moulded. Then
one span OF horses would do more than
three will do to- day. Then put the road
In shape with your road machine where II
needs II, and wait for those influences
that the Almighty has provided for i'm
psctiDg aud settling the earth, and then
you have a road bed that is solid. 1t may
be done through ignorance, and probably
ia, but to my mind 1t Ia wicked to GO
around the country at this season OF the
year tJune) and later, tearing up the
earth. The material that those men were
putting on the road in dry weather will
make dust and in wet weather will make
mud. The road never will be SO we'll i'm
psc,ed again this season-the impacting
Influences have passed.
believe that as general rule 1t Is a
mistake TO operate the road machine after
the ground gets thoroughly settled in the
spring. There Is a better way, and we are
adopting IL in Vermont. Many towns
have been operating on different line, a
reasonable, intelligent line, laying out
the money that people have earned and
paid In as their taxes In a conscientious
way, with judgment.
The railroads have been built in
this country, many OF them, since
The memory OF men living here 10
this community. remember when many
prise that wssi 1t may not be generally
known that for 100 years our general gov
ernment was engaged In building high
ways in this country. The great Cum
beriand road was built at the expense of
the general government, crossing many
states, extending to st. Louis. Great
enterprises were In PROJECT. And they
discovered that the power OF steam could
be used on roads, aud evolved the rail.
road and commenced building 1t. And
you know that we have read about 1t In
the papers every day for years and years,
we have heard II In the pulpit and read 1t
in the Magazines, and II has absorbed the
attention Of the people and Absorb bed their
money to the amount Of more than ten
billions OF dollars.
One Of the greatest enterprises In the
world, and one OF the great marvels of the
world to-day, is this great system of rail-
roads. Some of those railroads have been
put in operation within my memory, and
I can remember how they were first
operated. They were operated by the
ideas that prevailed In taking care OF
roads. When an accident occurred, the
place was fixed; when a bridge broke
down, another was built; when the rail
ties were rotted, new ones were put in.
How long did this method continue? II
conld not continue very long. The rail-
roads would all have gone into bank
ruptcy. 1t cost too much. 1t would
seem like economy to some people to
manage business In that way, but 1t Is
not, IL Ia extravagant.
To let your road alone until you are
obliged to fix IL, is extravagaut. They
were forced to adopt a method of road
management adapted to their business
Every rod OF the road for years has been
under the eye OF reliable person every
twenty-four hours. They have adopted q
system of continuous attention and care.
Could anything be more ecomicals Every
manufacturing industry In this country
is working along the same line, watching
to see that everything is in perfect order.
II you will show me a factory in this
country where the shafting is irregular,
wabbly and untrue, and where the ma
chinery does not run smooth and plumb,
will show you a concern that il on the
road to failure. But you cannot find
them; they cannot live.
believe that We ought to apply that to
our roads. i want to recommend to you
to bring about such system In the man
agement of your roads here in rural Maine.
know 1t Is difficult to bring about a
change In this matter. The road question
Is the most difficult one to contend with
that know gilmore difficult than the
school question. l think all the New
England states give state aid to schools,
but it is only when the schools are run
order to get the state aid. State aid for
roads becomes more difficult, because the
roads are constant and continuous. But
with or without state aid, we shou adopt
plan that il intelligent, and can con-
ceive OF no better way than to take pat
tern somewhat from the management OF
the railroad, in the maintenance of our
roads. am not talking about road build
ing yet.
In order to be successful in improving
our roads, the first thing we should do is
to take an interest in them; discuss them.
We have made great progress In Vermont
by beginning in our farmers institutes.
We began TO talk there in 1892, and were
surprised to learn that no topic We pre-
scented to the farmers seemed to be of
greater interest, for they realized that the
greatest burden they had to contend With
was poor roads. Agitste this question,