The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1903-11-28
Expert Iinoyyicdgc for Work.
ms. Roads.

ENpprt knnyyicdgc for Work.
iI;w Roads.
IuE LAFAYETTE GAZETTE:
IA great many men are under
the impression that it requires Il
grSat amount of expert know
ledge to supcrintcnd the building
of oNr public roads. That is
grea& mistake. It requires no
more eXpert knowledge to build
Il good wagon road than it does
to work a good farm. | claim
that l have all tho expert know
ledge required for building
wagon roads in any civilized
country and | never took any
expert lessons or studied any
particular theory on road MAX
ing.
My Knowledge on road making
was forced upon me by sur
rounding circumstances. l will
give you little birdscyc sketch
of some Of these surroundings.
They may be Interesting to some
Of your readers.
In 1884 / was left Il poor or
phan in a strange land, among
strangers. without home, money
or friends. Before | was y
years old, | went into the lum-
Der business and built Il steam
| sawmill in the wilderness of
Canada. | had to make roads
by cutting down trees, digging
out StumpS, and bridging
cOuleeS. to get my lum Der out.
In 1~49, [ was travelling in the
| Sierra Nevada mountains Of Cal
ifornia with train of pack ami
mails. l had to cut my own roads
up and down and along the sides
of mountains. l.. 1852. [ crossed
| the Sierra Nevada mountains
into Utah territory where white
men had never been seen. L
had neither roads nor trails to
follow during IA days, in the
snow in places from one foot to
one hundred feet deep where it
had drifted over the high ranges
for ages. In forty days, | re-
turned with six followers out of
30, worn out and half naked. In
I 1852, l had a contract of grading
six miles of the Sacramento Val
ley railroad. In 1854, I was APP
pointed chief Superintendent OF
public roads for the county of
Sacramento, which position L
held for two years. l then re-
turned to Canada. went into the
lum Der business, getting out
heavy square timber and ship
maSts for the Quebec market,
which required a great amount
Of road making and bridging. In
1868, [ moved to SimcOe, county
of Norfolk, where for Is years,
a greater part of the time, was
in the city council, and held the
position of chairman of the board
of public works. | Supe3 intended
all the building of bridges, roads.
streets, sidewalks, and sewers.
] don't mention the s-bOve cir,
, cum stances in q 5 Elrlt OF boast
ing, but to show you that l know
from practical experience what
: am talking about. L have seer
all kinds of systems for working
roads in my travels through the
Western. Northern, and Atlantic
Southern states and in Canada
Cuba. Jamaica, Brazil, Patagonia
Cape Horn, Chill, Peru, and Mica
- ragua The finest road that :
ever saw was in Nicaragua neal
the great projected canal route
here are three systems o.
: building public roads that
1 thoroughly understand, the far
mer system, the board Of work:
= system, and the contract system
In my opinion the board O
> works system is by far the bes
and cheapest for this cOuntr.
at the present time. Later on
J.. will give, for the benefit anc
consideration of our Police Jury
a synophSiS of board of work
for the purpose Of working GU
public roads. | hope that the,
will take it kindly and consider
ately as intended.
j. NICKERSON.
l. Louisiana State Public ScllOU
Teachers Associations.
New Orleans. La. November. @. 100