The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1903-12-24
IMPROVING "A ROAD.
HOW AN INDIANA DISTRICT BUILT A
GOOD HIGHWAY.


prising Farmers worked Together.
Good Example to Follow Every
where-Keeping Roads In Order.
AS good a macadamiZed road as is
found in Indiana is the Pleasant View
road, in Dearborn county, between Au-
rora and Mount Tabor, says a writer
in the Rural New Yorker This road
is far better than the toll pike, which
runs parallel with and one mile north
OF the macadamized road At one
time the former was almost impossible
during the winter and spring months
on account of the mud. The older men
say that they have seen the time when
the only way they could reach town in
the spring was by horseback. Now
there are travel and hauling the year
round.
For a great number Of years the
township through which this road runs,
containing fourteen square miles, was
divided into fourteen road districts,
with the same number of supervisors,
each of whom drew yearly salary of
from $25 to $45. Thus the various
roads were under so many different
arrangements that there could be no
system in working them to accomplish
the greatest good. There being plenty
of stone on some of the farms in the
township, there was no good reason
why there should not be good roads.
Finally few enterprising citizens pre-
vailed upon the trustee in 1895 to buy
a stone crusher, to redistrict the town
ship into four road districts and to
levy a road tax to the full extent Of
the law, which was 40 cents on 500, Of
which amount 10 cents was to be paid
In money. Nearly the whole of Pleas
ant View road fell in one district
From this time came the greatest i'm
provement in this road.
Fl. D. Tufts was appointed supervis-
or. Every one was anxious to have
good roads and realized that even with
this extra tax alone they could not be
built and maintained The supervisor
and five other men were the most in
terested and agreed to donate their part
Of the work on the road each year be-
These six men worked to accomplish
the greatest good and were always
ready at the call of the supervisor.
These men alone have donated 81 800.
The supervisor told every man in the
district that if he would haul out free
of cost to the district large pile of
stone near the road he would use the
tax to crush and put the stone on the
public road wherever the giver might
designate. This encouraged donations,
as every one wanted good road
through his farm. The farmers who
owned farms along the road and
would not give any work were com
PEELED to work their tax out by hand
and never allowed to work their teams.
Each spring the amount Of road that
will be stoned in the fall is thrown up
with a grader drawn by six horses.
The center of the roadbed is we'll
rounded, forming a gradual slope to-
ward the bitches on each side. The
travel in the summer wears this grad
ing smooth and hard, so there is a good
foundation upon which to spread the
stone
After harvest, when the farmers are
not busy, the stone crusher is set in q
convenient place, and macadamizing
the road commences. The stones are
usually hauled direct from the field I'M
less they are given and thrown on to
the crusher, when they are run through
and the crushed stone elevated into the
wagon underneath the elevator A
small pile of stone is hauled out close
to the crusher SO as to have reserve in
case the teams that are hauling fail to
get to the crusher on time. In this way
the crusher need not stop to wait for
stone. 1t requires four good men to
feed it, and there have been crushed
100 perches per day of ten hours.
The crushed stone is hauled in stone
beds that hold one and a quarter
perches. All beds used for this pur-
pose are the same size, as different
sized loads are apt to make an uneven
road, for it is difficult to get them
properly spread to prevent a low place
where the small loads are placed All
the travel is forced upon the crushed
stone by placing Instructions along the
side OF the road In a short time the
roadbed is packed and worn smooth.
One of the essentials in keeping a
road in repair is to keep 1t well round
ed to allow the water to run off after
each rain. This is accomplished by
running a grader over the road. AS
soon as the newly crushed stones are
packed the grader is run along each
side, and all loose stones are thrown
back into the road Again, before
spring the road is gone over, and all
loose stones are thrown into the road,
and the two ridges between the center
and the wheel tracks are cut off and
thrown into the low place in the cen
ter that has been worn by the one
horse travelling in the middle OF the