Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-02-09
HELPING UP THE HILLS.
A Suggestion of Interest to Augusta
Horses and Drivers.

other night, and heard the arguments
for good roads," remarked Rev. Henry
E. Dunnack of Green Street Methodist
church to a Journal man. Its a sub
ject that I'm interested in, for we are
paying heavy tax here in Maine in
the shape of extra travel to carry loads
over poor roads. | like to ride over
good road, but l can't find much en-
joyment in one that has been through
the customary process of repairs, and
left rougher than it was before they be-
gun. In New Jersey, one horse will
haul to market nine tons of produce
over one of their improved roads. The
Maine farmer that can only take one
ton at a time with one horse is compet-
ing with the New Jersey farmer. and
his terms are not only those of a longer
he reaches the point of railroad ship
ment The question of dollars and
cents is one that the good-roads advo-
Gates have no reason to fear. New
Jersey sand and clay make good road
building more difficult than the loans
OF Maine soil, so that the first cost is
greater to them than it need be i'll
Maine OF course that is offset in a
measure by the fact that they have
little frost to disturb a road once it is
built.
But that isn't exactly the sermon
that | want to preach, some time, to the
business men of Augusta. 1t is merely
the text. 1 want to suggest a little
thing that ought to be an economy in the
teaming in this city Do you have any
idea how many heavy loads are hauled
up Rines hill every year? 1 do, for ]
live pretty near the hill and see good
many of them. I've seen a good many
teams stopped at the foot of the hill in
order to take off a part of the load, and
then another trip and another loading
were required for the portion left be-
hind. Then sometimes load is limited
purposely to what the team can pull
up the hill, and the owner is losing a
part of the working capacity of the
team when the more level ground is
reached.
"Why wouldn't it be good idea and
q practical one for the truckmen and
coal dealers and others with heavy
loads to take up that hill to get to-
gether and have a horse CT span sta
toned at the foot of that hill to hitch
on as leaders and help on the hard pull
and then 60 back to help the next man?
1t wouldn't require very heavy fee to
pay for such team each time it was
used to help in that way. 1t would be
cheaper to pay it than to go twice with
two small loads which with its help
could be taken at one large load.
"This isn't any new idea. I'm only
suggesting a local application of a
4l,a{ ;e. aid n1,,h Ivy bo
use of domestic animals. They used to
do it on the old street cars in the city
of Portland, where such a team was
kept at the foot of India street and at
other places to help on the pull up to
Congress street and then sent back to
help the next team. The Grand Trunk
Railroad keeps helper engine at West
Paris to hitch on when the westbound
freights have to climb that stupendous
grade between West Paris and Bryant's
Pond, and the. same. thing is done in
lots of other places.
Il love to see a good horse pull. I
like to see him settle into the collar and
| lift, and l feel as if I'd like to have
more pullerS like him in the human
friends that I have. Yes, I'd like to
have that kind working in my church;
good hearty honest workers that are
willing to do their whole share. And
then when l see a good pulling horse.
I think what a shame it is to- make him
overdo on that wicked Rines hill. And
as things are now, either the horse is
overloaded on the hill or his owner is
losing a good part of the horses
strength on the rest of the journey.
OF course the way to settle the pay for
that would be by an established fee
for each helping, and then the ones that
used the extra team most would pay
| the most.
81 think as practical business propo-
sition that the truckmen and coal
dealers and people hauling wood ond
| building material and all those divers
things UP that hill would be accom-
| plishing a marked economy by doing
| Just that thing. Don't you|' And the
Journal man told him that the idea was
worth offering to the people.
"Of course in a city like Augusta
that's built on as many hills as
Jerusalem was, there is mere than one
place where such g thing might be
DONE" continued the energetic clergy
man. There's Cony hill, and Gage
street near the shoe factory, and the
| hill that we sometimes dignity by the
pleasant name of Cushnoc heights, and
there are others too numerous to men
| ton as you newspaper fellows some
times say 1t wouldn't be practical
at all of Them but I'd like to see it
| tried at Rines hill, and then at perhaps
one of the others if it proved to be a
good thing there. And I haven't
doubt if they once did it they would
| wonder how they ever got along with
out it,