The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-08-12
THE QUESTION OF GOOD ROADS.
The Grieyous Need of Them and What
IS Being Done to Improve the Present
Bad System in This Country.
9lF;y IA Prescott-Bu

Bad System IN THIS Country
Ey F. Prescott-Bulsock.
all times Of the year is fels the
great Importance of good country
Z roads, but sit no time more SO than.
when the crops begin to be hauled to
market. These who reside III the
towns and cities need the good roads
every bit as much as the farmer, for
with them The latter is permitted IN
all conditions Of weather to deliver
his produce with ease, lessons the ex-
pense Of keeping stock N good order
and reduces TO minimum the wear
and tear on the wagons. Good roads
are comparativIey free from dust IN
$ the summer. and mud in the spring,
& fall and winter, they make 1t COZ
yenient to send the children to school,
FOR the family to attend church, they
bring more trade to the merchant,
and are easier for the physician to
visit his country patients. They are q
benefit to tho health. wealth, prosperl-
So aud general welfare OF county.
Bad roads represent an actual money
yalue taken from the people. 1t has
sIways been admitted that the United
States is sadly deficient In good high
Ways, and noted for its immense num-
ber of roads utterly impossible in bad
weather. but the standing excuse has
been that; it is such new country.
there has not been time for such I'M
provements.
This is Of the lamest, for no other
nation on the face OF the earth has ac-
complished In the same time, one
: hundredth part that the United States
has. We have more railroads, tele-
graph and telephone lines, have I'M,
proved more rivers. conquered more
forests, wsltered more arid plains
than all the rest OF the world COM
bined. TO the bicycle however is due
the first, OF the great agitation which
IS now taking hold of the entire coun-
try IN the interests of good roads. 1t
was next taken up by the Governments
and now is matter of legislation IN
most all of the States.
The question Of what constitutes
rood road has been stEaied out by
The Department OF Agriculture and
panphlets by the ton showing just
how road should be constructed
and preserved have been published,
distributed, and may be had simply
for the asking. Experiment stations
have been established where lessons
IN road making are given.
Each State has its own peculiar
problem to solve and its difficulties
10 overcome owing to the various
formations of the land and soil, but
actual experience has proven that
! when the proper efforts are made, the
rood road is made. The greatest
trouble. has been that the money an
naully expended upon our roads has
been used in an unmethodical manner.
What is required, is that those IN
charge of these matters, should work
with reference to a general plan-such=
as better surface, adjustment OF
grades, and, where practical, shorten
inc OF distances. Without this, no
matter how well intentioned, the work
will be futile. 1t is vast enterprise
to reconstruct the roads OF this coun-
Try, bnta perfect system OF highways
would be the most magnificent present
possible te, the nation or state. The
most practicable way of accomplishing
! this, that can suggest is the estab-.
lishment of a department OF roads as
state bureau, with sufficient
number of trained surveyors
and engineers who must prepare maps
By counties, with the roads divided
into two classes, highways and common
roads, selected with careful consider
alton for the future, as well as present
wants, and submit these maps to
board of county officials.
A = = ,<,S re
have the HIGHWAYS Of uniformly ex
psnsiYe construction throughout their
length.
As an illustration, take a highway
of twenty miles, connecting the coun-
~ seat with some other centre, and
estimating the cost at Sl,0o0 9. mile,
the road would cost complete $40, 900.
Let this twenty miles be divided into
sections, and the road out from each
centre be improved In proportion to
the radius OF the population-that is,
let the road Eve miles out each way
receive attention first, and the largs It
expenditure of ready money, while the
rest, or the ten miles in the middle,
be worked to best advantage with the
remainder of the funds. This is an
equitable adjustment from the fact
that the trave. and population rapidly
diminish from the centres, and there
fore the road receives the greatest part
of the wear near the towns.
This appears to involve a sum OF
money much too great TO be practi-
cable, but by the issuance OF county
bonds, running over period of twenty
or even forty years, the actual expense
viii be borne by two generations, and
the expenditure of this sum of money
in the several counties, and the op-
portunities it will give for work, will
cause a substantial increase in pros
perity, as the money will all be dis
tributed among the working men Of
each district.
One of the most important factors
in keeping roads in good order is the
nSe of wide tires for all wagons carry