The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1903-11-12

| are IN a bad or nearly impossible
condition. AS the roads are bettered
and improved the list of ones social
acquaintance is heightened in pro-
portion to the lengthening of the dis
lance one can conveniently travel in
a limited space of time. For instance,
if you can drive five miles in an hour
over a poorly kept road, and you can
drive ten miles in the same length of
time over graveled and we'll kept
one, your acquaintance along the
we'll kept road will extend twice as far
along the poorly kept one. The large
cities with perfect transportation ia
cilities are a striking example of how
distance is obliterated by the possibil-
ity of travelling long distance in
short time.
II believe that most of US are
agreed that bad roads seriously affect
the economic and social conditions
of community. Now the question is:
How can our country roads be i'm
proved? This depends largely upon
the condition of the soil, the distance
from rOadmaking materials and the
financial standing of the community.
To make perfect road it is necessary
to cover the surface with gravel mixed
with clay, or to macadamize it with
crushed stone. This entails the ex-
penditure of considerable money, but
in the end it is the cheapest method of
road building.
But it is not enough to the making
of a good and easily Travelled road
that it be we'll surfaced. At least four
things enter into the making of a good
and easily Travelled road, viz: A
roadbed of sufficient width: good
drainage, SO that the bottom of the
road is kept firm; easy grades, so that
as large a load can be pulled up it's
steepest hill as can be hauled over the
comparatively level parts of the road
without over-exertion; land a good hard
surface. Let us consider these four
conditions or elements in the order
named.
First the width of the roadbed.
The roadbed should be of sufficient
width to admit of a comparatively
level track in the center sufficiently
wide to permit two loaded vehicles to
pass each other without tipping. And
the sides should slope gradually from
this comparatively level track towards
the cutters. In order to have such a
roadbed it is necessary that the dis
lance between the cutters should be
at least three rods. All our public
roads have been laid out four rods
wide, but the landowners along them
have so encroached upon the public
domain that they are often found to
be less than two rods wide. The con-
sequence is that the roadbed is so mar
row that the distance from gutter is
less than a rod. This is not a road,
but simply a trail. Why the public
authorities have allowed, and do still
allow, this encroachment upon the
public highways is not easy to UNDER
stand.
"Next we come to the consideration
of the question of drainage. This is
very important one. Even a roadbed
of sufficient width and properly turn
piked becomes impossible if not prop
accumulate alongside the road it will
soon make it soft and Doggy. This
can be remedied by making proper
bitches along the road and putting
culverts into it to allow the water to
find an outlet.
"A team mired on going up or down
a hill is not an uncommon sight in
these parts in the springtime, and
sometimes way along into the summer.
The cause of this condition of the
roads is that the roadbed has been
sunk down into the hill and no pro-
vision made by way of cutters at the
sides for carrying away the water &C
cumulated on the sides of the cut; but
on the contrary, the Travelled track is
itself the ditch. This could be pre-
vented by properly turnpiking the
hills so as to make cutters on both
sides of the Travelled track
"We will now consider the grades
or hills in our public highways. It is
an old saying that "A chain is no
stronger than it's weakest link It
may be said about a road that no
larger load can be hauled over it
than can be pulled up it's steepest hill.
Thus we see how important it is that
every hill in our highways should be
lowered to the lowest grade possible.
With the implements now generally
provided for cutting down the hills it
is a comparatively easy task to cut
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