The Oskaloosa herald., 1903-02-26

indigestion
and Dyspepsia. BE sure to try 1t.
policy will go a long way towards
making good highways of our public
roads where there is no material
available except the native soil. l
have not in this address taken up the
methods of constructing roads by ma
cadamizing or surfacing with stone or
brick, as there is comparatively little
of that done in the state at present
outside of the cities. Our main thor
oughfare should, after proper drain
age and grading, be made of the most
durable material available. Gravel
may be used with marked benefit
wherever it a be obtained, and for
ordinary country traffic a well con-
structed, properly surfaced gravel
road kept in good order will meet all
requirements. If our country roads
could once be, put in proper form and
surfaced with a foot of gravel on a
well drained and properly graded road
bed the expense of maintenance there
after would not exceed 25 to 40 per
cent &C the present cost. Many local
tiles are without gravel, but the rail-
roads of this and other states have
manifested a generous and public
spirited interest in road improvement
and have made special rates for trans
porting gravel to various localities
that have no local supply and it is
practicable under this system to OBJ
tain gravel roads at reasonable ex-
pense.
Several towns in the state already
have their principal residence and
business streets and their main thor
oughfares leading into TOWN surfaced
with rock and they are highly graft
fed with the results. Last winter l
was driven W a macadam road
leading into Maquokeca that would do
credit to some of the old county com-
munities whose good roads are so
widely known. Where the material
is easily available l believe it will pay
cities and road districts to purchase
stone crushers and heavy rollers and
make a few miles of permanent roads
each year.
Our road system is wasteful and ex-
travagant in other ways besides the
useless and injudicious expenditure of
money. The laying out of roads on
straight lines is an expensive policy,
particularly in sections at all inclined
to be billy. Theoretically, the short
est distance between two points is in
a straight line, but in road building
this mathematical axiom Toes not al
ways hold true, unless we tunnel the
hills.
Steep grades are expensive and
should be avoided wherever possible.
Railroad companies know that they
cannot afford to construct railways on
straight lines. They find it economy
to follow the winding valleys, thus
avoiding both the sharp hills and the
deep cuts. In Canada and in Euro
pean countries, where the best roads
are found, one rarely sees a mile OF
straight road in a days ride. A grade
of ten feet in one hundred does not
seem particularly steep, yet it adds
one-tenth to the load and requires 200
pounds more power to o a ton
than would be required for the same
road on the level.
We are. also extravagant in the
ing. The best country roads / have
ever seen are scarcely more than one
third the width of ours and some are
so narrow that you could hardly drive
over them on a dark night without
fear of striking the fences on either
side. When ours are maintained in
proper condition one-half the present
width will be ample and the value of
this land now utilized for weed grow
ing will in many cases go a long way
toward matchmaking or otherwise
improving the road bed. The rapid
extension of electric railways, how
ever, makes it desirable to retain the
present width of public highways,
traversed by these lines and the width
should not be reduced in any case un-
til permanent road beds have been es-
tablished.
The commonly used narrow tires
are another enemy Of good roads and
they have no reason for existence.
Practical and scientific tests all con-
denim them from the standpoint OF
utility as well as for destructibility
of roads.
On the college farm We are now
buying only wide-tired wagons and
we prefer them in every way. The
last wagon we purchased has four
inch tires and is three inches lower
+Lor ou5oud ho;oh+ opd II 10 for