Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-04-07

ming as near direct as the contour of
the ground would admit, to certain
points, crossing the valleys with easy
grades and always finding the best
crossings Of rivers and creeks. Many
of our railroads today follow upon the
lines of these trails. The early settlers
of our state displayed the same wis
dom in selecting the routes for our
first public roads. Take any county in
Iowa and examine it's highway records,
and 1t will be seen that all the terri
torial and state roads, as well as many
of the first country roads, were laid
out on excellent ground and always as
near as the contour of the ground
would admit, in a direct line to the
point sought. Who of the old settlers
do not remember that the roads were
comparatively good in those days?
At any season of the year it being
possible to travel then, earring
perhaps, the time Of high water at
creek crossing) and when, as yet, very
little had been expended upon them.
Now why has 1t come to pass, that
for several weeks In the spring and Of
ten at other seasons Of the year farm
er can with difficulty get to the towns
with even an empty wagon? Because
these early roads spoken Of have been
done away with, and narrow lanes,
laid largely on subdivision lines, re-
CARELESS Of the character Of the ground,
regardless of steep grades, regardless
Of distance, regardless of sloughs,
swamps and everything else that
should be considered in road making,
Only one thought was kept in view,
that, to save land. The evolution has
been gradual, and no particular Off
Gals have been to blame for it. but the
fact remains that as the lands were
taken up, the then existing roads were
vacated or changed one at a time, a
quarter of a mile here, a half mile
there a mile or two in another place,
the evolution covering period of
years, until in many counties hardly n
vestige of the old roads remain.
A man buying a farm on the line of
one of the old roads Immediately petit
toned the board Of supervisors to
change the road to conform to his lines.
A commissioner was appointed to view
the proposed change. He reports
as follows:
'I proceeded to examine the proposed
route and find that the change petitioned
for will be Of great utility to the public
and further recommend that old road be
vacated as it Is of no further use" Another
favorite form of report with commission
ers was as follows: Proceeded to view the
change petitioned for by Mr.. , and
find that the new road will run on as good
ground as the old one, and that the dis
lance will not be materially increased
thereby, and that the public road will be
| subserved by making the change" 1t does
not require an engineer to see that the dis
lance is generally increased, even to the
| extent of one-third, in some cases, and in
stead of being of any utility to the public
1t was a positive detriment to all except
the man whose land Is affected by the
change Sometimes remonstrance was
lodi 1,x,n RITZ ypbo wi fra
eled the road to town, but seldom was
any attention paid to it. Out Of seven
hundred road actions In one county,
found only fifty petitions for changes that
had been rejected, and often in these cases
by reading between the lines could be seen
the feuds, iealousles and spite work Of the
neighborhood at work, Often those who
would be opposed to the vacation of an
old road would be likely to ask soon for
Il similar change to benefit themselves, II
indeed, they had not done so already.
In many cases the changes granted were
ridiculous in the extreme. In certain
county is state road, well known to the
writer, which runs northwesterly up ry
err bottom, and which Is also located on
good dry ground at. the foot of the bluffs,
but high enough so that high water or mud
do not affect it. This is also the main
road from the county to n large town of
the county, and about one-sixth of the pop
in part to reach the county seat. About
twelve years ago n man purchased quar-
ter section which lay all upon one side
of this road except five acres, which by
the way, was gravelly knoll He petl-
toned to have the road changed, which
was granted. The new road ran north ten
chains to the corner which was fifty feet
higher than the beginning in the old road.
1t then ran west about ten chains, inter
secting the old road at the foot Of the bluff.
The commissioner who only saw that the
corner was out of the land, recommended
the change, stating, that the ground was
good and that the distance was not materi-
ally increased thereby This one man was
accommodated, but one-sixth of the popu-
.lation of the county must travel over this
hill, having had to reduce the size of
the loads hauled, saying nothing of the
inconvenience to all future generations to
| lar changes made in the same road, in
peated over and over in a large majority
state.
| But this is not all of the damage wrought
| by these changes. Every state road as
tablished sixty-siX (66) feet in width The
the width to forty (4O) feet. and in many
law was made fixing the minimum width
of the new roads laid out during certain
| (33) feet in width No road should have
! hon