The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1904-09-14
ABOUT OILED ROADS
AND The COST OF SAME
The Herald Obtains Information for Its
Readers-0iled Roads Give Salts
faction.

]
for the city on the question OF giving
the oiled road proposition a test for :he
purpose of ascertainng its practicable
ity. Through the efforts of this office
in corresponding with sources familiar
with the result of these crude oiled
roads some facts have been obtained
that may prove of interest to our read
crs. In answer to communication the
following letter was received from G. v.
Wnitly. secretary of the Tacoma pub
lie schools:
Il was much pleased to get your favor
of the 9th ult. concerning the oiling of
roads. | spent nearly three months this
summer in Southern California, visit
| ing principally Los Angeles. San Diego,
Santa Barbara. San Jose and San Fran
cisco, and noted the condition of the
oiled roads i'll these various places. From
observations. | should Judge that the
oiling of roads is still in the experiment
tai stage. ana does not as yet fill all tne
requirements. The soil best adapted
for its Use is gravelly or coarse sandy
soil. At Santa Barbara the beach sand
is first spread on the road an inch or
two thick, the oil then poured over it.,
after which it is rolled. In many parts
of California the soil is of adobe and
.hn,, h., al =
it forms in humps and makes a very I'M
even road.
"In many of the counties the road SUI
pcrvisors nave oiled the roads. but the
farmers and others hauling heavy loads
complain that it is harder to pull over
the roads that are oiled. When | rode
over them with my bycicle, it felt as if
some one was holding on to my back
wheel
"Oil is u>od on the roads in Golden
Gate park san Francisco. and it certain
ly makes a delightful driveway. There
is no question about its being effective
in laying the dust.
AS to cost, would refer YOU to Mr..
Jonn \. Chase, agent of the associated
On company, at San Jose. Mr.. Chase
also has had experience in laying the oil
and can give YOU figures by the guam
tity or by the mile laid. The secretary
of the chamber of commerce. Santa Bar
bara, could also give you prices. also
valuable information concerning its use.
'The city of Los Angeles contemplates
using it next year on the streets not al
ready paved in order to avoid using so
much water which is rather scarce at
times. They expected to pay 5000 a mile
for the first year and much less each
year thereafter
A party by the name of Mr.. Reese
has oiled south G. street in Tacoma. in
front of Wright park, for the property
owners and it cost them $40 for each lot
of twenty-five feet. The street has been
parked and is, therefore, only thirty
feet wide. OF course, it has not been
laid long enough to determine about the
able. No dust and no mud"
A. b. Cline. assistant cashier of the
First National bank has also taken
considerable interest in the matter of
oiling the streets, and to ascertain the
probable cost per block, has had some
correspondence with the Seattle brancn
of the Standard Oil company. The
letter below gives some indea of 'hc
method of procedure particularly i'll ref
erence to macadamized streets and
other data of interest.
The price that we could name to
you is soc per barrel of ~ gallous in
bulk. The capacity of our tank ears
is 10000 gallons, or about 23S barrels OF
AZ gallons.
For sprinkling roads, the minimum
quantity is 200 barrels for roadway n
mile long and about l6 feet wide. and
the maximum is 400 barrels. But as
your roadway is macadamized with
semi-decomposed rock, the minimum
would apply; or carload of 23s barrels
should put that strip OF roadway that
you speak of, in very good shape. 1t
would have to be pretty well narrowed
before applying the oil, and after
sprinkling with oil it should be rolled.
The sprinkling could be done with the
ordinary watering cart, but the oil
should be warmed by steam coil before
sprinkling, that is, it would have to bc
warmed up by placing steam coil down
in the man hole of the car, or warm it
up in the wagon after they are loaded
and just before starting out to sprinkle
the roadway.
The freight rate that you would have
to pay on a car of 23S barrels in bulk,
| from Seattle to North Yakima. would b.
something like S3l3.6O or sl.3l per bar
rel, making the oil cost You per barrel
of AZ gallons, 2ll or fraction over
&c per gallon"