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

there is no reason why strip on ca |
side next to the fences should not be let |
undisturbed. The wider roads also allow.
the SHOWS to melt away, and gives the mud
chance to dry up after rains, but as ncv
with our narrow lanes. thirty-three or fort,
feet wide, often with Usage hedges on eth.
er side, they fill with snow in winter ana
are veritable mud traps in the spring and
fall. The snow and mud hang on long after
the fields adjacent are dry. have seen an
empty wagon being dragged through one
OF these lanes by four horses with the axle
nearly to the ground while an old stat
| road In the same section, of exactly the
same soil was comparatively dry, becauH
1t was wide enough to dry out. But if T.
| Is disheartenfng for man TO drive through
one of these narrow apologies for road
what of the man who attempts to navigate
one on foot? He may have climbed sno
| clad mountains penetrated jungles. trsv
ersed the forests or deserts of Africa. or
found his way in safety across the prairies
in Dakota blizzard but he is conquered
here. He leaps from one island to anotherI
| weaving his way from side to side until
exhausted, and his feet loaded with mudI
he thinks to betake himself to the fields.
but is confronted with hedge of thorns
| or barbed wire fence, and finally owns
| himself knocked out.
| And these are the roads that the chill,
dren must use in going to and from school.
| ALI olleu dsheu III discussing CnlS UueSi
| tion, If L do not think 1t better to place
the roads on the subdivision lines. l ar4
swer. YES so far as it is possible to DO
| so without destroying the usefulness of
the road. They say that diagonal roads
cut the farms badly, making ill-shaped
| fields. This is true SO do hills and creeks
and many other natural features 1t was
proper, however, in many cases to change
the roads to lines, especially by roads that
are not much used by the public and where
the ground will admit of a good road and
! runs in the right direction, by all means
place it there. But some of the angling
roads should be maintained even If they
do angle across a few farms. very large
section Of country should not be made
| to suffer such inconvenience simply to acI
commodate one or two men, and besides
| these roads already existed from the be-
ginning of the settlement of the country,
and if any one did not desire, such farm,
he need not have purchased it. But it
stands to reason that any farm is worth
| more per acre with a good road to the
towns, even If the said road does angle
through it, than one so situated that u full
| load cannot be hauled to market and
where for several weeks each year it Is
cut off entirely.
| The time is coming, and that before long,
when we shall be obliged to condemn the
right Of way for a few such roads through
some of the same lands, and over the
same routes that we have SO willingly givA
en- up. am Of the opinion that whenever
any beginning Is made toward improving
highways, that it will be necessary to lay
out some lines Of road ut least, which shall
trend in the direction OF certain towns,
the route to be selected with a view of
building a good road, which shall be at
least fifty (50) feet wide, on good dry
ground, avoiding sloughs, marshy places,
or steep grades and selecting the best
1 n,t,, - 81, II ,{rty, {l,nH
such n road could be built, even In Iowa
soil, If properly under-drained, or even
| with open bitches, with the same amount
Of work expended upon them, that Is now
wasted upon many of the existing roads.
1 believe they could be travelled the great
err part of the year with loads, not free
| from mud, of course, but passable at all
times. The drainage and the facilities for
drying out quickly, presented by the wide
open road would reduce the mud to mini
4 mum.
/ Where it is desired to pave, macadamize,
or gravel, which will be the only way to
| make perfect roads, such route presents
the advantage of accommodating the great
| est number of people with the fewest
| miles of road. Let me Illustrate. General
/ ly our county seats are nearsthe center of
| our counties Let the roads which You
probably already have running on lines
north, south, east and west, from these
county seats be widened to the proper
width and changed at points, where neces-
sary to bring them to the ,dryest and best
| ground, or to avoid steep grades. Then
lsuppose that roads Of the same character
be run diagonally towards the northeast,
northwest, southwest and southeast cor
ners of the county as near direct as the
contour of the ground will allow, varying
| in it's course to pass through any good
towns In those directions. These eight
trunk roads will be apt to, or can be made
to connect all the towns of the county with
| the county seat If all the other roads of
the county remain as they are, on lines or
nearly so, Il very small proportion of the
lands will be cut diagonally. These trunk
roads properly graded, or which will be
still better macadamized or paved, will
| furnish the county with a convenient sys-
TEN, without improving any of the others.
| Any farmer in the county not living on
any of these roads would feel that within
| a few miles at the most, he could meet n
good and direct road to the towns. Those
| living on the diagonal roads and having
| their lands cut by them, would be amply
compensated by being able to haul full
| load to market at any season of the year,
| and In the enhanced values of the land,
which would Immediately follow.
1t seems to be fact that in all of the
mountainous or broken states it is much
easier travelling than in the west. The
best routes are selected in those states.
In Iowa it has simply been matter of ac-
commodation to individual land owners,
which is the only thing considered of late
| years think 1t about time to change our
policy and begin to secure the right Of
way for future roads We can at least re
fuse to change the location of a road, ex-
cept when it is proposed to place it up on
better ground. This article applies to the
state generally but in Wapello county more
attention has been paid to road location
than in many others. The changes re-
ouired in this county would be minor.
When it Is proposed to locate a new road,
however, let us consider the first principles
involved, that is, q feasible location.
BELkNAP.