The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1905-11-02
GOOD ROADS MEETING
Was Largely Attended and Great
Interest Taken. The Road
Drag is the Thing.

evening, coming from Usceola. The
lecture and demonstration was held on
Thursday, and there was great interest
taken in the meeting, prominent farmers
from all parts of the county being
present, the attendance being mucn
larger than was expected, for while the
subject OF good roads is of vital import
ance to the farmers, it seems to be
pretty hard task to get them interested
in the proposition, but we firmly believe
that there has been an awakening in
this county, and within the next few
years there will be such an improve
ment in the roads of this county that
people will wonder how they ever used
to get over them in the condition they
were kept.
Thursday morning at 10 o'clock there
was preliminary meeting held at the
court house which was first addressed
by MIR. A. g. Carr, representing the in
dustrial department OF the G. B. & O.
lie said the railroads were interested in
the good roads movement as well as the
farmers and business men and were
ready to lend any aid and encourage
ment they could looking toward better
roads, and better roads means better
times for the farmers, and when the
farmers were prosperous SO were the
business men and the railroads. He
was followed by Thomas II. Macdonald,
OF Ames, who is connected with the
State Highway Commission, who gave
some good advice on the question of
building culverts and small bridges of
cement, which is strongly recommended
by the State Highway Commission, as
1T has bet demonstrated that they are
cheaper than lumber in the long run
and make much more substantial and
durable culvert.
At the afternoon meeting which was
presided over by Mr.. j. W. Keeler, Of
Leon, MIR. Macdonald again made an en-
cellent short talk, a great many farmers
being present who had not arrived
when the morning session was held.
He was followed by MIR. ID. Ward King,
the originator of the famous King road
drag, OF Maitland, Mo-, who has
made a national reputation as having
done more for good roads than any one
man in America. Although plain
farmer, living on a 600 acre farm a few
miles from Maitland, Mo-, he proved
most entertaining talker, and every
word was listened to with the greatest
interest. He said he was born and
raised in Ohio, where they have stone
roads and therefore he hated mud. He
told how he came to make the first drag,
1T being the stock of an old wooden
pump, and he dragged the road from his
front gate to the front gate of his next
neighbor nearest town. At first the
neighbors poked fun at him about work
ing the roads without getting paid for
it, but he kept on and from making fun
OF his efforts few of his neighbors be-
came Interested. He wore out the
pump stock and then took the trunk OF
box elder tree and split it and con-
structed the first split log drag. 1t
was in 1896 that he commenced drag
ging the half mile of road at his home,
and at that time it was such a bad road
that the most Of the travel was diverted
from it and went to another road to
avoid clay hill which was always bad.
The road was dragged after each rain,
and kept getting better and better
until finally the half mile OF road was
being talked of as the best piece of
road in that county, and men with fast
horses were driving out from town to
speed them over this road, going right
! by the race track at the fair grounds.
He kept on dragging the road after each
rain, and finally his neighbor made a
drag and used it, and then the work
became contagious until there are
hundreds of road drags being used in
his home county. He found that con-
staat dragging kept adding Goa, of
mud cement to the top of the road, and
at the same time kept pushing the dirt
! to the center OF the road, leaving it
| oval i'll shape SO that the water ran off,
and the road kept getting harder each
year, until now it is so hard that it will
stand under two weeks of rainy Wealth
er and not get cat into deep ruts. he
longer it is dragged the harder it gets.
He made a very good illustration OF how
the soft mud makes a cement on he
road by telling what every farmer
knows is a fact. Take "a hog lot and
you will notice that often nAile the
highest ground in the lot is dry and
dusty you will find hog wallows Which
hold water in the driest time and the
water was not absorbed into the gIuund.
The hog by wallowing simply pl;,sters
mud cement in the hole until it is water
proof, and the same principle applied to
the public roads will make them nearly
water proof. He said any kind Of a
drag would do good on the roads, but
he found none which did better work
with as little labor as the King split
log drag. Seasoned slippery elm is
good, SO is a large red cedar post, or
the butt end Of a telephone pole, Tor it
combines lightness with strength.
At the conclusion of his talk Mr.. King
asked all those who had drags to hold
up their hands and he was greatly sur
prised when about thirty-fve men indi-
Gated they had drags. He said hid he
known there was that many drags in
the county he would have made a
different talk, devoting more time to
telling how best to use them, but the
first thing was to get the farmers to
make the drags and start using them
and by their own experience they
would soon find out as much as he had.
The State Highway Commission has pre-
pared SPLENDID book on the subject
and Mr.. King said copy would be sent
to all those present who had drags or
would agree to make and use drag,
and asked that their names be handed
to The REPORTER editor. Almost fifty
men made application for the books,
which will be sent to them at once.
After the lecture Mr.. King gave a