The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1905-07-08
GOOD ROADS PEOPLE.
Were IN Corvallis Some Things They

ton arrived III Corvallis by a special
train Tuesday at 1890. They were
met by party of leading citizens,
representatives of the city, county,
college and Citizens League. Sen
ator Avery and Representative Car
ter were also on the reception COM
mittee. The visitors were escorted
to the City Hall, where addresses
of welcome were made by Mayor
A. J. johnson, Judge Waters and
B. w. Johnson. Col. W. H. Moore
responded in happy vein. He is
president of the National Good
Roads Association, and is a pleas
ant speaker. This, he said, was
the first convention of the SORT ever
held On the Fourth of July. and he
declared it to be the most interest
ing celebration he had ever seen.
In the matter of good roads, she
said, they had come to Corvallis to
agitate that subject, to teach the
public how to organize, how to get
money, and how to spend it to ad-
vantage. 1t did not pay, he said,
to try to cover too much area with
the money available for road work;
better build one mile of permanent
than ten of poor road. Col. Moore
warmly commended the work. al
ready done by the Benton county
court in the matter of road build
ing. He also touched on the noun
tain water qeustion then pending in
Corvallis, advising citizens to Sc.
cure such system at their first op-
portunity. You will have fewer
doctor bills, better health and bet
ter people, when you drink pure
water" declared Col. Moore amid
applause.
After a selection and an encore
by quartette composed of B. w.
johnson, Otto Herse, Prof. Fulton
and John Allen, Col. 7. P. Rixey.
of Missouri, gave an interesting talk
on ''Legislation.''
The second session opened at 2
P. m. with an Grafton on "The Val
ue of Good Roads" by Mr., Ross,
another member of the visiting par
ty. Hon. William Bradburn, con-
sulting engineer of the National
Good Roads Association, then gave
probably the most practicable ad-
dress of the day. After the morn
ing session closed Mr.. Bradburn
was taken for drive over some of
Benton's highways, and he warmly
praised the work that had been done
by the court. cit is money well
spent he said in answer to inquiry
as to his opinion on the subject.
In his talk before the convention
Mr.. Bradburn said that the shortest
road was not always the best nor the
most desirable. Instead of build
ing short cut over hill, build a
longer road but level one around
the hill, and you have achieved bet
ter results. Build cu1verts diagon-
ally across the road, not at right
angles, and build them large enough
so the water can pass under them
freely without a swirl. They will
not wash away so often then. Fill
chuck holes in earth roads with
good earth, not with gravel. Put
in no green or perishable matter,
which soon decomposes, adding to
the muck. In building a road bed
grade it up in the center, to give
drainage towards each side. Run
the gravel through rock separator
to secure three sizes. Put the 1arg-
est rocks on for the first layer, sec
ond size for second layer, and grav-
el on top. Then use a 2o-ton roll
Ter. Such a roller said the speaker,
is the best possible thing to keep a
road hard and compact, and one
should be used often on all roads.
AS often as possible water should be
drained entirely away from the ditch
es along the roads.
Following this, minute
speeches were made by delegates
present. Hon. John Craft of Ala
bama, then spoke, after which the
reports of the committees were
heard.
A permanent organization to be
known as the Benton County Good
Roads Association was perfected
and the following officers were ell
ected: V. E. Walters, 1st pres;
G. G. Davis, end vice: R. H. Gel
1atly, sec. and DR.. Harper treas.
Two important resolutions were
adopted. One recommends the es-
tab1ishment at OAC of a department
| of civil engineering in which pu-
pills will receive instruction in road
building. The other directs the at
tention of county, city and state
officers to the desirability of turn.
ing tramp labor to account in work.
ing the public streets and roads, il
also recommends that convicts il
the penitentiary be put to work
in preparing material to be used on
| the highways.