The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1905-01-28
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE GOOD ROADS QUESTION.
the Time Has Come When Antiqust.
ed Methods of Road Making
Must Go TO the Rear.

worked his way up from the lowest
round of the ladder arrives at that |
time of life when he is willing to admit |
that he is no longer young and active, |
be is apt to become rather conserva- |
tive. He may not become brake to |
the wheels of progress, but he will act |
as a check on enthusiasts, and do much |
to prevent unwise action. / was ap-
pointed state delegate to the Ma
tional Good Roads congress, which met
In St Louis in May, and closely
watched the proceedings Of that body,
listened to the speeches, and especially
noted who were pushing things and
the influences at work to make great
Impression and bring results. The men
who are now most active in the good
roads cause are automobile makers
and users, road-machine manufacture
ers. and men who desire to keep them
selves prominently identified with the
movement so as to fall heirs to some
Of the offices that will be created when
congress takes hold of the matter; and
1t takes such forces to make it go.
There were quite a number OF farm
ers at the meetings, and some OF them
were quite as enthusiastic as the lead
ers, while others appeared to be some
what fearful that they were being led
Into deep water and likely to be
swamped with taxes.
The one point that met with great
est favor was that good drainage is the
first essential to good roads. Every
man who has had any experience in
building roads knows we'll enough that
1t is useless to build road through
pond and leave the pond undrained.
The water must be gotten away from
the sides of road by surface-draining,
and from beneath the grade by tile
drainage, before a good road can be
maintained After drainage comes
grading, and the higher the grading, II
1t is properly done, the easier 1t is to
keep the road in good condition. But
it is he sillest sort of nonsense to
grade road and then leave it; yet
that is exactly what is done all over
the country. What sort of rOad-bed
would a railroad have if 1t we're left
to take care of itself for three years?
II would be unsafe to run train a
mile an hour on it. A wagon-road
needs the same kind of care that Is
given a railroad The surface must be
kept smooth all the time by the use
of the road-hone as soon after every
shower az the soil will crumble. This
means that the wasteful, antiquated
method of each farmer working out his
poll and road tax must be abolished,
and that section men" must be hired
to care for the roads and keep them
up as they are hired to keep up the
railroads. When this system is adopt
ed we can have good roads about ten
months In every year without pound
of gravel. Where stone and gravel are
abundant, hard roads are the ones to
build; but in the section l live in II
would cost from three to five thousand
dollars a mile to build hard roads
There are quite number of good-roads
advocates who are strongly in favor
of building the main road between
towns of gravel or other hard material
so that they will be good the year
round but it was stated that it would
be much cheaper In the end to builo
trolleys on such roads.
There are quite number OF mer
who advocate the erection of kilns, ant
the manufacture of small, rounded
brick for surfacing bad places along the
roads and for use on the approache:
to bridges. Where the soil is suitable
for making such brick, the cost o
I1 oy,f
they would make as good roads Al
gravel. In few sections learn the.
are using the waste of brick and till
factories for surfacing bad places II
the roads. and this material seems t.
give excellent satisfaction. Where dir
is the only material available, we mus
depend on drainage and repeated hon
ing. Four years ago we had roa
commissioner who was thoroug
roadman--one who declared that Ger
tain section of road that is much trav
eled and is VIGOROUSLY bad eigh
months in the year could be made goo
and kept good by proper and timely at
tention. He was told to try his plal
on It. He first rounded it we'll up wit
a road-grader drawn by eight horses
and cleaned out the bitches on eithe
side so that no water could stand i
them. This was done in June. After
ward he ran over the road with a road
hone as soon after every shower as tn
dirt would begin to crumble, filling u
all russ, and leaving the surface per
fectly smooth and rounded. Durin
those two years that section OF tn
road was the best in the township, an
the cost OF keeping it in that conditio
was very small compared with the ben
Gifts derived Now, one would be lie
to think that with such an object les
con .,efore them for two years tn
farmers and village people would bs
come enthusiasts on such an easy an
simple means of having good road
fully ten months of the year. lnstea'
however, majority of them, aided an
albeit ed by few of those pestiferou
petty politicians to be found in ever
locality, decided to Gust this commits
sioner lecause he did the work hin
self instead of giving the softer jof
- a few parasites. The road mel