Arizona republican., 1905-03-12

look the rights of pedestrians and sec ondly when a little road goes to wreck and ruin it all goes. Anent the rights of pedestrians, MT. Patrick says it would be surprising to one who would observe closely, to note how many Deo- | pie use the country roads to walk on as we'll as to drive on. Particularly is this true within a radius of two or three miles of Phoenix. With a decent road to walk on there are many people who would rather walk to town than to be bothered with horse; many pee pie who walk for pleasure and health or the exercise and many who have to walk for the reason that they have no horses. And further there are many others who would walk more, stroiling from the town to the country, if there were anything to walk on. Many cl.il- dren have to walk along the country roads to school. In the summer they walk in the dust, in the winter time in mud. A complaint without a remedy is of little value and MT. Patrick has a remedy. In the first place he thinks the county surveyor, ought to be a su- pervising road inspector, or rather a sort of an expert with whom the road overseers should confer and to whom they should look for advice. He need
 
 a man whose duty it is specially to rib up overseers to make them earn their money. It is to be assumed to begin with that they are honest men, but little salary to the county sur veyor in addition to the four or five dollars month he is now getting from his fees, when he gets anything, would insure the directing influence Of a man who at least knows enough about levels to not waste his time in trying to run water up hill. But the greatest benefit of all would be the securing of uni- formity in road work. All that was done would be in harmony with a gen. eral plan instead of every overseer be- ing law unto himself and an engineer without transit or level.
 It is Mir. Patrick's idea that the country roads are not too wide but the area is wastefully and inconveniently utilized. For example take a sixty-six foot road. the regular legal highway. At the present time a cross section of 1t is divided about as follows: ten feet of ditch and mudhole along the fence on either side and between the dftches about fifty feet in width of chuck holes, mudholes and hummocks, alternating. The man who owns the adjoining farm is entitled to a waste ditch inside his line if he wants it, with connection at the proper places with the ditches alongside the road. As the county uses about ten feet of space and sometimes more along the outside of his fence, with no provision for a sidewalk, the farmer builds his waste ditch inside the fence and the fence has to be planted along the ridge or border between what in dry weather are two ditches and in wet weather a double mudhole. The result is that the fence Is continually falling down or being torn down by people hanging to 1t to get by in their search for a sidewalk or foot path there is no accommodation for pedestri- ans. the farmer has a continual fight with his road overseer and the road overseer when he does work the road grades up about sixty feet of which ten or fifteen feet Is used by the public and the rest becomes either rough or boggy. according to conditions, by lack of use.
 MT. Patrick believes that a proper cross section of the country road would be about as follows: eight feet on either side, next the fence. devoted to the purposes of a sidewalk. bicycle path, etc, whether a sidewalk is ever laid or not. Probably none ever would be as AAC oOiA HI iAiOSA pldCCS QIlES TdDlQlL ana all that is needed for a country side walk is a proper area large enough for people to walk on, from which the weeds could be cut occasionally at slight expense; next to the sidewalk on either side, the borrow pits from which the earth is taken to grade the roads. would form the necessary ditches for the draining of the road; that would leave forty feet for roadway which is as much as is actually required for 1t Is seldom any more street is needed than enough for two wagons to pass safely. With this much mar rower thoroughfare to keep in good condition, it could be graded and work ed more often, always be in better con- dition for drivers, the rights of pedes- trians and wheelmen would be recog- nized and there would not be such an unsightly double ditch along the prop erty lines. Further, the farmers would have less trouble with their fences and the dirt pile in the vicinity of the fence would be the silt from one ditch in stead of two. The farmers would be interested in keeping the adjacent walks in decent shape and there would be really only the narrow roadway for the overseer to look after.
 It might be we'll to add that Mir Pat rick is not looking for the job of county surveyor as he has served his term at that business. The total salary col lected in three years amounted to thir- ty-five dollars, so it is evident the county surveyor doesn't do great deal of grating.
 The Orpheus society will give its first concert Tuesday evening, March 21, at the Doris theater. The first part of