Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-03

Tile raukest and most odoriferous ex-
plosion l ever Witnessed said soldier or
the war with Spain, who attended the re-
cent national encampment of the Unlteo
Spanish War Veterans in this city, &C
CURED one night while my regiment was
lying alongside of a road in Cuba IN io9o,
during our advance on Santiago Inc boys
had kinded a few fires which we heated
our coffee. We had finished our supper,
such as 1t was, and We're sitting about tile
glowing embers swapping lies ana taking
of the probabilities OF the morrow, "heh we
expected to get near enough TO the Span
iards to engage them in battle. 1t was
typical tropical night, as dark as Ereous
and so still to, be absolutely painful
Suddenly there was great rustllng IN the
underbrush as If number OF men or am
mails were coming upon us quickly. our
first thought was that some OF the donS
We're making quick advance through the
dense thickets. AS we sprang to our feet a
sight met our gaze which silenced our fears
and caused the boys to laugh heartily.
The onslaught on our erstWhiIe quiet
camp fire was being made by several or the
big land crabs which abound in CUBA. III
you have ever seen one of these crabs you
know how large and clumsy they are, ana
once started they go straight ahead one
of the biggest of the crabs landed plumb IN
the center of the bed of red-hot embers
His death struggles continued but Few
moments Then came the eXplos1on-and L
will never forget it. With loud pop the
crab burst into apparently a thousand
pieces. Ii was worse than Spanish snrap-
mel We afterward found them. Ana the
odor that followed the explosion and filled
the surrounding atmosphere. We'll, words
fail"
All advocates of good roads will be inter-
ested in a report received a the Department
of State from Consul General Mason at
Paris. showing the success of tarred roads
In France. The treatment of macadam-
ICED roads and streets" says the consul
general. with crude petroleum as pre-
ventive of dust in summer and mud in
winter was first attempted in southern
France ten or fifteen years ago, and ap-
pears to have been successful for the sup
preston of the dust caused by ordinary
traffic. But for obvious reasons the use
OF petroleum soon gave way to that OF coal
tar, which, as a by-prOduct of gas manu-
facture. can be bought in nearly every dis
trict of France from to centimes per
kilogram, that is, $40 to $3.50 per metric
ton of = 200 pounds. Coal tar has the addi-
tional advantage that. unlike oil, it hardens
when exposed in a thin layer to the ac-
ton of the air. covering the surface of the
road with practically air and water-tight
skin, which not only holds down the dust
in dry weather, but prevents water from
penetrating the roadway in time OF rain,
provided the road itself is well constructed
and the tar properly applied.
made by the French department of bridges
and roads was on the national route from
Oran to Mers-el-Kebir, in the Algerian de-
partment of Oran. The test was made on
a portion of the road leading from the
city to quarry, and over which the haul
ing of stone Is heavy and constant through
out the year. The success of the system
fully demonstrated, and il has since
been adopted and applied to many country
roads and macadamized city streets
throughout France. From evidence care
fully collected and confirmed by the Tour
ing Club de France it apearS that tarred
roads have been uniformly successful
wherever the conditions have been normal
and the work properly and thoroughly per-
formed
Tar laid on wet surface, dried slowly
and unevenly and in most, if not all. cases
where the wheels OF motor cars or other We
hicles have picked up the fragments of tar
it has been because the freshly-tarred road
has been used too soon after the applica-
ton, water underneath the tar coating
has prevented its proper hardening. Tarred
roadways are not recommended in this
country for steep grades, where their
smooth surface might he slippery and dan
gerOuS for horses. bur i'll other locations
they give to d well-built maca1amized or
hard-graveled road Il clean, firm surface,
practically free from dust in dry and mud
in wet weather. They are hard and smooth,
with gritty surface. which gives firm
foothold under all conditions of weather.
Another point of important advantage in
France is that tarring protects the roadway
from wear, especially the washing away
of dust and loose fragments of stone by
frequent rains. which, under heavy traffic,
soon cuts the surface into inequalities that
require attention and repair The cleaning
by machinery. which would soon abrade
and ruin the macadlmiZed road, has no
effect tarred surface. which forms a
matrix by which the gravel and pulverized
stone are held firmly together and rendered