The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1907-02-23
ANOTHER PLAN
IM. Clark on Good oads-GNes Ms Idea Of
Making and Maintaining Highways.

/ through the columns Ol your paper, my
opinion aud ideas ou the road question
aud also the method OF road building
First. must agree with Mr. PiersoI
and not with Dr. kuper IN regard q
macadam roads and tOll-gates ln my
opinion the tOll-gate Is only appropriate
where the roads are owned 10y q com
pany. aud could not be- satisfactorily
used where the citizens have d pay botl
taxes and toll
But Join with all advocates of the
road machine and favor law Tor wide
tires. and herewith offer some sugges
lions which will show my Ideas Oi build
iug roads with the machine. ] Will us'
an Illustration here. and ! wish 10 SAY 10
advance that do not mean 70 as criu
cism of any one, but - al uugarnishec
fact. Should one oi our practical men q
the county employ man 10 set pOst'
for fence or other purposes, the holes tt
receive them 10 be TWO ieet deep. and d
on going % this employee and finding
| him putting IN eighteen inches of dirt be
| fore he began packing. he would say b,
WAS am IDIOT. and would discharge him
al once. for he would we'll know that
posts thus set would never be- firm. And
/ tet this has been the method oi road
| building In our county for the past
| twenty five years. simply putting up q
! lot of loose dirt IN the roads, the trayr
packing only few inches OH the top
and A. soon as il rains % soften % a lt
| tie. the wheels 70 down 90 the same old
! bottom. l. q surprise 90 Any one that
/ the roads are mo- better
| am 10 favor Of bonding the county
for S2l 900, part of thi- to De- used for
the purchase OF the following machinery
/ one good traction engine of ABOUT III
horse pOWef, one medium -lz-d road ma
chine. but very strongly constructed
one stone or gravel grader, aud one
small engine for operating the same, also
seyera dirt wagons and one good heavy
team OF mules Now alter paying Ion
/ the above named necessary implements
/ there will stlll remain large part OF the
| S2j.OOO. While we still have q large
amount Of gray-l within the limit of The
road bed. we would Use the balance oil
/ this So. 900 for the purchase of some OI
! the gravel hills. To be- easily found close
/ TO the roads all over our county, making
| IL easy 10 transfer 10 10 our road beds.
Now for lew words 10 regard 10 th,
method Of operation. Work should be-
gin about the first of April with the road
machine working the blade nearly square
across center OF the road, that it may
carry a. much loose dirt before II as poe
sible. This would Till in al holes and
| low places aud would soon become pack
ed. as the travel would readily take the
smooth track left 10y the machine, rather
than the rough road bed ON either side
| This would make the track in the center
where il should be-. The machine should
pass over the entire county IN this way.
Returning % starting point 1t would
| then take a > mile section, making a pass
on either side and putting dirt in center
and 90 continue over the entire county
again. Aud Just here allow me 10 sug-
gest that law be passed imposing a
| fine for driving in the water drains. ln
the meantime the operator should leave
them Obstructed. All bad places should
be grayeed at this time going over the
ROADS.
do not know how many miles OF
road we have in the county, but ! do
not think il will exceed 800 miles. The
machine would easily operate on five
miles per day, at this rate making one
hundred miles in twenty days, and allow
ing it 10 operate five months, from April
lst 20 September lst. As do not ad-
vOcate this kind of road building later in
the season, this would allow 1870 work
ing days, in which the machine would
pass over the roads OF the entire county
i've times Leaving fifty days for bad
weather and extra mileage. These Eve
passes OF the machine would give W a
road, the first year, with eight inch
water drains and at least twelve inches
higher in the center, allowing two inches
for each pass of the machine.
All this would only require four men at
salaries averaging $40 per month. This
will amount 10 $500 in the five months,
then allow 5000 for feeding the team and
the fuel for engine at 80 per day, would
be $500, $500 for maintenance OF
| bridges making a total OF 81 $50. Our
| road tax at present amounts 10 upward
of 81 900, this amount being spent on
our roads each year for the last eight OF
ten year, and we all know the benefit de-
rived therefrom. Suppose we do a little
more figuring for you: $1,000 minus
$500 equals S5,ll0. Quite snug
sum, is it not?
Now for substantial road building dur
ing the winter months, or from Septem
Der TO April with this $1,000. Let us
put the grader in some gravel pit near d
piece OF road which is usually bad, using
the dirt wagons which can be hauled by
engine. Grade this material, getting the
largest stones to be used for foundation
and filling mud holes, using on this the
next cOarsest grade, and so on, making
| it eight or ten inches deep.
No roller would be needed for packing
as the engine and wagons beingequipped
with very wide split tires would give
| better results than a roller. A greater
amount of pressure would be exerted on
a smaller surface, thus searching out all
soft places, which would be filed up at
once. And now, fellow citizens, do you
not think this wOulG give US better
roads? And in the course OF five years
good roads. And if at the expiration OF
that time it should be found necessary to
macadamize, our road beds would be in
much better condition for receiving the
macadam than if they were put up and
macadamized at the same time, but feel
safe in saying we would never need
macadamized roads. And we would
also be free from bonds by that time, by
a slight increase in taxation. And feel
sure that some of our good citizens
whose heads are besprinkled with grey,
and who have predicted that they would
never see good roadsin Spotsylyania,
would in their time have the pleasure ol
driving over them, regardless Of former
predictions.
Some may say that team would be
better than an engine for drawing. To
those ! will explain a few points The
work would require eight heavy mules
six for machine and two for extras, same
as the engine. The cost OF feed per day
would be as much as the fuel, besides the
mules would eat 800 days in tl9 year,
requiring attention also. Several stables
would be necessary owing to distance
from different points, besides in hot