Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-01-24
King Road Drag Has Been Test
ed But Its Future Seems
Uncertain.
GENERALLY BELIEVED GOOD
Problem Still Mainly One OF Provid-
ing for Its Consistent
Use.

|
casional trial in many communities
and has been thrown aside because
other things have taken up the time
and attention of those who should have
persisted in it's use. In a few places
| there have been persons who have been
anterprising enough to give the instru-
| ment reasonably fair trial. In prac-
| tically every community, as is the case
| in Rock Island county, the farmers
have become more or less familiar with
| the results to be obtained by the use
of the drag, and generally it has been
shown that they either do not cOnside:
| the drag of sufficient merit to warrant
continued use or they have found that
| their time is too valuable to give the
roads the attention which is necessary
to keep them in shape by this method.
| Even the most enthusiastic advocate
of better roads cannot be expected to
always keep up the section of highway
adjoining his own farm if his neigh
! bors do not show the same spirit. So
it is evident that some way must be
found to hire roads dragged out of the
highway fund or go back to the scraper
and grader, the soft, uneven surface,
deep ruts, and all the rest 1t is OBJ
viously out of the question to make
hard roads in any except a few favor
ed communities.
Needs More Educating.
The Bloomington Paragraph, which
has worked hard for better roads and
has given much space to the King drag
and its work. holds that the public is
not yet sufficiently familiar with this
method of highway improvement to de-
eide whether to continue or TO abandon
it. The Paragraph says:
There are some things difficult to
comprehend about the King road drag.
First, it is so simple and cheap that II
is very hard for the average man to
believe that it will accomplish much
good, but the man gets plenty of in
formation on this point when he uses
and keeps using the drag. He can also
be fully persuaded of the great efficien-
cy of this implement if he is willing to
accept the abundance of testimony that
is offered everywhere the drag is used.
Without a doubt the money part of
the proposition is quite a stumbling
block, especially in Illinois. where we
have grown richer and are naturally in
clined to be more selfish than in a
newer settled state.
1T is very plausible for the objector
to say that the only practical way to
drag the roads is for the road commits
sioner to take up the matter systemat-
ically and hire the work done, that the
far tn no dol
without pay. This sounds SO sensible
that it will deceive the man who says
it if he is not careful to look a little
further into the matter. No doubt that
is the final and proper thing to do, and
no doubt it can be done on practica!
and economical basis.
Object Lessons Needed.
But there is another point which
must be considered. The highway COM
missioners themselves and the pubic
that travels the roads must have manv
object lessons in the benefits of the
drag before they will be willing to have
the public put money into an extern
sive use of the drag. Who will pro-
vide these object lesson roads? 1t
takes no small amount of agitation and |
instruction many times repeated to get
the truth of a few simple facts about |
this road dragging clearly and thor
oughly in the minds of the people, or
even to the few who are to drag these |
object lesson roads. The principle of
the thing and the detailed require
ments must be well understood by the
man who does the work. and he must |
also have faith in the outcome. or else
have unusual faithfulness in carrying
out his program.
There are two sides to the question
First, the farmers themselves without |
any pay should drag the roads and |
keep it up to show what can be done.
1t is not to the point at al! to say that
ones next neighbor won't do this. The
vital point is just as Dr. Ward King
puts it: Will you make a drag and
use it?' These object lessons, even
a half-dozen of them in a township
will convince the road commissioners
of the benefits of the drag. On the
other hand, it seems plainly to the
that the commissioners
ought to take up the work
of road dragging, as they have in a
of instances. and moreover
carry it through in the proper way for
a long enough time to determine the
real effects. The latter has not al
ways followed the beginning of the
work.
All Can Make Test.
1.-The public sentiment may be such
that it Is not advisable for the com
to drag every mile of road |
in the township at first, or the COM
missioners themselves may not be
agreed that this would be the right
thing to do. But certainly the com
mfssioners of every township could I
put the drag to a thorough test in n