The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-09-09

COuSEdtulhlo Jou, JILL ofoAoSoAS ooAo
the Spectator, ION the good road you
have made. It is fine, fnel" The rug
ged face Of the overseer was wreathed
In smiles, and his cheeks glowed with
pleasure. Then, as he spoke, his look
became serious.
"Well, I tell you how it was, MI.
Spectator. Last fall I took a drive down
to Blank"-naming a large town 60
miles away and three counties scotland
I seen some roads that made me ashamed
cs the old mudholes up here, and I says
to myself, If ever I work the roads OF
my district again, I will have good roads
too SO I asked EN- how they did 1t,
and, BY George, they tell me that they
didn't do nothin but keep the stones
outen the road, keep the sods of, and
open mp the bitches 80 as the roads
wouldn't wash. And that's all I done
this spring, but I kept on a-doin 1t, and
though We had the worst washes thii
summer I ever see, the roads in my dis.
trict have been better than they ever
was afore. Next year." he continued.
II mean to tell the town committee that
I will take a mile more Of road, and
don't want no more money than I been
gettin."
Now, ON this little excursion from
home, this honest old farmer had learn.
ed the real secret Of road making, and
he had had the sense to apply it when
he resumed work in his district Waite,
is at once the most destructive and the
most beneficial force that the road maker
and the road repairer has to contend
with and to count on. If 1t be harnessed,
20 to speak, It can be made to keep the
roads clean and smooth and hard; II 1t
be uncontrolled, it is sure to wash the
roads into ruts and make them all bit
impossible. Drainage is the most essen.
tial feature Of a road, and in most in.
stances this is simplicity itself.
In the Spectators experience he has
rarely come across a country road maker
who did not believe that the sods taken
out Of the side bitches should be put in.
to the road to be ground up into dust by
the wagon wheels, converted into mud
by the rains and finally washed back
Into the bitches again. This process OF
road repairing does no good at any time,
ss the road 30 worked Is usually--in.
deed, in nine cases out OF ten-better
when the repairer puts his hurtful hand
upon it than at any other time.
It is so easy to make a good dirt road
and to keep it in order that it seems
ever a wonder to the Spectator that in
this country, where the people plume
themselves upon their ingenuity and
a~daptability, they should keep on being
stupid in this very important matter OF
road repairing. The Spectator knows
from actual experience that in the aver
age country neighborhood the roads can
be kept in most excellent order ten
months In the year with the money that
is now spent on them. II elementary in
struction in drainage could be given to
the overseers Of the roads, then the
powers of nature, now only destructive,
could be made to do most Of the neces.
sapy work Of road repairing. The spring
rains can be made to do the work OF
road scrapers, and the summer rains
will more frequently than not suffice to
keep the roads moderately free from
dust.
A good dirt road should have a slight
crown, so that the water will drain each
way from the center to the side ditch.
and there should be no intervening strip
Of sod between the roadway and the
ditch. The second requirement is most
important, ard it is almost universally
disregarded. Che sod is tougher than
iirt, and it also becomes higher. Tho
zrass being permitted to grow, its edge
forms a ridge which interrupts the
drainage, and then, when the rainfall
is heavy, there is ure to be a gully
above the ditoh-a gully which In a lit
tie while will extend into the roadway
and make it more or less impossible.
The crown to a dirt road, or to any road
Tor that matter, should b. higher ON .
grade or hill than on a level stretch.
The rainfall on a hillside runs off with
greater velocity and therefore does more
damage. Therefore it should be diverted
from the surface Of the road even more
quickly at such places than where the
grade is level. These few simple en-
gineering principles, it seems 10 the
Spectator, could be inculcated and tho
rural population relieved OF avery
heavy burden without any cost WhsS
svar in the frat instance Outlook