The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-08-22
Logan Page Will Tell Euro
peans What Automobile
Does to Roads.
MUST SAVE HARD ROADS.
BY REMOVING DUST WHICH
FORMS SURFACE OVER SHARP
CORNERED STONES.

When the "Ivernia," Royal Mail
Ship OF the Cunard Line, sailed on the
televenth, it carried among other pas
tsengers, Logan Waller Page, Director
,of the Office OF Public Roads of the
United States Department of Agri-
culture. who, being especially commits
stoned by President Roosevelt, is on
his way to France to tell the highway
engineers OF the world just exactly
what, in his opinion, the automobile is
doing to the macadam thoroughfares
OF civilization, and what should be
done to counteract its destructive eff
,fects.
President Roosevelt summoned Di-
rector Page to the White House and
conferred with him about this latest
and most startling highway problem
He learned that an almost incalcula-
BILE amount of damage is being done
daily, and then he informed the Dr.
rector that it was his wish that the
United States be strongly represented
at the coming International Road Con-
gress In Paris, and he asked for the
names Of two other experts to contrib
ute information at that great gather
ing. Mr. Page named Colonel Charles
s. Cromwell, Superintendent of Build
ings and Grounds of the District of
Columbia, and Mr.. Clifford Richard
son. nationally famous as an authority
on bituminous road material. They
were appointed and Mr.. Page was
named as chairman Of the delegation.
Although this Congress will not as
semble at Paris until October IL, Di-
rector Page decided to sail three days
since, it being understood that he
would personally inspect some Of the
roads of England, Germany, and
France before the distinguished as
semblage is called to order He wished
to view at close range the retrogres-
sion of those famous highways; and to
see If the speeding automobiles worked
the same damage there as they do
here and study the remedial work
that is being done. Here he has
learned that by the tractive force of
the rubber tires of the speeding motor
car, the surface binding dust of rock
roads is drawn from it's resting place
and is sent swirling to the adjacent
fields. Inasmuch as the integrity Of
the macadam road rests absolutely in
this rock dust, which acts as a bind
ing and surfacing crust, dissipating
of the surface leaves the road nothing
but mass of loose round stones. The
tests held here, especially those on
the Conduit Road near Washington,
D. c., prove this contention absolute.
ly, and he carries with him a wonder
full collection of photographs taken dur
ing the progress OF those tests, by
lightning-like cameras. These pic
lures will be submitted to the Con-
gress assembled, being but the con-
tribution of one savant. for it is not
assumed that America alone has
solved this problem. The greater
question that will arise will be how
to overcome the effect of automobile
traffic on hard roads without in any
way restricting the automobile or pre-.
venting it's development. Two solu.
tons there are to that question:: one
to find a material of which roads may
be made which creates no dust, or
secondly, to so treat the roads already
constructed that the dust will be re
itained upon them. That, of course, is
now being done in many parts of the
country by spraying with calcium
chloride and through the use of var
lious bituminous preparations. Direct
or Page and his associates will have
much interesting information to con
tribute along those lines, for many
miles of Americas roads have. within
the past few months, been treated by
these various preparations, many OF
the tests under the direction of some
expert from the Federal Office of Pub
lie Roads.