Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-05-15

to waste any energy In that direction.
Tho boss" proved to be the best
"rassler" In our party. tipping up
apparent ease.
BY the time the afternoon had
waned little. Suicide" hill was as
fine a bit OF work as you would care
to see In a days journey: all the ruts
hammered down with broken rock.
sha,e. sand and well.packed dirt; all
the powders buried under a cushion
OF tOpdressing that covered them
deeply and effectually. and good
ditch on each side of the highway.
The bridge at the bottom was as
good or better than when It was new.
and from that time on. had lost. for
the nonce. its suggestive cognomen.
When we turned our attention to
the bottom" roads. II became a mat
ter OF faster work. and more scrap
Ing. filling and leveling Of the high.
way. Here We came across bridges
where the huge bulk of the "separa.
tors had cracked or broken the
planks. and where we were compelled
to 80 into the woods and cut logs To
replace the spoiled timber. The road
boss" had a general discretion To ap-
propriate timber for road purposes.
and sometimes neighborhood feudS
grew out OF the fact that the boss"
has cut down some sturdy tree for
bridge timber which the owner has
been saving for some particular pur-
pose. Credit may be given to the
party furnishing the tree. or the town
ship may be charged for II. and the
owner paid In cash. But the boss
can cut where and when he pleases.
and the farmer must grin and bear
IL.
| found that several months OF out.
door life and constant round OF daily
exercise had so hardened my muscles
and improved my breathing apparatus
that had no trouble In keeping up
my end OF the log" either actually or
figuratIvcly. Work which would hay.
tired me mortally seven months before.
was only good. healthy exercise.
had to walk about three miles To
the work. and the same distance back
at night. and WELD an ax. n pick. or
drive team and "scrape" or help lift
heavy timb.rs. and yet was not
played ont nt the end of n day. In
fact. the longer ! was ut the work. tn.
more accustomed l got to II. and
after all. work In the open air IL much
less hard than when man IL confined
to four walls. :
The necessity of good roads In the
country Ii so Immediately apparent
that Il seems strange that there has
not been some attempt to make II
compulsory on each farmer to keep
the roads In front Of his farm In
shape. opposite owners to Join In nj.
tending to the highways between their
property. II is also surprising that
the good roads" movement has so
far been confined to comparatively a
limited space. a government turn.
pike. built and maintained by IN"
government. to act ns a trunk line
OF roads In each state. or two or three
OF them In the more importan, aEFi.
cultural states. would be good
thing" for an experiment The side
roads would branth into these roads.
and while they would carry In some
mud on them. IL would not make much
difference on n thoroughly good turn.
pike.
qualified as not exactly an 'cS.
pert" but a fair average hand" at
working on, my poll tax" and have
the satisfaction OF knowing tha,
have done something towards the
good roads" movement besides talk.
ing about II.
II was currently reported. after this
experience. that was not too
proud to work. and that mus, have
been ON n farm Mt some time during
my life. or would never have been
able to handle an aS. or drive a
"scrnpcr." And MS n means OF break.
ing down the impaipabic barriers that
seem to exist between the man from
the city and the man on the farms.
working out your poll tax may be
confidently recommended as pay.
ing proposition. I met n number Of
men while on the road tha; would
not have known otherwise. and In my
trips to the county seat could always
OF a Saturday afternoon find some one
"out my way" who would be glad TO
give me lift to the farm four milcs
away. Just because we had worked
side by side together with the axes.
the picks. the scrapers and the teams.
My work was cminently satisfactory
to the road boss" for worked stead.
lily. and did not try to stand around
and soldier" on the job. man can
easily look out for the soft snaps" in
work OF that kind. and he may be
successful in getting them. hut ho
will be watched. and his work in that
line will be noted and commented on.
The only way to do II you are going
into a deal OF that kind Ia to do your
share. and not shirk the disaErecabls
features OF the work. Going into
.hrE.. or fuiir fnrt Of mud mi ..-..---