CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1908-05-07

abundance" said Lubbock. "The bum
blebee is the one means OF cross-fer-
tilizing that clover. The field mice
have Increased very rapidly in num-
bers of late and they are destroying
can destroy the mice, the bees can
work on that clover and Stafrordshire
cheese will soon be as good as ever.
Get cats, therefore"
Il don't vouch for the story" con-
| tinued DR.. Cushman, but l endorse
If for its power of illustrating the
delicate equilibrium which, under our
complex civilization, exists between
the public health and public utilities.
Nobody will deny that the 2,15O, 900
miles of public roads OF America con-
stitute the national dust factory and
furnish fully 80 per cent of the dust
we inhale. The delicate breathing ap-
paratus of the human body was never
meant to harbor such substances ~
every passing breeze blows from the
| thoroughfares and the percentage of
people dying from disease carried by
dust is higher than is generally be-
lieved. . .-
When the public will concede that
to be a fact the director of public
| roads and the state and county road
builders and overseers will be givea
a greater degree of popular support
than they now receive. Tell the ordi-
nary citizen or the busy farmer that
| the bad, dust heavy roads are not
merely disagreeable but dangerous to
health as well and he smiles sarcas-
tieally and shifts the conyersation.
THE American becomes skeptie
when you confront him with a propo-
sition which, to him, is akin to the
cats of Stanordsh're.' Z he dosaat
understand what you are talking
about he assumes that you don't un-
derstand it yourself. He finds dusty
roads a menace only when it II
brought home to him that they cost
him money. That was demonstrated
to the orange growers of California .
few years ago when dust-covered fruit
no longer commanded so high a price
as whom free from dust. The result
was an aroused interest in road i'm
provement and in dust suppression
| Appeals on the score of cleanliness
and good health never stirred the
Californians, but slump in the price
of oranges brought about a wonderful
era of activity. The outcome was
gratifying and California soon had
dustless oiled roads. In that stnte
1sess a higher aSphditdn6
ton of the world. and when they are
spread on the roads the volatile por-
ton of the oil evaporates and the as
phaltum remains as binder.
The almost immediate success OF
this plan attracted the attention OF
lhighHAy engineers throuxhout tAo
world In France and some of our
eastern states it was at once assumed
that oiling was the best road treat
ment and that the longed-for solution
of the dust nuisance problem had
been found. ....f
This has not been proved to Be
the case because in many localities the
only oil available possesses petro-
leum rather than an asphaltum base.
1t has been found that when the
volatile portion evaporates the oil left
| behind becomes greasy and similar In
consistency TO vaseline. Such quality
of oil does not adhere and bind the
road, but is picked up and scattered
by passing traffic, and the man who
gets a reasonable quantity of it on
his clothes becomes a firm enemy to
road oiling.
IF then. as the doctors say, dust
means dirt: dirt means disease, and
disease means death. dusty roads have
no place in our national economics"
When a fair percentage OF our
| thinking men and women Of the coun-
try grasp these truths thus interest
ingly voiced by DIR. Cushman. a de-
Itermined effort will be made to Sc
cure clean and dustless roads.
News