Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-04-21
AUTOS AND GOOD ROADS.
Claimed That Fast Moving Machines
Do Much Damage.

the greatest llelldCe "
that has ever made its appearance.
On some stretches of thoroughfare
especially in New England, where
many broad and smooth roads have
been constructed, the retrogression is
not less than 40 per cent and it has
been forced upon the director Of the
office of public roads and upon many
| highway engineers that if some plan
the bad effects Of mems latest and
most sensational mode of land trans
portation, the monetary loss will be
stupendous and the good work of
many years will go for naught.
1t is not only in America that this
condition prevails. The men of Eng
land France, Germany, Holland, Bel
gium and other countries of the old
world where hard surfaced highways
are appreciated have also learned that
the big soft rubber tiles of the auto
mobile are doing an almost incredible
amount of harm. France has officially
taken cognizance of the condition and
has called an international congress to
meet at Paris on October II to discuss
plans for saving the roads, while in
no way interfering with the develop
ment of the automobile, for no scien-
tist will condemn one worthy civiliZ-
| ing influence because ii temporarily
conflicts with another. He will mere
| ly admit that new condition has
arisen and then set on foot an inves-
| tigation with the idea of mastering it.
TO many it may seem beyond belief
| that a pneumatic rubber tire can work
any injury TO road composed of bits
of crushed flint rock, but it becomes
plain when the theory of such roads
| is explained. The macadam road,
named after John Louden Macadam
of Ayr, Scotland, who was for years
highway surveyor of Bristol, was first
| laid down by the eminent French road
engineer Tresauget Of Limoges, who
wisely figured that slowly moving iron
| tired wagons would crush dust parti-
cles from the stones Of the roads sur
face; that those particles would be
constantly sifted between he inter-
stices of the large stones; that every
passing wagon would crush them firm
er into all ruts and inequalities; that
rains would aid and the ultimate re-
suit would be a smooth surface. water
shedding highway.
Tresauget planned wisely; Mac
Adam came two decades later and
made a slight change in the laying of
the road foundation and gave to such
thoroughfares his name. For a CEN
tury and a quarter the wisdom Of the
road engineers Of Limoges and Ayr
were justified. Then arose a condition
they had never figured on; fast
moving vehicle running on broad soft
tires The roads began to suffer at once
for the following reasons: The rubber
tire being soft, creates no rock dust
itself as does the irontire of a
wagon, and the very life of these roads
demands constant supply of that
material. 1t is the surface binder that
keeps the road smooth; cracks filled
in; that maintains the evenness and
binds the rubble stones into one i'm
pervious mass. Every iron tired
wheel does it's own small quota Of good
by acting as a rock dust maker and
miniature road roller The auto
whirring along at dizzy speed simply
flattened it's tires against the ground
as it sped and the tractive force SO
exerted hurled the precious rock dust
swept it to the adjacent farms
and lawns in binding clouds. SO pro-
nounced was the mere dust. nuisance
created in many portions Of the coun-
try that real estate decreased in val
ue to an appreciable extent and farm
ers complained that the ever-increas-
ing dust on their fields, vines and
trees made it impossible for them to
sell their harvests at as good prices
as formerly.
When these conditions had been
established by scientifically gathered
data the director Of the office Of pub
lie roads set on foot numerous inves-
LEGATIONS and ordered many expert
ments; the results of which it is be-
lieved will ultimately prove the auto
mobile to be d great benefactor,
for in the struggle to overcome the
conditions created highway engineers
10 Of t,,.n i'm find n
road surfacing material which makes
no dust and needs no dust to maintain
its integrity, or discover a method of
controlling the dust on the roads al
of the greatest problems of the CEN
turieS will have been solved and hu-
manity will have gained one of the
greatest blessings imaginable. Abso-
lutely dust-proof thoroughfares would
add immeaSurably to the comforts of
the human race; multiply the beauty
of vast stretches of country; add
countless millions of wealth to subur-
ban and country property and do
much to retard disease, for dirt
means disease and the also, 600
miles of highways in the United
States make not less than 80 per cent
of the dust which long-suffering
people take into their lungs each year.
To the time of present writing no
dust-proof road surface material
cheap enough for use in country dis
tricts has been found, and the eXper-
iments now proceeding are therefore
along the second line; the controlling
of the dust by various methods of
spraying and by the use of binder ma
0H1