The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1908-03-11
GOOD ROADS CONVENTION AT ST. PAUL
The Convention Held Last Thursday and
Friday was Decided Success.

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Friday was a Decided Success.
The convention held last Thursday
and Friday was a decided success,
meeting in the new capitol, but the
attendance was so large that the
meeting was adjourned to the city
hall, where the crowd soon filled the
entire floor and overfowed up into
the gallery.
They were bright bunch OF men,
and they all acted as if they were
from Missouri, too. Mr.. Cooley
made the opening address and
showed by illustration the good and
bad method of making a marsh fill
or grade.
Then followed a general discus
sion of the different methods used
in all parts of the state by several
delegates. But what warmed up
the convention most was the denun-
citation by some delegates, of the
present day system of using the
road-grader, where they scrape up
the sod into the center of the road,
leaving it piled up in Jumps and
rendering the road unfit for use for
at least two months every summer.
Which reminds me that that is just
what is being done here in Redwood
county.
j A remedy for this evil was des-
cribed by delegate from a neigh
boring county as follows: AS you
all know it is often very hard to get
the required number of teams to
haul a road-grader, therefore this
town board hit upon the plan of hir-
ing a threshing engine to pull the
road grader.
They commence at the outside of
the roadway, after first blowing
!, same, and work towards the center,
, and the travelling Of the engine back
and forth has tendency to roll and
| pack the loose dirt and level the
, clods. They then finished off with
: an ordinary road drag, leaving the
road perfectly rounded, hard and,
smooth, and what was more to the
/ point, the road was at once fit for
, use. AS further improvement the
road might be graveled. That the
delegation from this neighboring
county practised what they preached
was proven by the fact that the
entire town board was in St. Paul
for the express purpose of buying a
, traction engine for their own use.
. They found that they saved money
for the town, as by using the engine
in place of teams, they covered
more ground in a day at less ex-
; pense per day. And where it was
: necessary to go slow on account Of
rocks, etc.. they could do so, and
thereby make further saving in
| repairs, and use their men and
teams to better advantage hauling
gravel.
: A description of using cement for
making 4 feet arched culverts and
ordinary IL inch culverts was very
: interesting. Especially the method
| Of using slabs of cement for the IL
inch size, making non-decaying
culvert, which also allows for expan-
sion by the frost, settling back to
| it's place when the ice thaws out in
! the culvert. It was claimed that
{ the heaviest traction engine would
not damage these culverts.
The convention was then favored
l with a description of the proper
2 mixture and use of cement by an
2 eminent authority. This was fol
3 lowed by a talk on the strength OF
4 materials used in the construction
] Of steel bridges by an expert bridge
: engineer, who urged the use Of
! heavier material in bridges and
: warned against the dangers Of light
!, construction, illustrating same by
photographs Of wrecked bridges.
i Then came discussion Of the
town Inspector question. This stirred
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