Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1908-12-29
The Machine, or the System?

D. Ward King of Missouri, the in
ventor Of that road implement which
has attracted so much attention, the
King split log drag, has been in Maine
and addressed the State Grange besides
speaking in other places regarding the
work Of the machine.
Mr.. King is about the first man TO
make really practical application to the
roads of the fact of which many people
have a more or less vivid conception,
that most kinds of soil, at certain de-
gree of moisture, il stirred and smooth
ed, will dry down into hard crust-a
process known TO engineers as pudding.
1t would seem, to read the summary of
Mr.. Kings remarks, that he almost at
tributes some kind of magic 10 the
operation of the very simple machine
which he has devised, and regards it as
a panacea for about all the ills that can
affiict a road. When he buoysntly re-
plies to a questioner that frost will not
affect road built with the drag, We are
constrained to believe that he is from
Missouri, and has never been in this
state in April to observe the workings
of Maine winter on our roads.
But there is one point about his re-
marks which indicates that the benefit
to be derived from the drag is fully as
much in the manner of using il as in the
construction Of the machine. He makes
the very sensible recommendation that
it should be used after every rain when
the earth is moist. In fact, it is easy to
see that il this plan is not followed, the
road will quickly get out of its good coz
dition. Such a system Of constant care
ia very much different from the ordinary
practice of generation ago.
Some wears since a highway surveyor
of the old school rebuilt quite stretch
of road in the the town of Paris with the
road machine. Just as he was finishing
IL a long spell of rainy weather began,
and for some weeks that piece OF newly
worked road was unavoidably almost
impossible. When il finally stopped
raining, II was necessary to put the road
machine on again and smooth up the
road, and fine piece of highway was
the result. As the surveyor was doing
the second work with the machine, he
remarked to the Democrat, IL don't like
this. / like to fix the road once, and
have il fixed for the year"
And there is just the trouble with his
system and that which was quite gen
erally followed at that time. The road
maker wanted to "fix" his road once,
and that was generally done after plant
ing, when the road, made rough by the
travel in the spring mud, had dried
down into hard crust. For the rest OF
the season ii was sufficient TO keep II in
shape so that the town would not De
liable TO a suit for damages. A rain
would soften the road, and wheels
would cut il into ruts. But the sun
would dry out the water, and the walls
of the ruts would gradually crumble,
and the road would become, not as
smooth as it was before the rain, but
smoother than at its worst. Small
stones would work out and lie sprinkled
over the surface, but to send man over
the road with a rake to get them out
seemed a picayune proceeding. The
road had been fixed once, and ought to
keep good for the rest of the season, ii
there were no heavy showers.
Now the man who attempts 20 nix his
road once and have it fixed for the year
with a split log drag will probably CON
clude that the drag is fit for kindling
wood, and that he has been buncoed.
II is fair 10 assume that the proper use
of the machine is not only to put the
road in condition, but to Keep it so.
And it is only fair to say that we are
much nearer that kind of system OF
highway operation than we were twenty
five years ago.
whether the split log drag is adapted
to extensive use on our Maine roads can
only be told by actual trial. 1t is prob,
ably safe to predict that more or less oil
them will be built and later thrown or
the Junk heap because they are not
rightly used. But if they aid in edu
eating people still further to the idea
that the roads should not only be made
good but kept good, that they should
not only be ''fixed" but cared for, they
will at least have served good purpose.