Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1908-09-18
VAL VAILlF: 4: Q Of GOOD ROADS ! d
Dusty Highways Mean Disease,
says Government Expert.
VALUE OF IMPROVING THEM.

- * = =
Where Thoreushtars. Are Good Chill
drsn Are Clean and Well Cared
Fer. and Vice vsrsa-Hsw California
Learned an Economic Lesson.
81 have noticed whereyer.I ,see. bad
roads 1 invariably see neglected, un.
kempt. unwashed children II travel
along a. good road i see children well
cared for. do not say that one di,.
rectly follows the other. but they un:
deuhtedly, CO. together. 4, community
that is negligent. of Its roads -.will be
negligent. of its children; and a com.
munity. that Is negligent OF It's children
,wm not produce. good citizeSs. /. por.
above, all things, will 1t have a high
standard, Of public health y .s;..s
! This. observation On cause apd effect
was made by DR.. Allerton'S Cushman.
assistant director of the, office of pub
lc, roads Of the United States depart
ment of. agriculture, at a. meetipg of
the American Public Health associa.
ton. !.
= DE-. Cushman- was asked te- Justify
the statement. "It is. think, justified
by a day spent In an, automobile in
any: country SECTION. |sssaid he.a.an in
sisting as 1 do on the condition.
think. 1t has a bearing on the question
so frequently asked by. unthinking
Americans, What possible relation
can there be between the public road
and public health? T., ..s !. ~ 500
"If the medical men~ of the world
know what they are talking about the.
relation is intimate. Dirt and dust
mean disease. Cleanliness and sanitary
surroundings work for a better citizen
ship. The relation of science 10 mum,
dane things is evident, If one: Will use
even percentage Of the powers Of de
duction which Conan Doyle gave to-
Sherlock, Holmes. Science holds in her
archives delightful little story which
weA illustrates my purpose It is re-
lated. that at one time the favor of the
famous -Stanordshire cheese had de-.
parted and a splendid Industry was
endangered u Sir .John Lubbock. the
great naturalist, made a prolonged in
yestigation and finally reported to the
farmers, that in his judgment the best
restorative measure possible woulda be
to import, g. great number. of cats and
set them free in Staffordshire. /
Naturally the unbelieving scoffed at
the proposed antidote. for they deemed
the suggestion ridiculous. They asked
reason for SO extraordinary a pre- j,
seriptton.s u .t, as<-4 s.ta.e Is4.4 :,
The. peculiar favor of the Stafford
shire cheese, comes from Z. hybrid .clo-
yer which formerly grew here In great
abundance said Sir John. The bum
biebee 10 the sene means of cross feru-
lizing that clover. The field mice have
increased very rapidly in numbers, Of
late, and they are destroying the nests
OF the bumb1ebees. II you can destroy.
clover. and Staffordshire cheese will
soon be. as good as ever. Get cats
therefore,
II don't vouch for the story" con-
tinued Dr. .Cushmaq- ,.s.bat indorse it
for its power Of illustrating the deli
cate equilibrium which under our COM
pfex' civilization exists between the
public health, and public utilities. No
body swlu deny that the 2. 15O, 900 miles
of public. roads of America constitute
the, national dust factory and furnish
fully so, per cent of the dust we in
hale. The delicate breathing appara-
tusi of !. the human, body z Was meyer
meant to harbOr such substances as
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. -, sss.s,...t :
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 get "a great
er degree of popular support than. they
now receive. The American finds
dusty roads q menace only when 1t is
brought home to him that they cost
him money. That was demonstrated
to the4 orange gfowers Of California a
few years ago, when dust covered fruit
no longer commanded so high price
as when free, from dust The result
was an aroused interest in road i'm,
and in dust suppression.
on the score of cleanliness, and
good health never stirred the, Califor-
AoNS. ous g SiuAuP + IL s4tnS; pAiSC Va
oranges brought about wonderful
era Of, activity. The outcome was
gratifying and, California soon $. had
dustless. oiled roads. In that state
the oils possess. a higher asphaltum
base than the oils Of any other section
Of the world and when they are
spread on the roads the volatile por-
ton of the oil eyaporates. and the as
phaltum remains, as binder.
y 1.-The almost immediate success Of
this plan attracted the attention Of
engineers throughout the
worl|. 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
fou1d This has mot he,an r,roUe>f7 tr be,