The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-09
Good Roads, Better Con-
 struction and Mainfdinence

Y m A. D. CAMERON, c. E- the De
 pertment of Agriculture sad Indus-
 tries.
 As considerable interest has been mnnifsstcd in tho past few years re- karding the Improvements and con efr,sction of better highways in the Efatc, I am writing this articie in view of bringing to the attention the im- porfance of better location, better methods and class of construction, with the general object in view or maintaining our highways throughout Inc State When a student at the Al obafna Polytechnic Institute I had inc pleasure of attending a meeting of the good roads convention. whick was held n the city of Montgomery several years ago. where was first impressed with the vast Importance of this ufa- dertaking. Since then have been over many of the highways of North. South. Central, and East Alabama, and fnc that some counties arc making great proEress in the improvement of tfefr hixhways, although in great many ca8ea money ia be.ag spen- unueccssa- rily due to the inexperience of super intendents and workrnen. who arc real fy experimenting instead of properly constructing the roads so they can be
  other hand sonse counties have pur- chased road machinery aad have built ' number of gooi roads only to neglect their maintainence. so that in the course of few years the roads ratur- ally reverted to the same old condi- ton.
 The court of county commissioners has Jurisdiction over all public high ways and In many counties. where 1x~x<. .rf> tam n tax of not more tilan twenty-five cents on each e1oo worth of taxable proper ty. the funds derivsd from this tnx be- ing used for the construction and main tafnnnce of roads. building of Dridges etc. or for payment of interest aad principal on bonds issued for these pur- poses. Tn other counties all able bodied male residents. from the age of IS to 45 years. unless exempt by law are required to work on public roads not to exceed ten dayslpcr annurn; or pay in lieu thereof not to exceed the kum of I've dolla:s. The poor condi- ton haphszard construction. and main tatnence of our highways today are due mainly to the latter system, snd unless abandoned we will continue to have our public Eighways located in all kinds of fashions. constructed of va rtous material near at hand regardless 0& EnN AAAUES Bi4 nAt0 OA h6iNA t0A used, and with absolutely no view whatever to maintaiaence. By this sys- fem the residents are summoned and the implements used are usually the farm blow, hoes, shovels, etc. They, as rule, piow the ditches, throwing the masses of mud and material into the center. which of course leaves ih" road in very bad condition. and the first rain usually washes this material paals a<.tQ< F.x r ,fsrxf roads have c. own in tho ccHtsr. which Is always necessary fo- proper drainage, hence the same operation has fo he repeated. Soon the working limit has expired, then there is no more road working or Iaafntainence until the next season. regardless of the condition of the roads, so the work that has been done is really of no per- ninnent value and the time is wasted and money simply lost.
 The question may pertinently be asked Can we ever expect to have good roads until we begin the proper construction and keep them well drair- ed and maintained When once con- structed properly with the right kind of material, roads can be maintained with little cost and with small forces. when properly. directed. I believe the day will come whom Alabama like a
 
 have a highway department, with s good energetic enigneer at the head of this department to look after the highway problems throughout the State, and each county should have an engi- neer to act as county surveyor as we'll as highway engineer, and conform strictly to the instructions and speci- dcations laid down by the State high way engineer. Then our highways could be constructed and maintained not only in a systematic way but with the best results. also believe if the State were to appropriate annually to- ward this movement that the United States government would assist, for the benefits of her mall R. F. D. routes.
 The Farmers Benefits.
 We all know some of the advantages of good roads and I believe that the farmer will derive more benefits than any other class.
 Good roads will lessen the wear and tear on his vehicles, will enable him to haul to market from three to five bales of cotton with one team while at pres ent he can. only haul from two to three bales. With the present advancement of the telephone system throughout the