The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1909-12-23
SAND CLAY ROADS
VERSUS MACADAM

Editor Giscier-There is drawing
upon the United States an era Of
good roads huilding. The first road
built Ia this c, uutry by white men
was In 1853 heiwe Boston and Ply
mouth. fbsrr we're few roads huilt
by tie otIef olonies, and later by
the indieldGal states and by the
noaticn. m national government
spent 1900, 600 on long distance
highways betWeeu 1906 and 1861.
When rstlroad construction became
active, subsidies were granted to
them by the national government,
aud also largely by individuals
Popular interests in the highways
was transferred to the railways. and
peoUle thought that the railways we're
substitutes for the highways. 1t Wns
not until the advent of the bicycle
that there was a revival of gensl b !
interest in them. Ihis interest has
been strengthened to high ptut
lately by the introduction of tn
automobile.
And now that We ale at thu dawn OF
road building era, we have con
dition similar to the beginning of the
era of railroad building At that
time the value OF the wagon road
was minimized by railroad interests,
while the railroads were exD oiled /,
the skies. The subsidy hunters had
their agents in the halls uf Congress,
In the cities, and out among the
farmers They got their subsidies
and built their railroads, bnt tht
farmer hauls his produce through
the mud the same as before. An
. now that everybody comedies that the
country must have wagon roads, and
when it is visible even to a blind man
that poney Is going to be spent Oh
these roads. we find that almost
every psrer and every road conven
tion is stuffed and controlled by th,
agents of road machine manufac
turers Public sentiment has beer
30 moulded by the Buffalo Pitts ana
j. |. Cases that a community il
actually in disgrace. il it does not
own a road roller and rock crnsher.
do not wish to be understood
talking disparagingly of the use CT
these machines everywhere. There
are places where they are the only
aud proper tools to use. They are al
right for city streets where 1T is iu
ten led to lay lock foundations auc
rock or tar metalliDg. but they al,
all wroug tor Hood River country
roads where we have clay soil n
an abundance of sand easy of ac
cess. A road made OF proper mix
ture of sand and CLAY IL called =
"sand clay road" We can build
them in this valley at one -tenth tt
one. tifh the cost of TIL macadamized
road "What' g thBt?' some one will
say 80 | will repeat it. one tenth t.
one fifth of the cost ot macadsmizeo
rosds, and we have all tne material
here to build them With, and it take
only men, horses, plows, shovels an
wagons, to do he WnIk. hey lasi
longer, need less repair and ART
smoother than macadan'2pd ro9ds.
and the automobiles sc uailV improve
them, while they destroy the maGad
amized roads
"Sandy clay roads do not helr
sell rollers and rock cru.hrrs an
they put no money d ractly iatn th'
pockets OF those who wish 10 hui
tar and asphalt roads B"fare tis
advent OF the automo ohlle the mecad
amiZed road lasted ry veil 1t j.
all right for steel tired vehinle. drawn
by horses, but the automobile de
stroys them amazingly fast, by sweep
ing the broken particles of grit ont OF
the road instead of allowing them
to fall between the rocks aud dg
ing and cementing the rocks in place.
All of Europe is tull OF m4osdam-
lied roads. Americans have been
going over there to tour the country
because OF good smooth macadam
ized roads. But these roads are nov
no longer good. and the EuropeaD q
road experts held an international
Road Congress-, last year at Paris,
to see what could be done IN the way
Of building roads that are less sus-
ceptahIe to auto destruction. The
Congress of American Road Builders.
met at Seattle last summer, and the
topic most discussed, was that OF the
auto tearing up the maoadamized
roads. Cleveland, Ohio, held II oUd
Roads Convention this summer, and
the same subject eugrossed their at.
tention. while at Columbus, Ohio, in
October at the annual convention Of
American Road Makers the same sub
ject was again the absorbing ques.
tion 1t is we'll deter mined now ty
road specialists that the only way tc
preserve nacadamized roads IL tc
have the top layer composed of a
mixture OF tar aud coarse sand aud
cen ent d with the same material tC
the adjoining layer
Now. some Que may ask. "wha'
does Friday know about roads any.
b luP" know no mora about roads
than is possibla for a y Que else tc
know who is wiling to apply himself
to thu u jeot and tdy t. | take
road magazIue, Proride myself witt
other iusIatnra en- bis suhi. ct. anC