The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1909-05-21
.CoST OF POOR ROADS
Waste Of Labor In Hauling Crops
10 Market.
WHAT THE MUD TAX FIGURES.
Six Hundred Million Dollars 10 the
Price We Pay Annually Fer Our
i~psssssis Hish~sys-whas 10 Be-
inp Done to i~s<svs Thew

II cost q little over . billion dollar
to haul the farm CROPS Of America {
market last year. wah good roads
roads such as are 10 be found fn sons
parts Of America ard To ala parts O
Frame. the marketing az the crop
would have COS, s~4D0sn.o1h SlI hun
dret million Collars PER year. thea.
the price we pay In this land 81 t5'
free for having impossible roads say
0 writer In the 81 Leafs Times DIX
ever a nation sTena 50 much fer 81
Doubtful 3 t1xur beto~et WITH Amer
kxn roads lying open and taihoznaes'
before the eyes u eer foreign critics
what taonsyrs0s lajHs1tcs II ia to tail
Of Anerieaa COLLAR worship,
Most men Of middle age can real
ths annual picnic kEown IS nse31lEi
the roads. jest why il got that naESg
30 one has ever explained. Tor "a rvac.
ttcaIly every caSe the ptcu}c left the
roads In orS coaditloa ihsa b%fore
The law Ia many states prescribed
| that each resident Ct a rural district
must par a ceFtsin read tar ta laESIs
each rear, Tie par nsent Of this tar
Was done under the supervision q 9
local otlcer. known as the pathmxstsr.
The customary time 81 payment vas
In the early sumner, Just before bay
Ing time. when there wasn't much else
far fha war nv,. . - "a
neiEhtorhood turned cut with horses
and plows and harruws ripped IN
diverse sections OF highways which
the years travel had packed to a more
or less naTigsble condition, rounded
them up Nicely In the middle and
scratched them up smooth with the
hsrrows. You were never expected to
work very hard at these festive oeca.
sions. and the ~pathmaster who insisted
on real work soon found himself IN
popular. II was Just as well, for. since
nobody had any knowledge Of road.
making. the more work the worse re-
suits.
What some OF these results were and
are We have vivid testimony. Across
Iowa last winter the racing autos
had to take to the railroad tracks be-
cause the common roads were simply
impossible. Last March some mis-.
guided creatures began IN automobile
race from New York to Savannah, Ga,
IL was just at the opening OF mn vtga-
ton on the country roads Of the mid
die south, the time when the roads are
too thin for wheels and too thick for
boats. Across Virginia each racing
automobile had an escort Of six mules
to pull 1t out Of extra deep mudholes
and to haul its emergency rntions of
gasoline. Usually this was enough, but
when an auto was so thoughtiess as to
stay In the mudhole all night the mule
teams had to be doubled and all the
negroes Of the neighborbood comman-
deered to service before that particu-
lar contestant could proceed. The
racers averaged four miles per hour
across the Old Dominion-a perfectly
stunning rate Of speed. all things con-
sidered.
And yet the roads of America are
vastly better than they once were, and
the improvement Is going on apace.
The United States government is lend
Ing a hand BY setting Its spare scien-
lists 10 work teaching the people Of
different regions how to make the best
roads at the least cost. The states are
doing vastly more. New York In 1905
voted to spend $4,000. 900 on her high
ways. and, while no other state Is In
vesting In roads at that rate. all are
doing something.
Cities are finding 1t good business to
improve the roads leading out into the
farming region. the farmers are begin
ming to tax themselves in a rational
fashion for highway Improvement, and
many philsnthropists have passed by
the conventional college and library
donation to spend their surplus funds
on good roads. Historic mudholes are
being slowly filled up, stone and con-
crete are replacing the crazy wooden
bridges, and a hundred inventions
have been made to help get the best
results for the lowest expense.
Some OF the last deserve attention.
Macadam roads have long been ac-
cepted as the standard Of highway
construction. But macadam roads Of
the old pattern, with crushed stone
eight inches thick. cost from $4,000 to
$4,000 per mile. Now 1t has been
found that three OF four inches will
do quite a. well. and the cost Is cut
sQuarely In two. In some parts Of the
central states. where crushed stone il
rare. It has been found that the very
clay which makes the roads almost i'm
passsble Is the best trackmaklng mn
terinl when burned. In yet other 70.
gions the farmers have discovered
how to make good roads by the simple
e~xpedient OF rolling or dragging them
after each rain, and In yet other places
a mixture OF sand and clay, costing
&300 OF 500 q mile. II found almost
N good ~ the best macadam.
II il well that the roadmaking ma.
terials are abundant and varied, for
there are roads enough IL the United
States to reach eighty-six times around
the earth at the equator, and nearly
all those roads are bad. The advo-
cates Of geod highways will and ample
ROOM for their missionary enterprise