Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-03-10

roads to bring such pressure to bear
that the general assembly viii give
the state such a law as will permit OF
road building Of permanent nature
by experienced men.
Hall 10 Packed.
The addresses were heard by at
least 1900 delegates, the auditorium
being packed on the first floor and in
the boxes with good sized crowd IN
the balcony.
Prof. A. Marston, head of the engi-
neering department at Ames and the
first speaker in the afternoon, dwelt
upon road building from the stand
point of an engineer. He stated that
Iowa has 100000 miles Of highway, OF
which there are $4,000 miles Of main
travelled thoroughfares OF these roads
he estimated that 80 per cent must be
dirt roads.
The road problem is not question
Of developing new methods Of road
building, he said, but one OF employing
TO the best possible advantage the
methods now known and in use else
where.
He summed up the things necessary
to good road building as follows: A
survey by capable engineer, sub
drainage and tile along one side OF
the road, side bitches, good crown,
grading and building by experie, ced
workers, constant and regular use OF
road drag in maintaining the road,
gravel surfacing and permanent
bridges.
Unless some such system Is devised,
he said, the good roads movement Will
be without results.
Henry Hag Of Jefferson, Greene
county, one Of the best known road
builders in the state, asserted that
Iowa would have had good roads If the
road trustees had made every dollar
of the road fund go as far as they
would dollar Of their own money
spent for themselves.
He elaborated on tie idea of tile
drainage for roads, asserting OF Is no
idle dream.
"Tile drainage" he asserted, els the
fundamental principle Of road con-
struction."
Raps Road Trustees.
One trouble with the present system
OF road building, he pointed out, Is In
the fact that the responsibility OF car
ing for the highways is placed in the
hands Of road trustees who seldom II
ever want the job and are often named
without them knowing it. These men
take the position because they think
they should, he said, but they do not
strain themselves to give personal at.
tention to roads. They hire road
boss he stated, who does all the work
and oftentimes is not experienced and
does more damage than good.
John w. Foster of Guthrie Center
averred that roads must be kept
smooth. There must be thing, he said,
for everyone knows that water is the
great destroyer of good roads and til.
ing is the only way of taking care OF
water He advised the constant use
of road drags, also. He condemned
the hit and miss methods used by
road supervisors in maintaining roads
Harvey Ingham stated that the trou
Bile with the road building efforts OF
the state in the past has been that
there is no permanency In the work
There Is no assurance, he said, that
when one road trustee builds road
his successor will not come along and
dig 1t up Road building Is more diff.
ficult than is imagined by many, he
said. It has been stated, he pointed
out, that there were a hundred men
in every county who could build roads
He said that this was not the case
It is task which only trained and ex
perienced men can successfully accom-