Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-08-16
GOOD ROADS MEETING.

heCOIu, was uelu Ill the 1 OTR county
court house Saturday morning at II
o'clock, with eighty representative
citizens, mostly farmers, in attend
ance. The meeting was called to or
dey by Senator w. H. Stewart, who
stated the object Of the meeting and
introduced Mr.. c. w. Moorman, who
is in charge of the campaign for bet
teT roads being made by the Record
/ Mr.. Norman gave a brief outline
of the purposes of the campaign, what
1t was hoped to accomplish in the
|arousng of public sentiment to the
advantages of building better roads,
etc, and stated that his paper did not
ask for anything, was not expecting
lanything and did not look for very
great returns to II financially for q
long time to come. He stated that the
object of the crusade of better roads
was the desire to put South Carolina
on an equality with other states in
the south of building and maintain
ing systems The party is travelling
from county to county by automobile
in the most direct way solely for the
purpose of getting first hand infor-
nation as to conditions as they really
exist, in order to be able to tell the
STORY exactly as it is. He explained
that he was not practical road man,
and that he was leaving that part Of
the work entirely to Mr.. d. II. Wins
low, who Is representing the Good
| Roads bureau of the department of
agriculture, and who with an expe-
rience of eighteen years as engineer
and road builder would address the
audience on the practical side of
Mnnr,,,n,, oil nf
the efforts of Colonel Cosgrove of
charleston in behalf of better roads
and drainage in South Carolina, and
stated that at a meeting in Charleston
a few weeks ago, at which there were
800 delegates from eighteen counties,
there was organized the Good Roads
and Drainage association, and by the
authority of Colonel CoSgrove the
president, he was appointing an eXecu-
tive committeeman in each county,
whose duty it is to develop { BOD roads
sentiment in such county. For York he
had appointed Mr.. D. c. Clark EN-
| phasiZing the fact that whatever bene-
iets would grow out of the meeting
would come only by concentrated eff
Ifort and organization, Mr.. Moorman
introduced Mr.. Winslow.
| Mr.. WinSow said that he did not
feel that he was a stranger here, as in
January last he had built a short
stretch of sand-clay road west of
Yorkville, as an illustration of what
can be done. He expressed himself as
much pleased at the remarkable pro-
gress being made in this county. He
said the county chaingang was the
i best equipped in the state and had
taken a number Of photographs dur
ing the morning to be used by the ma
tional department in its nationwide
campaign for better highways.
i The speaker expressed himself as
highly pleased with the tour Of the
party through the twenty eight cOun-
ties so far covered. Politics, local
and state, were tabooed. Some poll
ticians had tried to get on the good
roads movement, but had been dis
lcouraged. 1t was not q political cam
paign and didn't need politicians. The
movement needed the support of
statesmen, upbuilders, who had no sell
| fish ends in view. He said that the
party is not selling road machinery, not
boosting any special make of machin-
cry, and warned his hearers that road
agents, selling machinery were right
behind them, and advised that great
| care should be used before buying
what the other fellow has to sell.
That most successful road working
machinery had been invented by farm
ers and that a great deal of the stuff
that is offered to the public is worse
than junk. He said that the problem
before the mis- sionares was not to in
terest the farmers, the people who
would derive the greatest benefits
from good roads-they were already
interested. They want them. The big
gest trouble was how to reach them
and get them as whole, behind the
10 an1 lizp a
sentiment on the betterment of our
road building methods. Once the
farmers can be aroused to the i'm
Iportance of the movement and the
benefits to be derived, the rest would
be easy. Following the meetings in
the counties already covered, twenty
six counties have taken steps to form
permanent good roads associations,
| and that in only one county had
failure been made. He explained that
good roads meant straighter roads,
graded roads, properly drained and
maintained. Emphasizing the perma-
nency Of the roads the speaker said
| that the highways are the one thing
that never change. They were here
yesterday, today, tomorrow and for
ever That the way to build roads was
| to make the lines correct, proper foun-
dation, easy grades and proper drain
| age There is no such thing as
permanent surface. Any road ever
built has to be resurfaced from time
| to time. Belgian blocks wear out,
macadam wears out, sand-clay roads
wear out, but the foundation, the grade
and drainage are lasting.
| He gave attention to the folly OF
building bridges Of timber. He show
| ed that bridges of wood could only
last for a few years and had to be
renewed at higher and higher cost
and at best this is a wasteful method.
steel and iron bridges have to be re-
painted continuously and in time re-
placed. The permanent material Is
concrete because when bridge Is
built of this material it is done for
all time. He explained that all bridges
should be built of one pattern, accord
ling to plans prepared by competent
Iengineer in order TO ensure the lowest
cost. He explained how bridge
builder in bidding for iron or steel
bridges would get two other concerns
to bid on the work, paying them TO
submit higher bids in order to give the
bunco game Il semblance of compe-
tition. He recited as a fact that
| few years ago twenty wooden bridges
were washed away by a freshet in
Fairfield and they We're rebuilt OF the
same material to be washed away
again when high water comes the next
time. Build of concrete and you Dulld
! for future generations.
| But to build roads it was necessary
| to know how. He explained that un-
der the present system of electing su-
pervisorS i'm this state the building ol
permanent roads was practically I'M
possible The supervisor is dependent
on votes to hold his job and he is
afraid to do anything anywhere at any
| time without first considering now IL
would affect his vote. 1t would take
q united public sentiment back of the
supervisor to build roads and without
that sentiment nothing could be ac-
IcOmplished. Attention was called 10
the abolishment of the chaingang sys-
TEN in Fairfield county because pup
| lie sentiment demanded good roads
and concluded that the gang retarded
progress rather than helped the good
roads movement. Speaking or the
methods of moving dirt, the speaker
said that he knew of one county where
the chaingang moved dirt half mlle
| i'm wheelbarrows because the convlcts
| didn't cost anything for labor. the