Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1910-04-01
Senator Lee After Geological Survey.

A dispatch from Annapolis to the Balti-
more News, dated March 25th. says:
Senator Lee. of Montgomery county, has
prepared another roads bill to supplement-
the one introduced by him in the Senate
on Wednesday, and one which is even a
more severe attack upon the Geological
Survey than the first 1t provides that in
the case of a vacancy or vacancies occurring
in the State Roads Commission. the Gov
ernor is authorized to fill these vacancies
by the appointment of two new members,
who will be paid a salary of $4,000 a
year and will be required to devote all
their time to the road work.
THE bill is so worded as to make it
plain that the vacancies referred to are
those positions at present filed by the two
members Of the Geological Survey. Under
the law creating the State Roads Commits
sion the Governor was required to appoint
two members from the Geological Survey,
and they were to serve without pay. Those
two me nbers appointed were DR.. William
Bullock Clark and DR.. Ira Remson Sena-
tor Lee, it would appear from this bill, is
after the scalp of those two eminent gen.
tlemen. One of the principal contentious
is that they leave the State during the
summer months, when the work of road
building is most active, and, therefore, ex-
ercise no supervision when supervision is
most needed. Senator Lee wants men
who are ON the job all the time
THE Senator from Montgomery has pre-
pared mass of statistics and material
concerning the building of roads in his
county which constitutes a prima facie
case of great severity against the Geolog-
ical Surveys work His most striking ex-
hibit is series of photographs showing
the condition of roads built by the Survey
under Engineer W. W. Crosby as contrasted
with roads built by the county itself. Mr..
Lee says that they are perfectly fair rep
reservations of two kinds of construction /:
that, in fact, he ordered the photographer
to reproduce the worst parts of the county
roads and fair specimens of the Surveys
roads. The photographs show the county
roads to be excellent sections of smoothly
leveled highways. while the Surveys roads
are filled with holes and rLts and awkward
places. The Blair road. the Bladensbure
road the Laytonsville road and the Ken
sington road are some of those offered in
evidence.
IA Of Nh.R, a. =,
one count in the indictment against the
Survey. The county roads, Senator Lee
contends. have cost only about one-half
as much as those built by the Survey, and
their cost Of maintenance is far less. The
Survey roads have been built under the
Shoemaker act, by which the State pays
one-half the cost and the county the other
half. So costly are the Survey roads. says
Mr.. Lee, and so poor their construction that
the county prefers to build its roads en-
tirely at its own expense-and saves money
by so doing. The average cost of the roads
built by the county is from $4,000 to
$4,000 mile the average cost of the
Surveys roads from $1,000 to $1,000.
And the cost Of maintenance Of the coun-
~ lOduo 10 ACob.
1.-THE trouble with the Crosby roads, &C.
cording to the Montgomery county people,
lies chiefly with the drainage. Where
there is sandy subsoil, ii appears, as is
the case on the Eastern Shore, where
the Crosby roads have met with much
favor, the Surveys specifications work all
right. But where there is different base
the drainage is defective and the roads
don't measure up.
Another point Of controversy is that the
Survey insists on cutting down slight grades
in order to get perfectly level road. The
Montgomery county authorities say that
slight grade doesn't impede traffic and II
does help the drainage.
THE alleged excessive cost of the Sur
vey's roads is said to be owing to the fact
that the contractors themselves have little
faith in Mr.. Crosby's specifications, and,
inasmuch as they are obliged to guarantee
the roads, they make the price very high
in order to safeguard themselves. That is
said to run up the cost to exOrbitant figures
These are some of the main arguments
with which Senator Lee will support his
bills when they come up In the Senate.
He processes to be confident that the two
houses of the Legislature will enact them
into laws.