Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1910-02-05
MORE GOOD ROADS WORK.

Several counties in Iowa believe
that the way to get good roads is to
build them. They show an inclination
to go ahead without waiting for out
side assistance. Ottumwa made plans
last fall to go ahead with it's good
road plans when $1,000 was subscrib-
ed to a fund to be used in road i'm
provement The work will be begun
In the spring. Muscatine is preparing
TO build eight miles of model road.
The Commercial association and the
board of supervisors are working joint
ly on the plans.
Colfax has secured subscriptions to
improve 81 mile stretch of road lead
ing into the city from the north. A
railway switch will be temporarily
built to haul Stag from nearby mine
dumps with which to make roadbed
The Colfax boosters declare they will
make this road a shining example of
what can be done with dirt roads.
Many other counties have taken up
the plan Of offering prizes to road
builders for the best kept roads, q
plan which has greatly improved the
highways Of several Iowa counties.
The good roads agitation has
brought forth many pertinent sugges-
tions that will be useful in guiding
the course of the legislators when the
question comes up for legislative ac-
tion. c. G. Dye, former member of the
legislature from Decatur county, has
entered the discussion with a letter
to the Des Moines Capital in which
he makes the following suggestions:
Raise the bridge fund one mill.
Build steel bridges, cover them with
cement and make them strong enough
to carry heavy threshing outfits with
out tracking.
Take one mill from the township
fund and put it to the county fund, and
take the other three mills to build
cement culverts.
Have all able-bodied men between
81 years and so years work two days
with team for poll tax.
Levy two mill drag fund to be
paid in money or dragged out by the
property owner. But whoever drags
the road it shall be dragged in such
manner as to make a grade high
enough to drain well. Main travelled
roads shall be dragged twenty-five
feet wide; less travelled roads need
only to De twenty feet and they shall
be dragged enough or cultivated in
some way as to keep down weeds and
grass on the sides of the grade.
County funds shall be spent in two
ways: by county gang and interest
ed land owners, or men living on other
peoples land who desireN to fix bad
places along their land 1t shall be
fixed good and approved by the coun-
ty board and they shall be paid 81 per
day less than the county gang gets
per day.
"In fact where interested men want
to do road WORK along their land they
shall apply to the county or township
board, according to the kind Of work.
And they shall let them do the work;
but the work shall be we'll done and
approved by the board before they
shall receive their pay.
THAT the state highway commits
sion have $4,000 to be spent in as
sisting county and township work as
the commission shall see best.
"State aid to help the county throw
up high grades where it is necessary
to have them and cut down steep hills,
and to aid in making hard or macadam
roads where the people want to go to
the expense Of making them, by tax
ing property within one-half mile of
them.
after the roads are fixed in good
shape the tax shall be reduced to just
enough to keep them up in good
shape
The call for good roads convention
issued by Governor Carroll has met
with popular favor in the state The
county boards of supervisors, township
road officers and commercial associa-
tions of the cities will be well repre-
scented at the convention. Iowa at 4
last seems determined to solve the
road question.