The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1910-01-06

norway has national directors OF
public roads, under the department Of
public works. This department, to.
gether with the storthing or parlia-
ment, exercises some control over
main roads, through national aid The
counties build main roads, but are aid
ed by the state to the extent of fifth
to third of the cost The smaller or
cross roads are built by the local dis.
tricts with some aid from the county.
County road engineers, under the
county magistrates, control the road
building operations. Maintenance has
always been attended to in the past by
farmers themselves under direction of
the. lensmand or sheriff, each farm
of road, but this is being superseded
by the employment of road keepers for
each district. In case of new construc.
ton, the county or division engineer
assigned to manage the road makes
the plans, which are approved by the
national director, together with all es-
Inmates of cost-the contract sys-
tenn, as we know it in Norway, but the
usual system is for a crew of men un-
der foreman to make a collective con-
tract to do the job for stated sum.
This is used both in construction and
in maintenance. Convict and pauper
labor are no longer used. Road grades
are the great problem in Norway, and
material of no Importance, as it can be
mad anywhere for the cost of hauling
Macadam with stone surface is used
on all roads for heavy hauling, and Oh
other roads, a gravel surface Main
roads are made 6 yards wide, and
smaller ones yards. All road en-
glneers have good technical training,
most of them with German engineering
degrees. Field and district engin-
GERS get salaries from $1,157 to
1926 year. Common labor on roads
Is paid 80 cents day, and a man with
horse and cart receives $1.75. Prac-
tically all stone is broken by hand.
Norway has in all 6,523 miles of main
roads and 1926 miles of public cross
roads, all built of stone, gravel and
sand. The annual cost of mainten-
ance is place at $500,000."
. DENMARK. .Z
Commodore Jensen in an article to
the National Tidende, dated Dec. &c
says: For three weeks past I seem
to have been living in dream, so
strange and unreal have been the con-
ditions, so astounding the develop
ments of what a Danish journalist
called the Cook phantasmagoria.'
Rude indeed has been the awakening
of the Danes. When reached Copen-
hagen found them wrapped in happy
Inconsistencies, their placid faith in
the man they made a hero scarcely
rutf1ed by the doubts of the outside
world. AS I am leaving them cannot
but feel a keen sympathy for the kind
ly, honest, simple people in what 10
many of them is an hour of an almost
national humiliation. In the trans
script Of the diaries you find here and
there some notes about longitude and
latitude, which are recorded as the re-
suits of astronomical observations or
dead reckoning. For the control of the
culations, there is not one single item
OF necessary material. From time to
time Cook~gives latitude and longitude
observations, supposedly taken at the
same time, which it was impossible to
make by the sun alone Presumably
he made use of the moon. There is
no account of how he controlled his
pocket thermometers. Even daily COM
parsons had not been made. 1t seems
as though DR.. Cook were totally unac-
quainted with the variations of the
compass. There is nothing in DR..
Cooks records to show he understood
observations. In the arctic regions,
where the variations of the compass
are most important, going to nearly
$50 degrees, so that the needle instead
OF pointing north, points almost di
rectly south, the compass is of little
use unless it's variations are controlled
at short intervals. When one realizes
| that DR.. Cook evidently knew nothing
| about the variations of the compass
or the methods of control Of them and
yet set his course to the pole by the
compass, the most fantastic supposi-
lions as to his wanderings are posi-
| able.''
Denmark, with it's level country and
dense population, has a far easier road
problem than Norway It's roads are
largely question of maintenance
which is attended to by permanent
staff. Each is responsible for about
four kilometers, or "a miles of road,
and works from three to six days a
week, according to the need They are
under expert inspectors employed by
the county councils. The counties ad-
minister their road affairs under super
vision of a national director Iron roll
ers and stone-crushing machines are
forbidden in Denmark on the smaller
or parish roads, and also on the main
high road between Copenhagen and Ell.
shore Government roads in Den
mark are built of broken stone with
gravel top dressing. On less used
roads only the tracks are filled. Brok-
MT l.