Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-08-18

Praises River to- River Road.
We will have, for the most part, 10
get on as best we can with dirt roads,
and the river to-river road is splen-
did object lesson both TO the state and
nation 1t is doing on large scale
what sundry communities have done in
"a smaller way, and is giving wide pub
licitY TO the results, such publicity as
has not been given and was not pos
sible TO give TO the marvellous accom-
plshments OF the smaller enterprises
that have been carried on turnout the
state and nation in haphazard and
disconnected way. In Guthrie county
we have kept up stretches of dirt road
for several years with the King road
drag. and last year, which was motor
iCusly rainy. our well dragged roads
are about as good as they are this year,
and tho river TO river orga nization
need not fail because Of bad weather.
How to Keep Dirt Roads Good.
Ten or eleven months out Of every
year, no matter what the weather is, a
dirt road properly kept UP IS as good or
better than macadam. and a no time
Of the YEAR is there any excuse for its
being 5lockaded by nudholes. A con-
tinued drilling rain Of from two TO
;h-ee days duration VIII make some
mud but if the road drag is used as
soon as The road drys little. very
little water Will penetrate the road bed
The whole problem is 20 get rid of the
water and 10 get rid of ii quickly. Drain
out the ground water by tile. wherever
there is evidence of seepy or springy
place. Keep the surface smooth and
free from ruts and catch basins and
Slightly crowned by the systematic use
Of the road drag. This will send the
surface water scudding 10 the side
bitches and good bitches must be pro-
vided and kept open no matter wha-
kind of road you have. The roads OF
Iowa. especially the main travelled
roads. are for he most part. already
graded up sufficiently. and if the King
roads. are for the most part, already
in the simple and effective manner that
is being advocated and practiced on
the river-to-river road. Iowa road users
viii have little usecmfw-y mfwy fwyp
will have very little 70 complain Of.
JOHN W. FOSTER.
Guthrie Center. Aug IS. 1910.
Times Republican,
have read with interest your arti-
Gle on the river-t o-river road. which
you are pleased 10 treat as a mere
fancy" and which you term River
TO River Pastime"
The article is utterly at variance
with every other public expression I
have heard or read upon this now fam
Gus highway Dai Lewis. who has
been pretty much over all the world in
an automobile. the editor of the famous
Highway Blue Book. number of high
way engineers of state and national
reputation. and the Iowa Highway
Commission headed by Governor Car
roll have recently traversed this road
for the purpose of ascertaining at first
hand what il is like, and these men,
with remarkable una nimity. have said
in public speeches and public inter-
views ard signed statements published
in Des Moines. Chicago, Boston, and
New York papers and in automobile
Journals that the river-to-river road is
the longest stretch of good road in
America Harper's Weekly, and other
ma gaZines nave published articles de-
scriptive of the road and pictures taken
all along il, and nearly all of them re-
fer 10 Il as q national object lesson"
This is a distinction in which every
Iovan must feel pride. and ] assume
that YOU have not Intentionally taken
up the role Of "knocker," but that your
article is meant as a protest against
any sort Of dirt roads, or any system of
keeping them up. and that it is an ap-
peal 70 the people Of Iowa to build per-
manent roads, mainly macadam of the
waterhound type. along some sort of
plan. presumably patterned after that
Of New York State
Conditions in Guthrie.
Everybody everywhere seems to want
good roads but there has not yet been
an agreement reached as to how to get
them. There is a great diversity of
conditions in Iowa which may account
for some OF :he differences of opinion.
Here in Guthrie county we have no
material out OF which to build macad-
am or even gravel roads. nor is there
any road building material of conse-
quence. other than dirt in any part Of
the state Of Iowa along the river-to-
river road. or south Of the Rock Island
Railway. In your county and in parts
Of eastern and northwestern Iowa there
is an abundance of stone. and you have
stone crushing plants a hand ready to
turn out material cheaply, but even