Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-07-19
inOw TO Make
;
GOOD ROADS BAD
WHAT THE AVERAGE ROAD OVER
SEER DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT
ROAD-MpklkG
A Cass County Citizen Pays His Re-
spects to the Modern Road Over.
seer


of interest to almost every other sec
ton of the state. We never can have
good roads so long as the work i:
under local supervision. There shoui(
be state supervision and scientific
system adopted according to the la,
of the land and the character of the
soil. The same plan or treatment il
. all sections will not do. Some soils
will never make good roads AID re
. quire the addition of gravel, or sand
+ or clay, or something, and to ai'nless
ly spend hundreds of thousands o.
dollars as we are now doing without
=. scientific knowledge OF road making
: is waste of money and an awful
, burden to the taxpayers and users OF
/ the highways. The following is the
communication to the Tower City
paper:
LOST-About fifty miles of fine
roads in the immediate vicinity OF
Tower City.
= Since their disappearance there
have been great many people look
ing for them, without success, and
various surmises are made as to
their whereabouts, but the weight OF
public opinion seems to point to sew.
eral of the road overseers Of the sur
rounding country, as the roads were
exceptionally fine until the said over
seers made their appearance and be-
gan their depredatiOns and then IT,,
elegant roads were only memory.
To the ordinary ci'Z>n wao has no
other function to perform than 20
pay his proportion of the taxes, re-
spect the laws, and use the public
highway for ordinary purposes, it is
constant source OF Wondermc,lt why.
as soon as a particular stretch OF
highway begins to assume a pave
ment-like appearance and to tempt the
pleasure seeker to drive his auto or
rubber-tired buggy thereon. it seems
to be the business OF the road over
seers of that particular district to at
once assemble several teams, attach
them to one of those abOminiable road
destroying scrapers or so called grad
ers. and then and there proceed to
demolish said elegant road by scrap
ing all the sods, stones and weeds
available partly into the middle of
the road until he has succeeded in
making it actually impossible, and
then to go on his nefarious way, look
ing for more good roads to destroy.
It is a fact that will not be dis
puted that there are roads within five
miles of Tower City that for the last
twenty-five years have never been
impossible or even in poor condition
for minute, that have this summer
been pl0wed up, scraped up and grad
ed up on the high places as well as
on the level, until no one can or will
drive over them, and all are obliged
to get along as best they may through
bitches and over rocks where one
would almost fear to drive farm
wagon after dark.
| Now l am only one of those humble
citizens who desire to respect the
laws, and if it is really the duty of
:. the road overseers to make the road
impossible, l am willing to state for
their benefit that there are few short
stretches of fairly good roads as yet
undiscovered by the road destroyers,
and if they are not properly plowed,
scraped and cooked up by the end
of the week, shall conclude that the
high chief malefactor has been un-
! able to get his eye on them. and
shall be pleased to give their location
to any deserving vandal who still has
a few new varieties of sod heaps,
stone piles and bumps to distribute.
A few hints as to the accepted
methods of road destruction might
bear fruit in cases. where experience
is lacking.
Where roads are turnpiked, and fine
and smooth, be sure and run the en-
CINE of destruction far enough from
, the beaten track to secure good col
lection of grass, sods, weeds, bottles,
stones. etc., and then scrape them
toward the center of the road, but be
careful not to scrape them far enough
so that the public can drive with one
wheel on either side of the accumu-
lation, but leave the mess about four
or five feet wide and as crooked as
possible.
In dumping loose dirt in the high
way, care should be taken to dump a
load on each side of the track, as
nearly opposite each other as possible,
and at about the proper distance
apart, as it is highly necessary that
there be a gulley across the road
! about every three feet.
When roads are properly treated in
this manner, it is we'll to take a pillow
and thoroughly break up all the bal
| ance of the highway, so as to compel
! the people who want to use the roads
j to go some other road and eventually
to some other town where the road
overseers are unskilled and the roads
, are better.
| How long. oh. how long must we
put up with these things! How long
must the public submit to having the
avenues OF travel and trade annually
s"mnerfallowed by bone-headed road
overseers?
Heaven hasten the advent of the
aercplane.