The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-05-13
GRADE | ! H||0 { ] ]. QUICK
ROBERT HALL DEMONSTRATES
HOW 1T CAN BE DONE. e.
Traction Engine. a Couple of Graders
Do Work Well; Plan Tried Out
on Highway Near Rapidan; Man
kato Men Witness Transformation
of Poor Stretch. to That Which
Looked as if It Was Macadamized.
From fridays Daily.

Robert Hall OF Rochester, formerly
superintendent OF roads OF Olmstead
county, who was recently engaged BIZ
the good roads committee Of the Com
mercial club to demonstrate how to
grade roads quickly and well with a
traction engine hitehed to a couple of
road graders, has arrived, and began
work yesterday on the road from Rapi-
dan north. He secured traction en-
CINE and two light graders. and start
ed in in the morning, and worked a
mile of road. The graders were too
light for the work, and one of them
broke just after dinner, but the work
was completed with the other. A mile
OF road was graded in fine shape by
night.
Quick Change in Road.
I'm the morning the road was like
plenty of other of the poorer coun-
try roads, low and fiat. grassed over,
with a narrow track in the center.
BY night a wide roadway had been
graded up couple of feet, with am
pie drainage bitches at the side, and
the whole thing had been leteled off.
IL the other grader had not broken,
the Job would have been still more
perfect, but as it was a mile of splen-
did road was made, needing only, to
be graveled to be perfect. This work
was done by seven men and one team
of horses, and it can be done any
where in the county, in any kind of
SOIL 1t would take horse scrapers
two weeks to- do the work, and then
the road would not be smooth.
Mr.. Hall continued the demonstra-
ton today Scores of farmers from
near and far went to see the work
done, and all agreed that it was the
best and most economical way of fix
ing the roads that they had seen. .
traction engine can be picked UP in
any part OF the county. and road grad
ers are plenty, although Mr.. Hall rec
commended the sAustin-Western or some
other equally strong. Two of these
could be purchased probably for $500,
and each township could easily pur-
chase them, burt if thought best 3two
or three townships could go in together
on the purchase. - 1
The Work in Olmstead County. ="
Mr.. Hall states that in Olmstead
county, every road in a township, was
graded in sixty days with an engine
and two graders. Once graded, it, is.
easy to keep them up with road drags,
which ought to be used after rains.
Ofmstead county procured. the SER
vices of o. G.. Gettman of Herkimer
county, New York, to show the pco-
pie how to improve the roads with
the traction engine and road graders,
and he did this three years ago. Now
Olmstead county mas the finest country
roads in the state. After being grad
ed up. furrow is made on each side,
and the center is gaveled eight feet
wide. and then the dirt is brought up,
on the sides to Keep the gravel from
washing out.
Traction Engine the Thing.
A twenty horse power traction en-
zine will do the work, and the grad
ers are attached with a side hitch in
vention that is very simple, and the
man in the drivers seat stears easily
with rope. The other man on the
grader operates the machine, and two
men are needed on the engine. and
one tank man and team. This is:
all that is required to grade in per-
feet condition q mile of road day
through heavy soil, matted with quack
grass. and make a wide, smooth, we'll
rounded driveway, with ample bitches
at the side. Yesterday, an extra man
and team was used with harrow,
to break the humps and pulverize the
quack grass.
Anybody of average intelligence, with
little instruction. can very quickly
become proficient in the art OF road
making and capable of directing the
work. sIf the county board wonld
employ somebody like Mr.. Hall to
supervise, the road work of the county
for arseason, people all over the county
could be shown how to do the work,
and it would mean a great deal IN
the way of better roads. The county
board ought to see the work carried
ON under Mr. Halls direction. 81
Mankato Men Witness the Work
A party of Mankato gentlemen was
taken out to Rapifan yesterday after
noon by George NJ. Palmer, chairman
of the Commercial club good roads
committee, to see the work done, and
all were surprised and delighted with
it. w. d. Willard and party also
went out. ~.
Mr.. Palmer three days ago received
q new fifty horse power Speedweu
automobiles, carrying seven passengers,
and tried it out or this trip. His son,
Earl, brought it up from Minneapolis
the forepart of the week. 1t is one
of the finest riding cars ever, seen in
the city, and as for speed, few can
pass it. While hitting the high places
at forty miles an hour, the engines
seemed to be making no effort at all,
and the car glided through space SO
noiselessly aad smoothly that it was
hard TO realize that the car was going
as fast as the average passenger train.
Earl Palmer, who manipulated the car
on the return trip, let it out some,
and people observing the cloud of dust
raised behind must have thought of
their cyclone cellars. Both gentlemen
are careful drivers, and nothing occur-
,.aH 10 datraot from. tha nIaasua of