Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-08-23
UNPkvED STREETS
NEED A DRAGGING
Citizen Tells How Outlying
Thoroughfares Gould Be
Greatly Improved.
AT VERY SMALL EXPENSE
Maintenance After Initial Work to
BE Practically Nothing at All
Time Now Ripe.

Co.scident with the demand for
the improving Of the streets and ave
nues in the business section Of the
town, is general sentiment that
the thoroughfares in the outlying
districts should not De neglected but
that lmprovemen which are very
much needed there should be made
at the same time. a prominent citi-
zen who has the welfare Of Rock Is
land at heart and who is interested
both in the business anG resident
districts, said 10 a representative 81
The Argus today, 1T is almost IN
believable, the amount Of improve
ment that could be made in the IN
paved streets OF Rock Island with
an expenditure that is practically
nil. There is a general belief that
good roads are an impossi bility with
out a considerable outlay Of money
and endless work but this is a mis-
taken idea.
SHOULD BE DRAGGED.
4 have learned to my complete
satisfaction that the poorest kind of
road other than one composed of
be turned into level. dry, easy run
ming street with very little labor or
expense. The King drag or any 9TH
or serviceable road drag will do the
work and do i we'll The city Of
Rock Island could well afford to put
4 team or two at work in the resi-
dent sections where the streets are
unpaved and I believe that 1t would
he but a matter of weeks before the
work could be continued and the
roads kept in excellent condition
with no greater outlay than is now
necessary TO repair the poor roads
and streets which lie in the city and
which REQUIRE the constant attention
of a force Of men and teams.
HOW DRAG WORKS
For the benefit of those who do
not know how the road drag is used,
! will attempt TO explain. With the
aid of a pillow. several burrows are
made in the gutter on each side of
the street and then the loose dirt is
scraped up and placed in the center
of the roadway. The drag is then
run over the street until the road
way is nicely crowned in the center
and there is a gradual and even slope
TO the gutter. OF course for a time
until the ground hardens, the drag
has TO be used quite frequently, but
once traffic has settled the dirt and
II has become solid, the work of
keeping II in shape Is almost infinit-
esimal as far as expense goes. When
rain comes, the water runs off the
crowned road like of a ducks back
and the cutters carry it away. The
result is an absence Of mud holes in
the middle OF the street and the num-
erous weshouts and deep ruts which
now exist after every rainfall.
TO COST But LITTLE.
Experience has shown that the
initial cost OF such road improvement
is very little and that once the road
is put in shape IL can be maintained
in excellent condition at an expense
Of from two to three cents per front
foot to the property owners.
1T is to -, regretted that this
state has not .seen At TO make the /
lettering OF roads throughout the !
country and the city obligatory as is /
the case IN Iowa. The effects OF the I!
Iowa law are very evident TO any
one who visits at any OF the nearby .
towns. A regular road tax. very
small It's true, is levied and collected |
and II can be used for nothing but 4
roadway improvements. The inhabi- /
tants in the vicinity Of Orion and 4
Cambridge in our own state, are /
awake TO what roadway improve
ments are needed and the effect is
plainly visible about these places
where a road drag is a familiar sight
NOW Is THE TIME.
with the agitation on for i'm