Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-12-06
HOW TO REDUCE TAXES
Few Farmers Take Advantage of
Law for This Purpose.
USE OF WIDE TIRED WAGONS.
Farmers Entitled to Rebate on Road
Taxes When Three Inch Tires
Are Used.

How many Winneshiek county
farmers know that they can have
part of their road taxes RENTED il
they use wide tired wagons? Very
few, to judge from the number who
make application for this remission
at the court house.
Some farmers have taken advant-
age of his law, but not many. Prob
ably most of them do not know Of
this provision.
That the narrow wagon tire is the
worst enemy of good roads in Iowa
is the contention of w. F. Baker Of
Council Bluffs, former Pottawatamie
county supervisor and veteran good
roads advocate of the state. In a
letter he gives his reasons as fol-
lows:
In the construction of public
roads there is a situation in Iowa
that is not found in any other state
with the possible exception of Kan
sas. l refer to the general use of
narrow tired vehicles under heavy
loads, so destructive to our high
ways, in fact, are responsible for
nearly all the damage done to them.
Many kinds of road construction that
would be successful in Nebraska and
most of the other states would be
absolute failures in Iowa, owing to
the use of narrow tires. Nebraska Is
saving her macadam and other roads
with. the use of wide tired wheels.
No load with less than four inch
tired wheels are allowed upon the
road between Omaha and Florence,
Nebraska.
Many wagons with ten inch tires
are sent from Omaha into Illinois be-
sides large number with four inch
tires, and but very few are sold In
Iowa except to railroad contractors,
to whom you could not give a mar
row tired wagon to be used for haul
ing heavy loads.
Other than regular pavement, what
road construction can support a mar
row tired wagon loaded with two
tons weight (not an unusual load)
each wheel having a pressure upon
the road bed of more than five humid
red pounds to the square inch? They
will destroy any road construction,
with the exception mentioned, in
very short time without constant re-
pairs. The silly argument that a
narrow tired wagon loaded hauls
easier than a four inch tired one
has been proven wrong by every test
that has been made, including those
at Ames, Ia, and those by the U. s.
government in connection with their
| field artillery. The latter made a
thorough test, and adopted four inch
tires. 1t is strange to me that the
people of Iowa are generally so in
different regarding this, as narrow
| tired wagon used to any extent for
hauling heavy loads upon our roads
costs the tax payers in injury to our
roads more than twice each year,
what it would cost to furnish it's
wheels with four inch tires, that
would last at least three times as
! long as the narrow tires four
inch tire wagon loaded with a two
ton weight has a pressure Of two
hundred pounds per square inch or
more than the best road roller.
Nothing could be devised that
would so effectually contribute to the
maintainence of our roads as the
general use of wide tires and the oc-
casional use of the road drag to
obliterate the tracks, thus causing
the travel to spread over the surface
of the road. When this system is
adopted We shall have ideal roads
in Iowa, costing but small sum to
maintain, to what they do now.
Narrow tires are not only destruc-
tive to dirt roads, but to all road
constructions, and most OF all to ma
cadam. There is no move that could
be made for the improvement of the
highways in Iowa so practical and
effective as to take from the road
fund sufficient sum to create fac
tories in different parts of the state
to convert narrow tired wheels, used
as described, into wide tires, as all
they need are new felleys and tires,
costing not to exceed ten or twelve.
dollars per wagon. Iowa should not
be behind all other states in this
respect"
NJ