The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-11-02
GOOD ROAD SECRET
IS COMMON SENSE.
.. Ward King Tells Keokuk People
and Farmers Of the County How
Simple II Is to Have Bet
ter Highways.
DRAG AFTER RAIN Is ALL
His Formula is a Simple One and
Those Who Follow It Cannot
Meet With Anything but
Success.

SQCCeSos
That road dragging Is a simple
science which farmers for the most
part are entirely ignorant of because
or Its simplicity, is the conclusion
reached after hearing the rousing
lecture by D. Ward King, the famous
inventor, at the Lee county court
house yesterday afternoon. All that
is needed to have fine country roads
is little common sense and judge
ment, split log drag and a few
hours of labor after every rain. When
Yesterday afternoons meeting was
first called to order by Mayor ]. F.
Elder the attendance was alarmingly |
slim. During the progress of the lee
ture, however, the court house filled
almost to its capacity. there being
about one hundred and fifty present. !
About three-fifths Of the audience
were farmers.
The formula for good roads was
given by Mr.. King. 1t follows:
| Make the King road drag exactly
according to directions.
The first time that the road is soft
but not sticky, go down to the neigh
boris gate, first on one wheel track
and then on another.
After the fourth, fifth or sixth
rain or wet spell you will find that
the road is practically perfect. Plow
a shallow furrow and then spread to
make the road wider. Plough anoth-
er furrow and spread.
This is all that is needed. Do it
and you will get as near perfect a
dirt road as it is possible to obtain
The drag used should be very light
Make it out of twelve inch log.
] Want Puddled Mud on Top.
1t does not require deep thinking
to reason with D. Ward King in good
roads making, though the speaker
declared he. has a hard time making
an audience believe his stories which
seem incredulous.
The effect which dragging with the
split log drag has on the road is not
difficult to explain. Go down a road
on one side and back on the other
after there has been a rain. The mud
is soft The road is smoothed, the
Thigh particles being broken off and
smeared down, while the little cup
{ py places in the road are filed AT
T ter this is done a number of times
!. the surface of the road becomes GOV
: cred with layer of what is known
+ as puddled mud 1t is not difficult
: for farmers to understand this. Con
e tinued dragging will pile up layer af
ter layer of this puddled mud, unit
the road becomes absolutely water
proof. 1t is hard and water finds i
t impossible to penetrate.
: Now the drainage is easily ex
: planned Dragging road down one
] side and back the other will leave
the middle high and there will be {
gradual tendancy for a slope from
the center to either side. This slope
becomes more and more inclined a.
the dragging continues. But at the
edge of the road on either side W.
have strips that have not been drag
ged. The dirt is of such characte
that it will absorb water. 1t hal
not been puddled. The consequence
is that when a hard rain comes tn,
water strikes the stopping puddlet
road, cannot penetrate, and runs of
to the side bitches. Here the nut
is not puddled and absorbs the wa
ter very quickly.
The amount of rainfall has littl,
effect upon q road of this character
Mr.. King stated that at one tim
during his good road making at hom
a wet spell came, one of the wors
ever experienced in the locality I
rained almost solidly for two weeks
Twenty-four hours after the last rail
had fallen Mr.. King said he had S
race track in front of his house
How such d condition is possible i
one of the things which it is Difficult
to impress upon farmers who hav
neglected their road dragging an,
do not know what can be accom-
lished by few hours labor when tn
road is in condition to be worked.
When Stone Should Be Used.
Mr.. King stated that the impression
has gone out that, he was oppose
to using stone on road He en-
phatically denied this. But summin
up the proposition he said:
when land is worth $50 an acr
and the stone can be obtained frol
within distance of three miles, us
stone. If land is worth 500 an acr
it is worth going 100 miles for ston'
All highways leading into city owe
which the travel is heavy should b
treated with stone"
Mr.. King told of how ne treated
mud puddle On his way to town on
day. On this occasion he got on h
drag to make q long trip to tt