Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-06-22
GOOD ROADS FOR IOWA
By THOMAS o. MURPHY OF RED OAK.

an the facts before us. we still NAV
not realize the vast financial loss en-
Ialied upon the whole people of the
Unl.ed states by our poor public high
mayS. me oI1lclal estimate of the year.
" loss from this cause was recently
gwen Out at Washington by l.. w.
director of the United States Of
uce or public roads and president of
Ihe american Association for Highway
He declares that nea rly
soVV,Uoo,oO0 is the annua burden of
20 70 Aasion placed on the public because
u the pad roads and increased cost
OF transportation that follows. Some
classes OF our people may bear less
ana some much more thar their pro-
portlonate share of his enormous sum.
averaging more than IS per head to
very man, woman and child in the
uuua.ry, But the great burden
ultimately rests on every business and
enterprlse-unless 1t is that of the fell
low VINO max the road graders.
NOW, the desirability of better high
ways being admitted, the great cues
tlon Is how to secure them. 1t is not
an easy one to solve. The best road,
SO Tar as we know now. is some form of
macadamti. This is named after the
Ingllshman. Macadam, who invented
the method of making roads of crushed
aoch; THESE consist of a layer of
WIN dIlO SdIlu several lnCnGS III
rolled to a smooth surface
ny an enormously heavy steam roller.
mixture Is thoroughly wet before
fol.1nS and dries out to q stonelike con-
sistency. 1t makes a s%plendidly sur
raced road. u of course, it needs con-
slant watching and repair. Holes are
worn In 1T under heavy use and it is
likely to become very dusty at times.
Iiaese drawbacks have been overcome
10 q great extent by a surface of as
pnaltum and a very fine crushed rock,
which Is put on the road under heavy
pressure. This finish makes the finest
road I have ever seen and there are
some thousands of miles of such high
ways in England.
me French roads. which were until
recently considered the best in the
world, are now rather behind the times.
They are broad stone roads, often rum
ming miles and miles in a straight line
between rows Of fine trees. These trees
along the highways lend a very pic
turesque appearance to the country and
nave no doubt furnished a great GUAM
tlty OF valuable timber. The same idea,
you may know, has been advocated by
the iowa women's clubs, who think we
should plant trees in the same manner
along the roads in this state. Evident
~ the ladies have not stopped to con-
slder that under present conditions
sue q practice would serve to make
our highways still worse. since the
trees would prevent the dirt roads from
crying out quickly. Therefore. instead
or planting more trees 1t Is becoming
the practice to cut them down, espe-
cially when they tan on the south
SIDE OF n road. Ever our Usage hedges
nave become a nuisance and are being
cut down by our more prosperous
farmers. These hedges shade and inn
poveriSh a wide strip OF land as we'll.
N fhp HQGaH Nf 0fnnn rnn6C fhn v1ov1
OF planting trees along them is very
practicable.
The surface Of the French roads,
however. has become considerably worn
and quite rough in many places. The
automobile, which in France is hamp-
done q great deal to destroy the sur
face of these roads: but the French
are quite up to date in UGH matters
and no doubt a general ~resurfacing
with aspllaltum will soon be inaugur-
ated.
Kings Contribution.
In the United States there is not
much permanent road outside of the
extreme east. though a great move
ment for improvement has already be-
gun in Ohio, Indiana, and to some ex-
tent. In Illinois; n there is also much
good work being done on our western
coast. Iowa, however, has less than SO
miles of macadam roads outside of city
limits, and there seems to be little
likelihood that his mileage will be
greatly increased In the immediate flu
ture. 1t is not because our state is too
poor. D. Ward King, the final u
thority on road matters, declares that
any country where the land is worth
upwards Of $50 per acre can afford
permanent stone roads, and that they
will be a paying investment instead Of
an expense. On this basis, no state or