The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-01-27
WE'RE TERRIBLY EMBARRASSED

Two weeks ago we ventured t,
criticise the report of the engineer,
who recommended macadam for tn,
new roadbed on the sand belt be
tween Blackfoot and Ross Fork, ant
for saying that an eight-foot maca
dam road was not in our opinion
what we wanted, and that an ova
grade of sand treated with crude oil
was more adapted to conditions
there, we were roasted to crisp by
Brownie the MISERABLE who sees
nothing good in anything The Re.
publican ever says
Brownie uses up much of his ener-
gy in ridiculing, and in consideration
OF something foreign to what we
suggested, intimates that we have
never been outside of the town limits
and that we attempt to discourage
progress when we suggest oil roads
instead OF mdcadam.
BY way of showing his own wis
dom he says that it takes a barrel
OF oil per square yard for road MAX
Ing, and that this oils only the sur
face. That the sand road we spoke
OF must needs soak up oil five feet
deep and that it would only hold
up automobiles even If it were oiled
as he says at a constant enormous
expense
Really 1t is too bad that somebody
else did not express what we did,
somebody who had a little printing
contract to let occasionally so
Brownie could have risen to endorse
1t and ''slobber" over him as only
Brownie can.
The suggestions we made are in
keeping with modern road building
with crude oil, and are borne out
by actual conditions where sandy
roads have been successfully treated
with oil for number of years. Ten
years ago we observed the results
OF such work in Southern California
and in the San Joaquin Valley, and
iive years later, when visiting It
again, observed that this treatment
was meeting with greater favor and
that people were enthusiastic about
the use of oil for roads that were
sandy, though we saw no tests made
OF such sand as we have in the Ross
Fork road. We learned in a general
way that 1t was considered COM
paratively cheap and moderately SUBJ
stantial coating for sandy,
dusty roads. Just what amount is
applied we are not able to say.
There used to be very
troublesome piece of sandy road
at the south end of the Boise
bridge, near the Boise Gas
plant. and the commissioners of
Ada county purchased three tank
cars Of oil with which they treated
1t SO 1t was approved by the city
engineer, but we are unable to give
the amount of oil per square ward |
However, we have before us a tabu-
lated report of the different amounts
or oil required for coating roads in
varying conditions, and it varies from
quarter to half gallon per square
yard. Of course this table was NOT
prepared nor approved by Brownie.
and on that account it probably has
no value, but it was issued by men
who are discussing modern road maxi
Ing and stalking something on what
they say, rather than criticising to
satisfy their spleen. 1t discusses the
work OF coating roadbeds with diff
erent grades of oil according to the
material to be coated, using heavier
oil for the cleaner sand and finer
oil for heavier finer materials to be |,
cemented together. Tt contemplates
making tough springy surface over
which heavy loads may pass without
breaking through, and one that the
automobile cannot tear up and toss
aside by it's speed. The macadam
Dad wears under contact with iron
Tres and iron shoes, and then the [
Tres of the automobiles passing
Witty over them with the suction
accompanying the flattening of the
ire and the quick springing back {
0 the oval form, lifts the loose par t
icles and hurls then into the air. '
IN this account the macadam roads c
rear rapidly and it has been found "
est to oil them occasionally to keep
own dust and to preserve them. g
We still hold that in the light of a
he best thought of the times, of tests h
4 modern road building and road y
maintenance, the macadam road with
lrnouts as recommended by the g
ngineers has a close competitor in e.