The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-02-27

The building ef the DUPONT high
way across the State sf Delaware IS
us special interest tn Nirginans as
Il will form a lrrt nf the great III
ternatienal highway that stretches
from Quebec. Canada, to Miami, Ella !.
and crosses Nirg MIA. 1t Is cor.nec.-
Ing link similar t. the one nov being
promoted between Richmond and
Washington by tins way of Fredericks-
burg. Speaking OF the DuPone high
way l.. y. Nallandigham says:
L. Coleman DUPONT, the powder
maker OF Wilmington. IL Is annauno ed,
will not only build and equip one
great highway TO run from end to
end Of the. State. but will give many
millions of hts large fortune to the
improvement If public rosls IN all
parts OF Delaware. Few Atlantic
slope Stats north of Virgini, are
worse provided with public highway s
than Delaware. in tho upper fauiih
OF the State v ilioh has for tha most
part hca~y clay soil. the roads are
deep in niue AL winter whcn they
are not frozen into rough aud dam
gerous surface, and powdcry with dust
Tor much II the summer. In the
lower th-co 19ur.hs of the State,
where much Of the soil Is .an1y, the
roads are pretty dry mort OF the time
because the natural drainage Is al
most pers Get, but they are fetlo.' X
deep IN Sand curing the drougnss OF
summer.
Toll roads nave almost disappeared
from the State. but the old pixies
still showing traces of the Original
structure though ruinous from long
neglect. are still encountered in the
outskirts of cities and towns An old
~, al hi hxt- Ad h.A
State road. runs for many miles,
much of the time upon the water
shed between Delaware and Ches-
apeake bays. 1t Is a wide waste of
clay or sand. as tho case may be.
with deep and periious bitches on
either side, and many bridges carrying
1t across streams great and small.
The actual work of making such a
sesd ,na% he, let. ~. G6ntraet. az II
may be done by days work under
the superintendent of the road COM
rnissioners. Most such highways are
built without any stone surface, and
merely by clearing and browning
and ditching the .'righ. of way" II
was long the custom in Delaware
FOR farmers to work OUT their
taxes upon the roads. In other words.
the ancient .'corvee' was maintains
cd. Naturally. the farmers knew lit
tie of scientific, road building, and
produced most depforahle3 highways.
Sometimes persistently bad piece
OF road was heavily covered with
broken stone which vehicles were ex-
pected to crush into passabe condi-
tion.,
Now the road plow and the roller
are used even upon many of the by
ways, but there are few roads with
really proper surface. The by.
ways of Delaware. often beautifully
picturesque. as they wind through IA
land of rich, well-tiiled farms and
swift sparkling streams, are the dread
of automobilists.
Tho best country roads Of Della
ware are those surfaced with oyster
shells. These are found mainly in
the region of sandy soil not far from
the oyster grounds OF Delaware Bay
or of the Chesapeake tributaries. never
in the hill country. As the State
Is only thirty miles wide at the
widest, and nine at the narrowest
point. there is little of the fiat sandy
region where she'll roads could not
be built, for the cost Of oyster shells
is largely matter of transportation.
For the most part, however. the by
ways even In this part OF the State
are built without any effective sur
facing. and u shell road" is a luxury
usually confined to the region within
two or three miles of village. The
shells are dumped on the road and
spread for a width OF perhaps fifteen
feet. crowned. and sometimes heavily
rolled. After that. travel gradually
reduces the shells to limey powder.
and the rains help to bind the whole
together into an almost solid mass,
Such q road. effectively resurfaced at
proper intervals. will maintain q firm
surface Year In and year out. oven
when the soil upon which II Is laid
consists Of denss and deep nand.