The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1912-04-04
DRAGGING THEROADS
SUGGESTIONS. AS TO THE BEST
WAYS, OF MAKING -1RAcTIcAL
APPLICATION IF FEPREsENT
LAWS IT II | " ~ Y

township trustees and road superin.
tendents on the subject of How to
apply the present road law to the
facts" and said in part:
The question of how to get our
highways dragged without a waste of
money, is a live one with me, and one
with which have had some practical
experience last season.
Last spring the Commercial Club of
Greenfield, believing that dragged
roads leading to Greenfield was good
business proposition for the city, pro-
ceeded to obtain two dragged high
ways across the county, one from
Menlo on the north to CrestOn on the
south, and the other from the Madi.
son county line on the west, on what
has since been named the I-O-A Short
Line, and | shall direct my remarks
this afternoon to the system We
used, how we secured them, and what
they cost.
The Gath General Assembly had al
ready passed the road law now in
force providing for the Supervisor of
Dragging, and the card system of no.
Itifying the supervisor of dragging,
when the dragging had been done.
We examined this law, adopted the
spirit of the law, and so far as that is
contained, followed it practically to
the letter, with the exception that we
didn't have a Supervisor of Dragging
spending his time telling other people
when to drag, when they as | believe,
know better when to drag the roads
along their place, than anyone else
living at some distance from them
ever can. All our Supervisor of Drag
ging did, was to go out and get the
contracts signed up and count the
post cards when they came in, there
fore he had practically nothing to do
You go to farmer and say, Il want
to hire you to drag this road and |
want you to sign contract to drag it
whenever | notify YOU" and you will
find your chance FOR bargain is gone.
Men won't hire out that way. They
won't agree to go at a signal from
any one and leave their work that is
all important to them, and if they do
agree to it, they will demand double
pay, and your dragging funds will not
bring results. But you go to man
and say, 1--WE are going to drag the
, trOads from your house to town. We
will guarantee you a dragged road
from your home to your city, but we
want you in, We want you to agree to
keep this mile dragged, you to drag it
whenever it needs dragging, and we
are going to leave that to your judg-
nent, you being on the spot, and we
will pay you fifty cents for every time
this mile is dragged" and you will
find the farmers as eager as you for
good roads. We said to them, Eve
will leave it to your judgment when
is the right time to drag your road,
but if we find that you are not doing
your duty, we will cancel the contract
with you. and we reserve the right
to call you out to drag if we find that
you are negleCting your duty" No
one objected to that system, We had
confidence in the men we dealt with,
and we knew they would not try and
run up "A large bill on us, for the pay
; they received was too small to tempt
them. Not a man turned us down
and refused to contract with us, and
, many good men who were willing to
drag were not seen by us because we
; had the roads all contracted for We
picked men who had been dragging,
whenever we could get them, and
: gave to each man as long strip of
road as he was willing TO take and
then handed him a bunch of postal
: cards with the following printed on
them: president Commercial Club,
Greenfield, Iowa. have this day
, dragged the road as provided in my
+. contract and a - to sign on and
t date it.
The day he dragged the road soon
as he got through, he dropped one OF
those cards in the mail box and our
, treasurer knew that night how much
h. money had been expended, and what
d. roads had been dragged. 1t is a mag,
nificent system. = card index show
4 ing just what roads have been drag
ged in the township. Ali in the hands
} of your dragging superintendent.
Did we try to dictate to the farmers
, when to drag? No, don't think that
is practical. in summer showers a
mile makes all the difference as to
the adVisability of dragging a. road
Get good men, trusted men, men in
terestcd in good roads, men in whom
you have confidence and they won't
: have to be told. What did it cost per
: mile for the season? Well, we agreed
with every one to pay them fifty cents
per mile for every mile. dragged mot
every mile traveledD And they were
to go two rounds if necessary to put
the road in good condition and keen
} them smooth at the culverts. Last
. season was dry one, and we begun
on the 22nd of May, which was lit
} tie late, and the most that any road
was dragged was nine times last sea,
son. making a total cost of $3.50 per
! mile, and they were kept in fine con,
dition.
The one mill dragging funds levied
by you will make on an average $500
for every township in Adair county.
I'Thara iS 10 nilas nF road i'm q town.