The Oskaloosa herald., 1912-04-04
DRAGGING THEROADS
SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE BEST
WAYS. OF MAKING -9RAcTIcAl.
APPLICATION or nh EPREsENT

apply the present ROAD law 10 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
they cost
The 34th General Assembly had al
ready passed the road law now in
force providing for the Supervisor of
Dragging. and the card system of no.
flying the supervisor of dragging,
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
gng 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 1t
whenever ! notify YOU" and you will
find your chance Tor bargain is gone
Men won't hire out that way. They
won't agree to go at 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 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
ment, 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, I'VE
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 II we find that
you are nCglecting 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 large bill on us, for the pay
! ,
! them. Not 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 a 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
! date 1t.
I The day he dragged the road, soon
as he got through, he dropped one of
! treasurer knew that night how much
money had been expended, and what
roads had been dragged 1t is mag
nifcent system. !: card index show.
! 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
| terested 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 traveled) tagds they were
to go two rounds ii necessary to put
/ the road in good condition and keep
! them smooth at the culyerts. 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.
sen, making a total cost of $3.50 per
mile, and they were kept in fine con-
dtion.
The one mill dragging funds levied
! by you will make on an average $500
for every township in Adair county
There is 70 miles OF road in a town
ship IL every section line is a high
way, and at the rate we paid il would