The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1912-08-01
FOR GOOD no /.
Contributor Airs Some Of His
Ideas About Them
CAUSTIC CRITICISM
Not in T0uCh With Methods En-
pl0yed in Country Districts
by Those in CHARGE

Editor Herald:-History shows
that the art of road building has been
practiced by man since the dawning,
or in other words, since he appeared
upon earth, and has been brought to
a greater or less degree of perfection,
as man has passed through the ages.
The Romans builded some very fine
roads. traces of which may still be
seen. Napoleon built one of the fin
est roads in all Europe, and which is
still today in a very good state of
preservation, and use
The object to be gained by good
roads is the easy travelling from place
to place, with the least possible out
lay of strength or power, hence the
cutting down hills and endeayoring
to get them in such state that the
movement of teams, trains, etc.,
may be made as easily and quickly as
possible, with least cost to those who
use them. A country is judged sim
cerely by the passerby traveller, and
farms are rated in proportion to the
kind of roads that make them accessi-
BILE or convenient of approach and the
least expenditure of money to set
their products to the markets, and it
is clear to any brain even if only part
ly developed, that to accomplish this
much desired result civil engineering
must be brought in, in order to get
the greatest amount of labor for the
least possible expenditure of time
and money. One point in the first
place must be most carefully and
critically observed and remembered,
and that is to get the line of the pro-
posed road exactly on the government
survey cline" so that all work done
upon the road will be permanent and
not have to be changed in any way,
thereby saving a large amount of
money and labor. In other words:
IF thing is worth doing at all, it
is worth doing WE'LL"
bodybuilding in this country is
very easy comparatively speaking, as
we have an abundance of good mater
ial, sand, mud, stone and water. But
how to get them together in right
proportion which will last the longest
is the question, but is easy of answer.
When you have bad sand hill, which
takes all the strength your team has
to pull load of say so or Is bushels
OF wheat up it, what does it need?
Clay, stone or cement properly adj
justed by intelligent man so as to
bear the most wear and make posi-.
BILE the least expenditure of energy to
ascend with the load. But before the
clay, stone or cement are applied the
hill should first be graded down to as
low grade as possible, having due
regard for the water flow which must
some time come thereon, and by cut
ting bitches on the sides the flow of
water will be diverted from the ira
veled portion thereby increasing the
life of the roadbed proper. Sand, un-
less very deep and hard to pass over,
should never be touched as it main.
tains a good road without much re.
pairs, and the blowing up of such
roads and throwing the sods into the
middle is to be severely condemned,
as producing ''h-l of a bad road" in
the language of the ordinary traveller
thereon, be he in lumber wagon,
buggy, horseback or with automobile.
And right here, such practice indi.
Gates to the man of brains and judg.
ment, that the one who does this
kind of road work ~ is either a fool
or does it for the express purpose OF
giving vent to a very seriously dis
eased liver, in which is a superabun-
dant amount of the stuff the doctors