St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1913-12-06
THE ST. Y DECEMBER s. 1913.

ANDRY CLARION DEC
the need of better and more permanent
highways is imperative. Even the most
Ignorant will coincide with this view. The
only debatable point is, how shall we ar
rive at that much-to-be-desired state of our
public highways?
Recently the police jury hasItaken up
the question, and to the end that the people
of this parish shall have as soon as possible
real good roads" this body has issued and
offered for sale bonds for $500, 600. The
writer understands that these bonds have
not yet been sold, but there can be no ques-
ton that there will be a sale of the securi-
ties within a short time. Of course we
know that this seemingly large sum will not
be a drop in the bucket towards making all
the roads in this parish real modern high
ways, but it will no doubt go a long ways
towards pulling st. Landry out of the
mud" Every little semi-private lane can
not and will not be paved or. laid with
gravel; even all the main highways cannot
be placed in the category Of good roads,
with the sum of money above mentioned.
But it is to be presumed that many miles of
main roads can be worked with this money,
to come across" in the payment of the
bonds, it. is only right that, in laying out a
plan of procedure, the police jury or other
competent authority, ought try to give
each community as much good road" as
possible. In other words, it would be a
matter Of simple justice that the powers
that be should not spend the entire sum on
one or two main roads and leave other high
ways in the mud"
Recently the writer drove over for the
first time the small stretch of model road at
the outskirts of town, which Messrs. DIM
mick and st. Cyr built with the sanction of
the police jury, of which body both are
members. Several hundred yards Of this
road have been drained, graded and gravel
ed. The writer understands that only a
few inches of gravel was placed on this
road, which amount is not considered
enough in the construction of modern high
ways, but that the benefit was great is
apparent to any and all who drive
over the road in question. If this gravel
road will hold-up under the traffic, it seems
that gravel is the cheapest way of getting
our roads "out Of the mud" The police
jury. however, would be justified in inves-
other materials for the betterment
of the roads before rushing into the whole
sale crawling business, and if the final de-
is in favor Of gravel, the writer, in
with many other interested people.
is of the opinion that only clean gravel
should be used-that is, gravel which has
been washed or that which has been
pumped from the bed Of the Mississippi
river. The gravel which is dug from some
North Louisiana hills seems to be too well
with clay to make a real good road.
all know that clay Immediately gets soft
and Doggy when it becomes im~pregnated
with water, and to place gravel and clay,
bought at a high price, on our roads will
not altogether alleviate the mud troubles
which we have been up against all these
We may be misjudging this North
Louisiana gravel, but it would be best not to
AXE any chances, and all things being equal
n the matter of price, our money would
BEST be investigated in real clean gravel.
have enough clay in this country with
,ut investing in the imported article.
And then the drainage. It seems that
here has been enough said on this impor-
point, but as a matter of fact it is only
ecently that the great majority of the peo .
lie nave graSped the real meaning OF the
rhine Importance of getting rid.of the sur
lus water after every heavy rain. The bet
of roads by drainage has been so
pparent for many years that it looks pecu-
ar that everyone did not see the crying
eed of it long ago. This parish, however,
as neglected this matter Of drainage
the many years the present road :
ystem has been in effect, the constituted 5
uthorities going along collecting and t
taxes on road work CO without i
living a single thought seemingly to any y
ther matter but letting out the contracts, ;
and approving claims therefor and :
aging out the money. The writer believes h
lat there has been more than 500, 900 col
cted and spent since the present road sys- 3 8
went into effect. For one can deny that
e have better roads than we had under the
d overseer method, but the question natu- :
lily arises, have we received just value for !
le large amount of money spent?
Flowing two or three small burrows on Y
oh side of a highway and scraping this
ose dirt to the center with a grader does Of
make a gool road, though on the face II
it, Immediately after the work is done, it. :!
look good to an inexperienced eye. "a e.
a heavy rain and much traffic this 4