Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-10-30
Thresher Engines Put To Unneces-
sary Expense.
Office of the Road Superintendent
for MONTGOMERY county,
Rockville Md Oct o9rd 1914


Office of the Road Superintendent
for MONTGOMERY county,
Rockville, Md, Oct. 23rd. 1914.
Mr.. John f. Muncaster,
Rockville, Nd
Dear Sir II had intended to invite you
over after the rain last week to witness
the traction engine of Mills Brothers pull
ing five-ton loads of stone over the newly
graded Falls road, but press of other bust
ness prevented. These loads were pulled
over six per cent grades with filler blocks
on an ordinary thresher engine. They are
still hauling, but, of course. the road, though
somewhat soft, is not muddy as it was
Just after the rains.
particularly desire you to see it, as it is
just such men as you who look at the sub
ject from the standpoint of the farmers,
the machine men and the public interest
that it will fall upon to arrive at solution
of this vexed question. Come out this
way and watch them sometime.
Very truly yours,
M. D. KNIGHT,
Road Superintendent.
Rockville, Md, Oct. 26th, 1914.
Mr.. M. D. Knight,
Rockville, Md.
Dear Sir:-I have yours of 23rd giving
an invitation to visit the newly graded
Falls road at some future time to see Mills
Bros engine with five-ton load with filler
blocks.
have been seeing traction engines pull
ing not five, but ten to fifteen-ton loads
with blocked wheels ever since July; and
| have seen them under all conditions, on
hard road, dry road, wet road, side road
tarred road, and flint road, and must say
the experience the Eastburn Co., in my
observation, seems to be against the filled
wheel except on the hard dry road. They
made upwards of $500 trips over the road
from Rockville to Norbeck, and the man
who got his car off the road usually waited
for another engine to get him back. Dur
ing the week of the Fair, they almost had
to stop hauling as they were stalled so
often. These wooden filler blocks they used
allowed the cleats to cut into the road sur
face as much as any engine ever cuts, the
marks being largely smoothed out by the
wide wheels of the heavy car following,
and the road, as far as comfort in travel with
a vehicle goes, is better now than in the
spring when they commenced work. 1t is
common knowledge that on most roads
built out from railroad station the build
ing of a second mile has worn out the first
one when the hauling was done with teams
and was very apparent to all who travelled
it. On this road, stone sufficient to build
nearly two miles was hauled, and the flint
end, which is the only properly bound piece
of improved road have ever seen in this
county, was put in good condition for
farmers use in about three days. One
traction engine. scraper, roller and
about five Italians were the force used.
Altogether, this work and the Bethesda
road seem to bear out the claim that the
restriction on thresher engines is an I'M
necessary expense, even if the engine will
pull with the filed wheels. In my own
experience, found that the bands with
which equipped my engine this spring
have to be taken off when the machine
strikes an old sod or grade on the cOun-
ty roads, except when the ground is
thoroughly dry. After slight rain it will
not move itself with the bands on, the
wheels just slip around. and keep slipping
If you remember, told you had some
more literature on the subject, but there
have been some surprising additions to
my stock since then. Among the most
authoritative was the seven-paee opinion
of the Circuit Court of our district, which
ought to be good reading. Anyway, they
were surely an unbiased audience for a
large number of witnesses. What they
say has a good deal of weight, being
about as good law as the Commission
made regulation.
The Commission and you may be right
but | would hate awfuly to be in a mi
nority of one to five thousand, as you seem
to be-
Wishing you success in road building,
better than the Commission has so far had
in law-building. am
Yours sincerely,
JOHN f. MUNCASTER.