Imperial Valley press., 1914-01-12

eral states, the total improved mileage
is a mere 224,194 miles, or about 10
per cent. In other words, tenths
of our roads remain more or less un-
improved.
When the nation stops to remember
that $164, ,232,3 1865 was spent on road
Improvement and maintenance in 1912
it realizes what tremendous task lies
ahead. The nation may we'll be pleased
over the fact that this expenditure by
it's several states, counties, townships
and highway associations double in
eight years, for in 1904 the outlay was
S8O,009,000 in round numbers. The
various appropriations for 1913 were
larger than those of 1912, although
all the figures are not yet available,
and 1914 promises to again swell the
annual total, with the strong possibil-
ity that 1915, with the national Lin
coin highway completed to the doors
. of San Francisco and the Panama
I Pacific international exposition, will
eclipse all records.
The handspring of most of this
improved highway activity is the fed
eral office of public roads, and the
remarkable part Of it's record is that
practically every bit of its work has
been advisory and exhortatory. This
bureau grew out of an abortive at
tempt in 1892 to establish a national
highway commission. In July Of that
year the senate passed bill creating
such a body, to be composed of two
senator's, five representatives and five
citizens appointed by the president.
The following October the first good
roads citizens organization on ma
tional scale was formed at Chicago.
1t was the National League of Good
Roads. The president was the Hon.
F. Henderson and the members Of
the executive committee were Judge
E. H. Thayer, Philip D. Armour,
Leland Stanford, Clem Studebaker,
Samuel w. Allerton, Chauncey R.
Ripley, Alexander J. Cassatt, w.
Seward Webb, Albert A. Pope and
Charles L. Burdott. The national
commission project did not pass the
house, but in March, 1898, the office
of road inquiry was created, with an
initial appropriation Of $4,000, to be
spent under the direction of the sec
retary of agriculture.
The duties of the new office were
to make inquiries in regard to sys-
TENS of road management through
out the United States, investigate the
best methods of road building, prepare
publications on this subject, and assist
agricultural colleges and experiment
stations in disseminating information
along the same line. The office strug-
gled along on $4,000 or $4,000 per
annum until 1901, when the appropria-
ton was increased to $4,000. Con-
gress has steadily increased the al
lotments of the bureau, which was
given it's present name of office of
public roads in 1905, up to this years
appropriation of $279,400. The first
director of the office was Gen. Roy
Stone, who was succeeded in 1899 by
Martin Dodge, who was followed in
1905 by Logan Waller Page, the pres
ent incumbent.
Mr. Page has served longer than
either of his predecessors and under
him the office has grown by leaps
and bounds. The office today does not
only perform the duties for which it
was created twenty years ago. It's
chemical and physical laboratory for
the free testing of road materials
open to every citizen of the union,
have made more than 1900 tests, and
the methods here adopted are now
practically standard throughout the
country. Valuable research work in
concrete has been going on, and ex-
periments have been conducted to de-
termine the efficiency of oils, tars,
asphalt and other preparations used
for the purpose of preventing dust and
preserving macadam roads under
modern traffic conditions. Expert
ments in behalf of different sections