The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-11-13
From Saturdays Daily.

sister, Emma, at Mankato last Mon
day and Tuesday.
From Saturdays Daily.
Through the courtesy Of Clerk OF
Court Krost, representative Of The
Free Press was given an opportunity
to 60 to the Swartout hill, where
fine piece OF road work is being
done under the foremanship Of Jack
Brown. The work has been In prog
ress since September II. and the
grading will be completed about No
yember IL.
]. Z. Swartout, the man who went
about II to see that the hill was
improved, met Mr.. Krost and the
newspaper people on the hill and
they, with Mr.. Brown, went over
the ground.
The distance from the top Of the
grade to the bridge over the Le-
Sueur river, at the base of the grade,
Is 1000 feet The entire road through
this distance has been practically
changed, and the grade has been cut
down very materially. The old road
had a twenty-five and one-half per
cent grade, and the road now being
built has a ten per cent grade.
Thousands of Yards Of Earth.
Between 5000 and 5000 yards Of
dirt have been moved. There are
two large fills, the upper one of
which has about 1000 yards Of dirt
in 1t. Because OF the cuts it was
found unnecessary to haul dirt any
distance. The road way is twenty
eight feet wide in the cuts and
thirty feet wide on the I'LL. 1t is well
drained. having several sulverts
under the roadway carrying off the
water, and n surface ditch running
along the side of the bluff, which
carries the water from there off in
to the river.
Mr.. Brown has had a crew OF
about twenty men at work, and the
work has been hurried along rapidly.
He has two Fresno scrapers OF his
own in use on the hill, which make
the work go quickly, these scrapers
having about twice the capacity of
the old kind. Mr.. Brown has worked
with his men and put in strenuous
days at this job. which will be a
credit to his skill.
Great Deal Of Grabbing.
Besides the grading which was
necessary there was a great deal Of
grubbing out of trees required, and
this brush was used at the bottom
Of the fills.
]. E. Swartout commenced three
years ago to agitate the grading Of
this hill, and kept steadily at 1t
until he succeeded in getting the nee
essary funds. The owners OF farms
between the Cobb and Maple rivers,
which empty into the LIE Sueur near
the hill, subscribed IS for each forty
acres Of land they owned, making a
subscription list of $3.50. Later Judge
Lorin Cray, John Nyquist, and Fred
Otto of the Commercial and Automo-
bile clubs good roads committees, with
George j. Rrost, visited the hill, and
these organizations signified their
willingness to pay, the remaining $40
toward the private subscription.
Town OF Deeoria Contributes.
Then he township OF Decoria, in
which the hill is located, payed $500,
the county paid $1,000. Mr.. Swartout
later appeared before the board of
commissioners and asked for an ad.
ditional $500 for grading. This. was
appropriated, and later the commits
sioners agreed to pay what might be
necessary to complete the work.
The grading and grubbing will cost
about $4,000. and the draining and
graveling Of the road will be paid
above that amount. The gravel is
nearby, being obtainable from the lie
Sueur river bed, at the bottom of
the hill.
The old Swartout hill road was
built twenty-one years ago. when the
township appropriated $50 and the
county appropriated $500 for the
work. The contract was let to John
Mccall for s243, and the 81 remain
ing was allowed for surveying. But
this new road win, with reasonable
upkeep. last for all time. It is plenty
wide, and there will be no occasion
to rebuild II within twenty years, or
twice that length of time.
HoH Ravlne Road.
Toward Mankato from the lie
Sueur river bridge is the Hoff ra-
vine road. which was rebuilt a short
time ago, and which is now a splen.
did piece OF highway. The stretch
is one mile in length, and this was
paid for by $500 in private subscrip-
tons, $500 from the township, $500
from the county and $1,000 from the
state. The gravel was hauled by the
farmers of the neighborhood and
spread without charge
A list OF the men who subscribed
toward the Swartout hill road was
published in The Free Press some
time ago, and since that time the
following amounts have been sub
scribed: William Heller, $40; Her
man Heller, IS; Otto Marks, S.;