The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1915-03-11
TAXPAYER" ASKS CUES
TONS ABOUT HARD ROADS.

would very seriously be call
ed in question. Gravel roads be
ing far superior 10 dirt roads are
much more To be preferred. Ac-
cordIng to figures produced by
our friend, The Man Who
Knows, - il is actually cheaper for
us to build gravel roads than To-
keep up dirt roads as at present
We go in debt most every year
trying to keep our dirt roads
paSsable whereas with gravel
roads and no increase in taxa
ton we would actually lay up sey
eral hundred dollars per year for
an emergency fund. This seems
too COED TO bee true. Why have
We been breaking our harness,
wagons and buggleS IN mud holes
these many years
IL seems a pity 10 call IN ques-
ton such tlatterlng prospects 20
forever Danish mud holes from
that part of the "tootsiool y
known as Fulton county, Ken.
lucky We farmers have been
quilted So often that we
through force of habit, look with
an eye OF suspicion on any propo-
sitlon that has all good points
aud absolutely no bad ones. our
friend, The Man Who Knowns,
has given us facts but has he Civ.
On us all the facts3
We do not want 10 act the
part of the man who found d
bear asleep in the woods. lie
had no gun with which TO kill il
so he decided to capture il. lie
crept around and caught the
bear by the tail. The bear. a,
woke, looked around. took in the
situation, and instead of trying 4
fail back to more favorable pc
sition, decided 10 charge the enc
my. and began swapping at i,
lcaptor, first ON one side. thef
on the other. The man soon de
clded that he had hold of a bac
proposition and began to cal
for help. His neighbOr cam,
running 10 his assistance inquir
me II he needed help 10 hole
the bear. No. he replied. | wan
T help TO turn the darned
thing loose II is the part o
wisdom aud good business judg
ment 10 count the cost of graye
roads before We take hold OF then
Let us heed = splendid bushes
principle found in that grea
book, the Bible Which of yoi
Intending 10 build tower. settctl
not down first and counteth IN
cost whether he have sufficient I,
finish it. ~
Oh, The Man Who Knows.
states that 100000 will grave
the 2l0 miles of road in IN.
county. which is about sllOO ~
mlle. That is true. But he di,
not state the width of the road
thickness Of the gravel. kind o
lgravel, nor the amount or char
acter OF donations expected.
ANY, along the roads.
Suppose We build a road L.
feet wide with am average thicK
ness OF I inches. 1t will take a
bout 1920 yards of gravel pc
mule which is about 80 ear load
and take about 1920 wagon load
to haul it. The freight adde,
! To cost of gravel and loading vii
beverage about $500 per cal
Cost Of hauling from ear To roa,
lwili average about Sl.O0 per yarc
Total cost of gravel delivered Oh
l road will be about $3.50 pc
mile. This added 10 cost o
preparing the roadbed, which
about 20 per cent of cost of III
road, making a total of $1,000 pc
mile, which does not include In
cost OF placing and rolling. Thes
figures are approximate but thin
they give a reasonable estimate.
Mr. Cresop, OF Okolona. Miss
superIntended building of fort,
miles OF gravel roads in that sec
ton, the cost averaging $4,000 pc
mile. Mr.. Kelley, civil en-
gineer Of Union City, visited an,
inspected the gravel roads 0
Madison, county, Tenn, reporte,
that standard gravel roads coul,
be built in Obion county TO
$500 per mile, covering all ex
penses. The good roads peopl
OF above county, want TO issnl
SoOO,OOO in bonds to build %
miles of gravel roads. We II
Fulton county expect 100000 {,
build 2l0 miles OF gravel road
a Omit. . Itfg..a...... =. .