Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-02-18


methods of road building. which /
honestly believe TO be a waste of
funds. I shall try to offer some help
full suggestions as / go along.
How to Build Roads.
In the first place. we are not fnan-
cially able to build roads all oyer the
county az they should be built, and in
the second place, if we had all the
money necessary, it could not be done
at once. We would have to begin and
build mile by mile, just as all the fam
u roads OF the world have been
built. My advice would be to build as
little sand-elay as possible, only in
places where it will stand best, and
build as much permanent road as pos
s1ble, beginning On the worst places
where sand will do no good. / do not
think sand should be hauled and
spread on the hard clay roads, be-
cause when dry and smooth, a clay
road is the best in the world, and freq
from dust, an advantage never to be
found on a sand-clay road, but where,
on the contrary, the dust is always
unbearable in dry weather. The sand
should be deposited at convenient
places, then spread when the road is
in proper condition. This would be a
little more expensive. it is true, but
would pay in the long run. Eventually,
by beginning now as I lave suggested,
hard surfaced roads will take the
place of all temporary sand-clay con-
~struction.
VIII be Convinced. but Slowly.
Not long ago a great many people
Thought that Jan ordinary dirt road
could be made permanently good WITH
a road drag. While this treatment
improved our roads greatly, it could
never give US good roads. during all
sorts of weather. Then the sand
craze caught us, and while land helps
wonderfully in places, this notion of
building ~1rst-class roads in this sec
ton OF the State by the present sand
clay methods will soon go glimmering
the way-of the dirt road, and eventual
ly we will all come around, after hav-
ing spent much good hard earned
money experimenting to. the modern
hard surfaced road, the only method.
in my opinion, Of constructing service
able and satisfactory highways in
this section of the State.
AS to authority not favoring our
present methods of construction, /
would respectfully refer everybody
interested to an article by the road
supervisor of Buncombe county which
appeared in the Asheville Citizen not
long ago. Some of our road men seem
to have missed these valuable observa-
tons and suggestions entirely.
FaVOrS the Industrial Tax.
With reference to the proposed adj
veFtistng tax, ] will say that have
no objection to stating my position on
that. AS stated in my previous ar
.ticle, / am not opposed to advertising,
/ believe in it when properly handled,
and /, have always supported With 9
contribution. (Which always seems to
be the principalt hinRl and otherwise.
scheme worth mentioning OF the
many brought forward for adHeFttsT1
ingsour town and. county. ! will say
right here that a prominent citizen of
HendersopYfl1e, who has always done
the same thing. remarked that he be-
lieved some of, the advertising we have
given ourselves at, considerable. ex.
,pense has actually hurt us. How
ever, l am in favor of the advertising
tax, provided the proposition is ac-
icomplished with a definite, concrete
plan by which this money is to be ex-
pended; and provided further we can
get the street improvements ALSO But
if the street improvements PROPOSE
ton, which I am informed will soon
be brought before the. General Assem-
bly, for its action, has to suffer in any
sense on account of this advertisement
tax proposition, then ] am not for 1t,
because I think the street improve
ments more important. ] favor per-
lament road improvement more than
anything else for the development o.
the town and county. Had l the OPP
portunity, 1 would unhesitatingly cast
nv vote for a five hundred thousand
$500, 900. 00) dollar bond issue for per-
manent road improvement in Hender-
son county, because l know it Would
not only be the best advertisement,
but investment as we'll, we could pos
sibly get for the town and county.
Cost of Concrete Roads.
It may be of interest to state that
the average cost of constructing
standard concrete roads throughout
the United States last year was $1.19
per square yard. I believe, by pur-
chasing the necessary machinery,
and doing the work under competent
supervision in the most economical
way. it can be done for v e. less than
the average above quoted.
This article is already too long, n
r,;II hove m mako conomic and
Effective Advertising" the subject OF
a future article. But | do not pro-
pose to do all the writing. / wantsto
hear from omeone else. And in tina
meantime let US all think about these
matters, and discuss them, not argue
them, and thus learn more about these
methods of road building and "adVef-
Using that pays"