The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-07-15
COMES FROM INDIRECT TAX
Maintenance Fund For the Roads Is
Provided From Amounts Paid to the
State For Licenses of Automobiles
Owned in Kenosha County.

! The work of oiling the country roads
of Kenosha county was started on
Thursday afternoon and during the
next two weeks some thirty thousand
| gallons of fifty per cent asphaltum oil
will be spread over the gravel and ma
cadam roads of Kenosha county. The
work is being done under the direct SUI
pervision of County Highway Commits
sloner John Herzog, who in the past
few weeks has made trips to many
parts of the state to make study of
the use Of road oils and tarvia. Com
missioner Herzog after this investiga-
tion has decided that the road oil is
better for the country roads than the
tarvia. The oil is being put on hot and
with favorable weather should put all
of the country roads in excellent condi-
ton. The oil is being bought at a
price of $3.17 per hundred gallons, this
being only little over half the cost
of tarvia B. The work of oiling was
started on the Geneva road west Of
the city and this afternoon the first
] AONO VA Oll Wdo SCnb W UIlC JudCdudU
roads in the town of Paris After the
work in Paris is completed the work
| of oiling the roads in Brighton, Wheat
land, Randall and Bristol will be taken
up and every gravel road will be given
a heavy coat of oil. It is expected that
the cost of the first oiling Of the roads
will be considerable but the entire cost
will be paid indirectly by the owners
of the automobiles in the city and
county. The county has fund of &c.
270.22 which may. be used for oiling
the roads. This is the accumulation of
several years of the portions of automo-
bile license fees sent back to this coun-
| ty from Madison. Under the state law
the counties in which the automobiles
are owned are entitled to three-fourths
of the amount collected after the cost
of administering the license law has
been paid. Kenosha county will prob
ably never have SO large fund in
the road maintenance fund again but
each year there will be large sum of
money returned to the county as it's
share of the automobile licenses.
| Last year the amount was $2,934.52
and it is thought that the amount for
this year will be in excess of $780,
The number Of automobiles in the
county is steadily increasing and each
automobile licensed puts about three
dollars into the fund for the mainten-
ance of the state roads.
The oil can not be used on concrete
roads but just as soon as there is any
demand for repairs of any nature on
these roads the money for such re-
pairs can be taken out of the mainten-
ance fund. It is thought that the
amount of this fund will be entirely
sufficient to maintain all of the state
roads in the county without a single
property.
| 1t is probable that the oiling Of the
macadam and gravel roads this year
will cost in the neighborhood Of $4,000
but in future years the cost of this
work will be considerably less.
81 have travelled through many coun-
ties Of Wisconsin in the past few
weeks said Commissioner Herzog this
morning, " but the Kenosha county
roads are just as good as any of them
and our roads are whole lot better
than those found in most Of the Wiscon-
sin counties. Of course we have some
bad stretches of roads and you will
| find them worse in other counties. I
have looked into the oiling problem
with considerable care. There is just
one answer to all questions in regard
to the use of oil or tarvia and that is
to be found after experimenting. In
some places / have found tarvia roads
which were superior and in others oiled
roads. Ny best judgment is that the
people of Kenosha county will be best
satisfied with the use Of the cheaper
materials and that the roads when we
get through with them will be just as
good as can be found in the state -