Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-02-25

Sh1s part or the State but have had /
the benefit of the observation of six
rural mail carriers, who traverse some
part of nearly every principal road in
t1ls county every day in the year (Sun-
days and six holidays acceptedl men
who know what roads are, really ex-
perts in a sense. il you please.
Q as to by former statement la
the effect that expert opinion was un-
favorable to sand-clay construction by
any method in this section of the State. |
I had intended to say, as at present
being employed" but since Mr.. Ew-
bank calls me down on it, I am going
to stick to what I said. and name one |
expert right now to start with, with a
man of broad experience and thorough
IIy competent. The first man / will
name is Mr.. Charles n. Neal, road en-.
g1neer of Buncombe county. Now will
Mr.. Ewbank name ten who are his
equal in every respect, and who have
had the experience and opportunities
for observing sand-clay roads right
here in the mountains of Western
North Carolina, then l will name an
other. and another. until you will have
named a number equal to that of every
man. woman. child and dog in Hender-
son county. My gun is loaded alright
He admits his board rejected the
specification sent from Washington.
yet he proposes naming authorities
who govern road building for our
Uncle Sam. (Another inconsistency
What does he think of this same au-
thority. when 1t says our annual x
penditure in North Carolina is "prac-
III &&@ml lr thwnuyu a w1oNStA9 N n xykofr6nrk
40f specifications did Mr.. Joseph Hyde
Pratt; State Geologist, send Mr.. Pat
ton? Would he mind giving this reply
lin detail, supporting Mr.. Patton's
views as to how the work should be
done" to the public, or does he consid-
Ter that none of the public's business.
Mr.. Joseph Hyde Pratt is a fine State
geoIogist so far as / know, but / am
not so certain as to his qualifications
when it comes to building sand-clay
roads in Henderson county.
am going to take the liberty of
quoting a few extracts from a per-
Isonal letter from Mr.. Neal, the road.
~iengineer above referred to: i feel
sure you are entirely correct" says
Mr.. Neal, "in your attitude, and If you
can keep the people Of your county
from spending too much money on
sand-clay roads, you will have done
them q good service. The sand-clay
road has it's place maybe, but it's place
is not that OF q permanent, all-thez
year-ronnd road, it Is more Of a theory
Than anything else. The
sand-clay road OF theory is practically
.Aan impossibility. We. have
Ihad considerable experience with such
roads In this county, It being over six
--Iyears since our first piece was built.
IDHrfng that tfmeswe have had Various
conditions Under which WEI could OBJ
serve it, and In that time we have built
.1many miles Of It. - ALI
THAT / can say OF it Is that when the
|. weather is good. the sand-clay roads
Asef good, butswhen the weather is bad
they; are bad However it must be
c0nceded that they get back into shape
httla quicker than an ordinary clay
load When the weather fairs up. !
sh4va bIflt them according to .goYern-
ment Specifications, and ali other kind
,dbftkpeei1catfons, but IT Ia always the
.4same, old atorys&tThat old song wait
{ until it gets thoroughly mixed has
been here every winter for ak years.
I*have Just returned from
a tour of inspections OF apiece of such
road .hetweenSAshevflle and Hender-
lsonville, near the county line heard IL
stated yesterday that this particular
/ piece Of road had been in good condi-
ition all winter. Invent to see for my
! self; we'll / didn't go far until 1 threw
,JMp my hands, turned my machine be-
{ fore it was too late, and sought the
macadam road" Mr.. Neal says, "as
4 81 type of road, it has never been seri-
p ously considered at the national road
! conventions i have attended" but
seems to be a Southern product, and
! suitable only for sandy country and
mild climates" My belief is more
|, firmly fixed than ever that the facts
s. are,on my side and the theories on the
q lsand. With this article, ! think It'll
: time to bring my part of this discus
zion to a close, because if what I havt
r already said does no good, the absolute
of further effort is obvious.
to thank publicly the many citi
Lzens who have expressed their kline
: appreciation and approval of what
r have said in former articles in th'
Democrat. / hope the time will We
leone when I shall be called upon T.
ltake back some things / have saft
about sand-clay roads, but I am afrais
Inot. No one would Welcomesa meth
a1od OF building good roads ebeapk
more than !,
IL Respectfully,
T.. s. n. HUDGINS.
9 Hendersonville. N. c.. Feb. %, rs.
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