El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-15
ROAD MILEAGE
IN THE COUNTRY
United States Is Making a
Census that Is Expected
to Prove of Value.

Washington, d. c., May 1S.-The
United States department Of agriCul-
ture is now gathering Information
which when complete. should not only
give the total mileage Of public roads
in the United States and their cost but
should serve as a basis for estimating
the relative value Of the different
kinds Of highways Some $4,000 sets OF
inquiry blanks have already been dis
tributed through the state highway
commission. and some OF these are now
beginning to come back TO the depart
ment Each set consists Of four cards.
OF these the first asks for informa-
ton on the mileage OF different classes
of roads in the country TO which il is
sent The mileage does not include, OF
course. streets in cities and towns. The
roads are divided into 10 classes as
follows: brick paved. co1crete, macad-
am with the addition OF some sub
stance such as asphalt oil or tar plain
macadam. gravel shell. other hard sur
faced roads. sand and clay mixture
properly gfaded and drained, ordinary
earth roads properly constructed, and,
finally. unimproved roads
The second card asks for Information
in regard to the tax rate. for the roads
and the amount OF work and money
expended on them.
The third blank is concerned with
the names Of local road officials, and
the fourth with facts in regard to the
U0nQ issues anu aLllE AAlAE0AE44E11 u me
counties for their road systems.
VIII Help General Knowledge.
As there are approximately 5000
counties in the United States. in many
Of which the mileage has never even
been estimated, II is hardly probable
that this preliminary survey viii be
exact The department, however. will
be able TO detect any excessively mac
curate reports for the road mileage per
square mile Of territory does not vary
excessively Except in desert or IN
developed country less than half mile
Of public road to every square mile Of
territory is rare, while IN the most
thickly populated rural sections the
maximum is more than > I > or miles
Thus. in France, there is an average for
the entire country Of Lie to square
mile In Italy. however. this has fallen
to sc. possibly on account Of the
mountainous character of much OF the
peninsula and Of Sicily and Sardinia.
Mileage Per square Mile.
In America the average is approx
mately so miles, which, in view OF the
fact thai much Of the country Is
sparseIv settled. seems unduly high. An
explanation. however. is to be found in
the fact that in many states the law
provides that each section line shall be
a public road Thus. for example, there
are in the state Of Iowa alone more
than 1O4 900 miles OF legal highways
-manifestly a much larger mileage than
is required by traffic.
When the information in regard to
the existing roads which the depart
rnent is now seeking is complete. il is
the. intention to continue the inquiry
year after year in order to ascertain
the durability and economy Of the va
rious kinds OF highways. The data thus
collected should be useful to road en-
gineers all over the country and II IS
hoped that county agents and others
interested in Improvement OF agricul-
ture will do their best TO facilitate the
collection OF the desired information.