The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-10-20
MEN MEET IN
MONTHLY BANQUET

> llOAl JlC 6CuLlCllCll pl CoCAt.
After the dinner was served there
werY short speeches by nearly all
present. Everybody being called up
OF to say something that may re-
.dound to the good of Bingham
county. Many of the talks were
centered on road conditions. c. S.
Beebe, the insurance man, suggested
that some standard method should
be adopted for grading roads SO that
the grade would make good road
when complete. He cited the case of
the road in front of o. F. Smith s
nursery. northwest of town. This
road was graded about three years
ago, but was never properly leveled.
Every scraperful was hump and
between the humps were dips. 1t
is still in the same condition and no
one can travel over it at a fair speed
without being constantly rocked and
jolted. F. E. DeKay called attention
to the bad condition of the Fort Hall
mecadam road, and stated that there
is enough crushed rock there to cover
it, and a good road could be made
by spreading it on and then operating
the steam roller while it was raining.
| D. H. Biethan suggested that an in
vestigation be made to find out what
was the best material that could be
had for crowning roads in this
county, and that when the roads are
put in proper order the crowning
should follow to make them perman-
ent Howard Biethan suggested that
few of the roads, where traffic is
very heavy, should be fixed every
year, and by following that policy
and by keeping such roads repaired,
the county could eventually have a
good system of roads. DR.. Beck said
that while he was in Salt Lake he
heard some tourist discussing the
roads of Bingham county, Idaho, and
he stated that they were so bad he
would never forget them. Mr.. And
lerson, manager of the Anderson
Lumber company, of North Main
street is comparatively new man
in this county, but has lived many
years in Bannock county. He says
they have shale in that county. This
substance has been prepared by ma
ture for browning roads, and Mr.. And
erson says that wherever they have
used this material the roads have
been very satisfactory. They build
a few miles at time and then crown
them. R. L. Archer, of the Idaho
humber company, advised croWnlng
the road between Blackfoot and the
Snake river bridge, as most OF the
travel is there and all the county
converges on that mile of road and
keep it in bad condition. Harry Kin
ney of the firm of Kinney &, COM
pany, advocates giving more atten-
tion to hitching racks in the town OF
Blackfoot. Cecil Clarke suggests
that the fine gravel that we have in
such great quantities is not very
successful for crowning roads, be-
cause the action of nature keeps
bringing the stones to the surface.
Byrd Trego suggested that most OF
the people in the county do not ap-
preciate the great natural resources
of the county and they are likely to
be slow in making provision for road
Improvement. He stated that the
natural development that is bound to
come within the next few years will
make such a demand for smooth hard
roads, that the loss from travelling
loor roads will be very heavy, and
will fall upon the people of this
county, and they will still be without
the good roads. He said it could not
be a mistake to bond the county very
heavily, if the money were expended
carefully. with proper material for
building hard, smooth roads. County
Attorney R. w. Adair stated that the
fund available for the use OF the
commissioners for building and re-
pairing roads and bridges, is exhaust
ed this year and little can be done
until after April, 1917, on that ac-
count. G. S. Beebe asked permission
to speak again, and said he had no.
ticed that some Of the men who drag
the roads do it at just the right
time, when they are just muddy
enough to take the smoothing and
to harden as they should, but that
some of them wait until 1t is too
dry and hard before they drag the
roads, then it is dead loss to the
county for the wages. Stewart Park
inson says we should avoid the use
of lime rock in building hard roads,
because the vehicles with iron tires
keep pulverizing the surface, and the
vehicles with rubber tires travelling
SO swiftly throw it out of the road.
Ernest Pearson, the grocer, stated |
he did not know much about roads
and the cost of building them, but a |
man who was here recently in the in
terest of concrete roads had said that
it would be worth about $4,000 a
mile to build concrete roads 16 feet |
wide. Mr. Pearson suggested that
$4,000 worth of fine gravel put on
the roads and rolled in, or in some
way mixed with the dirt, would prob
ably reach several miles and make
good roads. D. H. Biethan suggested
this method combined with crude oil.
The crude oil always sheds the water
SO the roads do not get cut up when
they are wet. Before the close OF
the meeting Chairman H. D. Mac
Cosham, appointed committee, con-
sisting of D. H. Biethan, G. S. Beebe
and F. e. DeKay to wait on the
county commissioners and ask them
to arrange for repairing the Fort Hall
road, according to the sug-