The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-03-27
How Grave Has Been the Neu.
EeCt of the Public Roads
of the Country.

7
about It something like 400 years ago
and little later Reginald Heber, fol-
lowing his cue. or venuring among
the muses. on his own account. sang OF
the time when spring unlocks the
flowers to paint the laughing soil. y
Which leads the American Highway
Association to point out that the
spring thRws and spring rains will
soon be here to remind the people who
run about from place to place. and
particularly the farmers who live out
IN the country among the birds and
flowers, how grave has been tho
neglect OF the public roads in the
largest part OF this so-callsd highly
favored land" This neglect has been
almost criminal because tho people
have sinned against the light. In that
they have obtained the advice and
counsel. necessary to the improvement
OF impossible conditions. readily avail
able for the asking, from state and
national road officials. Either they
have failed to ask for such advice and
counsel or they have dIsrogarded It
when they have received II. and with
the result that at the happy spring
season, when the heavens are bright
overhead, the roads are sloppy under
foot, and the farmer and his family
find themselves isolated from their
neighbors. from the schools. from the
churches. from the market towns.
from everything that makes llfo worth
living. Yet men wonder why II Is that
there has been q steady drift from
country TO town, and why the young
folk, when their wings have grown a
bit, take flight from tho delights Of
rural life to the crowded confusion Of
narrow streets aud artificial horizons.
The farmers income is small and
his taxes always seem large. He does
not see In the spring thaws any other
lesson than that Of inevitable drearl-
ness. He and his neighbors often can
not pay for hard roads yet. He knows
that for large part OF the year a
we'll dragged earth road affords salts
factory means OF communication, and
80 he waits patiently until tho water
soaks away somewhat and otherwise
lets thing drift. He could not make
q greater mistake. He ought to know
that the preliminary essentials for
good road building for light country
travel are not expensive, and when
the spring brings its troubles IN a few
weeks he can utilize the conditions Of
discomfort IL he will, for Tearing some
very important things about rational
rural road building.
Road Location.
In the first place, he should consider
the very important feature OF road To-
cation. In some parts Of the country,
roads we're located years ago without
much respect to grades. AS a result,
horses strain at their traces through
muddy bottoms. where nobody lives.
to the tops OF windy hills with their
journey only half begun The re-lo-
cation OF parts OF roads so that there
will be only easy grades and so that
places may be avoided where the
maintenance Of a good surface is
troublesome Is not beyond the achieve
ment Of ordinary common sense.
In few weeks there will be no lack
OF evidence that the drainage OF roads
Is Of vital Importance In most parts OF
the land. It will not be necessary to
employ the highest talent in engineer
ing to determine where better drain
age must be provided. When the frost
leaves the ground and the spring rains
soak the earth, the soggy places will
be nearly indicated to the dullest OBJ
servation, and will show whether or
not the road con be best improved by
relocation, or by digging OF deeper
bitches, or by the drainage of the con-
tlguous land. There is nothing mys-
terious about II, which the farmer
cannot understand; the drainage OF
roads is not different in principle from
the drainage OF land. The only reason
the farmer Is puzzled when road
drainage is suggested is that IN the
engineering discussions of the sub
1ect which come to his attention un-
usual terms are used to describe the
things and conditions he knows by diff
ferent. names. He is bewildered by
technical jargon, just as the most Of
US are puzzled at times by the iargon
OF the doctors. The terms employed
by the engineers and the doctors are
useful to the specialists because they
convey exact shades Of meaning to
the specialists who need them, but
they ought to be confined to the circle
OF specialists.
Some method OF leading the water
from one side OF the road TO the other
is necessary. One great cause OF bad
places in roads is the use OF poor de-
vices for such purpose. The culyert
under the road ought to be so made
that water passing through 1t will not
keep the roadbed soft; It ought to be
large enough 10 carry the water cas-
lily, and 1t ought to be located so that
1t will not become clogged. That IS
what an experienced engineer who
can talk in logarithms when necessary
says about It, and Il Is simple enough
for the least scientific to understand.
''All these requirements can be met
by simple and inexpensive means that
any intelligent farmer can use in fight
Ing the mud menace to his success
and happiness
Defective Abntments.
II the road must be carried over a.
stream, a bridge will be needed. and
there is nothing mysterious about a
short bridge. The great trouble with
most Of the defective bridges has not
been in the Orders and beams but in
the abutments. A bridge built on sand
Is even less secure than the house
built on sand which has come down 20
US as typical Of useless structures.
II. 49,. n Iasa ,R +Ians t4iJ4