The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-06-11
Day Calls for Even il
the Matter OF Permanent
Highways.

highways.
WASHINGTON. y. G.. juno To-
Times have changed and wO must
change with them II Wa hope to keep
In tho game. or stay on tho ONrth. In
these supcr-practlcNl days. nobody
" stops to ask who we are ar whore
wO cAmO from. In the language "
Louis Hill. who has got to prove now
that no ia worthy Of his great father
tho emplrO-huilder Of the Wcst-It Is
not tho question Of who's Who: " hut
What's What" That's what. Men
have boon making trails or building
roads In this country Q since sam
FoaE'R calf laid out tho streets Of old
Boston. That was long before BEACON
iii and tho Back bay became syn
onyms OF high empires and annoying
respectability and when tho Pilgrim
Fathers were footing II to n meeting
house or massacre and n century or
two In advance Of what haS boon some
times called Tho dOvii wagon was
invented 10 become in n sense tho en-
lssary Of peace. But tho traila that
tho calf took and the roads into which
they were converted by "PTRisOGOd-
BarN-BonCB" and his follows have long
since served their purpose and pOr-
lahcd IN tho using. Times have chang
ed. ideals have vanished, tho likely
steers in tho herd have beOn SOM to
the slaughter house lnstcRd Of heIng
condemned TO tho yoke. and tho faith
ful horse which long time ago said
among tho trumpetB. ha, In; and
"smOlloth tho battle afar on" has not
found II possible TO run n raCO with
tho motor car and armured truck.
Job and Isaiah and Jeremiah and FoBs
and tho historic calf and tho ox-cRrt
and the old-timO family coach with the
folding steps have all died the death
Of the righteous. Things arc chang
Ing all tho timo. About sixty years
ago the tracks Of q number OF rail-
roadH in thls country wOrO built Of
fiat iron Rtrapped TO wooden string
ers. Nothing bettOr was required for
tho business Of tho country at tho
tine; but the conditions changed and
with tho timea there camO tho heavy
Trails Of the present day and the
heavier construction for constantly IN
CreRsinE trafiic. The fiat railroad rails
Of tho late SOS would be an omharraBB-
ment 10 business now Just as tho Ill
constructed highways Of tho fathers
are a constant drain upon the resOur-
coz OF tho children and a definite
hlndrance 10 the material development
OF the country.
Mr.. T. N. Ripley. division engineer
OF tho New York Highway Commlss-
ion nj Watortown. has been making
n SERIOUS study Of road construction
and maintenance in that state, and
has reached n number of wise con-
illusions. There r in New York state
S0,112 miles OF public roads OF which
only 1898 miles have boon "sur-
faced" or improved. What aro known
as designated state and county high
way systems" cover n length OF H.
9SS miles OF which 1888 miles arc
completed or arc under contract, no
that Now York, which is foremost in
50 many good things. seem 10 have
been somewhat Indifferent to this
great cause. although It's expenditures
on account Of good roads have reached
very large figures. Mr. Ripley has
found that the earlier roads built in
the state Q made for nothing heav-
Ter than horse-drawn traffic and that
they werS not equal to the great strain
Of the changing trafic Of tho present
day. The horse-drawn vehicle which
travelled with light loads from three
to eight miles tho hour has boen
crowded Off tho u by the motor
vehicles carrying much heavier loads
and going from ton to forty miles tho
hour. The road that could stand with
comparatively little wear tho older
traftio ia not at all suited TO the new.
Under the old o5der the roads could
be kept In fairly good condition at
comparatively small expense; under
the new order the old roads must
other be rebuilt from the ground up"
or provision be made for such main
tenance as will make them do" until
now and better construction al DO
devised at the expense which an al
ready t~aK-burdened people cannot
stand. The type OF road has chan
ged materially in rate years and Is
constantly changing. Five or six
years ago the road builders in New
York wero making roads that would
take care Of the increasing automo-
bile tfaiic. Tho bottom OF tho roads
then were made Of three or four in
ches Of broken stone; the size OF tho
stone has been Increased now 10 six
inches or more, bound with bituminouS
material, or q more expensive type OF
road OF concrete or brick has been
adopted. The cost has been multi
piled greatly and yot the precise type
OF road has probably not beon found
for the steadily increasing weight OF
trafic. Roads that were built only
1--WE or six years ago wore not designed
for the traffic OF the present day. and
even the roads Of later design are
generally in poor condition because, as
Mr.. Ripley says, I" Il had not been
clearly recognized that mathematics
must start as soon as the road Is
opened for traffic. and that some def
inito treatment must DO given to 4
macadam road, whether waterbound
or bituminOus, not later than two
years from the date OF It's completion,
II this road is to be kept in good con-
dltiou."
One OF tho Faults.
One OF the faults IN road admins
trati0n In New York Is the fault that
has operated in all the states. Men