The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-08-29

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ty M White. lkr. 1kslSy or anyseif
6euid build the best roads in the
wdfld. but the object IL that we make
the best With the resources on hand
ana give the people the best roads
Tor the money they are putting In
roads. At the same time want tc re-
MARX that We, Is a community. Or
State. are very stingy With our
road levies. ana whei, 1t comes to
taxes we are raising all kind of Cain
Iabout paying It. yet we always cry for
more improvements. For my part I
would gladly pay $50 year for good
roads IN this county In place of these
we have and would consider I am
getting . bargain, besides enjoying
the pleasure OF smooth driving.
There are sevral prime factors con-
stituting good roads which require
close study In building and proper
systems of upkeep. A good road is one
which is straight. level and hard,
but not too hard. so that a horse will
not have solid footing or o. rubber
tire can not have a strong grip or
purchase. and thereby waste power
TO obtain the proper result, one must
be familiar In the soils. sands. clays
and rocks, and the proper compo-
sition Of the materials In order to OBJ
tain the best results. He must also
De capable Of detecting the varia-
tions of the soil on certain stretches
Of the road. and 50 equalize the COM
position Of the roadbeds that when
two varying soils meet their top COM
position should be such az not to
disturb the equilibrium of resistance
to wear and pressure. The smoother
the roads are the easier It is to ride
and the longer they last. The pres
sure Of wheels or hoofs does not ma
terially wear the roads, 1t Is the
constant jarring Of wheels and slid
ing Of loads which tear up the roads.
and this il caused from unevenness,
an the wheels rise and fall at every
little depression or elevation and
gradually form holes and pockets in
the tracks. {
notice that most Of the work
done on the roads ~ plowing and
scraping. which means the raking up
the loose dirt or sand from the sides
OF the road and >piling It in the CEN
tire. For a few minutes the road
looks smooth as cement sidewalk,
but as soon as a few wagons 60
through 1t the same old ruts, slides,
icutouts and road pockets are there as
before. with the addition of some
heavy pulling by the first track MAX
ers or pathfhders, and a whole lot
OF Sunday school lessons rehearsed at
high q: The benefits sought in scrap
ing sandy roads i presume is for
strengthening the tracks or ruts,
which would help considerably as this
would form a straight pull. The
methods mostly employed ID by send
ing out scraper on ten mile road,
scraping one side going and the 9th
er aide coming. and then another
drive with a road grader or a center
finisher. But az the scraper goes on
Its course. there is somebody driving
a wagon behind It. with one wheel in
the old track and the other in the
new dirt just raked rp, and the same
happens with It coming back, SO that
before the scraper finishes the road,
nearly everybody is travelling on the
old tracks. with the same curves,
twists and slides and we are no bet
ter OF than before. 81
Some Of these roads are SO twisted
and zigzagged and sideiooped from
faulty grading. that 1t is impossible to
strafghten them unless the entire
roadbed Is graded or scraped sim
ultaneously. covering every trace Of
the old tracks. and get some one to
follow up the new grade with the
Idea In view Of forming a straight
line. They should also be not too
high In the center as this has a ten
dency. especially in autos. which trav-
el with one wheel on the center, to
slide sideways and form pockets and
deep ruts.
While I am on the subject of sandy
roads. where everyone travels in
tracks or ruts. I want to observe that
In my opinion we have drifted into a
faulty way Of using the centre Of the
road for wagon and buggy travel
while tho tracks for autos ere FORM