The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-02-28

good as the best" DR.. L L. Hewe
stated this morning, reviewing tn
1915 experiments of the office of pub
lie roads, at the Good Roads school
Today was engineers day.
New Hampshire has three trunl
roads of gravel running north from
Massachusetts carrying the immens,
traffic of the Northwestern coast,
DIR. Hewes said ''These roads have
proven most satisfactory because the,
have been built and maintained no
worked and thereafter left to Provi
dence.
Experiments carried out further in
dictate that the sort of material is no
Of such Importance in comparison tt
the building, and the proper Inainten-
ance Again, rolling, compaction
avoidance of soft spots in finished sur
face are the keynotes of properly
constructed roadway"
Dr. Hewes also brought out some in
teresting sidelights upon the salts
factory operation of the motor truck,
incidentally.
To further this influence of the
Good Roads school, each road super
visor and attendant, who registered,
is receiving a collection of bulletins
ON roadwork These bulletins were
secured only through the cooperation
of the department of engineering of
the university with the United States
department of agriculture They
supplement the lectures and treat the
topics in a practical yet exhaustive
manner.
Defects of Organization
1T is clear that a fundamental de-
feet in local highway organizations is
the absence of continuous authority"
stated DR.. L. 1. Hewes in his address
on Maintenance Organization" yes
terday. "A second defect is the lack
of trained experience for the direc-
ton of field work.
1T is not easy to organize repair
and maintenance operations. In con-
struotiOn of roads there is a clean-cut
problem. The public is interested and
watchful, and there is enthusiasm for
the project. In the matter of repair
and maintenance where prompt action
is required and where organization
should be strongest and most efficient,
the nature of the task is misunder-
stood, procedure is indefinite, and the
organization is feeble, wasteful and
unsatisfactory.
"Unauestionably, organization for
repair and maintenance of local roads
can be improved by studying the state
highway departments. 1t may not be
an overstatement to say that indica-
tions are that unless local highway
management is soon reformed, it will
in the state. The demand upon local
road officials for increased efficiency
becomes greater yearly.
There is a tendency for local Off
GERS to resist reform with the plea
that their powers will be removed. |
The public is beginning to realize,
however that it is more important to
have roads than to have local officials |
with power"
l. L. Collier of the university depart
ment of engineering gave an inter-
esting and instructive lecture this
on 1.-THE Columbia Highway"
1t was we'll received, and gave a con-
crete example of how sections of this
great Northwestern country can be
made to attract travellers, and at the
same time provide immeasurably bet
ter means of local travel.
"A most complete mystery to me-"
said Prof. Hogentogler this morning
n his talk on the use of refined coal
ar in reconstruction, '"is why cities
and states have spent thousands and
even millions of dollars on surfaces,
knowledge of whose qualifications
ind wearing advantages have been OBJ
aimed only by hear-say. A satisfactory
'oad surface is at the best relative
erm. The truth would be that GER
ain kind of pavement rendered gooG
esults at this place or not at some
,ther place. A scrutiny of road re-
orts or papers written by highway
fficials will prove the truth of this 6
pavements giving the
tmost satisfaction in one locality
ave proved absolute failures in 9TH
RS.
us it not reasonable to suppose that I