The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-06-01
4 I Of the Federal ara Tor sful'ar arfy,i /. Us !.

TOuttS.
"A law creating u convict road force
and giving the authority to work GER
tain prisoners on same.
A law providing for the protection
of roads.
And last but not least a law pro-
viding. for the registration of automo-
biles.
The main feature of this last law is
the'eollection and the distribution Of
the money received from the sale Of
license tags Something like $500. 600
will be received during the year. and
this money has to be distributed as
! follows:
After deducting sufficient funds to
pay FOR metal tags and incidental ex-
penses. 10 per cent Of TIE entire fund
| is set aside for the maintenance of the
State Road Department. The. remain
ing 80 per cent. is to be spent on
the roads in the several counties. i'm
proportion TO their assessed valuation.
This money has to be spent under the
direction of the State Road Depart
ment and is to be generally handled
on a fiftvtfty basis. That Is, each
county will put up an amount equal
to or greater than the amount of the
automobile license money that is to be
spent within that county.
The department has worked out a
general plan for system of roads
connecting all of the county seats and
important towns with one another.
The missing links in these main roads
will first be built and then attention
will be turned toward widening all OF
the narrow rOadways.
Two trunk lines have been desgnat
ed as Federal-aid projects. One of
them will be a highway from Pensa-
cola to Jacksonville, following the
Old Spanish Trail, across the northern
part OF the State and passing through
De Funiak Springs, Mariana, Talla-
hassee. Live Oak and Lake City. The
other will start at the Georgia line
and run southwark through the CEN
ter OF the State, passing through Lake
City, Gainesville. Ocala, Leesburg,
Eustis, Orlando and Arcadia
During the past three years the
traffic on our roads has increased tre-
mendously. What was considered the
best type of construction a short while
ago simply will not support the heavy
motor trucks. and more permanent
paving is now required.
There are several very acceptable
forms Of paving in use, among which
are the Dunn wire-cut lug brick, with
cement grOut filler; bituminous con-
crete asphalt. in it's several forms,
properly laid on good foundation,
and concrete constructed of some
hard rock. The concrete, however,
has been found too expensive, as hard
rock has to be brought here from
other States, because our native lime
stones are too soft for wearing sur
faces and the local deposits of flint
are too small for general use.
Most Of the brick used in the State
for paving comes from the Birming-
ham district. with a fair percentage
being shipped in from Tennessee and
Georgia. The freight rates make it
quite expensive, SO only IL Of the 54
counties have adopted that type of
In the sparsely- sections
sand clay roads are giving satisfac-
ton. provided they are properly main
tanned. The best example of that
class of material is in Lake county,
near Leesburg. County Commission
er A. B. Lees and his road superin-
tendent. Fl. w. Tompkins, have work
ed out their maintenance problems
until it is worth going a hundred miles
out Of the way just to drive over
their roads.
The majority of the county COM
missiOners are now beginning to real
ze what the Road Department means
to the State, and great many of
them are seeking advice and instruc-
tions at every opportunity. Some of
the counties are turning over their en-
tire trunk-lipe work to the depart
ment. and it is now up to the engi-
neering staff to secure results
Manufacturers Record.
(Nnoix