Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-04-30
WOMAN WRITES
ON GOOD ROADS
Mrs. Minnie Hatton Jewell, Who Re-
sides West of the City Gives
Her Ideas on the Road
Question
~0POSES ROAD FOR
. AUTO AND HORSE
Teh> About the Grayeled Roads of
England That She Has Seen
Built There
Editor Public Opinion.

| Editor Public Opinion.
AS you have been good enough to
grant space to those who wish to air
their ideas concerning good roads |
wonder whether you included wom-
en-. ~
Taking it for granted you did, l
will steer the subject toward an
other direction.
| Both Mr.. Flaskerud and Mr.. Her
! tges have given us lot Of infor-
nation which has made good read
/ ing, and shows that they have given
the subject considerable thought,
also Mr.. NArneson.
| think with Mr.. Hertges that it
is not fair for the farmer to be tax
ed for III additional amount need
! ed to ma ,e these roads, for he has
to pay hi, share toward the amount
appropriated by the government.
As far as the farmer being bene-
fitted by them more than others, that
! is hard to credit, if we can believe
what we read.
! There is supposed to be an auto
mobile for every seventh person and
there is supposed to be one fifteenth
of the people engaged in farming.
| That makes that idea rather shaky
As long as there is a horse on a
farm, farmer can get over the
roads no matter how bad and should
! the horse happen to get stuck, no
automobile can render the service
many a horse has rendered to an
auto when it decided the road was
too bad to get through.
/ That we all want good roads is
a known fact, but we want every
body to pay their share. and there
are many who ride in autoes who do
not own property, not even the house
they live in.
For my part do not think that
paved road would be very good for
horses to travel, but they would be
just the thing for autoes.
l also think an auto is twice as
hard on a dirt road as heavy load
ed wagon, whether the roads are
dusty or muddy also think the
autoist should have his own road
for the poor horse is apt to get be-
wildered when one auto is coming
and one is going, the light OF one
binding him and his driver and the
horn of the other soaring him from
the road behind.
Say for instance, the roads could
be widened so each could have their
own road coming and going. Let the
autoist have his paved road, the
horse the road his feet are intend
ed for, let the roads be graveled like
they are in England. I have seen this
done in the outlying streets in Lon
don. Huge steam rollers going back
and forth over the crushed rock
scattered over the road bed between
two cement curbings. A water wagon
going before the steam roller
sprinkling the rock. When finished it
was some road alright, smooth and
yet not slippery. OF course after a
while the horses shoes would picB
out some stones, then it would be
repaired by the same method. have
often thought since seeing cement
used in America that the water used
Ion the rocks was mixed with cement
else they would not have kept sc
tight in their place.
In older countries when an expen-
sive bridge or road was built it was
tolled till paid for. Why couldn't we
do that. 1t would surely be the fair
est way for ALL Any person who
could afford horse to ride behind
or gasoline to ride before. could
afford nickel to go thro the
gate and many nickle make
muckle.' I'd like to draw one-fou !
cent from every one that passes my
door. for say, two years. I'd fee
there was no money in raising
chickens any more.
MINNIE HATTON JEWELL,