The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1919-02-13

hem that works on the nerves ~
east, II did on ours 10 some extent,
Nevertheless, they are mighty me-
.bourh we hardly thing adapted 70 ,
country OF fros,s and SHOWS hvsh
brick need the repair men iike V"'
rest
our worst and most terrible road
was through forest Of about ~
miles. This was in Florida hhly
mart Here was new double read
laid out in a straight line and butt az
\ great expense. No crushed stone
or cement foundation had been mace
The foundation seemed to be Of INC
soil, which was of red sand
and surfaced in with a red clay. No
doubt in dry time, with the surface
s,oootbed down, the road was hard ana
fine. Clay and sand would make 1t
so; but---ye Gods! you should nave
seen il when we passed over TOR
tried 10. As far ms the eye could
reach were high ridges and grooves Oh
sticky clay-hlled sand through when
the auto wallowed to the hubs on low
gear, lifting up pounds OF SOIL WIN
each turn of the wheels, and frequent
ly forcing the auto to stop. oniy
nowerful machine could force its way
through, and with Buchanan the ne"
Buick did it. But finally we like other
had IN take TO the woods and follow
trail. and with this beautifully con
structed new Blue Line highway con
tinually in sight. Doubtless y Una
road had been kept rounded up aitc
il was built, so that the water MAJ
drained or, and scraped and gravelled
rs was the Georgia road already men
TONED. such condition OF AFFAIR
would not have existed. II was simpl'
another case of negligence after IN
road had been built.
Miles of modern roads reach Out .
Tampa. The foundations are most.
of cement, something Ike our CIT.
street. Of these some are surfaces
with brick, some with asphalt, an
long stretches with sea shell. Ihes
arc called the shell reads, and ar
mighty fine when kept up; but II neg
lected, they fill with holes. the sam
as other roads. On one of these latte
roads, we'll kept up and smooth as
floor, the limit Of speed was 80 mile
an hour. Buchanan let out 40 TO 0
FIR q mile or so to test the machine
and so perfect was the road, y wa
hard 10 realize we were gong tei
Mind YOU! this was q stretch OF roa
kent up after IL had been built se'
eral miles of asphalt covered foa'
stretched out from this and WI
equally as smooth; but to us It LOOKS
,o,ch more expensive and had to
doctored the same as tie shell. "
Vermont gravel is on par WIN Y
, she'll Miles Of shell road south
n Tampa were an eyesore to every au
that passed over them. Why? simp
9 because there was no road man va
6 his little scraper and the road had .
d come a mass of water-filled holes
/, Two years ago fine hard ROAD v
q h,;,t between Braidentown and Sar
O sota a distance Of perhaps 10 mil'
a Il was built through section OF de
g sand. At the time it was consider !,
i one Of the best roads in the state. i
! foundation was Of thick cement 81
: faced over with asphalt. 1t was
N highly praised road. To-Day, after OF
v two years-though possibly bet,
j. than sand-it gives a rian the nisl
st mare to ride over it. Why! Az
a Tho case of the road being neglec'
,e after It was built. To-Day, it Is
OF long stretch Of water-flled holes,
a Aeon Of course but deep enough
* keep the auto on the jump, the wa
in on the fly. and toning one down
Il ,.ss than 10 miles an hour, and at
~ hsst. not over is. And this is
in asphalt surfaced road over cemen
,se once considered permanent
,ot You will notice our criticism
cd roads is not SO much in their .
oh struction as in the keeping OF u
ed m after they are constructed
he his is the one great fault. No ma
n what the construction, whether
yer ment, asphalt, shell, brick, or conn
oss rounded-u up gravellcd roaas; un
md cared for continually after being b
the thew sink into premature decay
nty have shown that two roads, one
ers shell and the other simply a grave
}. road were really as fine af'er .
an rains as the best concrete and asp
raj surfaced ones, and simply pee
81 thew were kept up as section men
nd. mn a railroad bed. 1t is ques
Tvs. with us whether asphalt IS prac
top. as a road finish. To be 80 IT cer'a
The must be thick and even then u ?,
an s;nt in Il is hard to repair and
~,.t;..ocre makes il a mi