Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-06-08
Board Denies smalps Charges.

! boaf0 Denies SnaifS CnargeS.
Charges made against the Wiscon.
sin highway commission and A. L.
Hirst, its chief engineer, by Gov. Len
Small of Illinois were refuted in a
statement issued by the commission.
| wisconsin has won its high stand
| ing as a good roads state through it's
| development of patrol maintenance and
gravel roads," says the statement.
"State Highway Engineer HirSt is
| probably the foremost advocate of
gravel roads among the highway en-
gineerS of the country. The policy
with which his name name is identi-
! fed and which he has frequently
/ reiterated in public addresses is that
| we should not spend all of our funds
! or the major part of them in building
| a few miles of expensive types of sur
| facing, but that traffic must be served
now, and this can be done only by
| developing and maintaining large
mileage of the lower type of road.
Because of this policy Wisconsin has
attracted nationwide attention and
I
j quently visited our state. Recently
/ the governor of Illinois and a large
number of members of the Illinois leg
| islature visited Wisconsin to investi-
| gate the northumberland gravel and
| dirt roads. In the matter Of concrete
! surfaced construction. the Wisconsin
! idea has been to build this type of
road only when and where economical
! ~ justified, and any statement that it
| has been the policy of the commission
or of State Highway Engineer Hirst
| to build them regardless of cost is
wholly without foundation, as the
records show. Because of the high
prices asked for concrete construction
! last year the department cut the con
| structiOn program in a drastic way, in
many instances refusing to approve
contracts because of the price asked,
| even when local communities wished
| to carry on the work. When the ce-
ment manufacturers refused to reduce
| their price sufficiently early in 1921,
! Mr.. Hirst informed them that the
! price must be cut as had the price of
| other commodities. AT his request
the Wisconsin highway commission is
| sued specific directors that unless the
price was reduced below last years
| Wisconsin would cease to build con-
crete roads. The result was a re-
! duction that will save the state over
100000 on this years construction.
| highway committee of the assembly
and the senate has introduced a bill
| in the legislature to permit the coun-
ties which have bonded to build con-
| crete roads to change to other types
of surfacing where the price of con-
crete is too high. Contracts let in
| Wisconsin for 1S-foot concrete roads
| from January 1 to May % of this
| year range in total cost from So, 800
| to $40S00 per mile and the average
| is $31 900 per mile. This cost is the
total including grading, bridges, cul-
vertS. guard rails and all other items.
| Grading costs vary from a few hun
dred dollars up to over $1,000 per mile.
CulvertS and bridges cost from $500 to
So, 100 per mile. Published figures in
| dictate that the average cost per mile
of contracts let in an Eastern state so
far this year is over 100000 mile. If
a state wishes to select only the cas-
| lest and cheapest stretches of high
way for construction it can show a
record of low cost. but 1t thereby
| leaves unbuilt mileage of high cost
road which must later be built"
More Power Wanted for M. D. Board.
The bill putting into the hands of
! the state board of medical examiners
| the power to revoke licenses TO prac-
| tice medicine was ordered engrosSed
by the senate after an International
| debate and vote that jumbled up fac
lions and parties. Senator Ridgway,
physician in private life, sponsored
and urged strongly the acceptance Of
| the measure Senator Severson, law
| yer, objected to the bill as putting too
much power in the hands OF the medi-
cal board The upper house engrossed