Evening star., 1925-04-29

are written the titles of the various
public-work contracts in the course of
execution, with the names of the CON
tractors and the amounts involved.
On the day when / called upon him to
arrange for the trip into the irrigated
district the board showed upward of
$50 contracts. Those for road CON
struction work amounted to $2,231,-
900. For public buildings the con
tracts called for 81 soc, 900. For mu-
nicipal works of various kinds 1,500,-
600 was being spent. In addition to
the contracts on this board other con-
tracts for rural schools We're running,
the commissioner explained, involving
the expenditure of approximately ST.
100000. The Department of the In
terror is furthermore spending S1,250,-
900 annually for road maintenance.
These figures total SS,581 900 for work
under way which is exclusive of irri-
cation and water power development.
InsuIar Work Done by Contract.
Practically all insular government
work is done by contract Road main
tenance is under the direct super.
vision of the government. A road
mender is engaged for every kilo-
meters, or about 500 in all. Each man
is paid at the rate of a dollar a day
his work. There is a supervisor for
every Il kilometerS, and he also has
dwelling, usually one of the old
Spanish road houses" that the former
rulers of the land established as com
bined road-mending and military posts.
Road -mending work is Thoroughly
done. Small holes are filled promptly
SO that a road rarely deteriorates.
When resurfacing is required II is
n fy,1
ton rollers that tear up the old work
and compress the new No road is
ever closed to traffic for repairs Hence
there are no "detourS" in Porto Rico,
a condition much appreciated by
tourists. The repair work is all done
on one side, leaving room for the
passage of vehicles.
New roads are constantly under con-
struction, completing the network of
communications. Work on such roads
is always begun from the point near
est the sea and the highway is
opened as fast as it is ready for use.
thus giving the people the earliest
possible access to their markets,
which generally lie in the direction of
the coast.
The roads are macadam, usually
with top surface of tar binder. They
are the equal of any of the best roads
the main lines is 80 feet in width, Civ
ing. as rule, 20foot driving surface.
The bitches are well kept, it being
one of the duties of the road-mender
to trim the grass and weeds,
which he does with his machete, the
universal tool of the islanders. The
machete is used for moving, for
cane cutting, for tree pruning. for
cocoanut gathering and also. for fruit
IL
whiting The machete, by the way
costs about a dollar, and a good one
is the priced possession of its owner.
Tree Planting a Duty.
To turn to the road keeping, each
road-mender must spend a certain
part of his time, one day a month
as l recall, in tree planting along the
roadside Where the trees are in
good condition he must keep them
pruned and free from ants nests.
These trees are both for shade and
for protection. In the mountains,
elongated fish, so often mentioned
in the crossword puzzles, these trees
are a reassuring safeguard against
disaster.
The Spaniards built good roads and
good bridges. The military road
| from San Juan to Ponce is a rnonu-
ment to their highway making ability.
| 1t was a means of military comrnuni-
cation and no better engineering has
| been displayed in Porto Rico in later
years than was shown in it's location
and its construction. The road
| houses" were stationed at intervals
of about kilometers, or the dis
tance a man could run at full speed.
The military commander at Ponce