Bad Vs. Good Roads

The road question was discussed at he March meeting of the Horticnltural ociety, held last Saturday afternoon. Tor the following report this paper is ndebted to E mil Baur, secretary: üonsidering the bad roads the attendsince was a very good oae. E. A. Nordman read quite a lengthy but interestng paper on experimental road makng. He apprehends a great drawback o the improvements of roads by an army of 20,000 overseers and 800 townBhip commi8sioners in this state, who ail act independent of each other without any concerted action or leadership. Jighways are the farmer's railroads to his market, to bis postoffice, to his church. It is to hs interest that these roads should be well constructed and iept in good repair. In conclusión, he says: "If you want to improve your roads, draw coarse, pure gravel and keep it on the surface of the road be i. Draw mure gravel, draw lots of it and you wïll accompli8h your object." Fred B Braun followed with a well preparerijpaper.in which he laid before the society the workingsof the highway laws, their effects and defects, historical facts concerning forty years of road making, the improvements durina that time, etc, The work that has been put upon the roads in accordance with the law has paid us one hundred per cent. in saving time, tsams and wagons in our necessary traveis, beside the comfort and pleasure we have in driving over well kept roads. If we do away with the present system entirely of working our roads we shall never get suchaneconomical, beneficial road law as we now Our road tax today is the easiest paid, remunerates the best, when actually done, of any tax we have to pay. The best and most economical road tobuild in Washtenaw county is a gravel road. Those who have a gravel bank can be of much service to the public by aliowing the interested parties to put gravel on the road. At a cost of eight cents a yard an acre of gravel four feet deep will bring over $500. This richly pays for the land besidesdoing aneighborly act. Am in favor of building good roads, but believe the building of a macadamized road would be the height of folly on account of its enormous expense. In conclusión the paper hits the mark in this wise: The highway commissioner is one of the most important township officers, he has big contracts to make and a difficult work to accomplish. He should be strictly honest, impartial and competent. He should be elected with much care and prudence and we should not be obliged to remove him ever; year. The paper gives full instructions fo road building and if the state has no schedule of rules for the construction o the highway, this, as well as the othe papers, would be of service to a com mittee appointed for that purpose These addresses are worthy of appear ing in print, being the result of ex perienced, active and intelligent farm ers. J. L. Lowden addressed the corres ponding secretary stating that he wa sorry to be detained from the attend anee of this important meeting by cir cumstances beyond his control, anc asked the secretary to read his paper if he considered it worthy. The pape was so well and ably written that the task of reading was a pleasant one lts contents received general applause by the audience; only some points of i can be given. "The conyen'ence am need of good roads is universally ad mitted, but the problem, how to obtain them, is far from being solved. Although it is usually considered that farmers could derive greater direct benefits from good roads than any other classof people,it isalmostimpossible to conceive of a person in any other occupation who would not be indirectly benefited thereby. The road question is of that importance and magnitude that it might well command the attention of our scientific and scholastic minds. The frequent changes of the weather and the consequent bad roads of the last two or three winters and the agitationofthe question has done some good, as farmers are giving the subject more thought as the greater need of good roads becomes apparent. In localities where good gravel is convenient, a decided improvement can be seen; but in other districts and probably nearer market, with very much more travel over them and distant from gravel, no improvement is made, as the annual tax in the district will not repair the datnage of the previous winter and spring; and the conclusión is being reached by many that a change in our road laws, aliowing a concentration of sufficient tax to improve the road in such localities is necessary. At a farmers' institute, recently held at Adrián, a resolution was adopted by an almost unanimous vote, that we favor a change in the road law from a labor to a direct money tax to be expended under proper supervisión. As the defects in our system of road laws are shown by the conditionof our roads that have been in process of construction for more than half a century and by thought and frequent discussion of the subject, opinions are changing, I believe the time is near when the farmers of Southern Michigan willask fora radical change in the road laws of this state. "hat being tbe fact, no more important opic could dernand our attention at his time than what this change should be. My ooinion ia that the road tax hould be collected in money, our road listricts enlarged to ot more than two and probably better but one in a townhip,withan overseer of highways in each district; he to have supervisión of all repairs in the district and be provided with necessary tools for that purose by the lownship board and to receive a salary not to exceed two dollars ser day for time actually spent. If the constitution of the state allowed I would have said officer ap.iointed by he township board to hold the office as long as he was efficiënt, capable and ïonest, his duties prescribed by law would set apart all of the tax, not actually necessary to keep the roads of the district in passable condition, for the building of a permanent road, to be !et by contract by the township Doard undfr p'.an3 and specifications prepared by a civil engineer or some other competent person. Would have it a condition of the contract that the contractor when employing help, should give preference to the tax payersofthe dibtrict,allowingthose who wished to work the amount of their road tax at the same rate per day paid other help.thetax payer to cotnply with therequirements exacted from other employés; the contractor to give bonds, etc. The location of said road to be determined by the township board, thut to be governed in such selection of the road by the benefit to the greatest numberof tax payersofthe district. Under a system, similar to the one described, it is my opinión that, with no increaue of the present tax, our roads could be kept in as good condition as now and a good beginning made in building permanent roads." After giving the fears and doubts of the natural objector the paper encouragingly States: "Let us remember that many times an accumulation of work on our farms that looks like a mountain, proves but amolé hill, if we go at it with a will. Tomy mind, a tnile or even half a mileof scientifically constructed road in Washtenaw county that would be in good condition t) drive on with loads, when otber raads were really impassable, as an object lesson, would do more to give an Ímpetus to road building n this county than all the discussions of years. If a few of our influential citizens would interest themselves in this matter, such a road could be built by snbscription. Experiments might be made that would be of great value hereafter. Although I am comparatively a poor man, I would give twenty-five dollars for such a purpose. Thereare probably one hundred pereons in this county, equally interested ia good roads, who coulJ each give three timei as much with less sacrifice. Farmers and business men in our citifs would contribute liberally. We might expect valuable assistance frcm the league of wheelmen, whose members evince great interest in the road question. We have at hand the best engineering ability the country affords in the faculty Of the state University. Why not make this trial? Washtenaw leads in about everything else that is laudable - why not be at the head of the procession in road building?" A storm of discussion followed these papers. J. Austin Scott, Evart H. Scott, B. J. Conrad, J. Ganzhorn, W. F. Bird and others showed the excellency of crushed stone over gravel, from observation and travel on such roads. ExMayor Manly pointed to the roads around the court yard, remarking, conoerning the wretched condition of these roads : "There are your highly recommended gravel roads. Grave has been drawn to these roads for the last twenty-fiye years. Every spring this gravel is scraped together, drawn off and new gravel put on." For the money thrown away in this manner the city could have the bes stone road by this time. Evart H. Scott remarked that on the middle Ypsilanti road he and other had subscribed $25 each for the im provement of the road. To the assertion of E. A. Nordman that no railroad wa using stone, he answered, the Pennsyl vania Central, the best ballasted roac in this country, also best paying rail road.used broken stone. Etnil Baur re ferred to the minutes of the Marcl meeting in 1890 in which J. E. Beal in his address on road improvement re commended as an educator a stone crusher to be purchased by the city o several townships, and to the answe of Prof. Charles E. Greene to the question by J. J. Parshall, whether our granite boulders could be crushed,"Ye granite is used in other places, it make the best roads, surpassing limestone o any other material." The Bay County people are able to travel on their stone roads with as heavy loads in muddy weather as during fairest season. The town of Sweden, N. Y., bought a ston crusher from the Totton & Hogg Co.,o Pittsburgh, Pa. In the last three years 20 miles of excellent road have been made in this town. B. J. Conrad offerec to the city stone for several miles gratis if the city would have it ciushed. He said 40 years ago he had to travel with a team through several states. He couk never forget what an impression i made on him at that time, a lad of 18 years, when he struck the stone roac from St. Louis, Mo., toSt. Charles. He lately passed over that road agaia anc it was just as good now as 40 years ago It was agreattreattosee the venerable president of the society get up.asking Dvart H. Scott, first vice-pre-ident of he Society, to take the chair. With he enthusiasm worthy of a yonng man kir. Scott addressed the Society. He ook a deep interest all his life in road making, beginnïng on the ateep bilis of ïew England when a boy and after moving to the west in Manmee Valley, Ohio, where he superintended and ïelped to build the road irom that place to Sandasky which is one of the )est roads in the country. The dirt which in roadmafcing was generally ïeaped up on the road should be drawn oward the fence. Good drainage was he principal factor in roadmaking. J. Qanzhorn: the city hasused gravel long enough, it is time that stone or any other material be nsed for a permanent road. Mr. Stephen MÜls.the pioneer of Pittsfield,made a speech on the failure of the present system and the necessity ofanewonein roadmaking. E. Baur said enough was said and written on this topic and it was time to act. He offared the following resolution which passed after a lengthy discussion: That the chair appoint a committee to confer with the council of the City of Ann Arbor in regard to thepurchase of a stone crusher for the improvement of the streets of the city as au object lesson for the farmer. The committee appointedare Evart H. Scott, Junius E. Beal, B. J. Conrad,W. F. Bird and Emil Baur. The fruit exhibit by President Scott, the Swar, Greening, Jonathan, and Talman Sweet apples by E. Baur, the Jonathan apple and D'Aremberg pear, ali very fine specimens.