Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1880 — Mending Roads. [ARTICLE]

Mending Roads.

A favorite method with too many of the overseers of roads is to repair them by scraping out the soft, loose earth or mud from the ditches alongside, and then gathering all the weeds from the gardens of other places, and loose trash generally, to fill up the holes. These soon rot, the loose earth is ground out, and there is left a mud hole bigger and more unsightly than the original one. Such holes should be invariably filled up with pure gravel, if to be had; if not, with the driest, hardest soil to be found near by. A subsoil is better for this than a surface soil, as it has less vegetable matter in it to decay and form mud. After roads are are smoothed and all ruts and holes filled up, they should have a coat of grovel, if to be obtained even at considerable cost, unless they are macadamised. Then they can be kept hard, smooth and dry for a long time, without additional expense. The legislature of the state of Connecticut has passed an act authorizing the state board of health to prepare rule's and regulations for th Q examination and reexamination of. faijlroad employes in regard to color-blindness and visual power, and prescribe the methods and intervals at which these examinations shall be made. Those employed on railroads will be required to obtain certificates from the Exnming board that theyarp’freetrom