Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1888 — About Gravel Roads. [ARTICLE]

About Gravel Roads.

Editor Republican : I wish to offer a few suggestions concerning the road leading north from Rensselapr, tft wha.tjs known as Burk’s Bridge, a distance of about five miles. The land owners and those who reside within one fourth of a mile of that road pay in or work out about one hundred and seventy fiye dollars road tax this year. If the supervisor would have those who work two or more days each year, spend that time preparing the road bed, or the worst places in it, and have them ready for the fall work when the land and personal tax is worked out, and then all who work road tax should haul gravel and make good the worst places first. For instance, that part south of W. P. Baker’s house; then near Griswold’s; next near Belle Center school house, and near the tile mill and the Donnelly grade. I have been told there are from fifty to seventy-live yards of broken brick and tile at the tile mill that can be had for the hauling. That would make from ten to fifteen rods of pretty good road. The $175 would pay for about seventy days hauling at $2 50 per day, for one man and team. Each team and hand ought to haul six yards or loads of gravel from Stackhouse’s gravel pit to the Donnelly grade. Five yards to the rod would make a pretty good road, nine feet wide. That amount of money would make eighty rods of gravel road. Of cotirse much more of the tax in that district could be worked on that road, probably enough to make one half mile of road. Then the public spirited "citizens would aid in the matter with money or work, so that within a few years what is now a bad road might be the best in the county. If the citizens of that district could get together and agree to make that road good first aud then the next most important one in the district, it would not be very many jj'ears until all might be good roads instead of such as they are now. Will not the Supervisor and the citizens of that district, and of other districts in Marion tp., start the enterprise this spring and continue the good work until we have good roads in all the county? The road tax does not do much good as it is now expended. The fall work makes the roads worse, in fact, instead of better. Call a meeting, to be held in the Court House some Saturday soon, and inaugurate the above method and stick to it for five of ten years. Suggestively Yours,

I. B. Washburn.