Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1896 — GOOD ROADS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GOOD ROADS

Importance of Repairs. Keeping up the repairs at the proper level wiy continually shape the road bed, arid one load of gravel will do the work of more than ten loads as heretofore dumped in the center. The usual custom upon all well-kept roads is the constant employment of one man with tools and wheelbarrow or hgnd cart, at $1.25 per day—calculating tfie Working days possible in a year as 240 days—to every five miles of pike.—Dayton (Ohio, Herald. The plea for good roads has in a few instances been met by the statement that electric roads are destined to take the place of the public highways, and that the travel arid the transportation »f the future will be upon steel tracks rather than the paved road bed, however well constructed. The Commercial is a firm believer in tlie value of the electric road. We believe there will be the most remarkable development of this’kind of enterpries in the next few years. We believe that all small towns and villages will be connected by electric roads with the larger ones. They will traverse every neighborhood in the more populous sections. They will distribute the population of the larger cities over vast territory, for many miles in every direction. While these are the probabilities of the future, the time is Tar distant, if It ever cOmes, when the public highways are abandoned, or, in fact, when they are less used than at present. There are thousands of needs that the electricroad will not and cannot supply. The necessities ohd the pleasures of any citizen will at times require him to use the public highways. The recent very general introduction of the bicycle has .created a greater neefl for good roads than was ever felt before, Thousands of citizens are now the champions of this sort of improvement that scarcely gave the matter a thought before. However perfect the motocyele may be made, however thoroughly it may be adapted to all kinds of transportation upon the public highways, its general introduction must in a large measure await the improvement of road beds. Tt“can hardly be “made tb“run throtiglr dera, into great ruts and past other obstructions. We believe the public at the present time more fully realizes the need of good roads than it ever did before. We believe that intelligent citizens of all clasess demand of the Legislature such -measures as will insure vast improvement in our highways—Toledo Commercial.