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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1912)
! ' 1 2 TITE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, APRIL 28, 1913. I . : SO HILL, LEADING AlJIHOPIii&;:, ' : - . ONROADS. . . F''-l ' - V . SrJi Thirty-Seven Years of Study Has Been Devoted by Mr. HiH -. . " U c:'- ' " ., - " Aj't V'iMiHPff " "Vj. ill - -J Ml C-?ciZ2Z3Za-mc7 l7aAelC J7'teearit-t?-n JZjns2r7. SAMtTEt. HTT.T. th pioneer road builder of the Northwest, ha apent 7 rer etudylo roedbulldinn. He lias traveled over the; entire world, has studied the details of all the fa mous hlchways of the world, has made 2 7 trips to Europe, has spent more la roadbulldlnjr each year in the last dec ade than the United States Government, Is recognized as the leading; road au thority of the West. If not the United States, and yet. according; to his own statement, he knows but little about proper road construction. He maintains that It requires more exacting; workmanship, skill and knowl cage to build a road than to make a watch. He says roudBuJIdinc Is one of the least known of the sciences. It be ing- his opinion that there are not tea men In all America thoroughly quali fied. In erery detail, to build a piece of thoroughly first-class rosd. As a monument to the good roads cause. Mr. Hill has combined all his skill and the results of his lifetime of study In a 10-mlle stretch of road at Alaryalll. Wash, near the Columbia Rlrer. 100 miles east of Portland. Af ter spending; a fortune on the road, which has required 10 years to build, he has) handed it over gratis to the Etata of Washington, with his compli ments, and Invites the world, and espe cially the people of the western part of the United States, to Inspect It. The undertaking, he says. Is his last contri bution to the general cause, although he Intends to continue the study of the subject. Mr. Hill says there Is much more to building a wagon road than merely scooping out the dirt and rock and making a straight or level place where horses can drag along a wagon. He asserts that roadbulldlng embraces ex acting knowledge on the subject of conservation of motive power as well as engineering skill of a class even higher than that used on railroads. He brands many of the roads of Oregon. Washington and other Western states at present as mere trails, declaring that they are not scientifically, wisely nor economically built. Ha predicts better skill when the people come to realize the importance of good roads. slew Beads Are Built. Mr. Hill began the study of road bu Idlng 17 years ago. under A. J. Cas sett. one of the world's famous railroad bulloers. Since that time he has de vo:ed fortunes to the work, and has gained a worldwide reputation. He Is president of the Washington State Good Icoads Association: first vice-president of the American KoadbutlUers' Associa tion; president of- the Home Telephone Company, and la one of the most wide ly known men In railroad circles In the United States. He declares be has made Lis wagon road study on the same tails that the most eminent engineers tf the world have studied out the rail road construction principles. The prin ciples rc entirely different, he says. Listen to Mr. Hill's explanation of the good roads subject: "The cost of building; a good road Is much leas than the cost of building a bad road, provided you use sclentlflo methods In one case and the rule of thumb In the other." he says. "In Washington every four years the state spends flS.07S.000, and J do not hesi tate to say that the great bulk of this Is wasted, Xna Ume will come whea the money to be spent for roads will be Just as sacredly regarded as the school fund. I do not mean that all these men who handle the road funds are dis honest. I do not even mean that all are utterly Incompetent. I do mean that without some definite fixed plan, with out some standardization, no permanent system of roads can be built, "Lets look at the roads subject from a practical standpoint: "In 1S70. 4i per cent of the population of the United States were farmers. In 1(00, only 29 per cent were farmers. How can we maintain our form of gov ernment? By putting people on the land and keeping them there. To do this we must furnish them, first, good roads; second, srood telephone service third, good rural free delivery of mall; fourth, good schools; fifth, a market for farm products. "The freight rate begins at the farm house door. This Oregon and Washing ton country Is famed, and Justly so. for Its fruit. If the fruit be bruised In passing over four or five miles of bad road before It reaches the market, it may change the quality from first grade to fourth grade, yet the ultimate mar ket for which It was Intended may have been London. Paris, Vladivostok, or Australia. Economically, no country Is so ex travagant as America. We have had In no sense a distinctly constructive policy. The United States has never been operated as a business corpora tion. We should ask ourselves. What can we make out of our farms? What can we make out of our ootton crop, our corn crop, our wheat crop, or our fruit crop? We have grown to be a great na tion almost In spite of ourselves, but we have left too much to the hired man. and the hired man has not always run the farm to the best advantage. By the hired man, I mean the representatives of the people who have been sent to frame laws under which we can do busi ness and develop the country. He has not been a trained man In city, county. state or Nation building. There are a few simple rules which we have Ig nored. We want the best operated gov ernment, and we still have within our borders people who believe as I do. that we have the best formof government. The real object of a nation should be not to be rich, but to make the best quality of citizenship. To attain thisi end we must so shape things thst each person will have a definite Interest In the country. The great conservative force In America has always been the farmer. The farmer has always proven himself equal to the emergency. Valae ef Edncatloa. "The United States leads the world In Its low cost of steam transportation. three-quarters of 1 cent per ton per mile having been for many years about the average cost of moving a ton on the railways In America. No one knows Just what It costs in America to move ton one mile on the highwaya. We do know that It costs more than 30 cents. We do know that the Central European countries move their tonnage for 10 cents er less per ton per mile; so we see that the fanner la handi capped by a bad wagon haul freight rate of JO cents per ton per mile In his competition with his European brother. How can we obviate or lessen this un- necesary cost? Only by building Improv ed highwaya. The University of Wash, leg ton at Seattle established the first chair devoted exclusively to road build ing In the United States, and built the first building ever marked "Good Roads" In the history of the world. The politicians did not want good roads. No matter what they tell you. they do not. The politicians of Washington, under the leadership of Governor Hay, have practically stopped educating road builders, and have rendered the build Ing marked "Good Roads" useless: It stands there empty and Idle even so far as the purpose for which it was Intended. "You can do nothing without Intel ligent organisation. Tou cannot build roads without centralised power. The efforts of Individuals are as naught. They are neither equipped nor pre pared for this work. Road building Is a business all by Itself. It Is Just as difficult to build a road as It Is to make a watoh. It requires specialized train ing. I have been studying the question for more than IS years, and feel that I am only a beginner. And yet. there are legislators who have told me they know all about roads. They have given dne and one-half days to the study In question. "Now a word as to the method of road building, the kind of a road to be built, and the means with which to do it. So eminent a man as John F. Stev ens wrote an article for me, which I published In a book. In which he said: I do not think In all America there are 10 men thoroughly competent In every detail to build a piece of thoroughly first-class wagon road.' He said: 'I could not build a mile of road myself, yet I would not hesitate the building of 1000 miles of railway tomorrow. Yet the reader of these lines can on any street corner find a politician who will tell him Just how to build any kind of road. First, then we must have the brains to locate and determine where the road shall be built; second, the road to be built so as to carry the traffic which will pass over It. By that I mean It Is not necessary to build boule vards over which to drive cows; third, in locating the road it is necessary to make a careful survey with proper con tour lines so as to balance the quanti ties both by vertical and longitudinal curvature. "The first road I built S5 years ago I covered nicely with sand, then sent a wagon with a load of hay drawn by a pair of horses out upon the road, and then I saw what you have all seen; that to reet their muscles the horses slg-sagged back and forth across the road. Then I saw that the tractive power on a highway was unlike the tractive power on a railway. The tractive power on a railway required a tangent to get the easiest pull. The tractive power on a highway did not require a tangent. In other words, you could so curve your road lengthwise as to make the man or the animal take the obstruction where nature put It, and fold around the hllL If you built straight through and made a straight line, you would have to move great quantities of material and when you finished, the horses would still con tinue to zig-zag back and forth across the straight road, and the driver, to rest his muscles, would take a long. swinging curve and your money wouU be wasted. Maklag the Survey. "Airaln. we all know that a footpath Uroes Hold, 1a gaver. la a straight fir . V.' v naV. It e. -w5'5-r1l I. . II 1 rail U I III " II ill -z 11 Ell ; . )1 T A I It . V ' -J - -fsiiV f nWtasMrfl I. I It -. . " ' Ss-T V m I 2ir 2h2Doje2-tzn.-&. line. The man zigzags; If you doubt this, the next time you pass a vacant lot, look and see how the path zigzags across the lot; or If you are not satis fied, go out yourself and try to walk on the crack of a cement sidewalk for three blocks and see how you like it, or ask any bicycle naer n ne cannot go farther over a slightly rolling coun try tn a day than he can over a level road. The horse can pull a load con tinuously over a moderate grade to better advantage than he can on a dull flat, road. So balance your quantities i by vertical curvature. So much for the location. "Now for the construction. If your sur vey has been made as it should be made, and In passing I might say that 1 have had surveyed In Oregon 10 such miles of road and presented the survey with my compliments to Governor West, you will be In position never to pick up a shovelful of earth until you know Just where you are going to put that shovel ful of earth and that stone before you lay It down. It Is the unnecessary labor that costs. It Is not the farmer who tries to push on the plow handle that gets over the biggest fields In the clay. During the lifetime of all who read this, the great majority of roads must neces sarily be earth roads, and Just as much care must be used in building an earth road as In building any other kinds, be cause the proper earth road always serves as the foundation on which the top surface of a hard-surface road Is to be placed. In looking over the assets which the State of Washington had, I saw an hitherto uncapltalized asset In the shaDe of convict labor. I saw that these convicts were eating their heads off in the penitentiary and rusting their souls out In Idleness, or in planning new schemes to be used when released, and aside from the great problem of maklner men of these cbnvlcts, I saw that they could at the same time be utilized as an asset for the state. There Is no reason why any body of men, ncn or poor, convict or free, should be sup ported in Idleness. Somebody must pa,y for their keep. So about 10 years ago we started the use of convict labor in making roads, and It Is my opinion that better results can be obtained with convict labor than with free labor. Did you ever stop and think that it is only the smart man that gets In trouble? He thinks he is shrewd enough to evaae thn law. and if you are careful to or ganize your convicts, you have a chanc to draw from every class ana want in life, because a prison Is an epitome of the world at large, in wasningion, we had at one time a bank burglar and safe blower for our powder man who handled the dynamite. You cannot m your every-day walk of life get a bank bursrlar to work lor you: ne is mo high-priced a man. The convicts earned net per man per day on the Methow work on the Upper Columbia in Wash ington 4.03 for the state: they earned on the Lyle-work In Washington ior the state J3.95 net per man per day. These figures were based on the North Bank classification- for money paid for moving earth and rock for the railway. So I am heartily in favor of convict labor on roads. Raisins Money for Roads. "Now, the question comes up how to get money to build these roads. In Washington, every four years the state spends $15,078,000, and I do not hesi tate to say that the great bulk of this money is absolutely wasted. Tljere are only three ways for the public' to get money: First, when It Is given to them, as In the very generous gift of Mr. S. Benson, who gave (10,000 to help build a road In Hood River County; second, to secure It by selling Its obligations in the form of bonds; and the third way to raise it is by taxation. The objection to a bond issue, of course. Is that the moment the bonds are is sued the interest charges start to run, and that it makes a fund which In improper hands Is likely to be wasted. The objection to depending on money .for road building by taxation is that the sums so secured are so small rela tively as to be frittered away in drib lets on small pieces of road, and the life of several separate pieces of road is relatively shorter than the life of a continuous highway. Experience has shown us that all the trunk lines of road, whether In Eastern Oregon or Washington, or .Western Oregon or Washington, should ulti mately be covered with a hard surface and with a bituminous binder. "At Maryhill, Wash., I have finished sev eral miles of demonstration road to serve as a medol for the United States. While It may be too soon to speak, I believe that, regard being had to the traffic, those country roads will out last any Bingrle block of paved street In Portland. I base that statement on the fact that the Great North Koad of England, built by E. P. Hooley. has ben down for 16 years; I have photo graphed It every year for the last five years and I find no appreciable wear and tear. Of course. It Is kept up by intelligent maintenance. You can travel over it and you find no dust. Steam lorries or traction engines pulling load ed wagons pass over this road averag ing about nine miles an hour, and I do not know of any highway in Amer ica over which you would dare run an engine. However, I am willing to have one run on the road at Maryhill. In Oregon and Washington we are well supplied with road-building material. The records have not been kept In such a way as to show the cost of roads In the country around Portland ana Se attle, but adding to the cost money which has been spent on repairs to these roads, I feel safe in estimating that one-half the money so spent will build a permanent, first-class automobile-proof, traction engine proof and dustless proof road. In saying what I h'ave. It Is not my desire to In any way reflect on the men who have gone before us, but Oregon and Washington pioneer days have gone. The minds of the people are more centered on transportation meth ods such as should be on the North Bank road, rather than on the move ment of ox carts. "Did you ever think why a railroad Is built into a country? It Is to get a portion of the traffic of that country, is it not? The railroad cannot get it all, yet men spend $65,000 per mile on the average to build railways In Amer ica and hesitate to spend J7500 a mile to build a good highway, yet over that highway must pass all the traffic be fore It can reach the railway station or the wharf. "To sum up, then: Only two things are necessary here to have good roads. First, to educate the people to the ne cessity of such roads, and last, and most important of all, to show them how essential It Is to get men to build the roads who know how." Royalty and Wisdom. It is to be feared that the good old days when Kings and Emperors frol icked around the garden spots of Eu rope," cutting off heads, marrying new wives every day or so, and having sleighing parties on roads covered with precious salt in Imitation of snow, have gone forever. The Prince of AValcs, for Instance, is sojourning Just now In Paris and from all accounts having a mighty gloomy time of It He drinks only water with his meals, eschewing the wine when it is red; rides his horse slowly when he passes pedes trians, goes to bed early, and keeps the Sabbath by attending church reg ularly. Paris is terribly shocked by his conduct.. It was not like this in the olden days, but times change and monarchs change with them, or else, like Manuel, late of Portugal, they have to look for other jobs The high rollers among kings went out of fasn lon with Leopold and the wise heir apparent, who doesn't believe in tempt ing fate, cuts out the comic opera stuff. as the sporting editor would say, and attends' to business. By leading a se rious life and fitting tlmself for the duties of kingship, which will fall to his lot some day, the Prince of Wales is taking out the best insurance policy that he could put upon the English throne. Washington Post ,
