The gazette-times., January 07, 1915, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 5, Image 11

aME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
5
Good Road Foundation Essential
aN important factor in the financ
ing of good roads by county
bonds is discussed by the au
thors of Bulletin No. 136, o the
United States Department of Agri
culture, entitled "Highway Bonds."
In this bulletin the authors point
out that in expending money raised
by the sale of highway bonds the
highway commissioners should dis
tinguish carefully between the perma
nent and the perishable features of
the road. Foundations, drainage
structures, alignment and grades, are
permanent features which should be
looked upon in the light of an in
vestment. If these features do not
comply with a certain standard, it will
be poor economy to spend money on
transitory Improvements such as hard
surfaces, which must be renewed at
considerable expense from year to
year.
Local conditions, of course, deter
mine to a great extent the proper
standards for the permanent features
of any highway. Twenty years' ex
perience in modern road building has
shown, however, that there is a mini
mum which any road built on bor
rowed money should comply with. A
close study of 244 different types of
road shows that to meet this mini
mum standard, the following sums
will probably have to be expended
for three standard kinds of highways:
Standard Highways.
0
1 (9
Gravel (21) feeti I I I
wide)' 11,817 2,5B9,,410 41.15 38.85
uiflin ary or I l .
water-bound 1
macadam 1 15.
feet wlile).. 5,100 8,815; 9,215 SC.83.ll
Bituminous ma- ! I I I
fid am CIS I I I
fwt wide)... 8,705! 7,S3310.a-g'2t.687t.l5
A study of these figures will help
counties to avoid the common error of
first fixing the sum to be spent and
then demanding an exorbitant mile
age in return for It. So-called
macadam roads have been built with
bond money by simply spreading
broken stone in the mud. The in
evitable result of such shortsighted
ness Is that long before the bonds
have been paid off the Improvements
for which they were issued have
ceased to exist and the county has
nothing to show for its Increased
debt. In the same way, It Is mani
festly poor policy to build an expen
sive surface on defective grades with
poor alignments and shortlived drain
age features.
Even when much of the money ex
pended upon a highway has gone into
the permanent features, there is still
danger that the cost of repairs and
maintenance will be overlooked, or
at least slighted, in the calculation of
the road-builders. When roads are
built with borrowed money it is, of
course, especially important to avoid
this error.
Not All Surfacing Temporary.
On the other hand, however, it Is
not necessary to regard the total cost
of surfacing a road as a temporary
improvement. Much of the surfacing
may be classed as a permanent invest
ment, for It Is becoming more and
more common to have surfaces built
In two courses, the lower of which it
as much a permanent feature of con
struction as the grading itself.
This is particularly true of those
types of road that are built with con
crete foundations for bituminous
macadam, brick, or asphalt surfaces.
It is probably conservative indeed, to
regard 40 per cent of the surfacing
cost of macadam or more enduring
pavements as a permanent invest
ment. It is seldom nowadays that
hard roads are permitted to wear Into
the foundation course of the surfac
ing. Probably it Is safe to say that an
average of about 62 per cent of the
total cost of a well-built macadam
road should be put into the perma
nent features, and with bituminous
macadam roads, about C6 per cent.
This method of estimating cannot he
applied to any gravel or natural soil
road in which no part of the sur
facing can advantageously be consid
ered permanent, for under most sys
tems of maintenance it steadily de
teriorates. Concrete Permanent,
Itoads built with surfaces entirely
of concrete, or with brick pavements
resting on a concrete foundation, are
generally regarded as permanent, but
It Is not yet definitely known how
long the best concrete surface will
last. The best vitrified brick surfaces
may last a number of years, but even
with them repairs will be required.
To sum up, the authors of this bul
letin point out that the initial cost of
a road is never the final one; that no
surface is permanent, and that repairs
and maintenance charges of a good
road are to be regarded as perma
nent investments. When roads are
built with borrowed money, the dis
tinction between the permanent and
the temporary improvement must be
carefully observed, in order that the
county may have something in ex
change when the time comes to repay
the loan.
Estimate Cost of
Road in 20 Years
WHILE it is frequently easy for
a county to issue bonds and
borrow money for improving
the local highways, the raising of the
money to retire those bonds at ma
turity is often not so simple. Many
counties, in borrowing money for
bonds, figure, that the amount of
money raised represents the total
cost of the road, forgetting that the
road must be maintained and re
paired if, at the end of the term of
the bonds, the county is to have any
thing to show for its investment.
The question of financing country
road building is discussed fully In a
Department of Agriculture bulletin,
written by the Office of Public
Roads In collaboration with James
W. Glover, professor of mathematics
and insurance, University of Michi
gan. In this bulletin the authors
discuss fully the various methods of
financing road building and retiring
debts for road construction, and also
deal frankly with the actual total
cost of a road during the life of the
bonds. On the total cost of a road,
the authors cite the following two
examples as affording at least a basis
for estimating the total minimum cost
of a mile of road:
Cost of Mile of Road.
Bltumlnoui macadam
Coat or construction (JlO.nnft) an.
der 5 per cent aerial bond, with
Intereat for 20 yeara Jla.O12.0O
Cost of annual repair and maln-
tenanca (tK)0) for 20 yeara 12.000.00
Total coat for 20 yeara 128,012.50
Brick
Coat of conatructlon ($18,500) tin
der S per cent aerial bond, with
Interest for 2i) yeara $26,426.73
Cost of annual repair and main
tenance (JUu) for 20 yeara 8,000.00
Total cost for 20 yeara $32,428.73
The authors point out that the
actual cost of building and maintain
ing a specific highway can be deter
mined only after the character and
volume of traffic and actual wear and
tear have been studied for a series of
years. The figures quoted above, of
course, will not apply to ordinary
macadam, gravel. or clay roads, but in
all these cases the Interest on the
bonds must be met, and there must
be expenditures to maintain them in
condition.
The poorer the drainage and the
less permanent the character of the
road foundation, the greater must be
the percentage that repair costs will
bear to the first cost.
Similarly, the question of whether
the actual surfacing is designed to
withstand the character of traffic
and weather to which It Is subjected
also has an important bearing on
what it will cost the county to keep
the road in such shape that when the
bonds are paid the locality still will
have a valuable property to show as
a result of Its borrowing and repay
ment. Millet.
Millet Is a ciulck-growing crop.
Common millet matures In the short
est time and therefore draws mois
ture from the soil for the least period
of time. German millet yields the
most and is preferred when there is
an average supply of moisture. Com
mon millet is one of the best drouth
reslsters. Northern seed produces
much the hardiest plants. The foli
age ot plants from southern seed is
heavier. Sow 15 to 20 pounds of
seed to -the acre.
Cut before the seeds get hard. It
is a good plan to start cutting as soon
as the heads become fully developed.
Continued feeding of millet to
horses some times causes incurable
lameness. It is fairly safe to use for
horses when cut early and only one
feed a day is given of the millet hay
and some other forage at. the other
feedings. Millet is chiefly valuable
as a cattle feed.
He who laughs his way through
life is apt to have a good Ions laugh
ing spell.
Can Anything Be Nicer Than a
Piano or Player-Piano for Your
HomeSomething That Every
Member of the Family Enjoys
for All Time to Come.
The Great Manufacturers' Emer
gency and Surplus Sale is nearing
the end. If you expect to purchase
a piano or player piano within the
next ten years, you owe an inves
tigation to yourself now.
Through the columns of this
paper we have told the reasons for
this great sale several times, so
suffice it to say that never again
will such low prices be made as
are now marked on thoroughly re
liable pianos, for the same causes
can never again exist.
New pianos can now be had for
less than dealers have ever before
sold same grade used instruments.
$200, $250 and $300 new pianos
can now be secured for $98, and
the more elaborate styles for $145.
We still have also a good selection,
in plain cases, for $118. A great
many used pianola pianos, which
cannot be told from new, at prices
ranging from $285 for the $500
grades, to $488 for the $900 and
$1000 grades.
The Chickering, America's old
est and best; the beautiful Kim
balls, and the genuine Autopiano
Cot out aad nail thla ronpoa. Do It
today! Ellen Maslc House, Broad
way at Aider St., Portlaad, Oregoa,
and we will aend you free ot charge
a book of "Old Favorite Sons."
Name ,
(Write plainly.)
Addreaa. ,
Study Music at Home
aaaaaat
BIG CATALOGUE
American School of Music
FIFTH AND ANKENY, PORTLAND, OREGON
iSi'Va "r OIBtiON. I.IBBV. MONT.. SOLI) 13 KlliSI INS TO HIS NKIUHHOKS. HE
hAYh: "I have pulled fir and tamarai k stumps, gome ot q
iiu-m i ieei in mameier, with jour S3i complete outfit."
WE HAVE AN AltMY of agents throughout the North
west doing the same as Mr. Glt-son. lietter set your ap
plication In early it
one of them.
Wrtto at once to
A. .1. KIKSTIN CO.,
M4 Conimexciiil hi., Salem, Or.
Utistern Olflce, Eacanaba, Mich.
Player Piano also included in this
great sale.
Player pianos on terms as low
as $12 per month, some for $10
per month, nad some for only $2
per week. Pianos $1 per week.
The important thing is to select
your piano now, while these low
prices hold good, and before the
manufacturers' representatives
Ellsworth, Barnes & Davey leave
Portland. If you have a used
piano, organ or phonograph and
records which you would like to
exchange, we will be very glad to
allow you a fair valuation for it.
Many new player pianos still
left. Remember, all of these new
instruments are marked at prices
even less than same quality up
rights without the player mechan
ism inside are usually sold for.
$500, $550 and $600 new player
pianos are now marked $285 and
$337 some of the smaller sizes,
perfectly plain cases, $245. The
$750, $800 and $850 values are
now $377, $437 and $488. The
$1000 and $1250 player pianos at
$588, $664, and the largest sizes
$776. All with free music rolls and
our free exchange proposition.
Portland, Oregon
One Month's Free Tuition
Send No Money
ANY INSTRUMENT TAUGHT
Piano, Organ, Vio
lin,' Cornet, Guitar,
Banjo, S a x a phone,
Flute, Drums, Etc.
Success Guaranteed.
Our extension course
of personal instruc
tion brings the new
A?
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best teachers
direct to your
home. It costs
less than rest
dent instruc
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can afford it.
Write Now for
Special Offer.
FREE, SEND FOR IT
l.tve Agents
Wanted Every,
w here.
Apply Now.
you want to be
I
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