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ALLIANCE DEPARTMENT. J. F. NISBET Editor, METHOD OF ROAD MAKING. The Claying ot Sand and the Sanding of Clay on Kicliland's Roads. To the Killtor of Tho State. Since the publication of your editorial comments on road work in this county 1 have received several inquiries from various parts of the country asking for a detailed account of our method of working clay and sand roads, and the average cost of said work ; so if you will kindly permit me, I will avail myself of your columns to make a general reply to all such inquiries. The road to be worked with sand and clay composite should be lined of!* the desired width, which is usually 22 feet from ditch to ditch, then deep ditches should be cut to catch the sand and water, and also to compel vehicles to keep in the road and thus prevent them from breaking off the edge of the clay. Thiow the dirt to the centre of the road ; leave the clay in the bottom of the ditches (if there is any there) for the top of the road. Then grade the clay hills, covering with sand for about 8 or 12 inches. Do not throw out t ie sand in the road, for the deeper the sand under the clay the quicker it will abeorb and draw water from the top surface. Put the sand on the clay whilst it is wet and boggy and until it has about the consistency of a sun brick. The quanti ty of ttie sand to be used depends on the quantity of the clay. Kaolin or chalk will not do, for wo have experimented with it and find that it will not pack hard, and it absorbs w? or. Where there are no clay lulls on the road?and that is the case in some sections of our county?we haul clay from the nearest mounds on the roadside, and it gives me pleasure to state that land ownners in such sections worked by us have readily and generously allowed us to haul the clay oiT from their lands free of all charge and I have no doubt they would do likewise in any part of the State, We have tried sand on clay roads and met with as much sue cess as we have in working clay into sand roads, an 1 whenever clav ir<*ts b u'irv .> suspend cla\'ng sti?? 1 ami will sand the clav, lor then it will work without picking the clay, which is an t \penso wh; di should he avoded whenever possible. Now i word as to the cost. I he est ill. tie given you sometime ago, viz : ifisO per mile, ;< npproxim ?te ly coir rt, hul it is proper for to say th"it iu e tiui t ug the cost we do not irclu I" the cost of our chaingnng plant, f--r that we regard a* in the natur of i permanen: invo-tmeiit. We Merely t ruoi i om.i i s Could not ex pres.-. . lie rapt ure of A nnie K, Springer, of lltiu Howard M., Philadelphia, I':., when she found that l>r King's Ww Idseovery for Consumption ami completely cured her of a hacking cough that for many years had made life a harden. All other remedies and doctors could give her no help, but sic- says of this Koyal r'liro?"it Qimn r?*mnv??il t lm tin in ??? my chest and I can now sleep soon dly something I fan scarcely remember doing before. I feel like sounding its praises throughout the Universe." So will every one who tries l>r. King's New Discovery for any trouble of the Throat, f'hest or Lungs. Price GOc anil $1.00. Trial bottles free at Crawford Drug Store; every bottle guaranteed fi estimate the actual cost for main- I tenance of the convicts, the feed I of the mules, and the wear and < tear of road tools. With an aver- j age force of 50 convicts we can < make four miles of composite i road per month. True, we have j not thus far done so for the rea- i sou that the chainganu has had . to be occasionally employed at < emergency work in other direc- ' tions, but if employed exclusively l_ iu making composite roads 50 ; convicts can make four miles per < month at a cost as above estimat- l I ed. i We desire it to be understood | j that we do not claim, and have < ' never claimed, that sand and . j clay composite will make as du- | rable a road as a properly con- ; structed macadam, and it is | proper to say also that ours has i yet to stand the test of a contin- < uous rainy season, though it has j been tested by some heavy sum- ] I mer rains and stood the test ad- | 1 mirably. All that we do claim for | I our sand and clay composite is ^ | that where, as is the case generj ally throughout South Carolina, | financial conditions do not admit of macadam road building, the ' next best thing is the sand and 1 clay composite, for it makes a 1 I -a. i 1 ii 1 1 1 . j smuutii, iinru ruauueu ana COS18 ? less than the repairs alone of the I macadam would cost. Whenever the people become thoroughly I alive to the necessity of good j roads and are willing to tax , themselves to build them, then our roads, especially these adjacent to cities and towns, could be macadamized, and it seems to me that such a law as that recently passed in the State of New York 1 would then be an advantageous one for us here in South Carolina, i That law requires the State to i j pay 50 per cent, the county 35 per cent, and the landowners on , each side of the road that is to be improved 7 1-2 per cent of the , cost of the road improvement. I started out merely to answer inquiries as to the manner of building and the cost of construction of the sand and clay composite road, but having drifted somewhat beyond that point, let me ' go on a little further and say that in my opinion you are wisely agitating the reduction of State | farming and the increase of conj vict labor in works of public util\ ity such as this of road making, j As is known of all men, the free I labor system of working roads is , a miserable farce and a dead failure. Let the counties have all the j convicts they need on the roads I and then we can build them scientifically. We can then repair I i (and build bridges, keep the roads in thorough repair, do need sani-i tary work near the cities, drain off fever breeding swamps and' put a stop to the constant drain upon county revenues which has grown up under our present makeshift system. Let us abolish jtho free labor system entirely,; make the road tax compulsory and apply such tax to the payments for iron bridges, which, would be permanent structures, obviating the need of wooden one* which have to be constantly j repaired to the great expense of the taxpayers. It has been urged in some .quarters that it would be unwise, : to turn over the bulk of the con11 victs to the county authorities, as j A l it 14.H i l l I, lIMMfUKR. Will often cause a horrible Hum, , Scald, Out or Bruise. Hucklen'a Arni, ca Salve, the best in ttie world, will kill the pain and promptly heal it. Cures Old Sores, Fever Sorea fleers, Boils, Felons, Corns, all Skin Eruptions. Best file cure on earth. Only 2flc. a box. Cure guaranteed. Sold by Crawford Bros., liruggist. 5. the cost of maintenance would be too great. It is even'said that ;ounty chaingangs cost more than they are worth. Is this so? If our county of Kichland may betaken is an example I answer unhesitatingly, no. The chaingang system svas established in this county in July, 1895. Our tax levy for all jounty purposes for 1890 91 was J 12, mills; 91-2, 3 1-4 mills; 92 J, 3 1 4 mills ; 93-1 4, 3 1 1 mills; )4 5, 3 3 5 mills; 96, 3 3 4 mills )7, 3 1 1 mills; 98, 3 1 2 mills; )9,3 1-4 mills. So you will see by i comparison of tax levies for the past eight or nine years that our jounty taxes hare been no higher ?indeed for some portion of the times have been lower?siuce the adoption of the chaingang system than they were before, and yet more and better work has been lone on roads of the county since its adoption than had been done, I venture to say, in 25 years he lore. It is true that the levy from '90 to '95 produced a surplus over and above tlie annual expenditures of those years, and that this surplus has been since expended in the purchase of machinery, chaingang plant, and macadam work and court house and jail improvements, so that the expenditure of our past sur plus does not in the least affect the point I wish to make, which is that a chaingang does not per se increase county expenses. The weak point of the system is that the gangs are too small at pres ont to cover much territory, and people grow impatient for its coming to their doors. The acerage per diem cost of maintaining our chaingang (ex elusive of cost of plant) is 20 ets. per capita. I am told that in some counties it costs somewhat more, but this is the average cost to us as our chaincanir bills will show. Now this, lot it bo ro membered, is the cost for our present small gangs. The larger the gang the less tho per capita rate would be, as is shown at the State penitentiary, were, accord ing to the report of Colonel Neul made 6ome years ago, a thousand convicts can be dieted at It cents per capita. No sensible man advocates the abolition of the penitentiary. It; is and always will be a Statei necessity. All tnat the friends of the good roads movement ask | is that instead of farming so ex tensively with convicts more ol them should be put at work on our public roads. Is such a desire | an improper or an extravagant one t (lood roads and good bridges are well worth working lor. and Tht* Slate has spoken with no un ! certain sound in favor ol havim:! them. Whilst continuing vour( advocacy of such needed improve ments let me hope that you will keep up tlie light against the liar row tired wttj;on, for, as has heon i wcdl said by a writer on the suh ' jeet, "Next to water the greater J enemy of all pood roads is thej narrow tiretl wagon,v for it lortii" ruts which make a trouph for the! rain, which instead of runnim: oil' to the side as it should remains to sink in the roadway and soften it. '1 ho wide tire, on the con trary instead of forming a rut i rolls and hardens the road sur face, and such experience as I | have had in road makinp has con | l ti.ni :i a.. i:?il viiiucu uiu mat ji iiio >viuf iirt'U wagon should entirely supersede the narrow tire, the expense of road repair will he very materially reduced. S. LI. Owens. Co. Sup. Kichland Co. Columbia, Aug. 12, 1899. % Beware of 1r Consumers should beware of the cheap and bferior washing powders said to be just as pod as ?S&T Washing Powder rhey are not?there is nothing so good as the genuine QOLD OUST for all cleaning ibout the house. Ask for COLO OUST ind insist on getting it. Made only by THE N. K. FAIRBANK COMPANY, Chicago St. Louis New York Boston J . Buy a NEW HO& Arc you thin BUYH sewing machine? If anything about the NEW I If not, would it be wise to bi ined and tested its merits ? now in use in more than a m well known that we do not dc a long list of testimonials t( speak the truth, when we say t best, simplest, most perfect, lij durable and gives less troul any other SEW] machine made. If you vah wife or' daughter, avoid tl usinjj a cheap-made, hard-ri money?save doctor's hillsmachine that is li^ht rum never out of order, and doe One that stands entirely on not have to he compared will /f * A* H A jL A. iiL vi Ay .vi A .. to impress y<>u of its ^"ond < ri^ht? may he a little hi^hei article cannot he made for i styles and prices before you pi huy direct from the factor) machine fully guaranteed. ENTERPRISE Lia^iica^stc v% J Buy a NEW HOIv # ? v . V ,ft x r' nitations! i # 'IE Machine. J ^ king of iG A I so, do you know iOP\E |L ly until you have examThe NEW HOME is illion families and is so :cm it necessary to add d convince you that we he NEW HOME is the >*htest running and most ble to purchasers than i [N6 ic the health of your ic injurious effects of inning machine. Save uy uuying a sewing * ^ ling, easy to manage, . 3 s not worry the mind. "^*4 its own merits. Does i other IN ES jii ility. Our prices are lii.in some, but a good milling. Iixamine our irchasc elsewhere. We r, and can sell you a DUO PA ""i 1 uu. vv., ?r, S. O. f\ 4 IE Machine ? i .jSI