Established 1899
The Pioneer, John Setzer.
Written for the De.noc. at.
It is the object of the writer to
give a geneological sketch of the
life and character of the . old j
pioneer John Setzer who was the
father and progenetor of the;
Setzer family in Catawba county. •
He came from Rowan county
to this county a single man. He
was of the German descent, and
in possession of a healthy and
vigorious constitution which
enabled him to battle with all
the tumoils and difficulties that
he had to pass through in this
wild wilderness country then.
He was a large, robust man witn
strong musc'es to enter U| on,
life's journey. It has always.■
been said that he was the leader!
at those old fashioned lug rolling
or house raisings, as he wm a
man of great st ength. It was'
nothing for him to handle t le
hand spike. He was a V>J / in
dustrious, economical and law
abiding man.
When he arrived at the age of
manhood ha married the red,
losy cheeked daughter of Mat
thias Barringer, Katharine, and
to her he gave her portion of the
western end of the farm. Then
he ettied on it about two miles
cast of where Newton is now
located, on the Sherrili's Ford
road, a little north of the old
celebrated muster ground. And
they begot the following child
ren: John, Matthias, George,
Paul, Daniel, David, Jacob,
Katharine, Betsy and Sallie.
John, the oldest son, married
Mary Wnitener, a grand-daugh
ter of the old pioneer Henry
\\hitener, and begot George,
Henry, Logan and daughters.
George, the oldest, was a very
popular man. He was clerk of
the court for sixteen years in j
succession.
Matthias, the second son, mar
ried a Miss Siarmon, and then
settled on the OsynaJ farm. They i
begut Reuben, Henry, etc He,
sold some of his land to the
county for the county seat.
George, the third son, married
a Miss Ward, and lived in the old
.John Setzer house. They begot
Walter, James, Frank, etc. He
was married twice. His last
wife was a Miss Batter.
Paul married a Miss Deal and
!ih%y begot Paul, Frank, etc.
Faui married a Miss Simmons*
the daughter of Catherine Sim
mons., who, after the death of
Simmons married John Smith,
the father of Fed Smith, her
maiden name was BoJick. Paul
settled first near where Caleb
Setzer now lives. He then sold
his farm and moved to Caldwell
County where he died. .
Daniel had married a Miss
Wike, a sister of David Wike and
they begot Daniel, Miles Wike's i
wife, etc.
David married a Miss Sherrill
first and she died then he married
again and moved to Iredell
county and lived near the Cataw
ba river. They begot John, ;
Pinkney, etc. He belongs to the j
Baptist church.
Jacob, the seventh son, was
married three times and has a
large family. He was always
known as Saw Mill Jacob.
Catharine, the oldest daughter,
married Henry Deliinger. .She
was a great dancer.
Betsy married Charles Ward,
they begot John, Conrad, Paul,
etc.
Sallie married Jacob Deliinger.
He was the grand father of J. F.
Deliinger.
I condensed this sketch as
much as I could possibly do to
give it justice. All the sons of
Johr.Setzer were very industrious
and economical farmers and al
ways law abiding'peoplt.
1 want to make an agreement
with J. H. Shuford, my brother
historian, that we suspend for
a time of writing about the
Shufords, Bakers, Hoyles and
Coders and take up the family
name of some of the families of
other old pioneers and sketches
of their family. I want him to
give us a sketch of the original
pioneer John Hahn family, who
came to this section in 17(36.
G. M. YODER.
| GENERAL NEWS I
Gov. Sadley, of Missiouri, an
ardent Roosevelt man, and Sena
tor Cummins, will not bolt the
Tait organization.
Bryan estimates thdt Wilson's
kiuiality over Taft will be 2,000,-
000.
Chairman James, of the Demo
cratic conventson, viil notify
Gov, Wilson of his nomination
for presidency, on August 7 at
bea Grit,
Gov, Wilson has a correspon
dence oi 10.000 letters to catch
Up vvita,
rHE HICRORY DEMOCRAT
Summary of Democratic Platform
• \
Reaffirms party's devotion t
the principles of democratic
government as formulated by
| Jefferson
i Declares for a tariff for reven
jue onlv and denounces the high
I republican tariff as the principal
cause at' the unequal distribution
of wealth.
Favors immediate downward
irevision of presant duties,vespe
cially upon necessaries of life.
Favors gradual reduction, so as
• >ott » intetfere wish or destroy
iegitimat« industries. Denoun
ces Pitsidmt Talt for vetoing
laritl oil s of 'ast congress. Con
dems tepubijati pirty "for
fclilu»e to redeem its premises of
; 1908 ior d »wnward revision."
Takes issue with the republi
can platform as to the high cost
living, contending it is largely
oue to high.tariff laws.
Favors vigorous enforcement
of the original features of the
anti-trust law. Demands such
addi ional legislation as may be
necessary to cr.ush private
monopoly. Declares for pre i
dential preference fprimaries.
Direct national committee- to
provide for selection at primaries
of members of national com
mittee. /' v '
Pledges party to enactment of
law prohibiting campaign contri
butions by corporations and un
reasonable campaign cuntribu
tions by individuals.
i ayors single presidential term
and making president ineligible
for re-election.
Felicitates democratic congress
on its record, -enumerating im
portant achievement, and pledges
and adequate navy.
Denounces republican adminis
tration on charge of extrava
vance and demands return to
simplicity and economy befitting
a democratic government.
Favors efficient supervision and
rate regulation of railroads, ex
press companies, telegraph and
telephone lines, and a valuation
of these companies by the inter
state commerce commission, and
also legislation against over
issuance of stock of corporations.
In connection with a demand for
such a revision of the banking
laws as will give temporary re
lief in case of financial distress,
there is a denunciation of the
Aidrich biil prepared by the
mometary commission.
The present method of deposit
ing government funds is con
demned and the party is pledged
t > the enactment of a law for
the deposit of such funds by
competitive bidding in state or
national banks, without discri
mination as to locality.
Recommends investigation of
agriculture credit societies in
Europe to ascertain whether a
j system of l ural credits may be
devised suitable to conditions in
the United States.
Pledge party to enactment of
legislation to prevent devastation
of lower Mississippi valley by
floods, and the control of the
Mississippi is declared to be a
national, rather than a state,
problem. The maintenance of
navigable channel is also recom
mended.
Tribute to Wilson.
The following is the openirg
portion of Judge Wescott's
speech in placing Woodrow Wil
son before tne Baltimore conven
tion:
New Jersey, once bound, but
by the moral energy and intel
lectual greatness of a single soul,
now free, comes to this great
convention in the glory of her
emancipation, to participate in
your deliberations, and in formu
lating your judgements and as
sist in executing your decrees.
The New Jersey delegation is
not empowered to exercise the
attributes of proprietorship, but
as commissioned to represent the
great cause of Democracy, and
to offer you, as its militant and
triumphant leader, a scholar, not
a char'atan; a statesman, not a
doctrainairej a profound lawyer,
not a splitter of legal hairs; a po
litical economist, not an egonisti
cal theorist; a practical politician,
who constructs, modifies, -re
trains, without disturbance and
destruction; a resistless debater
and consummate master of state
ment, not a mere sophist; a hu
manitarian, not a defamer of
character and lives; a man whoes
ruind is at once cosmopolitan and
composite af American; a gentle
man of unpretentious habits,
with the fear of God in his hear!
and the love of mankind exhibit
ed every act of his life; above al
a public servant who has beer
tried to the uttermost and nevei
found wanting— peerless, match
less, unconquerable Democrat
' Woodrow Wilson.
Mr. R. W. Robinson, of thii
i city, has showed the bigges
peaches we have seen this year
HICKORY, N. C., THURSDAY. JULY 11, 1912
The Apple Crop.
Aslieville Gazette-News.
Elsewhere, as in the Appalach
ian fruit belt, the biggest aDple
crop ever known is said to be in
sight for 1912. The New York
Journal of Commerce learns from
apple men who have earned
something of a reputation in the
predicting of the size of crops
mat probably 50,000,000 barrels
of apples will be marketed thi?
year against 30,000,000 barrels in
1911, In no state where apples
are grown is there the prospect
of a failure; in New York.
Maine, Massachusetts and Mich
igan the outlook is the best ever
known; in Pennsylvania. Mary
land, West Virginia and Virginia
better crops are expected than
last year; in Arkansas, Missouri.
Kansas and Illinois the yield
p- omises to Jse larger than for
several years past, and in what
is known as the "Box Aoole Ter
ritory" of the states of Washing
ton, Oregon and Idaho the pres
ent croD will not only be incom
parably larger than that of last
year, but it may be double that of
1910, a year that broke all rec
ords The reason for this is two
fold: the seasons have been
splendid and so many new trees
have begun to bear since 1910
that it if estimated that the fruit
ful acreage of this region is now
about 64.000 acres as against
32,000 two years ago. There is
every reason, the Charleston
News and Courier says, "for
thinking that the apple crop wil'
be bigger and bigger every seas
on, but unfortunately there is no
ground for hoping that the prices
will get any lower. We wonder
if the producer gets as much per
barrel for a crop of 50,00i\000
barrels as for a crop of 30,000,000,
or if not, where the money goes?
The consumer has not been ben
efited by big crops in the past,
except that it has been possible
to get finer fruit."
The Largest Apple Tree.
North Carolina has the largest
apple tree in the United States,
perhaps in the world.
It is an apple tree of immense
proportions. It is on the land of
Mr. W. G. Smoot, near Trap Hill,
in Wilkes county, and is owned
by Messrs. J. B. Horton, of Elk
m, and H. W. Horton, of North
Wilksboro. The shown record
shows that the tree is 16 feet, 5
inches in ciacumference at the
ground and 12 feet 6 inches just
below the first limb, which is
eight feet above the ground.
It was a large tree ninety years
ago. and it is known to be over a
hundred years old, and it may be
a hundred and fifty. It bears
apples right along, the variety
unknown, the people of that sec
tion calling it the "Rich Apple,"
because the color is rich, yellow
red striped and the flavor rich, j
The fruit matures in September
and keeps until late fall and is
of medium size.
Pictures of the big old apple
tree have been sent the Depart
ment of Agriculture, and men
shown in the picture standing by
it look of the size of smali boys.
Not alone is this big tree de
clared co be the largest apple
tree in the world. If cut, the
stump would give room for seve-!
ral men to stand on it at one
time, and if it was hollow and ly
! ing down an ordinary cow could
walk through its length and not
touch her back or sides.
I
DeGraw Favors Parcels Post.
Norfolk, Va., Dispatch, 4th. —
Fourth Assistant Postmaster
j General P. S. DeGraw, in the
principal address today before
the ninth annual convention of .
Rural Letter Carriers' association
of Virginia, indorsed the parcels
post and declared that "the es-;
tablishment of packages or par
cels post, not to exceed a cost of
15 cents for a package of 11;
pounds, 5 cents for the first;
pound and 1 cent for each ad-1
ditkjnal pound, will greatly bene |
fit the patrons on rural delivery
routes as well as the merchants
located in the villages or town
whence rural delivery start-?.''
Speaking generally on the par
cels post Mr. DeGraw says:
"It has been charged that I did
not seem to realize that such a
delivery would be a hard blow to
country merchants, and would,
only benefit the department
stores of the cities. I do not,
realize any such thing. Of course, 1
there are two sides to every
question, which may affect dif-;
terent commnnities in different
ways.
t •
• Squire S. L. Killian, has re
turned from Blowing Rock where
he looked after some business
matters. He has a large resi
dence in the heart of the town
which is for sale. He enjoyed
the Fourth of July exercises, es
i pecially the climbing of the
; greased pole, Capt. Lovill, of
Boon, made an eloquent speech.
| COMMENT |
The StaUsville Landmark and
the Charlotte Observer are dis
cussing the demand for and the
sliipments of peach seed from
North Carolina. The J. K. Mor
rison Co. in Statesville bought
15,000 bushels of the seed tw
years ago at 75 cents a bushe',
totaling $11,250. Mr. W. J.
Shuford, of the Hickory Seed
Co., of this city, acid a big ship
per of peach informs th
Democrat 'that the first peach
seed ever shipped from North
Carolina were shipped from here
by Mr. Herbert Chase, then i
partner in the A. L. Shuford Co.
The Observer presumes that tht
use of these shipped peach seeo
is for the production of acids by
the chemical laboratories of tht
drug factories, but not so. They
are used by the big nurseries ol
the country for seedlings.
There is a big rucus in Presi
dent Tafi's cabinet. Prof. A-
Piatt Andrews, assistant secre
tary of the Treasury, has seem
ingly been disobedient and
rebellious against his chief,
Secretary Mac Veigh, and the
latter has fired him. The straw
that broke the camel's back is
Andrew's going to the Chicago
convention when his boss told
him to stay at home and attend
to his business. He accuses
Mac Veigh of "idiasyncrasies,"
"incapacity" and of not knowing
his business. "Senator Lodge
has championed the side of
Andrews. . Mac Veigh is on a
big disgust, and serves notice on
Mr. Taft that he will not hold
his job after March 4, even if
Taft is reelected.
Taft's managers have bought
all the histories and other books
of which Woodrow Wilson is the
author, and are going to flood
the country with garbled ex
tracts. Tney think they can
especially influence the Catholic
vote against Wilson because of
some things he has said about
the Catholic church. Beware of
the garbled extract. Go to your
library and look up the context.
The Gastonia Progress issued
a splendid industrial edition oi;
July 4th, covering all the indus
tries and enterprises of that
thriving city. It was a credit
both to the paper and the city.
"Clover Balls," Strange Disease,
Kills Mule.
Raleigh News-Observer, sth.
R. J. Buffaloe, living on Route
No. sin Wake was here yester
day and told of the strange death
of a mule belonging to his cous
in, Paul Buffaloe, a young far
mer.
The mule died Sunday at one
the stables in town. Every ef
fort to get any sort of treat
ment through tne animal failed.
Nothing could be done for it,
and when it died, Dr. L. F.
Koonce cut the mule cpen and
round two well developed "clo
ver balls" as they are called.
•These caused the death.
The name suggests the danger
of clover, Mr. Buffaloe thinks,
and he feeds it with care now.
The ball is about the size ~of a
baseball and gathers mass as it
j develops. Of course, the layman
jean know nothing about its
j cause, though good farmers who
1 nave observed deaths in two or
three instances think the con
dition of the clover, its excess of
furzj, will produce the trouble
more quickly than otherwise it
would be done.
The mule in question was a
valuable animal, worth $325 and
not yet full grown. This makes
three that have died recently,
: the other two belonging to Ben
jamine Bullock.
I
Patterson-Stecher.
i
' The Democrat has received the fol-
I lowing card:
Mr. and Mrs. Martin D. Stecher an
| nounce the marriage of their daughter
Mary Eleonca to Mr. Karl B. Patter
son, on Wednesday, June the twenty j
sixth, nineteen hundred and twelve, I
Chicago.
At home after October the first,
Hickory, North Carolina.
Misses Miriam Long and
Lilian Reid, of Charlotte, have
returned home after a visit to
Miss Margaret McComb.
DEATH OF MRS. JOY.
Came Suddenly from the Dangerous
Nerve Malady, Migraine.
The city was saddened Saturdaj
morning to learn of the death of Mrs
A. K. Joy, wife of Hickory's übU
Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce.
The end was shockingly sudden thougl
Mrs. Joy had been ill for a long time.
It came at the Richard Baker Hospita.
about 9 o'clock, Mrs. Joy had had ont
of her bad days, with a
headache, but no one thought her to be
more seriously ill than usual. The
nurse had been with her and had goni
out for a few minutes. When she re
turned Mrs. Joy was dead.
Mrs. Joy's illness started months
ago #ith stomach trouble and violen
headaches. These seemed to be in
cidental, however, to a nerve malady,
which the doctors call migraine, the
seat of which is the base af the brain.
Ouly a few days ago of the ablest
nerve specialists wrote Mr. Joy that
Mrs. Joy's symptoms 'were those of
migraine: that he was on the point ol
taking a trip but when he returned he'
would be glad to have Mrs. Joy taken
to him for examination, ne said that
Or. J. H. Shuford's treatment at the
hospital was all that could be done.
The body was taken to the home of
Mr. Joy and Saturday morning was
taken to Pittsburg. Pa., their old home,
by Mr. Joy, Miss Jessie Joy. their
daughter, and Miss Belle McKeown,
Mrs, Joy's sister, who had been on a
visit to her.
Mrs. Joy was a woman of lovely
character. It was on account of the
health that Mr. Joy, formerly attacheo
to the staff of the Pittsburg Leader,
came to Hickory to live.
Sketch of Woodrow Wilson.
Woodrow Wilson (full name
Thomas Woodrow but the first
name was dropped years ago),
was born at Staunton, Va., De
cember 28, 1856, son of Rev.
Joseph R. and Jessie Woodrow
Wilson. Father Presbyterian
minister. The presidential can
didate spent his early life at
Columbia, S. C. t was for one
year a student at Davidson Col
iege, at the time Gov. Glenn was
in college there. Graduated at
Princeton College, New Jersey,
in 1879: studied law at Univer
sity of Virginia; took post grad
uate coarse at Johns Hopkins; is
i Ph. D. of Johns Hopkins, an
L. L. D. of Wake Forest, this
,tate, and a half a dozen other
colleges and a Litt. D. of Yale.
He was married June 25, 1885,
'o Miss Ellen Louise Axson, ol
3 tvannah, Ga. He practiced law
n Atlanta 1882-'B3, was profes
sor of history and political econ
imy at Bryn Mawr College 1885
28, and Wesleyan University
1888-90, He took the professor
ship of jurisprudence and poli
tics at Princeton University 1890,
holding this position for two
years when he was made presi
lent of Princeton.
"He is the author of "Consti
tutional Government," a study
in American politics; 4 The State
Elements of Historical and Prac
tical Politics," "An Old Master
tnd Other Political Essays." Hi
work on "George Washington"
was written in 1896 and his most
notable acheivment in literature,
"A History of the American
People," was written in 1902. He
was elected Governor of New
Jersey in November, 1910, the
first Democratic Governor of that
state in many years. His majori
ty was the largest ever given an
Executive in that state.
Teachers Institute.
The teachers institute for Catawba
county will be held at Newton, Julv
22, and continuing tor two weeks.
This insiitute will be couducted by
Messrs. C. M. Staley, R. C, Holton,
*nd A. P. Whisenhunt. All teachers
in the county are required by the
school law to attend this institute or an
institute held in another county.
One section of the work in the
institute will be for the teachers of
primary grades: another section wiil be
for teachers of intermediate grades;
and there will be a third section for
those teachers who have to teach high
school subjects. Teachers will pro
vide themselves with the adopted text
books, and with McMurrays Teaching
How to Study.
The teachers institute for the
colored teacher.* will also be held at
Newton, beginning at the same t me.
The Man Wilson Will Need.
Madison Herald.
While North Carolina Demo
crats are voting for Woodrow
Wilson, a genuine Progressive,
for President this fall, they will
also vote for Judge Clark, a
genuine Progressive—not a mere
sham —for the United States
Senate. The next eight years
are to be stirring times in this
country and the people need men
in the Senate to represent them
who have always been true, who
are men of great ability and who
have a back-bone as large as a
saw-log. That man is Judge
Writer Claf-k.
The News says that Mrs. J. S.
Warlick, a hustling farmer of
Lincolnton county, was in Lir
colnton with a load of green corn,
having 800 ears in the load.
Democrat and Press.Consolidated i 905
Home Course
ln
Road Making
VII. —Highway Culverts
and Bridges.
By LOGAN WALLER PAGE;
Director Office of Public Roads,
United States Department
of Agriculture
Copyright by American Press Asso
ciation, 1912.
11 '
CULVERTS and bridges are>:on
structed for a twofold purpose
In the first place, they are re
quired to provide the necessary
drainage for the road and, in- the sec
ond place, to furnish a suitable cross
ing for traffic over waterways. A largv
percentage of the highway culverts
and bridges in this country were bull;
of wood in the first instance, and iu
later years many of the smaller cul
verts have been rebuilt with some kind
of pipe, either of terra cotta, cast iron
or more recently of corrugated metal.
It is impracticable in a short paper to
discuss the various forms of pipe cul
verts. They are purchased In the open
market, and the road official uses his
judgment about the size of pipe that
should be laid to serve the require
ments of the location in question.
The following principles should, how
ever, be borne in mind: All pipe cul
verts should be laid deep enough so
that the pipe will not be injured by the
FIG. I.—CONCRETE CULVERT STEEL I BEAMS
INCASED IN CONCRETE.
traffic passing over it, and head walls
should in all cases be built at each
end of the culverts to prevent them
from being washed out The maxi
mum fill to be allowed over a clay
pipe culvert should be at least three
feet. The objection to pipe culverts
is that they become easily clogged and
are thus made useless. Clay pipe cul
verts are easily broken unless they are
well laid and well protected.
The most simple and natural form ol
bridge consists of timbers laid across
the stream or opening which is to bf
passed over and covered with planks
to form the roadway. Walls should
be built to support each end of th
timbers, and these are called abut
ments. The width of the openinj.
which they cross Is termed the span
The timbers themselves are callec
stringers, and the planks are usually
referred to as the flooring.
The size of the stringers required in
ureases with the span and the distance
apart, center to center, that they art
laid. For example, a 2 inch by 6 incli
stringer will do for a two foot span,
while a 0 inch by 10 inch or 6 inch by
12 inch stringer is required for a twen
ty foot span. The distance apart that
the stringers are required to be laid
varies with the .thickness of the planl;
:!oor!ng and the amount of traffic.
The weight of the materials in the
bridge is commonly, referred to as the
dead load. The additional load which
Ihe bridge is designed to carry Is
known as the live load and consists of
animals, wagons or motor vehicles or
pedestrians. A crowd of people stand
ing close together on a bridge is usual
ly estimated at about 100 pounds per
square foot of floor space.
The strength of the bridge depends
upon the kinch of timber used, the di
mensions of the timber, the amount
used and Its location, and also very
largely upon the span of the bridge.
For example, assuming a loaded wagon
carrying 500 pounds per wheel, a yel
low pine board one Inch thick and eight
inches wide would require stringe'rs to
support It about every thirteen Inches
apart to carry the load safely, while a
plank of the same width and two
inches thick would require stringers
three feet apart, and a three Inch plank
would require stringers about every
four feet apart. These figures are based
upon the assumption that yellow pine,
Douglas fir or a good quality of oak
would be used. If such timbers as
white pine, hemlock or spruce are used,
then stringers would be required
r.bout every eight inches for a one inch
board, every two and one-half feet for
a two Inch plank and every three feet
for a three inch plank. "
The following table gives the approx
imate sizes of stringers required foi
the different spans:
#1
0) O) Q> ©
CfiQgj c?*oi 5 2 c |5 #
Sg £ c
asi t i .
js ».£ MM
2 2jc 6 3xB 9 3x6 4xB
3 2x(S Bx6 10 3x6 6x 10
4 2x6 3x6 12 4xB 6x 10
5 3x6 4xB 14 4xB 6xlo
6 3x6 4xB 16 4xlo 6x12
7 3xo 4xB 18 4xlo 6x12
8 Bx6 4xB 21) 4x 10 6x12
In the above table round timbers or
logs may be substituted for the strin
gers, in which case the diameter of the
log should be about one and one-eighth
times the largest dimension of the
st ringer as given.
Fig. 2 Illustrates two methods by
which the simple beam of string** may
le strengthened and states the cor
responding loads that will be carried
safely. That is, the simple beam 12
Inches by 12 inches square and 24 feet
between points of support will carry
safely a concentrated loffd of one and
one-half tons at its center, while if the
same beam be made into a King post
beam by passing underneath the beam
a one Inch steel rod, which is made
fast at either end of the beam, and in
serting a single post under the load at
the center of the beam, then such a
beam will carry about two and three
quarter times as much, or a load of
three and three-quarter tons, safely,
while if the same beam be built into
a King truss beam the load concen
trated at the center may then be in
creased to nine tons.
The best culverts and smaller bridges
are built of re-enforced concrete. The
cost is greater than for wood&i or pipe
constructions in the first instance, but
if well built there should be no fur
ther cost for repairs. That is, the first
cost is the last cost, while durability
and safety are secured from the out
set. ' i
Good materials, consisting of crush
ed stone or gravel, sand and portland
c ement and water, are required for con
crete. Deformed steel rods imbedded
in the concrete are used for strength
ening the cover spans. The mixing of
these materials into concrete and plac
ing it in the forjns are extremely sim
ple matters after' they are once well
understood, but nevertheless should not
bp undertaken by one who is unfamil
iar with the use of concrete.
There are three general kinds of con
crete culverts, which are known as the
concrete box type. They are built for
the smaller sizes up to such as have an
opening about four feet by six feet
wide. For sizes above that the floor is
usually left out where it is not needed
to protect the foundation, or paving
may be substituted for it. The floor
and side walls are constructed of con
crete with or without metal re-enforce
ment, usually without such re-enforcc
monts. The- proportions of concrete ]
used for the floor and side walls are 1
usually, 1, 3, G—that is, one part by
measure of Portland cement, three
parts by measure of sand and six parts,
by measure of crushed stone or gravel.
For spans above ten or twelve feet the
over needs to be strengthened with
concrete beams. This type is known
is the concrete T beam from its resem
blance to the capital letter. They are
placed adjacent to each other, the dis
tance from center to center depending
lpon the load which the bridge is ex
pected to carry.
# The best type of concrete culVerts for
;paus from ten feet up to thirty feet is
he steel I beam incased in concrete, as
shown iu Fig. 1. Here the concrete
loor is designed to carry the load
icross the span from one I beam to an
>ther, while the steel I beams carry
the load from one abutment to the oth
er. It often happens that the culverts
are built on yielding foundations and
that the abutments sometimes settle,
causing cracks that would be danger
ous in some types of culverts, but It is
the ability of the steel I beam type to
withstand such conditions as these just
mentioned that makes it the best type
to build. The I beams are incased in
.•oncrete to protect them from rusting.
Sometimes they are simply painted or
aiore often not painted at all, and what
would be a permanent bridge is al
lowed to rust out for lack of proper
•are.
For details in regard to the methods
of designing and building concrete
bridges attention is called to bulletin
No. 39, "Highway Bridges and Cul
verts," issued by the office of public
roads, United States department of
agriculture.
No road can be called a good road
that Is dotted with broken, wornout
md unsafe wooden culverts and
bridges, such as are encountered on
— > J
• —4 •.
SIMPLE
Safe Load at C&rrhgr Tarts.. $
Kiivk* fbsr Bmm
■Safm Load at Center 3% Ton*.
Kinq Tftuaa Be/)M
S«fe Load at Center 9 Tons.
FIG. lI.—COMPARATIVE TYPES AND LOADS
FOB WOODEN BEAMS.
tnany of our highways at the present
time. Such bridges are a menace to
>ur traveling public and are expensive
to maintain. The price of timber Is
advancing, and the increasing traffic
demands safer bridges and culverts.
Re-enforced concrete for this class of
work appears to form the best solu
tion of this problem. Bridge construc
tion is eminently the work for the en
gineer, and his services should in all
cases be secured.
The Road Contract System.
There are three systems of road
maintenance in use In this country—
viz, the contract system, the labor tax,
or personal service system, and the
system which provides men perma
nently employed to look after particu
lar sections of road. The contract sys
tem haw been used to some extent In
various states, but It has never been
found entirely satisfactory. As a gen
eral rule, the amount paid for this
work is small, and such poor service
Is rendered that in many cases the
roads have become worse rather than
better.»