OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROAD INQUIRIES. 315 



The work of the Illinois Central and Southern Railway good roads 

 trains was also so successful that the management of the Great North- 

 ern Railway Company has decided to cooperate with this Office in the 

 operation of a similar expedition over its lines from St. Paul, Minn., 

 to the Pacific coast. The train will be organized in Chicago, leaving 

 there over the Burlington route the last week in August, and iDroceed to 

 St. Paul, where sample roads will be built, and a State good roads 

 convention will be held September 1-6, 1902, in connection with 

 the Minnesota State Fair. Continuing West, the train will stop at 

 the leading cities along the Great Northern, repeating the building of 

 sample roads and the holding of conventions. The Pacific coast will 

 probablj^ be reached about the first of November. Mr. R. W. Rich- 

 ardson, who had charge of the Illinois Central and the Southern Rail- 

 way good roads trains for the National Good Roads Association, has 

 been appointed special agent of this Office, and he, in conjunction 

 with James W. Abbott, special agent of this Office for the Rocky 

 Mountain and Pacific Coast division, will accompany the Great North- 

 ern train, and I shall give personal direction to its operations. 



This expedition of the Great Northern Railway Company, coupled 

 with similar work done by the Illinois Central and Southern Railway 

 companies, indicates a desire on the part of the great railroad compa- 

 nies of the country to do all in their power to aid the Government in 

 cheapening the cost of wagon transportation on the common roads. 



RECOMMENDATIONS AND ESTIMATES FOR 1903-1904. 



The value of this Office as a central good roads propaganda is now 

 fully recognized by all persons interested or engaged in road work. 

 Scientific and practical road building necessitates not only the con- 

 sideration of local conditions, such as climate and soil, rainfall and 

 drainage, but also a study of available materials adjacent to the roads 

 in all sections. To transport materials a great distance adds so much 

 to the cost as to render roads scientifically constructed of foreign 

 materials impracticable. Competent road builders should discover 

 and test the available materials and show lij^ practical object lessons 

 how the most good can be made of them witli the least possible 

 expenditure of money and labor. The best materials are not always 

 discovered, and thousands of dollars are Avasted in this country 

 annually by the use of poor materials where a little expert studj^ and 

 advice would have developed good materials close at hand. The best 

 methods of using these materials are oftentimes unknown, and money 

 is wasted in their improper application. All these things require 

 scientific study and investigation. The people of the country are 

 now interested in this matter as never before, and they are demand- 

 ing and are sorely in need of authentic information along these lines. 

 Furthermore, the General Government can perform certain duties per- 

 taining to scientific road improvement better than any other agency. 

 Scientific facts ascertained at one time by the General Government 

 will serve for the enlightenment of the people of all the States, and 

 with no more cost than would be required for each separate State to 

 make the investigation and ascertain the facts for itself. Heretofore 

 the limited appropriations for this Office have not been sufficient for 

 carrying on object-lesson or experimental work in more than one place 

 at the same time. During the current year it is proposed to conduct 

 such work in three or four places simultaneously. But at the present 

 rate of progress it will take many years to extend the benefits of this 



