42 Miasuiiri A(/rlciill iiral h'tpmi. 



latuje for maiutainiug the office for the biennial pwriock have proven 

 insufficient to meet the routine work of the office. For this reason many 

 of the things planned and mentioned in my former reports have never 

 been carried out. One was to make a systematical study and test of road 

 materials of the State, the first step toward which was the installation 

 of testing machinery. Tiie cost of one-half of this machinery, estab- 

 lished in conjunction with the engineering school of the University two 

 years ago, Avould have been lost to my present four-years term had not 

 the University Engineering Experiment Station come to the rescue. 

 During the past few months the Engineering Station has paid the ex- 

 pense for collecting samples of hard road material from the several coun- 

 ties of the State. These samples will now be tested and the results issued 

 by the engineering school in bulletin form. 



It was necessary toward the close of the last biennial period for 

 localities desiring our services to pay the necessary traveling expenses. 

 These have been paid upon twenty-nine trips, some of which were paid 

 from the institute funds for road lectures at farmers' institutes, while 

 twTnty-six otlier localities requested our assistance but did without it 

 rather than pay our necessary traA^eling expenses. No bulletin matter 

 was sent to press during the past nine months ; the services of a stenog- 

 rapher were dispensed with on August ]st, and my deputy quit several 

 days earlier than he otherwise would in order to cut down the running 

 expenses of the office. These precautions were not effected quite 

 soon enough, however, and the ledger balances on the wrong side, the 

 deficiency for the biennial period being about two hundred dollars. 



Engineers' Association — At the instigation of the State Engineer, 

 the county engineers have formed a Highway Engineers' Association of 

 the State, the object and purpose lieing the exchange of ideas relativ<' 

 to securing uniformity of metliods, the establishment of closer relations 

 and the advancement of knowledge pertaining to road building and 

 maintenance among the county highway engineers. 



Overseers' Schools — I have given all aid possible to the road over- 

 seers' schools of instructions, and I am convinced that the law requiring 

 that all overseers of a county be called together for instructions at the 

 county seat by the county engineer, at least once a yeai-, is one of th-f 

 l)est features of our road laws. 



Effecl Upon Schools. — Further efforts of tlic office have been to de- 

 termine the effect of bad roads upon public school attendance and to 

 locate and map the old State and Government roads in the State, and 

 to collect the history and other data relative to them. Almost every 

 large and important town or city of the State is upon one or more of 



