THE REPUBLICAN

July 29, 1881

 

MANY REQUESTS FOR BETTER ROADS.

 

A Road Drag Designed by D. Ward King of Maitland Mo.,

   Directions For its Use.

 

 

(R.F.D. News)

            For the good of the cause and at the request of hundreds of carriers, we reprint the directions for making the road drag designed by D. Ward King of Maitland, Mo.  Mr. King deserves the thanks and encomiums of all dwellers on the dirt roads of the country for his discovery and the generosity with which he places it without money and without price in the hands of any who will take the trouble to use it.

THE PROBLEM.

            The problem given is the soft or dirt road. It is “worked” occasionally by being ploughed on each side and the loose dirt thrown up toward the middle making a more or less symmetrical oval sloping to the ditch on either side.  In good weather when the rains are not frequent or heavy the ruts will be cut down by the wagon traffic.  In rainy weather and in the spring and fall the ruts are full of water and the mud holes are worn into the surface and made deeper by every new wagon track.  The water that makes mud holes is held in by the bottom and sides of dryer earth or a frozen surface.  If the water can run off it will do so. The problem then is to make a smooth surface so that the water will run off.  Then of course there will be no mud hole.

THE SOLUTION.

            The solution is the King drag herewith illustrated.  (See original paper for photo).

            Any man or boy can make a drag in less than two hours.  Get a log, eight feet long and twelve inches in diameter. Split it in halves. Bore three two-inch holes in each half – one at each end, and one in the middle.  Join the halves, split sides forward, with good strong braces, about three feet long; wedge them in securely.

            If a log is not handy use a twelve-inch plank. Reinforce the backs with a 2 x 6.  A loose plank on which to ride is placed across the braces.

            Wrap one en of the chain around an end stake, carry it over the top of the slab, out to the double-trees, and then back to the other end of the slab where it should be fastened by poling an old bolt or spike through one of the links into a hole bored three or four inches from the end of the slab and about it center, up and down.

            Hitch up and drag – at an angle of forty-five degrees – and you will be surprised at the results.