TAR FOR ROADWAYS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 45, 4 February 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

TAR FOR ROADWAYS.

There is a suspicion in not a few minds that the tarred road is prejudicial to health. Tar gives off, it is asserted, especially under the influence of the warm rays of the sun, peculiar empyreumatic substances which irritate the respiratory tract at some point or another. We are not (says “The Lancet”) disposed to accept that any really serious cases based upon this theory have arisen. If they have, the slight mischief can. have been only transitory since very soon the tar forms with the dust of the road a firm surface in which, apparently, the tar constituents are permanently fixed. There seems to bo. some reason for thinking that there is a kind of chemical affinity between the ordinary material of the roads and tar, for after a few months the two seem to be set in a way recalling the hardening of asphalte, the granite stones can then be loosened only with some difficulty and the dust is bound. It may be conceded that the proce.-s of tarring the load gives rise to inconvenience, and here and there it may cause irritation to the nasal passages and throat, but as soon as the surface mass has set we are confident that ho complaint on grounds of prejudice to health can be fairly levelled against the innovation. On the other hand, there can be little question that the matured, firm combination of tar, stone®, and dust is being widely appreciated, wherever the method has been adopted. The only objection wo have heard of is that the firm tarred road is objectionable to horses, which show signs of fatigue very much sooner on the hardeneed surface than on the ordinary road, the material of which, of course, yields to some extent to foot pressure. We can appreciate this objection, but possibly a remedv for this could be found in a modified form of shoe for the horse. The motor will not so rapidly displace the horse that a palliative of the kind suggested needs no serious consideration. On general sanitary grounds the tarred road, when efficiently done, has everything in its favour. It presents a surface practically proof against the soakage and accumulation of offensive matters; it is washed clean by the rain, and surface drainage into the gutters and gu’lies is more effective provided the surface is even. These are very important consideration®, having regard to the pathogenic possibilities of road dumpings. While, there-’ fore, the primary object of the tarredroad was the prevention of. the dust nuisance, the process has Improved the conditions of our highways in other im- , portant sanitary directions. Lastly, the * method is preserving the surfaces, it ' keers the binding material, the dust' to the road and prevents its reduction to a laver of grit glistening with sharp, flinty particles, which often tempted the eyelist to sav ugly things of the motor. The cyclist is rapidly apnre- - elating the tarred road; he finds in it a. smooth, practically frictionless, surface to run over, and the chances of a puncture are considerably reduced.