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Show oo PLEDGE BIG ROAD FUND FOR AUTO Chicago, OcL 14. That the proposition propo-sition of the motoring public to contribute con-tribute 510,000,000 to a fund with which to buy material for the construction con-struction of "a national highway from coast to coast is not a "four flush" Is shown by the manner in which tho manufacturers of automobiles and automobile au-tomobile sundries are pledging themselves them-selves to pay over one-third of 1 per cent of their gross receipts for three years for this purpose. The latcBt to "come across" is tho Goodyear Tire & Rubber company of Akron, O , which has wired Carl Fi3her at Indianapolis In-dianapolis that it will pay over approximately ap-proximately $300,000 out of its receipts. re-ceipts. This is tho first big contribution outsido of the city of Indianapolis, where the movement was started by Carl Fisher and J. A.Allisou The llooslers pledged themselves for somothlug like $300,000. so It will be Eeen that already the fund has assumed as-sumed comfortable proportions and that the $10,000,000, Becms more a reality than it was a couple of weeks ago. "Briefly, the plan Is to create a fund by subscription from motor car and accessory manufacturers and dealers, each subscription to equal 1 per cent of one year's gross earnings of tho subscriber," says Mr. Fisher, in whose fertile brain the scheme originated. or-iginated. "These subscriptions will be divided into three or five annual payments, as decided by a national committee to be elected' later by the subscribers. The fund thuB pledged easily Bhould exceed ?10.000.000. "The assessments In signed agreements agree-ments are to be made pa3'able to trust companies to be hereafter selected, se-lected, which shall furnlBh a bond to the association for all moneys so collected. col-lected. Not a dollar of this money is to be spent until the entire subscription subscrip-tion of at least 510,000,000 is guaranteed guar-anteed If for any repson the plan should fall to accomplishment the money Is to be returned to its donor with 3 per cent interest added. "Still further revenue Is anticipated anticipat-ed from memberships issued to Individual In-dividual automobile owners a $5 membership, aS100 memmbershlp and a $1,000 merbershlp for which an oconn to ocean highway button will be issued. With the $1,000 membership member-ship fund it is planned to erect mile posts, guide boards, etc. It also is planned to have 12-Inch window med-. med-. als cast one of which will be. given 4o each dealer who contributes his 1 per cent to the fund. It is planned to have a IK the subscriptions signed and closed before January 1, 1913. Fund Subscribed. "The fund thus subscribed is to be used solely for the purchase of crushed rock and other necessary building material Tho Ocean to ' Ocean Highway association is to do no construction work, but will make contracts with the various states and counties throng; which the road runs to put our material on the road as per specifications prepared and given us by the United States government engineers en-gineers and inspected by United States engineers without chargo to us. In a few instances state co-operation In this construction is feasible; but In most instances It is advisable to deal directly with the counties "Tho fund of $10,000,000 will give us more than $5,000 per mile to spend on materials for this road. Some of the best rock roads in northern Indiana In-diana and northern Ohio, nine feet wide and twelve Inches thick of rock, with two inches of screenings, cost for material alone, $2,270 per mile. Labor to complete this. road rolJIng, sprinklingf. oiling, etc brings the total to-tal cost up to $1,100 per mile The contractor's profit usually is $S00 to j SI ,000 per mile. From this It will be seen that the cost of building material, ma-terial, such as we propose to buy, represents only from 30 to 50 per cent of the cost of the road, so that for our $10,000,000 cash we should receive a $25,000,000 road, running from coast to coast. "As to the selection of the exact route, this is to be loft entirely to the national committee, which Is to bo selected later Three good routes have been suggested, on any one of which there already are sections of good macadamized road a total of more than 1.000 miles which will need but slight improvement, as well as plenty of paved city streets, which will lessen the total mileage of the road to be built. No road building whatever would be necessarv In New York. New Jersey Colorado or California Cali-fornia It is hoped to have the transcontinental trans-continental road finished by May 1, 1915." |