OCR Text |
Show . . - H y 7 HE flint or ilia again has 7"" struck flro, and hope la burn- "p I Ing In th hearts of ovary MlMourlan, bacauc. tho p- 11 H slblllty that the stat will b ( I j the hub for a groat system lVj f mlUUlT htehwar ho MU ""li began to Uk on actuality, gf ! thanks tc the War Departmant A glgantle tem of permanent hard road. ST constructed for the pcaafble transportation o( R havy military transport!. Is now oonaldared an k laIIpna"ble part of Amrfoa.'s great prepared rtas acheme plan of aw5h magnitude that i It voulo bave been scoffed ml as a dream only ' a few years aeo, Tut this proposed road system has a dual 6b- joct Whllo It Is considered a nccoeaity from a military point of view, a no smallor consld cratloi Is tho effect It will have on the food -upply or tho country. Such a system la urged by all departments of the government, on the grounds of economic joccsalty, because, in goneral, America's net work of roada now present a pitiful pictur. o' a farmer lashing a sweating horse through tii. A V IssssM ' J cCSEAT T Lt. . . .lV Jc - 1 ' cFV X I ssssH S SJV - ' (T S. tvy-! S rtJ$FJAr 1 HssssH &KtS i V '' A XT AO T ao lfe - ' secretary' J ( 7 NAe ' v vl '- sl j 'M' I STATE HIGHVAY C V & f ' V' "- kJ I' Kl' . i'omS "" ' " T 1 1 1 mrrrT I I Sm HARD SURFACED POAD I rnlro of hub-dcop pumbo, taking- hla products H to market R Exporth'who havo mado a study of tho road R DlcuaMon claim thnt tho economic uasto caused f by tho delay and Increased cost of getting farm pronuce to markets Is too groat to longor bo endured If tho Unltod States Is to llvo up to its slogan of preparedness and that can only be lived up to by cfllclcncy. Tho fact that tho United States Government 1j putting Its hand to tho slowly revolving wheel of road building will hasten tho work that Is moving In tho .various statos. It will mean quicker and bettor roads, at a much lower cost per mllo. Tho best engineers In tho country coun-try will dlroct tho work, and Undo Sam v!I! seo t It that he gets u dollar's worth of rond for every dollar Invested. To bu suro, each eta to will participate In the e":rMisc probably following the samo line I of stato and national aid a& Is now being followed fol-lowed Ir Missouri, Illinois and other states. By this plan tho state puts up an equal amount with aii county, limited, of course, to so much por year per county, and the National Government Govern-ment tten "matches dollars" with tho stato, putting up an amount equal to the slate's total good reads funds. In this way tho origin il amount raised by the county Is multiplied four times. Bu: tho work probably wl'n be done under tho dhectlon of tho federal engineers. a great deal of money Is often wasted In tho stUoc through downright Ignorance It often happens that tho country picks a man ,jk btciise of politic?, regardless of his road fU knowIcc"go Tho result Is nearly always a poor-S poor-S ly built road at an unbcllovnblo oxpenac. Them arc records where roads havo cost as i much as $20,000 a mile. h While tho proposed national system of mlll- fib tary reads Is not yet a certainty, lt Is consld- K erally more than a possibility. I " Subject of Expert Study. B Our Undo Sam generally finishes what he B starts, and ho has taken hold of this plan In B rc&l oai.icst. B To every stato In tho Union either tho War B Dojmrlmont or the Agricultural Department, iS! xvorkUo? hand In hand on tho plan, has sent a S representative. Thoso representatives hav ffl studied tho situation In the particular states B to which they wero signed, learning where tho B centers of supply Is located, -what tho road g conditions are from theso food supply centers to H the market. B Earh wua Instructed to pay especial atten- Ej tlon to tho mineral resources, whether devel- R. oped or undeveloped, and to learn what facill- ff) ties ar offered for their roachlng a market. lj3P L This was tho food conservation end of It I which It perhaps after all moro Important than tho military feature, for we havo discovered that lack of food Is Just as deadly as bullots. But tho military feature of tho pormanent toad question Is not to bo laughed down. Military experts say that without a system of hard roads tho most wonderful in tho coan-try coan-try Germany would by now havo lost tho war. Theso roads, as perfectly built ns lt la possible for a road to be, and kept in perfect condition, permitted tho quick transportation of Its military mil-itary equipment; it mado easy tho transportation transporta-tion of supplies and munitions by auto truck. Railway congestion would havo mado lt Impossible Im-possible to havo moved these vast supplies by rail alono. It Is Germany's unsurpassed system of roads that has been ono of tho big factors In making her v hat she Is. And America has had to leftm this lesson. America docs not expect to over bo Invaded, but tho past four years show us that no country coun-try Is secure that anything may happen. It Is the preparation for things, we know not what, that Is going on now. Tlngland especially has spent tho past four years In learning tho truth of the old maxim about locking tho barn door after tho horse la stolen. Hoad to Iead Fields. America, doos not propose to bo caught In tho samo predicament. Wo arc not putting a chip on our shoulder, wo aro not expecting any troublo after this war Is over but, won, wo will bo ready for what cornea. It Is probable that tho system of coast-to-coast hlghwaya aa outlined by tho various good roads associations In tho country will bo gon-orally gon-orally followed by tho government when lt gets ready to put Its plan of military roads Into a concroto program. Two great coast-to-coast highways will pass through Missouri, ono through St. Louis and on to Kansas City, and tho other from Hannibal west through the northorn part of tho state to St. Joseph. Both of theso proposed "trunk lines" of national na-tional military roads havo a great many branches leading off to other ccntors, connecting connect-ing all Important points to tho north and south, Missouri, more than any other state, is tho center of this system, and St. L)uls, moro than any other city. Leading south from SL Louis Is a proponed road to the groat Mlusourl-Arkansas-Kansas-Oklahoma lend belt. This great body of oro will, In all probability, mako lt a conter of much Importance Im-portance In any military preparedness scheme. For, as ovcry one knows, It takes lead to make bullots. Thoso who look ahead can seo that this means tho Middlo -West as a great munitions center, S ? - I MaJMBBM(SSMCBSsaBiaasssBlBsassasaaeissaMaaawswasswesassssssssw ft Good Roads in W'ar Time ji ;; rOli. GEOEGE LE R. IRWIN, post commander at Jefferson Barracks, ; Mo., told the writer that such a plan as is being mapped out by the I i; Federal Government for militar' roads is necessary to America's widi ;j scheme of preparedness. t ) ji "When asked what part he considered good roads has played to what- !; ever successes Germany had in the earlj- part of the war, Col. Irwin said : jl "There is no question that Germany would have been whipped long s ! ago if it had not been for her system of good roads. Germany, of course, !; is much differently situated than is the United States; her territory is ; smaller and her population denser. s j; "But if a realty great test should come to America she would find her- I J; self most seriously handicapped without an adequate system of highways." utilizing Its near-by supplies In wondortul factories. fac-tories. Another road leads through Springfield, Mo., and on southwest to Texas and other Southwestern South-western states, and then branching up to California Cali-fornia and tho coast. A further reason why St Louis Is an Important Im-portant center in this great government highway high-way schemo for military preparedness and conservation con-servation of food and other national resources Is river transportation. America today knows what a railroad short-ago short-ago means. It Is ono of tho factors which forcod higher coal prices all winter, which Is making that dreadful old ogro, H. C. L.. reach a moro astounding .height overy day. St Louis is tho great city of tho Mississippi Vnlloy. And river traffic lu being revived Just as surely as Fulton built a stoamboat. To the government this is a big part In tho preparedness prepared-ness schemo. Tho details of tho government plan for military mil-itary roads aro yet in tho making. It will bo Bomo tlmo before wo know what they are. It will bo a good many years beforo tho system will be a physical reality oven after lt is planned out on paper and tho plan given tho federal seal of approval. It Is possible, howovor, that somothlng llko tho German plan will bo followed. It la known. In part, ns "tho patrol system." Tcnnessco and Massachusetts aro now using it Tho German highways aro solf-supportlng. Fruit trees aro planted along tho roads and tho "rond tenders" are also caretakers for tho trees. Do mischievous small boys over yield to the temptation to pluck the fruit from tho government gov-ernment trees? Do they? As well 03k If small boys ever mako faces at the kaiser! When tho fruit Is rlpo lt Is auctioned oft to tho highest blddor. Ono-thlrd of this goes to the mon in front of whoso land tho trees aro planted and two-thirds goes to tho government's govern-ment's gcod roads fund. In this way tho maln-tnnnr maln-tnnnr nt jhn road Is cared for automatically Upkeep of Boads. In tho upkeep of tho roads tho patrol system, now being adopted In some of tho American states, Ip followed. One man la given a cor-tnin cor-tnin section of road to caro for. Ho has road-making road-making utensils and a cart. Ho patrols his section a certain number of hours a day with unfalllnt regularity. Tncro ore no bad places In German road:i because little wuBhea and little depressions aro repaired beforo they become serious. It Is tho old maxim of "a stitch In tlmo saves nine." The two states In this country that havo adopted this system havo found that they aro nblo to havo much bettor roads at a much emallor cipenso, . g4MmjQflBSSMiBM&JU Tho United States War Department has mado a lcqueet to tho Missouri Stato Highway Department De-partment for Information concerning tho location loca-tion and condition of all roads in the stato. In answer to tho request a map is being prepared showlnc, tho most dlicct and practical highways lcadlns from llvo stock, poultry, fruit, tlmbor, mining and other producing centers of th stato to river and railroad transportation lines, according to A. C. McKibbin, recently appointed appoint-ed chairman of tho Missouri Stato Highway Board. Tho map will show tho present condition and contemplated changes and Improvements in tho roads, and tho bridges and culverts that will have to bo strengthened. Also grades and other physical facts will bo chartered. This work Is under tho direction of State Highway Engineer Graham. Improvement in Missouri. An important fcaturo of tho map will bo tho location of towns and communities which market mar-ket food products in largo quantities. This will servo to holp establish a more ecnomlcal system of food conservation. "Tho new Ilawes road law, which gives assent as-sent to Federal aid, provides for tho construction construc-tion of not less than 3500 miles of 'Stato roads.' ' Bays Mr. McKibbin. "The building cost of thoso roads' will bo paid out of federal, state and county district funds, on a 'match dollar' basis. Tho stato matches dollars with tho Federal Govcmmont and tho counties or dlstrlctn do tho .name by the Stato Department. "Congress appropriated 585,000,000 to aid In tho construction of public roads, J10.000.000 of tho sum being sot aaldo for tho construction of forcht highways and ?76,000,000 being apportioned appor-tioned to states nccordlng to tholr aroa, population popu-lation and mlloage of rural routos. Under this apportionment, Missouri will rccolvo J2,C16,-806.15 J2,C16,-806.15 within tho next four years. "United States Engineer J. C. "Wonders of Omaha, Neb., hns boon attained by tho Department De-partment of Public Itoads and Rural Engineering Engineer-ing to work with tho Missouri Highway Department Depart-ment In making preparations to oxpend tho federal fed-eral and stato funds In tho construction of public roads In this otato. Wonders gavo out tho Information that there will bo J509.161.23 of federal funds avallablo for road construction In Missouri on July 1, 1917. Thoro is now moro than $600,000 In tho Missouri state road fund, arising from automobile registration fees, tho solo of option stamps and fees charged for tho registration of corporations. Tho actual work of construction will bo begun ns soon as pro, llmlnary arrangements are completed." Statistical Information relative to Missouri roads was brought to light by Harry B. Hawes, author of tho new Missouri rond law, who said: "In tho matter-of mlloaso of. rural public HARD GOING SifiSslSfc ItSf &MfV ON.DlRTI?OAD '"'Nin '' ' ' 1 1 ' I ' H roads, Missouri Is foundto havo 96,124 miles, and is only oxcoeded by Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Okla-homa, Texas and South Dakota, making1 Missouri Mis-souri rank sixth. "Missouri's percontago of surfaced roads Is only S.3 per cent, and exceeeded by Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois., Illi-nois., Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mnlno, Maryland. North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Penn-sylvania, Rhodo Island, Tonnossco, Texas, Vermont, Ver-mont, Virginia, "Washington, Wisconsin, Massachusetts. Massa-chusetts. Michigan, Now Hampshire, New Jersey Jer-sey and Now York, making Missouri rank twenty-eighth. "Up to and Including tho year 1915 Missouri has spent a total of Jl, 700,000 out of stato lunda for her roads. California has spent JlC.000.-000; JlC.000.-000; Connecticut, $17,000,000; Maine, $6,000,000; Maryland. $17,000,000; Massachusetts. $19,000,-000; $19,000,-000; Michigan. $3,000,000, Minnesota, $4,000,000; New Hampshire, $3,000,000; New Jersey, $8,000,-000; $8,000,-000; New York, $96,000,000; Ohio. $8,000,000; Pennsylvania, $30,000,000, Rhodo Island, $4,000,-000; $4,000,-000; Vermont. $3,000,000; Washington, $S,000,-000, $S,000,-000, and Wisconsin, $4,000,000. "This mnkes Mlasourl rank seventeenth In cxpondlturo of the stato revenue for road building. build-ing. "In total oxpendlturo of monoy spent on roads, Missouri ranks thirteenth, but only seventeenth sev-enteenth In amount of money Bpent out of tho stato funds. It must bo constantly bomo In mind In theso comparisons that Missouri la tho seventh stato In tho Union In population." Secretary Edwards of tho Automobilo Club of St. Louis says tho automobilo ownors of tho country havo dono their missionary road work, and woll, but that tho movement for good roads ha3 passed their stage of activity. "Tho road problem Is ono that thl3 notion seemn to havo overlooked in the last fifty years, and the seriousness of which Is only now being' realized. "Back In tho pioneer days, when sottlera In the West wero fow and there wero no railroads, tho pcoplo built good roads becauso they could not exlBt without thorn. "Tho Indians, French and Canadian sottlcrn at first had no uso for roads of any nature, oa tho bulk of their traveling was dono by water. wa-ter. But when the pioneers of other nationalities nationali-ties bcrni. pushing their way into tho outskirts of what was then civilization thoy did it by the uso of horses and wagons, and therefore had to havo roads. "Thoo-j early settlors, to get tholr produce to markot and to make their necessary purchases pur-chases had to drive hundreds of miles, and thoj poor saw tho advantages of roads that would mako travol easier and swifter, "It la nn old saying that "necessity of Interchanging In-terchanging produce will fix tho locations of highways and account for their upkeep, no mattor what sentiment and historical precedence prece-dence may dcpaandA taat-KUl-ffiako-lH-couns try up out of tho old lethargy and insure a b'S- H tern of good, hard and substantial roadwaje. H Good Boads Follow Trade. "To provo this ono needs only to consider llH the roads throughout Missouri and tho country ' over ar' soo where the best roads aro to b4 lH found; whoro tho roads are that can bo trav- H cled ovor tho year around and not only In the 'H good seasons. Theso will not be found In tho iH most thickly populated communities or where H a network of railroads aro used as the chief H access to tho country. Tho answor to this is H that the farmers In tho thinly populated sec- H tlons of tho stato havo to rely, as of old, on H tho uso of wagons to get their productions to H markot In such cases thoy cannot afford to H have bad roads, with innumerable washouts H and ditches to hampor their traveling. H "Tho automobilo Is a great advertiser for H good roads, and a good publicity agent for tho H roads after thoy aro established, but now again H the rural folk have awakened to tho fact that H the roeds aro first for tholr bonellt, and reallzo H what thoy will gain by such a system as pro- H poBcd for national highways, Such mon can bo H relied to work with all tholr energy for tho ful- B Ailment of such a project H "Some pcoplo wondor why, If good roads H are such an advantage to tho farmors, this H country has gone so long without having a H substantial, economical and sensible system of M roads. Tho answer to that Is that every great H movement must be prccoded by some wave of m H sontlment olther necessity, enthusiasm or pa- " H trlotlsm, to start tho ball rolling. Tho prccs- H dent of this present movement Is tho European H war, brought nearer home by tho declaration H that a state of war with Germany exists. Now H we may look forward to tho doing of what w H should havo been dono a half century ago. J M "The farmors cannot bo blamed ono partial I M for tholr seeming neglect of something of M vital iniportonco to them, without the soma H amount of blamo being dealt out to the citlos, ., M olther largo or small Tho merchants, both P H wholesale and retail, should havo had their I' M shoulders to tho whool many years ago, cstab- o llnhlng a good means of transportation for thoso M who furnish thorn produco to run tholr business M with. Y lthout tho furmors tho cities would M not bo posslblo." D M From tho point of vlow of tho city dealers, M no matter what goods thoy may handle, road H improvement In farming communities is to bo ' H doslrcd. It requires no great argument to P M provo that a farmer whoso land Huh along a r' M good mad Is tho most substantial of all traders. M With good roads, the farmer is no longer a ' prospective customer, but a certain buyer. ' M When tho roads to trade centers nro very M wretche. the farmer Is prone to consider ubo- iit M )ceb a trip to town for things that may aot b L H |