Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-06-02
STRAIGHT ROADS.
Their IncAlculablc Advantage to Tar.
rant County.
Opposition from the Very Men Who Will
be Most Benefited,

be Most Benefited,
The present commissioners court,
and county judge of Tarrant county
will be gratefully remembered by the
common pos.erity of the county, when
these officials shall have lived their
allotted term of life and passed into
honored graves. Possibly their names
may fade into oblivion, but their work
will live when the prairies of Tarrant
county have been transformed into
the gardens of thickly settled popu-
latiol.
In organizing and carrying through
the system Of public roads, which
gives direct airline route to the me-
trOpolis of the county to the inhab-
itants of every section of the county,
these men are the benefact0rs of thou
sands yet unborn who will at some
future time occupy the fertile lands of
the county, whose guardians the pres
ent commissioners have been, and
whose value they have 40 much in
creased by their wise provision in the
way of public roads.
A good system of roads Is to the
country what finely paved streets are
to city; the value of the lands ia
increased and the homes of the farm
ers made more attractive when good
straight roads lead from them to the
nearest market Tor the farm produce.
Straight roads will reduce distances,
thereby saving time and money to the
farmers in their trips to market; be-
sides the expense of keeping the pub
lie roads in good repair will be cur
tailed in proportion to the dis.
lance saved by having straight in
in the place of crooked roads.
AS an illustration of how these
straight roads will benefit the farmers
of Tarrant county, take the newly
surveyed
ROAD TO GRAPEVINE
The distance between Fort Wort n
and that place was formerly twenty
eight and half miles, but by the new
survey made by the commission of five
men appointed by the commissioners
court Tor this purpose, the distance has
been reduced to nineteen miles.
The distance to Birdville from Fort
Worth was formerly eight miles, but
the new survey reduces it to five miles.
To Mansfield it was twenty.one
miles, now it is sixteen miles.
Thus in a combined distance of fifty-
seven and half miles there is saw
Ing of seventeen and half miles by
making straight roads, and this Is
about the ratio of the saving of dis
tances in the entire county by the re-
cent surveys.
A farmer coming to this city from
Grapevine will save nineteen miles on
each round-trip after the new road is
completed and with loaded team,
which travels about three miles an
hour, he will save over six hours of
Time, besides the extra wear and tear
on team and wagon, travelling nine
teen miles.
From Birdville he will save six miles
and two hours OF time in each trip,
and from Mansfield, ten miles and
over three hours of time. 1t is easy to
see how every farmer living at dis
lance from the market he frequently
visit, will be benefited by good
straight road.
Farmers are frequently called upon
to make quick trips to the city by an
accidental breakage ofmachinery upon
the farm, and with broken reaper w.
ing idle in the ripe grain
TINE Is MONEY TO THEM.
The saving of two or three hours at
period like this is worth more than the
amount of an entire years road tax.
Nearly all the farmers in this county
transact their financial business
through the banks, and few hours
time Is often valuable to them when
they have banking obligations to meet.
In fact the advantages of straight roads
to an agricultural country are go
numerous that it is impossible to
enumerate them in a short newspaper
article. Society, as well as commerce,
Is benefited by them, and the only
wonder about them is that they
often receive the antagonism Of
the very men they most help.
The commission who make the sur
veys, above alluded to, have met with
opposition in quarters where they had
expected support, but they have never
swerved from the air lines for the
roads or their duty.
Their work has so far been well exc
C lted, an the result is that TarrAnt
county will soon have the best system
OF public roads OF any county in the
state.
These roads will add many thousand
uoiiars 10 the value OF real estate in
the county and bring many people
here to helm populate the prairies.
1t is possible that in rare instances
the owners of farms will be damaged
out the commissioners court stands
ready To deal justly with these men.
me farmers should think over these
things and remember that the common
good OF the whole county is the thing
to be promoted, and should lend a helm.
} ing hand to the commission i'm IL here.
ficial Int mt hanlyf nl dntiaa