St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-10-18
GUIDE BOARDS.
What n Recent Traveller Through Yer
mont Says About Their Absence.

" - z z
mont Says About Their Absence.
Correspondence Rutland Herald.
When | passed through Rutland re-
Gently, while taking with my wife a
vacation drive of ten days through
southern Vermont, l called your atten-
ton to the lack of guide boards in
many Of the towns, and the Herald re-
marked upon the matter. Upon fur
tIIer reflection it has occurred to me
that possibly the existing law which
requires towns to maintain guide
boards might advantageOusly be "a
mended by more definite provisions as
to the way in which the penalty for
neglect be imposed. The great diff
Guilty is that the permanent residents
4 of a town do not feel the need of guide
boards and are not likely to move
against delinquent officials, while
who drive through the town
and suffer from this delinquency can
not afford the time to institute pro-
ceedings in the matter and indeed
would not know how to proceed if they
could afford the time. What seems to
be needed is the provision of some
simple method for inflicting a proper
penalty upon negligent authorities-Or
the spreading of the knowledge that
such a method now exists if the present
dead-letter statute contains such a pro-
vision. More than once during my re-
cent trip | was sc indignant at the de-
lay and Inconvenience caused by the
absence of guide boards that | would
have taken the trouble to write a state
ment of the case and send it to the
proper prosecuting authority if | had
known what sort of a statement would
meet the requirements of the law and
where to send it.
To one who observes how many peO-
pie are adopting the agreeable custom
of spending a vacation in driving
through upper New England, and who
knows that their number may be ma
~terially increased by the maintenance
of good roads (which the Herald has so
earnestly ~advOcated) and by the keep
ing-up of guide boards, it is a mystery
that so few towns attend to this latter
matter. My experience in several trips
has been that the town which has good
guide boards is, almost without excep-
ton, an enterprising and attractive
town, where the traveller is inclined
to linger. One such town occurs to nj
at this mOment-WoodstOck, the ap-
prOaches to which, in sharp contrast
with some of its neighbors, contain an
abundance of well-marked guide boards
in excellent condition.
1t is important, by the way, that the
guide boards should not only indicate
to what town a road leads, but also the
distance. The Massachusetts Legisla-
ture not long ago passed a law on this
subject which has had the effect OF
stirring up delinquent towns, but ]
found in CharlemOnt the Selectmen
had omitted to add to the name of the
town the number of miles to it, which
it is often as important for the traveller
to know as the direction.
/ am glad to say that the Herald's
preaching on the subject of good roads
appears to be bearing fruit. In driving
nearly $50 miles up the state on the
east side and down on the west, | fOunC
the roads as a rule in good condition
except one over the mountains west
from ~Sherburne and east from Ben
ningtOn, and in going into Rutland
after reaching the base of Killingtor
by the excellent rOad which Mr.. Meyer
hotter maintains up that beautiful
mountain. May l be permitted to ado
that Rutland dOes not seem to the
stranger properly appreciative of THU
noble feature of its surrounding
scenery I The beauty and extent o.
the view from the summit, now tina
access has been made so easy, ought t.
attract crowds every pleasant day dur
ing the season. EDWARD P. CLARK.
New York, Sept. 81, 1888.