The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1889-02-01

Times Democrat,
The Southern papers are again cali
ing the attention OF the States and
counties to the generally bad con-
dinon of roads in this section and
urging that some improvement be
made in them, By the construction
of our railroads we have greatly i'm.
proved the means and reduced the
cost Of transportation during the last
few years, but our bad roads have
almost offset this improvement and
act as a burden and tax on all trade
aud commerce. 1t has been shown
that the cost of carrying bale of cot
ton from the plantation to the railroad
station is frequently as high as from
the station to Europe. Our bad roads
entail upon farmers and merchants a
tax tenfold as high as the cost of
keeping up good ones.
In Georgia aud Kentucky there
have been loud demands of late for
the improvement of the highways, and
the agitation has spread to other
portions of the South.
The League of American Wheel
men has just issued a very interesting
pamphlet on the subject, showing the
cost of bad roads, and calling atten-
tton to the experiments recently made
by Prof, J. W. Sanborn, of the Mis-.
sOuTi Agricultural college, which show
that on moist dirt road a force equal
to 4S9 pounds was necessary to move
a load of 1906 pounds, or 81 per
cent, more than was needed TO move
the same load on a gravel road having
grade of one foot in twenty.eight.
On level gravel road, the force
needed was only one.fourth as much
as on the dirt, and on plank floor
but one-seventh as much power was
required as was needed in moving the
load over the dirt road. This made
no allowance for energy WASTED by
the horse in pulling his feet from the
mud and in lifting them over the little
elevations always before them on a
muddy road.
Taking a gravel road, costing say
$2,O80 per mile, running on each
alternate section line, the cost to the
sections adjoining, in the way of utter
est, will be 1875 cents per acre. Cannot
our farmers afford to pay this much
for the sake of having hard, smooth
roads every day in the year from their
doors to the market town. How
many loads must each haul TO save
enough IN the time and wear of men,
horses harness aud wagons to equal
the interest, assuming that fair days
work should average fifteen miles Of
hauling and be worth So per load of
whatever welghtY
The subject is really not open to
argument. Everyone recognizes The
benefits and economy of good roads,
but their cost has hitherto stood in the
way, Here, of all parts of the Union,
they are most needed, and could be
most easily constructed The land
being level, will require none of the
cuts and grading as in the West, and
gravel can be obtained easily aud at
small cost. As for the dirt roads our
winter rains and the sticky condition
of the Glayey soil make them "terrors,"
indeed, during our rains, rendering
hauling impossible at certain seasons
of the year, and expensive at all times.
We know of no matter that can be
agitated to greater advantage than
that of good roads. 1t is well enough
to build more railroads to transport
our products but they will yield but
portion of the benefit they ought to
unless they are supplemented by roads
extending through all portions of the
the South. The South, which Is at,
tempting so many great undertakings,
should attack this serious problem
the construction of better highways.