Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1891-06-29
ROADS AND BURGLARS.
with some Incidental R'slnarlks
40 to Ashevilles

with some AmGa0emeaA MSnm&Fke
40 to Ashevilles
Prom Bill Nve's letter. ....
Allow me to digress for a moment
while / speak Of the wagon road Of
North Carolina. The SYSTEM has been a
bad one for some years, especially In the
western part Of the state. For that rea-
son the roads have been practically i'm
passibIe good deal Of the year. The
Asheville and Hendersonville road, for
Instance. is kept now in the same repair
that the road is from Zanzibar to Lake
Victoria Nyanza. 1t was formerly toll
road, and thought the tolls were used
mostly for personal expenses by the
owners Of the road, the bill was always
made out for those who desired to ride
over the route. speak thus plainly Of
those roads hoping that it may result in
great good to those who live thereon.
At present the road above referred to
is simply an III kempt trail, along which
are strewn the wrecks Of busted vehicles
and the bones of people whose necks have
been dislocated In trying to ride over
them, and who have been left alone to
die. Though public road Of great I'M
portance. very few people drive over IL
unless under the influence Of hquor.
There are places on this road where
mountain springs soak up through the
roadbed, and have done so for centuries,
while the roadmaster has been waiting
for them to dry out. The result is that a
stoneboat 10 the only vehicle which will
safely make the trip. Hitch 2.ycar-old
III ifer with clay bank mule, and then on
the lead put a Lavender jackass. and il
you are careful driver you may take
your children to Ashevillc, but il not you
will surely be short two or three on the
way home. Lots ofNorth Carolina fam
lilies have only eleven or twelve children
left out Of possible twenty, owing to
the condition of the roads. This reckless
outlay Of children, it seems to me, Il
nothing else, should teach 10 to improve
our roads.
Ashcville has made an appropriation
recentlv Of $625, 900, most all of which
willg0 for the improvement other streets
Thisis better than a like amount laid out
in fence-Doard advertising. Now let the
issue in the county be bully roads 70,
Buncombe county, and let the party
who opposes the Improvement correct
the bad gransmar and poor punctuation
in its dying speech, and do it aoon, too
was saying the other day that after
Il pretty general knowledge Of NORTH
Carolina for Eve or six years ] was as
tonished to notice that there had beer
no burglarics within my observation
This is remarkable, especially to me, fo'
have lived where burglary was moi
uncommon. and where l have suffered
myself, having lost silver-plate buttel
dish in that way eight years ago, also
what butter we had in the house at that
time, it being concealed in the butter
dish. also shot a burglar, eleven year.
ago, who was breaking into my resi-
dcnce, but he had only 60 cents on hiI
person at the time, and even that th'
coroner took away from me on the fol
lowing day. The burglar has it all hi
own way at the North, but here in Nortl
Carolina. where the mosquito never live
and the politician never dies, burglary il
capital offense. All burglars over four
teen years Of age are executed. Thi
tends to turn the attention Of brigh
young burglars toward politics.