The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1892-05-12
Relative Bearing on Each
Other.
An ExccllentAr Article from
n Road journal.

In the planning and construction
of a new railroad, that location is
generally sought which is deemed
most likely to contribute to its
trade and to this end its
alignment is carried as far as possible !
populous centres and through
those regions where the natural
are such as to invite an
increased population and the devel-
opment of agriculture and traffic. In
many cases, where the surrounding |
country is of substantially uniform
it is not uncommon to
reckon that the carrying trade of the
will receive it's contributions
from strip of territory of say three,
five or ten miles in width, as the case
may be, and located upon either side
of the railroad line. Beyond the
limit of this width it has been
generally assumed that the difficulties
of land travel, the cost of hauling
produce over the ordinary wagon
roads of the country and the usual
handicaps imposed upon this kind Of
traffic by the uncertain conditions of
the weather, during long seasons of
the year, will bar the farmer and the
tradesman from establishing regular
connection with the railroad market,
and compel them to establish a more
limited market in the smaller inland
towns. The experienced railroad
protector seldom goes astray in his
calculations, and in these particulars
the history of the American railroad
has verified his view. If you travel
along the route Of any of the great
trunk lines belonging to the American
railroad system, you will find that
that the local freight business,
immense as it may appear in the
aggregate, is very reliable barometer
in the determination of the rural
weather and most exact indication
of the condition of the country roads.
If you will stop off for day in the
market town of any farming district
through which one of these railroads
may happen to pass, you may learl
from the local freight agent, not onl,
that the farm produce delivered BY
the farmers at his station is haule(
from territory limited by the radius
of few miles, but that for weeks a
time in the rainy seasons of tn
year the delivery of this produce i
practically stopped, and that during
such seasons nothing but the very re
finement of financial extremity Cal
! induce farmer to attempt tn
, journey from his home to the railwa
station. Three things result: first tn
territory which contributes to tn
q carrying trade of the railroad at eacl
r one of these hundreds of countr
a towns is extremely limited, owing T.
the miserable quality and uncertai
condition of the country roads
secondly, even this limited territor
y becomes dead and passive factor
e it's relations to the railrood trafn
r whenever the rains of fall and sprin
q make these roads impossible; an
thirdly, the depressed condition c
1 trade which, in every country towr
e is brought about by the successio
II of farm traffic during these seasons
1t reacts, in some measure, upon tt
railroad and upon the condition of i
local business. The object lesso
which these facts instill into IL
le mind of the local freight agent migl
is we'll be impressed upon the attentio
of the railroad manager. In I'll
same way that rivulets and brool
'e carry their contents to the swellir
ID tide of the great river, so the commC
;, wagon roads of the country are Il
IN lines of traffic which contribute the
,s loads to swell the freighting busine
!. of the great railroads.
- That these highways should
10 improved and developed: that thu
0. should be constructed and repair
te under a thoroughly competent syste
ii and by competent persons is off gres
er Importance to the people than tn
; seem to commonly understand.
j. In still another respect-an u
of mistakable one--is the developme
I'd of good roads of Importance to t
= railroads with which they connet
We refer now to the increase of trad
'n population, and wealth among t
town communities which are fortuna
enough to secure an Improvement
~ the suburban roads by which tn
hs are Immediately surrounded. IN
tional Highways.