The Republican journal., 1892-04-07

The above illustrations and accompany
ing descriptions are from The Gospel OF
Good Roads A Letter to the American
Farmer by Isaac B. Potter, published by
the League of American Wheelmen. UNI
der direction of its National Committee
on Improvement of the Highways In his
letter to the farmer Mr. Potter says of
the first illustration:
You will agree with me that your roads
are bad. You may not know that they
are the very worst in the world; but you
have never seen or heard of worse ones
nor. alas, perhaps of better. on live ON
the main road in an important county.
saw you one day last spring trying to
drive your best horse through the pasty
depths of that mysterious streak of pub
lie territory, and while the patient beast
was pulling the harness in two, in his eff
forts to lift you and your scant load on to
the little bridge near the MILL your pho
tograph was taken, and | have had it cop
led on page of this pamphlet.
1t is an honest picture-as honest as the
sun; let us sit down together and look at
it. You will notice that your face is
turned the other way, and l promise not
to tell anybody who you are: for | feel
that the day is soon coming when every
American farmer will look upon that pic
ture with some regret. and | have no de-
sire to humiliate IA friend: besides, it is
not your fault alone that this road is bad.
nor is it this road alone that presents a
sea of slush and slime throughout each
rainy season.
There were 10000 farm horses in YOUR
county ON the day when this photograph
was taken, and for about four weeks all
the county roads had been in just this
condition. Teaming was out of the gues-
ton; to haul load to town was impos-
slble, and the 10, 900 farm horses stood in
their stalls ''eating their heads Off At
what cost to the farmers? Assume that
the cost OF keeping each horse is twenty
tive cents per day, including labor, food,
and all other items and in half minute
we compute that it costs $500 per day.
ST, 800 per week and exactly $50, 900 for
the four weeks that these horses have
been standing practically idle. A bad
road, you see, is an expensive thing.
1t is expensive not alone to the farmers
of your county, but to the farmers of the
entire country. The average rainfall in
the United States is something over 40
i1ChOo pei yCd1r lC OllC 1Odu dDSOIDS
these 40 odd inches of water, freezes and
thaws, dries, pulverizes, changes from
paste to powder and back again from
powder to paste, and for weeks at a time
is practically impossible. Farm traffic is
tied up. You have produce to sell, pur-
chases to make, grain to grind, timber to
haul, bills to collect and obligations to
meet, but all these must wait because
YOUR only avenue of travel is takinp IFS
annual soak. A dozen times day you
look out of your barn door with the hope
of seeing some struggling vagrant of
whom you can inquire, Glow is the
road?''
And of the second illustration MI Pot
ter says:
Here is another picture, showing one
of the roads of Brittany. Did you ever
see a road like that? 1t is made to last
for all time, and is kept in repair at half
the cost and labor expended on the aver
age dirt road of this country. 1t is looked
after with the same system and care that