The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1898-04-09

uuHlly AoVy uAO"u oos> VI A A0
fifteen cents, nor more than thirty
cents, on every one hundred dollars
of the value Of the property, real and
personal, assessed for taxes in the
county, the proceeds to be applied to
road improvements in said county"
Cost Of Bad Road Transportation.
Some very interesting observations
as to the cost Of bad roads to farmers
were made'in an address delivered to
the students of Union College, N. Y,
by Mr.. Francis V. Greene, President
Of the Barber Asphalt Company. AS
a thorough discussion of the expense
as we'll as the inconvenience of bad
highways is necessary to bring about
reform some of his remarks are here
reproduced:
I'm the older and more settled por'
tons of the country the railroads are
so numerous and the rates are so low
that they yield but small return on
the capital invested, and the construc'
ton Of new railroads has ceased to be
an attractive field for investment.
The rates Of freight have been steadily
reduced, year by year, until they are
now barely one-fourth of what they
were thirty years ago. Still the trans
portation problem can not be consid'
cred as satisfactorily solved fit costs as
much to carry ton of wheat or pota'
toes to the railway station as it does
to carry it 400 miles over the railroad.
"The bad condition Of the roads be-
gan to attract widespread attention
something over ten years ago. Certain
elementary principles were evident OF
o glance, to wit: the price OF farm
products is fixed at the great cities OF
centers of consumption and distribu'
ton, and is wholly beyond the farmers
!, control, and the cost Of transporta-
ton is principal factor in determin.
ing his profits or the possibility Of
4 any profit. On the railroads this has
, been reduced until it varies according
. to bulk, from one cent to six mills pei
. ton per mile. But the average roads
y are so bad that two-horse team an(
l. wagon, the value of which is So Pc
70 day, cannot haul ton of produce
!. more than ten miles and return in
u day. The cost of road transportation
y is. therefore, thirty cents per ton pc
10 mile. or about forty times as great a
~ the rate on the railroad. The average
Il distance from the farm to the neares
< railroad station is at least ten miles
" 80 that it costs as much to get tn
" y goods to or from the railroad static
10 ! as to carry them 400 miles on the cars
It only needs to state these elemen
T. ary facts to show what an enormoe
~ drain bad roads make on our r.
- sources.
VI 1T is evident that an improvement
1 le in these conditions is imperative, an
~ the remedy is equally evident, for
has been proved, not only by M
so SO chanical experiment butby actual ties
ol that the same force which draws OF
- - ton on muddy earth road will dra
d. four tons on q hard macadam rca
On the improved roads in New Jers'
loads of four to five tons are habit
-, ally drawn by a two-horse team. III
'of eff cts saving of fully three-fourt
~ of the cost of hauling to the static
1m and reduces the cost Of road tran
7re portation from thirty cents to sew
and one-half cents per ton per mi!
~. ~, What this saving amounts to may
'u' imagined when it is known that t
TO- New York Central railroad alone CT
Oh ries nearly 20,000,000 tons Of "
e en-, freight in year. II this is haul
lor only two miles by road to or from t
Asy station, and q saving Of twenty't
- and one-half cents per ton per m
so 50 could be effected, it would mean
Oh total saving Of nearly $9,o0o,o OF
'tcy These figures may seem exaggeratt'
; .n, but they will no longer appear so VII
1ol' we realize the saving actually
complished by the reduction in n
mn road rates in the last twenty-five yea
, , For instance, in 1859 the avert
1000 freight rate on the New York Cent
1000 Railroad was "a cents per ton
, nm mile; in 1898 it was seven mills. 1
saving, on the business of 1893 is
ward Of 100000. This is the
1910 suit which has been accomplished
1857 the application to the railroad pr
= 207 lem Of the highest available tale
1000 During these same twenty -dve ye
= - little or no attention has been give
s,So ~, the railroad problem. The roads
DOL as bad now as they were in 1869,
A. the cost of transportation over tt
as great now as it was then. In
next twenty-five years the results
TOAD complished on the common roads
yinia likely to be as remarkable as tt
It OF achieved on the railroads in the
tate, twenty-five years.
peni. Longest Name and Tall OF Any Hors
Laws tn tho nrasdan Museum there