The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1901-06-05
GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT.
Expressions From q Few Repre
sentative Brookhayenites.
All speak Highly Of What Has Been
Accomplished.

IRON New orleans Times Democrat. June l. 1
The first interviewed was Hon. w, F..
Parsons, general manager of the Par
sons Moreton-Wentworth Mercantil g
Co., who, as president of the Lincoln
County Board of Supervisors, took the
lead four years ago in placing the
principal roads of Lincoln county un
der contract, who said:
"You can put me down as strong as
you please as an advocate good
public roads.
"f1ve years ago the Board of Super
visors levied one-mill tax and made
the communication for each road hand
s3 and contracted all the first class
roads. At the time the roads we're
contracted, persons living from ten to
fifteen miles from town had to spend
at least one night on the road. No
people living any distance came in town
and returned home the same day. be-
ing loaded both ways. 1t is no uncom-
mon thing now for lady to drive into
town a distance of fifteen to eighteen
miles, do her shopping and return
home the same day, doing her own
driving.
Under the old system of working
there was no uniformity about the
work. For one mile the overseer
would put his road in fine condition
on the LIST of January and the next
man would work his on the LIST of
March, and do but little then, perhaps.
So, you see, at least one half of the
entire road was in bad condition all
the time, and ladies and children could
not travel any distance alone, to say
nothing of broken down buggies and
wagons. Where it took twelve yoke of
oxen to pull five bales of cotton, now
two mules bring the five bales. One
man brought seven JOO-pound bales
eighteen miles with two large horses.
"The saving of time, broken wagons
and buggies, in my judgment, pay the
entire expense of working the roads,
to say nothing of the comfort of travel
ing. Persons living from six to ten
miles can come to town now, as they
do after dinner, do their trading and
return the same evening""
w. j. McGrath, secretary and treas.
urer of John McGrath & Sons depart
ment store: "Yes, have been a warm
advocate of improving the public high
ways of Lincoln county ever since the
subject began to be agitated. The pub
lie roads can't be made, too good, and
the only point to be guarded in bring
ing them up to the highest point of
excellence is not to try to do too much
at once and make the expense burden
some. The business of our firm has
greatly increased during the past few
years, which attribute quite as much
to the improved public roads leading
to Brookhaven from the utmost
bounds of the county as to our liberal
advertising policy. Printers ink and
good public roads, with the induce
ments such as we have to back them
up, make5a strong combination. The
improved roads are making it possible
for good customers to reach us from a
distance that we never had before,
while those nearer by come and go far
more easily, with an immense saving
of time and wear and tear to them
selves, their teams and vehicles. The
farmer or business man who is not in
favor of building and maintaining good
public roads doesn't understand what
is to his own interest.
Another resident here says: "My
business has led me to travel over near
ly all of the county of Lincoln for a pc
Rod of four years, consequently | have
had experience with all sorts of roads,
except good roads, until within the
past few years, when the county levied
one mill on all taxable property for
road purposes and let out the princi-
pal roads by contract. One may trav-
ell entirely across the four sides and
corners now, and it is quite comforta-
BILE driving, especially in dry weather,
though most of the work has been
done with two-horse plows and one
horse scraper. The best thing of all is
the removal of the old pine stumps
and roots, which never rot, and which
the average overseer under the old
system never molested. This makes
the other work comparatively easy.
Stump pulling has all been done in
an old primitive way-hard work by
hand. No invention has yet succeeded
the mattox and spade. The man who
invents an easy way of removing these
will prove public benefactor and
help along the good roads movement
immensely"
The Baptist Sunday School will en-
Joy a picnic at Parsons Park next
Friday.