The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-06-26
PREACHER ON GOOD ROADS

Life.
Rev. Victor 1. Masters, native of
Anderson County, delivered an ad-
dress recently before the Beech Island
Farmers Club, which is worthy of re-
production in our columns, and is as
follows:
A review of some of the most salient
points which have been fixed, showing
the surprising Importance of road i'm
proyement can never be out of place
in this country of ours, where we can
make no advance in our institutions
except as we educate tho voters up to
seeing the need of such advance.
1t is not generally known that early
in the last century the national gov
ernment for quite period took an i'll
terest III and constructed public high
WAYS, John G.. Calhoun was a cham
MON for the cause. The most endur-
no tangible fruit of the agitation was
a snlendidly constructed road from the
Atlantic soaboard across the Alle-
ybomes through Ohio, Indiana ana
illinois, to the Mississippi. This road
ia stil IN existence, and has done its
share as an object lesson in favor of
better roads.
With tho advent Of railroads and
contcmporaneous financial panic, gov
ernmcntal road Improvement went to
the wall, against which 1t has nestled
siuce, until recently. Vastly import
ant to the country's welfare as is the
condition of the public highways,
never a word was spoken in a Presi-
dents message until some years ago,
Mr.. Mckinley III four lines called at
tention to the fact that the Secretary
of Agriculture was cooperating with
citizens of the republic in every Sec
ton, looking TO the bettcrment of the
highways.
TO the efforts of Secretary Wilson,
20 the growing use of the bicycle, and
of the automobile, and to a natural,
but slow growth of interest on the
part of the general public may be as
crlbcd the present improved state of
the public mind.
GREAT COST OF HAULING.
There is gradually transpirlng a
greater intelligence as to the value of
good roads. Government experiments
show that in the South the average
cost of hauling ton a mile is 25 cents,
that the average length Of haul to
market is twelve and one-half miles,
therefore it costs the Southern farmer
OF the average S3.l to haul ton of
stuff. Not content with this result, l
have questioned tanners who have
figured out practically y the same cost
per mile. Now, if farmer hauls
twelve tons Of stun to each horse
worked on the farm, and runs say
five horse farm, his hauling for the
year will cost slS7, a much larger sum
than he is likely to suspect.
Government calculations, based on
census reports, reveal the astounding
fact that the hauling connected with
farming operations costs one-fOurth
the home value of the produce raised
on the farm
AN AposTWorIIE TO SANDY ROADS.
The value of good roads receives
new light from the statement of au-
thcnticated traction tests. On asphalt
it takes q force of only seventeen
pounds TO move a ton; on macada-
mized, 100 pounds; on hard clay, 112
pounds; on ordinary dirt, 224 pounds;
while on sand it takes 448 pounds | Of
all possible roads sand roads are the
worst. Not even the mOrass of rcd
mud which racks the nerves and kills
the stock of the up-country South Car
olna waYfarer, for three months in
mldwlnter, is worse than all-the-year-
round Aiken sand | Moreover there
Is something to stimulate heroism in
tackllng an up-country hill, or an up
country road full of mudhOles. There
10 an attractive novelty in the sheer
uncertainty as to whether the next
slough of mud and water will COM
petely engulf you, and there is stun
ulatlng uncertainty as to just how hard
1t will be to surmOunt that thirty
live per cent. grade on the next hill.
But the dead-level, mountainous, de-
bilitating, unrelenting, always hard
grind of sand bed is unwholesome
tor mans feelings, killing to his stock
and paralyzng to his purse. A sand
bed to me represents despair. 1t
never changes, it is always there. 1t
always demands tax of four hundred
per cent. of surplus energy needed for
something else. 1t is the climax of
encouragement to a traveller and of
Notwithstanding expenses to q far
mer.
LONG HAUL ON BAD ROADS MEANS
POVERTY.
l. said loose sand was the worst pos
siole road and offered stats tics TO
snow that it is four times as hard to
draw load over sand as over hard
clay. However, there is one
thing worse than q sand bed, it is a
sand hill. Experiments show that it
lakes something more than six times
the power to draw a load up O five and
one,half per cent. grade on any sort Of !
road than it takes to draw the sama
ioad on level roads. Now If it ia four
unnes as hard to draw load on ,cvel
'";my p";umoy roads as on level hard CLAW II
~ WI Jake twenty-four times the mower
20 araw load up sand hin of f;va
taIa Vne,nalt per cent. that it wumld
lake 10 draw the same load On 10Y