The Oskaloosa herald., 1906-01-25

"~tiomeetcad" ot Ica Muinea, and
well known throughout the state Of.
Iowa, AMI who owns a fine home on.
the line Of the Des Molnes a Colfax.
lnterurban Electric Line, were thought
20 be ex~trayagant BY n number OF.
the people OF the city and by some
OF u farmer friends.
Knowing that the reporter had
made n conservative statement OF Mfr.
Atkinson's enthusiasm over the In
terurban az an advantage 10 the
farm and the farmer, the Herald
wrote TO MIR. Atkinson for q state.
ment from his own pen, and bere ls
the result.
1T IL not a dinicult matter to find
men who will freely give you an on.
hand opinion on the subject OF cleo
trio railways for rural districts, re-
gardless of the fact whether they
have had any actual experience with
these lines or not. theoretically, |
believe It appeals TO every man to be
an exceedingly good thing that cleo
trio cars should be run from one
town 20 another, stopping whenever
hailed to take on AID let Off passen-
gers, and in addition, to carry such
express and freight rs Is produced or
brought into the rural districts.
Practically, they are proving them
selves TO be even more beneficial to
localities In which they r located
than could possibly have been pre-
dlcted by the moot ex%trayagant the
orist.
"As my farm joins an electric line
nine miles from It's main terminal
point, my opinion regarding the value
Of such railways to a community has
the merit Of being based ON actual
experience. find that one OF the
immediate results Of the location OF
an interurban railway Is the appreci.
alton in the value OF the land. In
the case Of my own farm, the for
mer owner by holding II two years
realized an advance OF s25 per acre,
this being largely due TO the loca-
ton Of an i%nterurban right OF way
after his purchase. In turn an add.
tional advance OF $40 per acre has
been offered for this same land.
Another farm In this locality was
purchased twelve ears ago at ap.
proxlmately $50 per acre. About one
month ago the owner was offered
5000 per acre cash.
"The question arises, why Is IL
that electric lines tend 30 rapidly to
increase the value OF land, to which
the answer may be made: ~ That
markets are made more easily acces.
sible with farm produce OF all kinds;
CD the problem of gaining access to
church, school etc. n solved In the
best possible way, thus making loca.
ton along electric lines so inviting
as TO bring land into greater de-
mand; (3) II induces a considerable
number Of persons TO move out from
towns and cities to- engage In mar
ket gardening, dairylng, or poultry
raising, which, Of course, has q mark,
cd effect on values; "a In the mat.
ter OF shipping produce. which In.
cludes grain OF all kinds and live
stock, the interurbans solve a most
dificult problem. Switches and yards
are located at points most convent
ent for farmers. Right here | may
say that there is a switch at my own
gate, from which Is loaded such pro.
duce as potatoes, baled hay, baled
straw; and also live stock. Within
three weeks time ! Will ship q car
load OF fat hogs right from my gate
to Chicago. This will a v making
seven or eight six.mile wagon trips
loaded with hogs. Last fall ! ship
ped In two car loads OF tile and haul
cd these from the cars 10 the field
In two days. Had these been hauled
from the kiln II would have required
one team and one man about a month
TO do the work. MN feeds OF vari'
Gus kinds are constantly being ship
ped In and farmers are saved an Inn
mense amount Of hauling, both In
| shipping out and shipping In, and ev.
cry farmer knows that railway rates
are cheaper than wagon road rates.
Il am told that there are instances
where men Will oppose to the bitter
end the giving up Of a piece OF land
fer right OF way for these lines. That
such opposition should be experience
ed Is dificult for me 10 understand.
Natural conditions Tor electric lines
are not any too favorable In Iowa,
owing TO the fact that Towa's popu.
lation only amounts to about 200 per-
sons per square mile. In parts OF
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois the popu.
latIon Is many times this, and con-
sequently the possibility OF q brisk
business when once an electric line
is established Is much better. Be.
cause of this, capital has been just q
little backward 80 FAR In seeking In.
vestment in such ventures as interur.
bans, and therefore men al afford
TO be liberal In their treatment Nof
this whole proposition. My own at
titudo toward the question would be
simply this: IL I owned a quarter,
half or whole section OF land would
consider 1t an excellent business ven
ture TO give the right Of way free
through any part Of my farm, and