Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-04-28
VALUE OF GOOD ROADS
How They Increase Horne Tfa5e In the Bad Weather Season.
ADVICE FROM A NEW DRUMMER
He Tells the Local Merchant Why Business Is Dull During the Winter and Sprins-Farmers' Wives Buy Through the Mail.


 and sprns-Farmers' Wives Buy Through the Mail.
 The new drummer entered the office of the Grand Central hotel with scowl on his face and several smother ed imprecations just inside his lips. He had the appearance of q man who wanted to use extremely hot language, but the sight of the Methodist church just across the way and the Baptist church down the street restrained him In other words, he was swearing mad. He was really an old drummer, though new to this particular town. This was the first time he had made the place. The drummer had come in overland from the county seat, twenty miles away, in q spring wagon hired from the livery stable. His two sample trunks were in the back part of the wagon They were splashed with mud. There was mud even on the seat cush- ion, and the drummer's clothes were yellow with mud. The drivers ap- parel was simply caked with It, but he did not appear to mind a little thing like that He was used to 1t. The horses also were caked with mud, and the wheels of the vehicle carried sev- eral pounds each of the yellow sticki- ness. ses.,.ss=e5 az0 tF's -.--.'s- ''...--
 Well. neyer,." calculated the drum mer as he wiped the mud from his fingers before taking up the pen to reg ister his name This is the worst l ever struck. Why don't you folks You've got plenty of material right at hand. There's rock enough along the roadside to make the finest roads in the land if you would only put it where 1t will do the most good
 "Oh, we don't worry" said the hotel clerk, marking room No. g opposite the new guests name. "Weve put up with muddy roads from the beginning and got along fairly well, and I reckon we can continue to navigate
 "Navigaton - that's tie row, all right" said the drummer You ought to hire boats instead of wagons in this section. Why. some of the places we came through today would float sklf"
 The local newspaper editor was standing by the desk. He smiled grimly.
 eve been preaching good roads to the people of this neighbOrhood for years" he said, but they don't seem to take to the idea. They are pretty good people, too, but they've formed the habit of putting up with mud in the muddy season and don't kick much. They say their fathers were content to drive through the mud when necessary or stay at home till the roads dried out, and they think they ought to be content to do the same.'
 "Huhr' the drummer grunted. flows business here in the winter and spring:'
 Mighty poor" replied the dry goods merchant-smighty poor, for fact. People out in the country don't seem to do any trading except in summer
 When the roads are good" contin- ued the drummer. Il thought as much that is, they don't do much trading with you here in town. But country people are always buying something somewhere when times are as good as they are now. That you may put down as a fact Where do they buy from"
 "Wcll. certainly not from me" said the merchant.
 "Of course not, because the women can't get into town. It's the women who do most of the buying. You know that. The farmers wives come to town only once a month or so during the winter, owing to your miserable roads. They do buy things, though, and I can give you a little tip They buy them by mail. They read these large and luscious catalogues sent to them by the big city mail order firms. and they order through the catalogues Did it ever occur 10 you that if you had decent roads you would get d much larger winter trade from the country? No? We'll, think it over. have just been reading some figures The state of Iowa, for instance, has 2,290, 900 population. It has 1O0,43O miles of public roads-what they call roads-but only 15O miles are of mac adam and passable every month in the year. What do you think of that? Then take Missouri That state, ac- cording to these figures, has more than 100000 people, with 9O,OOO miles of public roads. It has only about thou sand miles of well built highways. Illinois Is still worse off for good roads Most of the states line up just about the same. What can you expect?"
 Its a new idea" said the merchant meekly, "and I'm going to think it over and talk it over with some of the other town people. We've been think Ing our editor here is a good roads frank, but I'm inclined to the opinion POW that he has more common sense than the rest of us"
 BURR JOYCE.