The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-24
AMERICANS LEAD
 THE OLD WORLD Is the Opinion of Congressman
 Oscar Underwood OBSERVATIONS IN EUROPE The Alabamlan Is Convinced That American Manufacturers Are Ahead But Something Can
 Be Learned.


 just returned from trip to Europe thoroughly imbued with the idea that America leads the world in all that is best for the citizen of a great republic and that American institutions are super for to any the Old World can boast of. From his observations in the leading countries of Europe MT. Underwood finds that in the great industrial centers, wherever superior excellence of work manship Is shown, right there is to be found the stamp of the American manu facturer upon the labor-saving machinery. In only two respects does MT. Under wood admit that Europeans are ahead of the people of the United States, and that is the matter of the development of water transportation and country roads. Every waterway of any consequence whatever is fully utilized in all parts of Europe and the magniflcence of the roads everywhere are the admiration of all Americans who are only too familiar with the conditions that prevail throughout the United States.
 Splendid Roads.
 Tt was a matter of continual astonish-
 
 did country roads in every country through which we travelled" said MT. Underwood last night. Tn all parts of Italy, Austria, Germany, France and England. and even in the Alps and the rugged Austrian Tyrol the roads are monuments of skillful engineering and represent an enormous cost, but this cost Is amply repaid to the people in furnish ing them with a means of transportation for their products from farm to mar ket, which puts the American roads to shame in comparison.
 There is a marked difference between water transportation in Europe and America, and the methods prevailing in the Old World might well be copied by our transportation experts with great general benefit. 1 noticed these facts par ticularly in Austria and Germany, where the rivers are filled with craft of all kinds and where an immense amount of freight is handled The bulk of this freight is not carried by the small hat-bottomed and slow speed steamboats, such as we have on our rivers, but is loaded upon barges and several at a time lowed by a high speed steam tug which travels more than twice as fast as our river steamers.
 Railway Travel.
 In the matter of railway travel the European countries have many points of excellence. They are fast adopting Amer ican ideas in the makeup of their pas senger trains and the express trains have corridors like ours, but the compart- oIo still prevails on all the local trains. On short trip the passenger must get into the compartment and be locked in until the next station Is reached, where he is liberated by the guard. l must avow, however. that the management of the railways is thoroughly satisfactory to the public for where the railways are not owned by the governments they are under strict government control
 T hope that I shall be able to impress upon the people of Alabama the impor- tance of water, transportation and the necessity of still greater effort in build ing and maintaining good roads, for our farmers are greatly hampered in market ing their products by the bad highways over which they must travel, and I know that If many of them saw the wagons and teams of the European countries with loads three or four times as large as are hauled here they would not stop in their efforts until they had equally as good roads.
 Water transportation in Alabama can be wonderfully developed, and we are just now on the eve of a new era in this work. l want to see this state take front rank in industrial and commercial de- velopment and when water transporta- ton becomes a factor in handling the traffic of the state then the producer will reap the benefit"
 Soil Survey.
 Congressman Underwood said that he had Just received letter from the chief of bureau of soils of the department of agriculture at Washington relative to the soil survey of Bibb county, which he has been arranging to have done, and that the matter would receive the earliest at- tention of the department.
 The letter Is as follows:
 Washington D. G. June IS, 1907 Hon. Oscar w. Underwood, Birmingham: Dear Sir-In reply to your recent com munication renewing your request for 8 SOll survey Ol 0iDD COuHly, l WOulQ say that a party will be sent to Blob county as early as the men are available in the fall of 1907 to undertake the survey of the county. It is impossible to state at the present time as to what particular men can be assigned for this work, but l shall endeavor to assign men who are thoroughly competent to make a first class soil survey and men who are al- ready familiar with the agricultural meth ods and agricultural conditions of that section of your state. It Is probable that the party will be ready to report at the county seat of Bibb county about the middle of October, or at least by the 1st of November. 1907. They will remain in Bibb county from that time until the survey of the soils of the entire county has been completed, and they will prepare a map which will show not only every stream and road with every town and set clement, but even individual houses throughout the county. Upon this base map they will represent by different col ors the different kinds of soils which are found in Bibb county. They will pre- pare report upon these soils which will show the different crops which each Is