Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-10-18
Better Roads Now The Cry.

uSustd county ICauS, mas JuSU ut"
rived from Ohio and will be 10 OPP
GRAFTON to- morrow. The roller was
purchased through w A Crawford
Of this city. and is the best on the
market. 1t is the noted Kelley
Springfield steam roller and was
built in Springfield. y. It is a
double cylinder machine and cost
the county $780, Mr.. Harris,
representing the Kelley Company,
is in the city and will attend to
putting the machinery together
and getting it into proper working
order.
There is now no doubt about the
work on the Churchville pike be.
ing completed. The county au
thorities have lately invested in
about S., 900 worth Of machinery
for road building. and thes propose
to push the work to satisfactory
completion. A road sprinkler and
number Of steam drills have also
been purchased through Mr.. Craw.
ford and the board intends to have
the road between Stanton and
Churchville macadamized at all
hazards. Nearly three miles of
the Highway have been completed
and this represents about half the
cost of the entire road. as great
deal Of time and money was con-
sumed in cutting the road down at
two-mile hill. For several miles
out the road has been graded and
prepared for matchmaking.
There are two petitions from
Middle River and North River pow
before the board, in which the citi-
zens ask for like service in their
districts. They want the two
principal roads leading into Staun-
ton to be macadamized as soon as
the Churchville pike is finished.
The board is UNANIMOUSLY in favor
of retaining the convicts and ma
cadamizing the two roads in ques-
ton in Middle and North River
districts.
There seems to be a general de-
mand for better roads, and their
improvement means practically as
much to the city as to the county.
AS the farmers trip to town is
made much easier and less expen-
sive it is natural to assume that
their visits to the city will be more
frequent than heretofore and more
business will be transacted 10
Stanton. It is hoped that the
time will come when all the prin-
cipal highways leading into the
city will be we'll graded and thor
oughly macadamized.--Old Domin-
ion Sun, Oct. 10.
While other counties are forging
ahead in the matter Of road i'm
provement, the adoption Of modern
methods and heavy expenditures
with view to permanency, High
land should, to say the least, be
watching for results and making
figures.
That our system is a makeshift,
wasteful and unsatisfactory has
been pointed out before and re-
quires no argument to convince
the public. The method Of shovel.
ing sand and mud from bitches to
roadbed, to be washed back by
rains and again shoveled, is DOOM
ed, but just how long it will be un-
til the modern" wave hits High
land depends, in large measure,
upon her authorities and private
citizens. Of course we are not rea
dy to entertain such propositions
now. People have to be educated
along this line, and, while no one
hopes to revolutionize the system
i'll a hurry, the conviction that
sooner or later it will be forced up
on us, should lead us to watch care
fully these road-improvement
schemes all about US.
With reference to our main !
highway, at least, the problrm may
be nearer solution than one would |
admit without serious reflection.
The congested state of traffic, |
freight and passenger. cannot be
attributed to exposition year"-it
is growing and will continue to
grow. 1t is emphasized by the
presence Of powerful traction en-
gines hauling 100 tons at load,
and by crowded and over-burdened
ck.lines east and west.
The solution may be deferred
until conditions actually demand
it, but the problem will have to be
solved. Every step should be care
fully taken and taken in the right
direction. In the matter Of road
if we can't do big
things we can try to do the little
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