The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-13
THE MOTOR VS. HORSE ROAD
By FREDERIC J. NASH.

or dirt streaks, as we call them, of the lesser width, and the grass on either side IS not impaired, proving that as far as mere width is concerned that width is sufficient for the largest auto travel. Since December 20 1904, I have been contestant for a road nine feet in width with turnouts ever yone-eighth of a mile, which would operate as the block signal section does on the railroad without it's expense, as the honk of the machine could be heard from one turnout to the cther thus keeping each machine advised that the section ahead of 1t was clear be- fore 1t should enter it. This turnout, as any ra4.road man will tell you, would double the capacity of this road. This road would cost different prices in differ ent localities, of course, as every other road does, but it's normal cost in the av craze locality would be s12,o0O per mile. This is the narrow Nash road, with it's elastic base, a road which cannot be broken down by any weight which can bo transported over it, and which will last over 40 years. According to the New York Times, March 21 1908, the dirt, gravel and macadam roads of that state cost over $10,000 per mile. This road in any locality where there is so tons of freight and 30 passengers daily between two points, if horse road rates are continued to be paid for two years, will pay for it's entire cost in that time. Any child over years old can figure out this problem at which we are all apparently baked. In ] the one case you have a so-called road l which Is never competent and large an- nual bill of repairs; in the other case you have a competent road from the first no l repair bills at first, very moderate ones l always, and after the first two years, and l the road has paid for itself a reduction of nine -tenths in the cost of all your high way transportation with an addition in l value of at least S10 per acre to every acre i of ground this highway runs through. One differentiation has always been accepted and worked on since we became goV- ernment md commenced to make im- provements. We needed more ships, more railroads, more navigable waterways and lately the development of our water pow ers and the reclamation of our arid lands, now at least and imminently the produc- ton anu laying down of the motor road
 So far as any of these things have beer | done at all they have been done in the order of their necessity that differentia' ton has neen accepted and worked upon 1 But .4lere is another differentiation; we | cannot have any improvements except SC far as our people work and earn tho
 money to get them with, or else borrow T from some one else (Europe) who has it
 This new differ entiation, then, which eX
 ists in this one form of the highway, anc does not either exist in any of the horse
 forms of the highway, the only kind ol
 highway aow in existence, consists In oul ability to hand back the money in twe
 years to those from whom we got IL
 while the highway which 1t built remains
 This can now be done in those loca
 tions in our country where the requisite
 amount of freight and passenger traff1'
 above mentioned exists, and there ar'
 many of them.
 This feature in our industrial histor,
 has now just arrived.