Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-11-30

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! At last the prize winners in The Jour
nal-Herald good roads competition along
the national highway from New York to
Atlanta are ready for publication.
Messrs. A. L. Westgard, of New York;
j. H. Pratt, of Chapel Hill, N. c., and
Charles H. Hoyt, of Washington, D. c.,
the three very competent gentlemen who
consented to act as judges in that com
petition, have performed their duties well
and thoroughly. They have been content
with no hasty judgment. They have boil
ed their thoughts down and distilled an
essence from the voiuminous notes they
took during ten days upon more than a
thousand miles Of highway. Since the
conclusion of the tour m Atlanta on No
vember 8, those three judges have not
been idle. The report which they have
now signed, and which is published here
with simultaneously with it's publication
In the New York Herald, is a document
that represents much thought and that
will just begin its effectiveness with its
publication.
Forty-one counties in nine states of the
union are traversed by the highway; and
the claims of each of those Al counties to
participation in the prize money have
been carefully weighed. Four thousand
dollars in prize money was turned over
to the judges, to distribute where they
thought 1t should go. Their awards are
unquestionably the most competent that
could be made
FEATURES OF REPORT.
The judges state the bases upon which
they considered their decisions, in the re-
port.
Al.
commentator" they say, land some
has been noted that is entitled to re-
ceive strong condemnation sufficient to
stop it's further continuance"
They exclude toll roads from any con-
sideration in the contest the spirit of
which-they holds to encourage the
building of public roads primarily. They
take up the national highway in detail.
They criticise here; they condemn there;
they praise this, and offer that sugges-
ton.
They commend the state of New Jer-
sey as the first to lend state aid to the
construction. of public roads, and also
for it's leading position in bituminous road
construction. They commend the Lancas-
ter pike into Gettysburg, Pa, for it's re-
markable alignment. They praise Jeffer-
son county, w. Va, for offering free
roads of macadam, Notwithstanding that
there are toll roads on either side of It,
They throw a harpoon into the Shenan-
doah Valley Turnpike company for it's
crude methods Of maintenance-pouring
loose rock on the road, and letting traffic
pay to pack it down. What can we
say of such a system of road building?"
they ask. "It is a relic OF past times
barbarous, inhuman, wasteful." They
consider 1t cruelty to the animals that
L. a. H.
estimated, unoficially not long ago, that
the good roads tour left several hundred
dollars worth of tire rubber on the sharp
loose stones along the pike.
IN SOUTHERN DIVISION.
They praise the spirit OF Franklin coun-
ty, Va, which in spite of the fact that
1t has more miles of mountain road than
any other county, had yet done a great
deal to improve the way for the tourists.
Guilford county N. c., easily leads in
the competition in The Journal division,
they say. They discuss the roads of that
county, praise them, commend them to
the emulation OF other counties. The best
roads of Mecklenburg county were not
shown along the highway, unfortunately,
say the judges, but there was ample evil
dence that the county is going to make it's
portion of the highway its best road.
Bessemer City township, n. c., gets the
banner for doing more than it's share of
work to improve the highway by locating
an entirely new road around the crown
of a mountain instead of over it.
Build your dirt roads wide, with an eye
to later improvement" counsel the
judges, commenting upon the Spartan
burg county roads, and pointing to Gull
ford county as a demonstration of the
methods value.
roads ara roa Sfad fO f,,rv,
The judges do not hesitate to speak their
judgment plainly upon those roads.
Passing into the state OF Georgia"
they say, 1.-The lack of improvement upon
the public roads was almost Immediately
noticeable, and only one county in the
state (along the highway, OF course) was
noted to have made any Improvement |
worthy of mention" Here and there In