The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1909-08-31
4 MATTER or GOOD ROADS.

A MATTER UT WV nOHES
The economic value of good roads
i; only now beginning to be generally
,ecoscized. Fad roads have never
heon satisfactory. but have been en-
dured. and aside from being looked
mon as incOnvenient and disagree
able for travelling, have been tolerated
without a thought to their burden
some cost. But it is different now.
The thorough discussion and expert
ments made have demonstrated that
bad roads lay a tax upon the stock.
vehicles and movement of crops to
market far in excess of what good
roads cost, and as a result the cam
paign for building GOOD roads is going
forward over all parts of the country.
And in this movement for building
good roads the tendency is to begin
by constructing permanent roads,
shell or macadam roads over the
principal roads radiating from the
parish or County seat. The branch
or side roads meantime, while of dirt,
are to be maintained in good travel
condition, the ultimate object, how
ever, being to ~macadamizs every pub
lie road. This, of course, entails a
big cost, but it has been shown that
1t comes back to the people in the
greater convenience and actual saw
ing by the reduction in cost of haul
ing and economy in wear and tear
on animals and vehicles. In other
words, instead of money being con-
+. sumed in wastefulness in the hand
ling Of farm products and deteriora-
ton and destruction Of the strength
and usefulness of stock and vehicles,
the same money is put into perman-
ent roads that, besides their economic
value. add to the convenience of
travel and transportation, bring the
farm practically to town by short
ening the time of driving, and make
all farm property much o desir-
able and valuable.
AS an illustration of what good
roads really can mean, in a certain
Indiana county, WI are informed that
every road In the county is macadam-
lied, that is paved with rock, just as
substantial as the paved streets of a
city, and they are promptly and eff
~fectively kept in repair so that not a
hole is allowed to form anywhere on
any road. Each road has a name and
the name is posted all along the road;
at road crossings the names of each
road are marked. just as the streets
Of a city. The farms are all desig-
entad and the houses numbered. An
official map and directory of the
county is published, and thus it is
possible without trouble or inconven-
fence to visit any farm or farmer in
the county. Rural free delivery and
telephones make the county one large
and comfortable neighborhood, and
farm life is as agreeable and attract
i've as It should be.
Whether all the conditions above
enumerated ara present in the county
referred to or not, at any rate
it presents the Possibilities Of country
life and illustrates row residents of
the farm may have all the pleasures
Of living in the country while enjoy
ing modern conveniences and the
practical advantages of the town be-
cause of their easy access to it.
The great convenience of trolley
lines is debarred the greater part of
our rural population owing to the
cost Of construction, but with the
completion of macadam roads, permit
ting the successful use of autonO-
biles, specially constructed cars to
carry twenty to fifty passengers IAN
be put into use profitably and a prac-
teal street or rather road car service
will be inaugurated. and then every
part of the county and the town will
be in reach and the isolation Of the
farm be a thing of the past.
Matchmaking the ROADS Of Latay-
cite Parish and attaining the deslr-
able and mCsc attractive condition of
the Indiana county mentioned may
Seem, and probably will seem, at pres
ent anyway. out of the question and
beyond u accomplishment because
Of the great cost, and yet why not
possible?
MaSadam roads are expensive tc
build. but n built require but little