The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-07-13
STRONG ARGUMENT PRESENTED BY LEONARD TUFTS
FOR THE CAPITAL TO CAPITAL ROUTE FOR HIGHWAY
North Carolina Man Says That Good Road Can be BuiltMore
Cheaply Through His Section Than Elsewhere-Many
Fine Hotels are Ready Along Proposed Route to Care for
Tourists Other Reasons.

In N south than H. Leonard Tufts,
the president of the Capital Highways
association and the proprietor of the
Pinehurst, N. c.. winter resort, in
Moor county which is proverbially
known as the poorest county in North
Carolina, his l%iberality, initiative and
progressive example have resulted in
giving that section many miles of the
finest roads over which the scout cars
of the Herald and The Atlanta Jour
nal passed during their long u from
New York to Atlanta and return.
At the request Of the Herald, Mr..
Tufts, who has an especial study of
the capital-to-capital route, over which
the two cars have just returned to New
York from the Gate City Of the South,
has prepared the following article on
that subject:
An Ambitious Undertaking.
The coming reliability competition
of the New York Herald and Atlanta
Journal seem a very ambitious under
taking, but [ have personally been ov-
er a large portion of the route, known
as the capital route, via Washington,
Richmond, Raleigh, and Columbia,
and probably the worst piece of roa
in the whole section is between Wash
ington n Richmond, or at least this
will be the worst section unless great
ly improved by October 1.
The Herald and Journal could a "
no idea what excitement they were
launching when they i~naugurated his
competition, and l don't even now IT
they have the slightest conception of
the interest or Of the f~ar-reaching
effect of their idea. In going over the
roads from Raleigh, N. c., to Camden,
S. c., recently, [ was astonished to
find that in every little back country
store it was. the topic Of conversation,
and to say that they wanted it to CONS
their way, one and all, just gives a
faint idea of the enthusiasm. In one
small town where you wOuld doubt
their ability to raise IS, they raised
$4,000 for the Improvement OF their
roa and SO it goes.
Good Stretches Of Road.
Mr.. Gilbert n. Mcmillan of Cor
ham. N. H, who has been a guest at
PinehurSt for many years., began to
talk about a through route from New
York to the south with me and others
three years ago, His enthusiasm
made possible a short scotch of road
between Southern Pines and Pine
hurst, \. c., and the effect of this short
stretch has been that by next fall the
automobilists viii find through Moore
county as fine a Stretch of road as will
be found anywhere. Capt. w. l. Eve
1tll, vi IloChlIlSId1l, III Il1CIlIlio1IO
county, North Carolina, has built
in the last two years by his h
asm one hundred and fifty miles Of
roads, and has given his time as a eli
vii engineer to laying them out n su-
pervising the construction. The peo-
pie Of the south certainly appreciate
what the route means; they know
that it will be a profitable investment
to them, and they know that the peo-
pie along this road will progress and
succeed as has been the case all over
the world where good roads have been
built.
1.-The Most Practical Route"
1.-The route that seems to me most
practical is from Washington to Rich
mond, to Warrenton, Henderson,
Louisburg, Raleigh, Apex, Moncure,
Lockville, Sanford, Lakeview, South
ern Pines, Pinehurst, Jackson Springs.
EIba Springs, Rockingham, Cheraw,
Society Hill, Lydia, Bishopville, Cam
den and Columbia. l a been over
the section from Raleigh to Camden
and so can speak from experience OF
this section. The road from Warren
ton to Raleigh to the Wake county
line, near Merry Oaks, is very good.
The road from Merry Oaks to Lock-
Vile, a stretch Of about ten miles, is
pretty bad, but / believe it can be i'm
proved by fall. The road from Lock-
Vile through Lee county, a distance
of about eighteen miles, is only falr
now, but I feel assured it will be per-
fected by fall. The road through
Moore county will be perfect by the
fall. There is a small section between
Cameron and Vass that has not been
completed, and another small section
between Pinehurst and West End
which has not been completed, but
they are now at work on these two
places.
Big Private Subscriptions.
The road from Jackson Springs to
Elba Springs will be built by private
subscriptions, and work has already
started on this. The road from there
through Rockingham to the line be
tween North mo South Carolina il
good now, and the board Of trade of
Rockingham has taken a tremendous
r4ornc4 il IL OH - ~ +hnt IL