Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-27
YESTERDAYS SESSION.
II. C. Skeletons Paper Shed Light on
Western Roads I'm Comparison.

An interesting event of Wednesday
afternoon was the paper of Robert c.
Shelton. of Salt Lake, on 1.-The ad
vantage OF good roads in the eastern
states as compared with poor roads
in the west" MT Skelton is an en-
thusiastic advocate of the good roads
movement and is perhaps as we'll in
formed on the subject as any man
In the country His paper follows:
The numerous evolutions of the
human race since prImcyal times has
marked indelIbly the cpochs. also the
avenues and transition from one stage
OF civilization to another. until today
we have real as well as metaphorlcal
highways down through tho ages
chronicled in most instances. by ma
turc's unerring hand either In gradual
ly developed races OF the human
family, OF the silent tombs of beings
or things gone astray from the paths
of progression and advancement of
conditions and circumstances with
which they were environed.
Savagery left Its footprint to be
succeeded by culture and reflnements.
each had its pathway thIther through
the minds of the philosopher. or tho
jungles of unexplored continents,
where footpaths were all sufficient,
there being no vehiclcs-no roads
were needed Succeeding these condi-
tions crude wheels required power to
draw them-a stage onward. through
thickets. mountains deserts and
plains gave way for passage and
place. Finally animals tanned and
made to bear the burden of draft,
marked another step toward the
various civilizations of the world,
Roads are built because they arc
needed. Why are they needed?
First because existing conditions of
civilization have ever demanded the
avenues through which life's ncces-
stiles can be transported.
Second. wealth demands the high
way upon which pleasure, sightseeing
and mirth may be gratlhed.,
EARLY ROADS.
Under such conditions the task is
comparatively easy. but back of all this
IS the pressing necessity for good roads:
hence their construction. Necessity In
early times impellcd the construction
of roads. as In the case of the Great
Cumberland highway. undertaken by
the government in 1893 or thcreabouts.
running from the Atlantic through
Pennsylvania, Ohio. Indiana and hav-
ing for Its objective point tho Mlssis-
sippi river at st. Louis The motive
behind the project to build the Union
Pacific railroad was quite different; In
the former case the cotton of the
southern states sought delivery at
northern mills. and the infeaslbility of
transporting products from Atlanta,
Mobile and New Orleans made II i'm
perative that road OF avenue of some
kind be built to haul the commodities
to and from the distant extremes. In
the case of tho Union Pacific rail-
rond there was no congestion OF COM
merce demanding its construction, but
beyond the then populous portion Of
the United States lay the golden west,
and. awakened by the spirit of prog
ress already we'll under way in tho
cast. enterprise. adventure and fortune
Invited the promoters to forge ahead
and possess the great western empire,
then unclaimed and unsuryeyed, Ever
since the uniting of the rails on Prom
ontory mountain, Utah. the subject of
road-building in the United States has
had a different phase, The Pacific
ocean has been landing on our west
ern shores her rich oriental cargoes
which, with dispatch, have gone over
land to the eastern centers. augment
ing population to an abnormal extent
In some cities and localities where,
as necessity, good roads had to be
built to make possible travel to and
from farm and factory with LIES
necessities. We observe. then, that an
era of rcclaimlng the latent wealth OF
this continent has dawned and fastcn-
ed Itself upon the present civilization
of the world. including most con-
spicuously the great western empire OF
North America.
WHAT A HORSE CAN DO.
On the poorest OF earth roads. not
muddy. but sandy. a horse can draw
twice as much as he can carry on his
back, on n fair road three and one
half times as much: on a good macad-
amlZcd road nine times as much, on a
smooth plank road, rs times as much;
on a stone trackway. 30 times as much,
and OH metal rails, 54 times as much.
Comparing. then, eastern roads with
western roads, We must take sides with
ourselves and claim that for each mile
OF road In Rhode Island. there are ISL