The Montgomery tribune., 1910-08-26
CROSS-STATE
ROADS EASY
IOWA EXAMPLE APPEALS TO MIS-.
SOURI, ADVOCATES OF BET
TER HIGHWAYS.
Walter S. Dickey Suggests an Organ
n ization for Opening and Per-
fecsing Cross-State Roads
to Benefit Farmers.

Newspaper reports of road work in
Iowa have greatly stimulated the
movement for cross-st9te roads in
Missouri. The people of Iowa ar
ranged a certain hour on a certain day
to drag their road and in advance OF
the Glidden tour of motor cars actual
ly dragged and repaired the road from
the Mississippi river. distance of $50
miles, in three hours. The road in
question runs from Davenport to
Council Bluffs through Des Moines. 1t
is an old dirt road. Farmers and 9th
ers organized what they called the
River-to-River Dragged Road associa-
ton to drag the road and keep It in
repair. Along the entire $50 miles
there were King drags and at a GER
tain hour the teams were hitched to
them ready for the work Every one
ough was the organization that in
three hours the farmers met one an
other at the ends of their pre-arranged
sections, as on a railroad, and the job
was finished.
Missouri has more miles of good
roads than its people realize. Because
1t is not unusual to find stretches of
bad road the people Of the state and
strangers talk about the bad roads
and say very little about the good
roads. The Iowa road Is an all-dirt
road. The soil of Iowa Is no peter
adapted to making good roads than
the soil of Missouri. There have been
mail routes in early days on both sides
of the Missouri river over which teams
and stage coaches made good time.
Parts of those roads are still In use.
Counties and cities have built sections
of roads, and half the road is already
built If some attention is paid to con-
Meeting links between existing good
roads. The state highway commits
sioner has surveys and can easily lay
out route for the building of a road
that could be made into an excellent
through highway in a single days
work.
Walter S. Dickey, chairman of the
Republican State Committee, has CIV
and cost of cross-state roads in Mis-
souri,. In recent communication to
the Kansas City Star he said:
Reading with interest clippings
from newspapers recounting the re-
markable achievement of Iowans,
stimulated by state pride, in repair
ing, rebuilding and dragging wagon
road from the Mississippi to the Mis-
souri, river in three hours, one cannot
deny admiration for such success
full organization of superintendents
and workers.
why not similar movement in
Missouri. improving two highways, ST.
Louis to Kansas City and the Iowa
state line to Arkansas? There is
enough business enterprise and public
spirit in the rich counties of the state
through which such roads would pass
to emulate Iowa's example.
"The greatest burden borne by the
farming community is the excessive
transportation cost arising from FAIL
ure to build and maintain suitable
public highways, so that they may be
Travelled with ease the year round.
Already there is wide movement
throughout the central counties of the
Kansas City, the completion of which
would be greatly hastened if an organ.
ization were perfected to grade, level
and drag a dirt highway along the
route of the proposed macadamizIng
upon a certain day this fall. This
highway would then be ready for
macadamizing when the various coun
ty courts could finance it. Immediate
and continuous good roads building
throughout the state would follow
such an achievement and all of the
wagon roads connecting with the two
great cross-state highways would rap
idly improve.
1T would not be impossible to form
statewide association to build these
two roads. Every county on the route
approved could perfect township and
road district organization, and state
and county engineers could supervise
the work in sections. Once aroused
the farmers along the route would
quickly respond to any and all calls
for labor and teams.
"Cross-state roads, herein suggest
ed, when thoroughly improved would
form magnificent avenues leading t
and across the Missouri river by
bridge or ferry, thereby aiding re
vival of river traffic"