The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-07-07
VALUE OF GOOD ROADS.
The Cost Of Moving Farm Produce Reduced BY
Good Highways.

Culpepper Va.-A splendid object
lesson in the value Of good roads was
given and the advantageous use that
may be made of the motor truck,
supplementing the transportation IA
cilities offered by the railroads to the
great benefit of farmers and owners
of Industrial plants and mines, not
located directly on rail lines, has
been demonstrated in a striking man
ner by the movement of a car of coal
from the tracks of the Southern rail
way at this point to Sperryville, dis
lance Of twenty miles, a three-ton mo-
tor truck being used The eighteen
tons ofycoal were hauled to the tan
merry in two and a half days, six
trips being made In the past it has
taken good six mule team two weeks
to accomplish the same work. The
road over which the hauling was done
is good hard road, but leads into
a mountainous country and has many
long and heavy grades. The expert
ment was made by the G.. G. Smoot
Sons Company, which operates tan
merry at Sperryville. So satisfactory
were the results that the company
has purchased a truck and will here
after use it in transferring coal and
hides to the tannery and it's products
to the market
The saving Of time and labor in
this case shows what can be done
to reduce the cost Of moving farm,
mineral and industrial produce to rail
or water lines for shipment to mar
ket. Statistics show that while
freight rates are lower in America
than in any other country, the Amer
lean farmer loses the advantage that
this should give him over his Euro
pean competitor chiefly through the
high cost of transporting his products
from the farm to the railroad. Re-
ports by United States consuls from
twenty-three points in Europe show
that the average cost of carrying q
ton over mile of dirt road is between
ten and twelve cents. In the United
States the average cost is 25 cents.
1t has been stated that it costs as
much to haul a bushel of grain Ave
miles to railroad in Illinois as it
then costs to send it one thousand
one hundred miles over the railroad
to Buffalo. In the tobacco region
of West Virginia it costs five times
as much to deliver that product over
eight miles of mud road as it then
costs to send it more than four hun
dred miles to Richmond. These in
stances were given by Honorable
Thomas M. Bell representative OF
the Ninth Georgia district, before con-
gress, urging federal aid for good
roads. Others as striking could be
given from all parts Of the south.
An improved wagon road from a
farm to a market or shipping point is
equivalent to moving the farm near
er the market or shipping point" said
President Finley of the Southern rail-
way in addressing the Mississippi So
ciety of Washington City. In this adj
dress Mr.. Finley urged that every
possible means be taken to rid the
farmers of the south of this bad roads
tax"
The successful use Of the motor
truck by the Smoot tannery can
doubtless be duplicated in many parts
Of the south at the present time, and
the rapid increase in the mileage of
good roads in the near future as the
result of the great movement now
attracting so much attention, will pos
sibly soon bring the day when the
farmer or manufactures, remote from
the railroad can use this method to
effect great reduction in the cost
of moving his product to market.