The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-08-31
The Good Roads Delegation.

The good roads talk of last Wednesday
made by a representative Of the Columbia
Record was q most practical speech and
should have been heard by more of our
people. The good roads day and State
campaign day falling on the same day was
unfortunate. OF the two matters the
good roads question was and is paramount
The speaker told Of instances in which
individuals and communities had lost mon
eyon account OF bad roads. ,Wacermelons
were selling for 5 cents near chattanooga,
Tennessee and for IS cents in the city but
the roads were such that the melons
could not be marketed and so were lost.
Tennessee has remedied that condition
of affairs and now has the best roads Of
any state in the Union.
Only a short time back 10000 crates OF
peaches were lost in Georgia on account
of bad roads. The roads were impossible
and when they we're made passable the
fruit came to the railroads in such amounts
that it was impossible for the railroads to
handle them. Had the fruit come in grao-
ually the roads could have handled it
without such great loss.
The speaker mentioned the fact that
out of 46 states 81 have state aid in the
building Of roads. South Carolina has not.
Alabama demanded Of her candidates how
each stood on the question of state aid
for public roads. Kentucky did the same
thing. If the gospel of State aid is good
for 81 other states it is also good for South
Carolina.
In the matter ofland values as relating
to good roads the speaker told OF an incl
dent where a farmer refused to give the
right of way for a public road through his
place and after the road was put through
any way, was so foolish as to offer his land
to any one who would buy it for $50 per
acre. In a short while after the road was
opened a man riding through and looking
at the land made the old farmer M offer
of $40 per acre. The offer would mover
have been made had it not been for the
road, for no one would have ever seen the
land.
Abbeville, as the speaker truly said, has
many bridges, beiug cut by three large
streams, Long Cane Little River and
by men travelling from other counties
Abbeville alone does not reap all the bene-
fit from the possession bf these bridges;
throfarers from other parts Of the State
pass through the county and reap the
benefit of our bridges. This being the
case it is nothing more than right that the
state should help build and keep up our
bridges. Abbeville needs State aid in the
matter of bridges.
There are bridge builders and bridge
builders. In a certain county a bridge
was to be built. The Supervisor called for
bids and two bridge houses made bids,
one for $500 and another $4,000. This
price seemed so large that the supervisor
built the bridge himself for $1,000. Later
the same bridge was to be rebuilt and this
time an expert was put on the job. He eX-
amined the place and reported that the
most economical bridge for this particular
place would be a concrete bridge which
was built in due time at the small price of
$50. The right man was in the right
place.
The speaker said that the bridge concerns
We're all in q combine, that all bridge terri
tory was allotted, and that there was no
1 trouble to tell who would build a bridge
from the location of the bridge.
I. l.; n..l b. .~a +Lo x,,rn,,;cn, 4n
be an expert bridge builder but is economy
to-have expert advice when bridges are to
be built.
The speaker also made some compare
SONS of what it cost to market country
produce on bad roads and on good roads
teese comparisons, which are no doubt
correct, show very plainly that bad roads
are the. bane Of any community.
If education is an issue then good roads
is also an issue for the speaker proved that
good roads and good schools go hand in
hand. The same is true and we know it,
The good roads party were travelling in
two brush %runabOuts. On the cars were
canvass letters with columbia Record,
and Good Roads. One Of the cars had
been christcned Sand LiZZard".
The record is doing a good work, true
missionary work, in thus making this ed
vocational crusade and VT here take the
opportunity of thakink the record for the
work it has lone in Abbcville county and
of begging that it continue the good work
until more shall be accomplish for our
county and state in this, the most import
ant matter, "GoOd Roads.