The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1910-08-18

Il Crosses The State And Was
Built in A Single Hour.
Council Bluffs Correspondence
Pittsburg Gazette Times.

Pittsburg Gazette Times.
A great piece of road building
was completed in Iowa last week,
when in the short space of one sin
gle hour a line of road $50 miles
in lenght and stretching entirely
across the state of iowa was put
In the most perfect condition Of
any road west of the Mississippi
river. Weeks and months were
spent In preparation for the work,
but not pick or shovel was used
until the designated second was
licked off. Then as If by magic
10000 workmen swarmed out on
this roadway, and when they ceas-
ed work 60 minutes later Iowa
had one of the finest long distance
roads in the entire West.
And not the least interesting
thing In connection with the ire
mendous piece of work is the fact
that not q man of the entire TO-
900 engaged on the work receiv-
ed one cent of wages. Good will
and patriotism alone are response
bic for the splendid showing.
Last winter the Iowa roads be-
came so fearfully bad that traffic
was practically killed and farmers
were compelled simply to remain
in their homes. Finally the mat
ter became a political question,
and both parties got behind the
movement. Governor Carroll cal
led a good roads meeting at Des
Moines early last March and out
of this meeting was evolved the
,lan of a river to river road stretch
ing from Council Bluffs on the
Missouri river to Davenport, on
the Mississippi, a distance of $50
miles straight across the State
from east to west.
Make the river to river road as
near perfect as is possible to make
just common dirt, :" was the sense
of the good road convention. In
stead of appointing new commit
tes to handle the work the regular
Republican and Democratic com
mittees in each county through
which the road would pass were
appealed to. The chairman of
the committees of each party was
asked to get in the game and
work for the road. Everybody
agreed to do so, and soon a rival
ry was created between Repubi-
cans and Democrats each. to see
which party would have the most
workmen on the job when the time
for work arrived.
Last Saturday was selected as
the day, and from 9 o'clock to 10
o 'clock along the way was per-
sonally seen the hour of work.
Every farmer along the way was
personally seen by the committee,
and practically every man agreed
to give the one hour that was ask
ed for. Farmers were asked to
bring their plows, scrapers and
road drags, and an organization
equal to those employed in pro-
fessional railroad buildings was
worked out.
In the weeks preceding the
worked all bridges and culverts
along the road were repaired and
put In first class order that no de-
lay might come to the road build
ers when once the latter started
working.
continued on another gal.
The result of the organization
was shown last Saturday. Short
ly before 9 clock in the morning
farmers began getting on on the
road. Hundreds and thousands
of plows picks, shovels, scrapers,
road drags, grading machines and
other implements were brought
along. Every farmer brought his
team with him. superintendent
and overseers had been appointed
in readiness when promptly at 8
O'Clock the order was issued to
fall to-"
And 10000 determined men fell
to-. For an hour they continued,
working with might and main.
At 10 O clock the job was finished
and the farmers went back to
their fields, leaving Iowa the pos
essor of the finest piece Of long
distance roadway In the West.