The Mena weekly star., 1910-07-21
SSO-MILE ROAD IN HOUR.
Ten Thousand Iowa Farmers Turn Out With Teams for Great 60-
 Minute Job.

mluutc JODs
 Council Bluffs qa.) Letter to the Pittsburg Gazette-Tlmes.
 The greatest piece of road building the world ever witnessed was pulled off in Iowa last week when, in the short space of one single hour, line of road 380 miles in length and stretch ing 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 de- signated second was ticked off Then, as if by magic, ten thousand workmen swarmed out onto the roadway and when they ceased work sixty 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 tremendous piece of work is the fact that not a man of the entire ten thousand en- gagged on the work received one cent in wages. Good will and patriotism alone are responsible for the splendid showing.
 Last winter the Iowa roads became
 
 so fearfully bad that traffic was prac- tically killed and farmers were com pelled simply to remain in their homes. Finally the matter became political question and both parties got behind the movement. Governor Carroll called good roads" meeting at Des Moines early last March, and out Of this meeting was evolved the plan of a 'river-to-river' road. stretching from Council Bluffs on the Missouri River to Davenport on the Mississippi. distance of 380 miles straight across the state from east to west.
 Make the riyer-to-river road as near perfect as is possible to make just common dirt. was the sense of the good roads convention.
 Instead of appointing new commit teers to handle the work. the regular Republican and Democratic commit tees in each county through which the road would pass were appealed to. The chairmen of the committees of each party were asked to get in the game and work for the road. Every body agreed to do so and soon a rival " was created between Republicans and Democrats, each to see which party would have the most workmen Ion the job when the time for work arrived.
 Last Saturday was selected as the day and from o'clock to 10 o'clock the hour of work.
 Every farmer along the way was personally seen by the committees and practically every man agreed to give the one hour that was asked for. Farmers were asked to bring their blows, scrapers and road draes and an organization equal to those employed in professional railroad building was worked out
 The result of the organization was shown last Saturday. Shortly before 9 clock in the morning farmers be- gan getting out in the road. Hun dreds and thousands of blows, picks. shovels, scrapers, road drags, grading machines and other implements were brought along Every farmer brought his team with him. Superintendents and overseers had been appointed in readiness when, promptly at 9 clock, the order was issued te fall to. And ten thousand 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, leav- ing Iowa the possessor of the finest piece of long-distance roadway in the West.