Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1911-07-27
IN SUNNY FRANCE AND SPAIN,
President G. R. Hightower Tells
Interestingly the Story Of His
Trip Abroad.
From the Union Advocate.
(Continned from LAST we,


seems odd to Americans. On
entering an incorporated town
you are stopped at the limits by
custom officer to see il you
have anything to declare. This
means il you have a bottle OF
wine, a chicken, a package OF
potatoes, or any commodity to be
consumed in that town you must
pay revenue for the privilege
of carrying it in, and the custom
officer, OF course, collects this
tax. did not observe this GUS
tom prevailing in the cities OF any
of the other European nations.
On the whole, the French Re-
public is a great country. 1t has
a great citizenship. | do not
mean to criticise it in the least
when say that if the Frenchman
were little less impetuous he
would have more stable gov
eminent. | was struck by one
similarity between the conditions
of France and those of the Uni
ted States. Everywhere in Ameri-
ca one can hear charges of cor
ruption in government, and this
charge is freely made by many
of the French against their gov
eminent. | wonder if honesty
and Christianity will triumph over
this condition and enable the
people to govern themselves as
well and as permanently as they
are governed in those coudtries
where the ruler linherits their po-
sition.
IN FREE TRADE ENGLAND.
No doubt the reader has had
as much of the general descrip-
ton OF the country as is interest
ing. | shall now attempt to give
some impressions of general con-
ditions and public policies, and
apply them to conditions IN our
own country. | shall not say
much of the things | dislike, OF
The things which did not appear
so well as they are in America,
because there is no good to come
to the reader from reading of the
bad things, but much good might
be derived from emulating tine
good things. The thing that i'm
pressed me most in all of my OBJ j..
servation was the country roads.
Comparatively speaking, we have
no roads in America. France,
perhaps, excels all other Euro
pean countries in road building.
Tho roads are straighter here
than elsewhere. They have been
reduced to exact grades, the per
cent of the grades depending, OF
course, on the contour of the
country. In no case, however,
is there any abrupt grades on
any public road in France. AL
most every road in the Republic
has boon laid out under tho di-
rection OF a skilled engineer who
is in the employ of the nation,
the main purpose being to make
the road between two given points
the shortest possible route and
having the least grades possible
On either side of every road is a
line OF trees which have been sci
at the expense of the road de-
partment of the nation. Thew
are kept well trimmed and cared
for. The roads have been sur
faced with crushed rock, and
everywhere can be seen piles OF
the crushed rock which is being
used to keep them in repair. A
team which could pull two tons
on a public road in Mississippi
could easily carry twenty tons
on the roads of France. The
German roads are not quite SC
good as they are in France, We,
they are so far ahead of anything
We have in Mississippi until it is
real delight to travel. over them
The roads in England ara equal.
" as good as the roads in France
except in two particulars, anc
they are very important particu
lars. The grade of the road ha:
not been reduced to science a.
It has it has in France and the,
are not near so straight, yet the
rock surface and the great care
with which they are kept up is
perfect. One can possibly eair
a better idea of what they are Il
| relate an experience i had in
travelling over them. A friend in
Manchester invited me to go with
MN IN his auto to the lake dis.
trict Of North England. We left
Manchester at II o'clock Sunday
morning. We went one route tc
a distance of one hundred and
twenty five miles and returned 10
Manchester by another route in
time for supper. We had a
break down which consumed an
hour OF our time, and stopped
one hour ON the way for dinner
We made this trip without speed
ing the car. We were out purely
for the purpose of enjoying the
the ride and seeing the country,
and necessarily logged along al
a very moderate rate. enioyed
the trip greatly because of the
beautiful scenery, and because
OF the historic places visited. We
traversed about one hundred
miles of the great North Road
built by the Romans while thew
occupied the British Isles. The
lakes of North England are
among the most beautiful of the
world, and the beautiful summer
hnrn nO ~ fh -