Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1911-02-03
WHAT GOOD ROADS REALLY DID.

Richmond, Va, Jan. 25.-Con-
crete illustrations of the benefits
brought about by specific a goodroad
are always to the point. Such an
illustration is furnised by R. l..
Pennington to the Gate City Her.
aid.
His story is Of what was done in
Lee county, where pike was con-
structed between Ben Hur and
Jonesville, a thriving town, five and
one-half miles from the railroad,
Ben Hur being the nearest point.
Until last year the road to Jones'
vile was a bad one. In 1907, some
of the public spirited men of the
, town decided to build good ma
cadamized road between Jonesville
and Ben Hur.
The people were called together,
the proposition was submitted. and
there was almost unanimous agree
ment that a subscription should be
raised and that an application be
made for State aid for the construc-
tion of a good road. Application
was made, and with the assistance
of the State, the road was built.
Mr.. Pennington says that before
the road was built the people of
Jonesville paid Is cents the 100
pounds to have freight hauled from
the railroad station to town, and 10
cents the bushel for hauling coal.
The teamsters were making from
So 25 to 50 so at these rates.
Here is the reduction cSused by
the building of the road. The cost
! for having freight hauled from the
station to town is 10 cents the 100
pounds. The price of delivering
coal has dropped so per cent. to 5
cents. The teamsters are gaining
by the change, because they make
now from $3.50 to $500 the day,
sometimes making 100 per cent.
more than they did on bad roads.
Says Mr.. Pennington--and Mr..
Pennington is Il banker, not a dream
er:
Il use in the course of a year
! / 800 bushels Of coal for my home
and bank and office building, on
which l save SIS on the haul bill.
My part of the cost of the Ben Hur
pike amounted to approximately
$500, so | figure that | am getting
! SIS interest on $500 investment,
with all the pleasure and comfort
and the saving in such other things
as l have hauled from the railroad,
thrown in, and the $500 which |
put in the road was a much larger
sum than I would have had to pay
had the road been built by taxation,
! and the burden borne by all of the
community which use it"
A Jonesville merchant before the
road was constructed had a haul
bill amounting to $500 at Is cents
per hundred. After the road was
built, his haul bill decreased to 10
cents the hundred, and he saved
1886 by reason Of the good road.
His teamsters are making money
where they used to be making ex-
penses. The road cost this mer-
chant about $3.50 in subscription,
and his part of the taxes that was
assessed on the town to pay for
the road. He is getting IS per
! cent. on his investment "beside the
pleasure that comes in travelling ov-
er a good pike in lieu of most
miserable, rough, and muddyroad. d"
Further, Mr.. Pennington points
out, "the value of real estate has
more than doubled since the con-
struction of the road which would,
good many times, have paid over
the cost of the road" The value
of farms along the pike has increas-
ed very much. A farm which could
haye been bought before the road
was built for IS 800, could not be
had for SS, 900 after the road was
completed, the owner asking now
$4,000 for it. Similarly the owner
of q tract valued at $500 before
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