Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-07-12

spends his whole time touring in one
section or the other. He began seek
ing to find the end of the road when
secretary of the l.. A W. back in the
last century and has covered thous-
ands of miles ontk'o wheels and four,
The sand-clay roads in Sumter cOun-
ty Georgia, are the best for motoring
l ever saw anywhere. How those
people get their surface is puzzling to
me, but it is there. Our oiled roads in
California have cost several times as
much and are no better The best
days run l ever enjoyed was from
Thomasville to Macon, made in a
ieisurely fashion to see the country.
Over most of the road We could have
run at top speed and through Sumter
we would not have struck a rut or a
rock"
Last winter a tractor outfit hauled
48 bales of cotton at single load 20
Americas. Twelve tons at a load over
a road costing less than $1,000 the
mile tells a great story but Sumter is
not anxious to duplicate this feat any
more. 1t can be done but it should
not be allowed.
On the Automobiles Trail.
Soon after the first stretch of good
road was built in Sumter the road
bureau at Washington sent its expert
thGe to advise and suggest. He came
to instruct and remained to learn,
stating without qualification that
problems bexing roadbuilders every
where had been solved in Sumter. It
was proven that a magnificent road
could be built by the methods adopted
but maintenance was the question.
Would the cheap road stand traffic.
The fertilizer movement for two sue
cessive seasons did no harm that was
not remedied by a single working
with a road drag and a pair of mules
at a cost less than dollar the mile,
probably. / passed over tWo-year-
old road a week after a deluge Of
rain had fallen; the convict repair
squad was busy threshing wheat on
the county farm and had done no
dragging since the rain. Young Bob
Christian drove his EMF roadster at
the limit of it speed for ten miles
and the smooth surface slid under us
mile after mile without a wash. The
heaviest touring car at top speed
raises little dust and distrubs The
smooth surface slid under us mile
after miles without a wash The heaT-
lest touring cap at top speed raises
little dust and disturbs the surface
linappreciably. Motor traffic that viii
disintegrate the best the best maca--
disintegrate the best macadam
leaves only a faint impression on
the roads of Sumter county. There
are sand-clay roads in Sumter and
there are top-soil; roads there also;
the mixture of material has varied
every hundred yards on some stretch
es. but the surface is the same and
the wear is identical Practical road
builders took the material in hand
and built roads, defying the traditions
of the fathers and ignoring the dicta
of the authorities of other sections.
Their roads will stand comparison
with anything in France in every
thing but first cost. A French cot
ton importer of Havre told his Amer
icus correspondent that if such roads
were plentiful in America, French
motorists would flock here with their
cars for touring. That sounds mighty
strong coming from section but
lately notorious for its lack of roads.
but it goes.
The elder Robert Christian passed
on and left his son to complete the
work The younger has worked out
the surfacing proposition in such a
way that the most prominent COM
tracing engineer in the South, B. II.
.Hardaway, expressed his admiration
Of the results obtained but frankly az
mitted that he could not understand
the method without watching the work
from start to finish.