The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-08-11
BIG COMPLIMENT TO A PIECE or
MARION COUNTY ROAD
4 Tramp A-Foct From Gainesville 70
Tampa Via ocaia-The Marion
Roads the Best

A4hs AFoin OaAhes-
AA-V pa' arrived mere Satur'
uas' WIN Inc 49, mics oe1Eeen this
ei'! anu TIC -Al3cnua count! seal duly
co'efTa' TecOrdec ana mapped out
Ne paElose o. MS expedition vas
laEee-1Olo- Frs1' ne wanted TO get 70
4 al--2a- second ne wanted 10 earn
some money Ialrd' the State Good
1'oacS association wanted 70 know
tAe coAolt1Oh o. me roads
ne was sent olt 0E TIE association.
via special Instructions from Dr.. J,
n Alderman o. Gainesville. He made
me A95 niles II thiTty-nine hours
actu2i Walking tine. Or an average
o. a0ol- tou- miles AT lcU~ oTe- ne
Florida Toads-
II telling about his experiences. ne
sala f1at ne vas never rired-in tac-.
ne rad 10 tire trouble Of any kind
but NJ d5d get thirsty once. That
was on the esghteeE-nlile stretch be
tween Inverness and BrooksviIle Il
{ vas al neayT sand, and the COUNTRY
was absolutely barren There was no
water IN sight. although he looked .or
il wherever he saw possibility Of
I being concealed. Finally he fol-
lowed some COWS TITO a hammock
and found, not water, but plenty OF
wild grapes. They were sour, as the
fox grapes are, but they we're ms
cious and refreshing 10 the thirsty
tramper.
Mr.. Robes carried with him sheets
OF paper, ruled Of with inch squares.
Every two miles of road was repre-
sented by an inch He carried a
speedometer and compass. and by
these he charted the roads. and made
note OF the conditions. =.
81 of $50 Miles Are Paved
Of the 156 miles, four miles were
strawed, sixty-seven miles paved with
hard rock or clay. and in good con-
dition, and eighty-fiye are not paved.
OF the eighty-fre unpaved miles. all
but about twenty-five are graded. The
best piece Of road was the forty-six
mile stretch from Gainesville TO
Ocala-one OF the finest pieces Of
road, Mr. Robes said. that he had
ever seen. Most OF the good roads
were in Alachua and Marion coun-
ties
The route Mr. Robes took from
Gainesville was by Ocala, Inverness.
BrooksvilIe, and along the line of the
Tampa Northern railroad to Tampa.
On his return trip. starting from
here about September 90. he viii go
by way of Plant City, knights Dade
City, Terrell, Wildwood and Ocala.
He found three counties working
their convicts on the roads. Hills
borough county had men grading the
road fourteen miles north OF Stemper.
fernando county was cutting a road
eighty feet wide for three miles north
Of Brooksville. They intend TO con-
tinue this road to Citrus county. The
convicts il Marion county we're re-
pairing the roads along the line.
Alachua and Citrus counties do not
work their convicts on the roads.
Alachua has very good roads. how
ever. Citrus has no paved roads built
by the county. and only one stretch
Of any length IL the county. Tia
was from Dunnelion TO Inverness. and
it was built by the S. H railroad.
1Ir. Robes said that the Alachua
county and Gainesville people, AMI
most OF the people in Marion, want
the road TO go by Brcoksville Mr.
Robes, formerly OF Tampa and the
son of Judge Robes, is studying law
at the University Of Florida, and is
taking this means of earning his tut
ton. He rs one Of the best aIl-round
IN man, saroa 4oo+bo11 s+r,,oo1os e.,