The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-10
HUNTSVILLE MEN
 MAP OUT ROAD Plan Route in Competition
 of Decatur Way VERY ENTHUSIASTIC Scouting Party Led By Clarendon Davis, Who Says Not a Noun
 tain Was Crossed-Gives
 Advantages of Plan
VERY ENTHUSIASTIC

Clarendon Davis, president of the Huntsville Automobile and Good Roads
 club. and a number of other good roads enthusiasts from Huntsville and Madl- son county arrived in Birmingham yes terday, having secuted out route from | Birmingham to the Tennessee river which they offer in competition to the Decatur route, surveyed some time ago. Dr. Davis who Is stopping at the Nor ris, became very enthusiastic when asked last night about the Huntsville
 route.
 MT. Davis said: "We have secuted.
 out a route in competition to the one by the way of Decatur. Some time ago
 1 made the assertion that l could bring a party from Huntsville to Birmingham and not cross single mountain, and l
 have done it.
 We found good roads without grade The hardest grade between the two places was per cent and that was
 in only one place. Moreover the route
 Is only 1O7 miles, while that by way of Decatur is more than 120. From the Tennessee line to Huntsville 1t Is l9 miles. From there the route lies to Guntersville across the river at Fort Deposit the historic spot that was the old headquarters of Generals Jackson and Coffee in the Creek war, to Rus sellvIlle Oneonta, to Village Springs, where we touched Jefferson county and came in on the pike.
 Tn Madison county 34 miles of the road are already built In Jefferson, 23 in Blount, about IS. That leaves only 40 to 45 miles of the entire route that must be built The way through Mar shall and Blount counties lies over natural chert bikes.
 "The Huntsville route has a great ad-
 vantage over the Decatur one. It is on the piked way to the Great Lakes and to Kansas City. From Newhope 10 the southern end of Madison county there is a pike that goes to Gurley where the Madison county bikes con nect with those of Jackson county, and from there the route leads on to Chat
 tanooga. The road from Nashville to Chattanooga is over the Madison county bikes And at Nashville connection would be made with the Bristol to Memphis highway.
 T have secuted from Nashville all the way to Birmingham, on horseback, in t buggy and in an automobile, and know all of the road. We have the assurance of the Tennessee counties that they will build fine road to the state line if the route is laid by Hunts vile.
 "At Huntsville the highway would con neet with roads to all parts of the coun-
 try, and they are good roads In the
 route from Huntsville to Kansas City
 there are only 19 miles of bad roads. and that is not what we in the south would call bed roads.
 'grhe party that came with me were de- lighted with the way. They had expected d hard journey, but when we struck the Jefferson county bikes they exclaimed that they did not expect to see such good roads.
 we passed through Blount and Mar shall counties, and we found that not only have the people of those counties said they are going to work to improve their highways, but they are actually working now. Marshall county, which never before took an interest in good roads, is waking up along that line.
 Madison county has ordered a survey, in order to shorten by means of tunnel, this route to Birmingham by five miles"
 The people who composed the party from Huntsville were: Clarendon Davis, president of the Huntsville Automobile and Good Roads club; Senator R. ID Spragins, chairman of the highway com mission; State Engineer Keller. A. l.. Rison and wife, David Grayson and wife, Humes Laughlin and wife. Louis Mayes and wife, Sam Henry of Guntersville, Walter Jones, Madison county's highway engineer and Dube Spivey, member of board of commissioners of Madison county. A
 The placards on MT. Davis car at- tracted considerable attention both on the road and in Birmingham. On one side of the car was the announcement: There Is a way, grade per cent, the Huntsville way" On the other side of the car was this placard: "The only way for the state highway is by the way of Huntsville