St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1911-09-02
GOOD ROADS GOSPEL.

How can the community develop
its local resources and revive Its dy-
ing business interests without a huge
individual cost?
There are many ways that this
pleblem can be worked out. At the
present time the railroads have come
to see what tremendous bearing
good roads have upon the general
prosperity of the country, and they
have inaugurated what are known as
gospel trains"
BY far the most important of these
is the Good Roads Special" train
of private cars that visits the sta
tions along the various railroad lines
and carries the gospel of good road
building. Expert road builders &C
company this train, and free lectures
are given to the townspeople and
the farmers at each stop. Practical
illustrations Of how road building
may be done inexpensively are fea-
lures that are all to the point.
Here is a town that has gradually
dWindled into comparative obscurity
The me~chants have been losing Dusl-
ness and hey are disguised. Inc
town Is surrounded by roads IN such
poor condition that motorists shun
and out on the farms are doing their
purchasing by mail. Conditions
must be remedied. No one wishes to
assume heavier taxes. All want bet
ter roads, however. How may TINS
be accomplished? Here Is how one
town managed to improve its roads
and rebuild its broken business en-
terprisesi
A good roads club was organized
by one Of the progressive citizens,
and almost Immediately the idea
found popularity among the majority
o. the inhabitants of the community.
Local merchants showed an eager
ness to cooperate, even in sub
stantial way, and in a short time an
expert roadmaker was called In to
lecture on the subject. The active
good roads movement dated from
that moment.
Every farmer and villager was
notified that he had been delegated
to take care of the road adjacent to
and AUDITING upon his own property.
Every farmer in the locality received
the same notice. No one had ever
thought of doing this work him
self. All the road building energies
of the community had heretofore
been devoted to berating the road
commissioner. Instantly a sort of
individual pride sprang up in the
hearts of the people. Heaps Of rough
stone disappeared over night, and
the small boys were gathered into
club of their own and spent much
OF their spare time under the direc-
ton of an older person cleaning up
the sides of the roads and cutting
away weeds A general cleaning day
was set aside in which every man, boy
and woman turned out to improve
the looks and the conditions of the
roads in the town. That is what
happened in the town. But in the
adjacent country bigger movement
was on foot.
Farmers who had waited patient
ly for the road gang repair the
roads now strolled out of their barn
yards and wondered how they might
best do the work themselves. They
asked the~good roads club about it,
and in return they received literature
telling how construct the simple,
yet famous King split-log drag. 1t
was an easy matter after that. Every
farmer in the locality spent his t ime
scraping the rough road around his
land, filing in holes with mud, dis
posing of huge stones that Uttered
the roadway, and in dragging out
the ruts The spirit of rivalry enter
ed into this, and later the good roads
club offered prizes for the best sec
tions of good roads. Polished country
roads, like boulevards, were the re-
suit. The young people on the farms
came oftener to town and felt more
satisfied The rural mail delivery
man began to whistle on his route
and the storekeepers frightened up
preeeptibly. It wasn't long before
the automobiles began coming
through, and the money they brought
to that own made the old days,
when bad roads were common, time
to be forgotten.
Such Is the story of how one town
developed its roads and built itself
up from an obscure little village to
a busy little city. There must be at
least one progressive man in every
community who is looking forward