The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-04-25


AZ article On covered roadx / was
afraid he'd tErow b.. IN the sAsss
baakei an that he mlEht lnsIct bod
~ punishment upon ne II ever At
tempted to call al hIx sanctnm again
BIT he put The article on tae fra
page OF the Landmark under Esoa
headlines Nssn I! vertured 10 cal
at hiz otace again. some ~~eks later
Dir. Caldwell laughed heartily az
said that ] had sprung a g1ore or
less readable. humorous article ur37
him an the readers ov biz paper. al
thee. for moment or two. hin grea,
kindly eyes beamed toward me an he
really looked sad. But he ~uzzen:-
In another instant a broad smile stole
over hiZ face. hiz eyes sparkled with
Genuine hunoT. an. opeulra small
compartment or hlx desk. he took
therefrom some gresnback money an
handed a bill 10 me. Take this.
said .e: "a boy who can take up q
commonplace subject like that oy
good roads an how 10 make them.
an who can get out oy the old ruts.
so to speak. tsome oy hiz own grim
humorD ought TO get pay for it," an
he handed me a bill which wuz larger
an prettier than | had ever receiv-
ed for vritin' one article-larger
than | had ever received for one ar
ticle up TO that time. Then | knew
that Mr. Caldwell wuz not angry, that
I
But that wuz not the last scribblin'
| did for Mr.. Caldwell an that wuz
not the last time he exhibited interest
in my feeble, but persistent efforts TO
force my way upward in newspaper
work. | lacked ability, l lacked ex-
perience. But more than once Mr..
Caldwell came to my rescue an
through hiz efforts | wuZ able 10
land somewhere an somehow. In
politics an on some important public
questions we became separated But
through it awl | wuZ hiz loyal
friend, an when he passed over the
river only a few short months ago.
you can readily guess that | regard
ed the loss ov the great editor az a
personal one, az far az such losses
can go. My pet scheme to give North
Carolina a thorough, practical sys
tenn ov permanent good roads wuZ
not joke In time hit will receiey
proper recognition an be put into
actual operation. Anvil the world
thinks | wuz not in earnest. This IL
because all the world IL not made UP
ov thinkin', practical people. Awl of
the great inventions, great uplift
schemes, hev evolved from the brains
ov people who were regarded az
cranks. Thomas A. Edison became a
crank upon electrical subjects some
years ago. The result wuZ the tele-
phone, the graphaphone, many cleo
trical contriyances, includin' electric
lights, the application ov electricity
to run machinery in factories; awlso
electric street cars, suburban cars, an,
finally, great electric trains, automo-
bileS an carriages. | am not in Mr.
Edison's class at awl, but did evolve
scheme to dispose ov the bad roads
question in a practical way. Before
it can or will be put into practical
demonstration | may hev gone to the
.reat beyond, but hit liz comin'-that
liz, covered roads. With a shovel an
pick, an with a few hundred feet ov
timber an some substantial roofin'
material, | can build more an better
permanent road at a smaller cost
than exists in the entire State ov
North Carolina today, though mill
lions ov dollars hev awlready been
spent on a few North Carolina roads,
notably in Wake, Mecklenburg, Ire
dell, Rowan, and a few other coun-
ties. Mr.. Vanderbilt hez spent hun
dreds of thousands ov dollars on hiz
good-road buildin' on hiz great estate
near Asheville. The roads are fine.
but not half SO permanent az nv
plan would yield. l can take IS, 900
an build a mile ov real road an hit
would be worth more than awl the
roads North Carolina hez built from
the standpoint ov permanence, for
anythin' not permanent in road
buildin', or nearly so, liz a waste ov
energy an ov money; an the best
macadam roads, no matter how ex-
pensive nor how nicely constructed.
will not last more than two or three
years without expensive repairs. an
they will not last more than a few
years unless they are renewed entire
ly, an at a cost equally az heavy az
the original outlay, less a portion ov
the original cost for gradin' the
roads Recent occupants ov the Pres
idential chair, Mr.. Roosevelt and Mr.
Taft, hev advocated a system ov great
national highways. Mr.. Bryan says
me, too an heZ intimated that
the roads would awl be built ov sill
yer when he lands in the White
House. Don't let any ov 'em fool
you. Elect your humble servant, this
three