The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-11-27

One fthe largest gatherings of
representative citizens which ever as
sembled to discuss county matters,
came together in the Court House last
Thursday night to discuss the ques-
tion of good roads. = >,.,.t
The meeting was held under the
auspices of the Chamber of Commerce,
but the real work Of preparing for the
meeting and outlining the plan was
done by a few citizens who are inter-
ested in the progress and development
of the county. -, !.
4.Ltnuslasm ran high at the meeting
and many went away determined to
work for a. bond issue of $25O,O00 to
place the highways of the country in
..4s.-cIass. condition.
From Mccormick, Lowndesville,
Due! West, Wellington, Mt. Carmel,
calhoun alls-ln TACT from all parts
Il the county-representative citizens
Il their respective communities were
present. .j,.. .,uS =,
lamlhent' speakers had been invited
or the occasion and their addresses
were listened to with pleasure by
lnose present. ~. ~. -. e.
DR.. c. C. Gambrell presided over the
meeting. :.r'.::. :.
.. At the conclusion of the; speeches,
petitions asking the members of the
General Assembly from this county to
pass a bill authorizir- an election on
ond issue Of $3.50, 900 for good road
purposes, were numerously signed
and were taken by numbers of those
present for circulation in their com
munities. "
The petitions are as follows:
The Petition
ITO the Honorable Senator and Mem
bers of the, House of Representa-
tives from the County Of Able
Vile: -
ut appearing to the undersigned
citizens of this county that it will be
to the interest of the citizens of this
county as whole, to place our roads
in a good condition for travelling:
"Now be it Resolved. That We, the
undersigned, do hereby, by our sigma
lures, hereto subscribed, urge our
representatives in the General Assem-
bly, to pass a bill allowing the citizens
of Abbeyille County to vote on the
question whether or not they wish to
place a bonded Indebtedness on the
property of Abbeville County in the
sum; of $250,0O0 for the purpose Of
grading, widening. and ;. putting In
first-class condition the roads OF Alb
beville County" '''
Later in the; evening refreshments
were served the visitors in hall
near the Court House.
MIR. r. C. Hood -
= The first speaker was Mr.. r. c.
Hood, of Greensboro, N. c. Mr.. Hood
Is a leading citizen of his home town,
being president of the Chamber Of
Commerce of that thriving city. The
county of Guilford, where Mr.. Hood
lives, has recently built system OF
good roads and it was. to give the
benefit of his own county's experience
to our people that he came to AbDe-
vile.
Mr.. Hood stated. some astonishing
facts with regard to the development
of Guilford county In the past Ten
years, which he attributed to the con-
struction Of a system OF first-class
roads. He told of wonderful increas'.
es In taxable values and the addition
to the population of the county, out
aide the town Of Greensboro, OF w.
600 substantial farmers who had NOV
ed in from neighboring .countles
where, though the lands were natur-
ally better, the roads were in condl-
ton far below the standard OF Gun,
ford county. That these settlers adoeo
to the general wealth OF the county
and the progress Of the county gener-
ally, Mr.. Hood said, was clearly evil
denced by the large increase IN TAX
able values and the. awakened inter-
est generally manifested in all lines
of human endeavor by the people.
The speaker said that people gen.
orally appeared to take greater IN
terest in modern farming methods, IN
education, in religion, and that the
general tone of the county had been
improved by reason of the fact that
communication had been made easier.
Mr.. Hood strongly advised the en-
ployment of a competent road engl-
neer to have charge of construction.
saving that his own county had PAID
for q mistake of this kind when II
flrst undertook to build roads. In MS
opinion the sand clay roads would be
the best for this county. He stated
that he believed such roads could be
constructed for from $500 to S.oo per
mile, depending upon the distance
from each other of the two materlals.
This amount would cover the expense