The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-07-01
IMPORTANCE OF
MERIDIAN ROAD
Road Traverses a 1000 Mile
Strip of Most Produc-
tive Country.

Fargo, n. D., July Equally in
importance to the transcontinentai
highway east and west from ocean to
ocean, will be the Meridian road, ex-
tending from Lake Winnipeg on the
north to the Gulf of Mexico on the
south. 1t bisects the union almost
equally and taps the most productive
| portion of the country. viz:
The great middle west. According
to the last census the several states
through which the Meridian road
passes, furnished of the farm pro-
ducts raised. in the United States as
follows: Corn, 43 per cent; wheat, 81
per cent; oats, as per cent; hay and
forage. 40 per cent: cotton. "a per
cent; horses and mules. 43 per cent;
cattle. AZ per cent; swine. 43 per cent.
Travellers along the Meridian road
will pass from waving fields of golden
grain of the Dakotas, Nebraska and
Kansas. to the virginlike cotton fields
of Oklahoma and Texas. and from the
snow clad plains of Canada to the sun
kissed orange groves of the southern
coast. The distance from Winnipeg
to the Gulf of Mexico is approximate
ly 1000 miles. but it is anticipated
that when completed it will extend
southwark to the city of Mexico.
Within ninety days every turn in
the road will be marked by a distinc-
tive sign so that it will be possible for
a deaf and dumb man to drive his au-
to from Winnipeg to at least the
Texas state line without asking a
question as to where to find the best
road, and the road will be extended
across Texas as rapidly as possible.
The entire line from Winnipeg to the
Texas state line has been definitely
mapped and logged and will appear
in the Automobile Blue book for 1912
and other auto guides.
P. H. Albright of Winfield. AKIN.
who made a trip from Winfield. Kan.
to Winnipeg, Canada. least year says:
THE strip Of country north and south
300 miles in width, through which the
Meridian road passes along about the
center, is perhaps the richest agricul-
tural belt. from top to bottom. in
America. producing every variety of
grain. fruits and textures grown in
the United States. Taken as a whole
it is capable of supporting the entire
population TO- found east of the Mis-
sissippi river.
There can he no question that some
day in the neal future it will have a
self supporting population of at least
3,000,O00 people to every 100 miles.
What a good road through this sec
ton means to the towns along the
road can be in part only a matter of
conjecture. 1t will certainly mean
more than n railroad now travers-
ing the section because it. means a
highway for the 100, 900 c%onveyances
that will move without any schedule
at all times of day and night. convey
ing all kinds of products. both MANI
featured products and products of the
soil. Its effect will be similar to and
more like hat of a great waterway.
Imagine a great canal sixty feet in
width where no tolls are charged.
where all kinds of craft are plying.
and it can be imagined in part what
this great highway will be fifty years
from now. For long before that time
the millions in the east will have
learned that they must get nearer to
the source of production to get at the
now almost prohibitive cost of living,
and the market of the factories and
shops will be across tire road from the
corn, wheat and cotton fields of the
west and south.
Marvellous as have been the changes
wrought thereto by the Intervention
of machinery. no other discovery has
been made that will contribute more
to the transformation of conditions in
general than the discovery of the ex-
plosive engine. now but a dream, ere
long the household thought of the ma
ton.