The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1913-08-27
The seasons continue good.

The seasons continue good.
The watermelon crop has been the
best ever.
The monetary situation i'm Wall
street is not a circumstance to that
in Columbia.
In just little more than two weeks
the children will he Happy again
School opens on the Sth of September.
Begin to slick up" the horses, COWS,
sheep and the goats and every other
living thing for the county fair Let's
make 1T a hummer this year.
With cotton selling at twelve cents
now and the crop in Laurcns county
giving promise OF such handsome
yield, there is every indication of a
bountifuI year for the farmers and
us too.
1t seems that the uttcrmost pues-
tion in the minds of our officials at
Columbia is not to make arrangements
to protect the credit of the state but
to make political capital out of an
unfortunate situation. Since the state
officials have never before been at
such loggcrhcads in former admins
trations, all Of us can easily put our
hands on the cause Of the present
trouble, But as to who the dear
people are going to believe when ex-
plantations arc made, there is consid-
cradle room for speculation.
LOSSES BY BAD ROADS.
The greatest obstacle in the way of
those who lead in the good roads
movement is indifference. We believe
that the real reason why the people do
not become cnthused over the idea of
spending money for roads is because
they do not realize the benefits to be
derived from them; the actual benefits
in the way of dollars and cents. If
the people as a whole recognized the
waste in actual money that is going
on because of lack OF good roads,
whether or not they saw the losses in
other ways, We believe that they would
vote to a man for special tax for
road improvements
AS examples of the direct benefits
to be derived from the building OF
good roads, the department OF agrcul-
ture at Washington gives several in
stances in a circular letter, as fol-
lows:
The direct effect that changing
bad roads into good roads has upon
land values and marketing prices, as
well as the general economic welfare
OF the community, is shown in several
offered to sell for 1880. In 1908 his
gathered by the u. S. Department OF
Agriculture. In Lee county, Virginia
farmer owned 100 acres which he
ocered to sell for $500 In 1908 his
road was improved, and although the
farmer fought the Improvement, he
has since refused $4,000 for his farm.
a nearby tract of 1888 acres is said to
have been sold for $4,000. After road
Improvement. the same farm was sold
for $4,000. In Johnson county Ala
bama, the people voted a bond issue
for $250,000 for road Improvement.
The selling value at that time was Sc
to SIS per acre. The s. price is
now from $i5 to $25 per acre.
"In another state, two farmers liv-
ing at equal distances from a cotton
market learned by telephone that cot
ton had gone UP in price $lO0 per
bale. The farmer on the bad road
hauled one bale of cotton which was
all he could get over that road. The
other farmer on the good road was
able to haul 4 bales. The man on the
good road gained 81 by the rise in
price, while his neighbor on the bad
road gained only $l.00. A farmer in
Sullivan county, Tennessee had 100
bushels of Irish potatoes which he in
tended to market during the winter
Owing to bad roads, he was unable to
haul the nOtatoes at all They rOttpd