Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1913-05-08
IMPROVE
R O A D 5
The Movement for Better Roads
Steadily Gaining Ground
in the State.
HIGHWAYS OF IMPORTANCE
Work is Progressing on all Lines
Roads 10 Cross South
Dakota North and South.

@SuhVA0 SNVkkM QAA lVASus
South Dakota has gone a long way
in the past year in regard to highway
improvement, and is continuing the
work this spring with renewed vigor,
says Pierre dispatch. The most
of the work is along the line OF cross
state main trunk lines, with feeders
to follow after the trunk line sys-
TENS are completed. These are each
under control OF different local or
gani2ations, with the general state
organization in charge Of the field,
The state officers of the general as
sociation are J. w. Parmley, OF Ips-
wich, president; and Ben NJ. Wood of
Rapid City, secretary, these two men
having done probably more for road
Improvement in the state than any
other two men.
The main lines which have been
laid out and are generally plated in
automobile books, are the Meridian
road, which has for its final purpose
a line from Winnipeg to Galveston.
A large amount OF work has been done
on this line, and some of the counties
have put in a number Of miles Of
gravel highway upon 1t, and it has
been improved to some extent across
the state. Another main line is the
Chicago, Black Hills and Yellow
stone Park" line, which is designated
as the BLACK and yellow road for
the Black Hills and Yaliowstone q Park
This enters the state ait Elkton, after
crossing Minnesota from Winona;
crosses South Dakota by way Of Hui
ron, and Pierre to Rapid City The
South Dakota Scenic Highway is from
Sioux Falls to Rapid City by way o.
Mitchell and Chamberlain, and trav
erses a number Of miles of the Bad
Land section of the state west of thu
Missouri. The Twin City--AberdeeI
Yellowstone Park Trail enters tht
state at Big Stone, and crosses init
North Dakota at Lennon, passing
through Aberdeen and Mobridge, AM
so on to the Yellowstone Park. Short
Ter lines are from Sioux City to Cham
berlain by way of Yankton and Platte
the Sioux Falls, Salem and Iroquoi
line; and the Sioux Falls, Brooking
and Milbank line, the latter the bes
one of the two north and south Nerd
4 ian roads.
The main issue in these lines o
highway is maintenance to keep then
| in condition for auto travel the yea,
around And the vital question Will
all of them is expense. Under thu
state constitution no state aid can bt
1supplied. The work must all be done
with local funds. Indirectly the legis
lature made some provisions by plac
ling a six dollar year license on all
autos in the state, which now number
near sixteen thousand, and means
q
year. But this goes into the count,
funds of the counties in which the
, machines are owned. One eighth oi
it goes to the state for administration
of the law, and the rest of the fund
goes to the counties for road improve.
ment. This fund viii help a great
deal toward maintenance when used
IN connection with the local funds de,
rived from taxation.
There highways generally cover the
prairie section of the state, but those
which enter the Black Hills bring the
travel into the western part of the
state with scenic beauties which rival
the more pretentious mountains fur
ther west in the main ranges OF the
Rockies and with less climbing. Once
within the Hills country proper
there are many good highways, as
that part Of the state has been forced
into greater action by the class OF
country they must travel over, than
that Of the more level sections. The
BLACK and Yellow tran, after cross
ing the heart of the state to the Mis-,
souri river. follows the old historic
Black Hills trail from Pierre 10 Rapid
City, over which for years most Of
the supplies were taken into the Black
Hills country BY slowsp! !odding bull
Continued on Page 4