The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1913-05-12
CONTINUED From Page One.)

In fancy l can hear my grand
father chuckling his approval.
Yet mush and milk are not diff
cult of attainment. And we
COULD do more business if we
had more automobiles and better
roads
The idea is not mine. 1t be-
longs to H. A. Rhodes, the mer-
chant.
1 don't imagine Merchant
Rhodes calls himself a radical
thinker. But he certainly isn't
old-fashioned
"We've tried long enough" he
said today, ito persuade the L. r..
a. u. to extend their lines into
the country roundabout Tacoma.
Now we should improve the roads.
Given good roads, the farmers can
be depended on to supply them
selves. Most of them have them
now.
"You can readily understand
what a complete system of hard
surface roads would do. 1t would
benefit city man and farmer alike.
1t would double and treble the
territory from which the city
draws its commerce. In the days
of horses and bad roads, the trip
to town was not to be lightly un-
dertaken. The loads the farmer
brought to town were necessarily
small. If he lived more than 10
miles from town, he didn't come
In at all.
"With a good road and a ma
chine the farmer can come in 10
miles, or 20 miles, or 80 miles,
and return-between meals! He
can carry larger loads.
Good roads will encourage
more men to return to the soil.
That will increase the agricultur-
al output and have an effect of
decreasing the cost of living. 1t
will increase real estate values.
More and more farmers will come
into town with their produce and
to purchase supplies.
81 believe tNat before many
years the motor truck will have
the place of steam roads and cleo
trio roads in handling short-haul
freight. l believe We must pre-
pare for that time.
SIN preparing for it we should
hard-surface the main roads,
county as well as state, leading
out of the towns. The initial cost
will be large, perhaps. Later,
when the means are available, we
should hard-surface the intersec-
lions.
AZ believe the farmers would
be willing to bear a small added
burden of taxation if they under
stood just how much they were
going to get for the money.
"We should encourage the use
of the motor truck and the mo-
tor bus for passengers. But be-
fore these can come into general
use, we must have good roads.
I'm England and on the CONT
nent, where the roads are uni
formly perfect, the motor bus and
motor truck have won from the
railroads much of the short-haul
business. If you move from one
city to another, you do not think
OF shipping your household fur
niture by rail. You load 1t on a
motor truck which trundles along
level and hard country roads.
When you reach your destina-
tfon, going by train, you find
your furniture at the door of your
new home. 1t has been handled
but twice, when loaded and again
nnloaded. The cost is much less.
"But abroad they take care of
their roads. So should we. Our
tendency is, perhaps, to make a
good road and then let it deter
forate. But il doesn't cost much
to keep good road in repair.
] believe we should have road
members - say one man to ten
miles Of road. 1t would be his
work to watch his stretch of road
and repair every small rut, depres-
sion or inequality of surface as
soon as Ii appeared.
II know of no other public inn
provement which would benefit
SO many people. / know of no
investment that the public could
make which would return surer
dividends"