The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-08-05
MARION NEEDS THE MONEY

DR.. E. Van Hood, going to Dun
Mellon on a professional call Mon
day afternoon, accompanied by Mrs.
Hood and Miss Emma Hale, took the
editor of the Star along, giving him
his first trip over the highway that
connects the capital of Marion with
the Phosphate City.
Considering the amount of time
any money that the county had to
spend on it, the road to DunnellOn
is good one, and it is hard TO
realize that such a small force work
ed on it for such a comparatively
short time Nevertheless, it can't be
called a good road. 1t is better
road than a wheel-marked sandbed,
of course. An auto can travel it at
a fair rate of speed, and a wagon
can make better time with less strain
on the horse. But a car can't run at
steady speed; it must constantly be
checking up for the bad places, and
what is of more Importance, a far
mer's wagon can't carry as heavy a
load because the team needs at
least thirty per cent more strength
to pull in some places than it does
in others. This is what counts to the
farmers. A man leaving home with
a load of produce must count on
what he can go through with, and
not what his team can pull on the
best part of the road, even tho that
best part of it is 80 per cent.
The road is fairly good for thir-
teen miles out of OcaIa. A large
part of it was graded some years ago
by Mayor Robertson, partly to reach
his own property on the Withlacoo-
chez, and a good deal to help out the
national highway to Tampa. Later,
the county put Road Overseer Cor
don and his force on the road, and
they did good work on it, but the
truth is that it would take about half
a dozen men constantly at work on
it to keep it in repair. The wash
outs are constant, and can't be pre-
vented, and often there is a tree
down. A big pine was laying across
the road a mile or two on the Dun
Mellon side of Petteway's still, and
had been there at least four days.
causing autos to make a turn that
only a small car can accomplish
without stopping and backing.
1t is likely that the same could be
said of every road in the county
They are not good roads; they are
only better than they were twenty
years ago. They have been improv-
ed little at time, and this piece
meal process has made them cost
much more in proportions; also ow-
ing to their cheap construction the
cost of keeping them up is commenc-
ing to be something immense, and
causes long stretches to be almost
useless for months at a time A road
is much like a chain, which is only
as strong as its weakest link.
1t is impossible for the commits
sioners with their resources to keep
the roads anywhere near the needed
standard of efficiency. Just now, the
road force is at work on the high
way to Leesburg. which has been a
crying need for years. The people
out Blitchton way are justly ag-
grieved over the condition of their
road. There are bad places on the
great north road, and some of the
most travelled highways have never
had any work done on them. II
isn't the fault of the commissioners
There are dozen places, anyone OF
which demand all the present re-
sources of the county.
The proper thing for Marion coun-
ty to do is to follow the example OF
Hillsborough-bond for such a sum
as the county is able to carry, and to
build system of really good roads