The Mankato free press., 1914-03-27
Improvement
OF Roads From
The Social :.
Point Of View
Paper Read By Dr.. ]. W.
Andrews, Before the
Meeting Held In the
interests Of the Better
Highways.

OF the cities. Three things have
contributed to change these condi-
tions, the telephone, the rural free
delivery and good roads. Second, the
rural free delivery, could not exist
without the third-good roads-so that
after all good roads lie at the very
foundation OF rural sociability and
happiness.
since the subject OF my address
is Good Roads from Social Stand
point" only give the first two,
telephones and rural free delivery a
passing mention. We are pleased to
note, however, that good roads, and
rural free delivery have gone hand
in hand; sometimes good roads have
been in the vanguard, and sometimes
rural free delivery in the advance
pulling good road making close be-
hind. Take our own Southern Min
nesota twelve or fifteen years ago, for
a long stretch in the spring and often
for weeks in the autumn the roads
were we'll nigh impossible. Very
frequently, both with the farmer and
the business man. the advent OF
winter was welcomed for freezing was
the only remedy, to make the
roads at all passable; for the deep
mud would not dry out during the
short autumn days with very little sun
shine. With such roads, sometimes
from three TO five months in the
year, there could be almost no social
relations between neighbors in the
country. and not any more between
the country and the city. Then again,
in summer heavy rain would be
followed by deep mud, and as 1t dried
II would dry in ruts and ridges which
would require two or three weeks
subsequent travel TO smooth down
TO a reasonably good road. Another
rain would come and the same cycle
was inaugurated. Again, the long
cherished poll tax system existed.
After a road supervisor, with his
crew OF weary workers, often so
weary that they had to seek shade
in some near by spot to rest, had
worked a road piling sod and other
rubbish in the center IL took an
entire summers travel over to render
II reasonably passable provided the
summer was q dry one. .. .-. p
Gentlemen. no argument is neces-
sary to prove that under those exist.
ing conditions no social functions
between neighbors could exist. Do
you wonder that the boys and girls
left the farm when they arrived at a
social age and flocked to the towns
and cities. The making of good
roads became an economic problem
as well as a social one.
Looking back over the time when
the muddy, rough and almost impass-
able roads existed does 1t not seem
a little strange that some of our
very best citizens were opposed to
spending any money on good road
making? Does Il seem strange now
that then some of us, who took the
Initiative in better roads were called
cranks? / hope that will not be
considered invidioas ifsI refer TO
one good roaGs meeting called by
three 'eranks' George NJ Palmer,
John Nyquist and myself we're in
strumental in calling county good
roads meeting to meet in Mankato.
in Hunts hall. After issuing the
call we wondered IL we could inter.
est the farmers enough so that they
would come out The day of the
meeting arrived; the time was set
for two o'clock in the afternoon.
During the forenoon, TO our delight.
many came in from the country,
the hour of meeting arrived and the
'cranks' we're again delighted to