Newport daily independent., 1914-05-01
PAVED HIGHWAYS
 REUNION TRAVELS
Jacksonville Has Many High Glass Roads to Points
 of interest
Trips to Be Taken Over Them in Au' tomobiies During the Reunion ot
 Confederates May 6, 7, 8.

Jacksonville, Fla, April.-It is safe to say that hundreds, and possibly during the week of the great Reunion of Confederate Veterans and Sons or Veterans, will make the trip from their homes in automobiles. Numer- ous inquiries have been received from all parts of the country concerning road conditions, and especially In re- gard to the practicability of reaching other points in Florida by automobile trips from Jacksonville.
 For the information of auto owners. desirous of bringing their cars to Jacksonville at the time of the Re union, attention Is called to the fact that the city license books show that there are over 2,000 licensed automo- piles in the city of Jacksonville alone, and during the past winter season more than 2,500 motor-drIven vehicles have passed through Jacksonville en route to various places on the Florida peninsula, Unless there were fairly good roads. leading from Jacksonville to other sections of the State, there would not have been one-tenth as many cars in Florida this season, and the home people of Jacksonville would not have invested 80 heavily In motor vehicles.
 Duval county. of which Jacksonville Is the county seat. was among the first of the Florida counties to issue road improvement bonds and to begin the paving of its highways with vitrified paving brick and concrete. With a population of only 75,000 in 1909, this county issued road improvement bonds that year to the amount Of g1,000,000. and it was provided that not more than $250 900 was to be expended in road construction each year for four years. The bonds were sold at 8 handsome premium and the money has all been expended on the roads of the county with result that this county now has some Of the very best In the South, and these roads are 8 joy to the joyrider and to all persons who use them.
 But this is not all. for Sae Board of County Commissioners Is at the pres ent time working up interest in a proposition to issue from Sa.000, 900 to s5,000,000 additional road improve ment bonds and construct system of paved roads and highways throughout the county of Duyal that will be a model for all sections of the country
 Jacksonville is only seventeen miles Ocean, whore there is one of the finest beaches in the world, affording speed way four hundred feet in width and twenty miles in length. Hero is the ideal automobile course and 1t ls vts- tied by thousands of oars every year.
 From the city to the seashore the county has constructed 8 magnificent boulevard. paved with vitriied brick and with concrete for the entire dis tance, Hundreds of cars traverse this Atlantic Boulevard, as 1t is known. daily, and during the Reunion many thousands of visitors will make the trip by auto to the beach, Once on the seashore they will find much to interest them Surf bathing will be at It's best during the Reunion week and many visitors from interior points, who have never before had the oppor- tunity to plunge into the big breakers of Old Ocean, will find the experience a novel and delightful one,
 From Jacksonville to St. Augustine the distance by auto is 38 miles and the trip is easily made in two hours. In fact, the record for the trip Is one hour and nine minutes, but that is al most too fast for trip to the oldest city in the United States.
 The road from South Jacksonville, on the opposite side of the majestic St. Johns river from the Reunion city, is paved with shell for nine miles and the going Is good. Then comes six miles of brick paving over which the cars fairly skim along The next four miles, to the Duval county line, have not yet been paved, but 8 temporary surface of shavings has been provid- ed From the county line to St. Au- gustine, distance of Is miles, the road is not yet paved but shell has been placed in the wheel ruts and good time can be made by the average car
 Still another attractive trip, on the south side of the St Johns river. Is that to Mandarin, a pretty little vil- lage on the banks of the river, about fifteen miles from the city. This road