The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-07-06

here under our nose, and scarcely |
anybody is aware of what the whole |
thing signifies.
From Keene, n. H, to down in |
South Carolina, and almost all the
way down into Florida, is new COM
pleted, with the exception of 3 miles |
between Washington and Fredericks-
burg, in Virginia, Il great highway
which is under government supervi-
sion all the way from Washington to
Miami, Florida. 1t is the only road
in the United States under govern
ment control for any distance, and
the only road that has u States
engineers assigned to the e quite.
Somewhere on the road en-
Washington and Florida can be
somewhere everyday three auto
| biles with the sign of the Federal gov =
ernment in red letters on the wind
shield and little flag somewhere to
| show it's authority Each car carries
| government engineer charged with
| the oversight Of a certain portion of
the government highway. Good roads
are building in the north. Ambitious
| projects are under way. But the gov
ernment road is that one coming
down through the National capital
| and through the capitals of the Sou
thern States and into Florida.
From Atlanta to Pacific.
Yet that is not the road to which
the significance attaches. It now
completed from Canada to Florida it
is the intention to start from Atlanta
and lay out line from there across
the continent to the Pacific ocean, and
by way of the Gulf States, and there
will be the national highway from
the Atlantic to the Pacific.
It is not matter of sentiment, or
l VT hof
can be affected by human influence.
! It is wholly question of climate and
of suitability Of location. The Lincoln
! highway will be a great road, fol
summer. But no human agency can
make a road through Pennsylvania
and Ohio, and Illinois and Kansas and
Colorado, and that section, traversible
: for automobiles on long journeys from
November to April. The road in the
north is a summer road. A road that
{ is available at all times has tc be
built where it does not snow up, and
where the climate is such that people
E can travel it in January as well as II
t June. Foxy old Uncle Sam has beer
( thinking these things out in his gun
Q shoe way, and when he comes to as
3 sign his engineers to road building he
T puts them where they can build {
4 road that is tor every day in the yeal
3 instead Of just for summer.
! 80 Autos To a Passenger Car.
:, No living man has any idea of th'
Significance of good roads today. Fo
the year just closing it is pretty wei
: known the Ford Company will pu
y out more than 100000 new automo
= biles 1t is likely that there are il
= | operation now in this country 25 t.
;. 80 automobiles for every passenge
= car running on all the railroads. TIL
:. rapidly decreasing price Of automo
- biles is a guarantee that the prOduc
! ton Of those vehicles has just com
menced. The public road as a.
= started The automobile is going t
- take a large portion of the railroa
- passenger traffic and a big amount Q
70 freight traffic. In the meanwhile tn
- growing business Of the country
;. bound to make an enormous increas
Of traffic. The automobile has al
- ready shown it's superiority over rail
a roads for a vast passenger traffic
"a ~ is ready to go on any schedule. it doe
=. not require a big number of patron
~ to justify the movement Of a car,
is not compelled to keep to two rail-
=, and it can accommodate itself to tn
70 needs of it's patrons. Therefore tn
~ ~ day of the automobile is coming wit
. the day of the good roads.
ne Deserving Railroads.
ne It may not be that the Overlan
of travel of the country will right ava
n take to automobiles, but the man VIII
at will stand by the side Of the nation'
" highway these days and watch tn
al tags on the cars that go past will Sc
So that big number of travellers frOl
hit long distances have turned to the al