Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1915-02-18

the coves, the gaps, the creeks ami th
mountain torrents; he flies acrOs
them, but we do not build roads acros
them
The western q ge of Walden's ridge
as well as most rarts of the Cumber
land plateau, is extremely irregular
The mountain streams on their wa,
to the lower land 1000 feet below
have cut deep channels backward 81
as TO form macy narrow coves be
tween the irregular remnants of tn
plateau The slopes from the lower
plain up to the plateau are very alb
rupt, and in many places are in par
vertical cliffs
In Bledsoe county alone there arr
more than a DOZEN of these coves
which cut back into WRldens ridge
from the Sequatchie valley from tive
to five miles from the west brow Of
the mountain aloug which it is pro
posed to locate the James route.
Among these coves may be mentioned
the following: Low Gap, Beatty Gap,
Fraley Gap, SkiIlern's Cove, Rig by
Gan, Lloyd's Gap and CRYSTAL Creek
On t0is route. in thp coupti of COT.
fee, Grundy aud Marion, there are
about tw nty-fve miles of ROAD that
gets in very bad condition during the
rainy .easons of the year, but the citi.
zeuS along the route in these counties
are widea wake to their interests and
are now taking active steps and meas
rues to make the road good.
The above l. from speech deliver
ed by Mr. Payne before the Chatta-
nooga Auto Club and Chamber Of
Commerce Friday night. Among 9th
er things, introducing the above
quotation, Mr.. Payne said:
"Tne die has been cast and the
movement is now under way for the
construction of the so called "Dixie
High way" an er.tate road to
start from Chicago. running through
the States of Indiana. Kentucky, Ten
nessee, Georgia and Florida, termina-
ting at Miami There il to be a con-
vention called by the Governors of
these States, which il to be held in
Chattanooga on Anril 3rd. when it is
expected that definite route for this
ROAD will b agreed uuon and settled
"Two routes are no " bling consid-
ere1 through Tennessee namely the
Nashville route, which is the one 20
originators of this great Undertaking,
an the route uronosed by Mr. G. E
james of Chattanooga, who, in behalf
of ths Interests he resents, PROPOSES
to contribute $50 600 Both of these
routes originate or start from Chicago,
passing t rough South B NJ, In In
dianapolis ana Loui.ville to Bar s.
town, XIV At thi' point they diverge,
and the Nashville route rass through
Buffalo, GLASGOW, Scott vile, Gala
tin. Nashville, Murfreesboro, Man
chester, Wonder Cave, M0nteagle,
Tracy City, Jasper ami on into Chat
tanOoga. TIE route proposed by Mr..
James runs from Bardstown down
through Kentucky, entering Tennes ee
through Pickett County, and thence
along the west brow of Waldens
Ridge through Bledsoe anu Sequatcbie
county into Hamilton County and
Chattanooga
SIT is here proposed to give some
sledge hammer reasons as to why the
route via Nashville and Murfreesboro
should be chosen in preference to the
so called James route, which come
via Crossville over Walden's Ridge
We want to look without bias, preju
dice or jealousy to the facts just as
they are. nor do we want to he unduly
influenced by the glimmei of $50, 600.
The reonle's interests are first, none
other should be considered, The route,
when adopted, should be determined
on a sound business basis, for upon
the proper location of route depends
largely the ultimat8 success of the
En1 ID int Of
the whole people and the greatest
possible development of the states
through which the roal passes should
be weighed and carefully considered,
rather than any private community or
corporate interest We should look
not ouly to tue financial ability of the
citizenship along the proposed route to
build and maintain road, but also
their willingness to do SO. We can
best Judge what the people in any To-
cality can and will do in this respect,
by observing what they have done in
the past and what they are now doing |
Acts speak louder than words.
Spe eaking of the routes. Mr.. Payne
said, again comparing their values:
"What a wonderful idea is this: To
build great national highw way, more
than 1000 miles long, through the al
most inaccessible section of Tennes-
see, "as the crow flies" There would |
be at least 100 miles of this route on
bhe Cumberland Plateau and Walden s
Ridge, where for the whole distance
there is not single bed of ebert or
gravel, or cubic yard of LINES tone.
nor are there any roads over which to
transport road material. Where are
the towns and cities along this route
and where are the hotels and garages
at which tourists could be accommo-
dated and entertained How many
people wouli be benefited by high
way running this way, How could
such high way be q main artery To
be a main artery it must traverse that
section that is richest In farming
ands and which has the largest popu-
Iation, the most beautiful and pro-
yressive towns and cities, the best bo-
tel accommodations, and so built that
it can be tapped from all directions by
roads, and whose popula-
tons are both willing and able to
build road and maintain it after its
Why should we pass /.
around Nashvillei That thriving,
beautiful capital city, SO itch in his
torical points of interest," Why should
we leave ont Murfreesboro, so famous
in war and storyr Why should we
not pass through the richest and most