Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-07-14

mand for the jitney bus, either because
of the absence of other means of quick
transportation or because of inadequa-
cy of existing means. The greater
freedom of action of the self propelled
vehicle and it's ability to operate easily
where it would be difficult for conven-
tional passenger service to be prOfita-
Bile are certainly points in it's favor
and suggest that street car companies
might make no mistake in adopting
and adapting the jitney bus as auxil-
larry to their own service, making it
feeder to their own lines, especially in
suburban sections. Even in some large
cities foresight in acquiring franchises
covering all possible routes or wisdom
in approaching the same end more di-
rectly by the acquisition into one man.
agement Of many lines has left
stretches of considerable territory in
which there is no such public service.
In the case of suburban extension,
where frequently the returns on the
investment are not propOrtiOnately as
great as in the city. in spite Of the rel
atively higher rate of fares, there ought
to be abundant opportunities for the
utilization Of the jitney as auxiliary.
This brings the thought to wider
range of use for the self propelled We
hicle in both passenger and freight
service as a feeder to steam railroads.
In the south, for instance, there are
SO, 800 miles of railroads, an average
Of something less than one mile for ev-
cry ten square miles of territory. The
average in New England is one mile Of
railroad for every seven square miles
Of territory. Since 1880 the south has
built railroad mileage sufficient to bring
its total to a greater aggregate length
than the length of all the railroads in
the country in that year. For the full
development of the south its transpor.
tation facilities should be made at
least to equal those of New England,
which would give it about 134, 900 miles
of railroad. Even with that equipment
there would be vast tracts in the south
without railway facilities, but capable
Of supporting quite dense population
engaged in producing in mining, lum-
boring and agriculture enormous traf-
&c for transportation companies. The
interurban electric lines may be ex-
pected to accelerate the proper settle
ment Of these tracts, but even in that
event the needed facilities will not be
complete and the population will be
obliged to depend upon country roads.
In the past ten years there has been
notable activity in the south in the
construction OF improved highways,
both trunk lines and laterals. But
vast amount Of work Of the kind Is
still to be done before there shall be
an adequate system OF public high
ways networktng the south. Nothing
probably could give a greater impetus
to the completion Of the system than
consideration OF The convenienceS Of
fered by the automobile, the notorious
and the motortruck to farming COM
munities, for the profitable operation
Of such vehicles demands first class
roads. With the roads provided, the
quick and reasonably cheap connection
Of the farmers front gate with the
steam railroad, the linking OF the farm
with its markets, will be afforded by
the self propelled vehicle, which al
ready ia doing effective work at many
points where the chance for 1t exists.