davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
FARMERS Time
WILL Be SAVED
Many Hours Wasted Because
Of Bad Roads.

How much time does the Iowa
farmer waste every year because of
rainy weather and bad roads Figure
1t out,-just for fun.
Start in with one farmer,-one that
you know. Get him to tell you what
his time is worth, too. Then multiply
that by the number of farmers in Iowa
and you will have some figures that
will startle you. A great many miles
of hard surfaced roads could be built
every year with the money indicated
by those figures. The Greater Iowa
Association worked this out,-but the
figures are so big it declines to pub
lish them.
No Time to Lose.
When the sun shines and the earth
gets dried bit, the farmer has plenty
to do on his farm. In fact there is
scarcely day between seed-time and
harvest that the Iowa farmer cannot
put in to good advantage with his
crops. But he has to haul supplies
from town or the railroad station
and he has to haul his produce
whether it be corn or hogs or some
thing else,-to the shipping point.
This hauling has to be done when the
roads are in good condition. When
the roads are in good condition the
farmer ought to be working his crops.
And there you are.
Go When 1t Rains.
With a hard surfaced road going
past his farm, the farmer might wait
until rainy morning to haul to the
shipping point. With the rain. the
atmosphere would be little cooler,
and the trip would not be so exhaust
ing on either the farmer or his horses.
And then the next morning. with the
sun shining. he would be ready to
tackle the pillow or the harrow or the
planter or the harvester. feeling con-
tent that the hauling had been at
tended to.--and that no valuable time
had been lost.
The Greater Iowa Association Is
confident the farmers of Iowa will
vote for hard surfaced roads the first
chance they get.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
MANY REASONS WHY
Graft and Incompetency Not Wanted
in Hard Roads Building.

IN Hard Roads Building.
Whatever methods are used to i'm
prove road, the benefit for hauling
purposes is due to three cases-bet-
terment of road surface, reduction of
grade, and shortening of length.
On such an improved road the time
required to haul given quantity of
material given distance is reduced.
The reduction may be largely due to
increased speed of hauling, to increas-
ed load, or to both, according to fig
ures obtained by the Greater Iowa AS
ISOLATION.
1t is important to recognize that for
transportation purposes reduction of
time is equivalent to a decrease of the
distance from the market centers. II
is easy to see, then, why the increase
of farm values must follow improved
roads, for their effect is to bring the
farms, in a sense, nearer the towns.
The fact that on roads with i'm
proved surfaces hauling becomes
largely independent of the season of
the year or weather conditions means
another very considerable reduction
in hauling costs. 1t also means that
many of the limitations of the num-
Der and kind of farm operations are
Immediately removed.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
He CHANGED HIS MIND

When He Found Hard" Roads In.
cluded Gravel" Surface.
Some folks In Iowa think that the
term hard" roads means paved"
roads exclusively.
One larger stock raiser in the west
ern part Of the state wrote to the
Greater Iowa Association a day or so
ago and said that while he was in
favor of hard roads for the main high
ways crossing the state east and west
and north and south, that he did not
believe hard roads were practical for
county and township highways.
81 believe" said the stock raiser,
that a good graveled surfaced high
way will be about all we can stand
in county and township roads,"
But when 1t was explained to him
that gravel surface is included in the
term hard roads" he very promptly
sent back his dollar to get his hard
roads button.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HAUL MUCH MORE
ON HARD ROADS
Sc Per Cent Increase Possible,
Even on Gravel Surface.

1t requires approximately 106
pounds pull to move a one-ton load
over level dirt road, in average con-
dition,-according to information OBJ
tanned by the Greater Iowa Associa-
ton. With a medium hard surface 1t
requires only rs pounds pull to move
the same load over the same road.
With a paved surface. such as is be-
ing advocated for main east-and-west
and north-and- Translate high
ways, pull of fifty pounds will move
the same load. There Is very little
difference in the tractive resistance Of
any of the paved surfaces,-whethe
brick, asphalt or cement.
Energy Wasted.
But it requires three times the force
to pull that ton load through sand as
1t does over the ordinary dirt road.
II requires six times the power to pull
that load through sand as 1t does over
the paved surface and more than four
times the power necessary for q
medium hard surface.
II the state were divided into road
districts just the same as it is divided
into drainage districts. and bonds
were issued to build hard surfaced
roads,-and the whole scheme did not
cost any more in taxes than 1t does
today for the bad roads.-isn't It about
time Iowa got busy and caught up
with some Of her progressive sister
states?
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HAVE YOU GOT
YOUR BUTTON?
Here Is Chance to Help Get
Hard Roads.

Above is a reproduction Of the Hard
Roads Button. issued by the Greater
Iowa Association. Every hard roads
boosters should wear one,--and so
should every member of his family.
They cost one dollar each, and every
cent of the money thus received by
the association is being devoted to the
statewide campaign for real road i'm
provement.
Meetings are to be held in every
county during the coming winter.
Hundreds of speakers will give their
time to these meetings, and the hard
roads question will be discussed be-
fore pretty nearly every voter in the
state.
Keep Pot Boiling.
An endless amount of information
must be secured and put into such
form as to be readily available to
everybody in Iowa. Publicity matter
must be prepared and distributed. In
other words the pot must be kept
boiling"
All this takes money and the
Greater Iowa Association has put it
up to the people of the state to back
the campaign with a dollar apiece for
a Hard Roads Button. If you haven't
yours yet, send your dollar today to
the Greater Iowa Association, Clinton,
Iowa, and your button will come hur-
rying back by return mail.
And when you get your button, wear
1t. That helps boost.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
SAVED $50 PER LOAD
Big Job Hauling Farm Produce Over
Bad Roads.

A farmer in Sullivan county, Tenn,
reports the Greater Iowa Association,
had to haul barbed wire from Bristol
to Kingsport, a distance of twenty
three miles. He found that with
two-horse team his maximum load
was 500 pounds, and that three days
were necessary to make one round
trip. To haul one ton, therefore, re-
quired twelve days and, at $500 day
for the man and team, the cost was
$36 This was before Sullivan county
issued bonds for road improvement.
Under the bond issue, the road from
Bristol to Kingsport was improved, so
that the same team can now readily
draw a ton to the load and make one
round trip in two days at a cost Of
$500.
The ton-mile cost under the old con-
ditions were $1.56, and this cost was
reduced to 26 cents by the improved
road.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
BONDS FOR ROADS
Saving in Hauling Wheat is $4,000 Per
Square Mile.

IL the construction of narrow, sin
gle-track roads with improved surface
will reduce the hauling cost five cents
ton-mile and the average yield Of
wheat is thirty bushels to the acre,
there results, for an average haul of
five miles, an economic advantage of
225 cents per acre or $36 per quarter
section. This is four per cent on
5000.
1t appears Immediately that such
community will be safe in borrowing
money to the extent of $4,000 per
square mile of wheat area to effect
such an improvement in the roads as
would reduce the hauling charges five
cents per ton-mile on the wheat crop
alone.
In determining the economic advan-
tage of good roads to any community
there are three items which must be
included, but for which no specific
figures can be giveL. These items are
the wear and tear on vehicles and
harness, tns interest charges on the
investment In extra horses, and the
wear and tear on the horses.-Greater
Iowa Association Bulletin.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18

Iowa's exhibit at the Panama Pa
cifc exposition. the Horn of Plen-
ty," will be brought to Iowa to be
installed permanently at the histor-
zeal building II plans being laid work
out.
The horn OF plenty from which the
river of corn flows, is set in the wall
Of the agricultural building in con-
spicuous place. The pile of corn is
forty-nve feet high and sixty-five feet
in diameter at the base Across the
surface the word Iowa is spelled out
in ears of read corn to contrast with
the yellow background.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
COMPILING ROAD
DATA Big JOB
Must Have Facts About Every
County Highway.

II everybody in Iowa who declares
in favor of hard roads buys a hard
rOadsbutton the Greater Iowa Associa-
ton feels certain ii will be able to
gather a great deal of essential in
formation prior TO the converting Of
the next legislature The Association
proposes to ascertain the actual
money value on any proposed road i'm
provement. that is in money value to
the section served by the road
Calculations based upon general
figures obtained from all parts of the
world are of some value of course"
according to the secretary Of the
Greater Iowa Association. But what
is needed in the individual instance is
an understanding Of the methods
which must be employed to establish
the economic conditions in the To-
cality.
Obtaining Facts.
Certain facts which are essential
are easily obtained. The area of the
road district or other highway unit,
the number of miles of roads Of var
ious classes and their distribution, the
more important crops, the number Of
miles of railroad and the number Of
railroad stations, and similar data
may be accurately established. So
also may the prevailing cost Of teams
with driver for 10-hour day.
The average load and the average
haul are less easily obtained, but they
are essential in developing facts.
When all the information has been
carefully studied it will be possible
to derive ton-mile cost for the various
classes of commodities hauled. III the
areas along the roads devoted to vari-
Gus crops and the acreage yield in
tons can be compiled, it will be Of
great value in determining the an
nual service Of the road.
Traffic Census.
"A traffic census should be made
and the total hauling charges for the
community approximately estimated.
From a strictly business standpoint
it then becomes necessary to make a
conservative estimate Of the reduc-
ton in hauling costs that will result
from any system of hard surface road
1.-THE important point is that at
least a part of the reduction in the
total annual hauling charges to the
must be regarded as meas
uring the interest and maintenance
economically afford for an investment
in improved roads. The amount of
money available for improvement can
not by this method be measured by
one calculation; one or two calcula-
tions will be needed before any con-
siderable bond issue or any form of
raising money is decided upon"
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
FINE FOR AUTOS
Hard Roads Mean Big Saving to Motor
Car Owner.

Hard Roads Mean Big Saving to Motor
Car Owner.
How much is 1t worth to the man
who owns an automobile, to have hard
roads?
Two or three expert machinists
were discussing this question in
Davenport. Finally one of the men
made a wager that he could prove to
the satisfaction Of an impartial Judge
that the saving in wear and tear on
an automobile costing $500 would
easily amount to $4,000 year. And
he won the bet.
A bard smooth surface road,
whether 1t be brick, or asphalt, con-
crete or gravel, means a saving Of $50
per year for each $500 worth of auto
mobile a man owns. IL he paid $1,000
for his car hard roads will save MIN
$50 year, at least. The Greater Iowa
Association is wondering whether this
apparent saving will cause every auto
mobile owner in Iowa to buy a hard
roads button at $1.00. so the campaign
may 80 On
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
MARSH FAVORS
HARD ROADS NOW
III We Want Them, Let's Get
Them, That's ALL"

"The question for Iowa to answer"
declares Wilbur w. Marsh of Water
loo, president of the Greater Iowa AS
ISOLATION, lis does she want perma-
1ent roads If that question is an
swered in the affirmative, with sub
stantial majority,-the next thing will
be to build them. All intermediate
steps are mere details.
IF it were my individual business
I would start to build the roads to-
morrow because to keep putting the
matter off is to incite the most pro-
gressive part of our people to look
around for place where good roads
are the settled policy.
I'VE know it will cost about $4,000
a mile to build what is right and it
will cost about 100000 to build a
paved road across the state. If the
division of cost of the roads were di-
vided about one-third to the property
owners who receive an appreciate
benefit, one-third for the county and
one-third by the road district Unto
which the state should be divided)
and the right of initiating the build
ing of roads left to the property own
ers, we would soon have the work I'M
der way.
Employ Big Man.
But before We plan one single foot
of permanent road the state should
employ the greatest engineer availa-
BILE in the whole world. The amount
of money to he spent on permanent
roads in this state in the next decade
will run into the tens of millions.
1.-The biggest man to be had any
where should be employed; II Colonel
Goethals can be had, he is not too big.
The salary of the man in a case where
so much money is to be spent will be
only a very small per cent of the total
amount. We should know that no mis-
takes are to be made. The work
should be directly in the hands of a
small commission of successful men,
directly advised by world acknowl-
edged engineering ability.
Need Ability.
There are many reasons why the
technical ability of the commission
should be great. The savings on the
interest of the bonds will be an item
influenced by the confidence of the in.
vesting public in the business ability
of the men in charge and the manner
in which the matter is handled.
Il am confident this one item would
more than pay the extra cost of the
best man to head the engineering
staff The feeling of confidence that
the people would have in an organiza,
ton of this kind will also add to the
rapidity with which the work will be
undertaken by the people"
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HAULING FERTILIZER
Big Savings In Cost on Hard Roads
in Virginia.

Big Savings In Cost on Hard Roads
in Virginia.
There is a very good hard surfaced
road from Ben Hur to Jonesville, in
Lee county, Virginia, says the Greater
Iowa Association. Before this road
was improved, merchants hauling
goods from Ben Hur, the nearest rail-
road station to Jonesville, required
two-horse team for $500 pounds, when
the roads were in ordinary condition.
Since the road has been improved,
these merchants haul 80 sacks of fer
tilizer, which weight 200 pounds each.
and use two mules. They now make
two trips day instead of one. They
can haul so bushels Of coal to the load
instead Of from 30 to 35. which was
the load on the unimproved road.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HERE IS EASY
ROADS PROBLEM
Answer Is Hard Surfaced High.
ways for Iowa.

Here is little problem in road
arithmetics.
The road from Ames to Nevada has
been improved with a reasonably hard
surface. Before improvement it took
LOG pounds, average draft, to pull a
load of one ton.
After improvement 1t took an aver
age draft Of rs pounds to pull the
same load,-in the same wagon. These
figures are from the United States De-
partment Of Public Roads, which
made dynamometer test of that par
ticular road.
The saving is necessary pulling
power therefore was SO per cent, when
the farmer used the harder surfaced
road. Now the problem:
If the largest load a farmer could
haul over that road was so bushels,
before it was improved, how much
more can he haul now, with the same
team and the same wagon?
If it cost him 80 cents per load per
mile to haul over the old road, how
much does he save nowadays, for the
same size load?
Here is the Answer.
The answers are both easy and in
teresting. The farmer who used to
haul so bushels over the old road, now
hauls 6S bushels.-with the same
team. He gets his hauling done SO
per cent sooner, and therefore saves
SO per cent of his time.
If his time, and the service of his
team, and the wear and tear on his
wagon and harness is worth 30 cents
per load per mile,-and the United
States government says it is,-he
would save 1913 cents per load per
mile.
Now, if you are farmer, figure out
how many loads you haul to or from
town or shipping point.-count the
mileage for each load, and see, just for
fun, how many dollars a year you
would save if you had surfaced road
from your farm to your shipping
point.
Then remember that the hard roads
proposed by the Greater Iowa Asso-
citation are not going to mean any ma
terial increase in taxes.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
RURAL CARRIERS HAPPY
Endorses Plan to Get Hard Roads In
Iowa.

tOWd.
The rural letter carriers Of Iowa at
their recent convention enthusiastic
ally endorsed the plan Of the Greater
Iowa Association to provide hard roads
for Iowa within the next five years.
BY putting graveled or paved sur
face on roads that at the present time
are full of mud holes, the lives Of the
rural mail carriers will be made much
happier, and those who live along the
rural routes will get their mail
quicker and possibly oftener.
The United States postoffice depart
ment is urging its rural carriers all
the time to adopt the automobile as
the means OF transportation and dis
card the horse and wagon. During
the past few months more than five
hundred rural routes have changed
from the horse drawn vehicle to the
motor vehicle.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18

1t is a compliment to every farmer
in Iowa to be known as such, because
he is engaged in the most essential
business In the world In the most pro-
ductive section of the world.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18

California barred Iowa cattle from
competition at the Panama Pacific Elk
position because the management
must have known from the number
of winnings at various state fairs
that Iowa produces the finest cattle
in America. They felt Iowa had al
ready captured sufficient number Of
prixss.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18

The $4,000 appropriation made for
Iowa's participation at the Exposition
was one of the best investments Iowa
ever made.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
MONEY Benefit
SOCIAL BENEFIT
Why Hard Roads Are Economic
Advantage to Everyone.

There are two kinds of benefits
from hard surfaced roads,-money
benefit and social benefit.
1t has been impossible for anybody
to estimate the complete or final value
of either Of these benefits because
roads are being made better all the
time and so intimately are public high
ways connected with every aspect of
community life that almost any
method devised to measure benefits of
hard roads is incomplete.
1t is apparent, however, to anyone
who has studied road matters for a
period of years that the advantages of
improved public roads have been re-
peatedly proved beyond all argument.
There is no case on record where any
community has ever regretted the i'm
provement of its roads.
Reduce Hauling Cost.
When good roads reduce the cost of
hauling, adjacent land becomes more
valuable; there is a corresponding
tendency Of population to increase,
and in its turn, this tendency
strengthens the demand for more good
roads; social conditions improve; and
the life of the community is influenced
In numerous ways. II is not always
correct to say that good roads are the
primary cause Of increase in property
valuation. 1t is, however, proper to
| nd that fpon nj
increased property valuation are in
separable.
Doubtless the pressure of popula-
ton around some cities has increased
property valuation, and 1t may have
created the demand for improved
highways, but it is equally certain
that in many instances improved road
conditions have preceded and caused
an increase in land valuations and a
growth Of population.
Money Advantages.
There are certain direct money ad-
vantages which follow the improve
ment of public roads in every COM
munity. These advantages are proba-
bly, most apparent in the reduced cost
Of hauling.
Certain dependent or reflex eco
nomic advantages also arise in
community where roads have been i'm
proved. The increase in the value of
farm lands is an example of the in
direct economic advantage of improv-
ed road conditions. II should not be
considered, however, that, in present
ing the advantages of improved roads,
the direct decrease in the cost of haul
ing and the increase in farm values
are entirely separate and Independent.
The farm increases in value party be-
cause the cost of hauling is decreased.
Greater Iowa Association Bulletin.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HORSE HAULS 5000 LBS.
On Paved Road-5ut Only 800 Pounds
on Muddy Road.

The cost of hauling farm produce
to market is probably not so much in
creased by the presence of excessive
grades as it is by the bad conditions
of road surfaces.
The desirable road surface is hard
and smooth. Almost every road is
fairly hard at certain times of the
year.
Too frequently, however, at the
season when it is desired to use the
roads, the surface is soft, and the con-
sequent tractive resistance is excess
sive and wasteful. The most frequent
form of soft road is the muddy sur
face.
Many attempts have been made to
fix the relative weights which a horse
can dray in an ordinary wagon over
level road surfaces of various kinds,
and the following figures are current
and fairly reliable, according to the
Greater Iowa Association.
Haul Heavy Loads.
On a muddy earth road the amount
varies from nothing to a maximum Of
500 pounds; on smooth, dry earth
road, from 1000 to 1000 pounds; on
gravel road in good condition, about
$500 pounds, and on a brick road,
from 5000 to 5000 pounds.
These figures show that IL the speed
of travel is the same on all Of these
road surfaces a horse will haul on a
good gravel road four times as many
tons per mile in day as upon a mod.
erately muddy earth road.
This matter may be considered ir
another way by admitting that one
horse is capable of a certain fixed duty
per day. Then with a given load, the
effective radius of travel from a given
point on a gravel road is four times
the radius of travel from that point
on a moderately muddy earth road
The trouble with unimproved earth
roads is that they are moderately
muddy for many months of the year
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HAVE YOU GOT
YOUR BUTTON?


II you are not wearing one of these
buttons you are not real booster for
hard roads. Send a dollar to the
Greater Iowa Association. Clinton.
Iowa. get your button, and thus help
in the campaign.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-11-18
HAVE YOU GOT
YOUR BUTTON?

II you are not wearing one of these
buttons you are not a real booster for
hard roads. Send a dollar to the
Greater Iowa Association, Clinton.
Iowa, get your button. and thus help
In the campaign.