Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1915-10-29

known is only an incident to the
undertaking.
Sentiment finds no place in it
except that theHero of the great.
est victory. all things considered,
ever won on land or sea, had,
in the somewhat d i'm an d
shadowy past, found it necessary
to lay out ana construct a military
road.
With conspicuous foresight and
consistent thoroughness If o 7
which he was Distinguished the
work was wisely and we'll done.
So much so. indeed, that in all
the years since then it has serv-
ed the people of the region
through which it ran as a thor
oughfale highly important to
their trade, their social and eco
nomic intercourse, and their do
mestic peace and prosperity.
And 1t so happens that the line
of the military road was so run
in the early morning of the 10Th
century that in the Goth century
its line is still direct and lies
through territory so peculiarly
blessed in natural resources spec
tally adapted to high class, and
yet economical road making. that
in the proposed great highway
from New York to Louisiana it
can be utilized-and utilized so
as to save time, distance and ex-
pense-as a part of the big
Road. "
That it will be so exploited
there is little doubt if the social
led "nath finders" will only exer-
Use lne wisdom and the patriot
ism, the common sense and the
conscience, to obey the dictates
of duty and faithfully serve the
great public which they claim to
represent.
The name-the Jackson High
Way-is an after-thought.
1t came about through the fact
it was deemed it would be a very
graceful act to so call it, mas
much as it was expected to eX-
ploit one Of the honoree's mill
tary achievements by improving
and keeping up the old military
road which he constructed as a
.,1,s',t memorial to hfp for that achieve
These are the facts fairly stat
ed:
The way through Mississippi
lies over route made famous by
Jackson more than a century ago
"a route following the shortest
feasible path, the nearest prac-
tlcal approach to straight line,
between the two points, Nash
vile and New Orleans, and a
route laid out, and travelled, by
Jackson, under due authority
from the United States Govern
ment, as a military necessity,
when he was leading his army
home from the field of glory, aft
er the Battle of New Orleans in
1915.
The object of the name is not
to add to the fame of Jackson so
much as it is to preserve the
great work he did in laying out
and building in that distant age
a highway that has stood the
test of century of service ano
is yet the shortest and best route
between Nashville and New Or
leans.
Its advantages over the Ala
bama route are great and mani
fold.
1t saves $50 miles in distance,
and that is a big thing-a thing
of I aramount importance-in this |
day of rapid transit and cheap
transportation; in this day of |
electrical railways and flying
machines; of wireless telegraphy |
and, more wonderful still, wire
less telephones; in this age of
applied science, when the geni-
US of man has SO harnessed the
forces of nature that he not only
rides upon the wind but has chain
ed the lightning-hitched it to
his car, and made servant in
his home and for the convenience
of his business and the comfort
Of his family, converted the
world into mighty whispering
gallery, so that friend may sit
and chat with friends, hearing
and recognizing each the others
voice when more than a 1000
leagues of plain, and mountain.
and seas intervene between them
In short and in fact, the Miss
issippi route has every advant-
age over the Alabama route, and
if it is not selected it will be be-
cause its CHAMPIONS went to sleen