Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-01-20
MISSOURI ROAD BOOSTER TELLS
IoWANs HOW TOWN WAS PUT
BACK ON MAP.
LOST BUSINESS BECAUSE
OF DEPLoRA8LE HIGHWAYS
With 800 Vacant Houses in Town,
Business Men and Property Owners
suItins in 1905 Day" Road Campaign
City Takes on New Life.
special to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Mason City. Jan. pa good roads
missionary from Missouri came to
Mason City and told the people here
how a dead town was revived by the
building OF good roads and to outline
the ''365-day road" campaign plan
which has proved so successful at
Carthage. Merchants of Carthage saw
their business going 10 rival and
smaller towns and 300 vacant houses
almost hankrupted some Of the prop
erty owners The apostle OF the plan,
% Mr.. Clarkson, was induced to come
here and tell how his town vas re-
Juvenated.
The cIarkson Way.
Following a banquet the business
men retired to the hall where Mr..
Clarkson was introduced and spoke for
more than an hour on the birth of the
500 day road project at Carthage Mo.
He frankly confessed that he had been
interested in the proposition first from
purely selfish motives. Carthage had
in 1910 less than 10000 persons. but
they thought they had more. There
We're over 800 houses vacant Mr.
Clarkson himself owned a large num-
Der OF buildings. and was very much
Interested TO see them producing
revenue instead of being idle. He and
some of his associates made a study of
the conditions. They found that towns
around them, not SO large as Carthage
were drawing trade from within three
miles of Carthage. when Carthage
should have been drawing trade from
thirty miles about They discovered
that the bad roads proposition was the
cause. Then they formed an organiza-
tion to better the conditions.
How the Start Was Made.
The proposition was that they must
have 100 members who would give S.
month for road fund. Unless 1o0
persons were secured the moven ent
failed and no one was 10 be paid. No
firm could take more than one mem
bership. each membership representing
an individual. Finally after strenuous
work they got eighty-fi five men to pay
s. a month for road work. and then the
movement stopped When many o.
these men who expected that they
never would have to pay discovered
that the matter was going to be a fall
ure they became interested. and went
out and secured an additional list, and
the number swelled to 30.
The Plan.
Briefly speaking. the club then Of
fered to pay 25 per cent OF the ex-
pense of making a good road out OF
Carthage: the farmers were to ray 25
per cent. and the county was to pay
the other 50 per cent /: was five
months before they could get the
farmers interested, but finally they
came across, the club put up the 25
per cent, the county agreed 20 DO their
share. and the first road was started.
Now farmers along the roads are put
ting up so per cent themselves. and
the club is not asked TO invest a cent
except TO use their money in keeping
the movement going.
The Kind Of Roads.
Mr.. Clarkson went into the question
Of various kinds OF road building
which have already been discussed in
every road meeting here. and said that
first the main arteries Of trade ought
to be- hard surfaced # possible. Then
the lateral roads ought TO be made Of
whatever material was handiest. and
cheapest. He said gravel was fine. but
II gravel did not exist he had a plan
for making even dirt roads good
enough so that farmers could get onto
he main lines with these roads 365
DAYS g year.
The point that seemed to he the
crns &c the matter, however was that
this good road committee kept con-
stantly at the work