Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1916-07-21
OKLAHOMA MAX
ING THE DIRT FLY

The current issue of the "Jeffer-
son Highway Declaration, a maga-
zine devoted to the building of the
Highway from Winnipeg. Canada, to
the Gulf, through this county, con-
tains the following interesting article
by w. G. Dodd of Caddo, who is n
director in the general association:
No better bunch of road boosters
could be found in the entire country
than we have in Bryan County, Ok
lahoma. Among the most enthusi-
astic are our county commissioners.
They are doing everything in their
power to promote the Jefferson
Highway. They now have a large
force of State convicts building JEFF
ferson Highway in this county, work
lug seven teams with plows, scrap
ers and wheelers, and in addition to
that a large gas tractor pulling two
graders and a plow at the same time.
It is interesting to watch the machine
grade road. With it alone the Com
.missioners have been able to grade
one and one-half miles per day at a
cost of about ten dollars. This work
is all being done under the super.
vision of the County Engineer, and
when the wrading is completed we
are ready to vote bonds to hard
surface the road.
We feel confident of having our
road completed well within the time
limit, as the extension of the JEFF
ferson Highway through this State
is something wonderful. The entire
country seems to have the good road
fever. and it must be contagious. We
in the southern part of the State
evidently caught it from Texas since
Texas is at this time wide awake to
the necessity of good roads and now
boasts of having underc obstruction
more roads than any other State in
the Union. Our State is quite young,
being only nine years old, but in that
short time we have made more rapid
progress in the way of public inn
provements than any other State
twice our age. Our attention was
first given to county and State insti-
ltutions. and in those we are sur
lpassed by few States in the Union.
We are now turning our attention TO
roadbuilding. and in ten years we
expect to be equal to the best.
With the building of roads land
values increase, and the fine black
land that can now be bought in the
oount,, for An m rar ooro NO Nv
pect to see advance to 10000.
This has been the history of all
countries that have ben so fortunate
as to possess the fine land, and her
people had the energy to build good
roads. Our people are waking up
to the fact that good roads cost no
more in the end than the mud roads
over which they have always. travel
ed. 1t takes only a few miles of
convince "even the most skeptical
that they are worth all they cost
We expect to do a great deal of
road building with State convicts.
We are working them under the
trusty system, and have a State law
which permits us to work them on
the State roads, the cost to the coun-
ties where they work being only the
difference in maintenance on the
road and in the penitentiary, which
is My few cents per day,
This will eliminate the necessity OF
voting millions of dollars worth OF
bonds, which we would otherwise
be compelled to vote before we could
start to build roads
Oklahoma is exceedingly fortun
ate Not only in he rfine agricultur
al lands, but she ranks second in th'