Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-10-27

knowing how Mr.. Bursum stands IN 70
'ation to the road work Of The state
Mr.. eursun's Position.
Mr.. Bursum's position Is that Of the
most emphatic endorsement of his p1g
VS. good roads PLANK. When IL was
nown that some Of the old time boss
4s objected to Il. Mr.. 3ursum went be
orc the resolutions committee an
old them he favored il and In partic
liar the provision emitting the Gov
'rnor from the state Highway Com
mission.
am an Independent in politics. NJ,
mind is not greatly influenced by scare
reads in opposition newspapers. '
Jng ago concluded that the Democrat.
we're not all angels, nor the Repub
leans all knavc5. The landscaTe viii
'e here with little change. on Novem
ler Sth. whichever way the election
roes, and we will all manage 10 con
inUe to do business very much as W
did before. ! surmise that the result
IN November 18th will In both state
md nation be determined by the indie
pendent vote. |. made up my mind
when Mr.. Bursum endorsed that plank
hat he was not the kind of man his
POLITICAL opponents were trying so IN
-iously to make us believe he was. II
he desired the office Of Governor In or
der TO be a political boss so that he
and his henchmen might fatten on the
spoils, would he have put his o. K. on
a measure that will put millions Of
dollars OF public funds beyond his pow.
or to manipulate? II Is nov in order
for the raging %apoplectic newspapers
who are ~denouncing Mr.. Bursum to
take the floor and tell us how IL hap.
pen that Mr.. Bursum Is willing to re
nounce this pork barrel of such tire
mendous proportions ard that the
Democrats WERE UNWILLING THAT
THEIR CANDIDATE FOR THE HIGH
OFFICE OF GOVERNOR SHOULD
DO so.
Not only so. but Mr.. Bursum stated
to me that If he were elected, and II
the commission were r~eorEanized, and
II the power Of appointment were lodg.
ed in him he would select the best
good roads men in the state for the
office. men with a record of interest in
INC HlhAitl anu lbNf iudl uAlFl NpuiAt
be a pledge Of integrity and efficiency,
The "6URsUM" Road.
All this was r%eassuring, but Live in
Lincoln county. which joins Socorro
county and | had been hearing Of the
'Bursum' road. The reports were
conflicting, some of them reflecting on
MIR. Bursum. Recently | was in Socor
70 county and took occasion to look in.
to the matter.
There are two "Bursum' roads. the
old "Bursum" road and the new. The
old Bursum road was built some TWEEN
~ years ago, the new one was con.
structed, seven miles OF it. in 1915.
The new Bursum ro1d is tho replacing
of the road by a road with a modern
type Of permanent construction
The road in question is in the south.
western part of Sucorro county. It's
length is thirty miles. lis western
terminus is Mogo'lon, its eastern
terminus is the n Bar ranch, which is
100 miles west of MGPdalona and l25
miles from Socorro. Travel from So
zorro to the N Bar ranch passes
through NaEdalena. For seventy five
miles of the distance westward from
MaEdalena the road traverses San
Augustine plain. 1t is a natural good
road over n mesa. The remaininp
twenty-five miles to the N Bar ranch
Is up the Y canon, over a divide
through Collins Park, over a ridge fall
Ing away from Elk mountain. alone
Eckelberger canon to the N Bar ranch
This 100 miles is a used road with
ranches along It and for many milee
on either side. II is rough going over
two divides, a total of about three
miles. with the improvement Of these
stretches 1t will be q good road suitef
to automobile travel all the way. The
Bursum road is a continuation Of this
road through the Datil and ella ma
tional forests, W. the Mogoilon range
to MoFoilon. Its object is to give di
rect connection from SocorrO, the
county seat, and from Magdal"nl tC
Mogollon in SOcorro county and to Sc
cure a share of the trade Of MogolloT
to the towns of Socorro county. Tn
old road served It's purpose for years
but not being kept up some portions
nad become almost impossible aud the
road is little used at present. Wher
the new road is completed travel vii
ne new
Commercial Value Of the Road.
Freight wagons and trucks hnulin'
merchandise from Socorro and Mac
dalena to Mogollon will haul iumbe
back from those magnificent forests T.
build the rising homes of ST. Angus
tine plains where now lumber Is caI
ried for this purpose On pack animals
The construction Of the remainder a
this road to Mogollon. r distance O
t%wenty-three miles, will be somewha
costly for p distance OF about thrice
miles, probably about $4,000 or $500
a mile. But II Is my opinion, based %
interviews with many taxpayers Of tn
county that the commercial value q
this road will justify its construction
was told that Clifton, Arizona. wa
eager for the trade of Mogollon an
that that city would put S100,0 600 In
road toward Mogollon 10 the state lin
n Socorro county would continue thI
road to Mogollon. AS far as ! was abb
to determine the route Is an entirel