The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-08-29

- nnssss dope ais.
q sa se.Asehins 10 ~ abou,
~ tsstins cut 81 Sumter to.
~ tobaeso. sections Of sum
oo4 Q6rendon 6ounties--a subject
na94 J 6m greatly Interested, not
! ~ - = oitisen end business man,
- el5o as'a constant traveler-and
: <eur spacs - available / wish to
~ few words on the same sub
5oct. 4
1Fst Of all I wish to state that /
~ not an engineer. an expert road
boi>dsr nor an authority on the con-
ufuction of public highways. Meth
- do wish to undertake q general
ert<,cism Of our road supervisors. but
- it often happens that fool can
toeefsptally point out reasonable
shIRs. I may happen to state some
thiag cf the things have observed
% the public hishways which NAV be
sf Interest to the suffering traveller as
vsll a to the toilsome builder.
u Win also state that In the course
q these observation I will no. conf,n,,
pysslf to the roads OF Sumter and
Clarendon, counties. but to the high
woys I'm GENERAL. and from actual and
pessonal observations only.
n b wall TO observe that our pub.
NC odscials are very often confounded
undsservedly. and we are putting I'm
too much political seasoning In our
public executive affairs which, often
discQurssus our public efficient oni-
ctRis In the performance of their ef-
forts and turns them to practical poll
fticians instead OF helpful public SER
vsnts.whiie a little honest encourage
asnt and friendly intercourse would
enhance xrontablc Efforts. Just and
reasonable censure hewever is greas-
" beneficial. A public official has
Just az much chance Of fully satisfy
ing the public as the Jews had the
defunct Russian autocracy. The old
Russian government has accused the
Jews Of all kinds Of absurdities, one
Of them was that the Jews are try
ing to evade military service. In the
last Russo Turkish war In the battles
about Pievna II was found thrt the
casualty of Jewish soldiers was great
" outproportioned to their quota of
numbers with other nationalities and
this was brought to the attention Of
the war ministry. with the remark
that there are more Jews in the army
than their percentage requires. and
one of the minister's remarked that
this was not the fact. the reason
there are so many casualties among
the Jewish soldiers is that they would
ratier die than serve the Car. It
70 the same with a public ofiicial,
there is always somebody to kick at
him.
We will now take little spin on
our public highways. and look Mt 1t
not only from the lofty roof of a load
OF tobacco. or stack Of hay. but
through the Windshield of an automo-
bile. The auto driver has some spe-
ciai considerations. because we are
living In the auto age and we are
putting on special taxes on him and
burden him with all kinds Of traf-
nc regulations, therefore we must see
that his rights are taken care of and
should be provided with better roads.
Then too. those who travel autos
have horses and wagons too. so he
70 interested both ways.
Now we will see about that blamed
sandy road on which our friend, the
dope writer, went across McBrides
thoroughfare In his imagination and
OF which the tobacco haulers are
complaining.
This Is a stretch Of road through
sandy and soft soils which have no
cohesivencss without first mixing 1t
with some hard substances In order
to make solid surface. 1t IL
heavily travelled Mt all seasons Of the
year and as rule Is In bad condi-
ton about ss5 days Of every year and
sometimes longer. but It is at its best
Just few days after a good rain. be-
cause the rain washes all tho sand
and loose dirt In the ruts and some
what hardens II for q few days until
they dry out and cut up again. This
was the caac lately. We had rainy
spell and the road was about In the
best travelling condition II ever was
and here comes that confounded road