The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-02-16
THINK ABOUT GOOD ROADS

The following we'll written editor
ial from the Jackson Cash Book is
full of good thought and suggestion,
and being just as applicable to st.
Francois county as TO Cape Girardeau
county, we feel assured that it will
prove of interest to Times readers:
eve have for years been content to
take road conditions as they are and
feel that it was beyond our power to
improve them to the extent where we
would have serviceable roads every
day in the year. The time is not far
distant, however, when Cape Girar-
deau county will begin system of
road building that will at once insure
our enrolment on the list of progress
sive counties of the State. The Leg
islature that is now in session can be
depended upon to make the way cas-
Ter for the citizens of any county to
obtain help from the State and Fed
eral governments in the building of
good roads. While the Legislature
is working out plans that will con-
vert more of our revenues into the
road fund, the people of this county
should inform themselves as to what
was, has been, and is being done in
other counties and States in the way
of road improvement.
'If a bond issue is to be voted upon,
it should first be decided what kind of
roads should be built; gravel, macad-
am, concrete, or what kind. The
amount necessary will be determined
by the kind of road and the mileage
to be covered.
at is impossible as well as imprac-
ticable to try to convert every mile
of public road in the county into a
hard-surfaced road. If bond issue is
voted it should be used to construct
roads leading into every section of the
county where the volume of transpor-
tation and the needs of the people
warrant it. 1t has been estimated that
two hundred miles of roads, radiating
from the county seat, which is GEN.
trally located, would reach into ev-
cry community-center of the county
and would bring the improved road
within reach of everyone. When the
roads to be improved and the total
mileage is determined upon, then the
kind of road-gravel, macadam, con-
crete or some other kind-should be
agreed upon and bond issue voted
sufficient to build the character of road
that is agreed upon.
"Scott county is talking of a mil
lion-dollar bond issue for roads. Num-
erous ether counties in the State are
proposing bond issues that range from
S250,000 to $2,000,000.
IF Infn
upkeep, is perhaps the greatest fac
tor entering into the question OF what
kind of road to build. A gravel
road built at a cost of two or three
thousand dollars per mile would, on
some roads where travel and trans
portation are heavy, be more expen-
siye in the course of a few years
period than concrete road built at
a cost of FIVE or six thousand dollars
per mile.
"Of all the counties that have come
to our attention, Vermillion county,
Illinois, is carrying out system of
road building that stands as monu-
ment to the industry and energy OF
her citizens for years to come. The
plan is also being carried out in way
that it has effectually silenced those
who claimed that a bond issue would
bankrupt the county.
"Vermillion county voted bond is
sue to build 166 miles of good roads;
145 miles of this road is built of con-
crete and 81 miles of brick roads. The
hard surface is ten feet wide with a
strip three feet wide on each side OF