New-York tribune., 1918-04-07
By R. H. Johnston

nell, Olean, jamestown and Westfeld.
found this route to be in good con-
dition all the way and from every
point of view much preferable to either
the Mohawk Valley route or the Lin
coin Highway route. The greater part
OF the new route, between Fort Lee
Ferry and Westfield, is over fine state
roads, many Of which are so new and
have been subjected to so little traf-
fic that they are absolutely fawless.
There are less than twenty-five miles
of road between Fort Lee and West
field which are rot of modern con-
struction, and by modern" I mean
dustless, bumpless and rutless. Most
of these twenty-five miles of unim-
proved road lie between Salamanca and
Randolph. This stretch might be
classed as good country road" There
are also short stretches of bad roads
here and there in the outskirts of a few
OF the towns in the gaps between the
state road and the paved streets.
Route Is 585 Miles Long
The new route from New York to
Cleveland is about 585 miles long, This
is about eighty miles less than the
Mohawk Valley route, and is only about
thirty miles longer than the Lincoln
highway route. Owing partly to the
spirit of the times, and partly to the
iact that the tourist setting out from
New York over the new route makes
his way toward Liberty, N. Y, it seems
TO me that the new route should be
known as the Liberty Highway" and
/ will so designate it below.
A distinguishing characteristic of the
Liberty Highway, aside from the fine
average condition of the road service,
IS the splendid scenery which it unfolds
TO the tourists, as may readily be i'm
aglned from study Of the Topography
of the route. Most of the time the
route follows the several valleys which
distinguish the Southern Tier coun-
ties. The road winds picturesquely
through these valleys, following the
meanderings Of the water courses. At
ouHern, N. Y, just over the New Jcr-
s,ey sey line, the Liberty Highway meets
1ne IN Ramapo River and runs with it past
tuxedo Park to Hartman. Here the
road strikes off sharply to the west
and mounts ever higher and higher, by
easy grades, through Goshen, Middle
town and Wurtsboro to Liberty. Just
beyond Liberty the descent begins into
the basin drained by the Delaware
River.
First, the road runs side by side with
Little Beaver Kill, then with Beaver
XIII, as far as Hancock, whence the
road parallels the Delaware River to
Deposit. Along Beaver Kill and the
Delaware River we found numerous
places where the adjacent hillsides
were showing tendency to slide down
over the road. Strong concrete retain
ing walls have been built along this road
Tor miles at stretch, but when hill
Side starts to move the retaining walls
can 90 but little to hold it back. Fort
unately, there are road gangs con-
stantly patrolling the roads, and as
soon as one of these miniature land
slides occurs the road is quickly
cleared.
Rejoins the Susquehanna
From Deposit the road mounts over
the nils, and after crossing the Sus-
quehanna River at Windsor meets this
lazy stream again at Binghamton and
follows 1t almost to Waverly. Beyond
Waverly the road courses along the
banks of the Chemung River past Ell
mira and turning through Addison. Here
the road again strikes over the noun
tains and descends to the valley of the
CanlSteo River a few miles from Hor
nell. From that city the road goes
cross-country, to Wellsville, where it
meets the gentle Genesee.
This river is left sharply behind at
lbelvidere, from which the road leads
through a wondrously beautiful valley
through Cuba and Hinsdale to OIean.
lhen comes that perfect, almost uu-
used road following the course of the
Alieghany River through Vandalia to
Salamanca. This river is followed still
further to Red House. whence the
road again carries the tourist over the
nuns, so that the next body of water
enat ne sees is beautiful Lake Chautau-
qua at jamestown. Skirting this lake
TOR twenty miles, the road leaves it at
Mayville and drops several hundred
teet in the next six miles to West
field, on the shores of Lake Erie.
Al Westteld the scenic part of the
Liberty Highway is at an end. Here.
too, is almost the end of the modern
improved roads. New York state
thought 1T wise to build fine high
way from Its southeast corner to Wes.-
held, but in the pre-war era of self
think it worth while to build to tl e
pennsylvania state line. Similarly.
pennsylvania did not think it worth
while to connect up the New York state
line with the Ohio state line. Ohio, In
turn, did not 60 further east than
Ashtabula with its good road system.
Thus it happens that between West
field and Ashtabula the road has not
been systematically improved. The
wartime urgency has resulted in some
belated attempts to put this road in
condition. but this part of the road is
still the poorest link of the great Lib
erty Highway. From Ashtabula to
Cleveland the roads are splendid
Three-Day Trip
An idea Of the generally fine condi-
ton of the Liberty Highway may be
obtained from the schedule which |
followed in my recent exploring trip
in my sixteen valve White touring car.
We made Elmira from New York the
first day, Erie on the second day, and
drove from Erie to Cleveland on the
morning Of the third day. In other
words, a touring party may safely fig
ure on schedule of ESQ miles u day.