Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-14
WEDNESDAY. AUGU Il. 1918
To the Discredit of Delaware.

The current number OF nc AlhaToSS.
a publication devoted to the furtherancc
of good highways in this country, con
tains an interesting article 10y h. I'll.
Johnston, under the'captIon Wake Up,
America which has direct Application
10 the State of Delaware, and is of IN
tercst 20 our people. In respect OF some
OF its references. 1t may be SAID they
would very appropriately tit under the
caption. Wake Up, Delaware
The argument presented III tins CT
fcctlvc paper is that neglect Of public
highways IS delaying the government $
war program. which includes the trans
portation of much war material ~ large
motor trucks Where the roads are good.
this transportation IS facilitated where
the roads arc IN bad condition, tranSporta-
ton i DELAYED And nowhere are the
interference and delay from this cause
more serious and injurious than IN the
State of Delaware II our State alone
used these highways. II would make no
difference with the transportation pro-
gram. but. rs our people know, = con
siderable portion of this traffic goes
through the upper part Of Delaware.
Here is what Mr. Johnston SAWS, specific
allv. about the public roads N upper
Delaware For example, the mann
highway between Baltimore and Phil
adcIphia. running through our most I'M
portant shIpbuding and muniuon-mak-
ing section, IS in dsgracoful condition,
particularly that portion OF the highway
which lies within the State Of Delaware.
The Maryland portion Of the highway IS
in fairly good condition, but lew motor
trucks can make the t mp between BaitI-
more and PhiladelphF Fa without beng
held up somewhere in the state OF Del
aware. either bv being mlrcd or by break
ing some part
Mr. Johnston writ es from personal
knowledge, not hears4y. during a re-
cent trip made by hin| over the road he
saws he saw twenty TO thirty trucks
broken down or stuck in the mud IN the
3O-mile stretch rinning north and south
through the State o Delaware. nc
roads through our StEte, he adds are
Of two general classes first, Dads winch
become 80 soft every time II ans that
motor trucks sink in 10 their aXies, ana
secondly, old macao dam roads winch
arc so rough and 50 fl III of holes that NO
vehicle can pass over them without re-
ccivlng terrific 81 l|akng up Our
people will bc impressed with his ret
. crcnce to these "oid macadam roads.
They arc the txcclleI roads that were
constructed long Il tne ago, at con-
siderable expenditure bur which were
neglected for years, without any Sys-
tcmatic attempt to keep them IN repair,
until they degeneratef into the condition
now so Justly compla lined Of bv all who
attempt 10 pass over hem.
As a typical illustrd dtion OF the manner
In which these bad roads affect war
preparations MIR Joht tstC mentions that
on one of his trips he saw 5-ton truck
hopele. sly mired. was loaded with
cylinders Of acetylenf gas. sent from
plant in Maryland on a hurry call from a
Philadelphia shipbuild ling plaDt Tor weld
ing purposes. This Il 4uck, in turning out
TO allow another truck 10 go by, was thrown
into ditch by the cav ing in of the side Of
the road When Mr. Johnston passed,
ii had been IN the dit4h Is hours, and the
DELAY in transportation b must have caused
serious delay in the smpyaTd where its
cargo was so badly ne eded.
While Delaware is thus specifically
cited as an offender III respect OF bad
highways, Mr.. Johns ton says there are
others, and specihca Ply mentions New
Jersey-where, he BAYS, the Lincoln
Highway is in wre1 ched condition in
many sections and is rapidly growing
worse-PennsyIvania and New York.
But Delaware comef IN for chlef con-
demnation, and the a rticle in The Alba
tross is illustrated vi th pictures of some
sections OF our worst roads, which show
forth in disgraceful contrast with some
sections of splendid highways In other
States, notably In Connecticut, which
State he praises as be ing at the top of the
roll of States in pfct of the best high
ways and tn most d biles of them.
OF course, our people know the reason
for this most disgrade deful situation. 1t is
due TO the inefficiendy of the administra-
ton of New Castle county, within the
boundaries of wi ich the roads which
form part of the line from north TO south
are located. This fact has been shown by
Every Evening, time and again, but the
people proved Indifferent and continued
in power the extravagant and inefficient
administrations to whom these conditions
are due.
Fortunately, the State has ow entered
upon the field of good road construction,
and much better conditions may be ex-
pected in the future. But the fact re-