The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-11

ern terminal upon the Ohio river. per
 haps at Cleveland. railroads were un-
 known. The steamboat had been so per- fected as to make it possible to navigate many Of our inland streams to commer- cial advantage There was, however. no convenient method of transportation from ; the Ohio river to the Atlantic coast.
 This national highway was begun and { then cane the railroads It was neces- sary to continue the worK because the railroads, or some of them at least. crossed the Allegheny mountains. The natural waterways were supplemented by canals and the distribution of pro- ducts from one part of the country was greatly facilitated.
 When Abraham Lincoln in 1859 visited Council Bluffs. la, where he was to be engaged in an important litigation, he listened with great interest to the prop osition that a railroad should be con- structed from the .dississippi river at that point across the continent to San francisco. Lincoln in his early life had some experience as a surveyor. He was told by Grenville M Dodge, who after ward constructed the Union Pacific, and who lived at Council Bluffs, that the most plausible route for the railroad stretched through Nebraska, across the
 
 west, thence by passes through the Rocky mountains and the Sierras to the Pacific coast. Only recently General Dodge. when on visit to this city, spoke of the approval which Lincoln, who was two years later to be President, gave to the propose1 route. Shortly before General Dodge's death he spoke of it as an in teresting coincidence that in these mod ern times they were building a great he nanfi when complete, will be available for all kinds of motor trucking, saying that in the main this highway followed the al most the identical route which in lSoJ Lincoln had spoken of with approval for the construction of a Pacific railroad.
 THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY
 Recently information has come to this city setting forth that by the expenditure of some $15.0Oo,000 by various states, continuous road has now been con structed from New York to San Fran cisco. It is not yet hard surface road, but it will be in due time, and it will fur nish excellent supplemental means or transportation of commodities and also good opportunities for pleasure travel, especially from the Mississippi river to San Francisco
 Some splendid road construction has already been secured along various parts Ol LIl1S LIluGClH HlSHWdy ASIoSo ANS" Jersey, for instance, there are excellent | macadam roads, but since the entrance of the United States into the war the utIli- zation of these roads by motor trucks, which are now transporting every day great amounts of commodities between New York and Philadelphia and even as far as Washington, makes it necessary speedily to improve this road construc- ton.
 PENNSYLVANIA ROAD
 In midwinter many motor trucks con- veying merchandise from Detroit to Washington passed over that part of this road which is in Pennsylvania. The road is used now in part for military traffic between Pittsburg and Atlantic coast ports. It is in excellent condition throughout the whole 380 miles of it's length It is the longest improved link in the entire Lincoln highway.
 In Ohio it is expected that speedily the dirt roads which comprise Ohios link in this highway will be eliminated. Al ready the state has expended $1,00000o in perfecting hitherto unimproved roads. Indiana has splendid highway. It is practically so constructed as to meet the demands of the heaviest kinds of traf- fife. There is still good deal to be done in Illinois and Iowa. The soil of those states makes road construction rather difficult, sbut reports which come to New York today assert that the $50 miles which comprise Iowa's link in this road will within the next F or IS months have been so perfected as to be able to sus- tain whatever traffic goes over them. In Nebra ska, on account of lack of funds, the wor, is progressing slowly, although theer is a fairly good dirt road across the state. but Wyoming has matched and even overmatched. when her popuia- tion is considered, all the other states in improving the Lincoln highway. In Utah private benefaction has made it possible to improve the desert section and the mountain pass so that about the worst portion of the road between New York and Golden Gate, California, about 50 miles in length, will be put into excel