Evening star., 1918-11-17
SOLDIERS BOOSTERS
FOR real ROADS
oys in France win Return
impressed NTH Need for
!. Geod Iberot ot,g1,faes.

i There will be Q couple OF million
seal road boosters hack N che United
States when the war Is over. as
.hink all OF the men over here ap-
AreciaAe how good roaas Can be made
invaluable. In my mind there is no
1 doubt that the good roads Of France
saved her in Two Instances" !.
Col. Robert II. Tyndall Of the l50th
| Field Artillery thus writes from
i oyer there" to fellow Hoosier.
Ghairmaa Carl G. Fisher Of the A. A.
A. touring board. It will be remem-
bered that these two were closely as
sociated, several years ago in the
tFanecontinental tour fren Indianaps
oils to San Francisco, at which time
nost of the route sof the Lincoln high
way was decided upon.
T Col. Tyndalfs Letter. +, :
Col. ~Fyndau Is an inveterate road
driver and has covered thousands OF
4 miles Of good, bad and indifferent
! American highways. In his letter
"heme'' he goes on to say:
7 naye seen movements Of troops
maze in the dark which would have
| been impossible IN any other country
t1an France. Here the fOadmakefS
nave scientifically planted trees that
absorb. drainage on the side and at
the same time shelter the highways
| So as to. keep them just moist enough.
I In some instances you will find Q tall
poplar standing higher than the rest
of the trees bordering the road, at
| every kilometer, so that you can read
lily measure distances with the eye.
| "One Of the great things they do
] h. sc 10
make an entirely new surface with
out interfering with the stream OF
! Cratic. In one campaign we were IN
more than q thousand trucks passed
4 my regiment, each CARRYING twenty
\ two. soldiers. This was for reinforce
1 ment on the flank, and was done with ),
1 ont the slightest confusion. One does
4 not find here the little holes that
cause SO much trouhle remaining in
4 road. The potted places are imme-
diately filled and drained, right up to
4 the front line almost.
1 "As far as being able to orient ones
SELF. think from now on can drive
4 blindfolded any place IN the United
States. as most of my driving on the
front has been at night, and the roads
don't have lights and neither dc the
! trucks and other vehicles coming in
Il 1ppposite directions. We aretnot al
l Aovad to use the Klaxon horns as this
Dc the methQQ employed Ior a gas
j alarm Sometimes really wonder
1 how we get through with it all, but it
shows how person can become &C
icustomed to most anything, and we
1 train ourselves to see in the dark
/ Big Road Plan Imminent.
That big road plan is near at
hand in this country is the opinion of
many leading highway advocates.
Chairman George c. Diehl Of the
A. A A. good roads board summarizes
the idea in this manner:
"One hundred million dollars q year
3appropriated by the federal govern
1ment on a definite, tangible national
highway system will work wonders
in the form of from five to ten thou
isand miles Of splendid highway. made
up partly OF sections already suffi-
3cfert in quality. partly in sections to
repair, partly of sections rebuilt anG
1partly of entirely new construction
3State and local appropriations will be
3encouraged. and these subdivisions,
jlargely because OF federal roads. wiz
Enormously increase road expendi-
1tures."