New-York tribune., 1918-06-09
Delays to Motor Trucks
Hauling Supplies Fair
ly a Reasonable Act
By r. Fl. Johnston

If bands OF armed men in the employ
of Germany were rowing the main high
ways of the country and were holding
up for hours at time motor trucks
loaded with war supplies and food
supplies, would there not be q Juror,
The President would send a special
message to Congress; Congress would
Immediately enact some emergency leg
islation and the entire resources of
the country would be pledged to q
suppression Of such outrages.
What are the facts? Trucks loaded
with foo9 and munitions, in transit be-
tween our principal cities, are being
heid up every day for hours at p
t'me and are being seriously damaged
These hold-ups, however, are not due
to the forces of General Hindenburo
ea% are caused by General Neglect All.
'hough the disastrous results to the
war programme are the same, no one in
hlgh authority seems at ali concerned
ana each day conditions grow worse
and hold-ups increase in nnmher ana
in duration.
'or example, the main highway he.
tween Baltimore and Philadelnb;s
running through our most important
Snlpouilding and munitions-makinp
sectlon' is in disgraceful condition
particularly that portion Of the h;ob.
way which lies within the State Of
Delaware. The Maryland portion q,
the highway is in fairly good condition
out few motor trucks can make tn.
TRIP between Baltimore and Philadel
phia without being held up somewher.
IN ehe State of Delaware, either by be-
ing, mired or by breaking some part.
have recently made two trips owe,
this road in my White 16-valye tour
ing car and each time l have seer
twenty or thirty trucks broken dowr
or stuck in the mud on the thirty-mil.
! stretch running north and souti
through the State Of Delaware. II
general, the roads through the Stat.
OF Delaware are of two classes-frst
! roads which become so soft every tim,
1t rains that motor trucks sink in to the;,
axles, and, second, old macadam road
which are so rough and so full of hole,
that no vehicle can pass over then
without receiving a terrific shakin.
up. The most discouraging phase O.
the situation is that only in one O,
two very limited sections are ther,
signs of any intention to repair tn.
roads.
Delaying Ship Work
Let me give typical illustration o.
the way these disgraceful road con
dltlons affect our war preparations. Or
one Of our recent trips we saw a FIVE
ton truck which had become hopelessl,
mlreo at one side of the road. Thi.
s,ucK mad turned toward the side O.
.ne road to allow another truck to gs
| Dy' ana the side of the road had cavee
IN, allowing the truck to slip into the
ditch at the side This truck wa,
Loaded with cylinders Of acetylene oa,
1or welding purposes, which had bee,
sent sent from a plant in Maryland on ,
hurry call" to a shipbuilding plan
near Philadelphia. 1-'
When We saw the truck it had bee,
there for eighteen hours. There is n,
doubt that in the meantime importan
operations in the shipyard were bein,
held up owing to the non-receipt q
the acetylene tanks. When this ac
cldent happened it had not raine.
1or nearly a week. Imagine what tn,
conditions are after heavy rainfall
A few days ago l read that "moto,
trucks We're racing from Baltimore.
carrying to New York some refrigerat
ing machinery to replace machiner7
winch had been destroyed by fire in ;
great cold storage plant which wa,
filled with perishable food for our army
l am very certain that the machiner,
did not reach New York at the time !.
was expected, and quite probably mo-
until all the food in the warehouse ha,
spoiled. ''1'
1t was bad enough in times Of peac,
that the main highways connecting oul
principal seaboard cities should hav.
been in poor condition To put the cast
mildly, 1t is certainly giving aid ane
comfort to the enemy" that. in tims
OF war, one of our most important in
terclty highways should be allowed t,
become almost impossible for moto,
trucks. What are our public authori