The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-02-16
GOOD ROADS CAMPAIGN.
STATE AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIA
TION UNDERTAKES TO Or
GANIZE SOUTH CARO-
LIMA.
The Purpose OF the Organization is to
Give South Carolina q First Class
Highway System with Permanent
Roads I'm Every County.

securing permanent road construction
or a large scale, the South Carolina
State Automobile Association has
been chartered under the laws OF
South Carolina and is now engaged in
the work of organizing the State. The
officers of State Association who will
serve until the State is organized and
the first meeting held next August.
are A. b. Carter, Greenville, presi-
dent; John A. Law, Spartanburg,
and James ID. Hammett, Anderson,
vice president; o. p. Mills, Greenville,
treasurer; G. w. Cofield, Greenville,
secretar yand general manager. All
these men are well known throughout
the State and stand out as high types
of constructive business men. Mr..
Cofeld spent last year in helping or
ganize the State Of Georgia and he
comes to his work in South Carolina
with a large experience.
1t is the prime object of the State
Association to help organize good
roads and automobile owners asso-
Citations in every city, town and school
district in the State. The State as
sociation will be then simply the
federated head of all the local asso-
Citations. For organization purposes
the State has been divided into ten
districts and each district has been
put in charge of an experienced or
ganizer and good roads worker
The work in the Sumter district,
! comprising Sumter. Lee, Clarendon.
Darlington and Chesterfield counties,
is in charge Of Mr.. C. #. Wootten of
Charlotte, N. c., who came to Sumter
today to begin work. With him came
Mr.. w. X. Sigh of Jacksonville, Fla,
who has had much experience in good
roads matters. Mr.. Sigh is in charge
of the Columbia district but will be
in Sumter for some days.
Mr.. Wootten in speaking OF his
work, said that he had come to this
district to do all in his power to get
good roads and bridges for it, that the
first necessary step was the right kind
of organization, that the main neu-
cleus Of such an organization were
the automobile owners, hence, the 10.
cal associations would be called Au-
tOmobile and Good Roads Associa-
tions. each member of which would
also be a member of the South Caro-
lima State Automobile Association, the
American Automobile Association and
the National Automobile Association.
He said that it would be his duty and
pleasure to tell the people of the i'm
mediate benefits to be had through
membership in these large bodies.
He emphasized that he had chosen
the Sumter district as his field be.
cause he believed it to be the best
district in the State and that he full
ly expected to have the banner asso-
Citations of the State in this district.
Mr.. Sigh characterized this move
ment in South Carolina as possibly the
first great systematic and serious eff
fort in the State to get permanent
roads on large scale. He said South
Carolina could as easily have such
roads as Florida or California, or
Michigan or Maryland or any other
state, If her people will but catch the
vision and determine to realize it. He
said the gas engine was doing more
Tor road construction than any one
other thing; that the automobile own
ers and those who would own them
ii we had proper roads were numeroue
enough to solve the road problem.
That the one thing lacking was svs.
tematic. intelligent organization which
would lead to cooperation over wide
areas. He said we were passing
through u transition period more ran
idly than some people think and that
VIC HiuSt prepare TO meet the chang
ing conditions and the proh,er,s
pressing for solution. That MANY of
these problems waited on the road
problem Solve the road prob,em
ana you have i'm large measure
solved the rural school and
church problems, the back to the
iarm' problem, the food production
problem, the crowded tenement and
SUM problem, etc. Twenty years ago
thls would not have been true. The
morse even on good roads was too
SLOW and too light. Today, give the
gas engine "a firm safe road 365 days
In the year and many of our perplex
ing problems will begin to disa n
pear.