Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-01-03
nr NO EAT CONTRACTS

| FdUutl ~ lhUHt 'ullpf VI WV
| Railway Age Gazette. ma ono OF tho
foremost authorities on transportation
problems In this country, wag an nd
vocnte OF better highways and good,
M ..Stantlal roads for freighting pur-
poses hx years ago. practicrlly be-
fore automobile trucks became such
important fadtors In the world OF
transpoItatioo- Hero Is what he
wrote at that tirie In a book on "Thc
American Transport tion Question"
There are facilities FOR tfansporta
ton. the scientific and systematic i'm
proycnent Of which by the federal
and state governments. would reduce
the congestion Of traffic on the rail-
ways and lower the cost ~ trnngporta-
tion without Involving w1Ftful duplI-
cation These are the pubic hlgh-
ways, From about February 20 &c.
tober OF each year the railways have
thousands Of Idle cars. late IN Sop
temhcr ana carly In October the traffic
sweeps on them In deluge. and for
about four months there Ia car
shortage instead of car surplus
Their annual alteuntions OF car sa-
tloty with car famine are due largely
to the condition Of the public high-
ways
In the greater part OF the United
Stntcs the SHOWS and alternate thaws
and freezcs. Of fan ana winter put
the highways in such bad shape that
II Ia hard or impossible 10 pan y
heavily loaded wagon on t'cm. In
conecquence most farmers rush thor
CROPS 20 market soon after harvcat
Al the same time tho railways hayo 10
haul the larger part of the Coal traf-
fic; ma thus they arc rWaupci ItI
the highways were put m good coud
ton the farmers could, hurl their
crops 10 the railway stations more at
their convenience. and tno annual
congestion Of Traffic would be nllc
Waited. The countrys annual hIl FOR
transportation OF the department of
agriculture, estimates. bftor thoro |
investigation. ihut tile average cost
per 100 pounds OF hauling whelt |
from the f1rns to the railway ste
tlons is cents, OF 'haultnf corn, |
cents; of hauling cotton, lG cents: ana |
of hauling oats. cents The average !
length OF the hauls are 20 10 miles. !
The average rall-and ocean rate on
grain from st. Louis VIA New Yorl. |
10 Liverpool ~ less than f. cents per
100 pounds. IT IL obvious that thcra
Is great deal better opportunity 10
reduce the cost of transportation by
improving the public highways than
by improving either railways or
waterways"
The subject Of good roads build
Ing VIII soon he vital ono In Tulsa
county. when the county supervisors
get thru preliminaries and get dow Il
to business. Already advance g1iards
OF paving corporations are Sl.irmish
Ing 60 get In on the ground floor for
fat contracts. They will be told that
there IL going 10 be no ground floor
CONTRACTS In this big paving ioh Tho
people OF Tulsa county voted nearly
E,o0O,c00, not FOR the benofIt OF con
tractors. but for good roads, aud they
are going TO see that they get what
they viii have to pay for. Materials
to be selected must give lasting scrv.
Ice, cleanliness and good holding sur
faces Roads that passenger cars and
freight trucks may use TO olual nd
vantage with farmers or teanlster,
who haut' with mulos or horses.S''
The new highways must be con
etructed to Withstand heat aud ccld.
rnin, and all kinds OF weather condl-
tons which occur In this part OF
the country, They must sustain eight
and tension loads without crushing or
cavins
Tho best and most feasible routes
must he selected and furnished with
feeders. so thnt no portion OF the
country win be sighted. Honest ana
reliably qualified inspectors must ba
employed to sse that overy building
specification Is strictly lived up to
No substitution OF "iust as good ma
terlnls"
In another year Tulsa county should
be one Of inc best paved counties IN
the groot southwest, sand every cltl
zen should be ahlo to point to the