The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-09-08
A CRY FOR HELP.
Burlington and Surrounding Towns in
Need Of Better Roads.

Vermont has been so busy helping to
care for Macedonia and other charitable
institutions in the old world that we
have reached point where we are in
danger of seeing our own state become
highway missionary station. We are
almost heathenish in our neglect OF roads,
particularly in the large centers Of pop
/, ulation.
This is as true of Burlington as of
Vergennes and Bennington aad other
places on both sides of the mountain
line. Indeed, il there is any community
in Vermont with more disgraceful APP
proaches to it from every direction than
| Burlington. we have vet TO learn OF that
undiscovered country"
The suggestion has been made that the
road from Burlington to Shelburne has
passed beyond the point where it can be
dealt with by the state highway depart
ment. Only the state board of health
can deal adequately with the whole stu
alton and secure a remedy. It is even
intimated that it may be necessary FOR
the state board OF health to call in sur
geons TO perform a trepanning operation
on the road authorities of Burlington
and adjoining towns of South Burlington
and Shelburne in order TO get under their
skulls the ideas essential to the sdop-
ton of modern methods of road construc-
tion and maintenance. The same thing
might be said relative to Colchester, Will
liston and that part of Essex near
enough to Burlington TO have become
contaminated Excellent roads are to be
found in various directions, but the long
stretches of abominably shell torn high
ways are SO difficult Of navigation that
one forgets utterly the good highways
wholly obscured to the mentality of all
tourists.
We are thus sowing tares instead of
wheat for all future crops of summer
visitors, to say nothing of the unborn
generations of Vermonters yet to come
into the world with an incipient curse
upon their lips for the forebears who
iolted to death on rough and ribbed stone
corduroy roads that would make the
old time log road feel smooth and vel
vet like in comparison.
It is not yet too late for State High
way Commissioner Bates and State En-
gineer Mcintosh to come to the rescue
of the weakling centers of population
in Vermont, and especially the greatest
weakling apparently Of all, 1.-THE alleged
Queen city. If it is necessary to call in
the services of the state board of health,
well and good Do it. If in addition
it is necessary to supplement the forces
Of sanitation and highways by calling
out whatever militia can be found in the
state, we would hold up both hands and
yours also for that measure of desperate
necessity.
ii anybody under the sun thinks our
picture of local road conditions leading
in and out of Burlington-is overdrawn,
he she or they should drive from Bur-
| linrton to Shelburne. If they want to
enioy the other kind of roads let them
next take run to Grand Isle county
and fairly sail on land via roads smooth
and well kept in every way, made al
most entirely of gravel of the lake shore
brand.
In paraphrase of the words of jew
ish LAWYER. astounded at the size of fee
his colleague in a great case exacted
| from a client. almost thou persuadest
me to be Christian" we would say,
Almost we are persuaded to move to
Grand Isle county to remain Chris
tiaR." or for the mere sake of skipping
the stone and admaantine corduroy over
which one must bump for miles to get in
and on: OF Burlington, that tends to un-
Christian thinking.
State Commissioner Bates, help, or a
host Of Fermonters perish from excess
sive road shock!-BurlingtOn Free Press.