The Delta independent., 1919-10-24
THESE ROADS OF OURS
(By A. C. McClanahan)

(By A. C. McClanahan)
We know, of course, when We leave
the ranch and venture upon Delta
County road that by no chance shall
we ever get to Hoboken, but we are
fairly certain, unless the roads are
worse than usual. that by Christmas
we shall be in hell, heaven, or Delta.
Between the ranch and Delta there
are possibilities of twisted axles, bent
springs, and broken necks. There are
probabilities of broken engagements
ruined regulations. and lost souls
There are certainties Of stalled cars,
blown out tires, and ruined horses.
But there are no surprises.
Only the unexpected can excite sur
prise. and there is no abomination on
any road in Delta County that is un-
expected by anyone who has ever
travelled on a Delta County road. we
have been taught by eight years OF
uniformly narrowing experience to ex-
pect on any Delta County road exactly
what we invariably find. We may
smash our cars or kill our horses or
break our backs in travelling from the
ranch to Delta. but by no possibility
shall we be able to impart to the haz-
ardous adventure any Of the glamour
Of novelty. We have sustained all
these disasters so often that there
is In them nothing that is new or uh
familiar They are as stale. ana
therefore as uninteresting and un
profitable, as the hackneyed phrases
in which every new candidate for the
office OF county commissioner promis-
es to do better than his predecessor
has done.
We have got rather into the habit
of promising. One wonders sometimes
II we have not become so addicted TO
the habit of promising things to our
selves that we get from the promise
itself the same qualification that 9th
er communities. not so addicted get
from the fulfillment of the promise
We have promised ourselves beet
sugar factory on nineteen several oc-
casions, and we have no beet sugar
factory vet. II we had one we should
no, be able to haul beets TO 1t profit
ably over the existing roads.
We began to promise ourselves
railroad OF standard gauge over Mar
shall Pass so long ago that the hrst
wooden ties that gave to the promise
a Fictitious credibility have since rot
ted beside the track; but no change
mas been made in the gauge OF the
railroad We still ship our freight oy
way of Grand Junction and travel
that way ourselves unless. in par
oxysm Of thrift we essay TO save six
dollars by Drawing the perils of the
Pass in n palace car" whose COM
pressed discomforts cost nfty-four
cents In addition to the regular fare.
We have promised ourselves hospi-
tails which we grievously need but
which we could not reach from tne
country without incurring more dan
ger on the road than we would escape
In the hospital.
Finally. our whole policy in regard
TO country roads has become one OF
nernetual promise. This perennial
promise. which is hoary with age
is becoming tougher and more inde-
structible with each added year. It's
proyed durability has led persons In
official positions to suppose that the
promise of decent roads VIII bear
more traffic than the decent roads
themselves would bear. And ! think
II will. II Is tougher than tarvia'
smoother than asphalt, more durabie
than concrete.
But no one can get anywhere on a
road of promises except the politician
who builds II. and he only to political
goals. What have we got out OF any
OF our promises that cbie-minded
child might not get out OF his day
dreams, or an opium smoker out OF
his pipe dreams. or a drunkard out OF
n spree? They are all seeking by
spurious methods to obtain pleasures
of an illicit kind. They are all abus-
ing themselves by an artificial ttiiia'
tion Of the imagination with images
of unreality. What we want Is not
the unearned felicity obtainable by
faith in falsehoods or addiction to
drugs but the satisfaction OF getting
the realities OF which we have so
long had the promise
And we can get them. There is ab-