Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-07-29
COUNTRY MUST HAVE ROADS
Money Available but Labor and
Materials Are Lacking
notor Trucks Now Tnking Much Of
short~Itnnl Freight Hitherto Carried
by acknowledgements. Asphalt
ma Bric., suppIanting Maeadnm
(By Frederic J. Haskir)

IL
critical stage. We have a billion dollars
to spend on road building this wear. and
comprehensive program mapped out. but
very littis work is going on. Ir fact II
ts Officially prorhcsicd chat TIE different
states VIII accomplish only L to 20 Der
&C.: ~ "iiat they planned for his year
And while this apathy hangs over -oaa
o3'ti!nc urojtGtS, The roads th?t We lave
hrc .-"i:y t. pieces sc fa.,. that in s,,,r,
place: lou can tair.y ~. their rlva,ins
highways Vat worn bull, to car-v tie
"!o'FhShioned hjEgy. or cv"1 passenger
1otb-cob'l's. collapse '!nier ta., wc;sh Of
"ahrd Hve-ton trucks. ami. AZ -epaitti,g
rt'nds = ono Of .hs things tina. wa ae n
nation refuss 10 bother VITA, some Of
th'ss r'aIf, hAve heroine ~ choppy that
navNati'm II attended, by Actnsi dang.
got 20 i! cniA'n snasckres.
EuNfa arr not seing ,,uii: o. -~ryni~f
:" ;uly oxt.1t row FOR thr Same -cass ms
that iii construction 10 reulrdeSi. Labor
is hiE. and scarce. Materials an, eSpen-
ave. Eut tila,e d.rfcultc- could 10 coped
WITH TSc man, .rodole n IN tranxports.
lion. The ralr1mdo arc around To.oCo
freight cas- abort During -. war. cars
a1d locomotives tina: 30. c1. ~ re csir had
T" ~ sct IN M ridinsh n" 49, = tr; ~
pairs bAiey AVAILABLE 49, hulh "
tong. fpf cs7rri',g fooc and con!. e. that
Whole no 'ot,. ma er,als car, he utilized
FOR rad Nrut, su:idtcs- Is botn slGT and
Tnccttu:i, CDntrhctcTr have for sor.e
time ocid p1cS from ri,J-nr contacts f,r
ces that they viii not re able to fulfill
thctn. ana also beoa,r.> thew are aft"ii
r7ic:s may r, UP further ,e:or~ he job
caii b. firtsh-t'
HoADS URGENTLY NEEDED
II :hc sare OF this setback 80 Plans foe
grter .ycSt war achievements. Is tn fac.
ti,at TO 1ced the r'>aAfs urgently, In the
last iG-pe eour years trucks have
reirnr: 81. remarkably in tra"sIs,ltltlon
difficulties Only the !1cA Of suitatle
h'xt VII IF has .eld them back IRON, taking
over nearly All the short han freight
hitherto earned by tho railroads.
| meter truck stops az q certair print
/ er's ii Baltimore every week and gets tho
copies OF a magazine published here in
Washington. The truck delivers tho
GOODS from the printing plant to the
EDITORS door for a fraction Of what tho
railroad would have to. charge. BY rail
! the shipment would have to be sent to tho
! freight yard by truck, loaded on the train.
unloaded at the Washington yards, loaded
/ IN truck again and sent to the editor.
all of which requires the use of expen-
sive labor
The efficiency Of the truck for hauls of
less than one hundred miles seems to be
pretty well established, Furthermore
! the truck seems to be able to carry al
most anything that a freight car does
| Thus trucks have been outtitted to carry
live stock and produce of various kinds
! Where lines of these trucks operate out
from city farmers within their radius
are made independent of the railroad, and
| land farther from the station is cultvat.
cd The farmer does not have the trouble
| and expense of hauling his produce to the
! cars, and his produce reaches the con-
sumner more quickly hy truck, which ia
A big factor in handling pershable food.
Hoover, you may remember. found that
not less than fifty per cent of the farm
produce Of the country rots on the ground
for lack of transportation. The truck
cannot entirely do away with this waste,
J but when trucks can he used all over the
country the loss will he minimized.
The country needs motor transportation
now Just as il needed railroad transporta.
ton when It was first developed. The
railroads used heavier rails as the bigger
cars and engines became possible. hut
now when the seven -and-a half ton truck
ia produced we have almost no suitable
roads to run il over.
1890 .
LIVE o'>ooNoH inoNh
The big truck is now like ono of the
old dinosaurs. II PUSHES about not quite
fitted to it's surroundings. and unable to
continue existence long unless come adap-
tation is made. Tho difference between
the old monster and the modern motor
truck is that tho dnosaur had to adap;
himself to his environment. whereas the
trucks environment will have to charge
And as man is engineering the truck s
struggle for existence. the necessary
changes in roadwaNs Will or course come
eNonaually,
| Right now. however, only one mile ou'
. o. two hundred Of our rural roads is bull,
. 10 carry heavy traffic, and tho STEADY IN
creaSes OF heavy vchic!cs have been seri'
ously destructive 10 our light roads.
We started out IN this country by build
ing corduroy roads OF logs and dirt rol
= horseback riders. and when VIC outgreN
| those, We used macaifam. which was per
frctly satisfactory until AUTOMOBILES
came along ind 'ook all the dust out 81
the rIacadam leaving The sharp stones
hare Now, over half the rosds plannet
. arc concrete and good many others are
IN be as7halt and brick. ali strong enough
Il properl" designed and kept In repair
To hold up any KIND or Present day tranc
The Bureau &C runlic Eo2A-s las fo
some time beer mA6'ng tc.s 70 Snow nov
various types ot road ~ithstaHd hcaN!
impact Slabs OF Different kinds OF rua'
4 were built at the Arlington exlr'.men
leta hI- ~ ~,