The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-23
Frederic Haslkin's Letter


Washington, D. C., July z1.-Ths
road situation In this country =
reaching = critical stage We hsve
& billion dollars to spend on foee
building this year. and . compre-
hensive program mapped out. but
very little work Is going ON. In
fact, y is officially prophesied that
the differedt states viii accomplish
only is to 50 per cent Of what they
planned for this year.
And while this apathy hangs over
road building projects. the roads
that We have are going to pieces 90
fast that in some places you can
fairly see them raveling. Highway
that were built to carry the Cd
fashioned buggy, or even passen.
ger automobiles, collapse under the
weight Of loaded 5-ton trucks, and.
as repairing roads Is one Of the
things that We as . nation refuse
to bother with, some Of these roads
have become SO choppy that IaviSa.
ton is attended by actual danger
not to mention seasickness.
Roads are not being built or re-
paired to any extent now for the
same reasons that all construction
is retarded. Labor Is high and
scarce. Materials re expensive
But these difficulties could be COPIED
with. The main trouble is trans
portation. The railroads are around
10000 freight cars short During
the war, cars and locomotives that
got out of repair had to be set OF
on sidings, no labor for repairs
being available. The bulk OF freight
cars that are running are requisi-
toned for carrying food and coal,
SO that where no local materials
can be utilized for road work, build
ing is both slow and uncertain.
Contractors have for some time
held back from making contracts
for fear that they will not be able
to fulfill them, and also because
they are afraid prices may 60 up
further before the job can be fin
ishd.
Roads Urgently Needed.
In the face Of this setback TO
plans for great postwar achieve
ments, is the fact that we need the
roads urgently. In the past three
or four years trucks have helped
out remarkably in transportation
difficulties. Only the lack of suit
able highways has held them back
from taking over nearly all the
! short haul freight hitherto carried
by the railroads.
A motor truck stops at certain
printers in Baltimore every week
and gets the copies Of q magazine
published here in Washington. The
truck delivers the goods from the
printing plant to the editors dool
for fraction Of what the railroad
would have to charge. BY rail the
shipment would have to be sent te
the freight yard by truck, loaded or
the train, unloaded at the Washing.
ton yards, loaded on a truck agar
and sent to the editor, all of which
requires the use Of expensive labor
The efficiency Of the truck fol
hauls Of less than one hundred
miles seems to be pretty well es
tablished. Furthermore, the trucl
seems to be able to carry almost
anything that a freight car does
Thus trucks have been outfitted t.
carry livestock and produce of Va
rious kinds. Where lines Of thes,
trucks operate out from q cit!
farmers within their radius ar
made independent of the railroad
and land farther from the station
is cultivated. The farmer does no
have the trouble and expense o
hauling his produce to the car
and his produce reaches the con
sumer. more quickly by truck
which is . big factor in pandlinl
perishable food. Hoover, you ma,
remember, found that not less thai
SO per cent Of the farm produce O
the country rots on the ground TO
lack of transportation. The trucl
cannot entirely do away with thi
waste, but when trucks can b,
used all over the country the los
will be minimized.
The country needs motor trans
portation now just as it neede'
railroad transportation when it wa
first developed. The railroads use,
heavier rails as the bigger car
and engines became possible, bu
; now, when the seven-and-a-hal
ton truck is produced, we hav
almost no suitable roads to run
lover.
The Dinosaur Truck.