The Mena weekly star., 1921-11-24
GOOD ROAD WORK
 NORTH OF NENA
M l. Bell Directed Splendid Job m Cutting Out Bad Hill-Thad Reid Finishes Cutoff Scott Coun-
 ty Is at It. Too.

Judge H. ". Finger, accompanied bv Sheriff J. 4. Thornton, Dr. C. l.. Baker and C. w. Broyles, county agent. made another inspection trip Tuesday over the Eagle Gap high, wav They found that M. LF Bell with his crew of men had completed the road grem Eagleton to the Folk Scott county line, and the inspectors are unanimous in reporting that MT. Rel not ouiy finished the job, but he has made of # one of the best pieces of road in Polk county, being second only to the Jefferson highway One of the big jobs done by MT. Bell ana his crew. was to build q new road around the hill beyond Eagleton ln- stead of following the old road which had an average grade of per cenl' the new line was run to the Eagle ton school house and thence down the hill. making a road 5000 feet long, graded to IS feet wide at the top, and having an average grade ot To per cent. Forest Ranger Payne m talk ing the levels on the new road found that 800 feet is level, then the grades rgn 100, 100, 200, 400, 400, 300, 100, 200 and 100 feet at l, 2, 5, 4, Q, Q, T, s and 9 per cent respectively. The total cost for labor on this part of the road was $327 with an additional eN- penditure of S2650 for dynamite and lumber.
 Thad Reid, overseer of Acorn town ship. who with his crew of men Is building the road from Acorn north, has finished the cutoff thru the Car mack field and also that thru the Bus-- kirk land, and is now working toward the hill on this side of the Eagleton crossing southward, having reached the top of the hill when the inspection crew was out Tuesday. He was as sisted by Mr. Bell and his crew m fixing a bad place at the topmcst point of the hill where job of good drainage was necessary to get rid oi seepage and storm water.
 The inspectors found that Pearly Bolen and w. B. Whisenhunt were going 1t alone on the Scott county sention of the highway, but arrange ments have been made for meeting of the Blackfork farmers for Satur. day night at which time 1t IS planned to put thru a program to get M. l. Bell to ceme and take charge of tht Scott county work, his work in Poll county having impressed our neigh bors on the north with the fact that he is a real road builder.
 That the improvement of this high way has had it's effect on business II Mena is evidenced by the fact that tho road workers report that one day last week 22 loads of cotton came into Mena. Still on another day 34 autoe' passed the workmen, while when th' work was first started it was an un usual thing to see even one autois attempt to make the trip. On the day ...> inspectors were out l9 loads o1 cotton were headed Menaward. Ye' another evidence of the improvement in the highway is the fact that or Tuesday in making the home tril Doctor Baker drove from the For est Ranger station to Mena in on, hour and five minutes, distance o. about IS miles.
 The total cost of the improvement thus far approximates $4500, and o1 that amount S4,000 has been paid ou' of the county auto fund, the remain. ing $500 having been subscribed by Mena business men. This, however does not take into consideration ths labor that was donated by the men al work in the several crews and by those in the Eagleton and Ricf mountain communities. Judge Fin ger reports that he has gone the limit on the expenditure of county auto fund, but that in order to complete the stretch of Il miles of mountain road, making the connection between the cutoff in the Buskirk farm and the Eagieton hill, $5oG more is necessary It would seem that Mena business men could make no better investment than to see that Judge Finger has this addition of $500 to complete the <..h