Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1921-09-30
GOOD ROADS ESSAY
AWARDS ANNOUNCED
WII.LMAR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS
PAPER RATED BEST BY MN
NESOTA JUDGES

Anna Overgaard, Wlllmar high
school student, is the Minnesota win
ner in the "Good Roads and Highway
Transport essay contest for the ma
tional prize scholarship offered by Har.
ry S. Firestone, state judges announced
this week.
Miss Overgaard's essay follows:
Good Roads and Highway Transport
Transportation is the soul OF com
merce and our highways are indlspen
sable factors in our commercial ana IN
dustrial system. They are, as President
Harding says, "not only feeders to the
railroads and afford relief from loca
burdens, they arc actually lines OF mo
tor traffic in interstate commerce.
At present, possibly ten per cent OF
road construction is under eng ineerlne
supervision, a condition resulting II
enormous wastes. The government, IN
order to construct permanent highways
at a minimum waste, must secure the
aid of educated and efficient engineers
The character of road building is
changing. Thomas Macdonald, chief
Of the Federal Bureau Of Pubic
Roads, estimates that during the past
four or five years, the increase in tho
vehicle-mile use Of the roads has peer
five hundred per cent in agriculture
communities, and one thousand per cen
in the more densely populated districts
Likewise, he asserts that the speed anc
weight Of the vehicles has increased
enormously. These are the factors thai
demand more substantial roads:
The problem of transporting farm
nroducts from the farm to the consumer
il a vital one. Government reports
prove that farmers lose three hundred
million dollars annually in marketing
their crops, because of bad roads. COCO
roads tend to eliminate waste because
wavsidc markets could be cstabllshe {
where city housewives could BUY 1re:'
foods first hand and cheaper than II
the CITY. Furthermore, by bringing tho
rroduccr and consumer into closer anc
more direct relationship, the middle
man will no longer be able to concea
his nrofts in a roundabout system OF
transportation.
Motor trucks have not reached then
maximum usefulness. For example
they could take the place OF the ra'l
road in tho so-callcd "short haul"
However. the Public Utilities Com
missions of the various states viii no,
be willing to relieve the railroads OF
this responsibility Until an equally re
liable substitute can be found. But, as
yet. our highways are in no condltlo1
Ia hear the traffic which the shor
haul would inflict upon them.
The American Road Builders Assoc1a
+;on has a billion dollars for road con
struction in 1921 This would reduce
bad mileage considerably besides giving
work to thousands unemployed.
Mineral resources, when once con
sumed, cannot be replaced. Andrew
Carnegie estimates that, at our rate Of
consumption, the present supply OF
workable ones will be gone long before
the end of the present century. High
way transportation will help save ou1
iron resources.
:. Good highways develop country in
dustrially, socially and politically. The
Roman empire maintained it's unity To-
centuries largely through it's splendid
system Of hig hways The Great Ma
tional Highway, built in the early par
of American history united the east ant
the west. A republic such as ours car
exist only by close unity and co-opera
ton. The highways will serve this
purpose. Urban and rural districts
must be brought into closer contact
thus creating greater intelligence ane
a better understanding of mutual prob
lens. In fact, Americas true great
ness in the future will be determines
largely by the construction of an AIDE
ouate system Of public highways.