The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-06-08

A Pioasef u Psss0hsl Transportation.

ignored BY this man With biz ide.
to which he stuck throughout hia
whole ltfa.
To NJ. Ratchelder more thar n
any other individual, the motorists
Of the country owe 1 great debt Of
gratitude for the improved, sim
marked, and charted highway ~.
TENS Of the United States. Exper.
lance abroad convinced Mr., Batch.
elder. th9t one thing IN which H.
United States vas backward vns
properly made, maintained ana
charted roads, and to him as much
~, to any one man is due credit for
making the present situation IN
this respect tremendous improve
ment over that Of the not very re-.
FL Federal Road Plan.
Mr.. Eatchelder's most recent am.
bition was the creation by the fed.
eral government Of a national roads
system. This system he wanted 10
have under the direction and super.
vision Of q federal highway com.
mission. This plan had progressed
TO the point where Senator Town
send Of Michigan had introduced ,
bill embodying Mr.. BatcheIder's
ideas. This was the first official
step toward the realization of this
plan.
Mr.. Batchelder had a summer
place on Baltusrol Mountain, near
Summit, New Jersey. His friends
and associates in the A. A. A. are
now formulating a plan to have the
crude road over the mountain made
into q fine road, Of the type for
which Mr.. Batchelder was ALWAYS
fighting. "Batchelder Highway.
as it will be called if the plan in
carried out, will be the memorial
to this pioneer Of good road-build-
ing.
Just as he turned to the automo.
bile and saw its possibilities in its
early days; so Mr.. Batchelder saw
in the atrplane another engine for
the humiliation Of time and space.
for bringing remote portions Of the
country more closely together, and
eventually the large use Of air.
planes for passenger and freight
transportation. He had visions Of 4
system Of national highways, run
ming the length and breadth of the
land. making a veritable gridiron
of the United States. This would
be not alone for automobiles. a.
though primarily intended for their
use.
Mr.. Batchelder contended that by
having landing fields alongside
these national highways at frequent
intervals, where supplies could be
obtained and damages repaired,
airplanes could follow these roads
in regular flights of any length.
The hazard Of forced landings in
unsuitable territory would thus be
much reduced.
Mr.. Batchelder's interest in aer-
onautics was far from being purely
academic. He had taken many
flights as passenger. In February
last he narrowly escaped death in
an attempted flight from New York
to Miami in a big seaplane.
This machine alighted in Pamlico
sound to replenish its gas tanks.
The hose from the wharf through
which the tanks were being filled
was trifle short, and a good deal
of gasoline got on the machine. A
native, strolling up to see the Blk
plane. smoking a cigaret, care
lessly Set fire to the plane.
In a moment the machine was A
mass OF flames.. Mr.. Batchelder and
the other persons in the plane es-
capped death only by leaping over
board and swimming away from the
blazing plane. This was the longest
flight Mr.. Batchelder had attemnt-
ed.
The men with Mr.. Batchelder In
the big Curtis Eagle ambulance
plane when all met their deaths
were enthusiasts Of the same TYPE,
sharing many Of his ideas.