Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1922-10-12
Our Rural Problems Discussed

town to town? What we must get
is more mileage to relieve our out
living rural sections and permit
these people to get to town occa-
sionally to escape from the deadly
monotony of their lives. We must
have roads that can be travelled on
! 365 days in the year, but we don't
need boulevards.
If we are to keep our rural popu-
! lation from dwindling further we
must recognize the social element.
Our rural churches are running
down and many of them are being
abandoned; surely we do not want
that to continue. Our rural schools
are lacking in the attendance they
had some years back. Many physi-
clans are no longer willing to live
! in rural sections and endure the
hardships inflicted upon them by
the impossible roads of winter.
Neighborhood calls, grange meet
ings, an occasional trip to town so
that the children may see the NOV
| les and get an ice cream soda-all
! these things, and more, will come to
your mind to urge the necessity of
| building roads for the country peo-
pie. One lady told me that she had
/ to do her Christmas shopping in
| October because she never was sure
of getting out again until the fol-
! lowing May. Virtually in prison
for one-half of the year, guilty of
nothing except living in the coun-
! try-isn't that a crime and blot
upon our boasted civilization?
| Nnur f0p fow xrordo ohnr,t tho
cost of roads now building in Ohio:
brick and concrete roads have been
built at cost of about $4,000 a
mile; macadam roads, which wear
out in little more than year and
have to be resurfaced, cost $4,000
mile. We have just finished
building 4 " miles of road in Musk
ingum county at cost of $272, 900,
about 100000 mile Three miles
of road are now building in Jeffer-
son county at 100000 a mile, and
three miles out of Cleveland at
$150,000 a mile-nearly h..lf mil
lion dollars spent on miles of
road. Are you astonished now that
we do not get our rural roads built?
These roads are said to be per-
manent, but they are not perma-
nent l heard a speech at Marietta
ON February %, delivered by State
Highway Commissioner Herrick in
which he said that the state now
had completed 5000 miles of the
O,0OO miles in the main market
and intercounty system, and then
he made the astonishing statement
that out of the $12,OOO,0O0 handled
nine million dollars had been used
the previous year by his department
for the maintenance and repair of
roads already built.
Do you realize that that is an
average of $4,000 a mile spent in
one year to repair the thirty to fiji
ty thousand dollar a mile roads re-
Gently completed? The repair bill
alone would build our gravel roads
for us. If three-fourths Of our
money is now going into repairs
and only one-third of our state and
county system is now complete do
you not see how impossible it is for
us to get any relief for our rural
sections unless we drastically
change our system of road build
ing?
Before / close I must tell you |
vision / have for the future. We
have marvellous scenic beauty in |
this part of the state. Our old |
Marietta road, one of the first roads
laid in Ohio, running over High Hill |
in this county, and cutting across
Morgan county, hitting into the riv-
er at Beverly, has scenery that has
often been compared to the Berk-
shires. Why should we not capita
lize that beautiful scenery by build
ing fine gravel road it's full
length, and bring in tourist travel
for hundreds of miles? Y
With that l would have built a
good gravel road from GAINESVILLE
through McConnelsville to Marietta
along the Muskingum river. This
river scenery is far-famed for it's
beauty. Sir Harry Lauder, the
Scotch comedian, who came up the
etta last winter, told me that he
ind Lady Lauder thought 1t was as I
pretty scenery as they had ever ;
'een-and they have travelled all
over the world.
shall be glad to have you use /;
Tour influence in behalf OF gravel
'oads and to aid me in getting the
)eople of the rural sections into an
understanding of the impossibility
If their getting relief from their s
road conditions unless q
ome such plan as propose is Il
ldopted. I have been doing all IL
an do, but / need the backing of I
uch men of influence as yourself \
nd others who can help us to get a
he people away from the wasteful {
nethods heretofore purs,ied in the,
uilding OF roads. ss1fF-sssass
Very truly y6tifs, la
i. Rss kNlEy 4 AN1TNTspIF +