The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1922-03-02
POLK COUNTY MOTOR
CLUB is ORGANIZED

The Polk County Motor Club will
MAY an important part in motor high
way TRANSPORT in this State as this
county is i'm a geographic location
that makes this necessary according
20 the views Of Field Secretary Chas.
OCOnnor Of the A. A. A.. who com
Nletcd the organization Of the club
here last night
Due principally to the activities Of
The 800 A. A. \. direct branch clubs
Z in the North and West the greatest
highway building campaign IN the
history Of the world is now under
way. he gives some very interesting
"iatistics.
Tie last congress pressed a btll civ.
: q reventy-fve million to BE- spent ON
through routes ont Of his BUDGET
iauuacy Let this wear. Florida Wa,
awarded SSS6S25.G9.
To Thousand seven hundred motor
trucks were turned over by the gov.
eIrment to be used in highway worl;
md more than one and a quarter bL
lion dollars the available this year
for road and street construction.
North Carolina voted fiftv million,
South Carolina is considering fifty
million and the various counties o.
Florida about nineteen million.
The Florida State Road Department
last year had one and a quarter mil
lion for construction and $350.0G0 for
maintenance. whereas this year they
have over five million and following
the A. A. A. conference of January .
and the road department has been
particularly active on State Road No.
y, which is the southwest Florida
rain route that is possible to be put
in good condition this year, and it Is
the intention of the A. A. A. to estab-
lish good roads branches in every
county on State Road No. 2 from Ft.
Myers to Lake City and thence on to
Chicago.
In order that the people of Polk
county might better realize the great
driving force behind this highway
construction plan Mr.. O'Connor gives
the statistics of the automobile in
dustry. He states there are now 36S
plants employing 925,000 men with a
yearly production of cars and trucks
of 2,205 1877, valued at over three and
a half billion dollars; 900 firms max
bred million; 1000 firms making tires
with a production of thirty-fve mil
! lion q year valued one billion; $500
auto and truck distributors. January
there were 9.211.295 cars in opera
ton and last year they consumed over
three and a quarter billion gallons OF
! gasoline.
Over 20 per cent of the car owners
of the United States and Canada are
over 1000 miles nearer Florida than
I California therefore under a proper
system of road construction and Of
putting standardized service on the
J highways Florida will get more win
ter motor tourists than California al
though the state now gets ten times
as many motor tourists.
The same plans that have proven
so successful in bringing the mo-
florists to California and now being
put in effect on the two main through
routes from Chicago and New York
/ to Florida.
We of the A. A. A. predict, he
states, that because of this system
the motoring to Florida will he more
/ than doubled next season and he fur
Their states the average motOrist
spends 60 more days in Florida than
does the train tourist because he
comes earlier remains longer and be-
cause of having his own means of
transportation he sees and appre-
cates more of the State.
The Polk County Motor Club will
be worth millions of dollars to the
county and will be in position to rem
der genuine money saving service to
every car owner and tax payer in the
county, and every car owner is urged
to get in touch with the secretary, H,
D. Washburn, at the Elks Hotel, and
learn how to become members and so
60 their part in helping not only Polk
county but the whole State of Florida
besides save himself money.
Twelve hundred members are eX-
pected in this county.
A. A. A. branches are now firmly
established since January in st. Pet
ersburg. Clearwater, Tampa, Lake
land, FIT. Myers, Miami, Daytona, st.
Augustine and Jacksonville and one is
being perfected at Lake City.