The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1923-05-11
FINE TRIP FROM OLD FLORIDA
TO THE NORTH STAR STATE
MRS. LESLIE COOPER

babe good bye to Mr.. and Mrs. Will
liam Hall and many new friends we
had made during our six months
visit in st. Cloud, Fla. and started
on our homeward trip, arriving in
Mankato April 20, al ten O'Clock.
having made j2,44l miles in seven
teen day. which included our four
days stop at st. Augustine. Rich
mond and Washington. We used
! 1886 gallons of gas, ranging in price
from % to 80 cents. Starting at
ST. Cloud the price was twenty five
cents and increased until il reached
80 cents through the Carolinas,
gradually lowering to % cents at
Waterloo, Iowa. the last filling
place. Our trusty old Nash and
Paige cars did fine work and seem
ed TO possess the happy faculty Of
missing the tacks, bolts and wire
that find their way to the roads. so
our car trouble minimized to one
blow out and one puncture.
and bad. will not come amiss al
this time. Florida gets the cake"
from all the other states for paved
roads. Every city is connected by
pavement, tthere is reason OF
course first and foremost is that
you coulds get no where owing to
the sand, unless the roads were
paved.
We feel like taking off our hats to
| Florida, for il certainly was looking
forward to future greatness of the
state when she made these splendid
roads, through swamps and appar-
emily wasteless lands. For miles
and miles great canals and bitches
were dug to take off the waste wa
ter. Florida is fortunate in having
large mari beds and the roads are
mostly constructed of mari, brick
and asphalt The roads in this state
are built more cheaply than in 9th =
ers, as prison labor is used almost
entirely, and it was common sight
while touring through different parts
to see white men and great gangs
OF negroes in their prison attire
guarded by a pompous cracker,
heavily armed, repairing the roads.
No matter whether the roads are
10 be paved or graveled their up
keep is sure to be expensive, but
after travelling through, sixteen
states, we are firmly convinced that
hard surfaced roads. though more
expensive at first. will not come up
to the high cost of maintenance OF
the graveled roads Of heavy traffic.
| practically all the roads from Flor
ida to Fulton, ILL.,. are hard surfaced.
Lyons and Fulton bridge over the
Mississippi river, is the official gate
way to Iowa and Illinois. Clinton,
Iowa. is just across the bridge from
Fulton. Our first graveled roads
began outside of the city limits of
Clinton and continued until we
reached Mankato. The roads
through Iowa over the Red Ball
| highway land no doubt all other
state highways are the same) were
the worst ever. the only paved
roads were through the large cities
and a stretch of about twelve miles
out Of Cedar Rapids. The rest were
dirt roads of the worst~kind Some
sections were fairly well graded,
but not tiled so that most of the
grades are perfect quadmire OF
mud at this season of the year.
Iowa is no doubt a rich and pros
porous state, Judging from the
farm buildings. Such beautiful homes
up to- date barns and silos. 1t
at once convinces the tourist that
the farmer in this section must be
in the millionaire class and then to
get stuck fast and deep in a mud
hole, perhaps only stone throw
from one of these lovely homes,
convinces you that these farmers
are not progressive even to their
own interests.
1t is certainly the roads that
make or mar the fame of the state
in the minds of the thousands of
tourists who pass its borders and
Iowa has a big black spot on its
| foiYs trrFo hat al 20
the greatness and rank Just be j.
fore crossing the boundry line into
Minnesota the Paige car met its
first waterloo" and went down in
an almost bottomless hole. but the
Nash came to its rescue and soon
had ii out on terra firma once more
and we were on our way once and
were mighty glad TO see village
in the distance, the markings on its
water tank. Lyle" Minnesota
Now we knew we would have grav-
ell roads the rest of the way. We
stopped at Owatonna over night
and after an early breakfast hit
the trail at seven o'clock, expecting
to make the running easy in one
and a half hours. Just before we
ed a mud hole that made the mud
holes in Iowa look like thirty cents
The Paige managed to pull through
but the Nash went down. AS II
was impossible for the Paige to
come back to US, we got the patrol
man to pull us out and we contin
ued on our way with FEAR and
trembling for we were informed
| that there would be fivesor six more
places that were almost impossible
before we reached Mankato. And
we sure found them and | won't
tell how many times the Nash had
to get assistance. i don't believe a
worse piece of road could be found
in the state this time OF the year
than the one from Lake Madison to
Mankato and why it has not been
hard surfaced before is an unsolved
mystery .t a.
On our way home nine tolls
amounted to S3.77. four of which
was across the beautiful ST. Johns
on the main road that tourists
take II is a beautiful structure
completed in 1921 and cost $1,000
600. Is is about three fourth of a
mile in length. the road way is
thirty feet wide with seven foot
on each side. We took the Dixie
! Trail through Florida, the Wood
pecker through Georgia. the South
ern National through the Carolinas
the Old National Road Trail through
Virginia to Chicago Heights the
Lincoln Memorial highway Ito Gin
- DBL