Smyrna times., 1924-07-09
ADDRESS BY GENERAL Dupont
Presentation of Road Formally Made
To the State of Delaware

General dupont in formally pre-
senting the highway to Governor
Denney said:
"TO our Governor, distinguished
guests, and, l was going to say,
ladies and gentlemen, but l will say
instead, Delawareans and friends:
81 hardly know what to say on an
occasion of this kind, and personally |
would much rather the people of Del
aware had not gone to such trouble
and done so much for me, because l |
know l cannot, in words, thank them |
adequately for all they have done.
"You must know that it is so much |
appreciated and creates such a deep
feeling in my heart that it is with |
difficulty that | can say anything at |
all.
ever since | was nineteen years
old l have advocated and built, i'm
proved and repaired highways to
make transportation more econOmi-
cal, and | think little story of what
might have been the starting point
Of my interest in good roads may en-
tertain you.
"AmOng the first jobs l had was
assistant engineer of a coal mine in
small town in Western Kentucky.
This mine sold and delivered all the
coal consumed in the town. As it
was a new town, there were no roads.
Frequently in the winter and spring,
it would take four mules to deliver
half ton of coal to the residents of
the town. 1t was part of my duties
to look after the teams of the COM
pany and layout the work for them
Near the mine there was a very bad
mud hole that could not be avoided;
and one day in early spring, there
were more coal orders than usual.
early in the morning one of the
teams, and l think the first load got
stuck in this mud hole. The second
load got stuck, so that on the next
load, got some poles and blocks
with which to pry the wagons out of
the hole. After doing this for per-
haps two or three hours, it suddenly
occurred to me that it would be more
economical to fix the hole than to
continue lifting wagons out of it.
The next load of coal that came along
got stuck, too. put this load d(worth
in those days $1.25 per ton delivered), ,
into the hole. We had no more
trouble with that hole all winter and
| found that wherever the cOmpany's
teams had to go through mudhOleS
continuously, it was cheaper to re-
pair the road and save strain on wa
gons, breaking Of harness and single
trees, beating Of the mules and keep
ing the drivers from using words
that are not taught in Sunday school,
than it was to go through the mud
holes.
"In those days, the coal that went
through 3-4 inch screen was car
ried away in carts and dumped until
there were acres and acres of what
then was called slack (now called
pea coaD, spread around the mining
district. By putting an extra cart on
| found | could dump the slack on
, the roads and make good roads neal
the mines.
= Later the village hired two carts
and the road was extended. Ther
in a year or two, combining with the
village, the company instead Of vast.
ing this slack at a cost of So or 81
a day, paid $S or $40 a day, and the
town SO or $40, and put on more
teams. In two years all the streets il
the town were Stacked and made
Z passable. The money put into thesC
roads by the little village was,
:, think, more economically and ad
vantageously spent than any othe
money spent by the village. This wa
in 1883 and 1884. was building
t roads forty years ago.
"Having spent much of my child
{ hood along the banks of the Brandy
y wine ever since l can remember, ant
Il many of my holidays while at schoo
= and college, among my relatives alonl
e the Brandywine and in Delaware,
I was just as much my home as wa
i Kentucky. / always had a grea
fondness for Delaware and thong
some day if l ever made good,
would come back here. This wa
N realized, as most of you know, almos
N quarter of a century ago. Feelin
'e that l would like to do somethin
~ that would be of real value to Dela
ware, 1 conceived the road from Wi
:. mington, to the Maryland line nea
II Selbyville. My motive was so littl
N understood at that time that l wa
g prevented by lawsuits and local OF
e position from turning over to Dela
IS ware ten years ago the road that
am presenting today.
ie "The first thirty or thirty-five mile
of the road was surveyed and con
u structed in practically straight line
q by the Boulevard Corporation, wit
u which the citizens Of Delaware ha
e no connection.
s "About this time the Delawar
N | TAUieiafupa craafod a Hioshuroxy Co,,