Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1927-01-06

IngCOn SLaLe pOSlCiVcIy tndt Cne Ia
nous "rum row" off the Atlantic
Coast no longer exists. Twenty-Five
destroyers and cutters constitute the
patrol boats, and Rear Admiral Fred
erick B. Billiard, commander of the
Coast Guard, says that photographs
of ships containing liquor supposed
to be on rum row, are fakes. Admiral
Billiard displays charts prepared from
reports of the Coast Guard which
shaw the effective patroling of the At
lantie from Maine to Chesapeake Bay.
'tThere have been practically no IL
auor laden vessels harboring any
where near the North Atlantic coast"
says Billiard, although occasionally a
liquor ship has been located long
distance at sea-"
A few of the wet congressman who
have just been wetting up at home
during the holidays, are insisting on
trying to break down the prohihbi-
ton law because sit is failure"
At the same time the reports by gov
eminent agents in every part of the
country, including cities like Chica-
60, st. Louis and. San Francisco, in
dicate that the liquor traffic is grad
ually declining. Every one Of the
best men in the Federal service en-
phatically insists that temperance is
increasing in all parts of the coun-
try.
To refute all such official reports
the political vets rise up on their
hind legs and cry out, "taint so"
And that is the argument as one hears
it in Washington.
Revolutionizing the Roads
1t is only few years ago that the
United States government embarked
upon a genuine program of helping
to build roads. And it was not many
years before that the States came to
the aid of the counties, and the coun-
ties to the aid of the towns. In the
roaring nineties" when horses and
buggies held sway the responsible
citizens whose prominence extended
beyond their own township limits,
boosted about the county road"
This road usually was an arterial
highway of dirt construction, and
sometimes it was wide enough for
two fiery steeds to pass in opposite
directions without getting ditched, or
lost in the woods. All editors who
ran newspapers in those days still
take pleasure in "reminiscences re-
garding the way in which they advo-
Gated "good roads for the benefit of
the farmers"
The farmer gets his setting in the
present picture because his needs
have been made incidental to auto
mobiles that scoot for pleasure. The
revolution of highway building has
become a system, and all within the
lifetime of present day flappers and
shieks. The federal aid roads have
an aggregate length of more than
$4,000 miles. Hills, mountains and
seemingly impossible barriers have
yielded to the forces of explosives,
and the workmen have laid hard-sur-
faced roads everywhere.
Road building has progressed so
rapidly that it is difficult to keep
track of the methods employed in
construction. The United States Bu-
reau of Public Roads and the state
highway officials have started in an a
well developed plan to cut out the
useless waste that has crept in on
the new industrial undertaking.
The growth of transcontinental
road building is shown by the fact
that there is now a route extending
from the National capital through St.
Louis, Texarkana and Ell Paso to San
Diego which is 81 per cent improved;
and another route from Atlantic City
to Astoria, Oregon, which is seven
Fights improved. Still another high
way is from Boston to Seattle thru
the northern tier Of states and it is
IS per cent improved and SO per cent
surfaced
Ship Building
The decrease in production in es-
adjustments engaged primarily IN
ship and boat building was 1853 per
cent last year. And still there are a
lot of land-lubbers who think that
the American Merchant Marine is rid
ing along on prosperity's wave.
Making the Land Pay
The largest possible production per
acre must be obtained in Europe IN
order to make the land pay, and as a
result the United Kingdom consumes
about 178 pounds of fertilizer to the
acre for all land in cultivation; IN
Germany it is 200 pounds although
it was $50 pounds before the World
War. In Belgium the consumption
is 513 pounds per acre; in Holland
674 pounds.
The argument for fertilizers has
been likened to-and stated as being
the same argument for high-bred
dairy COWS, since up to a certain
weld of butter fat dairy cow is SIM
ply a "boarder" who does not pay
her keep; above that yield she is
Moreover, even cows
e A. h;obest breeding will not pro-