Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-12-28
SAYS ARIZONA
HIGHWAY PLAN
PROMISES MUCH

Forecasting that the Inauguration of
q highway commission system in Ari-
I zona according to it's present plans
and in line with the policy of all the
states that have made outstanding
success of their highway construction
and development will be the greatest
! forward step that the state has yet
taken in it's highway work, Harry
Locke of the Locke Good Roads Map
Publishing company, who has been in
Douglas for a few days, paid high COM
pliment to the commission in talking
Of the matter yesterday. Locke, whose
business headquarters are in Los An
geles, has been in Arizona for some
! ,ime checking and rechecking roads
that will appear in his next issue Of
his maps. Much of the time he has
passed with his headquarters in Phoe-
nix He has conferred with the COM
mission on matters of state interest in
/, highways and he says that he has
been impressed with the fact that this
board CT directors of Arizona's road
business" are a conscientious and fair
minded lot of men WHO want to pro-
mote that policy which will mean the
greatest progress in the states devel-
opments.
Roads are a prime necessity if you
are to get the tourist business" said
Locke. Tourists are cash customers
and it might be- mentioned tourists, |
in common with all other people, are
looking over higher and finer sight
when they look at roads than ever
before. You must put quality intol
your road 10 make it attract.
And in that connection, Douglas has
very favorable position for the trans
continental traffic, for it is o fact that
Arizona gets the major portion of that
traffic a. this season of the year and
Of that major portion, Douglas Sc
cures very satisfactory fraction. That
/ is based on the simple fact that cli-
! mate favors your city for even now
! there is snow in the north part of
| Arizona while right here the automo-
biles are going alone without road diff
ficulty To hold the business you have
and to increase it, requires constant
vigilance in road improvement.
"Hcre is an item that will interest
| people here. Yuma has the largest
| tourist travel both into and out OF
| California of any gateway between the
!
it's full share. That is due to the fact
that highway 80 is a favored link IN
the transconeinental Tour and that
comes through Douglas.
"To insure to Douglas, Tombstone
and Tucson the continued patronage
in this travel there must be consider
ed and finally brought to realization
the completion of paved highway
from Tucson to Chandler by way OF
LaPalma, Randolph and Coolldge
| which will be required in no distant
! future with the development OF the
Casa Grande valley that will come
with the completion of the Coolidge
dam
'sRoad development, not only Tor
I tourist travel but for every other COM
! munity interest is the greatest single
force that is helping to put the state
! and he nation on a constantly hlgherd
plane. 1t has brought the people to-
a better understanding of each other,
because it has made travel possible
and with travel came acquaintance. Lett
me cite a case that your readers will
understand. Years ago 1 resided at
Bisbee and know wha5 the conditions
| were when trip between the two
cities any other way than the train
was a hard experience and trip by
train took too much time. There was
a jealousy between the cities because
! they didn't unders and evlch other.
Good roads came What happened?
I The people of the two cities got
acquainted and now they are working
! with mutual interest in each other
and they believe in each other.
Our schools used to be scattered
about the country in the so-called lit
tie red school houses and the girls and
bows went to school when they could
and the teachers did the best they
| could to educate them. Then came
good roads and the school bus. The
red school houses gave way to the.
consolidated school and today we have
| not a district school but an institution
with faculty and equipment and the
boys and girls are being educated
$50 the thing for Arizona people to
do is to keep their road sights raised
high enough to insure their roads will
be so good they will attract the tour
ist as he goes through. Let him see
that the state has roads to offer and
he will look about to see what there is
to go with the. roads. That will help
solve the problem of the need OF this
state today-more people"
| ----O-
] rnOo n WHEY