Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-14
In the Motor World
BY q. ADAMS HOWARD.

I SET GOWN III JIlG DUO 1CluSC
Mountains, its streets literally
climbing up the mountain slopes,
Lynchburg, old and historic, Is a
veritable jewel among cities. 1t
could be made the Southern ter
minus of tour from the Capital
not surpassed in scenic beauty by
any stretch of road Of similar
! length in the country. Straight
down the Shenandoah Valley,
through the cave country, on TO
Natural Bridge, then across the
mountains into the city, goes the
route.
In the Spring, following q
"Beautify- Your-City" newspaper
campaign, Lynchburg declared a
holiday for a couple Of days, and
men, women and children, led by
the city officials, Swarmed upon
the hillsideS lining the road ap-
proacheS to the city, and there
upon they planted thousands of
plants. Rhododendrons and laurel
for the wooded hillSides, hardy,
perennial flowers for the open
country, and in the low places a
profusion Of lilies.
Everybody Got Out and Helped.
Every one able to do so got out
and dug, and, at comparatively
small expense, the town became,
almost overnight, garden city.
Care was taken to see that those
plants were put in their proper
places and planted properly. Hor-
ticultural experts in automobiles
went from one road approach to
another, supervising the planting.
lending a little assistance here
and there, and when the two-day
flower-planting fiesta was over
they offered the opinion that the
city would have beauty OF ap-
proach second to no city in the
country, mot even Washington,
D. c." was the way they put it:
Essentially a garden city, the
Capital has not paid the attention
1t should to it's outlying road ap-
proacheS. Inside the city the gar
den-city designation is well de-
served, thanks to the efficient ad-
ministration of the ONCE of Pub
lie Buildings and Public Parks.
But the roads into the city from
Maryland and Virginia could not,
in the majority Of cases, be called
beautiful, and in many cases could
be called downright unsightly.
The smooth, broad motor road,
of course, Is the first conSidera-
ton, both of the motoriSt and the
authorities who build them with
the money supplied by the motor
lists. Many Of these boonS to the
driver of the automobile have
come, and many more are to
come. The line after line Of au-
tomobileS coming out Of the fac
tories in defiance Of all old the
cries Of auto saturation point
must have a place to roll, and roll
they will. The very building CT
these roads leaves scars on the
countryside which take a long
time for nature to heal. The con-
slant repairing they need and the
ever-present need for building up
shoulders and widening reopen
these wounds to leave them eye
sores on the landscape.
Nature Works Hard.
Nature works hard to overcome
all these obstacles, and almost as
hard, it seems, does man labor to
put more In her way. If man
were to be little more helpful to
nature and a little more far
sighted in the matter Of road
building the motoriSt could have
a finer time of his jaunts through
the country.
Who, even now, does not wonder
why the hard-Surfaced roads can
not have the scenic beauty Of the
old country roads one occasion
ally gets on these days, OF the
beaten track, where grows in
riotouS profuSion the honeySuckle,
heavily laden with fragrance?
Who, touring, would not rather, If
the time and the road permitted
it, take the mountain dirt road,
along which the mountain laurel
and other wild flowers grow. than
journey along the smooth-sur-
faced highway lined with insight
ly scars of road building, their
view Of rolling hills and noun
tainsides obstructed by unSightly
billboards, tin and wooden signs
tackled against trees, and aban-
dOned road machinery?