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The Press and Banner ABBEVILLE, S.C. Published Every Wednesday by TEE PRESS AND BANNER CO M M. I?. GREENE. Editor WEDNESDAY, NOV. 24, 5915 GOOD ROADS. Reverting to the subject of good road?, we have before us a letter from the American Highway Association, of Washington, D. C., which so well states the facts with regard to the subject of highways in general, that we are copying it at length here. It says: "Before the war in Europe affected the rates at sea it cost the American farmer more to haul a bushel of wheat nine and a half miles to the railroad station for shipment than it cost the buyer to ship the same bushel of wheat from New York to Liverpool, a distance of three thousand miles. The aver * i 1: age COSt Ul naming a wn vj. produce, or a ton of anything else, over the average country road is about twenty-three cents a mile; seventy years ago the cost of the same service was seventeen cents. The cost of hauling over the railroads is less now than one-ninth as much as it was sixty years ago. The cost of hauling by railroad has almost reached the vanishing point; the cost of hauling on the country roads has gone up as the roads have gone down. A Half Billion Charge. "By careful calculation, Logan Waller Page, Director of the U. S. Office of Public Roads, has reached the conclusion that with wise and equitable road laws and good busi ness management it would be entirely practicable for the people to save themselves on the two items of hauling and administration the enormous sum of $290,000,000 yearly. The railroads in the United States carry about 900,000,000 tons of freight annually and of this vast tonnage at least 200,000,000 tons are hauled over the country roads to the railroad station or to the canals for shipment. The immense volume of mining products aggregating millions of tons is not included in this estimate but only the agricultural, forest and miscellaneous products hauled by wagon over the public roads, nor is the cost of hauling back and forth between the farms and the mills. It is an underestimate rather than an overesti mate to place the cost of hauling ove'i the country roads at not less than $500,000,000 yearly, and no other business but the business of farming could stand such a strain without bankruptcy. The Drain of Marketing:. "The main cause of agricultural distress, a subject of perennial alarm to "popular favorites" is not so much the wages of the workers or the infertility of the soil or the prices of the products, but the enormous drain of getting the stuff to market, the waste of the roads in the wear and tear of machinery, the sacrif.ce of teams, the inefficiency of service compelled by impassable highways. Tributary to every market town or railroad station there ere what Mr. Page calls "zones of . production." From the first of 11 l j._ 1 J _ I xnesu zones an products can oe uelivered to market at a profit, and ' from the rest one class of products after another must be eliminated ^ because of the prohibitive cost of ^ hauling; and beyond lie vast territories that cannot be cultivated "without the building and constant maintenance of roads suited to whatever traffic there may be developed. It has been demonstrated that as the roads from the market ' towns have been improved there has ! been a great increase of their business and a corresponding improve- j ment in the condition and opportunities of the rural population, larger prosperity of the individual farmer, ' greater traffic for the railroads, bet- ' ter supplies and lower prices for the , consumer. It does not pay to , laisc crops that cannot be marketed readily and cheaply. Millions of dollars worth of field and orchard ( crops have been utterly wasted be- j cau-e of expensive and inadequate facilities for marketing. This is one of the hard problems with which thi U. S. Department of Agriculture is ( trying to deal through the greatest experts in the land and they have ' found that the building of good ' roads is essential to the success of their plans. Idle Acres. "There are over 400,000,000 acres of uncultivated land in the United ! States awaiting development that ( cannot be developed without im- i proved highways. It has been < shown that the value of land is in- j creased evenly with the improvement , of the roads, the increase running J from two dollars to nine dollars the ' acre. As the roads are improved < there is a corresponding increase in ri population. In twenty-five counties, o' taken at random, which have con- b taired on an average only one and ir a half per cent of improved roads in is the decade 1890 to 1900, there was s] a falling off in population of three p thousand in each county. In twen- t< ty-five other counties, taken at random, in which there was an average of forty per cent of improved roads, tl the increase of population in each li county was 31,000. The "back to a the farm" movement will progress a just in proportion to the improve- p ment of the highways, and the im- a prcvement of the highways is. de- is pendent upon administration not less c than upon construction. li How the Work is to be Done. O "There must be skill in the super- a vision as well as in the building of f the loads. Heretofore at least ninetenths of the work on the roads has g been done under the direction of v men without any knowledge of road- e building, which is an art based up- /tl on a science. There are today tl more than one hundred thousand a petty road officials in the United d States who liave no practical knowl- d edge of the simplest engineering c problems that must be solved in the v ' ^ 4-1.^ vrtri rln in 4"V* S] lUCttliUII Ui U1C 1\JCL UO, All UiCll AV ? laticn to a general system or to re- v lated systems; but who are supposed c to have great influence in neighbor- c hood politics and are mighty at the polls. It is from this incubus n that the 'problem must be relieved a if the country is to enjoy the benefits of a well-ordered system of highways. "Qood roads rot only cost a great deal of money in their construction, but r.lso in their maintenance or ad- ? ministration. It has been the habit in this country to "work on the road?" when all other work was a done, and this has meant that the ^ roads have had attention only once ^ or twice a year. Macadam roads S1 do r.ot take care of themselves, con- , crete roads should have constant atCi tention, sand-clay roads require . daily supervision if they are to give . service for which they were designed and built. In France every mile j of road is inspected daily and it is ^ the constant vigilance of trained supervision that enables the rail- ^ roads of the country to take care of ^ the business of the country. There ought to be the same sort and degree of supervision of the roads of the United State* if they are to give the service for which they are built. To make a mile of macadam road ^ eight feet wide and eight inches thick, 1750 tons of stone are re .. _ . v, quired, and to build a mile of gravel tj road eight feet wide and eight in- ^ ches thick, 1142.93 cubic yards of ^ compacted or 1564 cubic yards of loose gravel are required, and in order that the best results may be ^ obtained there must be competent ^ supervision not only in the mixing of the materials employed in the build- ( ing of the roads of the several types but in the placing of materials. r< Constant Attention Demanded "There are two million miles of ^ whrt are commonly called "dirt m roads" in the United States and to ^ make them effective there must be , proper drainage, such grading and w alignment as will make them fit for the traffic and constant surface bet ctJ teiment, and it is nothing short of ^ cr.:minal waste to build roads of ma- , cadam and expect them to take care of themselves. "Undoubtedly the best system of maintenance for all ?' roads," says the American Highway ' Association, "is that which provides for the permanent and sometimes lontinuous employment of skilled laborers who have charge of particular sections of road, or who may be in assigned to any part of the county er :>r other road unit where there is q ivcrk most needed.' " M,,?f n~ n?-i? To this we would add this, that uhf* work on the roads in the rural bj sections of the South must be done E: ly the people themselves, that is, if permanent roads are to be built. Out- communities are too sparcely settled, and there are no large corporations here, and the railroad sh r.ueage is so small, it is impossible m (o Wy taxes sufficient in amount to ^ luild good roads. The people of ^ ihe different sections of the county so ivill, therefore, have just such roads p] us Ihey are willing to build and n.abitain themselves. The county f0 lothcrities should survey ar.d l?y ar] nit roads in those secti ns where ev c -manent highways nr? wanted by pa iAd people of the countv and lend ?'.ich aid as is possible, but the per- je, i'M.c-nt work and the eoi stant at- ^ ii-r.cion which these roadf- will den>: r>H rrmst rnmp fvnm nonnln ? ne i-no live along the roaih. The Supervisor On the Jo!>. Just now, Supervisor Stevenson sdvises us that he is preparing- to improve the Due West road in accordance with the articie in last a, ch veck's issue of this paper. He has already surveyed the road from the big spring up the valley towards W1 ov Bethlehem church so as t<". avoid the two steep hills, which are so tviid inan the teams in the winter time- The oi; ght. of way has been given by the wner of the land, and the neighbors will no doubt be wiling to gj i and help out with the work, which ? ; now so important. A few days pent by them in hauling gravel and ! utliiig it down now will save their J ij.ms many hard pulls in the future. I Cochran's Lane. j The Supervisor also tells us that j lie people on the Due West road g \ ;ng near Cochran's Lane, have greed to furnish thirty teams for J period of several days for the pur ose of hauling gravel and making I permanent road at that point. This | > the worst piece of road in the ounty in winter weather, we be- ? eve. The Supervisor will have an pportunity here to give the people ? n object lesson in what they can do I or themselves, and at what cost. L We hope that this is only the be- j inr.ig of this good work. We j ,roiMd like to see the people of ev ry section of the county banding . hemselves into organization:; for \ he working of particular roads. And I s we shall all profit by the work g one, especially those of us who J rive motor vehicles, and the merhants whose trade is thus promoted, re feel that the people of the city hould lend some support to this rork. A license tax on all vehiles, graduated between the different lasses, to be used exclusively in he building and maintaining of perlanent roads would help, as would road tax of three dollars. HUNTING TROUBLE. j It seems to us that the Governor as left the road and got out into loughed ground hunting for trou le. He advises the farmers of the I tate to warehouse cotton, pay stor- | ge on it, and borrow money, and | ay interest. In our judgment, if s here are any two things which have )st money to the farmers of this | tate in the last ten years, it is the act that they have been holding | otton, paying storage on it, borrow- j lg money on the cotton, and pay- S lg interest on the borrowed money, s "We hope cotton will fro up. At liis time it will help everyone in J le South, who has cotton, and a I reat many people still have it, | lough a lot of them nave acted f iseiy, in our judgment, in selling J s fast as it was ginned. The cot jn mills have bought very largely j t home, and abroad in many cases, | nd an advance now would help the " rice of goods, just as it would help le man who ha? the actual cotton. But you cannot tell what cotton < ill do. It went up to twelve cents lis fall without any visible or an cipated cause therefor, and we > ave known it to go down to nine in ji bout the same manner. Now, * re imagine that if about twenty | lousand voters of this state should | old cotton, on the Governor's ad- E E ice, and it should go down to nine g snts towards next August, there | ould be a very sick candidate for | selection. H We suggest to the Governor that ? e do the "governing" and let every | lan determine for himself what is G est to do about selling cotton. We | now some very smart cotton men | ho sold several thousand bales of f? )tton, which they had on hands, E ^ound twelve cents, because they | jlicved the market was ready to j| imble, and it did. E E EGLECT OF TOOLS | > LOSES THOUSANDS I ^ (Clemson Weekly \ctes ) [| One of the best and simplest ways ? ir farmers to save mone\ is by tak- a g care of their tools ai <1 machin- a y. Authorities on the subject at |j lemson College say there 'is; no [| >ubt that South Carolina farmers g se thousands of dollars each year }| r neglecting their implements. ^ jcposing a piece of machinery to e e weather for a long period is al- e ost certain to cause depreciation, i E Every farmer should have a tool e ed where he can keep all tools and e (sj acbines while they are not in use. E n expensive shed is not necessary, e1 e principal point being to have [| me shelter that will keep the im- j|j ements dry. ej Hiving finished using a machine g r the season, put it under ':he shed ij td clean the dirt and rust from E| ery part. Then apply a coat of a lint. A good paint for all farm [g iplements can be made with red Ej ad and linseed oil. Painting ma- @ inery is one of the best methods || prolonging its period of useful- E Everv machine should be insneeted ? rtfully at least once a year. When ? iy part is found to be broken or [|j issing, make a note of tha part on ? tutf and fasten the tag to the ma- s inc. Then, when there is time ja spare for ordering parts, there [| ili be no danger of forgetting or |] er)ooking anything that is needed, [f The essentials of caring for farm ^ iplements are housing, repairing, 3 ling, cleaning, and painting. 4 ' fiSSSSfi fitfiSlfitfiifiifiSfiWKHiifitfiS Sif I Vo ii r | C L O 7 i u f% Was * % J1 8:00(1 as ' 6 \ ni J ij. , Jj ^^ri|j|||\ uiu u: jj fPtI Did it h I Jo? Did th( II llR We kn * vlMSfctaiki DA\/ " gci DUJ, | ijk stand tl fj usually g A well, but? Jj If you'll let us fit you Jj NEW SUIT, OVERCOAT *! vou'Il find that vou eret V v ? made, most serviceable Bi jj had. fi fi llice new snappy styles and patteri jj see our boys' clothes and find out I { PARKER < 1 haddon-wil: Kg Headquarters for La Sfiff] 3?3?i3J3MSJ3M2JSfSM3MEJfS?3ISI3IS?SJSM2J3MSMSJ3M3JSJ !S1 H/TTT T TTVTTn"D"V TV ]s| iyxxxjjuxxx xjxv x u jjjji New Winter Style iSj Ready-to-Wear |ffi| Coat Suits,fWinter Coat; yThe Latest Style! gV-" |! Dress Goods Ifil Our Stock Replenished Et Si Goods and Newes S? St FURS! FURS!! Will gu the season advances. See jjjg placing your order. j@ BLANKETS! Blankets!! Fn ifil Sweaters! New Ic I SHOES H0SIE1 I SI Call or send your orde: ysl SHADDON-W ffi?j Ssj Abbeville, - ? ?1 4 i {'i 13 o y s9 |j H E S I | wwmjMfaiiauniMim111 wawmiBiuMMM i J K i 'our boy's last suit as t looked? if % >tay together? K f lold its color and shape? ffi" * i buttons stay on? ? ovv it's mighty hard to |g S'CLOTHES that wiil I le hard usage boys !j ;ive them and still look I? ij \\II r boys' out this fall in a [| or extra TROUSERS, IJ the best fitting, best . oys' Clothes you've ever gj i|? is that please the boys. Come [ i low reasonably priced they are, S j & REESE J f i pnonbnnnnnBonncnnc iLJUUHUUUUUbiUUUUWUblUI II Si?Yi dies9 Furnishings 9 S EPARTMENT if 5s Now on Sale infi Department 1 i I s, Skirts and Dresses. I| if I 3 Now on Sale Jijl I and Silks |i| I 7ery Week. Standard ?[i| I st Colorings Hg| I ii I he in e-reat demand as IWl 9 : our fur stock before iSl 9 ?_g I )m $1.50 to $12.00 Pair |gj I ft I RY GLOVES j I ?"C! +n licl HI MSMBMSSMSMSMSMSMSISMSMEMSjSMSMSJSMSj gUSS 8H ILSON CO.H \outti Carolina |lj| I J3J5JSI5J3MS?3J3J313M3JSf3MS?3MS?32MS3I2JSJ3ISjS. sSEZ fiSffiffiSSffiiiiifiififfiaiSfiififfiffiaM JISMSMSMS/SMSMSJSMSJSEMSJSMSjWc-J ciinj,iilJ SSL' di ?[?? J^KfWc