Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 February 1910 — GOOF ROADS [ARTICLE]

GOOF ROADS

Road Baildiag Art. Samuel Hill, a son-in-law of James -J. Hill, the Northwest railway magnate, and the president of the American Road Builders’ Association, takes a practical view of the road building art. He asserts it needs trained men, and advocates the establishment of road building chairs in all the important colleges of the country* and especially at West Point. He has succeeded in Impressing this view upon some of the institutions of learning of the state of Washington, of which he is a resident, and 200 young men in that state are studying the road building course this year. Mr. Hill declares, that in five years, in consequence of the interest taken by the local colleges in this matter and the progressive attitude of the legislature which devotes one-third of the revenues of the state to road building, Washington will have the best system of roads in the United States. Whether Washington, one of the youngest states of the Union, will be able in that time to outstrip all her sister states in providing -a modern highway system may be open to question, but there is sound sense in the recommendation that a system of education in practical road building shall be established as a prerequisite to the oonstruction of a general system ot permanent highways in the United States. Much of the ihoney heretofore devoted to the construction of roadways that are dust lanes in dry weather and a succession of quagmires in wet, has previously been/ wasted—partly through the ignorance of the roadmakers as to what constituted a good road. The first step toward putting an end to this waste and entering upon scientific methods will be the training of students in the art of making roads.—Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.

Leave State Because of Bad Roads. That people are being driven out of lowa by the bad roads is proved by a communication written tor the Des Moines Capital by- Dr. H. W. Nye, of Osborne, Kan. Dr. Nye saya he left lowa nine months ago for no other reason than., because of the poor roads. Ife asserts further than he has encountered a number of other lowans to this community who say they' would much prefer to live in this State were It not for the miserable condition of the roads. Perhaps no better evidence of the importance of the good r.oads movement could be found than the Kansas physician’s letter. It furnishes jmw light .on. the cause of loss of population and shows that cheap land is not alone responsible for the exodus of lowa farmers to the Southwest and Northwest. Here.ls Dr. Nye’s letter: : “Editor DaJHy Capital: Dear Sir— I note that you have started a crusade for good roads In lowa. I want to say that I left lowa about nine months ago on account of the bad roads and came out here. This section of Kansas is settled with lowa people and when I ask them if they like Kansas better than lowa they invariably say, ‘I would rather live in lowa If It were not for the miserable road?.’ If your agitation results In good roads for the State the people can prepare for the greatest boms coming ever known, and it will be a permanent coming, too, for I do not believe that any man ever left lowa but what feels that aside from the roads that it is the.best State in the Union. Yours very truly, H. W. NYE.”