March,
J9I2
SOUTHERN GOOD ROADS
we have bccn most successful. Commercial bodics. muyors, boards of tradc .. IJUsiucss men' league;;, <laugh: tel'S ot 1812. in the differcn t stutes. eounb' and state officiaL'!, and Uluny public spirited mcn in 'cvery walk of life, have cnuol'sed our work and given us their he3,'ty co-opcration. . Much of the highwa y is already built. There aee many miles of good roads. In fact, you can go all the way from Indiana polis to Chicago, spinnin g in an au·
to Louisville, to Kashvil le to Athens. N';)W the _-Ha· bama Dangh tersof 1812 'cannot jump the Tennessee River. It is too dcep to wade ami all of them eannot swim. Our state preside nt is a lawyer, so she has drafted a bill which has been sent to Congt'cssman Cnderwoo d, and a eopy of it to e\'ery oth'r Alabama (:,)11gressma n 'and to both of hel' senator s, asking for an appropria tion sufficient to build a COllcret<, or steel bridge across the Tenness ee River, at Decatu r. and if congress wou't give it to the state of Alabam a through her daught ers of 1"12, ,,,hy, the daughte rs will just stretch a point in their states rights and let Unde Sum be tollgate keep'er until the bridge pays for itself, which it will do ill ten years, with the cost of mainten ance added. Then it will be the propert y of the state. Im't that a fair proposi tion V We know that the buildin g of the Ja~kson Highwa y means work, hard work, long persiste nt work, with no let-up in the interes t and agitatio n. Don't you get tired of hearing so much about the good roads and splendi d highwa ys ,)! Europe 1 Of course, they have fine roads over there, and the cost of hauling a ton is about one third r;f what is paid here, but they do not tell that the roads of Europe cost more to build that ours and the cost of maintenance is about two-thi rds more there than here. The .Appian Way was built ahout sixteen centurie s ago ancI ::\<1poleon' s Pass through the Alps was cut at great expense of both life and revenue. As for the south's being so far behin;l in road-building, I think she is doing well. For many years after the war, the souther n people were busy re-building their fences, patchin g their house roofs, and trying to raise someth ing to feed the hordes of ex·slaves left £,)1' them to care for. By hard work and saving, matters
Constructi on \Vork on Poplar SPt."ings Road t Meridian. ~fjssi&sipp i
t:Hnobile. The old Louisville and Kashville pike has been given as a link by Mr. H. A. Somers, chairma n of the Lincoln wav-a nd this has been endorse d bv Louisville Mayor a~d Commercial Club. You k~ow the pike from Louisvi lle to Elizabe th, Li:Jcoln's home, is to be called thc Lincoln wav. That is iust as we asked, so it is a link in the J~ckson Higl;way. Suppos e the people between l\bbile and 'Montgomery wish to name a certain spot or link for Father Ryan or Admir ral Semmes, we would not object, so it is a link in the Jackson Highwa y. The main work of our committee is to arouse sentime nt and b get the countie s to issne bonds to build in the missing links. Some of the counties have not built their roads, spme have. Our plun is feasible, practic al and sensible, county to county, state to state, all the people to share in the in~crest aud good work. Of course we know that to deSign a route which will fit the topogra phy in a long stretch satisfac torily, there must bc capable engine ers-Ala hama has hers, so has 'fenness ee and Kentuc ky. Indiana hns not a highwa y commission, hut l'lhc has skill('(1 enginee rs amI surveyo rs of roads. The Jackson Highwa y as planned is from Chicago to Indiana polis,
I-I
Poplar Springs Road, Meridian, Mississipp i, After lmprovemex:.t
have adjuste d themselves and the people of the south 8.re buildin g roads and highways, miles of them. :J1illions of dollars have been aathere rl in afl a result of bond issues. The south's all right. One more word as to the Jackson High,\·ay. 311'. .Joseph B. Babb, Secreta ry of the Chambel' of CO!11mcrce. writes me that he is in hearty sympat hy wlth the J~ckson Highwa y project of the Alabam a DaughtN'S of 1812, "and I am going to serve on your comlnittee and assist in every way p o s s i b l e . " . Comin'" down through Indiana . Kentuc ky andTen~. nessec. the Jackson Highwa y will pass through so~e of the' finest farming land in the country . .All along