TRANSCRIBED FROM THE BENTON COURIER MAY 1, 1919 P. 10
Gurgy Le Chateau, France
April 1, 1919.
To the Benton Courier:
This being "All Fool's Day," naturally I was fooled--received an issue of The "Courier." It has been almost a year since I scanned its newsy columns.
Since my arrival in France first class mail was so irregular and far between, that second class mail would never reach us at all. So I did not renew my subscription until recently. I note same has advanced "four bits" per annum. But that's all right if half pay advertisements are discontinued, especially the Y.M.C.A. Read the Saturday Evening Post for their activities: then interrogate the A.E.F. for authentication. Get it straight.
The most interesting items of all in this issue is on "good roads." Our railroad system is unexcelled, our highways are few, our surface roads are deplorable. American can take a few pointers from France on "Roads" but she can give the cards and spades on everything else. Business men took advantage of our railroads first, built up trade, supplied the country now, the farmers use that means of transportation extensively.
Who gets the benefit of "good roads?"--Everybody. But primarily, the farmer. I remember when a boy of having to take the "turn o' corn" to mill on a mule because the roads were so bad I feared "stickin'" the wagon in a mud hole. The team wasn't bad, either. They could amble up most any hill. But some of the mudholes would stop them. This was in Liberty township.
If the road is constructed properly it requires very little work to keep it in good condition. The essentials for kood roads are: (a) centrally located; its importance to community in general. (b) suitable terrace to build the road on; not over steep grades surely. How many farmers have said, "I could haul all of my cotton to Benton in one load if it wasn't for the Klondyke hill." (c) a firm roadbed. Preferable stone, plenty of Irish apples and gravel in Saline county. I know. (d) Substantial bridges, culverts, and proper draining of road. (e) Get together and build it, and keep it in good condition.
To make a success of farming, good roads are necessary in order to place the various products on the market in sufficient quantities to cover time and expense of draying. Better road conditions are less time in transit and larger loads. One can easily see if a farmer raises one hundred bushels of potatoes for the market and they cost him twenty cents a bushel his market ten miles distant, potatoes worth 60c a bushel, with good roads he can haul thirty bushels--he clears $12 per day. We assume the road is bad and he can only haul ten bushels, and he gets "stuck" in a mudhole and is delayed four hours. He clears $4 per day in addition he must give an explanation to his "wife" for being out late. So much for "bad roads."
this does not fall in the waste basket the others won't.
Old Sol,
Lieut. Chas. R. Phillips, Co. E. 51st Inf. A.P.O. 777.
NOTES:
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD
Gurgy Le Chateau, France
April 1, 1919.
To the Benton Courier:
This being "All Fool's Day," naturally I was fooled--received an issue of The "Courier." It has been almost a year since I scanned its newsy columns.
Since my arrival in France first class mail was so irregular and far between, that second class mail would never reach us at all. So I did not renew my subscription until recently. I note same has advanced "four bits" per annum. But that's all right if half pay advertisements are discontinued, especially the Y.M.C.A. Read the Saturday Evening Post for their activities: then interrogate the A.E.F. for authentication. Get it straight.
The most interesting items of all in this issue is on "good roads." Our railroad system is unexcelled, our highways are few, our surface roads are deplorable. American can take a few pointers from France on "Roads" but she can give the cards and spades on everything else. Business men took advantage of our railroads first, built up trade, supplied the country now, the farmers use that means of transportation extensively.
Who gets the benefit of "good roads?"--Everybody. But primarily, the farmer. I remember when a boy of having to take the "turn o' corn" to mill on a mule because the roads were so bad I feared "stickin'" the wagon in a mud hole. The team wasn't bad, either. They could amble up most any hill. But some of the mudholes would stop them. This was in Liberty township.
If the road is constructed properly it requires very little work to keep it in good condition. The essentials for kood roads are: (a) centrally located; its importance to community in general. (b) suitable terrace to build the road on; not over steep grades surely. How many farmers have said, "I could haul all of my cotton to Benton in one load if it wasn't for the Klondyke hill." (c) a firm roadbed. Preferable stone, plenty of Irish apples and gravel in Saline county. I know. (d) Substantial bridges, culverts, and proper draining of road. (e) Get together and build it, and keep it in good condition.
To make a success of farming, good roads are necessary in order to place the various products on the market in sufficient quantities to cover time and expense of draying. Better road conditions are less time in transit and larger loads. One can easily see if a farmer raises one hundred bushels of potatoes for the market and they cost him twenty cents a bushel his market ten miles distant, potatoes worth 60c a bushel, with good roads he can haul thirty bushels--he clears $12 per day. We assume the road is bad and he can only haul ten bushels, and he gets "stuck" in a mudhole and is delayed four hours. He clears $4 per day in addition he must give an explanation to his "wife" for being out late. So much for "bad roads."
this does not fall in the waste basket the others won't.
Old Sol,
Lieut. Chas. R. Phillips, Co. E. 51st Inf. A.P.O. 777.
NOTES:
TRANSCRIBED BY LAEL HARROD