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About The evening news. (Roseburg, Douglas County, Or.) 1909-1920 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1914)
GOOD ItOADS STOltY TelU of What Can Be Kurned Gooil Itouils. 4 Here aro some astounding figures of the annua! cost of bad roads to a group of some 4,000 farmers liv ing in the vicinity of Minneapolis. They are carefully compiled and the story they tell is probably the story of many other sections of the coun try: Loss because of longer rout I 61,994.01 Loss because of slow progress 75,627.64 Loss because of extra trIP 296,288. S3 Loss because of specific reasons 221374 16 Loss because of inability to haul manure 91, 906. SO1 Total loss $747,149.80 The merchants and manufacturers of Minneapolis lost even more heav ily. Accurate statistics show that for the year 1911 their loss was $910,000, because of the wretched conditions of the important arteries of traffic radiating 'from the city. Combining the loss of farmer and merchant we have a grand total of about $1,657,000 a year, sufficient to pay five per cent Interest on $30, 000,000. For $21,000,000 three thousand miles of splendid road could be built which would not only bring immediate cash benefits to the farmer but would vastly increase the value of his land. If the cost of bad roads to the farmers of- the nation word to be compiled the totals would he stag gering. The cost of the Spanish American war would be trifling by comparisan. To return to the group of suburb an Minnesota farmers, it Is reck oned that the bad road tax was $1.70 per acre, $14.30 on each $1,000, and one and a half per cent of the total farm value of the district.' Statist ics for 1912 have not been compiled, but they will probably agree with the 1911 figures, which show that the loss to each Individual farmer be cause of bad roads Is nearly $200 a year. Those 4,000 fanners paid twenty-five times as much' Tor bad bad roads as they did for fertilizers. Jlaril on Potato Growers All these extremely Interesting data were obtained by the commit tee on highways of the Civic and Commerce Association of Minneapo lis. Fifty rural lotter carriers were employed to comb the Minneapolis trade district for Information. The district covered Is Included within a radius of twontyiflve miles from Minneapolis. ThB canvass occupied three months and 4 069 farmers re plied in some fashion to the twenty questions concerning their loss' from bad roads which had been framed by the investigating committee. The majority of the farmers ex plained that most of their trips were made over bad roads because the full was the time when they could best afford to leave their farms and also that the fall was the lime when it was possible to mnkc a little more profit by hauling multure on the return trip. The big Anoka potato country is tributary to Minneapolis and St. t'aul, and it costs the farmer who hauls his crops to the cities about ten or fifteen cents more a' bushel than If he hauls to a siding in Anoka county. If he could haul Uiree tons at a trip he could make $15 cash on his produce and an additional profit by hauling back manure to the farm. The most important of the twenty questions put to the farmers was "What direct loss do you remember that you suffered in 1911 because of bad roads, whether owing to Ina bility to market when you could get the most money, or because of spoil ing produce, or injury to horses or wagons, or any other reasons?" Some of the Siocific Ixes Although many of the answers were extravagant and hysterical the committee was able by a process of elimination to reach specific conclu sions and tabulate a scale of work ing averages. All statements of Iobs that gave no reason were thrown out and so were all such sweeping statements as "$100 for loss of time, spoiling of melons, and so forth." Some Of the replies were extremely interesting. "Our outfit will last ..... . . , ' one-inira as long on Daa roaus bh u .... . firm that marketed $50,000 worth of butter. Here are Borne of the '4 'iniinntlng replies estimating Indi vidual loss: : Twenty loads of fertilizer. Lost $150 by getting less for ber ries Jared down by the stony road. Being compelled to buy extra horses; also breaking of milk bot tk'S and loss of milk. Lost $200 on cabbage and lost 400 1 bushels of vegetables by freezing, j Getting late to market got lower A. D. S. Kidney Remedy 50c and $1.00 prices on products. Got stuck, broke a wagon, took a whole day instead of half a day. If roads are bad we must leave home shortly after midnight in order to make the market at six o'clock. I have potatoes in the cellar on account of bad roads. These replies from a single town run the whole gamut of loss: 1 could have been through two weeks sooner and had twenty loads more manure. Broke wagon aud wagon racks, repairs $15. ff I had carried my 20 loads of potatoes to Minneapolis instead of i the station I could have got from 10 to 15 cents more per bushel. Tired horses, empty stomachs, broken whips. It softens tomatoes and melons so that one has to take what one can get for them. Lamed a horse i I and broke shafts. Lost 50 cents a ton on 8 tons of cabbage. Broke harness several times. One farmer who was asked what was the total wholesale value of his farm produce for 1911, responded:. "I wouldn't even tell the assessor the ! truth about that, but I will say that; if the roads were good I would raise more truck and garden stuff and buy an automobile to deliver It." ' Altogether 2800 of 4069 farmers questioned sent in responses. Of the majority who replied 1102 ans wered every question in exactly the way the committee desired, and only these answers were used In the final calculations. The 1102 replies were representative to a highly satisfac tory degree of the 40G9 farmers of the district representing almost ex act proportions of population, acre age and geographical distribution. The committee, learned that the 40(19 farmers of the district hauled to market In 1911, 560,000 tons of farm produce and sold It for $6, GG5.6S0.4 7. They had to make out,uvu n ips in (mi ii. .i ne iiuiu they spent was equal to 800 years of eight-hour work days. The dist ance they travelled was equal to 1SS times the circumference of the earth. Hcnoflts Pay lliulier Tuxes Their produce was all grown in the district tributary to Minneapolis, and should have been brought to Minneapolis. InstRad( because of bad roads, the farmers took' 21 per cent of it elsewhere. The neglect of tlio roads shut the gates against the pro. Juc oT S50 'farmers land turned away the sales of more than 4000 nornmiQ ff rrnrs thn trnilfi Inst. was mnrh Hmaller. for farmers trade! where It is most convenient and sell where it is most profitable; hut the lack of market reduced materially the prosperity of those who did trade 1 In Minneapolis; and even when they did come they lost money. The loss of time is due parr.'- to slower progress, partly to taking a longer route than usual and parl'y because smaller loads have to be hauled. .The average wage of a man and team is 48 cents an hour, and at this rate the loss of time d: to not taking a shorter route was in 1911 about '$62,000. The loss of time ouc to slower progress was $75,000; and to extra trips neces sitated by smaller loads, $159,000. Now were this loss applied to farm I betterments it would replace the farm Implements owned In the dis trict every three years, the cattle every 3 years, the horses every 4 years and all other domestic animals combined every six months. It would pay off all their mortgages in three years. Turning for a moment from the farmers to the merchants loss It ffl easy to estimate that, as stated at the beginning of this article. The loss of the merchants and manufacturers of Minneapolis becausc of bad roads was in 1911 a little more than $910 000. This is figured from a total delivery cost of $6,000,ono. Add this loss to the farmers loss, and the grand total of ascertainable losses due to bad roads in 1911 was $1,657,000. Working from this figure it Is simple as a rule of thumb to esti mate that the spending of $20.00,000 for the building of 3000 miles of , lt good roads in the Minneapolis dis- trict would be anything but a burden for the farmer to carry. The In creased taxation would be lost sight of n the benefits to accrue, and the gooa roads themselves would pay handsome dividends. George Prouman, who was yester day arrested on a charge of drunk enness was released from the city jail this morning following his prom- ise to return at a later date and pay a fine. THE CITY .... COMMUNITY CONCERN IN EETTER HOUSING. Plans Should Embrace Tenements and Single Family Dwellings. notisiiiR reform Applies not only to tenements, but to the single family dwelling also, according to John Iblder. ! field secretary' of the National Housing association. Writing In the Survey, he says: "We have learned that bad housing may be found not only iu the single family shacks, but even in what Is styled a single family residence. Just as it was foil ml Impossible to draw a valid distinction between an 'apart ment house' and n 'tenement house.' so Is it liuposs.ble tu draw one be tween shack and residence. "The new conception of what a city dwelling should be required to provide for Its Inhabitants runs counter to some established customs. "When public health authorities, anti tuberculosis associations, morals etll cleucy commissions, tire departments. $ f 3 f " i ' - 1 ? ,- 7 . ' V5fl I ilkSy V WOHKINOMFN'H HOMES OP A NEW AND ltUAbOXAllIA I'HICKD TVl'E. life and lire Insurance companies and a score of other agencies, public, semi public and private. And that their ef forts to secure nny substantial Im provement lead Inevitably to the dwell Ings of the people, then the providing of those dwellings ceases to be a pure ly private affair and becomes In larger degree a community affair. "So our clth's are coming to under stand that upon them rests (be respon sibility of seeing that every dwelllnjt provides nt least a minimum of sanita tion, light, air, privacy and safety from Are. ' "In New York city. In New Jersey, in Columbus, in Dulnth, wherever an ad vance in housing legislation has b(eu made, (here bus been this opposition based on the fear that it would check building. Ami In every case experi ence has shnw-n that Instead It stimu lated, building. "And the new buildings of higher type reduced those other and expen sive social problems which have their roots In unwholesome dwellings." ST. LOUIS OUSTS BILLBOARDS. Nine Year Lepal Dattlo Brings Banish ment For Dig Signs. The final rout of the billboard trust took place In St. Louis after a nine year court b.itlle. when the city com missioner ordered that l.SiXl billboards, virtually all in the city, be torn down within four days. The billboards were on the property of approximately 4.0uu property own ers, and to each of these owners n special delivery letter was sent calling their attention to the law's violation and requiring that the boards be re moved within three days of the receipt of notification, one day's grace being alio wwl for delivery of the order. "I shnlf have an as squad ready and the offending borirds will come down." saM Unilding Commissioner MrKelvey. The limn ordinance to lie enforced by the building commissioner limits the height of billboards to fourteen fet-t. requires a spare t four feet between the ground and the bottom of the hoard, limits the area to 500 square ft et nnd the length to fifty feet and fixes a license fee of $1 for every lineal live fret. No billboard may approach nearei than six feet lo a building or anothei bil 1 boa rd. a nd nil boa rd m ust be phued l)u k at least fifteen feet from the line of the loU , ; s..- vi -y,t wS-s Jiy, -4 .s -i - - iys . ; . ; a i-s -S i- Workers for the "city bcnutl- 'Xf ful" never will reach their jroril until they eliminate the decrepit ah barrets and rickety waste ,; patter boxed that decorate the sidewalks once a week.I'hlla- '? delphla Tress. Utilizing Refuse. In the French commune of Vlllenr banrte, odjncent to the city of Lyons, the city refuse U burned, and brick. are mnde from the residue. This has been n private enterprise, but the mu nicipality has arranged for the pur chase of the crematory. The crema tory Is a model plant, and annexed tc It is a brick pressing plant. The fur nace serves not only to burn the rcfitae. but also to operate, by steam, the va rious machines Id the factory. VJ5 ih lie Girl Adults 25 cents, Saturday Matinee Itl'SlXKSS l.MI'ltOVKS. W. C. Harding, formerly connected with the W. C. Hard- Ing Land Company, of this city, but df late residing In New Mexico, arrived here this morn- Ing. .Mr. Harding sa,H he has , visited a number of important ' coast cities since he left Xow j Mexico, each j; which ieport3 business condi. mm Improving. ; Money is mors plentiful thun ; it has been fT sonto time, re- j ports Mr. Ha-'lMc. while in- "estments are ''ere numerous ; than for years past It is Mr. Harding's beli-f that the year 1914 will prove a prosperous V one in all seu.'ens of the Unlt- ed States. In No v Mexico, Mr. - Harding says ous'iiess eon.1i tlons are espn'. ly good nt the present time. Q CITY NEWS Clarence P. Tester, of Salem, was a business visitor In Itoscburg tor a few hours today. C. I. Aldrlch, of Portland, arrived her0 today to spend a week looking after business interests. V. II. Hammittee leaves for Port land tomorrow evening whercli e wa summoned as a federal Juryman. On account of other .business, tho county court did not listen to evi dence In the Hdenbower Incorpora tion this afternoon as nntlciputed. The evidence will probably be sub mitted Bomo time noxt week. The members of the county courl this morning Instructed tho board of roud viewers to meet at Myrtle Creek on March 25, 1!)14, nnd survey and locute a road petitioned for by .1. M. Martin et nl, in district No. 40. A petition of W. A. Smlltty nnd oth ers for a county road was contin ued. A final order was entered In a potitlon asking for a chang" or the county road through the Eden bower orchards. . mykti.k ci;i:i:iv x i:vs. IntcrestiiiK It "Iks I'llppeil 1'roin Myl'tlr O.-tk Mail. Noble Andrews, C. A. Slronj nnd Mrs. C. A. Strong wore nt Koscburii Sntuiday on buslnt-'F.' conn-eted with tli Odd Fellow at.J Helipkah Anni versary which is to bo held at Myrtle Creek, April 20, U'H. J. D. Huberts IcT- Wednesday nuht for Ixine Rock, Oregon, to a tend me iMiieiiti i "is UHJIM..-1, .......... i Roberts, who dlo:l at that place. Tlicj deceased was a D !t:glaa county boy but went to Easterf Oregon some 2 5 CLOTHESTALK EVERY Season bas its social demamds and clothes nee'ls but particularly do the outdoor months command attention to the question of dress because then our activities come within the raneof vision of a much greater number. Right now is a good time to look to your clothes requirements for the coming season, because the opportunities for selection are at their height. In fact we have anticipated your interest in the clothes subject .h a display more elaboi ate than usual. The light weight, distinctively Summer suit with its grace and comfort will be more popular than ever this season and we have a number of unusual fabrics to show you. Nor have we neglected the shirt neckwear, hat, shoe, hosiery or umbrella question. Hence we can extend you a cordial invitation to call on us with assurance that you will find your visit most interesting. "DUDS FOR MEN" THEATRE Colonial Players in of The Golden West" Children 15 cents; Doors Doors It's the Ford age-the age of de pendable and economical trans portation. More than four hun dred and twenty thousand Fords, in worldwide service have chang ed distance from a matter of miles to a matter of minutes. Buy your Ford today, Five hundred dollars Ik tho price ot tho FOI1I) runabout! tile toiirini; cur Is llvo Mly; tile town enr suvon nfir-l. o. b. Helroit, complete with equipment. '.Jet entnloKUO unit pr llvulars form George Iliirnott, Kostibmic.tlruBun. Spray Outfits use Willgrow Fertilizer For Your Lawns and Gardens . F, BARKER COMPANY Implements and Vehicles Cultivators R0SEBURG years bko. Sheriff George Qiiine was In town Wednesday, and at the hour of nooii( in front of the Central hotel, sold the property of the Myrtle Cre'k Tole phon0 Co. and also the tools an J ma chinery of the A. F. & A. M. Minim; Co. t'liuH. Holland, as a Kent ."or Mrs. M. A. Hurst hid in tho THm phnno Company property at M. l.'M.UO which represented the, amount of a judgment held against the property by Mra. Hurst. 11. I'A Hire bought the mining pnnipher-f :a. j. hociiradel: FRIDAY and SATURDAY Open at 7 p. m.. open at 2 p. m. Garden Seeders Discs OREGON nulla for !' Tho Block of general merchandise belonging lo tho partnership estnte of H. Dyer & Co. has been purchas ed by W. I- Cobh nnd Thomas Cobb, of HoHeburg, and tlis0 purchasers will continue the business under tho firm nanio of Cobb & Cobb. Mr. Fate, administrator of the partner ship estate of the H. Dyer & Co. hn retained the book account of tho old firm, and he will devote tho noxt four or five mom Ms of his tlmo to collecting those ncrountfl.