Hide Article Text (OCR)
is the Way a Road Expert Describes the Highways of Ohio. Charles Thatcher, the apostle of good roads, says of the highway of Ohio: “There is no state in the union where they need missionary work on the subject of good roads as badly as they do in Ohio. .“The Ohio roads are positively the worst I have encounter ed in my travels, and I am sorry to say this for this is the state in which my mother was born and in which I went to college.” Mr. Thatcher is the son of a Method ist minister and went to Ohio Wesley an University at Delaware. After leaving college he began his travels. He traveled all over the east and south and finally got the fover to go west. While there he studied civil engineer ing and conceived the idea of building roads into the mountains so that the people could see the great beauties of the natural scenery as he had done. ‘the idea slowly grew into a national highway project and now that he has gotten into it he sees no way to get out of it until the scheme becomes a reality. He is given credit for con ceiving the plan of an “Ocean to Ocean” national road and that is the proposition he is working on now. During the six years that he has been on the road in his wagon he has traveled 11,000 miles and has made a great study of different road building material and has had a great many dangerous and amusing experiences. While he does not care to advise on any particular kinds of roads, he says that the concrete roads are the most like the old Roman roads that were built by Julius Caesar ana that have stood the test for 1,800 years, with the best results for the amount of money expended. ‘The real founda tion of a road is the earth, and most any road would be all right if it has a pinder or a roof on top to keep the water from washing the material away. Gravel makes a good road, says Mr. Thatcher, if something is ,put on top of it to hold it intact. He has been tempted by many manufacturers of road building ma terials to advise their material, and by the Standard Oil company, he says, but he refused them all. Many gifts of money for his work have been of fered. In Columbus two checks of considerable amount were handed to him, but he gave them both back. The vice president of the Ohio Road Federation has offered his assistance, whenever he may need it. When Mr. Thatcher stopped at his home town, Wheeling, W. Va, he was given a royal reception by the board of trade and the citizens. During his travels he has had many narrow escapes, getting away from the bandits in Mexico, and moonshiners of Alabama. During the Spanish- American war he was a correspondent for the New York Herald and was in one section of the train which was wrecked with the 69th New York regiment on board, twelve miles out of Birmingham. _ Mr. Thatcher has been unable to find horses strong enough to stand up under the great strain to which con stant driving, as he is compelled to do, subjects them. He has according ly dispensed with horses and uses in their stead Spanish mules. The team behind which he drives, he has had three years. Both animals are un shod. Despite this fact they make bet ter time than the ordinary horse and do not give out, Mr. Thatcher says the preliminary details have been arranged and that the promised lake shore boulevard con necting the cities of Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit, will be a reality, he be lieves, within the next two or three years.
Newspaper Details
Norwalk Daily Reflector
Norwalk, Ohio, US
Mon, Jun 28, 1909
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
