Newspaper Page Text
PAGE SIX
The roads of Sumter county ha vs
been declared the best in the entire
south by the national road commission.
Vncle Sam has issued a pamphlet in
which he advises southern states to
study the roads of Sumter county an.l
profit thereby.
Five years ago Sumter did not have
a single road that could be classed as
a good road. Today she has over 200
miles of thirty-foot highways that are
unsurpassed. The count}’ is essential
ly a good roads county and wherever
the name of Sumter is spoken people
immediately associate good roads with
V
When the state legislature passed the
bill allowing the counties to work the
convicts on the roads, Sumter imme
diately called for her full number. The
passage of that bill marked the be
ginning of a new era in Sumter. 1 he
county became enthused over the pros
pect of having good roads and every
one went to work with a will.
As a result of the combined work of
private teams and the -county garic,
Sumter county now stands head and
shoulders above any other county in
the state in the matter of good roads.
All this has been accomplished with
out the issuance of a single bond. The
county has made the best use possible
bf every cent of revenue. Few roads
have been opened. Old ones have been
graded and widened. Ditches havy
been opened; bridges have been built.
In fact, everything possible has been
done to give the county the best roads
possible.
The county commissioners on las'
Thursday purchased a large five-ton
automobile truck and added it to their
road machinery. With this new’ ma
chine they expect to be able to do
more road work in the future.
The road gang is divided into two
squads. One works as a repair crew
and covers every inch of roads everv
month and keeps them in repair. The
other squad is kept busy grading and
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“Good Roads” Means “Sumter County Roads”
opening up new roads. The farmers -.f
the county have helped by dragging
the reads after each rain. They have
used the split-log drag and their wora
has been instrumental in keeping th Q
reads in their present state of excel
lency.
The results of this constructive
work have been what was expected
and values along thie highways im
proved have jumped from fifty to one
hundred per cent. Progressive farm
ers of means have been induced by the
good roads to sell their holding else
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A Deep Cut on the Sumter County Road, Amfericus to Andersonville
BE-WISE-AND-DRINK
“AMERI-COLA”
“The Ever Refreshing Drink”
We use only the very best and purest of
chemicals, and the purest of sugar that mon
ey can buy, compounded by an expert, ab
solutely sanitary.
MANUFACTURED BY
AMERI-COLA COMPANY
AMERICUS. GEORGIA
SOLD BY
Jobbcrs Everywhere
DRANK BY
Appreciating People
THE AMERICUS DAILY TIMES RECORDER
where and locate in Sumter county.
The removal here of many farmers of
the most enterprising type in the past
tw’o or three years has been directly
due to the good roads. They came,
they saw the good roads, passing
through cne of the finest agricultural
districts of the south, and they re
turned to their homes, sold heir farms
and came to Sumter to live. Never was
there a better investment than these
good roads have proven for Sumter
county. Not only this, but the good
roads have proved an exceedingly es
fective advertisement in other ways.
It is probable that no other county in
Georgia has had more space given *3
it by newspapers aw’ay from Americus
than has Sumter, advertising directly
traceable to the good roads and the
results achieved through them. Good
roads-runs around the state have
biought hundreds of tourists through
Sumter county, tourists w ho have gone
away to sing the praises of the leading
county of southwest Georgia. The
grod roads were not built to this end,
but it has been gratifying to realize
that the incidental and unexpected
benefits have been so great.
Farmers, as has been pointed out,
has been the chief beneficiaries of
the good read improvements of recent
years. A few years back it was im
possible to haul more than tw'o bales
of cotton weighing a thousand pounds
to market with a pair of heavy, strong
mules. Today the same mules can
haul six to ten bales of cotton to mar
ket, over the same roads —but now im
proved—in half or less than half of
the time consumed. The saving to the
farmers in time, in wear and tear on
stock and wagons, is consequently en
ormous. Continuance of the road im
provements on the same scale, and
with the same fixed results, will mean
that in a very few years it will be pos
sible for every farmer in Sumter
county to haul his fertilizers and other
supplies to the farm and his cotto i
and other products to the market, or
shipping point, under the most favor- .
able of conditions. What the saving
will toe to the mass of farmers of the
county, it is impossible to estimate.
Calculated in dollars and, cents it will
unquestionably be a tremendous per
centage every year on the county's in
vestment for good reads.
To the resident of the city not en
gaged in farming there is the pleasure
that is derived from the use of the
roads for automobiling. Such advant
ages and direct financial benefits are
more than a compensation for all ex
penditures made along this line.
While the good road w’ork has been
prosecuted so extensively and so vig
orously, there has been no increaso
in taxation, and, as stated, there has
been no borrowing of money in any
manner to meet the expenses. Pru
dent management of the county’s fi
nances have permitted of the work
without this. With a bond issue, it in
true, a vastly greater mileage could
have been constructed, and the feeling
in favor of such a bond issue is very
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 191*.
strong and growing. The near future
will probably see it, and then there
will be a more rapid extension of ijg
work than has yet been possible. Sum
ter is in the peculiarly fortunate po
sition of not having a single dolla”
.of indebtedness of any kind, havim
no bonds outstanding and no liabilities
to banks or individuals, one of the few
counties of which such a statement can
be made. Its bonds would be eagerly
snapped up at a good price.
♦ FARMING PROFITABLE ♦
♦ IN THIS SECTION ♦
Times-Recorder, Americus, Ga.
I moved to Sumter county in th >
year 1912. lam highly pleased with
the county. As for the people, I have
never lived among more congenial peo
ple than 1 find in Southwest Georgia.
The climate is excellent, the winters
are short and mild and th/e summers
are pleasant. The season for growing
crops and harvesting them are better
than most Southern states. There can
' be two or three crops of several dif
ferent kinds grown on the same land
in one year, which makes farming
very profitable in this section. There
are excellent opportunities for stock
raising in Southwest Georgia. Hogs
can be raised here cheaper than in
most any section in the United States.
After having thoroughly investigated,
I purchased property here and will
never regret it Yours truly,
Americus, Ga., J. IRA DIXON.
CAME TO VISIT; BOUGHT A HOML
The Times-Recorder, Americus, Ga.
Gentlemen: Last February I came
to Americus on a visit to my son. 1
had then no idea of ever leaving South
Carolina, but after looking over the
county, I came to the conclusion that
*it was the best for farming purposes
I had ever seen, the best land, good
people, good schools and churches, se
I am now here and expect to make
this my home in the future. Yours
truly, C. T. CROOK.
Americus, Ga.
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