238 DEPAETMENTAL REPORTS. 



ft 



of collecting and disseminating information in the State of Illinois. 

 He cooperated with the officials of the State in building a sample road 

 upon the State fair grounds at Springfield. He also delivered three 

 addresses there upon the general subject of good roads. 



Mr. Gross distributed among the farmers and business men of the 

 State over 200,000 circulars of information. He visited, by invita- 

 tion, 35 county and Congressional farmers' institutes and deliA^ered 

 addresses on "The relation of ^ood roads to farm life," "How to build 

 good roads and the cost thereof," and "Good roads viewed from the 

 farmer's standpoint." 



He made a special feature of State-aid legislation, and 31 out of the 

 35 institutes visited passed resolutions strongly indorsing such legis- 

 lation as would provide for the equitable distribution between the 

 State, counties, and townshij)s of the cost of permanent roads. At the 

 request of the legislative committee of the State Farmers' Institute, 

 held at Winchester, 111. , on October 30, Mr. Gross prepared and pre- 

 sented to the legislature a bill that was known as the " Curtis bill." 



The result of this work in Illinois aroused a deep and widespread 

 interest, in the subject of good roads, and this matter is now a leading 

 topic of discussion bj^ the press throughout the entire State. Public 

 sentiment in Illinois in favor of better roads is rapidly crystallizing, 



WESTERN DIVISION. 



Mr. James W. Abbott, of Denver, Colo. , was appointed special agent 

 and road expert August 18, 1900, to take charge of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain and Pacific Coast division. During his thirty years' service as a 

 civil and mining engineer, Mr. Abbott has had much practical experi- 

 ence with the problems of road location and construction, but in order 

 that he might be able to do the best work as a special agent he gave 

 up his mining work, and has since devoted himself exclusively to 

 the study of the road question and to ijractical work for the better- 

 ment of the highways in the large territory assigned to liim. 



He has had extensive correspondence with the various road com- 

 missions of the sevei'al States and of the Dominion of Canada, the 

 directors of agricultural experiment stations, and many others. He 

 has, by personal interviews and private letters, brought the subject 

 of road improvement to the attention of governors and other State 

 officials, the editors of leading newspapers, professors in institutions 

 of learning, presidents and managers of railroads, ijrominent civil and 

 mining engineers, members of the legislatures, boards of countj^ com- 

 missioners, road supervisors, the heads of leading industries, manu- 

 facturers of road machineiy, besides a large number of influential 

 private citizens. 



He attended and participated in the work of four very important 

 conventions, at two of which he read paj)ers. He has written several 

 articles for publication in leading newspapers, and numerous inter- 

 views have been published giving accounts of his movements and 

 work. He spent some time in consultation with the road committees 

 of the (/olorado legislature and assisted in framing a carefullj'^ pre- 

 pared road law. He visited man,y places in Colorado, Utah, and 

 California, and gave advice where it was desired regarding specific 

 or general road improvement. Mr. Ablwtt visited, practically at his 

 own expense, this Office and the highway departments of New York, 

 Massachusetts, and California. In all he has traveled during the year 

 over 12,000 miles. 



