THE NEW TRANSPORTATION. 143 



holders that if farmers who would patronize their lines are 

 limited by their highways to a wagon haul of eight or ten 

 miles, the territory tapped by the railroad will be but six- 

 teen or twenty miles wide, whereas if the wagon roads are in 

 such a condition that a haul of fifteen or twenty miles is 

 practical and profitable, the railroad may enjoy the carrying 

 trade of a thirty or forty mile strip. In other words, the 

 possibilities for business are doubled by the mere matter of 

 reach alone. This is not all, however, for these increasing 

 facilities for reaching the railroad double the tonnage of the 

 wagon load, induce the farmer to plant larger areas, bring 

 in more produce, make larger shipments, order more matter 

 by express, buy more merchandise, machinery, etc., all of 

 which must be brought to his local depot by freight, so that 

 iu many ways it is apparent that good highways are an un- 

 adulterated advantage to the railroads. The receipts of the 

 Mobile and Ohio Railroad were 65 per cent, lower for Feb- 

 ruary, 1898, than for the same month of 1897, and 80 per 

 cent, lower than for the corresponding month of 1896, due, 

 the officers declare, to bad weather and bad country roads. 

 A very few years ago, when the matter was first attracting 

 attention, the Illinois Central was asked to send out over its 

 line a "good roads train." Such a train carries professional 

 road-builders and laborers, and an outfit of road-making ma- 

 chinery which is furnished free by the manufacturers as being 

 a good means of advertisement for their wares. The cost to 

 the railroad company for this train was estimated at approx- 

 imately $50,000, and an official remarked that it was a good 

 deal of money to throw into the mud. The train stopped at 

 selected stations along the route, constructed in each place 

 a stretch of sample road, and returned home. The exhibition 



