Highways and Highway Transportation by George R. Chatburn

railroads, much of this high-value land could be given over to other business and cheaper land farther out purchased for trackage. Enough has been said to intimate a firm belief that the railways as purveyors of secondary transportation will persist. On economic grounds if for no other reason, for no cheaper method of transportation, except by water, has been devised; and secondary transportation over canals and rivers ought, for the good of the country, to be revived. There is a large class of freight that could with proper management travel at a slow rate of speed without any detriment or inconvenience whatsoever to the public. =Carve Out New Fields of Usefulness.=--It is quite likely that the newer systems of transportation, by inter-urban electric railways, by automobile and motor-truck, and by air-plane and dirigible, will all carve out for themselves new grooves of usefulness, thus opening up for labor and capital new fields of endeavor. The telephone did not, as many believed it would, replace the telegraph; neither, yet, has “wireless” put “wires” out of use. The telephone, rural free delivery of mail, and the automobile have already put new life into agriculture. Farming has rapidly reached the enchanted plane of professionalism and men are as proud now of being farmers as they were formerly of being lawyers or ministers. And of the three instrumentalities named, the motor car, including the improved roads it makes necessary, has probably been most influential. In return the farmers have supplied themselves with motor vehicles most generously. These will result in the marketing of increased quantities of food and products that prior to improved roads and the introduction of the motor car it was unprofitable to raise because of the cost of transportation, or the time consumed in transportation, or the condition in which they reached the consumer. This, then, is one of the ways in which the motor car may be beneficial to both producer and consumer, that is to the entire public. In the more thickly populated districts the dairy interests practically depend upon the motor truck; milk reaches its destination in better condition than when hauled by horses and wagons or when delivered to the railway station, shipped by train, and hauled again to the distributing agency. Also in regions near the large cities vegetable gardeners and orchardists are becoming more and more dependent upon the motor truck for the rapid transit of their perishable products to the jobber, retailer, or even consumer. During the railway congestion in the period of the war, not only the dairymen, gardeners, and orchardists that supplied the large eastern cities were saved from ruin but the consumers themselves were saved from food shortage and hunger by the motor car. This condition is not peculiar to the Eastern states, but applies to the grower of perishable products near every large market; it also applies to the raiser of live stock. During the congested period mentioned there was difficulty to get stock cars in which to ship hogs, sheep, and cattle. Motor trucks were seized upon and last year there came to the Omaha stock yards in them more than 200,000 head of live stock, St. Joseph, Missouri, yards are said to be receiving 2500 head of live stock per day by motor truck. Sioux City, St. Paul and other markets report similar receipts. The record day at Indianapolis is given as 6800 head of live stock delivered to the stock yards in 500 motor trucks from a radius of 50 miles. Hogs delivered by truck to the early market at Omaha are said to be in much better condition than those received by train. In some sorts of transportation light automobile delivery wagons will give best service; this is especially true where the distance between stops is such that considerable time may be saved by rapid transit. In still other lines a horse and wagon may be most efficient; this is especially true where the stops are continuous or nearly continuous along a street like a milk or ice route, and where a trained team can be started and stopped by the attendant from the street by word of mouth. It seems then that there is room in this country for various kinds of transportation. The horse and wagon; the light motor and the heavy motor; the waterways; the electric railroad and the steam railroad. All should work together in harmony for the good of the Nation. The little handwheel that opens and closes the throttle valve is of as much importance to the big Corliss engine as the large and more spectacular flywheel; the black iron foundation, grimy with grease, as the bright highly polished brass band around the cylinder lagging darting and reflecting beams of light into the eyes of the beholder. Each has its own work to perform and if done well is deserving of equal honor. SELECTED REFERENCES Agricultural Inquiry, Report of Joint Commission on, Published by order of Congress, 1922, Washington, D. C. BABSON, ROGER W., “Weekly Comment” of September 30, 1922, Syndicated. BANHAM, W. J. L., “Motor Truck and Railroad Freighting,” Address delivered at Highway Transport Conference, 1920, published as a bulletin by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, New York. BLANCHARD, HAROLD F., “Is the Day of the $150 Car in Sight,” _Popular Science Monthly_, January, 1923, p. 26. BROSSEAU, A. J., “Is Highway Transport an Aid to Railroads?” _Commercial Vehicle_, Jan. 15, 1922. Also published in bulletin form by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. CABOT, PHILIP, “Root, Hog or Die: The New Englander and His Railroads.” _Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1921, p. 258. CHATBURN, G. R., “Highway Engineering,” p. 5. John Wiley & Sons, New York. CRISSEY, FORREST, “Our New Transportation System,” _Saturday Evening Post_, December 16, 1922. GRAHAM, GEORGE M., “Highway Transportation,” Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the United States Chamber of Commerce. “The Motor Vehicle--Competitor or Ally?” National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. GREEN, G. A., “Motor Bus Transportation,” Society of Automotive Engineers, _Journal_, 1920. JOHNSON, EMERY R., “Elements of Transportation,” D. Appleton & Company, New York. MACDONALD, THOMAS H., “Federal Aid Highways,” Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. NORTON, S. V., “The Motor Truck as an Aid to Business,” Part I. A. W. Shaw Company, Chicago. RIGGS, HENRY E., “Report of the Committee on Interrelation of Highway, Railway, and Waterway Transport,” National Traffic Association of Chicago, N. A. C. C., 1920. THIRLWALL, J. C., “Fields of the Rail Car, Trolley Bus and Gasoline Bus,” _General Electric Review_, Vol. XXIV, pp. 974-985. WHITE, WINDSOR T., “Benefits of War Experience,” Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. FOOTNOTES [159] Chatburn’s “Highway Engineering,” Wiley & Sons, N. Y. [160] Cf. “Root, Hog or Die,” by Philip Cabot, _Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1921. [161] This estimate includes the following items: --------------+-----------+--------------+--------- | | Heavy Car |Light Car --------------+-----------+--------------+--------- 2 Drivers |$8.00-10.00|$10.00 per day| $10.00 Tires | 4.00- 6.00| 6.00 | 4.00 Oil, etc. | .75- 1.00| 1.00 | .75 Gasoline | 3.50- 5.50| 5.00 | 3.50 Depreciation | 4.00- 6.00| 6.00 | 4.00 Interest | 1.00- 1.50| 1.50 | 1.00 Insurance | 1.00- 1.50| 1.50 | 1.00 Garage | .50- 1.00| 1.00 | .50 License, taxes| .75- 1.50| 1.50 | .75 Repairs | .50- 1.00| .50 | .50 |-----------|------ | ------ |24.00-35.00|$34.00 | 26.00 --------------+-----------+--------------+--------- [162] “Root, Hog, or Die: The New Englander and His Railroads,” by Philip Cabot, in _Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1921, p. 258. [163] _Wall Street Journal_, August 26, 1921. [164] _The Railway Review_, Chicago, July 30, 1921. [165] W. Jett Lauck, a union-labor economist, in a report laid before the Railroad Labor Board, specifies the avoidable wastes as follows: