The Edmond Enterprise (Edmond, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 11, 1909 Page: 4 of 8
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The Edmond Enterprise
EDMOND. OKLAHOMA.
F ^ered in the postoffiCfc at Edmond as
mail matter of the -second clats.
D. L. MILLER. Editor and Manai.i h
Subscription. One Dollar Per ** ear, in
Advance.
Seventeen years ago the loads in
the section of the United States new
known as Oklahoma were Indian
trails or bl on paths When the land
was opened to the white man, how
ever, plana were qucrly made (or a
comprehensive system cl |ubl.cMfch
ways, and the ,<' < i! i :'11 ' >' 1''
row under way.
I hose ol the effete 'ast who m;
regard the baby state as the home- c
the hall tamed red man may be as
tontshad to learn that engineers are
working industriously to give Okahj
ma a splendid system of roads The
sand<clay method of road construction
will be Introduced where possible, and
macadam roads where the material 1?
available and the county governments
wealthy enough to bear the linancial
burden.
That there will be macadam or rock
surfaced roads In plenty Is assured by
(he almost unlimited quantities of
gypsum rock available, an eminent
geologist, who has been making a
study of the possessions of the state
estimating the supply in thirteen coun-
ties at the almost incredible quantity
of one hundred billion tons j
The ccunties In which this material
Is to be found are Blaine. Caddo, Cm
nadlan, Comanche, Custer, Ellis
Dewey, Greer, Kingfisher, Roger
Mills, Washita, Woods and Wood
ward.
With an inexhaustible supply of
material, a progressive p pulatlon, a
legion of thoughtful men who rea'ize
the needs of perfect highways to en
sure the state's development, Okla-
homa is In a position to lead t!-e wa*
to tome extent and to show cljer
itates what can be done.
When but a territory, Oklahoma
was taken In hand by surveyors of the
United States land office, wh; I a I
out the land In sections and quarter -
sections, a section comprising 64C
acres, or one square mile. Betwee.:
each section a strip of land 66 feet ii
width was reserved lor pub ic road .
those strips running north and south
and east and west
As no consideration was given to
the topography of the country, when
the hard and fast tu'e that all lines
between" the sections sha'l be reserv
ed for roads, was made, some hard-
ships to roadinakers lollowed. There
were difficulties to be surmounted and
no settlers had more trouble than
those In the vicinity of Wato; ga, the
coun'y seat of Blaine county. This
thriving city Is locatec almost In the
geographic center of tne county and is
surrounded by seme of ihe riches
farming lands in the state. The north
fork of the Canadian river, pursuing its
southwestern course, cuts across both
the south and west roads two miles
ftom Watonga The land traversed
by these roads is a rich, dark, sandy
loam for the first mile. There the
sand that follows the Canadian begins
and this sandy, low land, subject to pe
riodic overflows, has long been the de-
spair of the citizens of Blaine county.
For fifteen years th<i struggle against
poor drainage and ro?d upkeep was
unequally maintained by the local au
thorltles, and then John Tyler, clerk
of the county board of commissioners,
urged that an engineer be employed to
make a careful study ot the problems
involved and report on the best meth
od of building and maintaining these
roads.
When he began his inquiries, he
learned that the federal government
stood ready to help solve the prob-
lems for h}s people through tOe office
W. S PATTEN, Pres.
J. W. HOWARD, Vicb-Pres.
J. M ANGLEA, Cashiir
C. H. PROFFITT. Asst. Cash.
Sprint* Styles tme first national bank
. M- -v,!■ -m-a OF EDMOND, OKLAHOMA
For 1909
They are here. Walkover and
American Gentleman Shoes for
men, ladies a :d ch Idren are on
display at our store and are just a
little ahead of the average. Also
a fine line of neckwear, shirts and
Clothing. Try a Stetson hat, if you
want style and quality. Orders
taken for tailor-made suits.
Modern Clothing
Company.
Edmond, Okla. First door North State Bank
CAPITAL AND SURPLUS $30,000.00
ID1RECTORS:
W. S. Patten J. W. Howard C. J. Patten I. W. Rodkey J. M. Angles'
stewart's feed store
I WW I HI
When you need feed, give us a trial. Hay and Grain of
al! kinds, at reasonable rates. ' We carry four leading
brands of Stock Food, also Poultry Supplies,
Produce and Hides always wanted. Furs a spe-
cialty. We pay cash for Furs, Hides and Pro-
duce. H. R. STEWART & SON.
cl I Y DELIVERY. Choice Seed Oats. Phone 93
HOUSE CLEANING
of public roads of the U. S. depait
ment of agriculture. An appeal was
made to that oftice and Pius M. Spei
che.r,.superintendent of road construc-
tion, was detailed by Logan Waller
Page, director of the office, to go to
Watonga, make a study of condi-
tions, and up- rvise the construction of
a number of stretches of model roads.
Mr. Speicher devoted
time to a careful ttudy of drainage
problems and an investigation of the
availability and accessibility of r ad
building materials He decided that
sections of b th roads cculd best be
treated by the sand clay system, as
introduced by the office cf public
roads, and the work was begun. The
road was carried to such distance1
from the available day deposits as
was considered ecomomical, for a
long haul would have made the cost
I the road equal that cf a stone road
The cap ledge of the Red Hills,
seven miles from the city, presents
steam road roller which had been
bought by the board of prison control.
The roller was shipped and at the
present time it is traversing Ihe new!
roads of Blaine county, bringing them
to smooth suifaced and water shedding
evenness. Men are also at work con-
structing bridges and culverts, the lat
ter being made of both plain and rein-
month s | fotced concrete.
The men who have done much to
aid the federal experts In the work of
redeeming the highways of Blaine
county are Messrs. Conville, Parish
and Jacfkson of the board of county
commissioners; Clerk J( hn M. Tyler,
Supervi:or Mosely of the Watonga
Township and Joseph Ruizel. These
gentlemen have abo succeeded in In-
teresting the officials of the depart-
ment of the interior to such extent
that Secretary Garfield recently author
iz=d the expenditure of $1000 on rail
roads; the fact that they passed through
lends allotted to Indians being his war
Will soon be the order of the day,
and you will want to replace some
of your old out-of-date furniture
and worn-out carpets and rugs
for something that is new and
up-to-date. We are better
prepared now than ever to
show you a more complete
line of Furniture, Carpets,
Rugs and Pictures than
ever before.
ne of the best locations for a ro^k | rant for the appropriation Money is
quarry, and when the plan to secure ; now being spent in hiring Indians as
this stone for road surfacing was sug road bui ding labo ers, and a I of the
gested by Mr. Speicher. W. S. Tins-! work is bsing done under the direct
iVKaneaa
McGOWAN ™ ™NNIIUIiE
man, of the Rock Island railroad,
manifested an immediate interest and
caused a spur track to be laid to the
quarry, free of all cost to the county
The gypsum referred to is found four j
miles north of the city, in the shape of 1
boulder gypsum. It is white in color |
ana of medium hardness and tough-
ness, possessing great cementing j
value. This stone has never beiore |
been used in road building in this vi :
supervision of engineers from the
Uniten States office of public roads
Christian Endeavor.
Meets every Sunday evening at
6:30 o'clock in the Christian
Church
Mrs. Emma Smith
INVESTIGATE THIS
We have for sale at this of
clnity, but a short section of road has ^ ^ Life Scholarship in
now been built under the supervision S business College of OiC-
of the engineers of the United States j 'a'10,na City.
office of public roads, and so well has
it pleased the authorities that prepara-
tions are now on foot for extensive
use of this material.
Watonga's citizens watched the ex-
periment of surfacing the roads with
crushed gypsum with Interest and
then manifested a public spirit that
wealthier men of older and larger cit-
ies might well take pattern from. pQr
They bought an all steel rock crusher.
with a dally capacity of i 50 tons, and
began rock crushirg on a large scale Palace Barber Shop
Governor Haskell appreciated the j
fact that the work being done in
Blaine county would bean example
to the rest of the state, and he re-
commended that the county commls
sloners be given the use of a ten ton
h>gene Chiropractic Treatment
All Diseases Successfully Treated.
II W. Main. EDMOND, OKLA.
a Good Hair Cut and Easy
Shave go to the
In the Pool Room.
Shampoo 10c, Hair Cut 25c, Shave 10c
J. H. SICKLER, Prop.
Harry Asberry, Assistant.
... AT THE ...
ECONOMY STORE
... DURING 1909 ...
You will find the best line of Staple
and Fancy Groceries to be obtained
anywhere. We also carry a full line of
Vegetables, Fruits, Candies, Tobaccos,
and, in fact, everything pertaining to
an up-to-date Grocery Store. For
Right Goods, Right Prices and Prompt
Delivery, leave your order with
BARRETT & BRYANT
" I he Economy Store."
Don't fail to renew your subscrip-
tion this week.
get all the uewg iu The En-
terprise.
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Miller, D. L. The Edmond Enterprise (Edmond, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 4, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 11, 1909, newspaper, March 11, 1909; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc140687/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.