CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

P. 353 TRANSPORTATION

EARLY RIVER BOATS—SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WATERWAYS—

PIONEER TRAILS AND ROADS—GOVERNMENT HIGHWAYS—

THE NATIONAL ROAD—WORK OF THE STATE

       Southern Illinois is very fortunate in its geographical situation. It is in reality a peninsula projecting southward and terminating in the point of land upon which Cairo is situated. The Mississippi river runs along the entire western side of the state, while the Wabash and the Ohio form the boundary on the east from Cairo to a point above Vincennes.

       The Mississippi was early discovered and traversed by the French. Marquette and Joliet navigated hundreds of miles of its central third, while La Salle and Hennepin completed the exploration to its mouth and practically to the source. The Ohio is said to have been discovered by La Salle, but of this we are not certain. The Wabash comes into notice in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and was early discovered to be a branch of the Ohio. Vincennes dates its history from 1702, and from that time till the coming of Clark in 1778 the French were continually on the waters of these three rivers.

       In the conquest of this western country by Gen. Clark the Ohio, particularly, played an important part. After the conquest there was a constant stream of immigration on the Ohio moving toward Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.

EARLY RIVER BOATS

       The earlier boats were of the flat-boat type. These were made by placing two “gunnels” side by side and framing them together and constructing thereon the hull of the boat. The “gunnels” were obtained as follows: A large sized tree some sixty or eighty feet tall was felled and split into halves. The rounding sides were hewn off so the gunnel as it stood on edges was six or eight inches in thickness and some three to five feet broad, and some sixty to seventy feet long. These were placed on edge side by side some ten or twelve feet apart. The two “gunnels” were framed together by means of strong cross beams, their upper ends rounded off something like a sled runner. The boat was partially constructed on land bottom up. The flooring or bottom was laid and securely fastened to the gunnels by strong nails or with wooden pins. When the bottom was laid the boat was pushed into the water and there turned right side up. It was now made water tight. Cross beams P 354 were laid on the gunnels projecting on each side some two or three feet. This device made the floor of the boat sixteen or eighteen feet wide. A crude railing was constructed around the edge of the deck and often a small cabin was built at one end in which the hands could do their cooking. A roof was constructed over portions of the boat for shelter and sides arranged which kept out the storms. Pumps were provided which might be used in case of heavy leaks. A steering apparatus was attached to the stern and the craft was ready for its cargo.

       These boats were often built quite a ways up the small rivers and larger creeks, and were loaded with the produce of the locality where built. Often they were built and offered for sale to parties moving down the Ohio. The cargoes were corn, wheat, meats, poultry, eggs, and a score of other farm products. It was not an unusual sight to see pigs, calves, geese, ducks, and other live stock as part of the cargo. The boats that were used by families in moving down the Ohio often discharged their household goods at Shawneetown, Golconda, or at Cairo. These same boats then were loaded with produce and floated to New Orleans. The Mississippi above Cairo was not used for flat-boating as much as was the Ohio, although many boats were built in Big Muddy, the Kaskaskia, and the Sangamon. It is generally known that Lincoln built a flat boat and took a cargo of produce from the upper waters of the Sangamon to New Orleans.

       The coming of the steam boat in 1809 marked the beginning of the end of the flat boat business. The small streams fell into disuse and the pioneer flat boat builder was obliged to seek new fields for his skill. Public roads improved, and landings and river towns multiplied, In the balmy days of river traffic a river steam boat would average a stop every two or three miles. At many of these landings there were wood yards, and to see the negro roustabouts bring in a dozen cords of wood was a sight not easily to be forgotten. The passenger traffic was large in the decades just prior to the Civil war. Elegant state rooms, and well laden tables made travel on the Ohio or the Mississippi a luxury. Cairo became a very thriving young city. From this river port, transportation pointed in three ways—north up the Mississippi, east up the Ohio, and south down the Father of Waters. Many noted travelers passed the city at the junction of the rivers. The oldest settlers remember the visits of Charles Dickens, Gen. Winfield Scott, Charlotte Cushman, Lincoln, Douglas, and many others.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WATERWAYS

       The use of the Wabash, Cache, Kaskaskia, Saline, Big Muddy, and other Southern Illinois rivers for purposes of travel and transportation was of course rather limited. There were to be seen however fiat boats, keel boats, rafts, and other forms of river craft. Small steamers have ascended the Kaskaskia as far as Evansville—in fact one went up in the region of Carlyle in 1837. Evansville produces large quantities of flour and this has been shipped via the Kaskaskia. The upper courses of this stream have been used for the transportation of logs, lumber, and farm produce. At New Athens there are extensive hard lumber interests.

       The Saline is navigable only a short distance for steam boats. From 1800 to 1850 the manufacture of salt at the salt works near Equality created considerable commerce on that stream. Hoop poles and barrel P 355 material were brought down from the upper stretches while small steamers and other boats were plentiful on the lower portions carrying out the products of the extensive salt works. Coal was another product which was shipped extensively in barges down the Saline. Little use is now made of the Saline for purposes of transportation.

       The Cache while carrying a large volume of water has never been of any great value for commercial purposes. It is very crooked and flows through a flat country especially towards its mouth and it has been difficult to navigate on account of the presence of drifts and short bends. There are many sawmills along its course and some lumber has been sent out of its mouth to Cairo and Mound City.

       The Big Muddy though smaller than some of the other streams, has played an important part in the development of the region through which it flows. Coal was discovered along its course as early as 1832. About that time a mine was opened just south and adjacent to the present city of Murphysboro. In 1836 one Hall Neilson of New York City offered for sale what was at that time known as the Mt. Carbon coal property. It contained 795 acres of land including a steam saw mill, wharves for loading coal, residences for miners, and other improvements. The price set was one hundred thousand dollars. The inducement to buyers was that the Big Muddy river was navigable, and that the Illinois Central Railroad was expected to pass within a mile or so of this Mt. Carbon property. At that time Brownsville the county seat of Jackson county was located about two or three miles down the river from the coal miners. The survey of the proposed road passed from Cairo via Jonesboro, Brownsville, Pickneyville, Nashville, Carlyle, Vandalia, and thence north to the south end of the Illinois and Michigan canal. The first steamer on the Big Muddy was called Omega. It ascended the river to the Mt. Carbon mines as early as 1843. The venture was probably not profitable as no other trip was made for several years. In 1851 the coal company shipped large quantities of coal in a steamer called the Walk-in-the-Water. Large barges were constructed and loaded with coal and taken out of the river by this steamer. The Walk-in-the-water made several trips between the coal mines and St. Louis. In 1853 when the Illinois Central was under construction, the contractors brought their material for long stretches of the road up the Big Muddy on steamboats. Several consignments of rails were unloaded at the point where the Illinois Central crosses the river some four miles north of the present city of Carbondale, In the summer of ‘53 an engine was brought up the Big Muddy, unloaded on the north bank of the river at the crossing of the road, and placed on the tracks and assisted in the work of construction. Little use has been made of the Big Muddy river for transportation purposes since railroads became plentiful in Egypt.

       It may be interesting to know that the legislature of Illinois took the trouble to enact laws declaring nearly all of the streams in Southern Illinois navigable. The following streams in this end of the state were declared navigable: Boncoup Creek, tributary of the Big Muddy, 1819; Big Bay, in Pope county, 1833; Big Muddy, 1835; Bon Psa, tributary of the Wabash, 1831; Cache river, 1819; Kaskaskia, 1819; Little Wabash, 1826; Skillet Fork, a branch of the Little Wabash, 1837; Lusk's Creek in Pope county was declared navigable in an early day. P 356
 

PIONEER TRAILS AND ROADS

       P 357 The rivers were the first highways, but our earliest pioneers found already laid out routes of travel between the most important points in Southern Illinois. The Indians were great travelers and they had well established trails in Egypt at an early date. When George Rogers Clark reached Fort Massac in 1778, he found Indian trails which lead from that point to Kaskaskia. He followed one of these trails through the wilderness from the Ohio to the Mississippi and later from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. These trails were early known by the whites and were used by hunters and immigrants. The white men added a valuable feature to these trails by cutting numbers on the trees along the trail. These numbers were painted and gave the distance to the next village, fort, or settlement. In some instances the number was burned into a blazed surface with a hot iron. Gov. John Reynolds describes this method of marking not only the way, but the distance, from Golconda to Kaskaskia which he traveled in 1800. The first stage of development was called a “trail,’’ the next stage was called a ‘‘trace.” The trail was used only for foot travel or for horses in single file. The trail used by the Indians was often the road used by buffaloes in their journeys. The “trace” was located on the trail but was widened by the use of the ax and made passable for wagons. The streams were forded at low stages, but often movers were forced to build crude rafts for ferries.

       The third step in the development of these lines of travel was called a “road.” This term was applied to all established routes of travel suitable for wagons, with bridges, ferries, fords and inns along the route. The oldest map of Illinois available was printed in 1822 in Philadelphia. This map shows the following roads in the south end of the state: A road entering the state from Kentucky a few miles above the mouth of the Cumberland river, thence by way of Fort Massac, America in Alexander county, and entering Missouri a few miles above the present site of Cairo—probably in the region of Goose Island. Another road connected Fort Massac and Kaskaskia, via Vienna, Crainville, passing near Murphysboro to its destination. A road connected Shawneetown with Carlyle, thence to Edwardsville and Alton. A fourth connected Shawneetown with Crainville in Williamson county and thence to Kaskaskia. A fifth ran from Kaskaskia to Vincennes and was evidently the road taken by Clark on his campaign in 1779. Another road ran from St. Louis by way of Carlyle to Salem where it joined the Kaskaskia-Vincennes route.

       It must not be understood that there were no other roads than these above mentioned. There were many roads which connected these main thoroughfares. A map by Rufus Blanchard printed in 1883 gives all the roads from 1800 to the middle of the 19th century. This map adds quite a few roads established from 1822 to 1850 by the action of the General Assembly. In addition, certain roads which connected the larger towns and were well established were designated by the general government as “mail routes.” Over these roads the mail was carried first on horseback and later in stage coaches. One such mail route in an early day ran from Kaskaskia to Carlyle and later extended to Vandalia the new capital of the state. Another was laid out from Mt. Carmel by Grayville, Carmi, Equality to Shawneetown. One from St. Louis to Shawneetown passed through Melleville, Carmi, and Equality. As P  358 has been said these roads were first established by action of the general assembly and afterwards designated as mail routes. Locally these roads were often known as “state roads” and many people supposed that the state made appropriations for the building and repair of such roads, but such was not the case. Only in a few cases were appropriations made for building bridges where the burden was too heavy for the local taxpayers.

       Along these state roads which were designated as “mail routes” there grew up towns and villages. Blacksmith shops were scattered here and there. Country stores were located at such places as would accommodate the growing settlements, and in these the government would often establish post offices. ‘‘Stage stands’’ became familiar objects along the principal routes. Here the stage with its passengers remained over night or secured dinner and changed horses. These were often called ‘inns.” They were long two story log or frame structures sitting near the road. The earlier ones were built of logs, but later frame structures prevailed. They were weather boarded with clapboards or home sawed planks. They were seldom painted and soon took on an appearance of very old buildings. In front was usually a large swinging sign which contained the name of the inn with some design or decoration, the skill of some traveling painter. Within, all was hospitality. Meals were served on long tables, In the earlier days tables were home made. The seats were nothing more than long boards with supports serving as legs. The food was coarse, but wholesome and abundant. Meats were plentiful, and buffalo meat, venison, wild turkey, wild pigeon, wild goose, wild duck, squirrel, rabbit, and ‘possum were served the travelers from old and new England.

       Probably the most noted road in the state was the National Road. This road started, at Cumberland, Maryland and passed through Wheeling, Zanesville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, and thence to Vandalia, Illinois. The road was projected to reach the Mississippi river at either St. Louis or Alton, but it was never built farther than Vandalia.

GOVERNMENT HIGHWAYS

       The building of roads appears to be one of the first interests of a government, In the development of countries the military activities are very great. Following periods of conquest of weaker countries by a stronger power, the problem is how to hold the conquered countries in subjection. One of the most effective agencies found in early history was the military roads. The Persian Emperors knew the value of the military road. It is said that a good road ran from Susa, the Persian capital to Sardis, the chief city in Asia Minor, a distance of fifteen hundred miles. Over this road troops were continually passing to and fro, In the days of the greatness of the Roman Empire there was throughout the entire territory subject to the Roman eagles, a great network of military roads. Over these roads the Roman Legions were easily and rapidly transported. These great highways were generally straight and built of durable materials. Where the road passed over low places high grades were constructed, and through the mountains the high places were brought low. The road bed was constructed of slabs of hard rock carefully fitted together and laid upon a sub base of gravel P 359 and cement. While these roads were primarily for military operations, they eventually came to be used for commercial purposes.

       The Romans who occupied England from about 50 A. D. to 450 A. D. left many signs of this occupation in the great roads she constructed over the territory occupied. Probably the roads which Rome constructed in England were not so well built as were those in Italy, yet they were so substantially built as to remain to the present time.

       The Spaniards who occupied the Philippines, Cuba, Mexico and South America for four hundred years were active road builders. The road from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico has been described as a very fine specimen of road making.

       It is not strange therefore that the matter of road building should have occupied the attention of the government of the United States in the earliest years. The colonies had few roads of any consequence. They traveled largely by boats, and on horseback along narrow and tortuous trails. McMasters’ History of the People of the United States gives some interesting descriptions of early roads in the old thirteen colonies. “On the best lines of communications the ruts were deep, the descents precipitous. Travelers by coach were often compelled to alight and assist the driver to tug the vehicle out of the slough. Near Philadelphia a quagmire of black mud covered a long stretch of road near the village of Rising Sun, The horses were often seen floundering in mud up to their bellies.” From Philadelphia in 1784 a road ran west through the counties of Chester and Lancaster—over the Blue Ridge Mountains—to the little town of Bedford. Thence it wound through the beautiful hills of western Pennsylvania to the head waters of the Ohio. Over this road, crude as it was, there came to Philadelphia the farm products of the region of Pittsburg. It was over this road also that the earliest immigration to the west passed. But in 1792 a company was organized by act of the Pennsylvania legislature to construct a “pike” from Philadelphia to Lancaster. A traveler described this road in 1796 as follows: “There is at present but one turnpike-road on the continent, and this is between Lancaster and Philadelphia, a distance of sixty-six miles, and is a master piece of its kind. It is paved with stone the whole way, and over laid with gravel, so that it is never obstructed during the most severe season.”

       When Virginia agreed to cede her Western lands to the general government in 1781, there was an understanding that a portion of the proceeds of the sale of this land should be applied to the construction of roads from the tidewater region to the Northwest territory. When Ohio came into the Union, a clause in her enabling act provided that five percent of the proceeds of the sale of the public lands within the state of Ohio should be used for the purposes of internal improvement, three percent to be used by the general government in constructing roads within the state, and two percent to be used in roadmaking from the seaboard to the state.

       When Indiana and Illinois came into the union a similar provision was incorporated in their enabling acts. In Illinois however, only two percent out of the five could be used for roads while three percent was to be used for educational purposes.

       In December, 1805, Mr. Tracy from the committee to whom was referred the enabling act for the state of Ohio, made an extended report as to the expenditure of the two percent of the sale of public lands P 360 within the state of Ohio. At that time the sale of lands had amounted to $632,604.27. Two percent of this amount was $12,652. This was to be used in constructing a road to the state from the tidewater region. The report made by Mr. Tracy was very complete and considered all the routes from the coast over the mountains to the Ohio.

       As a result of this report an act was passed March 29, 1806, creating a commission of three “discreet” citizens to lay out and make a road from Cumberland in the state of Maryland to the state of Ohio. The act provided that the road ‘s “right of way” should be four rods, or sixty-six feet, wide. The act made the president the real superintendent of construction. Thirty thousand dollars were appropriated for the survey and the construction. The commissioners were Thomas Moore of Maryland, Joseph Kerr of Ohio, and Eli Williams of Maryland. The commissioners estimated the cost at six thousand dollars per mile exclusive of bridges. The states of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania readily granted the general government permission to construct, own, and operate the road. The commissioners expended some thirteen thousand of the thirty thousand, appropriated by congress in 1806. But the project was halted on account of lack of funds, although the two percent fund of the sale of lands in Ohio was growing.

       From time to time Congress made appropriations for the road—the first, March 29, 1806, and the last May 25, 1838. The total appropriation was for the road, beginning at Cumberland and ending
 
at the Wabash, the sum of 

$6,289,919.33
For the road in Illinois

535,000.00
   
Total    

 $6,824,919.33

       The original act was very indefinite as to the details of construction. When the construction of the road was begun the original plans were considerably modified. “The road shall be raised in the middle of the carriage way with stone, earth, or gravel and sand, or a combination of all of them.” The grade should not exceed five percent in any place. The progress of the road was slow. It was a great task to construct the road through the Alleghenies, but road building through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois was not so difficult.

THE NATIONAL ROAD

       We are more particularly interested in that part of this national road which lay within the limits of our state. The law extending the road west from Wheeling provided that it should pass through Zanesville and through the capitals of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and to the capital of Missouri. The survey of the road from Indianapolis west brought it to Terre Haute. Here the survey crossed the Wabash and proceeded in a straight line to Vandalia and thence to a point on the Mississippi river between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois river, and from there to the capital of Missouri.

       The act of congress providing for the extension of the road west from Wheeling was passed and approved May 15, 1820, and appropriated ten thousand dollars to carry out the survey. There was no money appropriated for actual work on the Illinois extension till May 31, 1829, when forty thousand dollars was set aside for work in Illinois.

       The work of constructing this great national road was begun under the direction of the Treasury Department, but in 1825 the entire matter was turned over to the War Department. In 1828 steps were taken to P 361 begin work in Illinois—that is, surveys were made and on January 20, 1829, the commissioner of the road in Illinois, Mr. J. Shriver reported to the Tax Department a survey of the road from the State line at Terre Haute to Vandalia on the Kaskaskia. This survey shows the distance from the State line to the Kaskaskia to be ninety miles lacking a few rods. The profile shows the starting point on the State line to be two feet above the datum line which is low water in the Kaskaskia at Vandalia. The road varies slightly from a direct line. The entire distance of ninety miles was divided by the engineers into fifteen sections, making an average of six miles to a section. This was for the purpose of letting the contracts for the construction of the road. The road passes through the present counties of Clark, Cumberland, Effingham and Fayette to the county seat of the latter, Vandalia. The profile and survey does not locate a single town or village, but marks the streams, wood lands, prairie lands, hilly regions, rocks and other physical features. The road passes through Marshall the county seat of  Clark county, and through the villages of Irvington, Auburn, Martinsville, Cumberland and Casey. In Cumberland county it passes through the villages of Greenup and Jewett. In Effingham county the road passes through Montrose, Teutopolis, Effingham, Ewington, Funkhouser, Dexter, and Altamont. In Fayette the villages passed are St. Elmo, Howard’s Point, Avena, Bluff City, and ending at Vandalia.

       The survey shows the following streams crossed in order from the State line to Vanadalia: Hock’s Creek; Ashmore‘s river, now Crooked creek; Little creek; Big creek; East Fork of Mill creek; West Fork of Mill creek; North Fork of Embarras; Embarras river; Muddy creek; Salt creek; Little Wabash river; Camp creek; and Kaskaskia river.

       The highest point on the road between the State line and Vandalia is 265.6 feet above the datum line. The thriving city of Marshall, the county seat of Clark county is situated on this high ground.

       The work on the road began in the fall of 1829 or in the spring of 1830. Contractors were in charge under the direction of the Commissioner. Men who lived along the line of the road were employed to cut off the timber from a strip eighty feet wide—forty on each side of the center of the roadway. It should be borne in mind that there was a road from Terre Haute to Vandalia prior to the location of the National Road, and there were settlers along the route. The hills over which the road ran were cut down and the low places graded up, the grade not exceeding five percent at any place. In this the deep cuts through hills the opposite slopes of the cut were sodded with blue grass to prevent washing. In like manner the sloping sides of the fills or grades were sodded. On each side of the roadway proper in the cuts there was a ditch for the drainage of the rainfall. These ditches were often formed with stones on the sides and bottom. No stagnant water was allowed to gather along the road. These blue grass banks and stone gutters are in many places as perfect as they were three-quarters of a century ago.

       The character of the work done on this National road is perhaps best shown at the crossing of the streams. The bridges were of the most approved construction. The larger streams were bridged with “wooden trusses each with six semicircular arches, the ends resting on cross sills firmly imbedded in stone abutments a few feet below the floors. Each bridge had two wagon tracks, a good roof of rived lapped shingles, P 362 sides boarded with clap boards shaved with drawing knife and painted red. The arches, braces, sills, sleepers, and floors were all produced with the whip saw and broad axe.” In Clark county there were as many as eight covered bridges. In every one the bridge was a single span, and two of them over a hundred feet long. The abutments, wings, and other rock work was of the best quality of lime stone, except the abutments across the North Fork of the Embarras which were sawn sand stone, dressed on the ground and the structures erected according to the engineer‘s drawings.

       Three of these eight bridges are still intact and are apparently good for another century. These bridges are known as Jackson bridges because they were built in Jackson’s “reign” as president. In some cases the old wooden bridge has been replaced by modern iron structures resting on the original abutments, At the crossing of smaller streams and deep ravines instead of bridges, arches of stone were substituted. These arches were built of dressed stone and were substantially built. Many of them stand today and are in a good state of preservation.

       The road in Illinois was free for all, but in Indiana and Ohio as well as in the states eastward the government maintained a system of toll gates the income from which was used in keeping the road in repair.

       The road from the State line to Vandalia was never modernized. It was the original plan to do so, but in the act of July 2, 1836, which appropriated $150,000 to the road in Illinois, there was an express provision that none of the money should be spent for anything except for bridging and grading. In the act of March 3, 1837, $100,000 was appropriated for the Illinois portion of the road with the provision that no part of the money should be used to stone or gravel the road unless it could be done as cheaply as such work had been done in Ohio and Indiana. Evidently contracts were let for the gravelling of the road as thousands of cubic yards of crushed stone were gotten out at the quarries along the road but none ever placed on the roadway on account of a lack of funds. By 1839. all the money set aside for the Illinois portion of the road had been used and the work on the road stopped.

       The expenditure of such large sums of money very largely for labor and raw material created a deal of immigration to points along the route and many villages sprang up. Large quantities of government land were entered and farms were opened. Schools, churches, sawmills, stores, taverns, and factories were quickly provided. It is said that many of the laborers, contractors, artisans, and builders bought lands along the route and eventually became citizens of Southern Illinois.

       The road became a stage and mail route. John T. Rector of Marshall, Clark county, drove stage on the road for many years. He tells of a farmer who was angry because the government had taken his land for the road. One day he set his fence along the middle of the road. The stages and other vehicles drove around the fence for a few days, but one night a stage stuck in the mud, and all hands alighted and soon landed the fence along the gutter. The stage then proceeded on its journey. The farmer tried to bring suit but he could get no one to serve his papers.

       The Western Stage Company ran a line of stages from Terre Haute to St. Louis. The company built inns and “stage stands” along the way and did a very thriving business. Some of these old hotels still P 363 stand. There were no towns along the line of the road prior to 1830. But from 1830 to 1840 quite a number of villages were founded.

       The road was under the control of the general government till about 1836 when it was surrendered to the state. The road is in good repair and is much traveled.

WORK OF THE STATE

       If there is one phase of our state government which is weak it is the method of laying out, grading and keeping in repair of our public highways. One argument that was formerly used to persuade people to change from Commissioners’ form of county government to township form of government was that the roads were much better cared for under the township form. But it is doubtful whether our public highways are better where the township system is in vogue than where the commissioners are in control. The general assembly has legislated upon the question of public highways, but no progress is made. The Farmers’ Institute has done something to advance the interests of hard roads. A few years ago a plan of dragging the roads was tried. It was claimed that if the roads were dragged with heavy split log drags while they were muddy that they would dry faster and be much more solid than if allowed to dry without dragging. Where the farmers have kept up this treatment in a systematic way the results are very satisfactory. Just now hard road construction under the direction of a Hard Road Commission is going rapidly forward. The state is trying the plan of building one or more miles from some town into the country as an experiment. The roadbed is graded properly and several inches of crushed stone applied. This is rolled with a heavy steam roller and finer crushed rock applied. When the road is completed the layers of crushed stone aggregate some ten or twelve inches. The state, through the Hard Roads Commission, superintends the work and furnishes the material at cost. Many cities and towns are building such roads. The railroads are contributing their share toward the good roads proposition by hauling material at a minimum rate and lending encouragement in other ways.

       There is an abundance of material in Southern Illinois for the construction of hard roads. An inexhaustible supply of good limestone is found along the Mississippi from Alton to Thebes. Near Metropolis there is an unlimited supply of gravel which makes a choice roadbed There are also deposits in the region of the Wabash suitable for hard road-making.

       Trolley systems are not extensive in Southern Illinois, In the region of East St. Louis, Alton, Belleville, and Edwardsville there is a net work of trolley roads. There is a short system of trolley lines connecting Cairo, Mound City, and Mounds. There are a few cities that have trolley lines, but the interurban lines are as yet in their infancy.

 

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