Bridge trouble in Knox

The county bridges of Clarke County may be things of beauty, but the “joy” part is curtailed, and in some instances, left out altogether. We, who live in Knox Township, have been having our own troubles along this line and as yet no “silver lining” is to be seen to the cloud.

Some time ago, about six weeks. Mr. Day was notified that a bridge west of Leslie needed a new floor and he ordered the then supervisor to get plank and repair the same. Mr. Supervisor got the plank and piled them beside the bridge and then inspected the bridge, and according to his judgment pronounced it unsafe and stuck up a notice to that effect on the bridge.

The bridge is on the mail route traveled by “Dick” Eggleston and of course, when he ran up against that notice he had to turn back as he would lay himself liable by crossing a condemned bridge, so that now we receive our mail on this route every other day and sometimes in three or four days. The carrier is not to blame for this, but we feel like “cussing” somebody. Just because some leatherhead clothed with a little brief authority chooses, for some selfish purpose, to say a bridge is unsafe, the whole south portion of Route No. 5 is inconvenienced.

The man who put up the notice must have had a “vision” a la Sen. Smoot, and then in his zeal for the welfare of the public forgotten all about it. What do you think of a man anyhow that will condemn a bridge and put up a notice to that effect and afterwards drive over it with a heavy load of corn? It looks as though there was method in his madness.

I have been told that he got the county commissioners to put in a new bridge and he bought the old one for five dollars. The notice has stopped no one from crossing the bridge but the mail carrier and it makes us feel sore at that point.

Why don’t the commissioners do something before the post office department is informed and the mail route discontinued? Will somebody make a move in this matter? Either take down the sign on the old bridge or put in the new bridge. There are more bridges near here that need “fixin’” that I may mention some other time. -1904