Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-19
Some Very Interesting Facts by
Cant. Francis V. Greene.
r,, Famous Roads of Ancient Rome
Inferior to Those OF Modern Eu-
rope-The ApDian Way.
u.e,5am and Telford Roads-The Excel
,.,ca of Broken Stone RoadwaYs-Im-
nortance of the Maintenance
of Roads.
Harper's Weekly.

rss. rrogress Of civilization has every
IN neen marked by good roads. 1t
even be said to be largely due to
Ancient Rome was not only IA
Us for its own roads, but it carried
or+ Of road-making into all its con-
--s5 provinces. As its civilization
,..,,raared in the degeneracy. of the
n.-g AGES. good roads ceased to exist,
- they only reappeared when modern
lions began to emerge from the Middle
los II is often said that the test of
,.-r.zatfoa in any country is the con-
.,.,r.rrn of iron; but this is true only
Srr.a railroads are the chief con-
-r,,a-+ If iron, and they are but one
t.-rn aE roadway
ri. an wudeniable fact that while the
7--:-af states has the finest railway sys-
..r rg the world-the most perfectly
--,rtaI To the work it has to do, and the
.rar--.t IN chGrges for transportation
=-s roads and its city streets are far
Interior to those of France, England,
E--uauv. Austria and Italy. Doubtless
r-,lmiraBle character of its railways is
:.ysf the cause of its bad roads and
..-aa-s. for the railways serve their pur-
--.a soweu that there is less apparent
heel of good carriage roads All the
rrs~ countries above named had reached
otrn degree Of civilization before the
advent of railways about fifty wears ago,
,-rarsas about thTee-fOurths of the pres
rr+ area eff the United States have been.
settled and populated during the
railway era. The rapid advaRtes
in wealth and population of the
r-.rrfual countries of Europe during the
isnar Part of the Eighteenth and early
mar. of the Nineteenth century would
fara been impossible without correv
raalm@ and Simultaneous Improvement
IN the quality OF their roads. The still
more rapid advance Of America during
hi. century has been accomplished
chiefly through the iustrumentality Of
railways. and these have so thoroughly
j-.ersagted the country III every direction,
bringing the merchant ana the manufac-
t,-er at one end and the farmer and
miner at the other into close communion
ton, that the necessity Of good roads has
been overlooked The opinion is now
ganlr- ground, however, that nOtwIth-
standing the excellent and cheap service
athe railways, there is q great loss in
the unnecessary cost of transportation
in hauling merchandise through
,he mad TO reach the railroad, and
again over rough cObble-stOues when it
, leaves the cars at its destination. And
independent Of the commercial aspect of
t.aucsti0u. there is still to be consid-
cred the comfort and convenience of
tl.,a Who use roads and streets for
pgasar. riding ana driving, and to whom
good road surfaces are absolutely neces-
Vsary. During the LAST few years there
ia, been constant increase in the atten-
ten and thought.deyoted't to the question
Of rnais both without and within cities,
and fhe object of this article Is to give
a-alr such information as to the history
and present condition of the art of
Matchmaking as may be useful in this
ROMAN ROADS.
The wu.a-Guoted Roman roads were,
ra..tE. far Inferior to the best roads
ou"a..a europe, and were much more
costly. Hence they may be dismissed in
a..w -.ra- They were stone pave
|..s".ta q very thick concrete fOunda-
-... .r, as described by another writer,
they were masonry walls laid on their
SIDES The most famous of them was
Ii. a.r.al Way. constructed about 3I3
&c.. from Rome 70 Capua, and subse-
0.-- extended TO BrunduSium
-.a.-... The foundation consisted
vi ... "r two courses of large, hat
@..- .a3 in lime mortar: next came
a... .. concrete made of one part of
Al a r@ree Of broken stones, thor
o.-.. mixed and consolidated by ram
A- . this was spread Il thin layer of
MORTAR. M which the stones forming the
. COURSE We're bedded These stones
were .a-aitic lava about twelve to
-... -.Ges in width, with smooth
taeas hut irregular sides, and
WIZ. "r.luGy jointed together they
-..... large mosaic. The total thick
-~ -a road was about three feet,
-.. b varied from twelve to TWEEN
--... .- either side were raised foot
Ways. pave. with stone, and at frequent
.. .-a stepping stones for mount
ny Ir was also marked by mile
H..auuG the distance from the
-- '.uGn
was certainly durable, as is
the fact that although it had
.-- Icy Trajan, at the end of the
... ...E &. D., parts Of It are still
.- . Zoo years after il was first
...... bus it was deficient in the
lilies Of Il good road Horace
...s i.~ the statement that il was
.. .. -u-ng to people who travel
roads were built in Gaul, in
'.... .......r 1H-iuu the Roman QcpII-
-.a IN ThTace by the Emperor
..- r.a decline Of Rome, road
starred the fate Of the other me-
ts, and for the time was for
600. roads were unknown again
r until the middle of the
.. century. They were revived
ma.taneousIy IN France and
and soon afJerwaTd in the
'.-.. ...l Countries Of Europe.
NtCADAM ROADS.
speaking races the
. Ut modern roads is generally
...t 10 Two FngliShmen, Macadam
81. ...r&. who rebuilt nearly all the
.--. roads in the early part of this
Ielford was q distinguished
while Macadam prIded himself
- nothing but a road maker. 1t
-aucgaUy believed that to Mac
.. due the principle Of using small
--..i. .r1-ments of clean stone, which,
traffic, mite INTO q solid mass
a.,..-ctiye feature OF Telford 5 roads