The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-09-28
Our G)lio.
ROADS AND ROAD MAKING.

he progress ~ civilization has every
whore been marked by good roads Il may
even BE- said 60 be largely due to them
Ancient Rome Wa no, only famous for its
own roads bat j, carried the art Of r,ad
making into al is conquered provinces
~ its civilization disappeared ia the de-
gencracy or The Dark Ages, good roais
CEASED 70 exist. and they OILS roappcared
when modern nations began 10 emerge from
the Middle Ages II is often said that the
t,st Of civilization In ans country is the
consumption nf iron. bus this l. true ualy
because railroads aFv the chief consumers
ui irou. and they are but one form of tyesd-
way
IL Is an ruieniablc fact that while the
'uited States has the finest railwaY system
in the worli-,he most perfectly adapted
to the work il has e. DO aud the cheapest
in charges for iranspprSaiion--ygt H. roads
and Is city streets arc far inferior Ia those
II France, England, Germany Austria aR9
Italy poubtless the admirable character
Of It's railways Is it.elf che cause Of its bad
roads aud streets, for the railways serve
their purpose ~ vel that there Is lcss ap.
parent neci of good carriagc rossis Al
the other countries above named had
reached a high degree Of civilization before
the adveut of railways, about 6fty years
aro. whereas aluui thrco-fourihs II the
present arsa Of the United States have
bseu settled aud populated during the
railway era. The rapid advances Ia wealth
and population Of ,he principal countries
of Europe during the latter part Of the
eighteenth aud early part Of the nineteenth
century would have been impossible with.
cut a corresponding aud simultaneous i'm
pTovemeni in the quality Of their roads
The stiil mere rapid advance Of AmericA
during this century has becn accomplished
chiefly throagh the instrumentallty Of rail-
ways, and these have 50 thoroughly utter
sected the country in every direc,ioa,
bringing the merchant aud manufacturer
a, one end and the farmer and miner at
the other into such cl,Se communication,
that the necessity for good roads has beea
overlooked The opinion is now gaining
ground, however, that notwithstanding the
excellent aud cheap service of the railways,
there Is a great loss in the unnecessary oosG
Of transportation in hauling merchandise
through the mud to reach the railroad, and
again over rough cobble stoues when il
leaves the cars at It's destination And
independent Of the commercial aspect Of
the question, there is siili 20 b. considered
the comfort aud convenience OF those who
Use roads aud streets for pleasure riding
and driving, aud to whom good road sur
faces are absolutely necessary. During the
ast few years there has been constant
Increase in the attention and thought de-
voted 20 the question Of ruads. both without
and within cities, and the object Of this
article is 10 give briefly such information
as 10 the history and present condition Of
the art of road making As may be useful in
this discussion.
MACApAM ROADS.
Among the English speaking races the
perfection of modern roads Is generally
attributed TO two Englishmen, Macadam
aud Telford, who rebuilt nearly all the
English roads in the early part of this cen
tury. Telford was distinguished engi-
neer, while Macadam prided himself on
being nothing but a roadmaker. 1t is also
generally believed that to Macadam is due
the principle of using small angular frag-
ments of clean stone, which, under traffic,
unite into a solid mass. The distinctive
feature of Telford's roads was layer of
irregular stone, from six to eight inches in
/ size. carefully placed on the ground as a
| foundation for smaller stones, technically
called the road metal The chief object
/ of this foundation was to afford good drain
age, and prevent the metal from being
pushed into the ground in places where it
was soft; but Maeadam always denied its
utility or necessity, and engineers are still
divided on this question. In regard to the
size of the metal, Telford specified that the
stones should be as nearly as possible uni
form in SIZE, the largest of which should
pass, in its largest dimensions, through a
ring two and half inches in diameter
Macadam preferred the test of weight, ard
insisted that no stone should weigh more
than six ounces-which is the weight OF
a cube of one and half inches of hard
compact limestone His overseers were
provided with a small pair of scales and a
six ounce weight, in order to test the largest
stones.
1t is a fact, however, that the correct
principles of modern road-building are not
due to either Macadam or Telford, but to
a French engineer, Tresaguet, who anti
cipated them in every detail by about thirty
years. In memoir prepared in l775
Tresaguet advocated the small angular
fragments of broken stone of Macadam,
and the rough paving foundation of Tel