Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-25
EUROPEAN HIGHWAYS.
Facts Gathered From Reports Of Our
C0nsuls Across the Atlantic.
ROADS TWENTY CENTURIES OLD,
Some of Them in Excellent Condition at the
Present Time.
THoRoUGHFARES BUIlTBY THE ROMANS

byways Of which Pennsylvania might vel
be proud if she possessed them to-day. Sh
sang of the highways that had been aban
doned by her people who were suffering
from the oppressive yoke OF the Canaanite,
and her language indicates that the road
ways in the neighborhood of Bethel ant
Ramah and the plain of Esdraelon wer
not mere turnpikes, but were finished to
degree of perfection that placed them on al
equality with the best roads of to-day.
Looking still further back over the visit
of time, dimmed by the shadows of count
less ages, the ancient Egyptians are fount
hauling immense blocks of stone with whicl
they built their pyramids and other struc
lures Could they have done this unless
they were possessed of solid roadbeds? I
would have been almost impossible to hav,
drawn these blocks over the roads of thu
United States during the past summer ant
yet history nowhere speaks of delay to ths
pyramids through the Intervention of g
rainy season. It is to be inferred from thil
that even at this early date there was 9
people who understood the value of a road
bed upon which the ravages of the weathe,
had no effect.
Paths Of the Carthagenians.
Turning the light of inquiry upon Greece,
what is revealed? Roads in high state oi
perfection. The Carthagenians who pos.
sessed the commercial instinct in high de.
gree, recognized the Importance of good
roads, and they are said to have invented a
pavement which withstood wear and tear
remarkably well.
Rome was intersected with paved roads
constructed with great care and at an enor-
nous expense. The via Appia, the via
Aurelia and the via Flaminia were the first
great Roman roads and their names have
been brought down in history. When the
Punie war came paved road was construc-
ted from Spain through Gaul to the Alps
This was such great success that inside of
a short time similar roads were built in
every part of Spain. Gaul, Illyricum, Ma
cedonia, Thrace to Constantinople and
along the Danube to the Black Sea.
The era of improvement was upon the
people everywhere, and across the water
the islanders in Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and
Great Britain followed the example set on
the mainland. During the time of An
toninus Plus, the Roman roads were sur
veyed and plated, together with six great
AoooS ~ pbs EfCu LII tLt oOutu VI ASH,
in India, road making was an art in early
days. History again comes to the rescue
and tells of several splendid thoroughfares
from Agra to Lahore and from Lahore to
Cashmere.
Roads Built BY the Incas.
In ancient Peru the Incas built great
roads, the remains Of which still testify to
the care with which they were constructed.
Humboldt in his ASPECTS of Nature"
speaks of q paved road in the Andes. The
material used was well cut, dark porphyritio
stone. Prescott in speaking of the roads of
the Incas tells how they were cut through
solid rock and how they were built over
ravines Of hideous depth"
The length of this road, of which frag-
ments still In good condition remain, was
in the neighborhood of 1000
miles. I'm some places where the ravines
have been filled with masonry, the mount
ain torrents, wearing on it for ages, have
eaten a way through the base, leaving the
mass-such is the cohesion
of the materials-still spanning the depths
like an arch," says Prescott. Is there
road in the United States to-day that could
compare with that of the Incas?
It was not until the reign of Charles II.
that the first turnpike road was established
BY law in Brittany. Up to that time goods
we're carried by pack horses in Scotland,
and even SO late as ITO the journey from
Liverpool to Manchester was not little
perilous on account of the condition of the
road.
In the United States the Importance of
good roads from the frontier to the interior
we're early recognized and some important
routes were opened by the general Govern.
nent, but they do not compare with those
established within the last two centuries by
European Governments. The fact has been
demonstrated by recent publication of the
State Department at Washington, of reports
If United States Consuls on the streets and
highways in their several districts.
Conclusion Indicated by the Reports.
A perusal Of these reports leads the reader
o the conclusion that one can mount his
wagon at the English Channel and drive
throughout the breadth of Europe, except in
lime of snow, without sinking as deep as the
ellies Of his wheels In mud in any weather
n at any time of the year. The roads are
70 firm that rain does not soften them; they
re SO thick that frost does not break them
Up. There are no sloughs to break through.
10 periods when the factory and the farm
re cut off from the rest of the world BY an
mpassible sea of mud.
Americans" says Consul Tanner, of
Iiege, "who find themselves in Europe are
truck with astonishment at the enormous
Dads drawn by horses and dogs here One
lance of the eye from the bulk lust mem
ioned to the roads and half the wonder
would be accounted for because the roads
lave almost every thing to do with it. We
re too apt to ignore that which we trample
lnder foot The ancients knew and appre-
lated more the importance of good public
Dads than we to-day, though at the present
ime in Europe this is subject of first i'm
'ortance."
1t would, indeed, be a strange sight to
ee, at this time of the year, two horses |
tart, in this vicinity, with cart or wagon
7eighing a ton, having upon it a load
7eighing two or more tons and arrive with |
% breakage or friction at their destination. |
he loss tn breakdowns of vehicles, of |
reakage in harness, in time to |
fe and injuries to horses by the |
ad roads in the United States wouId |
mount to an immense sum of money If |
tatistics could be gathered and formu-
ated.
Complaints OF Dull and Hard Seasons.
There are numerous sections of the conn.
~ where, when the farmers have gathered |
heir crops and when the business season
'ould naturally be good, when the farmer
oes nothing but complain of dull business
nd hard times This is the case simply be-
ause in most cases the roads are impassable.
he distribution of products is at a stand.
till and returns from the years labor can.
OF be obtained. Some of the American
ountry roads are actually marked with the
keletons of horses that have been drowned
, the mud or some bridgeless stream, and
-recks of wagons and other vehicles mark
he place of an accident to someone who
al the courage to venture out upon the
pad.