The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1891-10-02
4 LESSON bM THE ANcleNrs.

= transport mo4ood or other material
from place tblsce than he himself
could carry, therefore he had no
need to invertebrates for purposes Of
transportatiobor to build roads over
which vehicl could easily be drawn.
As soon. hover. as there has been some
progress frou savage condition there
has always atared a marked desire to
carry goods And fro to meet the de.
sires and fanJ ofmen. Before wheeled
vehicles wer(k ed for this purpose the
caravan waste method employed, and
among sombf the nomadic tribes of
the east 1t istill in use. while only a
generation DO has passed since it was
quite comMiin the Cumberland mount
aims Of q wn country.
Thirty y9 ago u considerable part
OF the tradpetween the mountain val
leys of the bad waters Of the Cumber-
land and fillmore civilized areas in the
east and wd was carried on by means
Of pack SALES mounted on horses or
oxen. >-NlI
Down to 10 beginning Of the Seven
teenth Gently these caravans were the
means of tnsportation in the inland
districts Of northern Europe and Great
Britain. Iere may be seen there at
this time i many places deep trenches
sometimes ut to the depth OF twenty
feet or m4 in the hillsides, extending,
like the dches of old Notifications,
across hill and dale. These
are the tt tkways worn deep into the
earth by dnturies of use by caravans.
They had lot learned to use carriages
nor to buif roads like those people who
lwelt abdt the Mediterranean sea.
The WHEELED vehicle, an evolution from
he sled, jwas first used in Egypt, and for
i long time it was only q war chariot,
out in times of peace it became to be
Used for the transportation Of goods from
,lace to place. The Romans, who were
'ery quick to adopt anything useful.
ither in wa3or commerce, got this idea
rom their enemies, the Carthagenians,
whose inethol of road building was also
dopted in constructing those magnif-
ent ways which united Rome with other
arts of Italy. Carthage had the great
st feet of any people. She did not neg
sct her interior communication, and
God roads were made to the neighbor.
lg cities. Unfortunately, when Garth
&c was destroyed it was entirely de-
;royed and plowed under, SO that we
an learn very little of the methods IF
ADMINISTRATION and construction en-
loyed. Romans learned road building
ON the Carthagenians.
We are familiar with the Roman roads
which have alluded. These were
spt in order for many centuries, and
eir own inherent strength kept them
order for centuries more, and even
to the Dark Ages. when the European
oples lapsed in barbarism, and eivlll-
ton all but persisted
When the awakening came. after the
lg and brutal sleep, it was centuries
fore anything in Europe was done in
b way of rad Making at all COM
,nsurate with what had been done by
e ancients in the same direction.
,ads were made, of course, but they
ire haphazard highways, constructed
tirely by local effort SO that one neigh
rhood could communicate with an
her. The first Napoleon appears to
We been the first modern statesman
10 clearly saw the relation of carriage
lys to the development Of country.
d who at the same time had the power
carry out his ideas.
others in Europe had perceived this
ng. but they could not, like the Lit
Corporal, but will thing to have it
ne. Even in our own country our
.lier statesmen, Washington and Ham
IN. saw the immense advantage of
I'd highways, but the country was
Or. and nothing substantial has ever
IN done. And, sad to say, we are in
It very condition today. There have,
course, here and there, been some
I'd roads built in the United States
ring the past few years. but when the
It area of the country is taken into
the few hundred miles of
I'd roadway amounts practically to
hing.
But it may amount to something if the
,ple at large will take to heart the
sons which are to be learned from the
reased prosperity Of these sections
ich have gone to the trouble and ex-
Use of providing themselves with good
nmon roads. Farmers who formerly
re losing money are now prosperous.
nd which was before lying idle, and
owners looking around anxiously
purchasers at almost any price, are
v readily salable at prices which are
adily advancing. Crops which pre-
usly could not be carried proftably to
rket are now transported so much
re easily that they yield good profit.
this because it does not cost too much
ret produce to the market towns, the
way station or the steam boat landing.
! seems almost ridiculous that at
period of the Nineteenth century
beginning Of the last decade-argu-
ats should have to be advanced to
orleans to arouse them to the impor- I
70 of road Improvement. Think of It'll
II hundred years before the beginning
the Christian era the people of an
lean city, constantly at war with
If neighbors. better understood the
.-4.oon 80 sr<.,J bord Voo1c than <ho |