The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1891-03-06

| The fourth column of this table shows clear.
ly that for every mile hauled by common road
the same load could be carried by rail- nearly
36 miles, Sy lake nearly 60 miles and by ocean
nearly 107 miles, at the same cost, and that il
| other things were equal, or if there were lines
radiating in all directions, the tributary areas
would vary as the quantities in the last
| column. From this it will be eeen how rapid.
| ly the area from which supplies may be
drawn increases, by decreasing the cost of
movement. The ratio of cost of rail to wagon
road beingas isto SO. The great economy OF
large expenditures for the improvement of
the permanent ways becomes at once manifest,
and the concentration of capital By railroads
for this purpose is fully justified. The com.
petition of the water ways, as we'll as the
parallel lines of railways, has compelled these
latter roads to curtail expenses wherever
possible, and freights are now carried for
long hauls for one-third the amount cOnsid-
cred possible only few years ago. The
common road, which is the public highway,
stands aloOf in this race for supremacy, and
has been ignored because of the difficulty OF
securing united movement of the masses in
their own behalf. The railroads have over.
come the great resistances to traction by q
great effort in constructing a suitable road
bed at the start; while, on the peoples high.
why, no concerted effort is put forth to reduce
| the natural obstacles, but each one is left to
struggle with them single handed, st the ex-
pense of his time, patience, team and money.
A united effort on the part OF the community.
under intelligent supervision, would soon lift
the load out of the mire and confer innumer-
able blessings on the inhabitants.
In concluding this part of nv discourse,
permit me to express physical fact, in the
form of an aphorism, impressing the import
ance of greater mobility. 1t is this:
Motion means circulation, and circulation
Is the evidence of life.
Rest means stagnation, and stagnation 10
the forerunner of death.
What we need, then, is greater freedom Of
motion or greater facility of intercommunica-
ton, and this can best be secured by perma-
nently reducing the resstances to traction,
by improving the condition of the highways.
This leads US directly to the physical ques-
ton of "How to construct our roads, so as to
diminish these hurtful resistances There
are evidently various ways of doing this.
The first is to make the roads more direct.
THE ALIGNMENT.
So long as each owner ola farm compels
the traffic to turn aside to avoid the air line
across his fields, be not only imposes heavy
tax upon all his neighbors, but Is himself
taxed in turn by them in being compelled to
zig gag over the country on his way to the
mill, market or station. Moreover, aside
from Inc LlIne IOSI anu me wear ana tear,
there is more land taken from agriculture by
this roundabout road, and hence a further
loss is entailed by his being able to raise
smaller crops. Again, the road being longer,
it costs more to build it and keep it in pas.
sable condition; and still further, the ground
which 1t trsverses is often bottom meadow,
well adapted for agriculture but very poorly
for road, being difficult to drain and keep
in order.
One of the first things to be done, then, in
improving our roads, is to revise carefully
their direction, so as 10 secure the best posi-
BILE line between the principal centers OF
population and the farms.
THE GRADES.
The next point to which special attention
s to be directed is the grades. This is very
important, since the work required to lift
load up an inclined plane increases rapidly
with the steepness of the slope, and may soon
exceed the maximum power of the horse. In
this case the load must be reduced and more
trips be made, 80 that one steep hill on a road
may practically double or treble the length of
a road by requiring two or more trips, instead
of one.
The effect of grades may be more clearly
shown from the following table, giving the
force required to haul six tons along q
macadamized road, at speed of three miles
per hour.
TABLE II.