The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-05-22

N" 49, Ano~n oIohlnene tells az
rad from Quito Cuxco. 900 s
long and twenty-five PAGES hrcad ~
Of stones ten feet square, with A n,,r,1
stream and a row Of trees ON each -a
and thep y 30 little reason 70 donh, 49,
statement that 1t = b. AGENT,
literally true. Prescott, in his .H,s,..
Of Peru In speaking Of this ~
says that lit was conducted
pathless sierras covered with snos'
galleries were cut through the l;yss
rock; rivers were crossed by means =
bridges that swung suspended IN the 49,
prccipices were scaled by -sts,r-.~
h<wn out Of the native bed. and nav,,
Of hideous depth Were filed ~ vi,s
solid masonry" The Incas Of Psrr -
doubtless entitled to the palm FOR 49,
making, but ncvcvtheless in the popnl..
mind the ancient Romans viii pmiah.
always BE- regarded a pre~eminept !,
building permanent means Of command
cation from one part Of the eanpire i
another. Tho history Of ancient pm
strikes the average mind as about a. III
a. the tales Of the Arabian Niehts.
but there is . verify about Roman N.
tory, due 10 the fact that in all srhcol
II has been COINED over and over. nn+n
' the man Of the dullast imas1natio,
has lived in the great deeds Of the founa.
ers, idled with the sybaritfs Of is tn
rpe days and suffered with those VIII
vainly attempted TO check its decadepe.
and prevent the overthrow Of its glory
Therefore ! think that in this era a
road improvement agitation there Win
b. more interest 10 learn how IL
Romans worked than that Of any 9th,
people. It Is said that they Learned
their method from the Carthagenians. but
wherever they learned it they c~arrieat
ont with no regard whatever to the cot
entailed. In Italy only the old Romans
built $4,000 miles Of road, and NAM
Of their roads remain today either 4
the surface or the foundation Of modem
roads. The antiquaries have divided Tie
roads leading from the gates Of ancient
Rome into several systems Directly %
the sea the Romans travelled by the O.
tian road; along the sea shore 10 he
northwest by the Aurelian. and 70 Tie
southeast by the Appian. Next the Az
relian in the other direction was ths
Faminian, then the Salarian, the No
mentarian. the Tiburtine, the Prasuo-
tine, the Lavican and the Latin. q
these roads the Appian is the most =,
Gent and the most famous Its f<
stretch. from the Colosseum to Capu,
was built by Appius Claudius in thl
442d year Of the city. This was q do
lance OF 142 Roman miles. Julius CFsa,
extended this highway from Capua Y
Brundusium. We are indebted 70 Hn
ace for q very minute description 4
journey to Brnndulum- Sir WiivA'
Cell, too, in this century, in = book ca
THE Topography Of Rome and Its VI
ity," has traced ont the road - Il o.
nally- was, and located many Of The a
uments and mites Of ancient villas sv
either side Of this noble highway.
In laying out . highway the 4
man engineers seemed 70 practice
which would seem very strange
Whether or not they made .
nary survey for the purpose Of Q ~
the Typographical features Of tXc
try the records do not speak, but h
manifest TO my mind that theyldid(
They knew whittier they wished tot
Standing at the starting point, some II
mark in the proper direction would
selected, and the road located on an aba
lutely straight line 70 that point. tn
a trench was dug the entire length unit
some kind OF solid foundation was found
When a foundation Of SOLID rock ',
found the lowest course If masonry "
omitted. This masonry consisted 2
three ~ourses, each about 12 inches tn'cl
The lowest course was Of large q
stones, put in with reference TO beArinl
he interstices filed with spawls and q
whole grouted with cement The secon
course was of concrete-that =, sma
stones mixed with cement mortar -
the surface Of this was nnoothed VI
carefully. On top Of this thu TIN
course m laid, and this consisted
polygonal blocks fitted with the utznd
nicely. These roadwsys were from
to 90 feet wide from curb to cnrb, y
beyond the curling on each sde o. z
road was : foot pavement ? feet va
The stone Of which these roads ~
built was usually Of volcanic origin =
very hard and black In color. Nosv1t
standing the substantial character
these roads, the utmost weight VIM
each class Of vehicle was permitted
carry was regulated by Law, and INC
Laws were strictly enforced The ccns
quence Of this careful building i tn
though there were periods centuries =
when Italy was sunk into almost unre
sal barbaris1n, and that IL Is now tar
almost 70 death TO maintain > navy =
army, the roads compare favcrably ~
the best in Europe. This Is not p @
whero one wanders Of from the ma
highways, which are still maintained
the government. In Italy as in Amenc
where the maintenance Of the coun'
roads u left to local care, the ROADS :
bad Those tn Italy are practically y
passabh. .-
But in this country 70 don't neea
build such ruads - the Romans ~
In the first place We can exercise ~
ingenuity than they did, and iay ousu
ruSds with scme reference 70 heavy ~ }.
and 70 easy grades. And then u ]
eecund plnce w have no need ia =.
solid masonry a. they saw ht ~
Teafusd and MacAdam have tauSnL