Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-07-28

& other aspects than those of sunshine and
gladness in these tight little" British
Islands,
The rain falls as though tnmned upon
you by mischievous elves who have
watched for your unwary coming, and
the fogs and mists flap about the hills and
mountains and slap the faces of the glcns
and valleys like a ships unstaid sails
pounding its deck in storm.
But you find sovereignty of elation and !
exultation in wandering alone among the |
historic and scenic glories Of any land. A
good staff or stick, a stout pair of legs, q |
receptive mind and above all Il CHEEKY and |
sympathetic heart, whatever your luck,
are the regal companions for such loiter- |
ings.
And nature never fails to appear to
single devotees at her myriad doors and
windws with radiant welcomings. How
witching is even this foggy morning. half
disclosing the wondrous charms of valley,
mead and stream At times scarcely can
your hand be seen before you for the
strange eddies, curlings and fantastic con
volutions of the fog There is your road,
hard as British conservatism beneath
,your-feet--one Of the best and surest and
most beautiful ways in all the world,
bringing to the heart of the American
wanderer upon it the keen and patriotc
pang that those of his grander land are
shamed by honest comparison.
Drip, drip, drip from the leaves of the
hedgesinto water basins of rock, the great
drops striking like silver pellets upon
swinging glass until the very chimes of
the fairies are rrlng in your ears beside the
road. Not rod away, but invisible, riSu-
lets of the nights making wimpie from
rocks to pools, i'll all manner of nelOdic
INNS. from the staccato of tenor trills to
the baritone minors Of stately psalms.
II was on such morning that came
over the east Devonshire hills and halted
at a wayside inn, still high up among their
dDdl p,,rhfs nc I al Ia. ,,1d ,ut In
dral town of Exeter. AS the fog lifted
could see from my inn window cart after
cart Jogging comfortably on to the Sat,ir-
day market day sales in Exeter.
That morning, all the way to Exeter,
alongside those huge carts which BOWED
along under their great loads as easily rs
over a cathedral floor, and in thousand
other places on the highways of England,
Ireland and Scotland, | have inexprcssi-
bly, longed for the power 30 bodily trans
fer some Of these graz d old roads to our
country; to make American millionaires,
vino may still have American pride left in
them, see their beauty magnifcenCe and
utility beyond those Of all things money
and patriotism can give to communities
and to compel American farmers to know
what might be the matches udepend.
ence of their lives and living with these
perfect defences for their toll and homes
and granares against most Of the monop-
olistic and corner" denominations of our
land
| set out to write about Exeter but this
subject of better American roads will moi
down. In five years time | have tranpcd
along 5000 miles of British roads Each
time step my feet upon their broad, firm
even surface every drop Of American blood
in me tingles with shame at the thought
of the mud pixies and bottomless roaC
sloughs OF our own splendid Country--riCh
great and strong enough to match th,
roads Of Europe without Il weeks delay
And vet for five months Of every year, ant
in a lesser degree for the other seven, hal
Of the people Of our farming communitie
areimprsoned and impoverished elplessll
at home. As one result the people Of III
whole country pay, in an indirect roa,
tax through annual sharp advances on al
food necessities of life all Of which til
farmers lose Il sum each wear enurmou
enough to maintain as superb roads Il
England anywhere possesses, around ever,
section Of cultiyable land in the eHtir
United States
But our wise American economists, an,
our unwise and often suspicious and shift
less farmers who, III the fall, winter am
early spring months, prefer to rcsentfuil
brood over their filled and rottng grant
ries and build new political parties rathe
than build good roads, both ret0rt
"Ah, but the grand English roads yo
so glbly write ABOUT have been ccnturit
in building. How can We accomplish, j
a year or generation, what has require
Ztuuu NGtIS IdDbE LOT lltTItCllDn there
This would be good argument were
true. But it is not. There is not 4 British
or for that matter a European, stone r0i
in existence that was not originally at Ont
constructed to absolute completion, whci
ever begun and however long it NAV la,
been maintained. And, with f.ufupcl
governmental and social conditions incu
Ceivably hard upon peasant population
wherever these roads exist he condition
the people Is lncomparAply more hap
and prosperous than where they do IL
while land values have invariably be-
increased from 100 to lUDO per cent
Not so many Years ago Austria bu
nearly 1000 miles Of stone highway
and down and from emf to end Of tialGi
or Austrian Poland Previous to til
time, materially, no more wretch,
God+forsaken land existed on the face
the earth. What was the result In Il
than ten years time these roads did mo
for the b.99b,uOO people Of Austrian l'oia
in material and social advancement TIL
all the churches, all the books, all t
newspapers, all the battles, all HE "a
ways and all the governments had ever
complished Tor them from the dayS
Mieczyslaw and BOlcslas to the day thi
roads were done.
Cannot some Of She extensive and hi
aFt'frills Of that great Columbian eXpC
tion at Chicago he trimmed little, q
thus make room for u Observation-Disclosures
inaccessible iabs and bits III udC2cn diff
ent departments BIT in one generous /,
comprehensive department. Thu iuiiir
df visitors, including city ana suburb
folk everywhere whose hu;,th and pleas
largely depend On good r1us, d WEN
farmers whose hctterulcnt and conf
would be incidentally augmented by /
feet roads, might thus carry away "
them a knowledge and purpose wh
would not only add biliiuuSto0ur natu
wealth, but make, in good time, or bg,
land bLeom and blossom fairrr TITAN
sweetest garden spctS in all this Old /
WeEn out Europe.
With snGh thoughts ~ these | cat
with the carts and cartmen, along
brew Of she hills skirting The noble VA
Of the Exc 10 ancient Exeter, which w
far away to the warm green sea tha bt
upon the red clffs Of Devon.
II was ins ancient days 40 uit Bri,
town, built long before ;HSNr, nUi Cl
C'aer lsc, or the city on the river. s
Quarians observe that, like most l.p
trading towns it was built for safety sc
little distance from the sea, and Just
vend where the river Exc ceases 10
navigable. Discovered coins Of The Or
4 dynasty in Syria and Egypt prove t
Phnnician merchants must have q
here many years before Christ to trade
Cornish and Dartmonr tin. Then
Romans marched in and made il a n
station Lastly the SaaOnS fortified
town on the Exc, and traded here "
tho Cornish Britons across the 'fainur.
'fhe Exc was the frontier then for
Damnonians, hat hthelstan came
drove them pclIiDell into Cornwall