The Opelousas courier., 1892-02-20
THE ROADS OF THE WORLD.
HOW COUNTRIES BUILD PATHS
FOR COMMERCE. AND WAR.
The Ancient Roman Roads-Those
of Modern Europe-SoutII Ameri
car and Fiji Roads.

can and Fiji Roads.
Since mankind constructed society and
became distributed over the world roads
have been necessary to the existence and
progress of the race. From the time of
Moses there have been royal roads.
First the Egyptians, afterwards the
Israelites and then the Greeks called their
special purposes ssroyat roads" oil the
kings highways. In Greece the royal
roads were inspected and cared for by
the senate at Athens. In L~acedemonia,
Thebes and other States they were under
the supervision of the most eminent men.
Their roads, hoy ever, were not the best
of the ancients' 1t was reserved for a
commercial city, Carthage, to build the
irst paved roads.
The Romans followed the example of
the Carthaginians. and these great high
ways, which connected Rome with its
provinces, were the most renowned and
durable ever constructed. All over
Europe, Asia and Africa, wherever their
Emperors ruled, they built roads that
have been supposed by the ignorant of
different ages to be of supernatural
origin.
The continued existence of some of
these wonderful roads thousands of years
after their completion has proved the
skill and greatness of the master minds
which planned and built them. The
Roman via Appia, the via Aurelia, the
via Flaminia, the roads to the Rhine and
the Danube, and the 1000 miles of road
from the Wall of Antoninus in Great
Britain through Rome to Jerusalem still
reveal lessons of construction worthy Of
| the study of the road builders of the
nineteenth century. They were accu-
rately divided by milestones, aud ran in a
| direct line from one city to another, with
very little respect for the obstacles of
nature or private property. The middle
part was raised into a terrace and con-
sisted of several strata Of sand, gravel
and cement, and was paved with large
stones, which, near the capital, were of
granite.
Adam Smiths assertion that tsthe
construction of roads is the greatest of
all improvements" and the saying of the
Abby ReynaL that "wherever we shall
find no facility of travel from a city to a
town or from a village to a hamlet we
may pronounce the people to be bar
barians" have long. especially in Europe,
been accepted by mankinl. Roads are
the acknowledged civilizers of the
world.
Americans who find themselves in
| Europe are struck with astonishment at
J the loads drawn by horses and
dogs. One glance of the eye from the
loads to the roads aud half the wonder
would be accounted for, because the
roads have almost everything to do with.
it. The a~ncients knew and appreciated
the importance of good public roads.
Many of the roads built by the ancient
Romans and travelled by the proud
Roman conquerors remain to this day.
This is particularly the case IN Turkey,
where they have, ever since the Roman
era, been in use, with little or nc repair.
Roads in Europe are quite usually
ianked on either side by two and m
times four rows of shade trees, which add
much beauty to the country which
they run and from a distance are particu-
iarly picturesque where several roads IN
| ~tersect. One can mark the roads in their
windings sometimes as far as the eye can
reach by these fresh green shade trees,
which, with the various teams OF horses
and dogs laden with the products of
farms, mines and shop, conspire to make.
b very pretty scene. The public roads
bf Belgium enter into successful compe-
tion with the railroads, SO much so that
b man who has. his team does not by any
means consider himself forced to send
his products by rail.
One can mount his wagon at the Eng
iish Channel and drive through the
breadth Of Europe Except in time OF,
snow1, or its length, without sinking as
deep as the fellies of his wheels in the,
mud, in any weather at any time of the
year. The roads are so firm that rain
loes not soften they they are no sloughs
to wade through, no periods when the
factory an1 the farm are cut off from tue
rest of the world by an impossible sea OF
mud. The loss in break-downs OF vehl-
cles, of breakage in harness, IN time to
abor, increased food, shortened life aad
Injuries to horses BY bad roads in the
| United States would amount to an i'm
inense sum of money if statistics could be
gathered and formulated. Railroads,
also, are directly interested in good
country roads. Whatever opens up tae
remote farm lot for easy hauling to the
railroad station, or brings an additional
acre of arabic land nearer to the city,
cheapens the market for the poorest and
increases the volume of trade and com.
merce for all.
The French roads have compelled the
respect and admiration Of foreigners for
a century, and of all the roads in the
country those considered the most excel
lent and at the same time most difficult
of maintenance happen to lie IN the most
rugged of the Alps, with their peaks for.
ever snowclad and rising to q height OF
1000 feet. These Alpine roads are
numerous, of easy grade, solidly built,
always open and always good save when
temporarily blocked with snow. They
are subjected to the most changeful and
violent forces of nature. Snow, frost,
ice and furious glacial torrents springing
suddenly into existence at unexpected
points have sought for q decade to de-
stroy them, but IN vain. The greater
part Of the roads in France are macadam-