The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1901-06-20
ROMAN ROADS.
They Are Two Thousand Years Old.
NARROW AND sE1F-MEND1NG.

Selected
L. Lodian, writing in the Motor Age
on .The Roads of thu World" declared
that he has reached the conclusion
that broad tires and narrow roads are
the key to the good roads problen.
cit stands to reason" he says, "that II
a road is narrow it is seif-wearing even.
It is far more economical to build
quicker to construct, and easier to
maintain when it needs looking after.
We see proofs of this in our own coun-
try Districts; narrow roads that are
almost hard as adamant, while the
vide roads are often unspeakable muck
| furrows."
Continuing, Mr.. Lodian writes eau.
tomobiles may be seen running oyer
roads in Italy that were constructed
more than two thousand years ago-the
self-same roads, hundreds of miles long,
over which the Roman legions tranped
flushed with victory, over which St..
Paul walked, and over which the
French troops SO repeatedly marched
in the early part of the century just
passed. And through all those ages of
centuries the roads have scarce felt the
touch of repair. In fact, most of them
haye never been repaired during the
two thousand years of existence, simply
because they have never needed repair.
When the Romans built their splendid
military roads, they built them on a
sort Of .se:t-repairing, principle-that is
they built them narrow enough to
compel traffic to wear them down even
ly. For the-what seems to us mod
|erns-narrowness of the old Roman
roads has often been a matter OF re-
mark. The real object of this narrow-
ness have never yet seen stated in any
exposition on road engineering, other
than the idea being advanced OF econo-
my and rapldity OF construction. But
learned the real motive during travels
in Italy in 1S9l-'92.
eve all know that wide road is
only too liable to be worn into ruts
The wider it is, tho more ruts it will
degrade into, unless sharpiy looked al
ter. I have seen some natural-msde
roads in Siberia one-quarter mile wide,
but such collection OF ruts /! On the
other hand, during travels in the Mex
lean Republic, have seen narrow
say, twelve feet-natural made roads,
running through a marshy coun-
try, almost as hard and compact
and smooth as some Of the asphalted
streets OF New York, Paris or Berlin.
These roads In Mexico, to which re-
fer, had on either side OF them the
quick-mud country. In popular Ian
guage this country is termed quick
sands,' but-ll- a good many other
things popuIar-this is erroneous.
The earth Is literally quick.mud-a
most tenacious clay-and sticks like
glue to the clothing, if you happen to
sink a loot into it, as did the writer.
Among railroad engineers this quick
mud is known as gypsum, and to
handle the treacherous ground proper
ly has been a problem in track con-
struction. So, in Mexico, the traffic
being forced to confine itself, in the
qulckmud country, to twelve-foot
guage, has, in the course OF years, ham,
mered cut track as hard as a first
class French highway.
"Now, the Romans built their two
thousand -year-lasting highways pur-
posely narrow, so that the roads should
be 'seli-repairing,' 'self-mending, or
.self-wearing-even,' or what expression
you like to apply to road which auto
matically, SO to speak, keeps Itself in
good order for a couple Of millenniums.
Since the old Romans never extended
their conGuests to America, we are not
possessed of any remains of their roads,
but the traveller in most parts of Eu-
rope will see them. You wilr even
find them as far north as old Scotia
since the republic extended its con-
quest even unto Caledonia. A section
al view of Roman road shows that
the successive layers of material used
in their construction consisted OF first,
loose stones one and one half foot thick
next, stones and lime three-fourths of u
foot thick then eemented brick and
tile debris one and ne-half foot thick
the whole topped by basalt blocks one
foot thick. The Roman road is not a
French road, nor metal roadrnor one
of Macadam's, but (so lar as the sur
face is concerned) a substantial solid
stone or rock-wearing surface, made
thicker and rendered more permanent
than even the thickest flagstone side
walks in Europe or America ever were.
0The loose stone underlayers render
ed drainage excellent. Can 1t ba won
a sl,.t <hoca onciont R0m0n