The Alaska daily empire., 1915-10-25

 syrism e lhe school of roada md br'dger. ono of the finest technical rchoola To thc world The Romans al- 70 extended lhsir road building Into Britnin.
 In l8t9 tho toll systom was adopted in Fngland and in 1888 no less than HOO turnpike trrsia were in existence. The coat Of collecting the tolls, how ever. ofton nearly equaled the in- come end ln 1878 all tolls were abol- ishod. The first ,oll road in the United slates was ihe Lancaster Pike between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylyania, e2M miles, authorized in 1702. Congress, on March 29th, 1906, appropriated ssO,000 toward the survey and construction Of road leading from Cumberland, Maryland, to the Ohio river, near steubenyille. This was the beginning of the famous Cumberland Pike. It was not finished untl 1888. and the total amount ap- propriated wae nearly sz000,o0O The fret section to Wheeling cost about 9ls,O0o per mile. After the steam railway became Che principal means of transportation road building gener- ally wee neglected in the United States for moro than O generation, and only in recent years, due in large measure to tho development of the automobile. hos the great value of roads como Co be appreciated again. In 1904 tho total outlay for roads in Che United States was approximately S7s s.0o0o00. Ten years later, 1914, tho aggregate expenditure was nearly s225, 100000. Tho small state of Con- neoticut expended from February. 1913. Go October. 1914. 2e,7oO.OOO. and in Che state of New Yck the approp- riauons for loIl. were moro than $19- ooO,ooo.
 Every country needs for its devel- cpment aud for tho happiness of its people good roads. Alaska has scarce ly made O beginning. When tho AL aska Road Commission came into ex- istence in 1905. tho Territory was al- most entirely without the semblance of e road throughout its vast area of nearly 100000 sQuare miles Travel was mostly confined to open water ways, and over their frozen courses in tho winter. Travel across country in summeE generally speaking was possible on foot or with pack horses, difficult nivays, by reason of the swamp character of the ground from tho melting snows. and surface thaw- inE. and frequently dangerous on ac- count Of numerous swift and deep streamo fed by tho ice-cold waters of mountain glaciers. It is due to these Dhyslcal conditions more than anything else that Alaska has re- mnined SO long an undeveloped and an almost unknown country.
 in the great plains country of the Middle West and Northwest, travel across country was generally safe and easy without road or trail, and devei. opment naturally followed the con- struction of trunk lines of railroad, and a similar development, 1t has been predicted. will take place in AL aska. Here. however. the conditions arc entirely different and no rapid or general. development can follow tho construction of numerous wagon roads and trails as feeders. Alaska also has a wonderful system of waterways, both coastal and interior, and as the Territory develops. the demand will be for numerous short roads between the deep-5ea channels of the Coast and between the naVigable streams of the interior. with certain trunk road systems leading from the interior to the coast
 The valdez-Falrbanks road is the first Of these trunk lines to be laid out and it will always be the most important. When it shall be further improved Go tho condition when ye- hicles of all kinds. wagons. trucks, and automobiles may pass at will over 1t confidence of making time without lot or hlndrance, for business or for jleasuro. throughout tho endless aum- mer days Of tho Northern latitude. then VIII It's great value be appreciat- ed. especially by Valdez