Arizona republican., 1922-04-27

| llmlted. In TACT, one OF their citizens
was Dragging to me about it the
other day, so | had to tell him about
our fast train out west-the Sunset
limited
This train, from the Rocky noun
tain region, enroute to the Pacific
coast, passes through many small
towns just like a blue streak-lso
fast, that no one can tell how many
coaches it carries. Three of the
natives in one of these small towns
made bet among themselves as to
| the number of coaches. To settle
| the matter, they hit upon a plan
| for counting them. So before the
customary time for the train early
one morning, one man stationed him.
self a quarter mile UP the track,
a second man a quarter mile down
the track, and the third man in the
middle. 1t was agreed that the first
man, when he saw the train COM
| ing, would turn and shout the signal
to his companions. Presently the
ground began to shake and there
was heard the roar OF the oncoming
train. The first man turned and
shouted, Here she comes,'' the Sec
ond man, "There she goes" and the
third man, where is she"
But seriously. my friends, l feel
that when | speak to you on the
subject, Transportation, that I am
speaking to you on the one great
problem that affects every home and
fireside, and underlies our entire So
cial and economic life. A problem
so great that if you work it out, all
other problems just seem to take
care of themselves. A problem, upon
the solution Of which, has depended
the rise and fall Of nations, the sue
cess or failure of peoples. A prob
lem that Is not new, for it has been
with US since the beginning Of time.
Experience of Ages
Go back, il you will, into the ter
tiary period, almost fifty thousand
years ago. when the red beds We're
being formed in the Rock mountain
region. At that time we are told
by that great student of natural his
tory, Theodore Roosevelt. that there
lived man of low brow and shaggy
body, cave dweller which he calls
1.-THE Magnan Man" Let us picture
him as he came forth from his cave
one morning, and, fearing an ap-
preaching storm or some wild beast,
attempted to lift and transport a
large stone TO cover the opening in
his cave, he discovered that he was
not strong enough to lift this stone,
able to push the stone over and over. |
Then and there, in his crude, ig-
norant way. he discovered how to
overcome, with q rolling motion, |
two of the great forces of nature, |
friction and gravity.
Turn another page Of history and
we come to our first parents. /
have long been convinced in my own
mind that when Adam awoke in the
Garden of Eden and was told by |
the Guardian Angel that Eve had |
been created. his first great need |
was a path or road over which he |
might travel to Ewes place OF abode. |
and as he journeyed along that path |
and come to the first stream his |
second great need was a bridge over |
the stream. So, from the very be- |
ginning of the human race. ways and |
means of transportation have been
the first requirement and the fore
runner of all advancing civilization. |
Turn another page of history. and |
we come to the old Romans, the first |
people to awaken to the importance
OF the transportation problem. And |
have tried to picture in my mind a |
meeting of citizens in the early days
OF Rome when no doubt one of their |
number arose and said, +Boys, if we |
want to place Rome on the map we /
must worl out our transportation |
problems" How we'll they did it you |
know: they built the great Appian |
way, running from Rome to the Alps |
on the north, distance of several |
hundred miles, and paved it with |
stones to a depth OF three or four |
feet in thickness. a highway which |
has withstood the ravages of Father
Time for centuries. and is a splendid /
example of good engineering. Then I
they improved their chariots, their
carts and other vehicles of travel,
and also their boats on the water.
and solved their problems so we'll /
that Rome became the mistress of the /
world and it was a common saying |
that "all roads lead to Rome"
Turn another page If you will, and |
read of the awakening of the English |
peoplaAto the Importance of this great /
problem. Read of her -shipbuilding |
and her road building, of her sailors
and her engineers, and trace the
growth of her transportation facili-
ties from the Battle of Waterloo to |
that day when she was hailed as the /
Mistress of the Seas"
Development in France
And now let US turn one more page /
in our history of transportation and /
trace the development in France. Let
us learn how they built their splen /
did system OF highways, highways so I
good thai in 1913 the cost of hauling
produce from farm to market was
less than 10 cents per ton mile haul.