Evening star., 1929-01-01

climb these steps and negotiate rocky
stretches without slipping.N
The llama, it will be seen. was closely
associated with the development of Inca
roads. Long suffering and requiring
little forage. it met the transportation
needs of the ancient Americans as
nothing else could. Moreover, it sup
piled its masters with flesh and hide,
and during religious festivals was the
sacrificial offering on the affairs of fire.
Even today the llama continues as q
principal method of transportation in
interior sections along the Andes.
Suspension Bridges Noted.
Among the more noteworthy accom-
plishments of the Inca engineers were
the suspension bridges OF plated canes
and bamboo, which they swung across
CANYONS and rivers. Some of these
plated ropes were as thick as mans
thigh. In some places two bridges par
alleled each other, one for the exclusive
use of the Inca, or emperor, and his
retinue, and the other for the common
people The latter was operated on
toll basis, it appears, for the great con-
quistador, fernando Pizarro, tells OF
paying toll to cross suspension bridge
en- route from Cajamarca to Pachacmac.
At certain places along the highways
there were tambos, or resting places,
comparable to the overnight inns along
old American stage lines.
The roads found in Peru by the Span
ish invaders undoubtedly were not
wholly the work of the reigning Incas
but were developed from still more
ancient highways built by their ances-
tors. Of all the Inca roads the two out
,,AVfl IA
and south from Quito to the Inca capi-
tai, Cuzo. One of these followed the hills
back fro mthe coast, while the other
followed the shore line. Each was more
than 1900 miles long and was 25 feet
wide.
According to Lopez de Gomara, the
road along the coastal route was in
closed on both sides. had breadth OF
25 feet and was efficiently drained by
bitches alongside and fringed with large
numbers of pepper trees" The road
along the heights, he said. was of the
same breadth, cut from solid rock and
finished with limestone, and here they
leveled the hills. and there they raised
a valley in order to make the road
even-a work, when all that has to be
said is spoken, greater than the Pyra-
mids of Egypt. greater than the Roman
roads and all the works of antiquity"
Highways Disintegrate.
The great Inca roads that had reached
their apogee years after the discovery of
America during the reign Of the great
Inca, Huaynacapa, disappeared during
the Spanish colonization period. Spo-
radio efforts were made by some of the
Spanish leaders to maintain the old
but they disintegrated' from
disuSe until they were overgrown and
almost indistinguishable in places.
The establishment of a republican
form of government market the begin
ming of slow revival for road building
Railroads were laid out first. but rot
much attention was given to highways
until the last decade
Peru, for instance, has made vast
progress in the construction of motor
highways under the guidance of its pro-
gressive executive President Augustus
Leguia. Several good roads have been
built within the past few years, and
more are being laid out and constructed
at present. Peru'S present highway pro-
gram calls for the building of 34,423
kilometers of improved roads. of which
about half of this length has already
been opened to traffic.
Indicative of South Americas atti-
tude toward the great Pan-American
Highway is the following inquiry. ad-
dressed to the Hoover party and pub
lished in leading Lima newspaper the
day of the party's visit there:
"In what way will the United States
contribute toward the building of the
American Highway?
Perhaps this query may seem rather
but one should not fail to bear
in mind that the construction of such
a highway really means the expansion
of the local markets for the sale of
North American machinery and in gen.
eral for the increase of American ex-
port trade to these countries.
Consequently. from a commercial
standpoint. the support and help of the
United States must be practical and
and not solely of a sentimental