The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1930-07-11
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be proud of having a man of Mr..
Young's ability as one of its cit
liens and should do everything
possible for the future of such a
man. The Commercial club of
Wolf Point the speaker said,
"aIso deserves much credit for it's
work in connection with the
bridge project.
commends Unity Of Action
"The success of a city depends
largely upon the people living in
it and a commercial club or sim
liar organization selected from ac-
tive, enthusiastic citizens aids
greatly in any undertaking backed
by such community" Nothing is
so harmful as a community di-
vided into factions and it was be-
cause the commercial club and
Mr.. Young united the citizens of
Wolf Point and the people Of
Roosevelt county and surrounding
counties, that we are gathered
here today for this dedication
ceremony.
''This event should be the be-
ginning of an era of growth and
prosperity for Wolf Point provid-
ed the people of the city will
continue to work together as they
have done recently. The Great
Northern, of course, is interest
ed in the success of citizens along
its line, because only as the citi-
zens succeed can the railroad
succeed.
Historic Bridges
Tracing the history of bridges,
Mr.. Flynn said it took several
thousand years for people to
learn to build a bridge such as
this one al Wolf Point, although
strange as it may seem, stone
bridges were built 1000 years or
more ago and are in many cases
as good as bridges built of stone
today.
The Chinese, he said, seem to
be the first people to employ
masonry arches for the purpose
of building bridges. Brick arches
of rude construction have been
found in ruins along the Nile
which were constructed about
5000 years ago. he continued.
1.-THE Romans and Greeks were
great bridge builders. Some of
their bridges, 1900 to 1000 years
old, are still being used and in
good condition.
"A bridge across the Tiber,
which is supposed to have been
the first stone bridge to span the
stream, was built nearly 1900
years ago. Examples of oriental
bridges are still in existence,
these bridges having been built
about $50 B. c. Some of them are
still in a fair state of preserva-
ton. Fine stone bridges built in
southern France 900 years ago
are still being used. In England,
the use of stone as material for
bridge construction dates back TO
the bridge at Dartmoor, believed
to be over 1900 years old.
1.-THE Oldest stone bridge in the
United States of which there is
definite record is that at Ipswich,
Mass, constructed about 1920.
zone of the emost noted bridges
in this section of the world is
the Great Northern Railway com
pany's stone arch bridge built in
1881 over the Mississippi river al
Minneapolis.
cit was said that a curved stone
arch bridge could not be success
fully constructed, but Mr.. Hill
proved that it could, and the
bridge today is as good as ever
and should last for centuries. 1t
has % spans, 4 of which are 100
feet, Is are so feet and 1 each
II feet, 43 feet and 40 feet. Now,
of course, bridges of concrete OF
steel construction are almost IN
tirely used. We have advanced
rapidly in the art Of building so
far as the element of time is con-
cerned and today large structures
are completed in amazingly short
times.
Another noted bridge, said to
be the longest concrete arch
bridge in the world, was recently
completed at Fort Smelling, near
ST. Paul and Minneapolis. 1t is
said that this is one of the most
beautiful bridges in the United
States"