The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-10-30

New Haven, oct 30--When J. Danielson's boy was sent from Kill lingly to Boston with a load of pro- duce for sale, the youngster made such little progress in a day that he went back home to spend the first night"
 That explains the highway situ- ation in Connecticut's colonial days, according to Isabel S. Mitchell in Roads and Road-Making in Colon ial Connecticut, q monograph is- sued through the committee of his- torical publications of the tercen- tenary commission of the state of Connecticut, and published for the commission by the Yale University Press.
 Connecticut ''is really the para disc of the United States" accord ing to a French traveller, Brissot de Warville, who toured the state in 17SS, and is quoted by Miss Mitchell. The French traveller was referring to his trip down the val ley of the Connecticut, from Wind sor to Middletowns and was on the only good" road in the colony,
 ITO ride easily and comfortably along a comparatively smooth road, instead of jolting and bunping over rocks and stones as he had done in Massachusetts, undoubtedly con- tributed not little to the pleasant impression he carried back to France" says Miss Mitchell.
 Most of the Connectucut roads' even after the opening of the pres ent century, were in an evll State, and Miss Mitchells study Of the Colonial roads shows that the con ditions were inherited from gener- ations long gone.
 A combination of Gan irregular coast line with tidal rivers cutting deep into the land," and "topo- graphical difficulties" inland served to make roads something hard to establish, and the fact that Connec- ticut residents resented any super vision by 8 higher authority made the maintenance of the roads al most impossible.
 When a road was authorized, the residents along the road used 1t for their own purposes, MISS Mitchell points out fencing on cer- tain portions" or "chopping down a tree on the roadside to take what he needed, and leave the rest where it happened to fall"
 ..If a man needed gravel or stone and there happened to be same that suited him in the middle of the highway, with a cool indifference to the law, he carried on his digging wherever his fancy dictated ana little cared he how deep or wide the hole that he left" .,.
 Miss Mitchell also found that ii if were to his advantage to fence off a portion of the road and use the enclosure for pasturing his sheep or raising tobacco, he promptly dlo so without the slightest hesitation" "Sometimes householder might prefer to keep his wood pile in the public thoroughfare rather than Tn his own yard" and Mss Mitchell cites the ordinance passed in Gull ford in 175O that proclaimed such use of the roads there "maye pc justly esteemed as a public nuis-
 "Pent ways were another nuis- ance of Colonial roads and the inc stanse is cited of the residents or Preston who found that in going down to Stonington harbor, every iournel meant the pulling down ana replacing 40 or 50 pairs of bars.
 Not only this trouble but ''in- suit was added to injury when they were stopped by the owners Of the land and forced to go back" Pres ton people finally had ito go sev- erai miles out of their way 0ver hills and through swamps. which required double strength to pun their loads." A
 The general court of the Colonial era ''passed many stringent laws which, as was usually the case, were recognized more in the breach than in observance"
 "Iawsuit after lawsuit resulted between those who had built the fences and those who pulled them down." and mot only legal contro- versies but scenes of violence. m which strong language. resort 70 fisticuffs, and broken heads all pore evidence to the widespread dis- taste for laws regulating how the highways might be used"
 A burden that was distasteIui to the early residents of Connecticus was ''the necessity of building anu keep in repair safe and adequate bridges" At first the bridges were very simple structures usually con sisting of two or three hewn logs placed in such a way that horses might pass over." Little river. in Hartford, acquired a bridge in 1640, and in 1I2S Nor wich had a bridge 'of quite re- spectable length. being. ESQ feet | long and 20 feet high.
 Tovnships were required to keen Ithe bfidges in repair. and some ol Ithc bridge maintenance delegated ] to the towns aroused the mos'