The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1938-06-16

transportation. The old Cumberland
Road before long was to be restored to
more than its earlier prestige. 1t was
to become the most important link in
an east-west highway chain extending
from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts.
The first gentle zephyr of the new
era was felt about 1885 when the
Safety" The precOcious child of the
"high-wheeled" bicycle, jolted along
the neglected, pot-holed macadam
roads on the outskirts of cities and
towns. Then~the League of American
Wheelmen began to voice an appeal
in favor of the construction of good
roads" Tandem bicycles, bicycle trous-
ers, turtle sweaters and caps, ladies'
boomers, shirtwaists and straw hats
and century runs" of 100 miles were
soon the order of the day.
Responding to the demands for
road improvement, Congress, in 1898,
created the office of Road Inquiry, in
the Department of Agriculture, to
gather and disseminate information
with regard to road construction and
maintenance. This small office was
provided with an annual appropriation
of $4,000, a sum which was shortly
to become inadequate to serve the re-
quirements of the motor vehicle.
At the turn of the century, the
'horseless wagon" began to chug,
cough and sputter along the old pike
on short excursions from a nearby
town or city. Scared within an inch of
their lives, chickens dashed cackling
across the road in mad flight in front
Of the advancing wheels of the cen
tury's new continuance. Horses snort
ed, reared on their hind legs, turned
tail and jack-knifed the shafts as the
harness broke and parted from the
overturned wagon and the animals
galloped frantically away in terror
stricken panic. Thus routed, horses, as
means of highway motive power,
continued their retreat as the auto
mobiles grew in number until today a
horse-drawn vehicle is an unusual
sight upon the old pike.
AS the mechanism Of the motor We
hicle was steadily improved, it's ability
to travel long distances without a
breakdown caused it to grow steadily
in favor with the farmer as we'll as the
city dweller. To provide a greater
mileage of continuous highways, by
joining the country roads into state
wide system of highways, state-aid
road laws were passed in the State
Legislatures of Maryland in 1898; in
Pennsylvania in 1903; in Ohio in
1904; in Illinois in 1905, and in West
Virginia in 1909. Indiana passed a
similar law in 1917. This legislation
aided in the continuous Improvement
of the Old National Pike.
Seeking to provide more substantial
Federal assistance, Congress, in Au-
gust, 1912, appropriated half million
dollars, to be expended under the joint
supervision of the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the Postmaster General,
for the betterment Of post or mail
routes. Of this amount, 100000 was
allotted to the improvement of a Sec
ton of the National Pike in Ohio be-
ginning at GAINESVILLE and extending
westward for "a miles. This expert
mental section of road was drained,
graded and surfaced with Portland
| cement concrete pavement sixteen feet
wide This work paved the way for the
extension of Federal aid.
In July, 1916, Congress passed the
Federal-aid road act designed to con-
meet the State highways systems into
an articulated system of interstate
highways, forming a vast national
network of roads extending from coast
to coast and from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Canadian border. One of the
most important features OF Ihe acC
was the provision for the establish
ment Of competent highway engi-
neering department within each state
as a prerequisite to the granting of
Federal-aid funds. The original Office
of Road Inquiry had grown into the
Offices of Public Roads and Rural En-
gineering and, in 1916, the Bureau of
Public Roads was designated to act as
the agent Of the Secretary of Agri-
culture. In 1919, Thomas H. Melon
aid, for many years chief engineer of
the Iowa State Highway Commission,
was made the new chief executive of
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