The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1947-10-02

Merrily we jog along, jog along,
jog along ---
AS we go gliding down a super
highway today, there is little to re-
mind us of the days when the horse
was the king of the highway, when a
plush lined buggy on steel-tired
wheels was modern riding luxury,
and the dust you always had with
you.
Many people today do not know
anything about the buggy; a typical
speciman ought to be preserved in
every museum. If you think there is
difference between the buggy and
1047 model car, there is just as
much difference in the roads they
haunt. 1t would do you good mot
to mention your carr to take day
off and drive back into the noun
tains where the roads have not
changed since Washington was a ba-
by.
AS child, l often saw a peculiar
hammer around the house. The
handle is about foot long, is round,
and tapers as it nears the hammer
head. The head is shaped somewhat
like a doorknob, presenting the same
rounded face to whatever the ham
mer strikes, regardless of how one
holds the hammer. The head is, of
course. of iron, about three inches in
diameter, weighs near pound, and
looks like it might have been made
several centuries ago. l was told
that this is a stone hammer.
These old stone hammers were at
one time closely related to our roads.
Before the days of the powerful
jawed stone crusher, these little ham
ners were a common sight. Stones
were hauled to a road in the sizes
Nature chose to toss to the surface,
and from here they were in the hands
of lost profession, the stonebreak-
ers.
The stonebreaker sat in the road
hour after hour, breaking the stones
brought to him into smaller pieces
with his little round hammer. Of
course the large stones were broken
down with heavy sledges, but it was
this last stage of breaking that re-
quired persistent toll and infinite pa
thence.
The stone hammer and this meth
cd of road making had been in use
for centuries, back to the time of the
Romans, the most famous road-mak-
ers in history. The Romans built
many roads because they were a
warning people. If modern war
ever comes home to our country, we
will see system of super highways
spring up like spider building her
web.
Many slightly varying methods of
road-building were tried through the
centuries, but there was little real
change until Henry Ford put Ameri-
ca on wheels. Most of us can re-
member when the road by our front
door was dirt road" There was
always gravel and sand, stones of all
sizes, and always dust. There were
invariably chuck-holes, and in wet
weather, mud. Then, one day, the
road was closed off and a new Ma
cadam surface of fine crushed stones
and tar was laid,
In contrast to the modern cuts and
fills and grading of highways, is this
statement from a report on roads In
1899: occasionally projecting out
crops of rock are broken off with
hammers" Except for this "occa-
sional breaking off," the old roads
followed the hills and hollowS, pro-
ducing in many cases ROLLER coast
err" road. But the speed of the horse
and buggy was such that these hills
and dips were not Objectionable.
This 1899 report tells that the most
common or simple method of making
dirt road was to plough ditch on
each side of the road and throw the
material thus removed into the cen
ter and spread it around. The broad
wheels of heavy wagons then packed
it down to make a fairly smooth and
durable surface. In some cases, they
tried ploughing the entire road, hop
ing to get a smoother result. But
this proved to be mistake, for this
loosened the earth and the wagons
invariably cut deep ruts.
The better roads were built by
private companies and this explains
the origin of the toll gates. These
roads were begun much as the dirt
roads, but an additional layer of
stone was applied. The widespread
need for the dustless type surface
was not felt till the days of the first
powered vehicles.
An interesting feature of the old