of the National Congress, but the only road of any consequence constructed by the government was the national road (650ĝ miles in length, 80 feet in width, and macadamized for a width of 30 feet), which it originally was intended should go from the tide-water of the Atlantic Ocean to the Ohio River. It was built from Cumberland in Maryland to a point in Ohio several hundred miles from the Olic River, and there it was allowed to stop, being finally donated to the States through which it passes. In this way ended the first great effort of the Federal Government to build and establish, as the Constitution of the United States contemplated, a system of postroads all over the country.

The date of the first introduction of street pavements cannot be determined with certainty. Livy informs us that in the year 584 (about 170 B.C.) the censors caused the streets of Rome to be paved from the ox market to the temple of Venus. Streets paved with lava, having deep ruts worn by the wheels of chariots, and raised banks on each side for foot-passengers, are found at Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Abderahman, the caliph of Cordova, Spain, caused the streets of that city to be solidly paved, A.H. 236 (A.D. 950), and a man might walk after sunset ten miles in a straight line by the light of the public lamps.

The date of the first introduction of pavements into London is unknown, but the streets of that city were not paved at the end of the eleventh century. It is related that in the year 1190 the church of St. Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside was unroofed by a violent wind, and that four pillars, 26 feet in length, sunk so deep into the ground that scarcely 4 feet of them appeared above the surface of the soft earth forming the street. Holborn was first paved in 1417, and Smithfield in 1614. The first act for paving and improving the City of London was passed in 1532. streets were described in the simply-worded statute as "very foul, and full of pits and sloughs, so as to be mighty perilous and noyous, as well for all the king's subjects on horseback as on foot with carriages" (litters).

The

The capital of France was not paved in the twelfth century, for Rigord, the physician and historian of Philip II., relates that, the king standing one day at a window of his palace near the Seine and observing that the carriages which passed threw up the dirt.

in such a manner that it produced a most offensive stench, his majesty resolved to remedy this intolerable nuisance by causing the streets to be paved, which was accordingly done. The orders for this purpose were issued by the government in the year 1184, and upon that occasion, it is said, the name of the city, which was then called Lutetia, on account of its dirtiness, was changed to that of Paris.

Dijon, France, had paved streets as early as 1391, and it is remarked by historians that after this was done dangerous diseases, such as dysentery, spotted fever, and others, became less frequent in that city.

In the United States, Boston, Mass., appears to have been the first city to pave its streets, for when Josselyn visited that city in 1663 he found many streets paved with pebbles; and Ward said in 1699: “The buildings, like their women, being neat and handsome, and their streets, like the hearts of the male inhabitants, are paved with pebble." Drake says that the paving of the public streets began very early and was made of importance after 1700; the sidewalks were also early paved with cobblestones and flags.

We learn that the first regular paving of a Philadelphia street was due to an accident. A man on horseback being mired and thrown from his horse, breaking his leg, a subscription was raised and the street paved with pebbles from the river-bank. In 1719 many sidewalks were being paved with brick and the cartway with cobblestone.

In 1750 the grand jury represented the great need of paved. streets, "so as to remedy the extreme dirtiness and miry state of the streets;" but the first general effort worthy of mention to pave the streets was made in 1761-62, and then the only means applied to the purpose was that produced by lotteries.

Authority to construct toll-roads was first granted in England, in 1346, but their construction did not become general until 1676, and they were entirely abolished in 1878.

In the United States the first toll-road company was incorporated in Pennsylania in 1792, to construct and maintain an artificial road from Philadelphia to Lancaster, a distance of about 70 miles. The framers of the act authorizing the construction of this road recognized the importance of the relation between the load and the width of the wheel-tire. The rate of toll was graded

according to the width of the tire, and the maximum load to be carried by the different widths of tire was distinctly stated. Vehicles with tires of less breadth than four inches were not allowed to carry more than two and a half tons between the first day of December and the first day of May, and not more than three tons during the rest of the year.

The act also provided for the placing of milestones and the erection of guide-posts at all intersecting roads, with the name of the place to which they led and its approximate distance in miles.

Though considerable advance in processes and machines have been made during the past hundred years, the two chief factors in the preservation of roads so ably regulated in the above mentioned act are still the same, and in many cases are the cause of the evils we suffer from in the shape of bad highways.

A TREATISE ON HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.

CHAPTER I.

PAVEMENTS.

1. General Considerations.-The object of a pavement is (1) to secure a water-tight covering that will preserve the natural soil. from the effects of moisture, and not, as commonly supposed, to support the vehicles, the weight of which and that of the covering material must be actually borne by the natural soil. (2) To furnish a smooth surface on which the force of traction will be reduced to the least possible amount, and over which vehicles may pass with safety and expedition at all seasons of the year.

2. The Qualities essential to a good pavement may be stated as follows:

(1) It should be impervious.

(2) It should afford good foothold for horses.

(3) It should be hard and durable, so as to resist wear and disintegration.

(4) It should be adapted to every grade.

(5) It should suit every class of traffic.

(6) It should offer the minimum resistance to traction.

(7) It should be noiseless.

(8) It should yield neither dust nor mud.

(9) It should be easily cleaned.

(10) It should be cheap.

3. Interests affected in the Selection.-Of the above requirements, numbers 2, 4, 5, and 6 affect the traffic and determine the cost of haulage by the limitations of loads, speed, wear and tear of horses and vehicles. If the surface is rough or the foothold bad, the weight of the load a horse can draw is decreased, thus necessitating the making of more trips or the employment of more horses and vehicles to move a given weight. A defective surface necessitates a reduction in the speed of movement and consequent loss of time; it increases the wear of horses, thus decreasing their lifeservice, and lessens the value of their current services; it also increases the cost of maintaining vehicles and harness.

Numbers 7, 8, and 9 affect the occupiers of the adjacent premises, who suffer from the effect of dust and noise; and second, the owners of said premises, whose income from rents is diminished where these disadvantages exist.

Numbers 3 and 10 affect the taxpayers alone, first as to the length of time during which the covering remains serviceable, and second as to the amount of the annual repairs. Number 1 affects the adjacent occupiers principally on hygienic grounds. Numbers 7 and 8 affect both traffic and occupiers.

4. Selection of Pavements.-In the selecting of the most suitable pavement, whether for a street or a country road, all classes of citizens are alike interested; for of all the systems of intercommunication none is brought into more direct contact with the people than the public highway, and its effect upon the price of commodities is felt by all. Not a ton of agricultural or mechanical produce can reach its destination without first and last paying toll to the condition of the highway over which it has to be hauled; in the form of time, wear and tear of horses, harness, and vehicles thus enhancing its cost to the consumer without any increased benefit to the producer, who must be compensated for the cost of all unnecessary expenses of transportation due to the ill condition of the highway.

5. Cost of Wagon Transportation.-It is apparent that but few people comprehend the cost of transportation by horses and wagons, or realize the amount of money annually wasted by the ill condition of the roadways.

Table I shows from actual observation the cost of moving a load of one ton a distance of one mile on level roadways with