OCR Text |
Show SMOOTHHIQHWAYS. What Whealnmn Are Doing in lUtlm Their Cnnatrurtlon. Joacph 11. lllahapautns up Ills article in thu Forum on the "Social miit Kconomlc Inaucncc of the lllcycle" In thene woriU: "l'nttliiK nil olhcr soclnl and economic cITcctn nslilc, lt intlucncc is alone sulllclcnt to entitle It to the lastinp; Kratltmlc of tho American jwo-ple." jwo-ple." Tho commendation of thin pood olllco of tho wheel rest on n sound basis. UN not too much to any that before be-fore tho bicycle came Into eneml use the majority of the country ronda were not nlwayx ndequato even for henry wagons, mid, ns n rule.weroiinsultvd to light drlrlng, except at n certain season of tho year. In tJic Icltiity of inrge cities great stretches of highway like the Itneaster pike, nenr rhilndelphla, were sometimes inncadamlred, but branch roods Into the country, or rond beyond n certain rndius of miles from the metropolis, were left almost In n natural state. Up to the. present time ftffjMJ? WIIERR EVKIIY P1108PKCT PLUASRQ, thero has been no uniformity lifHThc building and prcscnatlon of rondnTV person Ktnrtlng on a road journeys through -New York, l'eiliittylvunln' rtr thu New England Males' wns neyr Biirc thnt his progress would mil. be delayed de-layed by ruts, stones, holes and other impediments of country tr.-nel. Theie mo good tensons why the roads In tlili country are notjel in llieklnle of. perfection found nbrond. The ant nriMH of the fulled Slates, the wide stretches of iincilltiwiled land, the rapid rap-id march of emigration westward, the roncentintion of wealth and population in metropolitan renter, have all contributed con-tributed to a icrtnin Jirgleet of n-len-tide rond building. In addition lo these hindrance, the enormous epeni required re-quired to build and keep In order tliou-snndsof tliou-snndsof mllcaof lilgliwny.areini'd often to iut the unilerlnklug out of the question. ques-tion. There arc Indications, howccr, thnt what the legislation of townships and tlm complaints of teamsteisaiiddrlcrs hae not been able tonreiiinplish In this matter will lie accomplished bv the lit-rycle. lit-rycle. A century run Is practicable oidy OAcrn hundred miles of good rond. The. man who takes n spin of the or ten miles of an evening also demands n safe and tore imsnge unimpeded by stones or ruts. The crer-lncreislng number of wheelmen mnkrs this demand Im-pernthe, Im-pernthe, and good ronds nre now Inevitable. In-evitable. The lime may not be very far distant when n, man may wheel from New York to San Francisco or,cr hlgh ways ns firm and smooth as the boulevard. boule-vard. N. Y. Commerclnl Advertiser, |