CHAPTER XIX 

 TRANSPORTATION ON LAND 



Highways have always played a large part in world 

 history. All great nations, ancient and modern, have built 

 roads connecting important points so that they could carry 

 on commerce, or move armies rapidly from place to place 

 and keep control over their territory. The famous roads 

 of the Romans, which endured for centuries, had much to 

 do with Rome's world power. The great highways of the 

 Aztecs in Mexico and of the Incas in Peru were necessary 

 for their greatness. No cost in lives or labor was too 

 much to pay for them. 



Science in this last century has made possible the build- 

 ing of roads and bridges with far less man-power than of 

 old, and has steadily improved means of transportation. 

 We travel farther in a day than formerly in weeks, and 

 with much more comfort and safety. Science has supple- 

 mented the old highways with railroads so that the far- 

 away country now serves our cities, and all sections of 

 a nation are bound closely together. 



Early man dwelt in family groups. He found shelter in caves 

 or under rude brush covers, and obtained food from his immediate 

 surroundings. He had no more possessions than could easily 

 be carried in his hands. If food failed, families simply moved 

 to a more favorable territory. As possessions gradually grew, 

 they were moved in packs carried on the back. Later, when the 

 horse had been made to serve man, drags similar to those of the 

 American Indians were used. The drag has been likened to a 

 wheelbarrow with a horse in the place of the wheel and the 

 handles dragging on the ground. Under such conditions man 

 did not require roads. He found the easiest way across country, 

 fording streams in shallow places. 



As man learned to live in larger groups, however, and dis- 

 covered the value of dividing labor so that some secured food, 

 others made weapons, and others built shelters or made clothes, 



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