10 



5. The improvement of road sides is attracting much atten- 

 tion. Some towns have made appropriations to clear them of 

 brush and rubbish and keep them like a lawn. Others are 

 adorning them with extensive lines of trees. 



6. The improvement of roads, though of great importance, 

 has secured less attention from these associations, as the town 

 authorities usually care for them, and other objects are more 

 urgent. Dr. Bushnell well says : " The road is that physical 

 sign, or symbol, by which you will best understand any age or 

 people. If they have no roads, they are savages ; for the road 

 is the creation of man and a type of civilized society. If you 

 wish to know whether society is stagnant, learning scholastic, 

 religion a dead formality, you may learn something by going 

 into universities and libraries ; something, also, by the work 

 that is doing on cathedrals and churches, or in them; but 

 quite as much by looking at the roads. For if there is any 

 motion in society, the road, which is the symbol of motion, 

 will indicate the fact. Nothing makes an inroad without mak- 

 ing a road. All creative action, whether in government, in- 

 dustry, thought or religion, creates roads." 



7. The making or improving of sidewalks meets a felt want 

 in many towns. In no other way can the comfort and 

 sociality of a village be promoted so economically as by making 

 sidewalks. Simple gravel walks, when the concrete would be 

 too expensive, serve an admirable purpose. One town has 

 lately completed many miles of neat sidewalks, which add 

 greatly to the attractiveness of the village. 



The fine footways abounding throughout England invite the 

 pedestrian habits of the women of that country. It is largely 

 because they exercise daily in the open air, that they retain so 

 long the bloom and vigor of youth. More outdoor rambles 

 would promote the health and prolong the lives of American 

 women. Besides favoring the luxury and healthfulness of 

 open air exercise, footways invite friendly calls and foster 

 social life and rural enjoyment. 



8. Street lights remove another hindrance to social inter- 

 course in country villages. When the day's work is done the 

 evening is the favorite time for calls, if the darkness does not 

 forbid. The cost of kerosene illuminators is now moderate. 



