86 Internal Communication (b) Canals 



railway men went into the army, their places being 

 filled, in many instances, by women. For some time 

 there was little disturbance of passenger and goods 

 traffic, but towards the close of 1916 it was decided 

 to close many railway stations, to reduce both the 

 passenger and goods traffic ; and to raise the cost of 

 travelling by 50 per cent. These drastic changes, 

 which took effect on January 1, 1917, were recognised 

 by the public as being military measures of great 

 importance to the success of our armies, and on the 

 whole they were found to give rise to little incon- 

 venience. 



17. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 



(b) CANALS 



We may now proceed to consider the canal system 

 of the British Isles. There is no need to go into details 

 with regard to the antiquity of canals, but in passing 

 we may note that they were constructed in Egypt, 

 China, Assyria, and India long before our country had 

 emerged from the most primitive conditions. The 

 earliest canals in England were the Foss Dyke and 

 Caer Dyke in Lincolnshire, both of which were con- 

 structed by the Romans and afterwards improved in 

 the twelfth century. The Foss Dyke is still navigable. 

 The first important step in canal navigation was the 

 opening of the Aire and Calder canal towards the close 

 of the seventeenth century. 



The great development of canals in England was, 

 however, in the last quarter of the eighteenth century 



