. The science of railways . was formed wliolh of wood, and was, as may beimagined, exceeding!5^ rude. The axle and wheelconsisted of one piece and revolved together. Naturally the cartwas the precursorof the wagon. Itsintroduction w a sthe first great stepin the art of trans-portation. Its evo-■■ ^~f ■•■- lution has marked the progress of man in culture. The idea of mak-ing the axle and wheel apart was the secondgreat step. No greater discovery, it is probable,has ever been made in the art of followed the felloe and spoke. Therailway carriage of to-day was thus evolved;we ha
. The science of railways . was formed wliolh of wood, and was, as may beimagined, exceeding!5^ rude. The axle and wheelconsisted of one piece and revolved together. Naturally the cartwas the precursorof the wagon. Itsintroduction w a sthe first great stepin the art of trans-portation. Its evo-■■ ^~f ■•■- lution has marked the progress of man in culture. The idea of mak-ing the axle and wheel apart was the secondgreat step. No greater discovery, it is probable,has ever been made in the art of followed the felloe and spoke. Therailway carriage of to-day was thus evolved;we have simply improved upon our forefathersmethods. Such was the origin of land carriage. That bywater was equally simple. Floating driftwoodsuggested the canoe rudely hollowed with fire,afterward with stone implements. A limb served to propeland latter,became, i ntime, an sail fol-lowed, but long afterwards. As late as the timeof the Phoenicians the rudder had not yet OF TRANSPORTATION. 53 The development of carriage, it will thus beseen, was exceedingly slow. Each progressivestep occupied vast cycles of time. Savages ad-vance slowly; their brains as well as their moralsmust be developed; at first both are merely em-bryotic. The first step is always the difficult one;it suggests reflection, and this in turn precipitatesother ideas. Each discovery renders succeedingones easier. The forms of primitive transportation still inuse in various parts of the world indicate sub-stantially the processes of olden times, but it isonly in some parts of Africa and in Polynesiaand other savage countries that the human beingis still the only means of carriage. Elsewhereanimals have been conquered and trained to per-form such work. Illustrations of primitive transportation evincea general similarity of growth in man. The dif-ferences in methods of carriage illustrate a char-acteristic of men no two of whom ever look, thinkor act exactly alike. This peculi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectrailroa, bookyear1900
