glish drafts." Place the same load on almost any of our roads in the United States, and at least two more, if not three more, "English drafts" would be required to pull it the same distance. Dog carts come to this market, laden with beef and other products of the farm, a distance of 12 and 15 miles, drawn by one dog. Two grown, persons return in the wagon.

AMERICAN HIGHWAYS.

In presenting the other side of the picture the task is not an agreeable one because I will have to write some very disagreeable things. Can it be said that we have any public roads in the United States? I have only made the acquaintance of the public roads in the Western and Southern States, and there is only one within my knowledge that can make pretentions to being called a road in the Belgian sense, and that is in the Valley of Virginia. Most of the others that have come under my notice are little short of bogs, swamps, and marshes, and the bridges man-traps. These roads are utterly at the mercy of the weather, and are passable or impassable according to it, and are entirely out of keeping with the enlightened and intelligent people who, through apathy, patiently endure such a state of affairs.

I have been in certain sections of the South, in the fall and winter months, when the farmer had gathered his crop, and when the business season would naturally be good, when the farmer would go to market, make his sales, and return with merchandise and heard the most dismal complainings of dull business and "hard times." This is the case simply because in most cases the roads are utterly impassable, the distribution of products is at a standstill, and of course dull business follows. There are few outside of these sections that know the real condition of these roads. The emigrants, howI ever, know more on the subject than many Americans, as I will show further on. have been on the roads and seen a poor old Rosinante tugging away at a wagon stuck in the mud almost out of sight; when released from his gear he could hardly pull himself out of the mire. Some of these roads are marked with skeletons of horses that have been beaten to death or drowned in the mud or some bridgeless stream, and wrecks of wagons and other vehicles mark the place of an accident to some one who had courage enough to venture out on the road. I was in one of the most beautiful of our Southern cities last winter, and while there read a glowing account in one of the newspapers of the place of a horse having been smothered in the mud, and this on one of the principal streets of the city. When poor roads prevail in a section, everything else is very apt to be poor-the horse, the farmer, and the merchant, and the church.

Where good roads prevail you find a community that would be loth to give them up. It is a well-known fact that in spite of the strenuous efforts made in some sections of our country to induce emigrants to settle among them, very few accept the invitation. I am in a position here to know something of the emigrant. He generally posts himself pretty thoroughly about a section before he goes to it. This is made easy by the numerous emigrants who have preceded him, and he is sure to have acquaintances in several sectious who give him information. I have invariably been informed by them that they would not go to a section where the roads were impassable. This is their only objection. They inform me that they would gladly go to such sections, but that they do not wish to be mud-bound or mud-blockaded for six months in the year. I can say to such sections that they must make good public roads before they can induce emigrants to come among them. If it is economy that restrains, it is a false economy; every day that they allow their public roads to remain in an impassable condition, their streams to remain without bridges, they deal a direct and severe blow at their own interests; the country will remain undeveloped, its hidden treasures locked up. These roads, if improved at once, newly engineered, and made good roads, with permanent bridges that could not be swept away with every rise in the stream, would give some sign of permanence of settlement, and of contentment with the section; the burden of the tax would soon be shared by so many that the roads

would not only be self-sustaining, but would be a source of revenue to the State. The taxes would return in the improved condition of stock and running gear, and of the increased loads that could be sent to market in wagons. Circulation, which is the backbone of business, would be facilitated; where now it is a hazard and a task to venture on the public highways it would become a pleasure. In short, there are few blessings that any community can know equal to that of having first-class roads. But unless roads are made first-class, to commence with, you will never have them, and you throw away the money you invest in them.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE,

Liege and Verviers, August 1, 1882.

GEO. C. TANNER,

Consul.

BRUSSELS DISTRICT.

REPORT BY CONSUL ROOSEVELT.

STREETS.

Owing to the numerous quarries existing in Belgium, very little else than stone is employed in paving the streets and highways, in and around Brussels. A few streets in the center of the city, as well as the sidewalks of the railway stations, are paved with condensed asphalt, coming from Val de Travers. On account of the peculiar situation of the city, the majority of the streets are of too precipitous an incline to permit the successful condensation of asphalt. Wood paving is employed on some of the boulevards.

Asphalt paving.-Streets destined to receive asphalt are constructed in the following manner: The soil is removed to a depth of 6 inches, the ground then leveled into shape, preparatory to receiving a deposit of concrete, composed of Portland cement and gravel, upon which the asphalt is applied to a depth of 2 inches. The method of laying wood pavement is similar to that employed in the United States.

Stone paving.-Primary preparation of streets to be paved with stone is identically the same as when asphalt is employed. A deep bed of sand is, however, deposited instead of concrete, upon which paving stones, known as Belgian blocks, are placed in transverse rows, and firmly fixed in a smooth and comparatively compact mass, by use of a heavy paving ram worked by hand, a slight sprinkling of sand is applied and the street declared ready for traffic.

BOULEVARDS.

The boulevards of Brussels, forming a continuous and beautiful circuit around the city, are abundantly planted in fine, large elms, maples, sycamore, and chestnut trees, affording delightful promenades to pedestrians and equestrians, as well as fine carriage drives.

The boulevards vary in width according to section of city which they traverse. They are divided into roadways for tramcars and heavy 33A- -3

traffic, walks for pedestrians, and roads for carriages and equestrians. The walks devoted to pedestrians are constructed from pulverized granite covered with a sufficiently deep layer of sand rolled hard and smooth, and afford agreeable promenades even in wet weather. The roads are built on similar principles as ordinary roads, that is, the ground is excavated to an agreed depth, say from 10 to 16 inches, and filled in with the paving material. The roads devoted to equestrians. are filled in to a depth of 16 inches with broken brick, which after being leveled into shape is covered with a thick bed of sea sand. The carriage roads are paved in part with asphalt, wood, and also broken and pulverized granite, the latter producing a fine macadamized roadway.

The pavements and paving stones, their origin, duration, and cost are as follows: Porphyry, from quarries at Quenast and Lessines, estimated duration 75 years; sandstone from quarries at Ecoussines, estimated duration 60 years. No. 4 from the vicinity of the rivers Ourthe and Meuse, estimated duration 40 years; limestone, no longer accepted by the city government, estimated duration 25 years.

Porphyry, per square yard, 9.50 francs ($1.83); sandstone, per square yard, 8.50 to 9.50 francs ($1.61 to $1.83); asphalt from Val de Travers, per square yard, 17 francs ($3.27); wood on concrete foundation, per square yard, 11 francs ($2.12); the two last named pavements are highly esteemed and m uch employed on the boulevards.

HIGHWAYS.

Roads in Belgium are divided into three categories and distributed under the following administrations:

1. Government roads under the administration of bridges and roadways (civil engineering).

2. Provincial roads, controlled by the provincial government. 3. Communal roads, controlled by the communal authorities. Dimensions.-Government roads: Width of roadway, 5 yards 20 inches; width of sidewalk, 2 yards 8 inches; width of ditch, threefourths yard.

Provincial roads: Width of roadway, 5 yards 20 inches; width of sidewalks, 2 yards 27 inches; width of ditch, three-fourths yard.

Communal roads: Width of roadway, 4 yards 16 inches; width of sidewalk and ditch, 1 yard 24 inches.

Materials. These roads are paved with native porphyry and sandstone of following dimensions: 7 by 6 inches, 6 by 53 inches, 5 by 43 inches, 42 by 3 by 8 by 7 inches, 43 by 3 by 7 by 5 inches. stone, 30 by 15 inches each side of road.

Curb.

Cost of construction of road destined for frequent and heavy traffic, per square yard.

Ashes per cubic yard 30 to 40 cents; sand per cubic yard, 48 to 58

Cost of maintenance.-Country roads, per running yard, 4 cents; near industrial districts, 6 cents; proximity to sugar factories, 6 to 10 cents.

Roads are annually inspected and repaired as follows:

From 25 to 20 consecutive yards out of every 4,000 or 5,000 yards of pavement are taken up and replaced by new material. On roads devoted to heavy traffic, paving stones 7 by 63 inches are employed, as also on inclines averaging less than three-fourths of an inch per yard. On inclines averaging more than three-fourths of an inch per yard, stones 64 by 51, or heavy oblong stones 42 by 31 by 8 by 7, are employed. Where the soil is very firm, sandstone blocks 7 by 61 inches are preferred, which, with heavy oblong stones, are also used on inclines according to declivity. Satisfactory drainage is produced by depositing a deep bed of ashes prior to placing pavement. On roads of light traffic blocks 42 by 42 inches are used on the level. While 4 by 31 and 61 by 5 inches are employed on inclines.

Contract for keeping roads in repair is by public bid, and is awarded to lowest bidder for a term of three years, the average cost of repairs to roadway 5 yards, 20 inches wide, as follows: Porphyry blocks, per square yard, 6 cents; sandstone per square yard, 5 cents. The value of land lying near or adjacent to improved roads is increased according to proximity to some large city or industrial center.

GEO. W. ROOSEVELT,

UNITED STATES CONSULATE,

Brussels, February 23, 1891.

Consul.

FLANDERS.

REPORT BY CONSUL osborne, OF GHENT.

I. CITY STREETS.

The material and its sources.—The exclusive paving material for all the towns in the provinces of East and West Flanders, indeed, practically of the entire kingdom, is Belgian blocks. These are of sandstone of different degrees of hardness. There are three recognized varieties. First, those from Ecoussines, province of Hainaut, which are of medium hardness and smoothness. It is these quarries which supply most of the paving material. The same locality also furnishes a blue limestone, sometimes called Flemish granite, which is cut into slabs and used for the curbstones. Second, those from Quenast, province of Brabant, which are very hard and smooth. Lastly, those from the neighborhood of the river Ourthe, province of Liege, which are least hard and rather rough. Superior blocks for sidewalks are obtained from Lessines, in Hainaut.

Methods of building and maintaining. The paving stones are generally in cubic form, but lately rectangular ones are preferred. There are eight sizes used for paving, of which I give below the dimensions of the five principal ones. Numbers 3 and 4 are those used in Belgium, especially the latter. The largest size is only used in large cities.

The process of laying the pavement is simple. First, the soil is removed to a convenient depth and the "form" is prepared by leveling the ground in the shape it will have when the pave is completed. A bed of sand to a depth of half a foot is then deposited. On this the blocks are laid in transverse rows conveniently close together, the joints always coming to the middle of those of the contiguous rows. Next, they employ an iron paving ram weighing about 35 pounds, and worked by hand. With this they strike each stone, strengthening and smoothing the whole. Lastly, a thin coating of fine sand is put on, which gradually penetrates the crevices. The street is then ready for use. The stones for the border are somewhat larger, as shown in the above table, than the other blocks. Next to these come the curb-stones, which are of varying dimensions and are placed upright, the top level with the sidewalk.