tion. American peasants had no such hardship according to an anonymous rhymester:
Oh, our life was tough and tearful, and its toil was often fearful,
And often we grew faint beneath the load.
But there came a glad vacation and a sweet alleviation,
When we used to work our tax out on the road.
When we used to work our tax out, then we felt the joys of leisure,
And we felt no more the prick of labor's goad;
Then we shared the golden treasure of sweet rest in fullest measure,
When we used to work our tax out on the road.
The macadam and plank roads saw the Indian trail at its widest and best. The railway has had a tendency to undo even such advances over pioneer roads as came in the heyday of macadam and plank roads. We have been going backward since 1840 rather than forward. The writer has had long acquaintance with what was, in 1830, the first turnpike in Ohio—the Warren and Ashtabula Road; it was probably a far better route in 1830 than in 1900. By worrying the horse you can not make more than four miles an hour over many parts of it. One ought to go into training preparatory to a carriage drive over either the Cumberland or the Pennsylvania road
