As regards good roads, these are, to be sure, no modern invention, since the Romans had carried the art of road-building to a very high degree of perfection. The integrity of the Roman Empire depended very largely upon the highways that linked all parts of its circumference with the Imperial centre; and in a perfectly literal sense all its roads led to Rome. The Roman roadbed was constructed of several layers of stone, and it was one of the most resistant and permanent structures ever devised. As late as the sixteenth century of our era there were no roads worthy of the name in England except the remains of those constructed many centuries before by the Roman occupants. It was not until well toward the close of the eighteenth century that Macadam and Telford devised methods of road-making whereby broken stone and gravel, pounded to form a smooth surface, gave the modern world roadbeds that were in any way comparable to those early ones of the Romans. This development of road-building corresponded, naturally enough, with an advance in the art of carriage building, and the increased popularity of stage coaches. We are told that about 1650 the average rate of speed of the stage wagons in England was only four miles an hour; whereas the stage coaches moved over the improved roadbeds of the nineteenth century at an average speed of about eight miles an hour, which was sometimes increased to eleven miles. After about the year 1836, however, the stage coach was rapidly displaced by the steam railway, and the interest in roadbeds somewhat abated until brought again prominently to public attention by the users of bicycles and automobiles. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BICYCLE It is rather surprising to learn that in point of time the automobile antedates the bicycle. Yet such, as we shall see in a moment, is the fact. Every one is aware, however, that the bicycle came into popularity at a time when the very existence of the automobile had been practically forgotten, and that subsequently it lost its popularity almost over night when the automobile came to its own. Viewing the subject retrospectively, perhaps the most singular thing is that both vehicles were so long delayed in making their way to public favor. There were, however, sundry very practical obstacles placed in the way of the larger vehicle; and the bicycle was not at first a device calculated to prove attractive to the average wayfarer. [Illustration: THE HOBBY-HORSE OF 1820 CONTRASTED WITH THE MOTOR CYCLE OF TO-DAY. For a brief period about 1820 the hobby horse was very popular with English dandies. Our illustration reproduces a contemporary print. The (1909) motor cycle shown in the small picture is compassing a mile in 40 seconds.]