sixteen feet in width, I am
unable to get my motor-car within nine miles of my home!"

In England something has been done by late generations toward roads
improvement. The first awakening came in 1820, and in 1832 the
London-Oxford road had been so improved that the former time of the
stage-coaches had been reduced from eight to six hours. Macadam in
1830, and Stevenson in 1847, were the real fathers of the "Roads
Improvement Movement" in England. The great faults of English roads
are that they are narrow and winding, almost without exception. There
are 38,600 kilometres of highways (the figures are given on the
metric scale for better comparison with Continental facts and
figures) and 160,900 of by-roads. There are sixty-six kilometres of
roads to the square kilometre _(kilometre carre)_.

In Germany the roads system is very complex. In Baden, the
Palatinate, and the Grand Duchy of Hesse they cede nothing to the
best roads anywhere, but in the central and northern provinces they
are, generally speaking, much poorer. There are fifty-four kilometres
of roads of all grades to the kilometre _carre_.

In Belgium the roads are greatly inferior to those of France, and
there are immeasurable stretches of the vilest pavement the world has
known, not only near the large towns, but great interior stretches as
well. There are 17,500 kilometres of Chemins Vicinaux and 6,990
kilometres of Chemins de Grands Communications. They average, taken
together, eighty-three kilometres to the kilometre _carre_.

In Switzerland the roads are thoroughly good everywhere, but many,
particularly mountain-roads, are entirely closed to automobile
traffic, and the regulations in many of the towns are so onerous that
it is anything but agreeable to make one's way through them. There
are thirty-two kilometres to the kilometre _carre_. The Simplon Pass
has only recently (1906) been opened to automobile traffic. No
departure can be made from Brigue, on the Swiss side, or from Gondo,
in Italy, after three P.M. Speed _(vitesse)_ must not exceed ten
kilometres on the stretches, or two kilometres around the corners.
Fines for infringement of the law run from twenty to five hundred
francs.

Italy, with a surface area one-half that of France, has but a quarter
of the extent of the good roads. They are of variable quality, but
good on the main lines of travel. In the ancient kingdom of Sardinia
will be found the best, but they are poor and greatly neglecte