Punch,  58 (1870), 186.

Hard Work for Hoofs

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Transport, Engineering, Cultural Geography, Nationalism, Cruelty, Government


    Condemns the state of the roads in England and in particular in London. Noting that these roads are composed of 'shingle and broken granite', contrasts this situation with that in France where, according to a report in the Chamber of Agriculture Journal, roads are free from mud in the winter and dust in summer and horses are not forced to grind down the broken stone used in roads. Believes that if 'foreigners' had the same standard of roads as the English they would 'curse the Government' instead of Bumbles (a reference to the parish beadle in Charles J H Dickens's Oliver Twist). Asks why Bumbles do not 'send steam-rollers about their highways to crush the granite, flints, and pebbles with which they pave them, into soft powder'; but this would require a rise in the rates. Suggests that keepers of horses and carriages could pay a 'horse and carriage rate' for smoothing roads.



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