Numerous military loaders, me cluding one of Fong Vu-hsiang's brigadiers, have telegraphed to the National Road Construction As~ sociation of China expressing agreement with the Aasocintion's project t0 use troops for the construction of roads and promising to see that it is carried out, This looks }well on paper, and is what foreign jete have been advocating for years in connexion. with the disband: of troops, but we might just point out one matter. the genius of an army can be mea sured by the roads it produces. The Romans were pre-eminent fu thie respect, and left their mark 0} ft. Yeast half a Continent.
Tne cidentally the Italians are said have inherited these engineering proclivities, and certainly there is some very fine enghnering work in road-making in Italy. Tt was 4 great English soldier, Marsha! Wade, who introduced roads into jthe Highlands of Scotland while engaged im quelling, the turbulent Jacobite clans, and they are still in existence. In the European war the different armies made roads whole-fel when those in, existence were inadequate., Now China has been engaged in'wars off and on since 1911, but what have those cam. paigns resulted in 0 far as rond. making is concerned? Certainly soldiers have built' a few useful highways such as the Woosung yedd, but thet was not part of miliary operations, and it may welt be doubted whether any of those campaigns have added a solitary mile of highway to the whole country. One could imagine the Romans having covered whole proxénees with ronds in the same space time. Still that is metely a criticism of the armies in war time, Jand if the National Road Construeffm Association can muke them do better in peace time, well and good.
New York, Dec. 7—It is reported from Los Angeles that the novelist. Mrs. Gone Stratton-Porter, has been. killed in a motor accident—Reuter's American Service,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.