CARRIAGE AND WAGON INDUS TRY. Probably one of the most salient fea tures in the progress of the world and one which has added greatly to the sum-total of human happiness has been transportation by means of vehicles. The attempt to discover the birthplace of the industry and the study of the advancement in the art of construction are of great interest not only for the history itself, but for the fact that in it are bound the true history of the advancement of the world; the histories of peoples, long forgot, who have con tributed largely to the comfort and ease which we now enjoy. The historical records of which we are possessed prove that mankind has util ized wheels as a means of transportation from the earliest periods. The float was undoubt edly the first means of constructive transporta tion and from this we find the inventive genius of man devising all manner of conveyances for use on land. First came the sledge and this gradually developed into a more perfect mode of conveyance, mounted on rollers, until we have the axle and the wheel. The roller made from a tree trunk with the centre shaped down so as to make a rotating axle was the most primitive form of wheel. The next move came in the shape of the substitution of two shorter sections of tree trunk attached to a rotating axle; then came the stationary axle on which the wheels revolved. Carts drawn by men and by oxen and innumerable chariots may be seen on great sculptured stones now in the British Museum, taken from the ruins of the city of Nimrod near Nineveh. The body is framed up with posts and a top rail and the basket is made of handsome wicker-work; the wheels are about 42 inches in height, well pro portioned, have six spokes and over them is an arched guard to prevent anything from com ing into contact with them. On another slab, the king's chariot with an elegant' canopy over head, and carrying also the charioteer and an arms-bearer, is shown. The next noteworthy advancement was in the cart wheel, which was similar in shape to that now in use in the in land districts of Mexico. Assyrian Em
pire, though founded prior to that of the Egyp tians, did nothing whatever to advance the methods in construction, and it was left to the Egyptian to originate and develop the more perfect chariot, which for centuries afterward was the sole means of land transportation and which was connected with all great undertak ings. In Biblical, mythological and all ancient history, chariots form an interesting and im portant part. In Biblical history the chariot is frequently referred to; the strength of a na tion was determined by the number of chariots in its army. Pharaoh gave much time and thought to the improvement and use of the chariot, with such effect that he was enabled to overtake the children of Israel in their flight, although his whole army was eventually en gulfed in the Red Sea. In the New Testa ment we find the word acarriagex' referred to as baggage. "After those days we took up our carriages and went to Jerusalem." During these years the chariot developed and finally wagons for use on the farm made their ap pearance, some having two and others four wheels. To the Etrurians must be given the credit for first putting into use the canopy. Solomon tells in one of his songs of a beauti ful stage coach which he built for his "Be loved," of cedarwood, having a canopy of wonderful beauty and richness, supported by pillars of gold. According to Herodotus (450 a.c.), the Scythians built and had in daily use two-wheeled carts with a platform and basket and thatched with the reeds among which these people lived, and when not in use these bas kets were taken off the carts and used as The Greeks and Romans had of course made use of the horse in drawing their chariots, and in the story of the Trojan War, Achilles is described as dragging the body of Hector, lashed to his chariot, around the walls of Troy.