174 Modern Business Geography 
6. How does your state stand in road making? Explain its position. 
F. Comparative cost of automobile and horse transportation on bad roads 
and good. 
Suppose you had to deliver thirty tons of coal each day at an average 
distance of four miles, over roads so bad that two horses could pull only 
one ton, making only two trips a day; a two-ton truck, the largest 
that could safely be used, could make three trips a day. How many 
horses or trucks would be needed ? 
l 
) 
Suppose that a two-ton truck and chauffeur cost $20 per day, including 
maintenance, repairs, interest, and depreciation, while a two-horse team 
and driver cost $10. How would the expenses compare in the two cases D 
3 
Suppose that the roads were improved so that two horses could pull two 
tons, or a five-ton truck could be used, and that the larger truck cost 
$30 per day. Calculate the saving in each case on the supposition 
that the horses can now average two and a half trips a day and the 
trucks six. 
How transportation helps maintain our high standard of living. 
Make a list of articles that were on your breakfast table this morning. 
On an outline map of the world print the name of each article at its source. 
Draw lines showing the routes over which the various parts of the break- 
fast traveled to reach your table. 
Choose the article which came farthest, and make a list of the various 
ways in which it was carried from its point of original production to your 
table. 
G. 
Ll. 
2 
py 
If each man, woman, and child who helped to carry your breakfast were 
in the room to greet you when you entered, how large a crowd of guests 
would you have? If you said “ Thank you ” to each one, in about how 
many languages would vou have to speak ? 
H. The relation of governments to transportation by land. 
l. Who builds and cares for the street on which you live? Find out how 
much money your town or city, your state, and the United States gov- 
ernment spend for roads. A table in the Statistical Abstract of the 
United States Census will help you. 
> 
In Italy, Japan, and Germany the government owns and operates the 
railroads. How does this system differ from ours? Explain how the 
Interstate Commerce Commission and the Railroad Labor Board attempt 
to provide the benefits of government ownership without its disadvan- 
tages. 
Macaulay said, “ Of all inventions, the alphabet and the printing press 
alone excepted, those inventions which abridge distance have done most 
for civilization.” What reasons can you give for thinking this statement 
true p 
y.