PART TWO 
TeE FiELD oF TRANSPORTATION 
CHAPTER THIRTEEN 
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION 
EVERYTHING that people need must be brought — that is, transported 
— from where it grows or is manufactured to where it is consumed. In 
different parts of the world the means of transportation vary greatly. 
The jungle tribes of Africa and India, for instance, carry practically 
everything in their hands or on their heads. In a civilized community 
conditions are far less simple. Probably groceries are brought to your 
house by horse and wagon, while a man on foot brings the mail. A 
motor truck may bring furniture ; the florist’s messenger may come by 
electric car; coal may be hauled by a mule team. In most of these 
cases we see only the last part of the journey; earlier parts may have 
been made by railroad, or perhaps, for articles like tea and coffee, in 
steamships. 
THE CHIEF MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION 
In the order in which they came into use, the six most important 
means of transportation are: (1) man; (2) horses and other animals ; 
(3) ships; (4) railways; (5) automobiles; (6) airplanes. 
How man is used for transportation in backward countries. In 
primitive parts of the world, such as Africa, India, and China, men 
move the world’s commerce long distances as well as short. In ad- 
vanced countries, however, man power is used only for short distances. 
Such work is very expensive. For men to move a ton of goods a 
mile in one of our great cities would probably cost four or five dollars. 
Nevertheless, there is no part of the world where man power is not 
used extensively. 
In central Africa a traveler who goes beyond the terminals of the 
railroads must often have his baggage transported on the heads of 
natives. In some places beasts of burden cannot be used because of 
disease-bearing insects that thrive in the hot, humid climate. Hence 
the ivory and the forest products of central Africa are carried on the 
heads of straggling lines of lightly clad natives. Among the Hima- 
layas similar lines of carriers, clad in heavy quilted garments and straw 
sandals, tramp through the snow and slush with cloth, tea, and dates 
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