Rizzio

4007

Roanoke

physician; born at Calamba, Luzon. He
wrote Noli me Tangere (1886), a protest
against the abuses he had observed in the
rule of the civil government and friars over
his countrymen. Its exposures gained him
the ill will of the authorities, and he was
obliged to fly to Japan in 1887. He passed
some time in cities of the Continent, writing
meanwhile a sequel to his first novel, entitled
El fHibusterismo (1891).

Rizzio, or Riccio, David (?i533-66), sec-
retary to Mary, Queen of Scots, born at Pan-
calierij near Turin, Italy. His haughty de-
meanor incensed the Scottish nobles, and a
band of armed conspirators burst into the
supper chamber at Holyrood Palace, Edin-
burgh, and dragging Rizzio from the queen's
presence, stabbed him to death (1566).

R.N., Royal (British) Navy.

Roach, a small fresh-water fish, common
in Europe n. of the Alps, and related to the
dace, with which it is often found.

Roadrunner, a ground-cuckoo found in
the Southwestern U.S.; also called 'chapar-
ral-cock/ 'snake-killer,' and 'paisano.' From
tip to tail it measures nearly two feet.

Roads, a way of communication by land
between various points. Most roads are
designed chiefly for the use of vehicles. The
earliest roads of history were the great high-
ways for war and commerce, extending to
districts not readily accessible by water. The
Appian Way, which dates from 312 B.C., and
extended 360 m. from Rome to Brundisium,
was provided with deep and durable pave-
ment. A notable example of Roman road in
England is Watling Street. France seems to
have been the first nation after the Romns
to build roads on which excessive mud and
dust did not alternate, according to the
weather, and ruts prevailed the greater part
of the time. About 1775, Tresaguet, in
France, and about 1820 and 1825, Macadam
and Telford, in England, introduced the sys-
tem of surfacing carefully prepared earth
road beds with broken stone. Both Tresa-
guet and Teiford used a foundation course of
large stones on edge, with small stones above,
packed together to form a relatively firm
surface to wheels and hoofs, but Macadam
used small stone from top to bottom. About
1830 France adopted Macadam's plan, and
since then it has developed a magnificent sys-
tem of national roads. The use of broken
stone for roads has since spread to all civil-
ized countries, or to their thickly populated
sections. As a rule, macadam or macadam-
ized is the term used to designate these

roads, even when they have the large stone
base İf Telford. Road materials now include
dirt, gravel, broken stone, and various ce-
menting materials, which serve as binders and
dust preventives. In the United States, the
need for improved highways from the sea-
board to the great interior, which was then
being opened up, finally resulted in the be-
ginning of the construction of the National
Road, or Cumberland Road, from Cumber-
land, Md., on the Potomac, toward the Ohio
River in 1806. In thirty years this road
reached Vandalia, 111. The railways did not
stop road or highway building; rather they
helped to settle the whole country, East and
West, so rapidly that it soon became covered
with an ever increasing network of roads;
but numerous as these roads were, it was
not until well toward the close of the igth
century that their condition was much better
than at the time of the Revolution. Funds
for roads being limited in the early days,
many roads were constructed at private ex-
pense on which a toll was collected.

Systematic road improvement in the United
States began with the adoption of the State
Aid plan in New Jersey in 1891-2. Massa-
chusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
New York followed, the last named hi 1898;
other states have since adopted the same gen-
eral system. The fundamental idea of the
State Aid plan is the contribution by the
state of a part of the cost of improving
roads, the balance being met by the towns,
the county or both. Federal aid in State-
road construction began with $5,000,000 in
1917. In the fiscal year of 1941-42 the sum of
$154,359,871 of Federal money was allotted
for the improvement of roads, highways,
streets, etc.

Roan Antelope, one of the largest, finest
and best know of South African antelopes.
It is a near relative of the sable antelope.

Roanne, town, France. The church of St.
Pierre, the remains of a i4th to i6th century
castle, and the Hdtel de Ville, with its fine
collection of antiquities, are interesting; p.
38,469.

Roanoke, city, Virginia. In the vicinity
are many features of scenic interest, including
the Roanoke river, natural stone bridge,
Mountain Lake, Mill Mountain, Robert Lee's
tomb, Grottoes Cavern, the Peaks of Otter,
Luray Cavern, and fine mountain views.
There are many widely known mineral
springs in the region. Virginia College for
girls is situated about a m. from the city,
and Hollins College, also for girls, is seven