Essays Development and Importance of Transport System, Industries & Mountaineering
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Development and Importance of Transport System
In this era of the steam engine, motor car, electric locomotive and airplane, it may be hard even to think how difficult it was to travel two hundred years ago. In Pakistan bullock carts bumped and carriages often sank as the axles got buried in mud, trying to negotiate a narrow side-track.
In winter, the country roads were almost impassable People who drove in carriages often lost their way in the dark in the absence of proper roads. Travelling in stagecoaches was uncomfortable and slow.
A very clever blind man, John Metcalfe, popularized a new method of road construction. Two others. Macadam and Telford, improved on Metcalfe’s method. By 1815, most of the high roads in England had been metaled. These roads helped the coaches to travel faster than they were able to do twenty years before.
While good and strong roads were being constructed various inventions were helping the progress of civilization With the invention of the power loom, the man spun yarn and produced cloth in large quantities. Cotton and woolen piece goods came to be manufactured by machines.
With the invention of the steam-engine, trains and steamships carried goods to various parts of the world in lesser time. Before good roads were constructed, goods were being carried either on rivers by boats or on horseback. The Duke of Bridgewater was the first man to dig a canal for the transport of goods.
The idea grew, and waterways and canals multiplied all over England James Brindley constructed many canals and waterways. The new machines were first worked by hand and later driven by water-wheels.
They were built near rivers. When the water evaporated during summer, a method was needed for driving the machines. As a result of much thought and experiment, the steam engine came into existence.
James Watt, who is credited with inventing the steam engine, was very fond of mathematics when he was young Completing his studies, he became a maker of mathematical instruments:
The old steam engines of his day were clumsy and crude, and were used for pumping water out of coal mines. So he invented a steam-engine that could generate power for the use of the spinning and weaving mills.
But canals and good roads were not enough in a country that was fast becoming highly industrialized George Stephenson’s invention of the locomotive marked a new era in the industrial and social life of the world. As a boy, Stephenson was greatly interested in pumping engines.
In 1814, he made an engine that could run. It was called the Blucher and drew kinds of coal from a colliery. A few years later, he made another engine which pulled thirty-four trucks of coal along a track al 15 miles an hour.
A coach railway for passengers was inaugurated later Stephenson’s Rocket, carrying passengers and running at 30 miles an hour, won for him a prize when he demonstrated to the people the utility of locomotive in travelling.
This wonderful improvement in transport soon became popular Other nations adopted it and, with the aid of the locomotive, trade and commerce advanced by leaps and bounds.
Time and space were conquered, and poor people, finding the train cheaper, safer and speedier than other forms of transport, made increasing use of it. Today it is the most popular means of transport.
Industries
The progress of a country is to a great extent measured by its industrial development. To be a strong power in the world, a country needs to be industrially advanced too. Although agriculture has its own importance and provides the basic necessities of life, it alone cannot take a country forward.
Even to modernize and improve agriculture, industrialization is necessary. The modern equipment that is used by farmers is produced by industries. Industries in Pakistan contribute to more than half of the national income Items of daily use like toothpaste, soaps, processed foods, medicines, etc. are manufactured by industries.
Goods should be highly sophisticated so that they capture the world market. To survive in the world, every country needs to be noticed and respected for what it produces and contributes to the world market.
Cars and electronics manufactured in Japan have flooded world markets. Their high quality is greatly applauded and Japan has almost become a superpower in the world because of its advanced industrial development Industries also serve a country in times of war.
In this nuclear age, unless a country has war-based industries, it cannot survive in the world. The only thing that has to be looked after is the pollution that results from industrialization. The government must also keep this in mind, and we as citizens of Pakistan too must guard against polluting our air to dangerous limits.
Mountaineering
Mountains have always thrown a challenge to the spirit of man and he always accepted it. The loftier a mountain, the greater is his desire to conquer it, to climb the highest peak and to enjoy the thrill of victory. Nearly all the mountains of the world have now been conquered by the persistence and perseverance of man.
Event Mount Everest cannot now claim to be invulnerable, having already been scaled several times the first time by Hillary, an English man. Several expeditions were organized to negotiate this highest mountain-peak in the world and at least: four of them have been successful-British, Swiss, American, Chinese and Indian.
Mountaineering appeals to them as it makes the heaviest demands upon their courage, perseverance and powers of endurance. It is a dangerous adventure. As one climbs higher and higher, the air becomes more and more rarified and breathing becomes more and more difficult.
To obviate this some climbers now carry a heavy apparatus from which they can inhale oxygen. The climber finds it really hazardous because at any moment hentai stumbles or slip and go crashing downwards. The unbearable cold is another difficulty which climbers face. Then there are storms and blizzards.
It is an ordeal to walk through snow in which one sinks to the knees It is still more dangerous to climb upwards on the ice where a foothold is impossible and steps have to be cut in the ice with axes in order to make progress. The cold is so severe that the climber’s feet toes and fingers suffer frostbite and become useless.
Blizzard loosens huge masses of stone and ice which come crashing from above and may engulf all the climbers. Many lives have been lost on account of these avalanches in the past few years It is indeed wonderful that despite all these stumbling blocks, so many mountain peaks and summits have been conquered by various climbing expeditions.
No doubt, climbing requires special knowledge, skills and equipment. Mountain climbers must be in good physical condition and have good judgement. Even many skilled climbers have lost their lives trying to conquer challenging peaks. Mountaineers must know how to use maps and compasses because they often must find their way where there are trails.
They must travel through dense woods as they approach a mountain and cross steep slopes and rock slides above the tree line on the mountain. Near the summit of a high peak, the climbers may have to scale steep rock faces and plod over snowfields and glaciers filled with crevasses.
In dangerous areas, climbers rope themselves together in groups of two, three or more persons. Only one climber may move at a time. The others brace themselves to pull the rope and keep the climber from falling if he should slip. Climbers carry backpacks loaded with first aid kit foot and extra clothing for sudden changes in weather.
Most climbers used to wear hobnailed boots before World War II, but today they often wear rubber-soled boots. Some climbers prefer fiat or rope-soled shoes, which do not slip on wet rocks.
Climbers may also strap cramps on their boots for climbing on ice or hard snow. In addition, a climber may carry an ice axe to aid, in keeping his balance to cut steps in snow and ice and to stop himself from falling. They may also carry snow glasses.
