Kathleen Lynch wrote: > Kim, this was a delightful picture of an old council meeting. You know, I am a "selectman" in my town, and despite the distance in time and space, this meeting sounds just like home to me. "The miserable crossing" really struck a familiar chord! Imagine the long dresses sweeping through the dust (and mud) of the street, and how welcome a brick crossing must have been. Why did Fashion and "propriety" have a influence over functionality? It seems that there would have been countless beautiful clothing items destroyed after a single walk down a city street, not to mention mud, and horse droppings.... Some of those fashions were interesting, but HIGHLY impractical. -- Jeffery G. Scism, IBSSG ~~~~ "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." Samuel Adams "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams