By 1450, the merchant adventurers were
dealing in linen cloths, buckrams [a stiffened, coarse cloth],
fustians [coarse cloth made of cotton threads going in one
direction and linen threads the other], satins, jewels, fine
woolen and linen wares, threads, potions, wood, oil, wine, salt,
copper, and iron. They began to replace trade by alien traders.
The history of the "Merchant Adventurers" was associated with the
growth of the mercantile system for more than 300 years. It
eventually replaced the staples system.
Paved roads in towns were usually gravel and sometimes cobble.
They were frequently muddy because of rain and spillage of water
being carried. Iron-shod wheels and overloaded carts made them
very uneven. London was the first town with paviors. They cleaned
and repaired the streets, filling up pot-holes with wood chips and
compacting them with hand rams. The paviors were organized as a
city company in 1479. About 1482, towns besides London began
appointing salaried road paviors to repair roads and collect their
expenses from the householders because the policy of placing the
burden on individual householders didn't work well. London streets
were lighted at night by public lanterns, under the direction of
the mayor. The residents were to light these candle lanterns in
winter from dusk to the 9 pm curfew. There were fire-engines
composed of a circular cistern with a pump and six feet of
inflexible hose on wheels pulled by two men on one end and pushed
by two men on the other end.
Pages:
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493