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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 1911)
y L r k JsLfc 1 IG THE li BOND IS8UE 18 BEST WAY TO PAY FOR GOOD ROADS EFFORTS OFTEN MISQIRECTED Good Roads Fever Carries Community Off Its Feet Frequently and Work Is Started Along Impractical Lines Tax Levy Plan Wrong By HOWARD H GROSS In forwarding any great movement as the building of good roads enthus iasm Is essential hut unless this is coupled with a knowledge of the sub ject It Is a question whether it some times does not do more harm than good The writer believes that a movement for better highways is oft en retarded by over zealous friends who are attempting to do something they do not understand The propo sition to build good roads throughout the land is a very big one and ex ceedingly important It is a question that must be handled in a big way If anyone had suggested fifty years ago the building of a railway to the Pacific slope he would have been de clared at least visionary This has been accomplished and today there are a half dozen such railways and the four months Journey across the desert is now compassed in less than three days While the building of good wagon roads throughout the country is an immeasurably big Job yet there are back of it boundless re sources there is far more to encour age us than the builders of these first great continental roads had to en courage them Let us go forward on the back and talking of the won derful progress that Is being made This Is all very well so far as it goes and perhaps the moral effect is good It stirs up the community but -It does not do very much In the way of road building Usually a half mile or so is the limit and may reach from the town to tho cemetery Well that does some good and will give a de partlng citizen a smoother road In death than he had In life The means employed in such a cam paign are wholly inadequate to the end sought It reminds one -of the old woman who proposed to keep the Jtlie back wjth her broom There are also other unsatisfactory oxpensivo and wrong waystd take up this Question The most common one jTv is for the township to levy an annual tax for hard roads that will produce perhaps 1000 or 2000 and expend it upon a gravel or macadam stretch of road which 1b to be extended from year to year at a rate that will give the township a fair amount of hard roads say in twenty or thirty years By the time the last mile is built un der this plan the first one is worn out the rule being that the road once built receives no attention and that the money raised is spent upon build ing more roads The roads are usu ally built without much if any at tention being paid to drainage and the results are not always- satisfac tory In fact they are seldom what they should be Those charged with the duty of spending the money nine teen times in twenty know little if anything of how the road should be built and when it is finished It is usually about half as good as it ought to be and has cost nearly twice as much as it should for let it be said again and again that the greater part of the taxes raised for highways is frittered away by misdirected effort An eminent engineer who has had ex tended experience says at least sixty per cent of the funds raised for high ways is wasted Certainly the waste Is at least one half This being the case it follows that one of the first things to do is to stop this awful waste and see that a dollars worth of road results from every dollar ex pended Instead of forty to fifty cents worth It ought to be clear that it is very important that roads should be constructed under expert supervision and that a capable road engineer is needed Of course it is not practical to have this and build the roads piece meal a short stretch at a time hence tho township will find it wise instead of an annual tax levy to issue bonds to the full constitutional limit and build say fifteen to twenty miles of road at once and pay for them by the Macadam Read Near Charlotte N C Here is a view of a North Carolina road built by convict labor Note provision has been made for an earth road alone side of tho macadam roadway Thus tho traveler has the choice When the earth road la In pood condition It will ba used at other times travel will be upon tho hard road This 13 an excellent plan in every way with a stout heart and high purpose and with a clear head and all will come out right In a good roads campaign one of the most Important things is to un learn some things that are not so to get a view of tho proposition from the right angle and not to work along impractical lines The good roads fever usually breaks out in some com munity with a hurrah to build a mile or two of hard roads and there is a squabble to determine which particu lar road shall have the improvement Selfishness crops out and must be reckoned with When the particular road has been determined upon then comes the question of raising funds Those who are disappointed will give nothing others will contribute va rious amounts the banker merchant and grain dealer are called upon and subscribe different sums others will contribute labor an entertainment will be held in the town hall the pro ceeds to be devoted to the building of the road The local paper will be illled with letters interviews and edi torials everybody 1b patting himself bond issue paying off the bonds In In stallments This is vastly better and cheaper than to build short Btretches by an annual tax levy Of course in terest will have to be paid upon the bonds but on the other hand the peo ple will have good roads to use and if the use of the roads is not worth more than the Interest on the bonds required to build them then road building is not worth while The worlds experience Is that good roads are always worth several times what they cost to any community There are many advantages to this plan By building many miles at once it is practical to have good engineer ing supervision and proper1 specifica tions and the result will be a well drained a better and a more durable road and one that will not cost nearly as much to maintain as one poorly constructed Again on so large a job contractors will figure lower than up on a small Job and the best machinery and methods can be employed to ad vantage so it is fair to say that twen ty miles of road built under a single contract will cost from 15 to 20 per MWMBiMiMMR Road Before Dragging at Maltland Mo This road presents the worst possible conditions It Is Inhuman travel under such conditions to attempt cent less than if built a mile or so at a time Again the roads are all new at the same time and will be far more satisfactory to the people and the benefits will be simultaneous to the whole community Suppose the state In which a given township 1b situated aids in building permanent roads under the plan that is followed In more than one half the states ThiB will make the roads built a much lighter burden Let us see how the matter of taxa tion will affect the owner of a typical farm by the two plans of road build ing that is a little each year by an annual tax levy and the other by a bond issue supplemented by state aid old way with the new In order to J give exact figures and have a concrete example it will be necessary to take a typical farm in some portion of the central west and apply the two plans to that farm As the figures are at hand the writer selects an average farm in the corn belt of Illinois There is no reason why this farm should be taken in preference to a farm in any other state except that more complete data is at hand hence it will be used The same plan will apply with slight variations to other farms in other states the owners of which by getting the assessed valua tion of their township and state can figure out and ascertain each for him self just what the effect will be upon hiB farm The assessed valuation of an aver age 160 acre farm in the corn belt of Illinois is about 3000 Suppose the township of which this is a part has an assessed valuation of say 600 000 and is out of debt By the old plan suppose there is an annual tax levy for ten years of 60 cents on one hundred dollars This will produce 3600 per year and in ten years will total 36000 This money spent un der average local conditions means that about half of It will be wasted and the farm In question will have to pay each year sixty cents on thirty hundred dollars or 1800 per year The net result of this expenditure will be the paying out of 36000 du ring ten years and probably will pro duce not much over 18000 worth of roads at what they ought to cost Suppose the new plan is adopted by issuing bonds to the full constitutional limit of 5 per cent paying the same off in installments spread over twen ty years and letting the next genera tion who will use the roads help to pay for them The bond limit on the township in question is 30000 of which exactly 15000 rests upon the farm In question to be paid off one twentieth each year or 750 on ac count of principal each year for twenty years Interest of course will be paid annually but will decrease as the bonds are paid off The first years interest will be 5 per cent on 15000 or 750 Add 750 on account of principal and the first years payment on this farm for good roads is 1500 The tenth year one half of the bonds will bo paid off and the Interest will drop to 375 so that that year the tax will be 1125 The last years payment will be 750 on account of principal and 38 cents on account of interest making a total of 788 Thirty thousand dollars ef bond is sue will build far more and far bet ter roads on a general contract than 36000 Bpent In ten years on a patch work plan and the cost to the tax payer will be considerably less as well Now let us suppose that Illinois had as it surely needs an Btate aid law whereby one half the amount required for building perma nent roads should be paid from a state tax levy If this condition ob tained then the township In question could after raising 30000 draw 30 000 more from the state and expend 60000 upon highways in their town ship In Illinois less than one third the property of the state is represent ed by farms soothe state tax will be spread over an immeasurably greater amount of property A tax of ten cents on one hundred dollars for the state will produce nearly 2500000 a year and the stato aid tax upon the farm In question will be 300 per year in order to raise the second 30000 ThiB state tax would add 300 to the tax bill of the farm In question so the maximum amount per year if 60000 were expended upon the roads of tho township would be 1800 per year less than 12 cents per acre par year and take it for a series of years any one who can figure at all will see that the cost to that community spread over a series of years will be even less under the bond contract plan and that they can get by the new plan about three times as much road as they would upon the old In handling road building in this big way It will give an early and practical solution of the good roads problem vastly better and more effective than to pass the hat get up an entertainment and wear oneself out to raise the money to build a little bit of road Uses of Paper Metal At the great coronation pageant which will be next June when George is crowned King George IV of Eng land there is to be something entire ly different from anything that haa ever happened before Instead of real armor the armor that is to be worn will be made of paper metal There will be exact copies of all the old sets of armor used and ihe paper metal will be so fixed that the armor made from it will give the appearance of tho original And it is said that In the future the metal will be used for almost all outdoor decorations because it is much cheaper than plaster parts and also is waterproof It can be made to represent all the different metals and Is so strong that one can jump on it without making any impression on It Planning the House Well said Gifford Berrlngton cheerfully Ive jgot the plans for my new house on the lake shore all fin ished Finished to suit you N no But the architect is satisfied and thats the best I can expect Ha har How about Mrs Berrlng ton Its all right with her too In fact she got that fixed before we started You see she laid out the cupboards and wardrobes and all the architect had to do was to build a house around them Cleveland Plain Dealer - - - - - - -T it 4LL 0YEB NEBRASKA Woman Jumps Into a Well Otoe County Mrs Anna Sprague ged 55 who resides with her son and brother in the eastern part of Nebraska City attempted to take her life by jumping down a well 25 feet in depth She was rescued before death came Many Autos in Dawson Dawson County According to the recently completed report of the as sessors Dawson county had April 1 1911 258 automobiles The report for 1910 shows there were 290 that year Gothenburg leads the rest of the towns in the number of autos Marketed the First Wheat Jefferson County Stanley Will lams a farmer living near Fairbury had the distinction of marketing tho first of the 1911 wheat crop in Fair bury He sold his wheat to the Fair bury roller mills and it tested 63 pounds to the bushel making la bushels to the acre Girl May Die of Shock Buffalo County Ruth 5-year-old flaughter of Mr and Mrs W J Scott of Kearney is in a critical condition the result of an electric shock re ceived from a vibrator while standing in the bath tub The child remained xinconscious for six hours after the accident Wheat Yielding Well Richardson County Farmers in Ihe locality around Humboldt have been in the wheat fields the past week and report good yields Corn is in good condition in spite of the hot weather but oats and pastures show the effects of the drouth and the potato crop is a complete failure Has Lived in Three Centuries Custer County To Thomas Morris 3f Westerville Custer county Ne braska belongs the distinction of hav ing lived in three centuries the eighteenth nineteenth and twentieth He was born January 15 1794 and is still living He has lived through the term of every president of the United States except Taft He is a native of Wales and was 1 year old when the famous trial of Warren Hastings closed 7 years old when Ireland and England were united 64 years old when the first Atlantic ca ble was laid and was 67 years old when Fort Sumter was fired upon This patriarch never attended school and never married When a mere lad he started work as a butch er but gave up that to become a cob bler He followed that occupation un til more than 100 years old during which time he mended shoes for peo ple of two continents Just before his 115th birthday he gave up work for good and now spends all his leis ure time when the weather is good in fishing His sight is remarkable and he uses glasses only for close work Mr Morris never had any serious Illness only suffering a light sun stroke when he was a mere boy in his fifties He has always smoked and used liquor in a moderate amount Upon retiring at night he often takes a quart of strong tea or coffee with him which he drinks during the night Forty four years ago a lad 12 years old came to live with the old gentle man then 71 years old From that time he and Charles Myth en have been Inseparable cpmpanions They left Wales and came to this country in 1871 arriving in Chicago the day after the big fire They went to Mis souri where they lived until 1886 when they moved to Nebraska locat ing on a farm four miles from Wes terville in Custer county Later they moved to an adjoining farm wher they still reside Seward Institute Dates Seward County The Seward Coun ty Teachers institute will be held in Seward from August 28 to September 1 August 31 will be school officers day At the last meeting of the coun ty school board officers it was unani mously decided to hold another school exhibit this year Buys and Sells Bonds Lancaster County The board of Educational and funds bought 190 000 worth of 4 per cent Richardson county drainage district bonds The state will draw 6 per cent on the at tached coupons and pays 17886 premium for them The hoard sold 150000 worth of North Carolina af 4 per cent Wheat 20 Bushels to Acre Gage County John Scheve a prominent German farmer living northwest of Beatrice began thresh ing his 260 acre field of wheat last week which is yielding 20 bushels to the acre The grain is of fine quality Culivn East living south of the city reported a yield of 18 bush eels to the acre Kick of Horse Fatal Gage County W Shaffer a farm er living northeast of Liberty this county was kicked in the stomach by a horse and killed He was try ing to catch the animal in a pasture when It turned and struck him Sheriff Goes After Alleged Forger Richardson County Sheriff Fen ton is at Monroe Mich to bring to this county Harry Davies who is wanted here for forgery On the wa7 to Michigan Sheriff Fenton took William Langford from Falls City to the penitentiary at Lincoln t w SOUGHT BY TOURISTS Valley Forge Is Rich in Historio Associations fhlzzlng Automobiles Now Bring Groups of Patriotic Sightseers to This Scene of the Revolutions Darkest Days Philadelphia Pa Through the love ly wooded hills and up and down the valleys which give the name of that historic spot Valley Forge the scene of the darkest days of the Revolution go rushing and whizzing nowadays the hourly automobiles bringing groups of patriotic tourists from all the coun try What a change in the spot and in the people since that time when Wash ington and his suffering heroes camped among these picturesque hills What a gpp between those foot lore discouraged men and the pleas-are-seekers whirled in luxury through this great national park For some eight miles the motor route circles about over the fine park roads and on every side the natural charms of the beautiful scenery are enhanced by the hostorlc associations Many memorial tablets have been erected marking where different divi sions of the army or various com manders were stationed Here and there are log cabins reproductions oi the olden huts and standing on the old sites There are lines of the old entrenchments to trace and much else bf Interest to a student of military affairs but the automobile is toe swift for study of this sort The Memorial chapel unfortunately doea not lie on the route taken it requires nd well deserves a separate trip One does however pass the old school house built by Letitia Penn in 1703 which was occupied by the Con tinental army as a hospital during the Winter of 1777 1778 The flag floats over it and a group of budding cltl zens who ought to develop remark able loyalty educated In such a shrine of liberty flock out for recess a3 the motor car passes But the central point of the trip Is of course Washingtons headquarters This plain old stone structure is a fine example of the sturdy buildings oi Colonial times In Its simplicity and Washingtons Headquarters strength it shames the flimsy work of modern contractors The Interior is very Interesting The two main rooms on the ground flour open from the wide paneled hall with ample small paned windows In both recep tion room and office the walls are adorned with portraits and valuable relics In cases and In the old-fashioned chimney cupboard attract the eye Grandfathers clock ticks in the corner and an old gun fills the open fireplace Across an open passage through which sun and wind have full play Is a wing containing the quaint old kitchurA While this separation of the kitchen from the main body of the house has ome advantages the modern housewife would certainly object to the unnecessary steps it occasions And she would doubtless be at a loss to get a meal over the fireplace with its hanging hooks and pots From the pump room adjoining the kitchen a steep flight of steps de scends to an underground passage only lighted from an opening in the lawn above The other end of the passage once communicated with the river and thus afforded a means of refuge and escape in case of surprise by the enemy That end has been closed up but the curious investigator can descend and walk along the damp dark passage with thoughts oi tne dangerous days when such a se cret way was deemed necessary The bedrooms on the floor above are very attractive in their qualntness They have been furnished by different chapters of the Daughters of the Revo lution with suitable antique furniture so they must look very much as they did in the hours when Washington re posed in the big four poster or In the straight backed chair by the fire place brooded over the perils of the country On the third floor to which one must climb with bended head if a bump is to be avoided the bedroom Is as cozlly old fashioned as anything in the house Much time might be profitably spent In looking over the maps plans etc which bang about the walls of the hall and the main rooms but the in terest of the average tourist in such matters is soon glutted and he prefers to walk about the lawn and view the house from every side or stroll down to the Schuylkill river In front of the headquarters and people the scene with the figures of Washington and his veterans Mall Horse Holds Record Portland Ore F J Hogel rural mall carrier owns a mare that has traveled 14000 miles in the employ of the government WESTERN CANADAS GOOD CROP PROSPECTS VlELDS OF WHEAT WILL LIKELY BE 25 TO 30 BUSHELS PER ACRE In an interview with Mr W J White who has charge of the Cana dian government immigration offices In the United States and who has re cently made an extended trip through the provinces of Manitoba Saskatche wan and Alberta in Western Canada He said that every point he visited he was met with the one report uni versally good crops of wheat oats and barley There will this year be a much increased acreage over last year Many farmers who had but one hundred acres last year have in creased their cultivated and seeded acreage as much as fifty per cent With the prospects as they are at present this will mean from 12 to 15 additional wealth to each He saw many large fields running from 300 to 1000 acres in extent and it ap peared to him that there was not an acre of this but would yield from 20 to 25 or 30 bushels of wheat per acre while the oat prospects might safely be estimated at from 40 to 70 bushels per acre In all parts of the west whether it be Manitoba Saskatche wan or Alberta north and south east and west and in the districts where last year there was a partial failure of crops the condition of all grain is universally good and claimed by most of the farmers to be from one to two weeks in advance of any year for the past ten or twelve years It does not seem that there was a single foot of the ground that was properly seeded that would not produce There are those throughout western Canada who predict that there will be 200000000 bushels of wheat raised there this year and if the present favorable conditions continue there does not seem any reason why these prophesies should not come true There is yet a possibility of hot winds reducing the quantity in some parts but with the strongly rooted crops and the sufficiency of precipita tion that the country has already been favored with this probability is reduced to a minimum The prices of farm lands at the present time are holding steady and lands can probably still be purchased at the price set this spring ranging from 15 to 20 per acre but with a harvested crop such as is expected there is no reason why these same lands should not be worth from 20 -to 25 per acre with an almost abso lute assurance that by next spring there will still be a further advance in prices Mr White says that these lands are as cheap at todays figures with the countrys proven worth as they were a few years ago at half the price when the general public had but a vague idea of the producing quality of western Canada lands The land agents at the different towns along the line of railway are very active A large number of acres are turned over weekly to buyers from the different states in the south where lands that produce no better are sold at from 150 to 200 per acre The homestead lands are becoming scarcer day by day and those who are unable to purchase preferring to homestead are directing their atten tion to the park acres lying in the northerly part of the central dis tricts It has been found that while these are somewhat more difficult to bring under the subjugation of the plow the soil is fully as productive as in the districts farther south They possess the advantage that the more open prairie areas do not possess that there is on these lands an open acreage of from fifty to seventy per cent of the whole and the balance is made up of groves of poplar of fair size which offer shelter for cattle while the grasses are of splendid strength and plentiful bringing about a more active stage of mixed farming than can be carried on In the more open districts to the south The emigration for the past year has been the greatest in the history of Canada and it is keeping up in record shape The larger number of those who will go this year will be those who will buy lands nearer the line of railways preferring to pay a little higher price for good location than to go back from the line of rail ways some 40 or 50 miles to home stead Mr White has visited the different agencies throughout the United States and he found that the correspondence at the various offices has largely in creased the number of callers 13 greater than ever Any one desiring information re garding western Canada should apply at once to the Canadian Government Agent nearest him for a copy of the Last Best West r The Only Way OuO Peter sent for the milk Ob mercy Ive drunk too much of it What shall we do Small Brother Easy Well drop the jug Meggendorf Blaetter Beautiful Post Cards Free Send 2c stamp for five samples of onr Very best Gold Embossed Birthday Flow er and Motto Post Cards beautiful colors and loveliest designs Art Pout Card Club 731 Jackson St Topeka Kan You may have noticed that it costs a man a good deal to get in line at the political pie counter in this great and glorious land of the free TIs well for men to learn self conquest in the school of suffering George Eliot qTftaMur3fc jfefe - AV I II l n h i
