THE ILLUSTRATED BEE. Augusts 1904
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People and Things of Public Interest
rTTYIMf ncln la tint nnV-
fiL I elty by any means, although
I tw.M . 14a flrat 4;ittA
of what may bo called the real
thing In this line. One of rnrni'i
ambitions, traceable from Ills earliest days,
tins been to eliminate the quantities of tlnio
and space, or rather to make them one.
The mere fact that the attainment Is out
Of the question adds scsl to the pursuit,
and Impels man to further endeavors. Not
a means of transportation has been dis
covered hut It I Kin Ucn put to the left to
determine In how short a lime it can cover
a given distance. Naturally the automobile
Wag subjected to this test very early in its
career, und for several years the snorting
columns of tho pajers huve been tilled with
accounts of tho wonderful performances of
tba reckless men who drive their machines
furious speed over tracks and along the
toads in tho endeavor to lower the time
record for the distance. Now and then the
accounts of theso affairs havo slopped over
Into tho columns devoted to casualties, and
gome rather appalling lists of killed and
wounded havo been published. Note, for
example, the Paris-Madrid road race la
Franco, which was stopped by tho French
authorities at tho end of the first day's
running.
In America the high sped contests havt
been confined almost exclusively to tho
race tracks, with the result that but very
few serious accidents havo been recorded.
On the tracks the machines aro nearly
always driven by men who make It their
business and who have trained every fac
ulty to tho sensation of traveling at tre
mendous speed for short time periods, so
that they aio safe, if tho machine only
bolds together. Tho most noted of this
Class in America are those who were In
Omaha hint week, tlarney Oldfleld and
Alonro Webb. Both of these men gradu
ated from the ranks of the professional
bicycle riders and brought to their new
avocation the advantage of training In a
port fully as exacting and almost as ex
citing as the one In which they now shine.
Oldfleld has driven red devils and green
dragons and the llko on almost every track
In the country and has made records that
are .not equalled by those of any other
The Age
Tbe Ace of a Ilrlde.
N a recent contribution to the
press Dorothy Dlx gave many ex
cellent reasons against early mar
riages. Now her views are rein
forced by Edwin Warlleld, the
governor of Maryland. In an interview
In the Baltimore Sun he Is quoted as say
ing somewhat Jocularly that 26 years was
the best ago for a woman to marry, that
that was the age of Mrs. Warfteld when
be married her. Continuing more seri
ously, he said:
"I do think that many lives are mado
failures by persona marrying before their
characters have been formed. You know,
whom first we love we rarely wed.' This
I a very true saying. Young people are
Impressionable and romantic, and, if left
to their own free will, are api to rush Into
matrimony without properly considering
the grave responsibilities of married life.
Many coses huve come under my observa
tion where youthful and hasty marriages
have resulted In unhapplncss, discontent
and lives of drudgery. The old saying,
"Marry in haste and repent at leisure,'
proves too often true. Young men and
women should remember that the romantlo
attichomenta of youth are not generally
lasting.
"I would not wish to be regarded as
laying down Ironclad rules concerning the
exact ago when a girl should marry; it
might be at 22, 24, 20 or 20 years It all
depends upon the physical and mental de
velopment of the girl. I mean rather to
Indicate that a girl should not marry until
she wus over 21, and of an age to compre
hend the responsibility of the marriage
atate and to make an Intelligent choice of
the man whose companionship will be
either a help or a hindrance to her life.
"There are many serious questions to be
considered In deciding upon this most Im
portant step. Health, heredity, environ
ment, taste, social tendencies, all should
be carefully weighed If a huppy married
life Is desired. Girls should not be carried
away with the good looks and fascinating
manners of men. The man a girl would
marry when she leaves school Is usuully
not the man she would select after she
bas seen more of the world.
"Marriage for the purpose of settling a
daughter In life Is, as a rule, a failure and
an unhappy one. No parent, and especi
ally no true and loving m itlier, will wish
to push her daughter into matrimony be
(ore she Is fully matured and fitted for
the grave responsibilities of married life.
Young girls Just out of school are not
quipped for the ordinary household duties
Of wives and for the cares and trials of
motherhood. They should, after leaving
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MISS OIUCR IIARTMAN AND THR PTXAT WITH WHICH SHE WON FIRST
bUHINO TUB CARNIVAL. AT DliW ITT, Neb.
chauffeur In America, at least. On the
Omaha track he gave two wonderful per
formances, lowering his own time for a
mile on a half-mile track twice. One he did
It in a trial against the record and ngaln
he did it in competition. His perform
ances seem the ultim ate limit In foolhardy
daring. While his machine Is built ex
pressly for racing, and Is undoubtedly
safeguarded as far ns human ingenuity
and forethought can do so, yet he volun
tarily assumes the terrible risk of acci
dent, depending on the steel nnd rubber
of the machine holJlng together, while he
subjects It to the most terrlllc strain he can
put upon It. Dashing around the track at
the rate of almost sixty miles an hour, he
guides his frail machine from side to sldo
of a Bride
school, spend some time with their parents,
giving those parents the pleasure of their
companionship and learning something of
the every-day work that will be theirs as
wives.
"The girl who marries too early misses
many of the pleasures of life. She is
doomed to spend her youthful days In the
trying and vexing cares of motherhood
and household duties, with broken health
and run-down nerves before she has passed
her teens. Such marriages are unfor
tunate. They are entered into without
due consideration and frequently before
the husband has fully established Ms busi
ness ability and the earning rapacity that
will enablo him to provide for the Increas
ing wants of married life. Girls should
be taught that there is more In life than
getting married; that when they leave
school they owe some service to their par
ents, and that they should spend some of
their days In making the lives of their
fathers and mothers easier and brighter.
"The sajne advice pertains to young men.
I have known of cases where young men,
because thoy married too soon and lKfor
they had established themselves In perma
nent positions, were compelled to elve up
good opportunities for advancement because
family ties and environments kept them
down to one locality. The realization of
the mistake of marrying too early has
discouraged many a young man, blate.l
his future, brought disappointment to him
self and deprivation and suffering to his
family.
"I believe In marrlnge, and would like to
nee every man and woman mated In eon
genial companionship for life, but I am
opposed to early and thoughtless marriages.
"Do not understand mo as fixing any uge
limit as the period for marriage, though
the proper period, in my Judgment, is be
tween twenty-one and twenty-six. I only
ppenk from my own exerience. I was
38 years old when I married and my wife
twelve years my Junior. We are happy and
contented with our lot and have four chil
drenthroe girls and one boy all vigorous
and healthy physically and mentally. Hence
my reasons for advocating a mature ago
before marriage."
No Further Delay
The commander of the forces besieging
I'ort Arthur turned to a subordinate.
"Have all tho American presidential and
vice presidential candid. ites been notified of
their nominations yet?" he asked.
"They have, general," responded the sub
ordinate. "Then let the assault on the fort begin
at once!" shouted the general, the light of
battle flaming la hui eyes. Chicago Tribunal
It " ,K-V-
w M w ; o- . jaw m . v J a jk-
around the turns and down tho
stretches with precision and accuracy,
and apparently thinks no more of It than
tho ordinary amateur does of turn'ajt a
street corner at a Blow pace. Not less spec
tacular than tho performance of Oldfleld
was that of Webb, who, while he did not
make any new records, was a splendid sec
ond In the races with his more noted oppo
nent, and who furnished one really sensa
tional hit of entertainment for the large
throng assembled on the peeond day. Ono
of tho tires on a front wheel exploded whiles
he was driving a machine at Its utmost
speed and rendered It Impossible to steer.
The machine swerved from the track and
against the fence, going through b; fore it
was stopped, but the plucky Webb hung to
Peat Turned Into Coal
r'OV Knf.tr 4 Via nnrnt i il 1 1 m rtt i I m A
r' I and make tho period between
a I nnphnnlfitrmiH apn nnH fVt nriM-
ent of .twenty-tight minutes dura
tion. No more waiting for count
less centuries for nature to furnish tho fuel
to heat homes, furnish power for factories,
carry on the mechanic arts " and breed
strikes in Pennsylvania. A Chicago engi
neer has solved tho problem of ch-inglng
marsh mud into anthracite coal arid mak
ing it a marketable product all within two
minutes less than half an hour after it Is
taken from the bog.
During the last week practical demonstra
tions havo bean made In this city with peat
fuel manufactured by the procesn patented
by J. Campbell Morrison, consulting engi
neer of the United States Peat Fuel com
pany, after four years of experimenting.
Tho results have shown a heat efficiency
equaling, if not surpassing, that possessed
by the higher grades of anthracite coal.
Chemical analysis has shown a combination
of hydro-carbons and volatile substances
giving thorough combustion; physical an
alysis a specific gravity approaching and
In somo cases exceeding that of hard coal,
so thnt a ton of peat fuel will take no more
room In the cellar than is required for a ton.
of coal. The peat fuel can be produced at
less than 90 rents a ton.
There Is nothing new in the Idea, of utilis
ing peat, the soil that covers thousands of
acres of waste land throughout tho United
States to the depth of from three or four
to fifty feet, as fuel. The trouble has been
to develop a process economical enough to
make It an article of commerce. The elimi
nation of the moisture In the raw product
has been one of the drawbacks. Another
has been tho compressing of the dried peat
Into cubes or blocks that would withstand
the weather and not disintegrate in ship
ment. From the tests made Mr. Morrison seems
to have solved ull theso problems. A cen
trifugal separator for the removal of part
of the moisture at a low cost and a drier
that reduces the remaining moisture to
approximately the percentage contained In
anthracite coal have overcome one obsta
cle. The other nnd most Important Im
provement, wherein the commercial value
of the finished product rests, has to do with
the compressor that packs the ground par
ticles of leat Into blocks for the market.
In the systems heretofore employed the
peat briquettes, or tablets, have been
formed by a fixed pressure, which has not
given them sufficient density. By the sys
tem demonstrated last week the density
sought is obtained by a yielding pressure
an Impact and a slide by a ram of great
power.
This combines the atoms a ad molecules
r
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v.'";.'rft
PRIZE IN THE FLOWER PARADE!
his peat and stopped tho racer before It was
damaged to an extent that could not easily
be repaired. Two hours or such a matter
afterward he rode downtown on the ma
chine that had Riven the people such a
fright by its unruly performance.
On Thursday and Friday of last week
DeWItt, In Saline county, held its annual
August carnival. Of all the fiestas of the
leaser Nebraska towns not one is more
largely attended, nor more worthy of pa
tronage than this celebration of DeWitt's,
The flower parade and trades display was
elaborate nnd beautiful. Herewith wo pre
sent tho picture of Miss Grace Hartman,
who took first honors In the flower parade,
winning the $20 prlxo.
of tho separated peat particles and gives
them a chemical combination like that of
the coal dug from the ground. The slid
ing pressure, aided by steam heat on the
outside of the cylindrical Jacket through
which the fuel cubes pass, also forces the
natural tur and parifflne in the peat six
pounds of the former and two pounds of
the latter to tho 100 poumis-lnto a glazed,
exterior that renders the block Impervious
to moisture.
The scientific experts can show long
tables of figures, showing the constituents
of coal and peat and the chemical changes
that produce them. For the layman, it la
sufficient to remember that tho beds of
coal lying hundreds of feet beneath the
earth's surface are tho formations of ages
of decomposition of vegetable changes. In
peat there exists the same elements. The
modern scientist simply has produced ma
chines to do nature's work of ages In a
few minutes.
More than that, the scientists offer to
show that they have improved on nature.
Practical tests made at the shops of the
Weir & Craig Manufacturing company,
where the plant Invented by Mr. Morrison
has been Installed, showed that there Is
none of the waste, through smoke and es
caping gases. In the use of peat fuel that
attends the use of both hard and soft
coal. There were no clinkers and the
percentage of ashes was much lower than
in the case of coal.
One particularly Interesting test was
made with an ordinary cook stove. A fire
first was built with four pounds of kindling
and six pounds of hard coal. A thermo
gauge was placed in the oven and readings
made at regular intervals through a peep
hole. When the fire had died out and the
stove was cool another lire was built with
four pounds of kindling and six pounds of
peat briquettes, nnd readings again were
made. They showed that the average heat
obtained was 10 per cent greater with tho
use of peat, while tho duration of effective
heat was 20 per cent greater.
Several engineers In charge of the mo
tive power of railroad systems and other
experts has been witnessing the tests, and
great interest has been aroused In the new
fuel. Chicago Record-Herald.
Francis' Early Life
David R. Francis, president of the Bt,
Iuls fair corporation and ex-governor of
Missouri, began life as a newsboy ant
to tho sharpness which he acquired while
acting In that capacity attributes a good
deal of his success. There was a conven
tlon of newsboys at the fair the other day
and President Francis told them of hlg
boyish experiences, much to their delight.
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