THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: SEPTEMBER 4, 1910.
Nebraska is in Need of Highways for Rural Districts; Road Figures
HE railroad system of Nebraska
In null extensive, there being
over 8,000 mile In the state,
eighty-five out of ninety-two
counties being traversd by rail
road. It It not o fortunate.
T
however. In the matter of good high
ways, for with the exception of New
Mexico and Oklahoma, Nebraska haa the
smallest percentage of Improved roe da of
any state. Out of a total of 80,000 mllea
in the Ft ate, there was, according" to ata
tlstlcs compiled by the United Rites of
fice of public road in 1904, only .03 per cent
of this vast mllea surfaced with atone or
travel. In other worda, there waa at that
time only one mile of Rood road In the
atate to every 8,908 mllea of public road.
About the only Improved roada In Ne
braska worthy of the name were in Doug
laa county in the neighborhood of Omaha.
When these figures are compared with
thoso of other states, they are still more
amazing. In -Massachusetts, for Instance,
45 per cent of the roads have been Im
proved, while In Ohio and Indiana from
S3 to 85 per cent of the roads have been im
proved. It would, therefore, appear, that
the question of good roads Is one which
has been sadly neglected In Nebraska.
Comparing the roada of . Nebraska with
those of the whole country. It Is found that
the total mileage tor the United Slates in
1904 waa J, 166,000 mllea, of which 1011,000
miles had been aurfaoed with stone, 39,000
with gravel and 7.000 with other materials,
total of about IM.000 miles, or T.14 per cent.
Nebraska spent on pirbllo roada In 1904,
$S',8,t 47.40, but the expenditure for the whol
country was about 880,000,000 or almost 100
times as much. The average road tax In
Nebraska, for 1W4 was 21 ccits on each 1100
worth of taxable property, but the average
for the United States waa 25 cents, while
the average for Iowa was CD cents, New
Han-pi hire 43 cents. Oregon 87 cents and
Washington 78 cents. In 19M, a large por
tion of the road tax of Nebraska was paid
in tutor. This system never haa contri
buted very much towarda the peimanent
Impiovemcnt of ;he roads of any state.
It waa fortunate for Nebraska that this
method of piylng taxes haa been largely
abolished recently.
It 1j well kr.own that improved roada
add to the value of agricultural land and
that In the states or counties which have
good highways the value of the land Is
higher on the average than In those states
. or counties which have poor roads, and,
' while road building Is only one factor
which controls the price of land, It la
certainly a very important one.
In this connection It Is Interesting to
note that In 1906 the average price of
land In Nebraska, according to the Bun 4
of Statistics. was $81 per acre. The average
value of land in Indiana, according; to the
same report was 864 per acre, but in Indl-
' ana about 36 per cent of the roads have
been improved. The average price of land
in Ohio was $57 per acre, while S3 per cent
of the roads had been Improved. On the
other hand, it has been observed that In
those atates which have a small percent
age of Improved roads, the land Is con
sidered less valuable- For Instance, the
land of Arkansas Is valued on the average
at 81 per acre and only A of 1 per cent
of the roads have been improved, while
the land of Texas la valued at tit per
acre on the average and that state has
only l.T per cent of the roads 'improved.
The roads of Nebraska are located, as
In many other states where the land waa
laid out by the government on section
lines. Assuming forty feet to be the aver
age width of section line roads -In Ne-
Developments in the Field of
Electricity Bad Farm Life,
LECTRICITY ha already revolu
tionised farm Ufa through the
telephone. Three-quarter of a
million telephone are today In
stalled In farm houses in this
country. Mostly they represent
,4
neignborhood systems, which are usually
Joined with other neighborhood lines, and
with the network of the nearby village. It
Is easy to realise, say the Brooklyn Eagle,
what a blesalng 1 conferred by such op
potunltle of communication. The farmer'
wife and children are no longer In dread
when the men happen to be away; for the
tramp 1 wary when he know that a telo
phase I at hand to cummons help.
. The rural telephone affords opportunity
for gossip with neighbor on dreary winter
nights, when perhaps the roada are lm
8asable, if sickness occur, a doctor may
be readily summoned, and. In case of neces
sity, he can give emergency directions over
the 'phone. There is prompt aid to be had
If fire breaks out.
aleanwhile, the farmer, through the tele
phone, keeps In touch with the market,
being thua enabled to sell his produce when
price are highest He does not take the
trouble to load hi wagon until he know
that the opportunity to sell I favorable.
In some Instances the village grocer or
butcher pay the monthly rent of a tele
phone for any customer who spend 925 at
hi store during the month. He get hi
money back through augmented business
find a reduction in hi staff of order men.
Alao, It la a fin advertlaement
Tele phonea In the rural districts are
mostly put up by farmers associations, the
subscriber often cutting and planting the
poles and stringing th wires, so that the
electrician employed haa only to put in
the boxes and establish the"central." In
the middle west particularly In Indiana,
Ohio and Illinois the country over great
areas Is covered with a network of tele
phone wires which reach farmhouses at
points from a distant from railroads and
inaccessabla by telegraph. Usually the
rental la about 84 a year, and Is never more
than 81 a month.' Th plants are ' first
class, and some of them have aa many as
l.Oti subscribers.
In the territory embraced by some of th
larger systems, letter marked "rush," and
addressed In care of "central," are taken
from the envelopes and read aloud over th
wires to the addressees. It is likely that be
fore long special delivery telephone stamps
will be Issued, which, when stuck upon a
letter, will serve as an order to the post
master to open the mlaslva and transmit th
contents over th 'phone. Already on some
systems at a certain hour of the day. all
circuit are thrown open, and "Central"
reads to ail subscribers th most important
Hem from the latest editions of the news
papers. Including market reports and
weather predictlona-th latter being of
great and obvious Importance to farmers.
Maajaetlaas ud Mamas Nerve.
A paper presented recently before th
Royal society of London by Prof. & P.
Thompson speaks of th effect of maa
net lain on the human nerve of sensation.
Prol Thompson' expert menu show that
an alternating magnstio field may produoe
a physiological effect. The Electrical
World says that many persons have looked
for such effects. Lrd Lindsay (now the
sari of Crawford), assisted by Mr. Crom
well F. Verley, constructed many year
ago an enormous electromagnet, now la the
observatory at Edinburgh, so large that It
would admit between It pole th head of
suiy person who wlacd to last whether a
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braska, there are 3SX.240 Acre Included
In these rlghU-of-way, but, of course,
the rights-of-way In many cases are much
wider than that. At 831 per acre, the rights-of-way
alone of ' the public roads In the
state of Nebraska are worth 812,827,660.
In a reoent investigation relative to the
cost of transportation In the United States,
conducted by the Bureau of Statistics of
the Department of Agriculture. It. was
found that In Nebraska the ost of hauling
seven kinds of products corn, wheat, oats,
barley, hay, potatoes and rye amounts to
80 cents per ton per mile on the average,
while for the longest hauls, the ooat Is
above 16 cents per ton, per mile. The
average length of hauls for these crop waa
found to be about ten miles. In Banner
r 1 Loup counties, correepondenU report
. charge of 10 cents per bushel for hauling
wheat from farms to shipping point over
strong magnetic field would have any sen
sible effect. Nothing whatever waa per
ceived a the result Prof. Thompson, how
ever, say th Electrical World, recently
succeeded In demonstrating a real
physiological effect due to magnetism.
Some six year ago, when experimenting
with an alternating electro-imagnot which
had been constructed for showing Prof.
EUhu Thomson' well-known experiment
on the repulsion of copper rings, he ob
served a faint visual effect when his fore
head was placed close to th magnet Re
cently, Incited thereto by finding Lord
Kelvin's mention of the negative results in
Lord Crawford' experiments, he further
explored th matter, and found a mean of
producing" the visual effect (which Is sub
jective and physiological) In a way that
succeeds with every person on whom It ha
yet been tried.
An alternating and magnetlo field of
sufficient intensity and extent was pro
duced by passing an alternating electrio
current around a specially constructed mag
netizing coll. On Inserting the head Into
th Interior of the coil In th dark, or with
th eyes closed, there is perceived over the
whole region of vision a faint flickering
illumination; colorless or of a slightly blu
ish tint The period of the flicker 1 not
well defined. It does not seem to be the
same over the whole region of vision at
the same time, nor 1 It equally bright
over the whole region of vision, but I
somewhat brighter In th peripheral re
gion than in th central part. Even In
daylight, with the eyes open, one Is con
scious of a sensation of flicker super
posed upon the ordinary vision. Th effect
Is dimlshed by lowering the Intensity of
the field, and Increased by raising It At
tempts to discover whether the brightness
of the phenomenon stands in any relation
to the direction of the axis of the field
with rerpect to the directions of the prin
cipal axis of the skull have not yet re
vealed any definite result. It will be neces
sary to apply more Intense fields than have
yet been tried. No after-effects of any kind
have been experienced, either by Prof.
Thompson or by any of the persons who
have made the experiment with him.
Wireless Telephone from Train.
Wireless telephoning from a moving train
was accomplished the other day for th
first time In England with complete suc
cess on a stretch of railway line four miles
In length, between Horley and Thiee
Bridges, on the Brighton railway. Mr.
Henry von Kramer, the Inventor, who con
ducted the experiment, Is an electrical en
gineer, trained at Munich, and now en
gaged In business at Birmingham. For
four years he haa been working out the
system In his private workshop. For the
purpose of the experiment a double line of
wire was laid along the sleepers between
Horley and Three Bridges. One telephone
apparatus was placed in the brake-van of
the 2:80 p. m. train from London Bridge,
the other was In the signal box at Three
Bridges. As the train entered the circuit at
Horley, Mr. von Kramer placed the receiver
to his ears, and conversation took place
while the train waa running at forty miles
an hour. A railway official then took the
telephone, and, talking to an Inspector at
Three Bridges, asked him to repeat the
measage. This was satisfactorily done.
And the Inventor then had another success
ful conversation. The fact which distin
guishes Mr. von Kramer's system from
any other previously tried In England or
America Is that there la no contact by
bruaa between the moving train and th
f ra tw i -
.pupd
mads varying- in length from twenty to
thirty-five miles. This Is, however, an un
uaually high rate and a long haul. Cor
respondents from Knox county declare
that hauling- la their hardest work, while
replies from Stanton county state that
better roads would reduce the cost of haul
ing at least one-third.
In Europe, and especially in France, an
extensive system of good roads has been
the means of Increasing the value of the
land and of putting the landholders In
easy communication with the markets. In
same cases they are even able to compete
with the railroads. In France it la reported
that 8612,778,000 has been spent In establish
ing this, the finest system of highway in
the world. England and Germany also
have excellent roads, while Switzerland la'
renowned tor Its magnificent scenic high
ways. Suoh roads as those In Europe af
Electricity
stationary wires. The electrio Impulse
travel between the "bridge" on tho carriage
and ground wire through an open-air spac
of eighteen Inches. .
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Regulating; Strength of Light,
A demonstration was given recently in
London of the Watkln electrio switch. The
object of this switch Is to enable the
amount of current admitted to a circuit to
be varied at will, within the limit of seven
stops, so that electric lamp may be lighted
brilliantly or otherwise as may be desired.
The switch ia provided with a series of elec
Quaint Features
Vula a New Casa Word.
ALTER GEORGE NEWMAN,
New York millionaire and North
Carolina gold mine owner, who
truck Roanoke, Va., with a
vim and offered a 81.000 bill for
a new "cuss" word, left town
I.. touring car for Salisbury, N. C,
without having added the much wanted bit
of profanity to his strenuous vocabulary.
He took a spin through Koanoke and ex"
hlblted a novel feature In automobile trans
portation by using a negro valet dressed
as a minstrel man for a trumpeter Instead
of bringing Into eommlsaion the ordinary
horn. At all street corners the loudly
dressed negro stood In the car and blew
shrill blasts on a cornet.
When Newman went to settle his hotel
bill for the handsome suite he and his
party occupied he emphatlcajly told the
clerk the rate were too low and demanded
that he be permitted to pay double the reg
ular amount An inventory of the money
tills In a number of local establishments
showed a goodly sum pf Newman's riches,
and Roanoke people are wishing for the
easy spender's speedy return.
Newman waa a newsboy on the streets
of Richmond, engaged In cowpunching In
the west, gained J. P. Morgan a attention
and made millions In Wall street Ho mar
ried a Lynchburg girl and has a brother
in the Insurance business In Richmond.
Flea Provoke a Lawsuit.
Fleas and a lop-cared bulldog nre what
got the Brandmeyer brothers Charles O.
and Martin C, grocers at 9.4 West Twenty
Fourth street. Kansaa City Into the cir
cuit court
Aaron P. Duncan, a watchman, 2332 Moni
tor place, brought auit to enjoin the Brand
meyers from maintaining a nuisance and
to abate the same. He says the groeers
erected a barn In the alley back of his
home and stocked It with hay, wheat, outs
ard a bulldog. Duncan holds that the dog
Introduced the fleas to the promises,, anu
that the snug contents of the barn furn
ished them such an Ideal abld.ng place
that their tribe has multiplied beyond the
capacity of any census enumeration.
Lately the fleas trekked from the grocers'
barn to the watchman's home. It is avurred.
What with organized flea hunts at twenty
minute Intervals from noon to noon and
the shng of household debris at the
Brandmeyer bulldog eery half hour from
dusk to dawn, life at the Duncan domi
cile has been no midsummer drvam, hence
the suit.
Dl Gives Alarm of Fire.
? Prince, a dog belonging to Wilbur Kim
ble, of 604 First street Elisabeth, N. J.,
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ford easy communication for the farmer,
and the cost of hauling Is reduced to about
10 cents per ton per mile, and In some cases
to as low as 7 cents, from ona-ha.lt to one
third the amount paid by our farmers. It
has been estimated in France that an aver
age slse draft horse will draw to market,
a distance of eighteen miles, a load of S.S00
pounds, returning home the same day.
Computations from figures collated by the
Nebraska State Railway commission show
that In the year ending November 30, 1909,
about 6,900,000 tone of produoe from agricul
ture, live stock, forests, etc., were hauled
over six railroads operated within the state.
Five other roads failed to report these
figures. Besides these omissions, no ac
count was taken of transportation on water
ways. While some of the produce sbove
mentioned may not have been hauled over
the publio roads. It Is mce than likely
trical resistance which In th operation of
the switch are thrown in or out of the
circuit according to whether' tbe amount
of light Is diminished or Increased. These
resistances, or "retardera," are constructed
of an alloy which It Is claimed allow very
little of the current prevented from flowing
through the lamp to be expended In heat.
The glare of electrio light Is frequently
found to be objectionable and a reduced
amount of Illumination 1 often sufficient
and more convenient This switch which Is
also applicable to electrio fans, radiators,
cooking utensils, motors, etc allows grad
uations of intensity to be made in much
th same way as with gas, while the saving
of current effected Is claimed to be from
12V to 80 per cent, according to th stop
at which the- switch is set The switch Is
applicable to either direct or alternating
current
of EveryDay Life
gave the alarm of an Incendiary fire next
door by rushing to his master's bed and
pulling his nightshirt until it waa almost
In ribbons. Then, as soon as Mr. Kimble
arose and went to the door, the dog rushed
out and down the street, grabbed a police
man by the coat and tugged until he had
pulled him halfway to th house at 60s.
First street, which was burning.
A fire alarm was rung In and the fire
men managed to confine th flame to th
interior of th house, which was badly
damaged. It is believed that the house
was set on fire.
Warning and Fulfillment.
"Y know the hour and y know not th
day that th end may com. Are ye pre
pared to meet thy God?"
As a street preacher raised his voice to
a scanty audience along th,ourb at West
Madison and South Desplalnes streets, re
lates the Chicago Inter-Ocean, a man wear
ing the bronxe button of the Grand Army
of the Republic In the lapel of his coat
grasped at his throat and fell with a chok
ing sound.
Ills sermon interrupted, the preacher
leaned over the prostrate body, thinking it
was merely the usual case of a man over
come by liquor. A glance, a hand placed
over th heart that had stopped beating
and th preacher rose, his face sternv;'
tnan ever.
"Hend for th police," he said. "The
man Is dead."
And then, as the crowd Hatted back,
the preacher took advantage of t.ie momen
ta! y hush and began his sermon again.
"Ye know not me nuur, ye knu not th
day," he shouted so that his voice reached
loungers farther away, who became imme
diately Interested and hurried to the spot.
Then, with the lifeless body at his feet tne
preacher continued the Interrupted sermon
until the police arrived.
The man wno had dropped dead a th
preachers' warning reached his ears was
Alfred Ahearn, a laborer, who resided at
oft West Madison sireet.
Tea Ear of lorn In One.
A roailng tar that will no: be roasted,
boiled or cooked In any other manner, but
pieterved as a curiosity a long as It lasts,
was grown by Charley K. Besot, mer
chant Center square, Waynesboro, Pa.,
on his West Main street lot.
It conslsig of ten separate eai In one
compact buaoh, a little crowded and mis
shapen, t otherwise perfect.
One " fir for all the ears, and
when Mr. ursoie discovered th curiosity,
after the husk was torn a'.vay. he decided
not to have It consigned to the boiling pot
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that a larire portion of th product of
manufactories and mines, aggregating on
these railroads nearly 8,800.000 tons, were
hauled over the public roads. The estimate
above given la, therefore, more than con
servative. Assuming the cost of hauling
of thla produce to be 18 cents per ton per
mile, and the average dlntai.ee to the .mar
ket to ba ten miles, the cost of transport
ing the produce sbove mentioned over the
publio roads of Nebraska In 1909 amounted
approximately to 810,710,000. By comparing
the cost of transportation In Europe with
that of Nebraska It will be seen that at
least half of this vast sum could be saved
to the state annually If the main highways
were reasonably improved.
It has been found that In a number of coun
ties in the United States about 20 per cent of
the roads carry about 80 per cent of the
traffic, so that It would not be necessary
Samples
Horace Greeley' Cabbage.
UDOE Nathan Oough of Clarks
burg, W. Va., who served four
terms In congress before being
appointed to the federal cir
cuit bench, told In New York a
story of Horace Oreeley. Judge
Gougn s father got well acquainted with
the editor at the organization of th re
publican party in 1856, and when the boy
came up to go to school here in New York
In 1860 he brought a letter of introduc
tion. "Mr. Greeley seemed to tak a fancy
to me," said Judge Oough, "and I really
saw quite a lot ot nlm- When the time
came to go home the Clarksburg fair wa
about tot be Held and my father invited
Mr. Greeley to accompany me and take
a look at the fair, which was a great event
In those day.
"To my surprise he accepted the Invita
tion and spent a week enjoying the product
of th region and meeting both old line
whlgs and rampant demoorats. H wa
especially interested In th truck raised
by an old German, who used to grow big
ger cabbages, turnips, potatoes and beets
than anybody els and alway took prUea.
"Th enormous cabbage displayed by
th German war especially admired by
Mr.' Oreeley. He pointed at one that
seemed equal to filling a bushel basket.
How much does it cost you to raise
such cabbages T he asked the farmer.
"Oh, about 2 cents a head on the aver
age," waa the reply.
"Oreat God!" Mr. Oreeley ejaculated.
"Why on my farm at Chappaqua It cost
me, according to th account I keep, ex
actly 84 a head to rale cabbages..-Nw
York Sun.
Great Presence of Mind.
A negro preacher one visited a Catholic
church and seeing th altar boys march up
th aisle, one of them swinging the inoense
pot. while the others chanted In low voices,
thought that this would be a pretty good
Idea to Introduce In his church. On his re
turn to the south he trained fifteen or
twenty little negro boy to Imitate the
white boy.
.On Sunday morning the congregation
was surprised to see a row of little, fellow
marching up the aisle, chanting away; of
course they noticed nothing wrong, but
th preacher noUced that the little fellow
who wai supposed to carry the Incense pat
did not have It; so he leaned over the pulpit
and chanted In the same tune: "What
have you done with the Incense pot?" and
the little negro chanted back; "I left It
behind; it was too damned hot." Mack'
National Monthly.
A Pertinent Commentary.
F. H. Elliott, th secretary of th Ameri
can Automobile association, said at an
automobile banquet In New York:
"I Ilk to see women run their own cars.
I Ilk to see women do all sorts of things,
provided they have had th proper training
nd are proficient There 1 no sight more
agreeable than that of a healthy American
girl riding her horse, running her motor,
driving her coach, with a skill and grace
no man need be sshamsd of.
"But smoking and that sort of thing oh,
no, that doesn't become the American girl.
"An American girl drew up her touring
car to a country inn. Khe got out with her
friends. She took off her dust ooat and
goggles. She opened a gold cigarette caa
and put a elgarett between her rosy Hp.
"Th old country waiter may have don
it unconacioualy, but, nevertheless, he of
fered a singularly good commentary when
h brought In a big, foul-ainelllng con
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to macAflamTxe or gravet all of the road
of the state. The most Important roads
In the vicinity of the larger towns should
be macadamised or surfaced with gravel,
wherever these materials are available.
Experiments conducted by the office of
publio roads show that sand and clay can
also be used to a good advantage In this
connection, and while Nebraska is not as
well supplied with suitable road building
material as many other states, still her
needs are not so great and her climate
and soil conditions do not require - the
most expensive types of construction nor
the very beet material.
The road machine and th split log drag
may be utilized to good advantage In Im
proving a large majority of the roads of
the state, but these machines should be
used at th'e right time and should be run
by skilled operators. It is the general
from the Story Tellers' Pack
trivance to the pretty automobillst, set It
down at her feet, and said: 'Spittoon,
miss?' "Washington Star.
A Counter Attraction.
It was at a ball game between Chicago
and Pittsburg. The score waa tied, two
men were out runner vu on third, and
Hans Wagner was at bat! The orowd was
too excited to be noisy.
A sporting editor had taken hie neighbor
to the game. The neighbor waa not a fan,
but ho had succumbed to the delights of
"traveling on a pass," and waa having a
real, garrulous, good time.
At the moment when there wasn't a heart
beating on the bleachers, and the grand
standers were nauseated with suspense, the
sporting editor's neighbor emitted this:
"Look, Jake! Look at that coke train!
Did you ever see one engine pulling so
many cars? I'm gonna count 'em!" Llppln
cott'g Magazine.
" A Handy Tool.
Suddenly the steering wheel went wrong.
There was a quick swerve. The car lurched
against th high bank at the side of the
road. There wa a momentary crunching
and shivering, and then, with a loud snap,
something broke.
When th engine had ceased to sputter
and the man had permitted his hands to
fall useless from the wheel, the lady in the
tonneau calmly unwound her veil, removed
a hairpin from beneath her hat, and, lean
ing forward, said:
"Here. John. Perhupe we can fix It
with this." Judge.
The Enemies.
Apropos of th enmity, now happily
buried, that used to exist between Minne
apolis and 6t Paul, Senator Clapp said at
a dinner In th former oliy:
"I remember an address on careless build
ing that I onoe heard in Minneapolis.
" 'Why,' said the speaker, In the course
of his address, 'one Inhabitant of 6t. Paul
Is killed by accident In tbe streets every
forty-eight hours.'
"A bitter voice from th rear of the hall
interrupted:
" 'Well, it ain't enough.' it eald."-Chi-cago
Post
Boy Oests Dr. Hnekley.
Dr. J. M. Buckley, the well-known editor
and divine, addressing a New York City
Sunday school, related an incident that
greatly Interested the children. He told of
meeting ragged, hungry-looking little
girl In the street on a wintry day, and when
h questioned her she related a pitiful story
ot a sick mother and younger brothers and
slaters without food After giving lr a
sliver dollar the good doctor followed at a
safe distance to see what she would do
with th money,
"Now, children, what do you suppose was
the first thing sh bought with that dol
lar?" said Dr. Buckley. "Hands up."
Up went th hands, and one child after
another ventured a guesa. but none proved
correct. Finally a little boy whose up
raised hsnd alone remained was asked for
his answer to th question.
"A bssket" he sang out.
"Col lect," said th doctor; "there's a boy
who thinks. Now, son, come up here on
the platform and tell us why It was a
basket."
After consldsrable coaxing the hoy
reached the platform, but seemed unwitting
to talk.
"Oo on," urged th doctor, "I want these
boys and girls to learn to think, too."
Th boy still hesitated and Dr. Buckley
practli-e at the present time to work the
roada with a road machine. In the summer
time when the sro;inl ha beoome thor
oughly dry. l.o.-ee dirt and clixia. weed
and graaa are piled up In the middle of the
road. If the road ia heavily traveled this
material soon turns to dunt and as aoon
aa the winter ralna come on It Is reduced
to mud. The proper time to work the earth
roada of Nebraaka. or any atate, for that
matter, la In the apring of the year when
the ground Is soft and damp. From two to
four horses can then do as much work
hitched to a road machine as twice this
number of horses later on In the season.
Furthermore, by working the soli when
the ground la damp, It will pn.ck and bake
Into a hard crust, which will be compara
tively duatleos all summer, and with a
moderate amount of traffic, will not become
Impassable In winter. If the use of the
road machine la supplemented by that of
the split log drag, there Is no reason why
Nebraaka should not have as good earth
roads as any state In the union. In many
Instances roads may be kept In good con
dition by the use of the drag alone. The
drag should be used when the ground is
oft and damp, so that when the road diiea
out finally. It will be rirm. The dragging
ahould be done as often a Is needed, say
from six to twelve times annually. The
coat should not be more than 60 cents per
mile for each dragging, and at a total
of from 83 to 80 per mile per annum the
average road can be kept In reasonably
good condition.
As above stated, the best system of roads)
In the world today Is that of France. These
roads are divided Into sections or beats,
and one man is placed In charge of each
section. He Is not employed because of his
political pull or because he Is a good fel
low, but he Is employed because he know
how to do the work, and he Is kept con
stantly at It year in and year out. Thl
is what Is called the French patrol system,
and It Is founded on the principle that "a
stitch In time saves nine."
A modification of this system has re
cently bt.eu adopted in the state of New
York, and those states and counties that
are following the 'same principle are the
ones in which the best work Is being ac
complished. Competent supervision is ab
solutely essential If good roada are to be
constructed and maintained, and one of
the first steps toward competent super
vision Is the establishment of a state high
way department.
Over half of the states now have state
highway departments and almost as many
states are appropriating money out of the
state treasury to aid the countiea In road
Improvement. The various states pay from
25 to 76 per cent of the cost of building
state-aid roads, an,d In several states the
whole cost of trunk line systems is being
paid out of the state treasury.
The first ateps to be taken, therefore.
In the state of Nebraska, if Improved road
are to be built. Is the establishment of a
state highway department, employing a
competent highway engineer and all neces
sary assistants. This should be supple
mented by a plan which will provide for
the employment of a trained highway en
gineer in each of the Important countiea
in the state, under whose direction all
road work should be done.
The United States office of publio roada
has built quite a number of object lesson,
experimental roads In various parts of the
state, out of stone, gravel and sand-olay
mixtures. Details regarding the building
of theae roads may be obtained upon ap
plication to the director of that office.
E. C. SNTDBO.
took from hi pocket a llvr quarter. "I'll
giv you thl," he said, "If you'll tell u
what make you think the little girl bought
a basket first."
"Be-be-because," stammered the young
ster, at last moved by the sight of th
money, "I was over in Hoboken last Sun
day and heard you tell th story there."
Harper' Magasln.
Submerging; th Ego.
The "good old Kentucky variety with th
bloom on it" will doubtless long hold th
palm for th happiness and finish of It exe
cution. Not to speak of what the fine old
golden Bourbon can do In thes doughty
days of prohibition, there ia still it past
record, observes Life.
Back In his horn city In the blue gTass
empire, they love to tell some good stories
of their much honored .John G. Carlisle
and those pleasant nights at the banquet
board illumined with his scintillant wis!
Occasionally, too, the aftermath of the ban
quet board oomea In for a shir of remin
iscence. Two men of th bright coterie gathered
about Senator Carlisle In those rare time
will not soon be forgotten in their section
one the aristocratic and big brained Hamil
ton, the other the witty and Irresistible
Irish counselor and orator, Hallam.
With Carlisle, they made a trio of cronies
seldom matched. All lived on Garrard ave
nue, and to thla day the older residents
along that street recall with tender, remin
iscent grin how gallantly the three would
oft escort one another horn In th hour
"ayant the twal."
But one night (or morning?) there wa a
strange perplexity. The bell ot Carlisle'
residence kept ringing distractedly. Neigh
bors peeped out, seeing only the three fa
miliars on the top step: Wouldn't the latch
key work?
Finally an upper window opened and th
madame, never overpatlent with this stata
of things, ar.ked lu exasperated tones:
"What Is the matter Jowa there?"
"Mrs. Carlisle," answered Hallam, with a
tongue rather less glib than waa Its wont,
"we have brought home the senator."
"Oh well," she returned impatiently,
"Just atand him up in the doorway and go
on. I'll como and get him."
"We would gladly do it, madam," re
Joined the irishman, debonairly, "only you
will have to come down and pick him out!"
Itoom for liuurovement.
William F. Oldham, bishop of Singa
pore, talked at it dinner on hi last visit to
New York about missionary work.
"A certain type of man," he said,
"goes about declaring that we dominant
race civilize the savage out of exlsteno
that we do them harm instead of good.
"Well, as a matter of fact, if these
cavaliers knew what I know about some
tribes they would spfuk less confidently.
8omet tribes are so debased that to do
them anything but good would hardly be
possible. They are. In fact Just like the
ugly woman who visited the beauty doctor.
"This woman was ugly In every fea
ture, but her nose was particularly ugly.
That, no doubt was why she desired th
beauty doctor to begin on it.
" 'I am willing.' she said, 'to pay you
liberally, doctor, but I demand in re
turn aubstantlal results. We will start
with my nose. Can you guarantee to make
It Ideally beautiful?'
"The doctor, after looking attentively at
the woman' nose, replied:
" 'Well, madam, I can't say as to Ideal
beauty, but a noa Ilk your I couldn't
help improving If I hit it with a mallet' "
New York Sun.