HELPING THE TOWN
HINTS AS TO MAKING THE HOME
MARKET BETTER.
HANDLING OF FARM PRODUCE
How Merchants and Farmers Can Co
operate to Their Mutual Advan
tage in a Business Way.
Many agricultural towns could be
vastly improved by affording farmers
better markets for the produce that
they have to dispose of. In the ra
dius of every country village there
is sufficient buttc:- and eggs and other
products to be marketed, the hand
ling of which would make a profitable
business.
The custom that has prevailed for
many years of storekeepers indiscrim
inately handling produce does not ap
pear to be to the best interests of
towns or it may be said, to the mer
chants or the farmers. In the first
place the average storekeeper has
no facilities for the proper handling
of perishable products. He may not
receive sufficient to enable him to dis
pose of the product to the greatest
advantage. Therefore instead of mak
ing any profit upon what he handles,
many times he is the loser and looks
for his compensation in the trade that,
may be given him by the farmers who
bring in the produce.
It is important to a town whether
it is reputed to be a good produce
market or otherwise. Where the
farmer can receive a cent or two
more for his butter and eggs he is
likely to turn his attention. In some
towns there are regular buyers of
produce, but often these methods are
such as to be unsatisfactory and re
sult in loss of trade to the place.
Merchants generally exchange goods
for whatever produce may be brought
to them. In many places they will
not pay cash, arid it has been known
■where cash has been paid that It im
mediately found its way to some other
town where goods was purchased.
Each town that has any consider
able patronage from the farming com
munity surrounding it, should have
a small cold storage plant. One plan
that has been found practicable in
many towns is the organization of a
produce company in which merchants
of the town as well as the farmers
are stockholders. These concerns pro
vide every facility for the proper
packing and storage of eggs and but
ter and other perishable produce, and
sometimes include a butter renovat
ing plant. Where such companies are
operated the merchants refuse to
handle produce, referring all who have
such to sell to the produce company.
The company pays the highest mar
ket price for what it buys. Instead
of paying cash, due bills are issued
which are accepted the tame as cash
at all the stores in town. Each week
•the merchants who receive these due
bills in exchange for goods have them
•cashed at the office of the produce
company.
By paying from a cent to two cents
a dozen more for eggs or per pound
for butter these produce companies
have been wonderful factors in bring
ing trade to the place. Not alone do
they benefit the town by bringing ad
ilitional patronage to the merchants,
but the business can be highly profit
able if managed rightly. It requires
but little capital to operate such an
establishment. It is well when organ
ization is taken up to limit the
amount of stock that each shareholder
•receives to one or two shares of a
par value of SSO or SIOO. An efTort
should be made to have as many mer
chants as possible shareholders. Also
to secure as many shareholders among
the farmers as can be had. It should
be understood that instead of paying
cash, farmers pay for their shares
of stock in produce at prevailing mar
ket prices. With all the merchants
in the town interested in the suc
cess of the company, and the farmers
throughout the country also share
holders and participants in profits that
may be made, it will be soon found
that the produce company will be
handling all the produce business that
originates in the community.
In many localities where this plan
has been putin operation the farmers
have discovered that they could re
ceive better prices for their butter
and cream and eggs than under the
old system. Being associated in a
way with the business interests of the
place they become more interested in
all affairs of the town and are more
inclined to work in harmony with the
merchants towards anything that has
the improvement of the home town
in view. One of the desirable things
. about this plan is its tendency to
lessen the practice of residents of
rural communities trading with mail
order houses and department stores
in the large cities. Another admir
able feature is the adding of an
additional labor-saving industry to
the town and the keeping of the earn
ings of the people in circulation in
the community.
Reliable Sign of Death.
A Frenchman has received a prize
for discovering a reliable sign of
death. The test consist:; of the sub
cutaneous injection of a solution of
flouresceine, which, if the blood is
still circulating, in the couiv.e of a
few hours causes the skin to turn ye!
low.
Wise Parson.
"Parson, somebody dared us to get
married, and we never take a dare.
Here we are."
"Well, my young friends. I dare
you togo home and endeavor to culti
vate some common 3onse."
WHERE THE MERCHANT FAIi.B.
An lowa Farmer Tells Him He Should
■Advertise, and How.
An lowa farmer contributes to the
Des Moines Capitol the following very
pertinent suggestion as to why the
mail order houses succeed in getting
the business of the rural communities
away from local merchants:
"If the mail order houses got SI,OOO
out of this county each month that be
longs to the home merchants the fault
is with the merchants themselves. The
mail order houses advertise and give
us prices on everything they offer for
sale. They tell us what they have
and what they want for it. Of course
we get soaked once in awhile and if
we do we can try some other house.
Most of the home merchants who ad
vertise at all don't quote prices. They
neglect to tell us what we want to
know —the price. Of course we can go
to the store and ask the price of this
article, and that, but you know how
it is—one doesn't know so well exact
ly what he wants to buy when he gets
in a store as when he is at home. And
there is where the mail order houses
make their hit. They send us their
advertising matter into homes and we
read it when we haven't anything else
to do and every member of the family
who reads their stuff usually finds
something that he .or some other mem
ber of the family wants and many or
ders are made up and sent out just at
such times.
"Right here is where the home mer
chant falls down. If he talked up his
business to us in our homes the same
as the mail order houses do the people
would be into see him the next time
they came to town and in many cases
extra trips would be made to get the
things at once that we didn't know
we wanted until they were brought
to our attention.
"The home merchant can save the
expense of getting up a catalogue. We
people read the home papers more
carefully than we do the catalogue,
and if the merchant wants to talk
business with us let him put his talk
in the home papers, and put it in so
that we know he means business. The
home merchant likely, nine times out
of ten, sells his goods as cheap as the
mail order houses, arid I believe on
many things they are much cheaper,
but how are we to know if he doesn't
tell us about it.
"A merhant must not thl.ik that
even his best customers know his
goods so well that they can tell what
he has without being shown.
"It is none of my business how the
home merchant runs his business, but
1 don't like to see these roasts in the
papers all the time about us fellows
who get a little stuff shipped in once
in awhile and never anything said on
the other side. There are always two
sides of a question, and I have given
you mine. If it is worth anything to
you you can take it."
BANKERS GETTING WISE.
They See Danger in the Mail-Order
System of Business.
It is only lately that bankers of the
west have come to a realization that
the mail-order .system of business has
been a serious injury to them, killing
off the business of their towns, taking
out of circulation money that should
help swell the local bank deposits and
otherwise interfering with town pro
gress.
The trouble has been with many
bankers that they failed to consider
the buying-goods-away-from-honie evil
as anything of particular concern to
them When Farmer Smith would
buy a draft for SSO or SIOO to send
to Chicago, the banker got iiis ten
cents exchange and thought 'le was
that much ahead, while the facts re
mained that if he could keep the
money from being sent from home
that SSO of the farmer for the banker
might make a dollar or two of profit.
It was only when the catalogue
houses started into solicit deposits of
the people of country towns and farm
ing communities that the bankers
took a tumble.
Then again some bankers have such
an exalted idea of their position In
the town that the goods to be had
from the local merchants are not good
enough for themselves and families,
and set a bad example before the peo
ple by sending away themselves for
what they desire in the way of staples
and luxuries. Bankers are conserve
tive; and are not forward in making
suggestions to their patrons as to
what they should do with their money,
but in this matter it appears sufficient
ly important to justify the exercise of
what influence the banker can com
mand in behalf of home patronage. It
is the business of the town and sur
rounding country that affords a profit
to the bank. The greater this volume
of business can be made the better
for the banker and every interest of
the town, and the farmers and other
laborers as well.
D M. CARR
What, Indeed?
A duchess requiring a lady's maid
had an interview with one, to whom
after having examined her appearance,
she said: "Of course, you will be able
to dress my hair for me?" "Oh, yes."
replied the girl; "it never takes me
more than half an hour to dress a
lady's hair." "Half an hour, my
child!" exclaimed the duchess, in ac
cents of terror, "and what on earth,
then, should I be able to do with my
self all the remainder of the morn
ins?"
The Reason.
"In this settlement," said the Bill
ville farmer, "we call all the literary
fellers we kin ketch 'leadin'' authors,
because as a rule they're powerful
handy at leadin' mules to water."—At
lanta Constitution.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1907.
the Car,
£UEC|RKAy
HOW TO MAKE AN AMMETER.
instrument Which the Amateur Elec
trician Will Want.
Every amateur mechanic who per
forms electrical experiments will find
use for an ammeter and for the bene
fit of those who wish to construct such
an instrument the following descrip
tion is given: The operative princi
ple of this instrument is the same as
that of a galvanometer, except that its
working position is not confined to
the magnetic meridian. This is ac
complished by making the needle re
volve in a vertical instead of a hori
zontal plane. The only adjustment
necessary is that of leveling, which
Is accomplished by turning the
Complete Ammster and Details.
thumb screw shown at A, Fig. 1, until
the hand points to 0 on the scale.
First make a support. Fig. 2, by
bending a piece of sheet brass to the
shape indicated and tapping for the
screws, C. C. These should have
hollow ends, as shown, for the purpose
of receiving the pivoted axle which
supports the hand. The core. Fig. 3,
is made of iron. It is one inch long,
one-quarter inch wide and one-eighth
Inch thick. At a point a little above
the center, drill a hole as shown at
II and through this hole drive a piece
of knitting needle about one-half inch
long, or long enough to reach between
the two screws shown in Fig. 2. The
ends of this small axle should be
ground pointed and should turn easily
In the cavities, as the sensitiveness
of the instrument depends on the
ease with which tills axle turns.
After assembling the core as shown
in Fig. 4, it should be filed a little at
one end until it assumes the position
Indicated. The pointer or hand, Fig.
5, is made of wire, aluminum being
preferable for this purpose, although
copper or steel will do. Make the
wire four and one-half Inches long
and make a loop, D, one-half inch
ARE OUT OF THE WAY.
System of Subways for City Pipes and
Wires.
European cities are making great
headway in the construction of sub
ways beneath the streets to contain
not only electric wires for light, pow
er and conjmunicatlon, but also for
the gas and water pipes. In London
a subway for these utilities is now
built whenever a new street is au
thorized. Some of the London sub
ways are as large as seven feet high
by 12 feet wide; there are already
seven miles of these pipe subways.
In Manchester the subway has now
reached a length of 7,386 feat, and is
used exclusively for electric wires,
which are contained in pipes carried
on iron buckets fastened to the walls.
The cost was $39 per linear foot.
Other cities where the system has
been ouilt are Leeds, Nottingham and
St. Helens. The construction is paid
for by the city, which charges an an
nual rental from the service com
panies, which more than pays the in
terest on the cost. These annual
charges are based ou the diameter of
the pipe, ranging from 60 cents for
three-inch diameter or less up to
$12.50 for 36-inch per foot for water or
gas. For other companies the rate
is much higher, being $6.50 for three
inch pipes and S2O for 18-inch per
300 feet. The freedom from leaks in
water and gas mains, and the ease
and economy with which repairs can
-■
iIMPg/i) V Y ; >X%
Manchester Subway.
ba made make the proposition an in
teresting one to the tenant com
panies.
Our American cities should take up
the pipe subway question, declares
Popular Mechanics, and not only pro
vide a revenue producing power for
all time to come, but save the ever
.asUng tearing up of the streets.
from the lower end. Solder to the
short end a piece of brass, E, of su"b
weight that, it will exactly balance the
weight of the hand. This is slipped
on the pivot and the whole thing is
again placed in position in the sup
port. If the pointer is correctly bal
anced it should take the position
shown in Fig. 1, but if it is not ex
actly right a little filing will bring
it near enough so that it may be cor
rected by the adjusting screw.
Next make a brass frame as shown
in Fig. 6. This might be made of
wood, although brass is better, as the
eddy currents set up in a conductor
surrounding a magnet tend to stop
oscillation of the magnet. (The core
is magnetized when a current flows
through the instrument.) The brass
frame is wound with magnet winr>. the
size depending 011 the number of am
peres to be measured. Mine is wound
with two layers of No. 11 wire, ten
turns to each layer, and is about right
for ordinary experiment purposes.
The ends of the wire are fastened to
the binding-posts, B C, Fig. 1.
A wooden box, D, is then made and
provided with a glass front. A piece
of paper is pasted on a piece of
wood, which is then fastened in the
box in such a position that the hand
or pointer will lie close to the paper
scale. The box is five and one-half
inches high, four inches wide and one
and three-quarter inches deep; inside
measurements. After everything is
assembled put a drop of solder on the
loop at D, Fig. 5, to prevent it turn
ing on the axle.
To calibrate the instrument connect
as shown iii Fig. 7, where A is the
home-made ammeter; B, a standard
ammeter; C, a variable resistance and
D a battery, consisting of three or
more cells connected in multiple.
Throw in enough resistance to make
the standard instrument read one ohm
and then put a mark on the paper
scale of the instrument to be cali
brated. Continue in this way with
two amperes, three amperes, four
amperes, etc., until the scale is full.
To make a voltmeter out of this in
strument, further explains Poplar
Mechanics, wind with plenty of No.
36 magnet wire instead of No. 14, or
If it is desired to make an instru
ment for measuring both volts anij
amperes, use both bindings and cort
nect to two pairs of binding-posts.
SINGING ELECTRIC ARC.
Is Made Vocal by Connection with the
Microphone.
It has been known for some time
that the electric arc could be made
vocal if attached to a microphone.
The discovery was made by M. Simon
and was developed by Auhmer. Fur-
Ten Thousand Electric Sparks Per
Second.
The experiment here illustrated was
mmle by an Italian scientist, Sif?nor Ma
jorana. In explanation of M. Poulsen's
invention. Kaeli of the sparks was quite
independent.
ther improvements were made by M.
Poulsen, who lately explained his in
strument at the Queen's hall, London.
At the children's lectures at the Royal
institution the lecturer, Mr. Duddell,
who had independently discovered
and made practicable this property of
the electric arc, showed his small
audience how it might be used as a
telephone. His assistant, Mr. Turbini,
went into another room taking with
him a microphone—an ordinary trans
mitter —attached to the arc lamp by
a flexible wire. He then whistled into
the microphone an operatic selection,
and the tones emerged from the arc
lamp and wore distributed over the
theater.
Vacuum and Insulation.
The remarkable heat-insulating ef
fect of a vacuum is strikingly brought
out in the claims made for a new
sportsmen's botlle< The vessel ha 3
double walls, being really one bottle
within another, with a sealed-up inter
vening space from which the air has
been withdrawn. It is assorted that
liquids in this bottle can be kept hot
48 hours in tho coldest weather, and
that, iced beverages will their
delicious coolness for weeks -4 *Jit«
hottest summer.
I Balcom & Lloyd. |
jl " ij
If WE have the best stocked
H general store in the county B
p and if you are looking for re- I
d liable goods at reasonable
112 prices, we are ready to serve »
?J you with the best to be found. 9
p Our reputation for trust- S
jg worthy goods and fair dealing S
>? is too well known to sell any w
H but high grade goods. jl
g Our stock of Queensware and
Ohinaware is selected with 9
tgj great oare and we have some k
B of the most handsome dishes 9
i ever shown in this seotion,
p both in imported and domestic |
* makes. We invite you to visit
0 us and look our goods over, I
1 Balcom & Lloyd. |
EKjm Hs? u s!e 3DHDCBBK3 O
Ij LOOK ELSEWHERE BUT DON'T FORGET
THESE PRICES AND FACTS AT |J
I LaBAR'S I j
t! ™ i w
H We carry in stock . ||
|g pets, Linoleums and fi/_ 'l/ggjiQ ffffin b|
K Mattings of all kinds j. /112
~ , A very large line of ; FOR THE EgrSl M
£1 Lace Curtains that can- ' -Mw pf
M rer?fo" he h p e rlce! ay COMfORTABtE LODGING M
Art Squares and of fine books in a choice library
Rugs of all sizes and select the Ideal pattern of Globe- M
W kind, from the cheap- Wernicke "Elastic" Bookcase.
M est to the best. Furnished with bevel French £|J
|| plate or leaded glass doors. M
II Dining Chairs, I ro " " l « ■» I kg
|| Rockers and GEO. J. LaBAR, Jfcl
gutf High ChairS. Bole Agent for Cameron County. |J
E2 A large and elegant I————————
line of Tufted and
Eg Drop-head Couches. Beauties and at bargain prices. E2
fcjj |3O Bedroom Suits, CIC f4O Sideboard, quar- ffOft JfJ
*™ solid oak at jZO tered cak 5i)U * *
hi ii
|2B Bedroom Suits, CO I $32 Sideboard, qnar- £OE £2
H solid oak at 4)/! tered oak * €
** |25 Bed room Suits, COH |22 Sideboard, quar- <tlC
N solid oak at 4>/U I Cered oak,
N A large line of Dressers from | Ch ffoniers of all kinds and M
Ejjj $8 up. all prices.
* : »«
j The finest line of Sewing Machines on the market, § j
fcj the "DOMESTIC" and "ELDRILGE.' All drop- |g
heads and warranted. ?3
A fine line of Dishes, common grade and China, in
sets and by the piece. 112 *
As I keep a full line of everything that goes to |M|
M make up a good Furniture store, it is useless to enum- £$
N erate them all. ££
M Please call and see for yourself that lam telling fc*
My* you the truth, and if you don't buy, there is no barm kg
done, as it is no trouble to show goods.
>! GEO. J .LaBAR.
FWVIFIFWiFW'FTT* ********^****4
kon am m*l Jl A «n. .. Mm
3