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THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH
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S0L1DR0ADSWANTED
A Summary of the Sentiment
Among the Farmers in
Western Pennsylvania.
THE DISPATCH EXPEDITION
Had Three Important Results, One of
"Which is GiTen Below.
FINANCIAL WATS AND MEANS
Is & Question the Grangers Wish to to
Inliffhtened Upon Early.
WILL OBJECT TO PATIKG ALL THE TAX
The expedition recently sent out by The
Dispatch oyer the country roads had
three important results. In the first place,
the wretched condition of public highways
in the interior counties was fully exposed.
My letters from day to day informed the
public of the hardships and perils experi
enced in traversing the country roads in an
ordinary farm wagon. This was manifestly
the best way to demonstrate what trials the
farmer meets with. Second, a concensus of
opinion among the farmers of , "Western
Pennsylvania on the proposed improvement
of highways in this State was secured.
Third, notes of six weeks' uninterrupted
riding upon these roads contain many hints
and suggestions of value to road builders.
An experimental study of country roads
more than anything else is calculated to
show exactly what is needed.
A BUaiMABT OP OPINIONS.
The sentiment among Western Pennsyl
vania farmers may be summed up as fol
lows: First The majority are in favor of some per
manent Improvement in rural roads.
Second All agree that the only way to make
roads solid and permanent is to macadamize
them.
Third The farmers are conservative about
beginning any general improvement of this
character until the qnestion of cost, and finan
cial ways and means, is first settled.
Fourth The general feelinc is that it would
be unjust to make each county bear tho ex
penses of macadamizing principal highways,
because, aside from the fact that such roads
are an internal connection between several
counties, the cost of transporting limestone
throughout districts where it is not found
would be enormous, and in some instances it is
claimed would bankrupt counties.
Fifth The State should inaugurate the im
provement, and have general charge of it;
providing an army of office holders will not be
created, to whom from SO to SO per cent of the
appropriations for the improvement of roads
would be paid In salaries.
THE WEAK 01T "WAGONS.
It would be strange, indeed, if the farmers
did not want some improvement in the
roads. Talk to any of them, and they will
admit that the wear and tear on their wagons
and horses this winter and spring has been
frightful. .As If to bear out this statement,
mere than one blacksmith and wagon re
pairer told me in the course of my journey
that never before did they experience such a
busy season as this. I remember that in
coming down this side of Laurel Hill we
lost a bolt from our brake rod. Stopping at
the first village, McLaughlinstown,wefound
nothing but a grocery store. "But we keep
wagon bolts," the proprietor said. "It is
such a common thing for wagons to be shaken
almost to pieces coming down the washed-
out road of that mountain that we always
have a good sale for bolts." So it is with
wagon makers all over "Western Pennsyl
vania to-day. Something of the same kind
of prosperity exists among them all. They
would just as soon the roads would not be
axed up.
DOUBLE TEAMING EVEEriTHEEE.
"We became so accustomed to seeing four
horses attached to one wagon that our little
team of two horses looked lonesome to us.
For a farmer in many parts of this State to
go to mill with only two horses this spring
was utterly impracticable. He had to stop
plowing lor a dav and hitch on the other
team also. If he had only two horses, he
had either to hire two more from his neigh
bor or stay at home. Hard work depreciates
horse stock. It costs more to feed them,
and in spite of that they wear out sooner on
bad roads.
Besides this, all the- commercial interests
on which the farmer relies suffer. If he is
drawing a royalty on oil produced or about
to be bored for on his premises, operations
in winter are rendered too slow to pay.
This year the roads were so bad that in
some ot the fields work had to be suspended
altogether. Throughout the State rig
bnilding and drilling have been retarded in
all oii territories. Lumber has to be
hauled, engines have to be changed from
place to place, etc I recall one instance of
where to transport an engine, worth proba
bly $100, it cost $75 to pay for the hire of a
six-horse team, and then" the whole thing
stuck in the mud and had to be abandoned.
A TOECIBLE CONVICTION.
The cutting, dressing and shipping of
lumber, too, contribute to the income of
the farmer. Less thau one-half the amount
of lumber went to the railroads this year
than is usual, and that little bit cost twice
as much to haul than it would have cost in
some States for the same distance on account
of better roads. This all tends to restrict
interior trafHc to six or seven months in a
year, whereas if it could be distributed
equally throughout the year it would be
more convenient and profitable.
Year after year the farmer pays or works
out his road taxes, and year alter year he
sees the roads bad again. Finally the con
viction has lorced itself upon him that he i
throwing away his money, to say nothing
of the loss of time and money he has ex
perienced in getting to market with his
products or in bringing his fertilizer and
materials home from town. I did find a
few old fogies who said, "Oh, we always ex
pect the roads to be bad in winter, but
every spring the sun dries them up again,
end we have good roads all summer, and
that without any increase in taxes."
STOKE EOASS PSEFEBBES.
But from the southern border to the shore
of Lake Erie, and from the Ohio line to the
topot the Allegheny mountain, I found the
vast majority of the farmers heartily in
favor of some permanent improvement in
country roads.
They all say that the only way to get good
roads is to macadamize them. 'Stone is the
only thing that oners solidity and perman
ency. A lair proportion of those inter
viewed favor gravel, but the majority want
to get as far away from dirt roads as possible.-
Sot pronounced is this feeling, that,
after riding over the stoniest, roughest and
znost uneven road that we struck, on the
eastern side of Chestnut Bidge in Indiana
conutr, larmer, asking me how I liked it,
iaid,tbat the men thereabouts preierred that
rough road to the dirt roads. He said that
when a wagon, heavily loaded with grain,
starts out for the mill or depot after a heavy
rainfall,' the mud road plowed full of deep
J&f v
ruts and sink holes is infinitely worse on the
stock than that rocky path. It maybe
rough riding, he said, but it is infinitely
easier on the horses.
HOW HOBSES TVEAB OUT.
"The road referred to here is not macadam
ized, but is simply one of those thorough
fares in the mountains where the bedrock or
bonlders have formed a natural pavement.
After all, that is the experience of The
Dispatch exploring party. "When the
brake would be applied to the wagon to
give the exhausted horses a rest, it was
piteous to see the desperate efforts of the
horses to get a footing and how they failed.
If on level ground they were left standing a
foot deep in the mud, and their limbs would
quiver under the sensation of constant
sinking. If going up an ascent, and if
rested, the feet of the horses would con
stantly slip back, and without the brake
they could never have held the wagon. That
sinking and slipping worries and wears the
brutes more in two hours than a whole day's
work on city pavements would do. How
easy it was lor them, though, on a stoned
road. Their footing was sure, they could
pull much better and they remained fresher
longer.
the diffebence in figubes
In"Gllmore's Practical Treatise on Koads,
Streets and Improvements" the following ta
ble, resulting from trials made with a dy
namometer attached to a wagon moving at a
alow pace upon a level, is given to show the
force of traction in pounds upon several dif
ferent kinds of road surface infair condition,
the weight of wagon and load being one ton
or 2,240 pounds:
Pounds.
On Telford road 46
On road covered with six Inches of broken
stones laid on concrete foundation 55
On road made with thick coating of gravel
laid on earth, from 110 to 147
On common earth road 200
This shows that it requires three times as
much force to pull a load over a common
country road as one macadamized, and more
than four times as much power as on a Tel
lord, or one of broken stone on a concrete
foundation.
Farmers of Irish birth have told me of
the grand roads of Ireland. I heard many
of the Dutch farmers of Butler county boast
of the roads of Germany, and many of the
traveled, intelligent grangers of wealth
talk of their knowledge of French, English
and Scotch highways. All of them admit
that the roads here can not be improved
very substantially unless macadamized.
Yet so
UKIFOBM IS THIS IDEA
that plenty of plain, everyday Pennsylva
nia farmers, who know nothing about the
highways of foreign couutries, would de
scribe to vou how, by their actual experi
ence in 2d, 40 or 60 years of farming, they
had finally come to the conclusion that dirt
roads are a complete failure; bow they had
tried this and that plan, and how they
found that, where the roads were not built
at once in approved macadam style, the
only way to make them permanent was to
throw in stone year alter year until bottom
was found. A few I did find who contended
that with properly made drains, well-
graded roadbeds, and some legislative at
tention to the width of wheel tires, it is still
possible to have good dirt roadways, but in
the end thev all had to confess that where
the discovery of oil, the building of a great
lactory, or some other cause, would sud
denly lead to heavy hauling in thatlocality,
the roads could not last because there is no
bottom to them.
ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE.
In the first week or two of The Dis
patch expedition I used to think that the
road we traveled on one day was better than-
that we had the day Delore, orthat the road
on the third day was worse than any we had
yet struck, but driving a montn and a half
over about 1,000 miles ot these roads, I have
come to the conclusion that there is abso
lutely no choice between the dirt roads of
Pennsylvania, with the exception, perhaps,
of Erie, Crawford and Mercer counties,
where a greater proportion of sand in the
soil prevents so much accumulation of water
on the suriace, and thus avoids deep mire.
But in "Western Pennsylvania, as a whole,
where we had dirt roads", we had bad roads,
and where we had stoned roads they were
good roads. Some days the sun may have
dried up the mud, and it may have been
rather pleasant riding, but 12 hours of rain
would make them bad again; and in every
instance where we encountered a locality
where there was heavy hauling, such as in
the oil, gas or lumber regions, the roads
were practically ruined. With a dirt roadj
weather must always be taken into consider
ation. When it was necessary for our ex
ploring party to make appointments ahead
by mail or telegraph it was
FOUND TO BE IMPOSSIBLE
to'do it, for perfect as the roads may iave
been at that time, we could not count with
any certainty upon what they would be to
morrow. It depended entirely on how
much rain fell that night, or the next lew
days, as the case may have been. It was
all'different when we were riding upon a
atoned road. There it was solid, either rain
or shine, and we could estimate our rate of
speed to a nicety.
"But how much is it going to cost to ma
cadamize the principal roads of Pennsyl
vania, and where is the money to come
from?" is the question asked by two-thirds
of the farmers, before they will say they are
ready to begin a general improvement.
Agricultural interests declare that they are
already suffering from heavy taxation.
Many of them believe that they are bearing
heavier burdens than the corporations. One
would think that at first blush it seems like
relief to the farmers to say that the State
will take the roads under its charge, and
care for them. The proposition to appror
priate something like
TWO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
annually out of the State Treasury to re
building these roads would really be State
aid, but more than one careful, calculating
tiller of the soil has raised this perfectly
logical point: If two millions are to be
given out of the State Treasury every year
lor this purpose, two millions will have to
be put into it every year too, and how is
that two million to be raiiea? There is a
great fear everywhere that the State move
ment contemplates general taxation on the
farmer alone for this purpose, but some
others believe and hope that the State
treasury, also containing money put there
by taxes on city corporations and other
moneyed interests, would directly devote
part of that to road improvements; thus
improving the condition of the farmer, he
at present having to pay the entire cost of
the country roads himself.
The trouble lies right here. The rebuild
ing and macadamizing of the principal
roads of the State would undoubtedly be a
very heavy expense for the first few years,
or as long as the rebuilding would con
tinue. The work will, however, be finished
some time, so that that is
ONLT THE FIBST COST.
Yet, it entirely takes away the enthusiasm
of the man, who, confessing that he would
save money if he had better roads, and ad
mitting that the only way to make good
roads is to macadamize them, hesitates at a
temporarily increased taxation. He entirelv
loses sight of the lact that after the roads
are once built taxes will be reduced to the
mitimum. Then, taxes for the road's main
tenance would really be trival far less
than they are at present This is a state
ment that cannot be gainsaid. "We found
it true on the part of the old National road
between Washington and Uniontown. The
cost of keeping that thoroughfare in repair
is less tuau but .u uinroaasoi equal length
in either of those counties. "Why? Simply
because it was properly built in the begin
ning and well macadamized. "We also found
it a fact on the old Pittsburg and Philadel
phia turnpike, as I showed at some length
in a previous article.
TAXES AEE W,ASTED NOW.
In the columns of The Dispatch re
cently, Fred C. Howe proposed a financial
scheme for country roads, as follows:
The county should proceed to cell bonds to J
rtM-iiAmr ii .V rfeif faJMWteflf Ifflii TjgJiMMfiAJljMMt
the amount required to construct the roads.
Such bonds can usually be disposed of at par.
and if they be longtime bonds doubtless no
more than 4 to 6 per cent Interest need be paid.
The debt thus Incurred must bo liquidated by
means of taxation. In case 6 per cent Is the
rate of Interest paid on the bonus, by creating
a sinking fund of 3 per cent at compound in
terest, the entire principal may be paid off in
about 85 years, and the countr.wlll have en
joyed the benefit ot the roads in the meantime.
The county will thns pay but 7 per cent oj the
capital invested, which would Incur but slight
increase in taxation.
By our present wasteful system we are pav
ing a heavy road tax without receiving in re
turn any improvements In our highways.
Doubtless in 35 years more than enough will be
paid in taxes to construct good macadamized
roads, and at the end of that time the roans
will be in no better condition than at the
present time.
"Whether such a plan would be practica
ble or not, there is not a farmer whom I
talked to in the entire'western half of the
State but who did not admit that his money
in the past years bad been wasted on re
pairing the roads. One gentleman in par
ticular who had read Mr. Howe's communi
cation pointed to the clause about enough
money being spent in 35 years to more than
pay off bonds. He added that had tne
money he alone paid in the last 35 years
been expended in a scientific manner on the
roads of his township, he could have pointed
to three miles of the finest driveway in the
world, and taid that he had paid for it, but
now he can show nothing for his money.
COUNTIES WITHOUT LIMESTONE.
Individual counties do not want to bear
the expense of any extensive road improve
ment. To some of them, the citizens claim,
it would mean bankruptcy. Limestone is
abundant in the southern and central tiers
of counties of this State, but in the north
ern and western tiers there is none. Nearly
everybody agrees that limestone is about
the only stone hard enough for road pur
poses, yet there are several counties where
it is not to be found. To first ship it to
such counties by rail, and then cart it in
small wagon loads through the interior,
would certainly be very expensive. Ve
nango county, for instance, has no lime
stone. Her citizens argue that it would be
unjust to pass a general road law requiring
limestone as the standard material,and then
make every county bear the expense ot the
improvement herself. There would not be
money enough in "Venango county to do it
unless the railroads would haul the lime
stone nearly 50 miles for nothing, and con
victs from the prisons do the work of mak
ing the roads. And in some few counties,
such as Erie, there is
NO STONE OF ANT KIND
in sufficient quantities to make roads with.
Speaking to me of such counties, recently,
Hannibal K. Sloan, of Indiana, a member
ot the Road Commission, said: "In such
cases we might as well think of hauling
cobble-stones there, and making a regular
pavement. It would be as cheap to ship
train load after train load of one stone there
as another."
So, tomake a summary of all the senti
ment, it simply remains to be said that the
people favor the plan for the State to make
the initiative move, so far as financial aid is
concerned. Of course it remains to be seen
what ways and means the State Commission
will recommend to the Legislature before
the farming element will give their whole
support and countenance to even that If
the money comes from any other source
than direct taxation on land or agricultural
interests, it can be depended upon that
every member of the Legislature from a
country district will go to Harrisburg next
winter with instructions to vote for the im
provement, or if cities and corporations
bear their share, then the majority of the
agriculturists would not object to a new
taxation.
AFBAID OF COBBUPTION.
But bevond the matter of financial help
individual counties would still prefer to
have the control of the roads within them
selves. Farmers in some places say they
are afraid that if the State were to create an.
army of office holders to manage and work'
upon the roads, as much as 50 per cent
of every appropriation made by the Legis
lature for improvement of the roads would
never reach the roads that it would be re
quired to pay salaries. This leads to a sug
gestion that the State appropriation be di
vided and distributed among the counties
in the same way that the State
school appropriation is now distrib
uted; that the county engineers be
constituted the agents of the State in each
county, and that road supervisors in the dif
ferent townships act under his supervision.
Supervisors now receive the minimum of sal
ary, and it is contended that if they were
under the eye of an engineer who understood
scientific road-making, there would be better
results from their work than now. Yet this
would scarcely answer in a work of such
magnitude as rebuilding a system ot roads
complete. It might do in simply keeping
the roads in repair. Again the objection is
found that if the work were given out by
contract there would be afforded opportuni
ties for corruption or costly work. At this
point convict labor on the roads might help
to solve the problem of cost and simple ad
ministration. Of that phase of the question, and of some
suggestions as to proper road building,
another article hereafter will treat.
L. E. Stofiel.
LOUDON POLYTECHNICS.
Remits of Philanthropic Work Amons Ap
prentices and AriUanv.
From an illustrated article by Albert
Shaw in the June Century is quoted the
following: "The 'polytechnic,' as now
definitely understood and accepted in Lon
don, is not an off-hand 'invention, or an ex
periment suddenly blossoming out of some
body's beautiful theory and likely to col
lapse at any time. It has growp by de
grees, baa discovered certain main princi
ples by a large and careful induction, and
seems as well adapted to the ends it has in
view as the Bank of England or any other
piece of machinery. It can best be de
scribed in the concrete. The Polytechnic
is in Begent street, where it flourishes
under the wise and pervasive autocracy of
its founder, Mr. Quintin Hogg. Mr. Hogg,
who is still iu the vigorous prime of life, is
one of the great merchants of London. His
father was once a chairman ol the .bast
India Company, and the son owns sugar and
coffee plantations in Demerara, and is the
head of a large "West India firm. There is
not the faintest suspicion of the typical
philanthropist about him, and perhaps that
is one reason why his philanthropic work
has been so singularly successful. Ever
sinoe his school days at .Eton, 25 years ago,
Mrl Hoge has given his evenings and Sun
days to enterprises under his own manage
ment for the welfare of the boys and young
men of London.
The Young Men's Christian' Association
did not, and does not, reach the apprentices
and artisan classes among whom Mr. Hogg
found his mission. He began with ' the
"ragged school" line of philanthropy, and
developed the system into something better
suited to the nature and needs of the lads
with whom he had to deal. Beligion and
the three B's are excellent things for poor
boys and apprentices, in London and every
where else, but they do not form a sufficient
equipment The boy has a body which
needs development by proper physical train
ing; his mind and character as well as his
mubdes need the valuable education that
manly sports and recreations give; and his
success as a breadwinner requires instruc
tion and training in tbelineof his callins
as auxiliary to the practical knowledge and
skill acquired from day to day in the shop.
Bid yourself of the discomfort and danger
attending a cold, by using Dr. D. Jayne's
Expectorant, an old established curative
for coughs, sore throat and pulmonary affec
tions. Ladles' London Sliht..
Percale, matting Oxford, cambric, flan
nels. Most completeussortment shown.
Trio TTAnvii P flA Pern
VWtJ. J-A.VAA Of We O
,A Penn Arenas Stork.
;
PITTSBUBQ-, SATURDAY,' MAY 81, 1890.
LIKE A KANGAKOO.
An Old Man Living as a Beast on a
Lonely Mountain.
A WILD,8AD SPECIMEN OP MANKIND
One of The Host Astounding Cases of Human
Pepravitj let Discovered.
NO BEABON FOE HIS WAT OF LIYING
Ottawa, May 30. A number of re
porters went out to investigate the case of
the man Zimmerman, who was said to be
running about naked and destitute on the
mountain six miles southeast of Grimsby.
The trip revealed one of the most astounding
cases of human depravity ever seen in a
Christian country. The idea of a human
being living for over 36 years in a log shack,
stark naked, hopping about like a frog or
kangaroo, and stealing out in the twilight
like a wild beast to get the air, is something
that well might make the people smile with
incredulity; but an investigation of the case
proved that the facts as already briefly pub
lished were not exaggerated. The reporters
found the man and had a tallc with him
after considerable difficulty.
Half a mile back Irom a concession, on a
side road, the shack was sighted. It stood
in a clearing, with woods all around, and
was a deserted-looking log' hut in a very
dilapidated condition. Bushes grew rankly
about the sides, choking up the doors and
windows, and the low roof was sagged in
and full of boles. A hurried advance was
made on the place lest the man should take
to the woods, but subsequently it was dis
covered that there was no occasion for ap
prehension on that score. The front door
was boarded up and the back door was
barred inside, but an old man opened it
cautiously and dragged it back on its
hinges until it sagged over enough to allow
the newspaper man to get inside.
NOT FIT FOB CATTLE.
If the exterior of the shack was dilapitated,
it at least gave a favorable first impression
as compared with the inside. In the first
room, which was the living apartment and
kitchen, the rain was pouring through a
hundred chinks, extinguishing the .fire,
dripping with a tattoo on tho table, and set
ting the floor awash, as the sailormen say.
The wind came in one side and went out the
other. No humane man would keep animals
in such a place. The only furniture besides
the articles mentioned were three chairs and
a sort of cupboard. One of the chairs was
lower than the rest, with a hollowed seat,
and in the bottom were some remnants of
food, as though it had been used as a table
or trough. The old man was alone in the
room, but in an inner apartment there was
a rustling movement like an animal shift
ing about One of the reporters put on a
professional air, and announced that he
was a doctor, and had come up to
examine the condition of the place and
the crazv man who was reputed to live
there. The old man, who said that he was
the lather of the person inquired for, seemed
rather disinclined at first to permit him to
be seen, but after a long pow-wow, old Cor
berus sat down in a dry spot, and pointing
to an inner apartment, said indifferently:
"He's in there." A hingeless door was
lifted aside, and with a rather creepy feel
ing the visitors stepped into a gloomy, low
ceiled room, into which the light struggled
through the thick foliage that filled the
window. Over in the corner was a broken
bedstead, with a mound of dirty rags on it
The reporters pulled them partly aside, and
there was a man's face, staring with blink
ing', shining eyes out of the dusk. It was a
pale, gaunt but rather handsome face, not
withstanding the dirt and unkempt hair and
beard,' and the fact was far more startling
than if the countenance had been repulsive
or idiotic.
PLEASED WITH THE SITUATION.
J'You can't be very comfortable here?" re
marked one of the reporters.
"Oh, yes I am," responded the head.
After the interchange of a few remarks the
wild man sat up and threw the covering off
him. He was as naked as the day, EG years
aeo, when he was born, and he was no more
ashamed of it than he was then. He had a
finely shaped head, and his chest was well
developed, but his arms were thin and long
and his hands clawlike. His legs were
shrunken to skin and bone, and crooked up
under him like the hind legs of an animal.
His body was not hairy, but the breast
and front of the body were badly
burned and callouB with crouching up
against the stove in winter. His eyes, too,
had suffered in the same way. "With the aid
of some diplomacy he was induced to get
out and strike a gait Down he hopped off
the bed and jumped across the floor on bis
hands and'feet, looking like a cross between
a kangaroo and a very seedy bulldog. Then
he bounced onto the bed again. It was the
most debased and revolting libel on God's
image that ever threw a shadow. In the
course of a talk, during which the strange,
creature sat on the bed hugging his bony
knees, he showed that he was possessed of a
fair share of intelligence, and seemed to be
quite clear on all points except the reason
why be goes about in such an excessively
simple costume.
BELIEVED IN GOO.
Thinking, perhaps, it was some form of a
religious mania, he was questioned about it
and he answered very intelligently that he
read the Bible and believed in God, and
thought he belonged to the Presbyterian de
nomination, though no minister had seen
him in a year. Though tried on various
subjects, he seemed sound enough, except
that he could give no reason for the way he
was living. Beside him was a violin, and
it looked curiously out of place in the den.
It is said he can play it, but as there was no
rosin on the bow, the visitors didn't have a
chance to hear him play. He seemed proud
of the instrument, and kept it rolled up in
a newspaper. There was no furniture in
the place, and it was as bare and squalid as
the outer room, except that the water didn't
come through the roof so badly. There
were large holes in the walls, however, and
it was no wonder he had to burn himself
over the fire in winter to keep warm.
The old man was quite talkative when'
the visitors came out. He said his name
was Samuel Zimmerman, and he was 80
years of age. His Bon's name is "William
W. Zimmerman.
THE WOBEIrTG GIEIS AIM.
Her Ambition for Improvement Indicates
Social Progress.
Miss Grace H. Dodge, discussing the
wages of female workers in the Illustrated
American, says: "When we find girls
whose average weekly wages is 85 25, women
whose average age is less than 23, and of
whom by far the greater number are under
18, banding tbemselyes together to secure
through their clubs opportunities for educa
tion and improvement that they have missed
through the exigencies of their condition;
when we find that in addition to and even
before such instruction in practical things
dressmaking, cooking,first aid to the injured
as would make the "work more profitable
or life easier to them, they are eager to de
velop their intellectual faculties and to ac
quire the 'amenities of life; that most of
them care before all things to grow morally
and socially, using the latter word in its
best sense, then indeed we are led to be
hopeful for the future, even of a social state
in which the toil of women and children
seems to be more and more a matter of grim
necessity."
New flannel blazers for ladles special
white with black stripes.
Jos. Hobne & Co.'s
, Pena Avenue Stores.
AH0THEE P0CAH0HTAS.
This One Died From an Arrow Intended for
the Same Captnln John Smllb.
It is generally known that in 1614 Cap
tain John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, made
atrip to what is now Gardiner, Me., but
there was an incident that occurred during
that visit that is Known by very few people.
The Cabassas were presided over by a chief,
having headquarters at what is now Gardi
ner, known as Cabassa, who had a daughter
named Seboois, famed among her tribe for
her beauty and grace. She was, unfortu
nately, smitten at once with the gallant cap
tain, who was, by the way, the first white
man to visit these parts, and who was re
ceived with great cordiality. Smith had
with him a lieutenant named Hunt, who
was of rather a quarrelsome disposition and
prone to mutiny. "When the time came for
the party of whiles to depart. Hunt's mu
tinous spirit showed itself, and with a small
party of followers he left Smith, going in an
opposite direction. His party took with
them as captives several of the tribe of Ca
bassas. The chief considering the whites one
party, by a great mistake followed Captain
Smith's loyal band, which camped that
night about four miles from the present
location of Gardiner, in an easterly direc
tion. Seboois thinking to warn the captain
hurried on before the party of enraged In
dians, but arrived too late, for as she arrived
at the camp the first volley of arrows was
delivered.
Thinking to save Smith, she fled to him,
threw her arms about his neck, and, in
that position received an arrow in the breast
that caused instant death. The chief was
palsied at the accident, and ordered hos
tilities to be ceased. This allowed Smith an
opportunity to explain that it was the other
party that bad perpetrated the kidnaping.
After a sorrowful return and the burial of
Seboois near the Bandolph church,
the party of red men went in
search of Hunt He was overtaken near
Norridgewock and his band exterminated
to a man. Captain Smith had the martyred
Seboois to thank for his life,1 for the arrow
that reached her heart was meant for him.
The grave ot Seboois is unmarked; in fact,
its exact location is unknown.
EAEHESSmO TEE BBTNE.
Utilizing; Its Power br Means of Electricity
Is Now Assured.
Newcastle, England. Chronicle. 1
The immense power of the Bhine has
hitherto been utilized only in turning the
wheels of grist mills anchored on its shores,
but the lorce of the flood is now about to be
yoked so as to generate motive power for
works of all description within reasonable
distance from its banks. The scheme owes
its origin to Carl "Weiss, a civil engineer,
who for 20 years has given very close atten
tion to the study of electrical instruments
used as transmitters.
In 1883, he conceived the idea of utilizing
the power of the Bhine at Basle to turn the
factory wheels of Switzerland, and for trans
mission to -electrically arranged machines at
Baden. Having demonstrated the practical
feasibility of his project, he was ably
seconded by the city authorities of Basle, and
good progress has already been made toward
carrying Weiss' plans into effect. The
canal into which the water producing the
power is to run is 4,300 meters long, and 39
meters wide. The natural fall is 3.54 meters,
or nearly 12 feet, and the water flow will be
about 200 cubic meters per second.
This immense volume of falling water is
to turn turbine wheels of 9,440 horse-power
in the aggregate, and of this power the wires
are expected to transmit fully 7,000. This
will be conveyed to mills, factories and
workshops situated within the circuit; and,
after allowing 25 per cent for loss in trans
mission, there will still be left 5,000 horse
power to turn wheels and generate light. If
the enterprise is successful, as there seems
every reason for believing if will be, the in
tention is to repeat the experiment on every
mile of the Bhine, from the hills of Switzer
land to the plains of Holland. The old
grist mills will be left undisturbed.
BELIGION AMD EOESES.
How The Two Came Into Collision on the
Dark and Bloody Ground.
St Louis Republic
Bishop Fitzgerald, who was ordained last
Thursday, is one of those Christians who
have never yet mistaken dyspepsia for an
evidence of piety. On the contrary he tells
an auecdote in a capital manner, and is the
life of any crowd in which he finds himself.
"Eecently," said he yesterday, "I found
myself in a section of Kentucky where they
breed the finest horses on earth. Having to
travel a distance of 15 to 20 miles ofl the
railroad, a colored stable boy was sent with
me to drive my buegy. He was densely
ignorant, and I thought to utilize the time
spent on the journey by doing some quiet
missionary work. I began to tell him in
the simplest language the old. old story.
About the time I thought the boy was in
terested, another colored youth rode' by us
on a magnificent specimen ot the equine
race.
"My companion's face brightened and he
turned to me, his eyes dancing with enthu
siasm, and said: 'Look'ee darl look-eedar!
Dots Ben Bolt, a full brudder to Volante;
he win four outen five starts yonder in
Lexington, and made a mile in 1:43 on a
slow track.'
"I was somewhat taken aback, but after
theboy's enthusiasm had subsided I took up
the thread of my discourse and betran acrain.
It was of little use. I pitted the New Testa
ment against, it seemed to me, all the
blooded stock in Kentucky, and absorbed
enough knowledge of horseflesh to last me a
lifetime. "We met a son of Longfellow dur
ing the 'flight into Egypt,' and a trotter
that had made a mile in 220 'on the coasts of
Galilee. A winner of the Derby led by a
colored man passed us as we 'crossed the
Jordan,' and we ran plump up against a
jocke who had won 11 out of 12 mounts as
we 'entered the temple at Jerusalem.' "
' WILD H0ESE OP ATT8TEATJA,
How the Herdi Grew From Two Noble
Brood Mares From England.
Newcastle (England) Chronicle.
It may be some 20 years or so ago, says
the author of "Cassell's Picturesque Aus
tralasia," that a settler lost two valuable
mares. The sand flies were bad, and, driven
by them, now walking and now trotting,
these mares, one followed by a noble colt
foal, never touched by man's band, and
with blood in him that could tell of Epsom
and the Grand National, journeyed on
toward the west Fifty miles from their
owner's home is reached; but the country is
rugged and not to their taste, and on they
go. Another 50 miles, and a pleasant val
ley affords good water and plentiful grass;
but a sudden panic caused, perhaps, by a
party of blacks chasing' native game starts
them Afresh, and still westward they go, till
finally they rest in peace far from the dwell
ings of men far from the sound of clanging
hobble chain or tinkling horse bell.
Month after month rolls on. Each mare
foals again, and two strangers, straying from
some other part, join themselves to the little
herd of five, and raise their number to seven.
Then another snmmer begins, and four addi
tional little foals bring up the total to 11.
Eecruits began to pour in as civilization in
vaded the wild "West, and when finally they
were first really determinedly hunted by the
white man, he succeeded in taking but a few
of the quieter ones, while those who escaped
became sharper than the sharpest, wilder
than the wildest, and fleeter than the fleet
est, roebuck.
A Day at Allqulppa.
The C. H. "W. Buhe Fishing Club put in
yesterday at Aliquippa Grove. This is the
tenth year it lias spent at that grove.
THE JUNE SHUTDOWN.
What JlepresenfatiYe Western Win
dow Glass Jobbers Think of It.
NOT CONSIDERED A GOOD POLICY.
Curtailing the Supply When the General
Demand Is Most Active,'
IN 0BDEE TO F0ECE DP THE PEICE
rSFZCUI. TZLXOBJLM TO THZ DISrATCTM
CHICAGO, May 30 One of the best known
jobbers in window glass in Chicago, a
gentleman who is thoroughly representa
tive of his class, said this morning that the
net result of the meeting of manufacturers
and jobbers in Pittsburg last week was to
bring about a better feeling between the
manufacturers and the jobbers, and to shut
down about 60 per cent of the manufactur
ing capacity about 800 out of 1,400 pots
on June 14, the balance to run on to July 1,
the usual time of closing for the hot
months.
The scheme of running a certain percent
age of the capacity of each furnace, which
had been talked of at Chicago, was not
adopted, and those furnaces which run to
July 1 will run to their full capacity.
Among them are one or two in Pittsburg;
all of those in Baltimore, New Jersey and
Eastern Pennsylvania; one at Marion, Ind.;
one at Bellaire, O., and two or three in
Central Pennsylvania.
"I think the early closing of the factories
is a very foolish thing,"he said. "The stocks
on hand are considerably below the stock
on hand at this time last year, and there
is sure to be a scarcity before the
factories are in good running order in
the fall. July and August are the very best
months in the year for us, and it seems to
me very poor policy to curtail the supply just
when the demand is at its height I did
not see a single manufacturer at Pittsburg
who did not think so, too.
ADVOCATES Or EABLY CLOSING.
"The United Glass Company was the
principal advocate of an early closing of the
factories, and its opinion, of course, carried
very great weight. The gentlemen who
spoke lor it said that they had very large
stocks on hand, and urged the im
portance of closing in the middle
of June, and their views were received with
great consideration by some of the other
manufacturers. But there were some firms
who could not be persuaded to close at that
time. At Marion, Ind., for instance, they
had' contracts which it would take their full
capacity up to July 1 to fill, and the same
was true ol other places. Those in favor of
early closing offered to assume all such con
tracts and fill them out of the stocks on
hand, but they wouldn't listen to that"
"What effect will the Pittsburg meeting
have on the market?"
"Its tendency, of course, is to make the
market firm and high. Chambers&McKee
and the United Glass Cdmpany hold firm
and stiff for the ruling prices, which, by the
way, were marked up about 25 per cent in
December last. They are the two largest
producers, and, working together, they ex
ert a great influence to keep the market
steady. Some of the factories outside of
Pittsburg may cut rates a little, but they
cannot do a great deal of damage because
their glass hasn't the reputation ofPittsburg
glass."
THE jobbers' interests.
""What arrangement was made between
the manufacturers and the jobbers ?"
"No arrangement of any kind. Nothing
was done in that direction but to reach a
better understanding all around, which, I
thine, will lead to good results in the
future. There has been some demoraliza
tion in the market heretofore because the
manufacturers and the jobbers did not pull
together, and I think the manufacturershave
been brought to see that it is to their
interest to work jn harmony with the job
bers. A few weeks ago the manufacturers
sent word to us to get onr men together in
Chicago, and agreed to have a committee
here to confer with us. We got representa
tives of about 30 large jobbing houses, and
when we came to- talk with the manufac
turers' committee, we found that they had
no authority to represent anybody
or to enter into any binding agree
ment The jobbers formed an as
sociation and agreed to meet the
manufacturers, in Pittsburg. "When we
went there we still found no organ
ization that we could deal with, and con
sequently nothing was done except to talk
the matter over. In August we will again
meet with the manufacturers in New York,
and then some definite understanding may
be reached. The principal difficulty is that
some manufacturers have been selling car
load lots to consumers at the same rates that
they sell to the jobber who takes several
hundred carloads, and the jobber is crowded
out And some of the jobbers have secured
special rates from certain manufacturers and
sold goods below the market rates, and
caused a certain amount of demoralization.
It is for the interest of all parties to have a
fixed scale of charges, so that the jobbers
and the manufacturers can protect each
other, bnt it will take time to bring that
about"
TEE OEDEB OP THE TALL HAT.
A Strange Caatom That Prevails In Certain
African Villages.
E. J. Olive In St. Nicholas. 1
There is an institution among Central
African people which cannot be more cor
rectly described than by terming it the
"Order of the Tall Hat." There is in each
district a chief who has proved by his war
like success that he, of all the chiefs, is the
most powerfnl. A public acknowledgment
is made of this fact, and the elected in
dividual is carried around on men's should
ers through the different villages, the bear
ers proclaiming to all that he is the Mokunje
Monene (Big Chief), and that in future all
tribal disputes are to be submitted to his
judgment Upon his return to the village,
amidst dancing and singing and general
feasting and joy, the Fetishman, or charm
doctor, places on the chiefs head a tall
hat, resembling the "stovepipe" of civilized
countries, but which is built with a brim at
the crown, and not at the base. This hat is
hereafter worn on all great occasions, and
the wearer retains it until his death, when
a new candidate is elected. In times gone
by Ibaka had received the honor of election
to this proud order, but, unfortunately,
during the trouble with Liebrechts the tow
ering emblem of peculiar distinction was
burned. A sympathizing white man, trav
eling through the country, heard of the old
chief's hatless condition, and presented
him with a red opera hat of exaggerated
construction, which had probably in years
past formed a prominent feature in a panto
mime or burlesque, or had been used with
great effect by some comic singer or wander
ing minstrel.
The possession of this truly wonderful
creation of the theatrical costumer made
Ibaka a proud and happy man. His delight
in bis new decoration wo'uld have been un
alloyed were it not for a haunting fear that
some one might steal it He kept it, when
not in use, in our Station house, and called
for it only on stated occasions and big pub
lic drinking bouts. I insisted on his con
tinual care of this valuable acquisition, and
would place it on the side ot his head for
him, and impress upon him the necessity of
wearing it in that position, as we white men
were very particular about such details.
Old Ibaka was intensely superstitious, and
was constantly with the Fetishman, who
was kept busy manufacturing new charms
to protect him against imaginary evils. The
poor old chief was easily gulled, and would
accept from anybody anything that had the
reaemblaece ot a charm,
-f W'ii TrT- ii iWi'i i 'i ii'i' i i nfi iA rt "-j 7Tiff .
aEWB4
"' $m
A HOME Iff THE MOUNTAINS.
Plans and Saggastlons far a Pretty Cottage
That Can be Pat Up Complete for S1.20O
Hint for the Varnishing; and Decora
lion A Novel Window.
WBrrrar roa thz dispatch.!
Summer cottages are quite the thing now
adays, and many well-to-do people find a
satisfaction and pleasure in them, and in
fitting and furnishing them in simple ar
tistic taste, even if on a cheaper scale than
the usual home surroundings.
In fact, the requirements and necessities
are not so great as in the city or town home;
for in the cottage, where the summer months
only are spent, the tamily require only a
shelter for nights and stormy days, the
greater part of the sunny days being spent
out ot doors.
There is no need, however, that our cot
tage be devoid of comforts and conveniences
even if on a smaller scale; nor that there
should beany lack of artistic taste displayed
'if the materials be of a little cheaper grade,
as good artistic taste may develop itself
even from the simple things of nature.
Our cottage is simple and picturesque in
outline, and conveniently planned for a
summer's sojourn. The hallway, although
small, leads one directly into open sunny
rooms and of fair size. The main or living
room of the family occupies fully one-half
3i&' V
-4-M
- 8!in!Hlllrg ysw
Xfuprflmfjb.
of the lower floor, and is made more attrac
tive by the large, oddly Bhaped bay window;
filling the whole end of the room.
This room, as well as the dining room, has
an open fire place for use during cold storms
or chilly evenings late in the season, and
each has a simple pine mantel piece of un
pretentious design, and built as is all the
finish of white pine finished with shellac.
These rooms and the hall have well laid
hard pine floors, well filled, shellacked and
rubbed down; no carpets; that is an un
called for luxury in 'our summer cottage,
and smacks ot the city, butsome of the rugs,
too shabby perhaps to pass the critical eye
of the housekeeper in the home, may still
do service here.
The stairway communicating with the
floors above is not made a feature of, but is
made little of artistically, its room being
better than its company iu this instance,
and gets its light from the window above.
On this floor there are two good-sized
chambers, and a smaller one over the
"snuggery;" these rooms are finished the
same as those below, iu shellacked pine,
and the floors may be covered -with matting.
Space for stoves if needed should be ar
ranged for,'as there is no furnace.
Should more sleeping' rooms be required,
the small "snuggery" on the first floor can
be so used, and, at trifling expense, the
kitchen extension may be carried up with a
gable, allowing ample space for a small
room, with stairs leading directly from the
kitchen Tor the use of the help.
To those who have a lively antipathr to
cramped apartments, the liberal size of four
out of the eight roods should commend
itself strongly, and, in fact, is a strikinzi
Jfj KiWftwL-.
I l i' a I
1 JtVuo I
' l III) 1t f B
2 CWS Window,
ft Urn .TajnJfJx-
UWMilW-"" - JK hJK."- ,,HhiY-iYaTCCi?S
feature of this plan, as the study has been to
comprise within the necessarily limited
space as much as possible of simple con
venience and comfort, based on the princi
ple that fewer rooms and ample elbow room
is more to be desired in our cottage than
multiplicity of apartments and their attend
ant discomforts.
The height of the first story is 8 feet 8
inches in the clear, the second 8 feet in the
clear. The inside finish, all through the
o3,CMrQ-rocftD
house, is of pine,- shellacked, as before
stated, the stairs are of pine painted two
coats of a quiet color, and the floor of the
kitchen is of good matched boarding, and
may be painted if desired.
The side walls and ceilines of both stories
are white sand finish, one coat "laid off"
brown mortar, and should be tinted with one
coat of kalsomine of soft colors, varied ac
cording to the taste of the occupants.
From the kitchen, stairs lead down to a
cellar that extends nnder the dining room
and kitchen only, and need not have a
cemented floor if the house stands on high
land with good drainage.
For external painting, two coats, a prim
ing and covering coat, will be sufficient, and
the colors should not be obtrusive.
Should staining be preferred, and perhaps
better suited to our cottage with its rural
surroundings, the following scheme is of
fered: Boof shingles a quiet, mossy green;
gahle shingles raw sienna; body of house a
dark redduh brown; piazza tops same as
roof; trimmings a darker tone of the clap
boarding, and blinds and doors a deep
bronze green. The gable ends are finished
in rough plaster, applied to a coarse wire
netting fastened to the sheathing, and tinted
a soft quiet yellow.
The sketches show a bit of the paler in
terior, and suggests simple coziness and com
fort, and the suggestion of a finish in ap
propriate rustic style for the windows.
A few words, before closing, regarding
' snmmer decorations. No one wishes to
spend much money in furnishing a cottago
inhabited but a few months out of the year,
and, indeed, fine furniture would be out of
place with the careless ease of a summers
sojourn. It requires but a trifling expense
to make the cottage a pretty and inviting
retreat, containing all the necessities, many
of the comforts, and a few of the beauties of
a home. . ,. ,
One small sketch illustrates a pretty rural,
and inexpensive treatment of a window,
and one within the artistic capabilities or
any one at all apt in doing odd jobs about
the bouse. .
Its component parts are some pine twigs,
a piece of bamboo fishing-rod, two yards of
cheese-cloth, and a dozen brass rings. It is
a pretty and suitable window decoration for
a mountain cottage, ana easily uruuguv
about. The twigs for the lattice work are
tacked together and must necessarily be
short mes, and are joined together at the
point The lattice is made complete before
fitted to the window and should be tacked
to the window frame only at the corners, so
allowing of its removal when the window la
washed. The bamboo rod for the short
sash-curtain rests upon two brass hooks
screwed to the frame on either side of the
window. The curtains are of cheese-cloth,
simple and inexpensive, and hemstitched
top and bottom.
Lattice work of this sort may be used in
the downstairs doorways, with a portiere
under it, suspended from an alpenstock or
mountain staff, and this in turn is held in
place with strips of birch bark.
Although much may be suggested, want
of space necessitates stopping with this ex
ample, that may act as a suggestion for
others in an interested and clever mind.
TEE COUHTBY OF SYNDICATES.
Germany Ahond of the United States In the
Dlatter of Traits.
llluttrated American. 1
Germany took the lead as the country of
syndicates in 1889. Ninety-two are known
to have been formed there, while the United
States had 58. Austria 38, Great Britain
31, France 6, Eussia 7, Belgium 8, Italy 2,
Sweden 4 and Denmark 1. In addition
11 international trusts were formed to
control copper, zinc, nitrates, rails, mirror
glasssugar, dynamite and hotels.
A great many other syndicates and trusts
were undoubtedly lormed, bnt their exist
ence was not formally recorded.
About the Tuxedo Rnltai
They are knitted, all-wool, best in mate
rials plain skirt with striped border, a blouse .
waist and sash. No suit made will stand aa
much service as it Prices, $10, $15 and $18.
j OS. HOBXX es co.'s
. Penn Avenue Stores,
J,
4H!IHIiisHIV(4iHsV