iMaking Roads by Machinery! 8 § <!> By Waldon Fawcett. THE immense number of crude anil frequently impassable roads to bo found In all parts of the United States and the serious extent to which they have handicapped the marketing of farm products in various sections of the country lend especial significance to the crusade in favor of good roads, •which is being conducted by the Office of Road Inquiry, a division of the De partment of Agriculture. As yet t .e have not been secured appropriations of sufficient size to enable the Govern ment to undertake 011 its own account the provision of better highways, but this will come in time, and meanwhile highly important results are being ac complished solely by the presentation of forceful object lessons. The investigations of the Office of Road Inquiry arc mainly directed in seven general fields, namely: to ascer tain as nearly as practicable the actual cost of bad roads and the benefit of good roads; to demonstrate the inter est of cities and towns and the owners of property of all kinds wherever situ ated, in the improvement of country roads; to develop the methods where by all of these interests may co-oper GRADBR DRAWN BY TRACTION ENGIMO. ate with the farmers in the work of road improvement; to discover what actual and systematic road improve ment is being carried on in any part of the United States, and how the same or modified methods may be ap plied to other sections; to discover road materials in various sections of the country; to discuss new plans for road construction and encourage ex periment In this direction and, finally, to actually construct sample roads. The governmental experts have in cidentally devoted much attention to the""3ubject of wide tires; have Inves tigated the use of convict labor in road construction, and encouraged the or ganization of State and local road as- ROAD SCKAPEIt AT WORK. eociatlons. In this connection many im portant experiments have been made to test the power required in hauling over various kinds of roads. The Gov ernment has learned, too, by consulta tion with many thousands of the most intelligent farmers of the country that the expense of moving farm products and supplies averages on all the Amer ican country roads twenty-five cents per ton mile, whereas the charge in the good roads districts of this and other countries is less than one-tliird that amount. This extra expense amounts in the aggregate to more than the en tire expenditures of the National Gov ernment. and taking into account all of the hauling done on Ihe public roads the loss is equal to one-fourth of the home value of all the farm products of ihe United States. Probably the most interesting phase of the work has been found, however, in the construction of specimen roads of various kinds in different, parts of the country. Ordinarily three styles of road have been represented in this experimental work—a modern macad am. a sand and a dirt road. Of these three the macadam highway is the most interesting from the point of con ELEVATING HOKSE-DUA WX GRADER AT WORK. struction. After a uniform grade has been secured by the use of wheeled scrapers, drag scrapers and plows, and possibly road graders as well, there are placed upon this foundation three separate layers of the best quality of stone that is procurable in the vicin ity. The foundation course, which is is about live inches in thickness and made up of two and one-halt' inch stone, is thoroughly rolled before the second course, composed of one and one-half inch stone, is put on, and this layer in turn is sprinkled and rolled before the surface layer or "binder," as it is commonly called, consisting of 1 three-quarter inch stone and dust, is 1 putin place. 1 The sand road is formed by placing ! six inches of river sand on a bed of ! natural clay, neither the bed nor the 1 surface of the road being rolled. The ' dirt road is made by grading in the 1 usual manner. As a rule neither of these latter classes of highways is con ' structed save to demonstrate the supe riority of the macadam road. Consid ' erable attention has been given to the 1 construction of steel-track wagon ■ road—decidedly the most novel type of highway yet introduced in any conn : try. The steel road might lie com -1 pared to a street car track of modified design, and the plan for its utilization was doubtless suggested by the well known tendency of teamsters to make use of urban and inter-urban trolley and cable lines on highways where lo comotion would otherwise be difficult The steel-track wagon road consists of two parallel lines of steel plates or rails each eight inches in width and not supported 011 wooden cross-ties, bu simply made solid in the road by flanges projecting into the concrete of the roadbed. The rails are accur ately spaced so as to receive the wheeli of all vehicles of standard guage with out regard to width of tire, and each plate or rail is fitted with a flange on the inner side to prevent wheels from easily leaving the tracks. Unique roads of this type have been construct ed In half a dozen different States, and in some instances the records made upon them have been littlo short of marvelous. In one instance a load of eleven tons which required twenty horses for its movement over an ordi nary road was readily drawn along the steel track by a single horse. This load was twenty-two times the weight of the animal, but at Ames, lowa, re cently a horse started and moved on a steel-track highway a load fifty times the weight of the animal. It may be noted that the cost of the stcel-track roads has ranged from SISOO to su.">oo a mile, according to tlie original con dition of the roadbed. The extension of the good roads movement has resulted in a correspond ing development of the engineering operations involved and of the machin ery employed. Possibly the most in teresting of all the forms of special apparatus which have been Introduced for this work is the elevating grader which is utilized in reducing cuts sev eral feet In depth. This machine ele vates earth ynd drops it into wagons alongside, loading a wagon in twenty seconds. On an average such a ma chine will load into wagons in one day of ten working hours from 700 to SOO yards of earth. The elevating grader Is very heavy, and about twelve horses are required for its movement, some of the animals pulling and others pushing. The op erating force consists of three drivers and two machine operators, one of the latter looking after the plow and the other giving attention to the elevating conveyor. The plow of this machine makes a cut twelve inches square. After a grade has been reduced a ma chine of this type may be employed it desired to elevate dirt to the centre ot the road, from whence it Is distrib uted by graders of the ordinary type.— Scientific American. Organized to Check Abuses. An organization in England is known as "Scapa," the word being made up of the initial letters of the wor<l9 "Society for Checking Abuses of Public Advertising." The members of tli€ association are opposed to the placing of glaring business announcements on picturesque rocks, along rustic road ways, on 'buses and on huge billboards. They declare that the newspaper is the proper place for advertisements since the latter are intended to convey information of a news character. Moreover, they say, better results can be achieved by newspaper advertise ments tliau by objectionable signs and posters. A Lisbon lady was being buried when a cry from the coffin disclosed the fact that she was still alive. Flv« hours afterward she died from fright THE PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS. Would Save the Ancient Rnlni of All tbe Countries of America. President Diaz, of Mexico, has used his influence- toward promoting the friendliness of all the nations of Amer ica. Representatives of the republics have been enjoying the hospitality of Mexico in the City of Mexico, where they have been lioldiug a Pan-Ameri can Congress for the purpose of unlt- TIIE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF PRESIDENT DIAZ, OF MEXICO. lug their countries by common ties and Interests and of preserving the peace of the American continent. Among the resolutions which have been adopted by the Congress is one looking to the preservation of archaeological monu ments in the countries of America. The resolution proposed the appoint ment of an International commission, and continues; "It is the intention of the conference, in providing for the creation of this commission, that its labors shall result in the establishment at some place, to be designated by the majority of the republics approving this recommendation, of an interna tional American museum, which shall be made the centre for works of in vestigation and interpretation and the receptacle for the materials gathered together by the said commission, and that committees shall be likewise ap pointed by the said commission to pre serve the ruins of the principal ancient cities existing within the American re publics and establish in each republic n museum of objects collected in such cities, and so far as practicable to pro vide conveniences for the visiting pub lic." A Flea Circus. A circus, in which all the perform ers are fleas, is amusing the patrons of the Panoptlcum at Berlin, this season. The arena of the circus is about the size of an ordinary dining-room table, and Professor Karutsch, the director, THE FLEA CIRCUS, BERLIN. provides each one in his audience with a large microscope for a consideration. To the spectators it seems as If the lit tle animals understand the oral in structions of the director, for they obey with astounding docility. They draw little wagons and coaches, turn merry go-rounds, engage in sham battles and wind up by dancing a costumed ballet. Even the circus clown, who excites boisterous laughter by clumsily imi tating the effete tricks of his comrades, is not missing. Fleas are the beasts of prey of the insect world, malicious, carniverous demons who are always thirsting for blood. Ilerr Karutsch allows his pets to feed on his naked arr.i to their stomachs' content, not forgetting, of course, to have an antiseptic applica tion on hand at each meal. A Plighting Stone. The canny Scot, as we all know, says the World Wide Magazine, is found all over the world, but it comes to one as somewhat of a surprise to find a genu ine old Scotch "plighting stone" in a museum in Toronto, Canada. It bears the inscription: "Plighting Stane o' Lairg, Sutlierland3hire, Scotland," and TORONTO PLIGHTING STONE. was presented by a Scotch gentleman resident in Ontario. Troths plighted and promises made by grasping hands through the stone seen in our photo were Inviolate in matters of love, busi ness and all social relations. The cus tom was kept up until quite recently, and was probably of Druidical origin. The Black Handkerchief in the Navj. The black handkerchief which the tailor of the English navy knots around lils throat was first worn as mourn ing by Nelson, and lias ever since been retained; while the bright stripes around the broad blue collar of the sailor's jumper commemorate the vic tories of Trafalgar, Copenhagen and the Nile. The tiroad blue collar itself Is older than Nelson, and was first adopted at that period when sailors plastered their hair into a stiff pigtail with grease and powder. To Have Pure Water. To prevent water from becoming im pure in passing throujh lead pipe a tin lining is placed InjUle, the space between the tin and lead being filled with cement. Mullet-Locating Appantai. The apparatus shown in the accom panyirg drawing Is not an Instrument of torture, but rather an appliance tc remove the cause of much suffering It is the invention of William H. Jak way, and is designed for the easy loca tion of bullets or other foreign sub stances lodged in the anatomy. It provides a simple means whereby the surgeon may readily locate the position and depth beneath the surface of the bullet, so that the necessary incision for removing it can be made with ac curacy and without undue mutilation of the surrounding flesh. In connec tion with the apparatus an X-ray ma chine is used, but the photographic plates, hitherto so necessary, are re placed by this new indicating device. The illustration shows the two paths of the X-rays through the limb in which the bullet is located, the two lines being at nearly right angles and crossing the bullet and each other at FOR USE WITH AN X RAY MACHINE. the same point. While the surgeon is looking at the bullet he adjusts two points of the indicator into the same plane as the line of vision, treating the opposite points after the same manner. Then the central Indicating screw is lowered to the flesh, standing directly over the foreign substance located in side. Marriage a la Baseball. Unusual humor was displayed by tht> Rev. C. F. Thomas In his remarks be fore the marriage ceremony of the well known baseball player, John J. Mc- Graw, and Miss Blanche Slndall, at St. Ann's Catholic Church, at Balti more, Md. He said In part: "Let selfishness be no barrier to your happiness, but understand that each must often give up much, renounce himself, that both may enjoy it. For you know that sacrifice hits add to the number of runs and win the game. Don't try to jump this contract. The reserve clause is binding. "Fear uot the adversaries that are many and strong, that they seel; to rob you of this result of your union. The game will not be lost as long as you work together. Bunch your hits, and victory is yours. She will cheer you, aid you, support you, and share your triumphs and participate in your defeats. You will keep in spirit and letter the terms of this holy contract. Coach her around the hard bases of life. Make her steal her way under the watchful eye of the enemy, until she reaches the home of happiness. "Make her score many bright and joyous days, that the peunant of pros perity may cont.auously wave over your heads." Coronation Designs. The craze for coronation designs ii» spreading, says the London Graphic. Not only shall we be deluged with jeweled crowns in many forms, such as brooches and charms, but the tap estry and even cretonne for upholster ing furniture shows the crown, sham rock, rose and thistle, and perchance, our wall papers will be turned out en suite. These topical designs never rf nain in favor, and if any one were .JO rash as to stamp a room with coro nation symbols, he would most surely very soon tire of the design and make a change. British Blockhouses. Similar blockhouses to this are beln& raised in long lines throughout the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, on Lord Kitchener's cordon system, at distances of 1000 yards, and with easy means of communication. They have proved exceedingly effective in hemming in many of the minor com mandos, whose attacks without artil lery on their massive walls have often ended in discomfiture. The sun is traveling at forty miles c second, about 40,000 times as fast as a* express train, T)R. TALMAGKVS SERMON SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED DIVINE. iitl>Jeot: The Milestone. of l.lfo—TMitles unci Trials Which Belong to ilin Differ ent Dei-wiles— Advice to the Twenties— The Waiting Age—The Lust Haven. WASHINGTON, D. C. —From an unusual Standpoint Dr. Taiiuase in thU discourse looks at the duties a:id trials which be long to the different decades o£ human life; text, Psalms xc, 10, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten." The seventieth milestone of life is here planted as at the end of the journey. A few JJO beyond it. Multitudes never reach it. 'ihe oldest person of modern times ex pired at 10!) years. A Greek of the name of Stravaride lived to 132 years. An Eng lishman of the name of Thomas Parr lived 152 years. Before the time of Moses peo ple lived 150 years, and if you go far enough back they lived 900 years. Well, that was necessary, because the story of the world must come down by tradition, and it needed long life safely to transmit the news of the past. If the generations had been short lived the story would so often have changed hps that it might have got all astray. But after Moses began to write it down and parchment told it from century to century it was not necessary that people live so long in order to au thenticate the events the past. If in our time people lived only twenty-five years, that would not affect history, since it is putin print and is no longer depend ent on tradition. Whatever your age, 1 will to-day directly address you, and I Bhall speak to those who are in the twen ties, the thirties, the forties, the fifties, the sixties, and to those who are in the seventies and beyond. First, then, I accost those of yon who are in the twenties. You are full of ex pectation. You are ambitious —that is, if you amount to anything—for Fome kind of success, commercial or mechanical or professional or literary or agricultural or social or moral. If I find some one in the twenties without any sort of ambition, I feel like saying, "My friend, you have got on the wrong planet. This is not the world for you. You are going to be in the way. Have you made your choice of poorhouses? You will never be able to pay for your cradle. Who is going to Ket tle for your board? There is a mistake about the fact that you were born at all." But, supposing you have ambition, let me say to all the twenties, expect every thing through divine manipulation, and then you will get all you want and some thing better. Are you looking for wealth? Well, remember that God controls the money markets, the harvests, the droughts, the caterpillars, the locusts, the sunshine, the storm, the land, the sea, and you will get wealth. Perhaps not that which is stored up in the banks, in safe deposits, in United States securities, in houses and lands, but your clothing and board and shelter, and that is about all you can ap propriate anyhow. You cost the Lord a great deal. To feed and clothe and shelter you for a lifetime requires a big sum of mt#ney, and if you get noAing more than the absolute necessities you get an enor mous amount of supply. Expect as much as you will of any kind of success, if vou expect it from the Lord you are safe. De pend on any other resource, and you may be badly chagrined, but depend on God and all will be well. It is a good thing in the crisis of life to have a man of large means back you up. It is a great thing to have a moneyed institution stand be hind you in your undertaking. But it is a mightier thing to have the God of heaven and earth your coadjutor, and you may have Him. I am so glad that I met you while you are in the twenties. You are laying out your plans, and all your life in this world and the next for 500 million years of your existence will be affected by those plans. It is about 8 o'clock in the morning of your life, and you are just starting out. Which way are you going to start? Oh. the twenties! "Twenty" is a great word in the Bible. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of sil ver; Samson judged Israel twenty years; Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities; the flying roll that Zechariah saw was twenty cubits; when the sailors of the ship on which Paul sailed souuded the Mediterra nean Sea, it was twenty fathoms. What mighty things have been done in the twenties! Romulus founded Rome when he was twenty; Keats finished life at twenty-five. Lafayette was a world re nowned soldiei at twenty-three; Oberlin accomplished his chief work at twenty seven; Bonaparte was victor over Italy at twenty-six; Pitt was prime minister of England at twenty-two; Calvin had com pleted his immortal "Institutes" by the time he was twenty-six; Grotius was at torney general at twenty-four. Some of the mightiest things for God and eternity have been done in the twenties. As long as you can put the figure 2 before the other figure that helps describe your age I have high hopes about him. Look out for that figure 2. Watch its continuance with as much earnestness as you ever watched anything that promised you salvation or threatened you demolition. What a criti cal time —the twenties. While they continue you decide your occupation and the principles by which you will .be guided; you make your most abiding friendships; you arrange your home life; you fix your habits. Lord God Al mighty, for .Tesus Christ's sake, have mercy on all the men and women in the twenties! Next I accost those in the thirties. You are at an age when you find what a tough thing it is to get recognized and estab lished in your occupation or profession. Ten years ago you thought all that was necessary for success was to put on your shutter the sign of physician or dentist or attorney or broker or agent and you would have plenty of business. How many hours you pat and waited for business, and waited in vain, three persons only know— God, your wife and yourself. In commer cial life you have not had the promotion and the increase in salary you anticipated, or the place you expected to occupy in the firm has not been vacated. The produce of the farm with which you expected to support yourself and those depending on you and to pay the interest on the mort gage has been far less than you anticipated, or the prices were down, or special ex penses for sickness made drafts on your re sources that you could not have expected. Tn some respects the hardest decade of life is the thirties, because the results are generally so far behind the anticipations. It is very rare iudeed that a young man does as "did the young man one Sunday night when ho came to me and said. "I have been so marvelously prospered since I came to this country that I feel as a mat ter of gratitude that I ought to dedicate myself to God." Nine-tenths of the poetry of life has been knocked out of you since you came into the thirties. Men in the different professions and occupations saw that you were rising, and they must put an estop pel on you or you might somehow stand in the way. They think you must be sup pressed. From thirty to forty is an especially hard time for young doctors, young law yers, young merchants, young farmers, young mechanics, young ministers. The struggle of the thirties is for honest and helpful and remunerative recognition. But few old people know how to treat young people without patronizing them on the one hand or snubbing them on the other. Oh, the thirties! Joseph stood before Pharaoh at thirty; David was thirty years old when he began to reign; the height of Solomon's temple was thirty cubits: Christ entered His active ministry at thirty years of age; Judas sold Him for thirtv pieces of silver. Oh, the thir ties! What a word suggestive of triumph or disaster! Your decade is the one that will prob ably afford the greatest opportunity for victory because there is the greatest ne cessity for struggle. Head the world's his tory and know what arc the thirties for good or bad. Alexander the Great closed his career at thirty-two; Frederick the Great made Europe tremble with his ar mies at thirty-five; Cortes conquered Mex ico at thirty; Grant fought Shiloh and Donel.jon when thirty-eight; Raphael died at thirty-seven; Luther was the hero of the reformation at thirty-five; Sir Philip Sidney got through by 'thirty-two. The greatest deeds for God and against Him were done within the thirties, and your greatest battlc3 are now and between the time when you cease expressing your age bv putting first a figure '2 and the time when you will cease expressing it by put ting first n figure 3. As it is the greatest time of the struggle. T adjure you, in God's name and by God's grace, make it the greatest achievement. My prayer is for all those in the tremendous crisis of the thirties. The fact is that bv the way you decide the present decade of your his torv you decide all the following decades. Next I accost the forties. Yours is th# decade of discovery. I do not mean the discovery of the outside, but the discovery of yourself. No man knows himself until he is forty. Ho overestimates or underes timates himself. By that time he has learned what lie can do or what he cannot do. He thought he had commercial genius enough to become a millionaire, but now he is satisfied to make a comfortable living. He thought he had rhetorical power that would bring him into the United States Senate; now he is content if he can suc cessfully argue a common case before a petit jury. He thought he had medical skill that would make him a Mott or a Grosse or a Willard Parker or a Sims; now he finds his sphere is that of a fam ily physician, prescribing for the ordinary ailments that afflict our race. He was sail ing on in a fog and could not take a reck oning, but now it clears up enough to allow him to find out his real latitude and long itude. He has been climbing, but now he has got to the top of the hill, and he takes a long breath. He is half way through the journey at least, and he is in a posi tion to look backward or forward. He has more good sense than he ever had. He knows human nature, for he has been cheated often enough to see the bad side of it, and he has met so many gracious and kindly and splendid sou's he also knows the good side of it. Now, calm yourself. Thank God for the past and de liberately set your compass for another voyage. You • have chased enough thistledown; you have blown enough soap bubbles; you nave seen the unsatisfying nature of all earthly things. Open a new chapter with God and the world. This decade of the forties ought to eclipse all its predecessors in worship, in usefulness and in happiness. The world was made to work. There re maineth a re3t for the people of God, but it is in a sphere beyond the reach of tele scopes. The military charge that decided one of the greatest battles of the ages —the battle of Waterloo—was not made until 8 o'clock in the evening, but some of you propose togo into camp at 2 o'clock iu the afternoon. My subject next accosts those in the sev enties and beyond. My word to them is congratulation. You have got nearly if not quite through. You have safely crossed the sea of life and are about to enter the harbor. You have fought at Gettysburg, and the war is over —here and there a skir mish with the remaining sin of your own heart and the sin of the world, but 1 guess you are about done. There may be some work for you yet on a small or large scale. Bismarck of Germany vigorous in the eighties. The Prime Minister of England strong at seventy-two. Haydn composing his oratorio, "The Creation," at seventy years of age. Isocrates doing some of his best work at seventy-four. Plato busy thinking for all succeeding centuries at eighty-one. Noah Webster, after making his world renowned dictionary, hard at work until eighty-five years old. Rev. Daniel Waldo praving in my pulpit at 1(X) years of age. Humboldt producing the immortal "Cosmos" at seventy-six years. William Blake at sixty-seven learning Ital lian so as to read Dante in the original. Lord Cockburn at eighty-seven writing his best treatise. John Wesley stirring great audiences at eighty-live. William C. Di-yant, without spectacles, reading in my house "Thantaposis" at eighty-three years of age. Christian men and women in all depart ments serving God after becoming septua genarians and nonagenarians prove that there arc possibilities of work for the aged, but 1 think you who are passed the seventies are near being through. How do you feel about it? You ought to be jubilant, because life is a tremendous struggle, and if you have got through re spectably and usefully you ought to feel like people toward the close of a summet day seated on the rocks watching the sun • set at Bar Harbor of Cape May or Look out Mountain. I am glad to say that most old Christians are cheerful. Daniel Webs ter visited John Adams a short time before his death and found him in very infirm health. He said to Mr. Adams: "1 am glad to see you. I hope you are getting along pretty well." The reply was: "Ah, sir, quite the contrary. I find I am a poor tenant, occupying a house mui-h shattered by time. It sways and trembles with every wind, and what is worse, sir, the landlord, as near as I can make out, does not intend to make any repairs." An aged woman sent to her physician and told him of her ailments, anu the doc tor said: "What would you have me do, madam? I cannot make you young again." She replied: "I know that, doctor. What I want you to do is to help me to grow old a little longer." The young men have their troubles before them; the old have their troubles behind them. You have got about all nut of this earth that there is in it. Be glad that you, an aged servant of God, are going to try another life and amid better surroundings. Stop looking back and look ahead. O ye in the seven ties and eighties and the nineties, your best days are yet to come, your grandest associations are yet to be formed, your best eyesight is yet to be kindled, your best hearing is yet to be awakened, your greatest speed is yet to be traveled, your gladdest song is yet to be sung. The most of vour friends have gone over the border, and you are going to join them very soon. They are waiting for you; they are watch ing the golden shore to see you land; they are watching the shining gate to see you come through; they are standing by the throne to see you mount. What a glad hour when you drop the staff and take the scepter, when you quit the stiffened joints and become an immor tal athlete! But hear, hear; a remark per tinent to all people, whether in the twen ties, the thirties, the forties, the fifties, the sixties, the seventies or beyond. But the most of you will never reach the eighties or the seventies or the sixties or the fifties or the forties. He who passes into the forties has gone far beyond the average of human life. Amid the uncer tainties take God through Jesus Christ as your present and eternal safety. The long est life is only n small fragment of the great eternity. We will all of us soon be there. Eternity, how near it rolls! Count the vast value of your souls. Howare and count the awful cost What they have gained whose souls are lost. [CopjrTtrht, INS, L. Kloptcb. 1 Many a man who is honored with a col lege degTec would find it necessary to do tome reviewing before he could pass a civil service examination.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers