Republican News Item. VOL. IX. NO. 13. r To Buy Your Jewelry. C C Nothing in Town to Compare WithX ( the Quality that We are Giving J / You for the Low Price Asked. S C Quality and moderate prices makes a force that\ irresistibly draws into our store the best patronage r I of this section. Many years here in business, always J with a lull line of jjoods above suspicion, chosen C fwilh a care and judgment commensurate with its . \ desirability and adaptability to retine taste, makes \ / our store a sale place to invest. C / Repair work done on short notice and guaran-Q teed, by skilled workmen. Your orders appreciated. S RETTENBURY, > <, DUSHORE, No Place Like'this Place For Reliable STOVES and RANGES, 00-A-Ij OK/ WOOD HEATERS; ONE OF WINTER'S GREAT DELIGHTS. Goods, Tools of Every Description, Guns and Ammunition. Bargains that bring the buyer back. Come and test the truth of our talk. A lot of second hand stoves and ranges for sale cheap. We can sell you in stoves anything from a line Jewel Base Burner to a low priced but satisfactory cook stove. Hot Air, Steam and Hot Water Heating and General Repairing, Roofing and Spouting. The Shopbell Dry Good Co., 313 Pine Street, WILLI AMSPORT, PA. Snowy attractive Muslin rnderwarc that combines so much comfort and beauty was never offered at more attractive prices. All these garm ents are full size and splendidly made of excellent Muslin and Cambric. LONG SKIRTS. DRAWERS. SHORT SKIRTS. CHEMISE. CORSET COVERS. GOWNS. Shirt Waist Suits. Women's Stock Collars. Nothing daintier, nothing prettier \\'e,ve made a purchase of dainty nothing so economical as the two- .stock Collars, an endless variety of piece Hummer suit. We have about styles among them. Some are plain, every style that is worn. These are others embroidered. We have madeol Percale, Madras, Linen and hunched them in lots, other cotton fabrics and silks. 25c, 50c AND 75c. Wash Petticoats. C ° ol Summer Corsets. We believe thee Petticoats to 1... X, ' w models - Come iU " I Hee them better value than you ever bought We ram recommend several makes before. They are mada of plain color!, atsoutoßl - ()0 that are matle ot and fancy striped Seersucker with li S ht BfttiHte ' but for those who rutiles or deep tucked flounces, at want fi,,er we have them SI.OO To $1.50 iu better qualities. Black Taffetas and Peau de Soie. When asked for here they are shown in all qualities and widths and the prices are very reasonable when the qualities are taken iu consideration. Fancy Silks for Dresses. To merly mention the kinds and varieties of each would make a pretty long list so we simply say come and see them and get the prices. Subscribe for the News Item LAPORTE, SULLIVAN COUNTY PA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1904. THE MUD TAX. What Bad Roads Cost the State •( North Carolina. It has been calculated thut the people of North Carolina suffer unnuully from bud roads to the extent of about $10,000,000, said a speaker at a North Carolina good roads convention, lu uther words, they pay, us Professor Holuies so vigorously expresses it. an unuual "mud tax, sand tax and hill tax" umounting to $10,000,000. Ten millions of dollars annually as tribute to clay, mud. sand, rocks and hills, not to mention tired beasts, galled shoul ders, sore bucks and profane drivers! During the last twenty live years this bad road tux has consumed an amount of money equal to the tuxable values of the whole state of North Carolina. One tenth of what we waste unnuully on bad roads would give a seven months' term to every school in North Carolina. Ten million dollars thrown away on A FOUK HOUSE LOAD, bad roads! it is the same us if every horse and mule lu North Carolina were killed annually. The loss of Its best manhood is the greatest tax that the country is paying to towns uud cities. This loss must be controlled uud diminished. We must have cities and towns. We are willing to give soiim of the country boys to curry on the work of cities and towus. but we must not give lip too inuuy. We need them in the country to build up country homes. The country home is the unit of power, character and civili zation for America. We cannot r r.trol the nervous and vicious life of the city. City people do net desire the kind of lives they seem forced to live—nervous, restless, unhealthy lives; lives In which they retire late, rise late und find it impossible to control their children. They cannot help it. A large city Is a maelstrom. A great, strong man comes from country to city. He does a great work. He finds great opportunities for the development of his powers and talents. He leads a brilliant life and ieuves an honored name. Hut it Is * sad fact, and seemingly a law of na ture, that he sacrifices the calm heulth and strength of rural life for tlie nerv ous activities of the city. Ills descend ants do not inherit his power. Let us preserve and build up country life. Let us keep the boys and girls oil the farms. Let us carry the town to the country and the country to the town, preserving the blessings of both, by constructing good roads as perma nent instrumentalities of travel, of trade, of social intercourse and edu cation. ROAD DRAGGING. Highways Kept in tiood Condition at Kniail Cost. Visitors are often struck by the splendid condition of the public roads in certain sections of the state of Missouri, especially in Nodaway and Atchison counties. The condition of these roads being in such fine shape is brought about by dragging. The drug in use in these sections IN simply made by taking a couple of pieces of oak lumber about - by lli feet long, setting the tim bers on edge and arming the straps of iron. The timbers are set laterally and are connected by several short planks, which are bolted to the oak oues, on which a seat for the driver is fastened. In operation the drag is hitched so that one end is considerably In front of the other and the resultant action forces the clods toward the center of the road, a round trip on uny of the roads result ing in the rough pluces being worked down and the loose clods worked to the center of the road. These drugs do uot coat the Missourlans very much outlay of money or time to make and prova to bo a fine thine hi kesying the roads In fairly good (ondltlon at ull seasons of the year. One Caase of Bad Heads. AH recognized authorities ou the subject suy that no vegetable matter shonld be used In the construction and maintenance of roads or highways, lu ■pite of this, however, many road menders are throwing Into the middle of the road tke mud from the side ditches, as well as the grass and weeds that have grown up by the side of the road. Tha leaves and other HMer that have accumulated at the sides of the road sre placed In tlie road to rot and make quuginlres for the people to travel through.—Uood Hoada Magaalne. RURAL FREE DELIVERY. Bad It on d« Vrfvrut the Extension of tke Service. At the recent international good roads convention at St. Louis Hon. Frank to. Nevins of.the Uuited States pos(office department delivered an ad dress in which ho said: "The establishment of the rural free delivery of mail throughout the coun try has produced a marked improve ment in the condition of the highways. When there is a prospect of rural free delivery in a community, work imme diately begins on the roads. There are now in operation 20,000 rural routes, over which carriers travel 550.U00 miles, delivering mall to about D,000,000 peo ple. More tbau 16,u00 bridges have been constructed over streams that would not have been built if it had not been for the establishment of the free delivery system. Nearly every portion of the country where road con ditions will warrant it is now supplied with this service. Hut In many sec tions the bad condition of the roads or the lack of bridges prevents the exten sion of the service. "Under the road laws of most of the western states at the present time work is done upon the roads in the fall by the various rosd districts, when there Is uo work to be done on the farms. In the spring this work disappears. Nothing permanent remains, and the roads are In as bad condition or worse thau they were before. The cost of $2,000 to SO,OOO a mile for the con struction of hard roads lu this western country is too great in moat instances for road districts, townships and comi ties to bear; neither is it right that they should bear the entire cost. The pub lic at large, which shares directly or indirectly in the benefits, should con tribute to the expense. "There never will be good roads In this country until the uatloual govern ment takes the Initiative in this move ment and the respective states of the Union join in with liberal contribu tions and this agnln Is supplemented by local enterprise. Continental Eu rope, England and Ireland are covered with hard, broad pikes built at the ex pense of the governments of IhoMe countries. No country in the world ever yet had or ever will have perma nent and passable highways construct ed and maintained by local authority. "Sixty per cent of the population of 'Ms country lives In the cities and vil lages: 40 per cent lives lu the country. It is not fair or just to place the entire burden of good roads upon the shoul ders of the farmer. The general pub lie sliures directly or indirectly In the benefits anil should liear the expense of au equitable tax for this purpose on all assessable values. The weight of It upon the individual would then be as light as a summer shadow. While this specter of taxation may frighten some of our skittish country friends and cause them to rear and plunge a little, they will And on closer Inspection that the goblin lu a harmless creation of the lniHgtnatiou. They will get back in benefits ten times more than they will pay out in taxes." ROAD CONSTRUCTION. dilr Competent OMclal* Should Have Charge ml the Work. The value of good roads as compared with poor ones is becoming more and more a predated. There are numerous cases, however, of attempts at road improvement involving the expenditure of money and labor where the results obtained are anything but commensu rate with what they should be, says Good Itouds Magnxine. We refer os pecluU.v to country roads under the supervision of officials wholly incom petent to build or repair them. The fact that a road is made of com mon dirt does not of necessity make it bud if constructed after modern prac tice. There is little hope of securing results desired and effecting a saving in the money or labor expended each year unless the road officials are prop erly educated to scientific methods of construction. There is great need for some method of properly educating rc'dniakers. Schools and colleges are L.ginning to realize the Importance of the road ques tion and are nddiug regular courses of Instruction to their curriculum. This method of education, however, is out of the question for the present road offi cial, and therefore In electing such official to olfltre regard should be taken as to his capabilities »s a practical road builder. It has been suggested that every highway commissioner should be com pelled to puss an examination lu Im proved methods of road construction before he is showed to assume the du ties of his office. Such a law ought cer taluly to be productive of beneficial results. 'l'ae Usae. If It had the power, as It did under Cleveland, to enact any law it pleased, the Democracy would make a bud mess of It, Jtist as it did then, and plunge the country Into panic, closing shops and factories and throwing hundreds of thousands of men and women out of work. The Issue therefore, is between conservatism, us upreaeired by the He publicau party, uud rndl. allsui, us rep resented by the Democrii y.- Rochester ' Post-Express. CARNIVAL I Eagles Mere Enjoyed its An nual Boat Exhibition. ; The annual larnival at Eagles j Mere which took place last Thurs day night was a glorious success, and was witnessed by hundreds of peo ! pie on the shore of the Lake. ! The Raymond's float was a repre sentation of a wedding scene of a i magnificent order, the ceremony !»e --! ing in the act of being performed by a vested clergyman, and showing ' a charmingly gowned bride and bridesmaids. This float called forth the "()hs" and "Ahs" of the many spectators who were viewing the scene, it took first prize. | The second prize was awarded the j float of the Forest Inn, which pre j sented a May pole dance, and was ; much admired for the charming ef fect it produced. The Crestmont Inn had a novel | float in the shape of a Japenesc ship. An Indian camping scene showing : wigwam and camp tire was another ' striking float. The first prize for individual boats ; was awarded to one representing | the famous painting "Elaine" which 1 was pathetically beautiful and elici | ted much <|uiet admiration as it | looked so real that loud applause I seemed almost irreverent. 1 The second prize for individual boats was awarded to a boat with | sails woven of Japenese lanterns, and the third prize to a boat present : ing a lot of imps. Besides the boats taking prizes j there were hundreds of other pretti jly decorated boats which made a j most charming scene. HILLSGROVE. j The Williamsport Paper Company ! Base Ball Team came up to Hills j grove last Saturday, and received i the sam • old score, the Uiaiits took to the city with them: 11 to '2 in j favor of llillsgrove Now it was a nice game, but Barton was too much | for the Billtowners. They would ; step up to the plate and strike out as | fast as Johnny delivered the dope. ! They came up here the same as usual with their team padded. Only five safe hits were made off Barton anil l"i off Kranse. In last weeks issue of the items there was an article accusing the llillsgrove correspondent of being rather blue over the llillsgrove and | Forksville game. Now it is all a sorry mistake the llillsgrove team went up to give them a return game Their team playing at llillsgrove a few weeks ago and compo\ d of Forksvilleand Estella Base Ball tal ent, and were defeated by a score of 2)1 to oin a six inning game, in fa vor of llillsgrove. When the team went to Forksville to play, it was understood, that they were to play with a picked nine, and so they did. From Laquin, Lo pez, Estella, and Forksville* How is that for a padded team? Hills grove so far this season has played II games and won 7 of them; and every team and game, but one( the Giants) have been loaded with play ers outside of their own town or team players, while the llillsgrove learn plays with nothing but their own town boys. Still we do not kick. What glory is there in a team defeating another team if they use a lot of picked players from all over? James (iansel of LaPorte with a large crew of Jnien is building the abutments for the Railroad bridge, at this place. The road is now com pleted within a mile of this place. Mrs. (ieorge (Jesler and daughter, and Miss. Flanigan of Ralston are visiting at Edward Flynns. H. Green spent Saturday and Sunday at Eagles Mere and Soncs town. Mrs. Wood of Newark, N. J. is visiting her brother Edward 110l- I comb at tbis place. Atty. Win. Shoemaker of LaPorte was transacting business in town last week. Mrs. E. E. Mecum of William sport is the guest of Mrs. ('. W. Saddler. John Barton will play with the 75 TS. PER YEAR I Austin Huso Hall team at Towanrla j on Thursday. The Silver Slippers took the Will iamsport Paper mill H. C. into camp on the local diamond to the tune of 11 and 2 in favor of Hillsgrow. on Saturday last in a game full of feat ures from start to finish. We men tion a sensational pick-up l»y Barton and the numerous hard long hits by Darby. Lucas and Rinker. The line up was as follows: Hillsgrove Paper Mill Co. Wood ley s. s. Hoffnagle 1 b. Rinker 2 b. Colhane c. Harrington 8 b. Hupert 8 b. Morris 1. 112. Wenner 2 It. Mcßrhle 1 b. liable e. 112. J. Morris e. Robbing 1. 112. Lucas r. 112. Smith r. 112. Darby c. 112. Shaffer s. s. Barton p. Knauss p. The score by innings: 12 8 456789 Silver Slippers, 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 1 x 11 Paper Co. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Rimed runs Silver Slippers 5, Pa per Co. o. Struck out by Barton 18, Knauss 5. "The Silver Slippers from the tan bark" played a little game at Forks ville recently, which found its way into the Review, and also resulted in cementing ties of triendly respect between the Silver Slippers and the sports of Forksville. We certainly enjoyed the kind hospitality of Forksville and we liked the way in which the Potter brothers earnc' ' - money. We can readily » s'"" *>e elasticity of the scribe'-" ■ c "• , w remember that it coSt Rie ...... ville management to imagine that they got their earned runs of the gentlemen with the metal sandals. We will play the last game of the series soon and w ill furnish ourObe diali with material for a printers battle that will make the gifted pen from the land of buckwheat be good for a while. Wallace Vroman and family were guests at Cnityville the last of the week. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Darby of Kidg way are guests of Mr. and Mrs. J. 11. Hoffman. w SONESTOWN. Mrs. Alex lless and Mary Fair man did shopping in Williamsport Friday. Mable Ila/.en was in Williamsport Thursday. The Sunday School picnic will oc cur August 25, at Eagles Mere. Among those who will attend the S. S. convention at Lopez are Rev. J. (). lliggs, Mr. B. (J. Welsh and Myrtle Edgar. Ray and Pearl Weed of William sport have been visiting relatives here. A. Edgar was in Williamsport Monday. A fishing party consisting of E. J. anil 11. D. , Lock wood and A. L. Sheets camped at Hunters Lake last week. Taylor and Erma Armstrong and Mesdamcs Sheets, Lockwnod and Edgar drove over on Friday and returned with some tine pike besides other fish. Foresman Calvert of Williaiiisport was in town Sunday. The young ladies of this place and Muncy Valley united to give a leap year party Saturday evening, and it was a grand success in every way. Each girl having invited a young man, escourted him to the house and showed him the most careful and polite attention throughout the evening. The home of Mrs. Alex Hess was thrown open for the occa sion and every one seemed to enjoy himself most thoroughly, games and music being the entertainment pro vided. The supper was dainty and tastefully served, the table being decorated with sweet peas, and an abundance of silver added to the effect. The menu consisted of cold meats, salads, biscuit, olives, pickles, cake and ice cream. Among those present were the Misses Magargle, Fairman, Hall, Hess, Hazen, Edgar, Keeler. Houseknecht, Taylor, Dono van, Minuier and Johnson, and Messrs. Weed, Herman, Swank, Hall, Green, Oherrender, Lorah, Parker, Myers, Hess, Deitrick.Krum and Calvert. The entire party had their pict ures taken by a photographer in town.