Ras Making PROTECT THE HIGHWAYS. Thoughtless Farmers Often Guilty of Depredations on Kontls. In a Massachusetts town a farmer has been driving his harrow from one to another across a newly-built highway, with the result that the taxpayers nave had to pay for a week's work In repairing the damage done by his thoughtlesness. A ques tion 1b, are there any other farmers In any other sections who are undo ing the work accomplished In road building and are as careless of their own and neighbors' Interests aB was this man? Without wishing to bo severe, It Is believed that there are men in al most every farming community who are guilty of depredations on the rocds as bad as this. They are usual ly of the clasB which leaves farming Implements in the fence corners through tho winter, drive ill-kept horses, ubq narrow tires on their wagons, and complain of hard times. Men can not be legislated into morality or decency, but they can be mulcted if they carry things too far against the interests of society. And, as road Improvement is extended, it seems that farmers' organizations and granges might do much to save the money expended in this direc tion by establishing a code that would at least send to Coventry the man who needlessly damages the highways. Cities, as well as the rural dis tricts, have trouble along this line. "How can we have good pavements?" was the despairlngexclamation of the Mayor of one of our largest muni cipalities to a protesting delegation, "whei every morning an army of 3, 000 men start out to rip them up." If the pavements in cities were left undisturbed during their natural lifetime it would Inure to the reputa tion of the contractor and to the comfort and financial interest of thp taxpayer. Hut permits to dig up paved streets seem to be easily ob tainable under most of our city gov ernments. What Is everybody's business Is said to be nobody's business, and it scenn an easy corollary to assume that public property Is public plun der. In private affairs prudence is re garded a virtue, why should It not bt so regarded In community mat ters? Why should so many people seem to think that they themselves are not a part of general public and, therefore, that they have no personal Interest In conserving public prop erty? Such people seem, In a meas ure, to expatriate themselves. Good Koads Notes. Start with a system. Take the worst places first. Dispense with the "thank you marms" and put In culverts Instead. Grade the hills and protect the ditches. Put in permanent bridges and cul verts. Keep gravel and stone roads al ready built in perfect repair. Grade up the roads in flats as much as possible. Secure an engineer occasionally, don't guess. Give the earth road drag a fair trial, and use it when the roads are thoroughly wet. Put clay and sand together; they do better together than by them selves. Forget that you have been elected by a party or will run again. Build roads, not a political machine. What you do, do well. The most expensive way is often the cheapest in the end. Encourage first yourself and then your neighbor to buy wide tired wagons. Always repair a road with mate rial of the same kind as that of tho road Itself. Keep the ditches, culverts, and un derdrains clean and in working con ditions at all times. It Is not enough to build them well. They must be kept clean to be effective. Never put sod on the travelled way. Do your road work as early in the season as possible. SIMPLE LOG DRAG. Arkansas' Banner County. It is stated that Sebastian County, Arkansas, has more Improved roads than any other county of the State, except perhaps the more wealthy county of Pulaski. In the Fort Smith district, there are now twenty-two miles of macadam road alone. Tho Money System. Out of the 900 towns In tho State of Now York, 600 have voted to have their roads b'uilt under the Fuller-Plank Act, or, as It is general ly called, tho money system. The matter Is now optional with the towns, but in the opinion of persons who have given the matter consid erable attention the Idea rot makings t COmnuliOrV J" fovnrort.. lid1 l V NOVEL SAVINGS BANK. Combined with Clock Which Cannot Be Wound Until Coin Is Deposited. One of the recent novelties pater tod is a combined clock and savings 'bank designed by a Chioago man. Why a savings bank and a clock should be combined will not at once be appar ent. The Idea would seem ridiculous, as those two articles have no apparent relationship. Tho purpose of tho in ventor has merely been to increase the usefulness of the savings bank and assure that it will be constantly employed. He accomplishes this by A Novel Savings Bank Clock. requiring tno deposit of a coin In the bank before the clock can be wound. Unless the coin is deposited the clock becomes useless. The amount of the coin deposited is controlled by the size of the slot In the savings bank. The number of deposits can also be increased by requiring a daily wind ing of the clock. In this way a cer tain sum must be added to the bank each day previous to each winding of the clock. After the clock has been wound and the key removed the me chanism assumes its normal position so that the clock cannot be wound again without the deposit of a coin. UNIQUE VIOLIN. Addition of Horn Which Greatly In creases Quality and Volume. Improvements In musical instru ments are very rare in fact, so much so as to be at once noticeable. Tho latest is shown in the illustration be low, invented by r. Wisconsin man. Tltis instrument is in many respects like the ordinary violin, having strings, tuning pegs, etc., and is play ed with a bow. Tho addition is made of a portion of a horn, the latter sorv- Unique Combination Violin. lng to increase the volume of sound and also to preservo its purity. The sounds are collected by the born be fore they emerge from the violin, and are emitted In an even, smooth tone not ragged nor disconnected, as is often the case with the ordinary vio lin. As with a graphophone, the horn increases the volume of the notes many times. The inventor, a musician, claims that this instrument cannot be equalled for solo work and also orchestra music. Novel Kitchen Utensil. An inventor in Chicago' has devised a frjing pan with a cover which may be raised, whenever it is desired to examine the contents of the pan, without danger of burning one's fin gers. The cover is formed with an extension, which passes through the handle of the pan. A thumb piece is attached to this extension, and passes Cover For Frying Pans. vertically through to the upper eldo of the handle. The cover may then be opened by depressing the thumb piece. Hinged to the handle Is a catch, whloh may be swung over the thumb piece to hold the latter' in its depressed position when it is desired to keep the cover of the pan open. Mleilnn Opportunities. "I have no patience with a man who makes the same mistake twice," said Armes, rather severely, In speaking of an unforunate friend. "Neither 'hatvo sgraed bis wife, jwhen there iare so,ima'nj, other mis stake's to make." ' -1 MM JACK. THE ACID THROWER CAUGHT Chas. Cooper, Arrested in Balti more, Says He Was Driven by Irresistible Impulse PERVERT USED A SYRINGE Police Found Bottle of Acid In His Pockets Accused Railroad Fire man Said to Have Admitted He Made Attacks on Fifty Women. Baltimore, Md. That he is con trolled by an Irresistible Impulse to go among the women that throng Balti more's fashionable shopping section', and that when he sees an attractive young woman he must squirt acid on her, Is the confession of "Jack the Acid Thrower," captured by detectives after a hunt lasting a year. The man is Charles Cooper, thirty one years old, married, and a railroad locomotive fireman. When at work Cooper is as good a fireman as runs on tne Western Maryland, making as high as $90 a month, but he says he spent every hour he had off where women congregate. He says an Im pulse would seize him to dash sul phuric acid on women or girls and he was not content until he had done so. Then he would forget all about it. The police have reports from thirty- three victims. Cooper himself, ac cording to the police, acknowledges the number may be fifty. The favorite method of the man has been to edge up to a young woman in a crowd and squirt the fluid on her stockings or dress, burning holes In the skirt or going through the hols ery and burning the limb. He had two syringes and a bottle of acid on him when arrested. Three bottles o( acid were found in tho cellar of hla home. The police has had a description ol the man from his many victims, but never were able to come up with him. He has terrorized tho women of tho city for a year. Tho mention of his name would throw school children into a panic. For over a week Captain of Detec tives Puinphroy has had Detectives Coughlih and Pohler at work in an at tempt to round up tho acid thrower. With only a meager description of tho man the detectives were ordered to drop all other cases and to work night and day until they captured the offender. Since that time the pair have loitered In all parts of the city in which the acid throwing crimes have been committed until they caught the man. As tho detectives were nearlng Howard street, on Lex ington, they spied a tall, slim man, who seemed to bo watching carefully individual women in the crowd of shoppers. The man sauntered up to a woman who stood In the doorway of No. 223 West Lexington street Inspecting a show window. At the time the de tectives were on the north side of Lexington street, and they watched from their side of the street. Care fully the man neared the woman, and as he gained her side he dropped to one knee as if to button his shoe. The alert eyes of the two watchers, how ever, saw tho man suddenly slip his right hand into his trousers pocket and quickly withdraw it again, at the same time bringing his hand up near the skirt of the unsuspecting woman, who stood calmly gazing into the store window. Both men realized thnt it was their time to act, and they dashed across tho street as the man rose to his full height again and walked out of the doorway toward Howard street, the woman a second later moving down the street In an easterly direction. Detective Pohler seized tho man while Detective Coughlin slipped into the crowd to call back the woman but she had disappeared in the throng, As Pohler seized the prisoner he let out a loud cry and attempted to throw Into the street something which he held In his right hand. Pohler was too quick for him, however, and seiz ing the man In a grip of steel ho forced the hand open and found a syringe. Detective Coughlin had Join ed his comrade in the meantl'ne, and without giving the man a chance to reach his pockets again the detectives hurried him down Lexington street to Park avenue and thence to detective headquarters. A bottle partially filled with acid, a second syringe and the metal portion of a third Instrument were found in his pockets. FISHING FOR FOWLS. With Hooks and Lines Farmer Angles for Wild Ducks. Petersburg, Ind. John A. Grlm wood, who lives near White River, knows where the wild geese and ducks feed and has quit hunting for them with a gun. Instead ho fishes for them by tying fly hooks on a trot line. He baits the hooks with corn. A number of these trot lines are laid In shallow water in the submerged-corn fields of the White River bottoms. Strings of shelled corn are then run from the lines out into the fields, and the dueled follow tip this loose corn until finally they come to the baited books and are caught Grimwood has been do successful In catching ducks that nearly all the hunters franvthls city are preparing !lrte$.- They will quit shooting anil to fishing for wild game. HOME DRESSMAKING Br CharUtt Marti. DRE83 FOR A LITTLE GIRL. Pattern No. 454. This is one of the prettiest little dresses of the season. The yoke and sleeves are made of sago green cashmere braided with black soutache. The rest of the dress la navy blue flannel, trimmed with black braid. The fronts lap over and fasten with one largo gilt button. Cut in 3 sizes, 4, 6 and 8 yrs. Size G requires 2 3-4 yds. of 36 inch ma terlal. AN UP-TO-DATE SHIRTWAIST. Pattern No. 417. This new model waist closes in the front and has wide tucks giving the appearance of box pleats at each side of front and back. The cuffs are turned back on a wide band with buttonholes through both band and cuff. Hand embroidery is used on both the collar and cuffs. Cut in 6 sizes, 32 to 42 bust meas ure. Size 36 requires 3 1-4 yds. of 36 Inch material. A FITTED UNDERGARMENT. Pattern No. 429. This garment closes down the side front and fits quite closely in the back and at the sides. The front gore Is flaring, giv ing extra fullness at the lower edge of the front Finished with button hole stitched edges and beading tho design is very pleasing. Cut In 3 sizes, 32, 36 and 40 bust measure. Size 36 requires 3 14 yds. of 36 inch material. HOW TO ORDER PATTERN8 Send ten cents for each pattern de sired to Charlotte Martin, 402 W. 23d Street, New Y.i-V Give No. of pnt tern and size wanted. SCISSORS 8MJIM'IWHU Simple Device Does the Work With out Skilled Labor. Sharpening a pair of scissors has always been considered to properly belong to an expert An Indiana In ventor decided that a device could bo readily made by whloh the sharpening could be readily accomplished by any one. Ho, accordingly, designed the device shown here, by which scissors Indiana Inventor's ScissorB Sharpener. can be sharpened without entailing the employment of skilled labor. It comprises a base, which is clamped to a table or other support On the base is a sharpening stone or other suitable abrasive material, while at the opposite end is an upright arm from which depends a movable clamp. The scissors are held In correot posi tion over the stone by means of the clamp. The latter Is then moved back and forth along tho arm, thus moving the blade of tho scissors across the sharpening stone. Whore scissors are employed to a great extent this simple means of sharpening the dull blades should prove both valuable and econo mical. Sliding Float for Balt-Castlng. Sliding floats for use with a bait casting rod are not in the tackle stores, but any angler can make one. Take two bottle corks, one and a quarter inch size; mako a hole through each and slip them on a quill, using shoemakers' wax hot for ce ment. Cut quill off even with cork and push a bead down into small end of it until the bead is on a level with outside. Work the cork down to pear shape, the bead In tho small end; smooth with sandpaper and paint. Make a figure 8 loop in a cotton string by forming loop and putting ends through twice, and slip this loop on the reel line. Draw it tight enough to stay in position firmly, but lose enough to slide on line by pressure of the fingers. To rig the tackle, set the knot on reel line at the depth you want to fish, slip the float on line, bead end first, then adjust sinker and leader as usual. When the line is reeled up for tne cast the float runs up on the line and stops at the sink er. When the cast is made the float returns to the knot on the line. Use rial A Good Sliding Float With Casting Rod. as much lead as the float will carry. Have the rod equipped with large, smooth guides. Charles Carroll, Na tional Military Home, Ohio. The Difficulty. Mrs. Watson, a woman whose pre tensions to beauty nature flatly re fused to assist in any way, saw in a shop-window a bonnet, the sort of thing that a modiste in town calls a "creation," just a knotting of velvet, a fold of lace and pink roses, but a snare for feminine vanity because it looked so simple and easy to wear. She hurried in, examined it closely, inquired the price, and at last tried It on. Then, after a few moments of disappointed staring, she took it off again. "I don't think I'll have It, after all, Miss Demmon," she said. "What do you suppose is the matter with the thing? I'm sure it looked ever so much prettier in the window." "But, my dear madam," answered the milliner, with quick conviction, "You must remember that you have your face to contend with now!" Growth of Boys and Girls. At five years of age boyh are main ly taller than girlB, but the girls ap pear to equal them at the seventh year, and continue thus up to and in cluding the ninth year, after which the boys liso again above the girls for two years. At about twelve years the girls suddenly become taller than the boys, continuing until the fifteenth year, when the boys finally regain their superiority In stature. After the age of seventeen there seems to be very little, If any, increase in the stature of girls, while boys are still growing vigorously at eighteen. Boys have a larger lung capacity than girls at all ages. The difference is not so large from six to thirteen, but sub- ...... ,1,,. i...r,.-, 'TWOCn t'.IC rexes increasen vnrv rnnldlv 11"; or fwn i (r JIHTZR 1 SOME OUT OF DATE THBOMES. To Keep Up with Science not at All Easy for the Lay Mind. To the lay mind It 1b very discon certing to see the kaleidoscopic changes that are continually taking place In all branches of science. Wo have no sooner accepted the nebular hypothesis as one of the ultlmato laws of nature than the geologist on the one hand and tho mathematician on the other toll us that It will have to be abandoned. One generation of naturalists dc ltgnis un by teaahlng us to believe tnat every coral inland is built from the bottom of the ocean by the accu mulated remains of millions of gen erations of polyps and the next would have us believe that tney are morely the caps of oceanic mountains. For a century tho very foundation on which chemistry was built was tho doctrine that the mass, the total amount of things in the universe, was unchangeable, but now more chemists doubt it than believe It. Sixty years ago Adam Smith was thought to have said all but the last word on economics, and his principle of lalssex-falre was tho holy of holies, but now laissez-faire has been aban doned and only a single one of his laws remains unchallenged. So it Is in all lines, theories of in heritance, of chemical affinity, of dis ease, of health, of life, of death all come and go so rapidly that wo can scarcelykeop pace with the procession. When we look Into any specialized phase of a subject tho host of ever changing theories simply bewilders any but the extreme specialist The interesting part of it is that the man of science is the very one who is not worried by these shifting sands. He is too busy using the vari ous theories to accomplish things. He seems to think no more of discard ing one theory for another than he does of taking up a larger tost tube or beaker or of adjusting his micro scope to a different power. Gum-Pickers at Work. Picking spruce gum and selling it to chewing gum manufacturers is a source of income for a great many men In tho Adirondacks and othur northern forests guides and small farmers while others make It a bus iness the year through. Tho gum ap pears on tho tree trunks like drops of wax. Tho gatherer, armed with a long polo, on the end of which is fastened a can and a sharp chisel, cuts loose the chunks of gum, which fall into the can, and are transferred to a basket or bag. The gatherers in winter will travel on snow-shoes ten or fifteen miles through the forest, sleeping at night in some old hunter's deserted shack. There are three kinds of spruce in tho Adirondacks red, black and white. The best gum is gathered --.nv'o-'l of tho white spruce. The rarest of tho gums is the "blis ter," which Is translucent and turns biuo aiter being chawed. After being scraped, washed and brightened, It sells for one dollar and fifty cents a pound. There is a coarser grade, com posed of blister scrapings, mixed with particles of bark. Placed on trays of cotton cloth in a staam tank, tho gum is drawn out, and yields the producer fifty cents a pound, forming the ordi nary chewing gum of commerce. Some manufacturers adulterate tho gum with paraffin rosiu and chicle. Some yoars ago, an old gum-gatherer of Cranberry Lake lost twenty-three bags of gum by the splitting of his boat. It was never recovered. Real Cold. An American and a Scotsman were discussing the cold experienced in winter in the north of Scotland. "Why, it's nothing at all compared to the cold weather we have In the States," said the American. "I can recollect one winter when a sheep, jumping from a hillock into a field, became suddenly frozen on the way and stuck In the air like a mass of ice." "But, man," exclaimed the Scots man, "the law of gravity wouldn't al low that!" "I know that," replied the tale pitcher. "But tho law of gravity was. frozen, too!" A Use for the Dish Mop. The best thjng to clean a gas or gasoline stove is a string dish-mop. It Is effective and saves your flngeri and finger nails. Finger-Developing Device. A recent Invention provides a de vice which may be applied to the hands of a piano player to develop the muscles of tho fingers individually, so that the fingers may be able to strike the notes with a uniform blow. The device consists of a wrist band which supports a series of rods, provided at their opposite ends with pads adapt ed to rest on the knuckles. Hinged to each one of these rods Is a short arm connected at its outer end to a stem projecting from a ring slipped Finger-Developing Device, over the finger. A series of weights in tho form of washers are adapted to be slipped over the stem, thereby permitting tho operator to adjust the weight on each particular finger. Thus if one of bis fingers Is weaker than the rest, it Is fitted with a heavier weight, so that in time tho muscles will be devoloped to such an extent as to mako it as strong aB the rest of the lingers.
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