"FARMERS' ROADS."
A MATTER OF 'IMPOUTAJfCR TO
TILiLKKS UK 1 lit. SOIL,.
United States Department of Agri
culture Takes It 1p Macadam
and Telford Systems Model
North Carolina Ronds,
THE United States Department
of Agriculture has token up
the matter of "farmers'
6 roads." avers the Chicago
lU'cor3, and ltoy Stone, an engineer
of the department, believes that farm
ers can build good roads without im
poverishing themselves. On this sub
, ject Engineer Stone says :
"In the first place the road that will
best suit the needs of the farmer must
Hot be too costly ; in the second place
it mtiBt be of the very best kind, for
the farmer should be able to do his
heavy hauling over it when his fields
nre too wet to work and his teams are
free. The road that would seem to
fill the farmer's need, all thiugs con
sidered, is a solid, well-bedded stone
toad, so narrow as to be only a single
track, but having au earth track along
side. ' "A fine, dry, smooth dirt track is
the perfection of roads; it is easy on
the horses' feet and legs, easy on the
ehiole and free from noise and jar.
It holds snow better than gravel or
stone and requires less snow to make
sleighing, and where such a road has
a stone road alongside to take the
travel in wet weather it will sudor
hardly any appreciable wear.
, "The stone road, on the other hand,
wears by the grinding of the wheels
and the chipping of the horses' calks
in dry weather more than in wet. If
it can be saved this wear for an aver
age of six months in each year, so
much will be clear gain.
"The questions raised regarding this
method of construction are : Can the
junctions of the earth and stone see-
not to have a jog in passing from one
to the other, and can the meating and
passing of loaded teams be provided
for?"
Mr. Stone eitcd the condition of the
Cauandaigua (N. V.) roads as evidence
that there is no sign of division be
.twoen the earth and stone, and added
that those who use these roads say that
no difficulty is found in the passing
of teams, since practically : no two
teams ever turn out at exactly the
same spot, and no rutting of the earth
toad occurs.
The League of American Wheelmen
baa taken up the cause of good roads,
and men who are accustomed to feel
the uublio pulse say that good roads
will soon be a dominant issue in State
A JIECKLENBURO COUNTY
and National politios. What bicycle
riders are doing at present was done
by the horseless vehiole men of Eng
land in 1831, when their agitation re
sulted in the appointment of a com
mittee of the House of Commons "to
inquired into and to report upon the
proportion of tolls whieh ought to be
imposed npon coaches and other ve
hicles propelled by steam or gas upon
torn pike roads."
It was just about this time that
James Macadam, Road Surveyor, and
Thomas Telford, President of the In
stitution of Civil Engineers, with their
adherents, were engaged in a oontro
versary regarding the relative moriti
of "Muoadam" and "Telford" roads.
Up to that time England's best roads
were the remains of the old Roman
roads, bnt Macadam and Telford be
gan an era of road building, eaeh af
ter his own kind, which brought Eng
lish roads to a high state of develop
ment and made those two engineers
famons as the originators of the two
systems which to-day bear their names.
SECTION Or TELFORD HOAD.
The macadam road has the earth
graded and rollen for its foundation.
The prinoiples laid down by Macadam
were as follows ; It is the natural soil
which really snpports the weight of trav
el ; while it is preserved in a dry state
it will carry any weight without sink
ing. This native soil must previously
be made quite dry and a oovering as
much impenetrable to lain as possible
mast then be plaoed over it to pre
serve it in that dry state. That the
thiokness of a road should only be reg
ulated by the quantity of material
necessary to form snob impervious
covering and never by any referenoe
to its own power of carrying weight.
These prinoiples,' modified in some
reipecU, govern the making of a mac
adam roadway to-day. The natural
earth fonndation is graded an that the
crve of the foundation will bo par
Uol to the curve pf the surface of the
toawaj when completed. The earth
t;-ii-oa i tolled tad rtrolledva-
... ,.,! zjwviwmm imiMK &
der a heavy roller until the earlu It
firm, compact and even.
On both sides of the roadway exca
vations are made for the drains. In
the bottom of the ditch thus made
tiling is laid, covered with hay, straw
or some such filtering material, and
HKCTION OF MACADAM flOAD.
over it is laid broken stone in such a
manner that water will easily find its
way down to the tile.
Sometimes, instead of tiling, bundles
of rods or straight limbs of trees,
bound together fagot fashion, are laid
in the bottom of the drains instead of
tiles. This is a cheaper construction,
but is not regarded so good as the
U-shaped tiling.
When the roadway has been graded
and rolled and the drains have been
built the first layer of broken stone is
put on the rolled surface of the eatth
foundation. This layer is about six
inches deep, and consists of broken
stone, no piece too large to pass
through a ring of two and one-naif
inches insido diameter.
When this layer is evenly spread
over the foundation the roller is again
brought into use, and the stone layer
is rolled until it is firm and compaot.
The stone is cprinkled with water be
fore the roller is passed over it, and
sometimes clean, sharp sand is sprin
kled over the stone.
The second layer, thick enough to
bring the stone bed up to ten inches,
is next spread on and rolled, and then
top layer of clean gravel or stone
chipping is put on and rolled. Care
is taken that the gravel shall not be
waterworn, with smooth, round cor
ners, for this is injurious to the road
way. The Telford road differs materially
from the macadam, for it has a foun
dation of stones laid down singly, with
the broad side down, and the spaces
between the stones filled with smaller,
rough, wedge-Bhaped stones driven in
(olid.
Orig'nally the Telford foundation
was "convexed" by laying the largest
stones to form the crown in the oenter
of the roadway and then grading down
to the gutters with smaller stones, but
this prnctice is no longer followed, for
the earth is graded to form the crown
as it is done in a macadam road.
The earth foundation is well rolled
and then the sub-pavement is laid on
with the lung side of the stone set
transversely. lietween these stones
stone chips are packed firmly and then
broken stone is placed over the sub
pavement in two layers, the first layer
1. Mli.tSL
(NOIITH CAROLINA) B.OAD.
being rolled and packed before the
seoond is laid on.
This layer of broken stone forms
the intermediate course, for the sur
face is made of stone broken in smaller
pieoes and packed under a light roller.
Sand is swept over the surfaoe and in
other rolling with a heavier roller
oompletes the pavement. The sand is
moistened and tho rolling is continued
until the sand can no longer be driven
in between the broken stone. Drains
are laid, as they are for macadam
roads, before the sub-pavement is
built.
A simple experiment, which can be
made with any wheel, will show why
a smooth, hard-surfaced road makes
hauling easy for a horse. On each a
road the roadway is tangent to the
oireumferenoe of the wheel. The wheel
stands on the immediate point of con
taot, and there is no obstacle over
which the wheel must be lifted. On
a sandy or loose, soft earth road the
wheel sinks into the roadway. To
draw the wheel forward the earth be
fore its track must be displaeed or
passed over, so that a horse, in addi
tion to the force it must exert to draw
the load, must use extra force to over
come the obstacle in the path of the
wheel.
In Meo'iloubnrg County, North
Carolina, tho systematic improvement
of roads has made progress lor nearly
fifteen years. The general plan
adopted wos to start at the oity limits
of the county seat and to grade aud
maoadam all public roads from this
point out toward the township and
oounty limits. Those roads have a
width of forty feet for the first two
miles from the oity limits and beyond
this point a width of thirty-six feet.
The average oost of these roads, in
cluding the uiaoadawizing and grad
ing, is about $2001) a mile. The effi
ciency of the roads is shown by the il
lustration, oopied lrom a photograph.
The wagon loaded with twelve bales
of cotton weighs 01)00 pounds, and
each of the other three wagons is
loaded with a oord of wood.
Muoh of the road building in this
oounty is done by cenvints. The av
erage number of oouvioU omployed is
about eighty, and the average oost of
this labor per oonviot, including food,
olotbing, medioal attention and guards,
la from twenty to twenty-two oents a
dra -
lie rat of twMtt Is tij CZ$J
is eighteen cents on 1100 worth ot
property. In addition eaoh township
levies' a tax varying from seven to fif
teen cents on each 8100 worth of
property. The law requires all able
bodied citizens along the publlo roads
to labor four days of each year on the
public roads or to pay fifty cents a
day in lieu thereof.
This class of labor is used indepen
dent of the convict labor, principally
in the work of grading or in the gen
eral repairs of those roads or portion!
of them npon which the convict force
is not engaged.
STEAM. HEATIKU.
Itccent Advance In This System of
Warming Residences.
With its many early imperfections
steam heating was slow in coming into
favor, and there are to-day many
wot thy persons who hold a rooted
aversion to it, based npon unhappy
experience. It is not difficult to under
stand tho reason for this when one
visits a building equipped with a steam
heating appar.itus of a score or more
years ago. The temperature is scarce
ly even bearable, for with the steam
turned ou tho rooms beoome torrid J
if it is turned oil they beoome frigid,
and there seems to be no happy me
dium. Added to this very vital objec
tion, when the steam is first admitted
to tho radiators, one might as well live
rEiwrgcnvg view.
in a boilershop. The thumping and
clanging is enoughto craze a person of
nervous susceptibilities.
In view of the splendid results that
are now obtained in steam-heating, it
is needless to say that these faults are
not due to the system, but to the)
ignorant application of it. Where!
the heat cnunot be properly and per-"
fectly regulated there has been no
soieutitlo adjustment of heating sur
face to the onbio dimensions of the
room, lu many buildings that have
been equipped with the apparatus,
subsequent to their ereotion, there are
hundreds of foot of steam pipe ex
posed, beoause it was impossible to
carry them from floor to floor and
from room to room within the walls.
The radiators themselves have suf
ficient heating surface, while the steam
pipes are responsible for the over heat
ing. The architect of to-day settles
this difficulty in his plans. If the
matter is left to him, steam-heating
becomes a delight to the householder,
as it gives sure and equable tempera
ture in the utmost extreme weather,
and at a minimum of cost for fuel.
The thumping in the radiators,
which forms a prime objection to the
system in the mind of those who re
member the experimental stage of
steam-heating, is eutirely obviate d by
the use of improved apparatus. It is
oaused, of course, by the condensing
of steam in the radiators, and when
this water ii properly conducted back
into the boiler the system is as noisaless
as hot air or hot water heating.
The accompanying design is for a
country villa in which the plans call
for a simple' and inexpensive steam
heating plant.
General Dimensions : Width, through
dining-room and baok parlor, S3 ft.
0 ins. ; depth, inoluding bay window,
13 ft.
Heights of Stories : Cellar, 7 ft. ;
first story, 0 ft. ; seoond story, 9 ft.
Exterior Materials: Foundation,
stone; first and second stories, clap
boards ; band between first and seoond
stories, band nnder eaves, gables, dor
mors and roofs, shingles.
Interior Finish : Two coat plaster,
hard white finish. Flooring and trim
in hall, oak; elsewhere, N. O. pine.
Oak staircase. Kitchen walls wain
sooted. - All interior woodwork grain
tilled and finished with hard oil varnish.
Colors: All clapboards, fawn
brown. Trim, inoluding water-table,
corner boards, cornicos, etc, white.
Outside doors and coiling, oiled,
Shingles on side walls left natural for
weather ttain. Shingled roofs stained
a deep red.
Accommodations : Cellar under rear
Pi rs t Ttoor
half of house with inside and outside
entranoe. Portiere openings oonneut
hall, parlor, sitting-room and d:ning
room. Open fireplaces in hall and
dining-room. Hat and coat closet la
hall, Butler's Vaatrj, containing
I Dining R. Sitting R B
I H'XIt' is!'.. .
"l3r " "J
Pptall Parlor I
Vcr&nda V,
fc'wide IT
dresser, connects kitchen and dining
room. Portable range and sink in
kitchon. Bath-room in second story,
with full plumbing. Attio unfinished,
except for storage purposes.
i
B .' f- Bed R.
I Bed R. - H ,xiS' ,
.Second Ttoor
This house would cost about 82085
not including the heating apparatus,
range aud mantels built within 101)
miles of New York City, although in
many sections of the country tho cost
should be much less, where labor or
materials are cheaper.
lladiators should be plaoed as near
the wiudows as possible, and in all
rooms but the kitchen, including the
bath-room and lower hall. A fair es
timate for the apparatus complete,
set, would be about S2U0,
(Copyrighted 1890.)
A FEATHERED CURIOSITY.
It Is a Rooster With a Sixteen Feet
Lous; Tall.
The Japanese are a fnn-loving peo
ple and they are as full of tricks of
various kicds as an American school
boy. A writer who recently returned
from Japan tells of a queer rooster he
saw on the Mikado's Island. "The
only thing in the shape ot a live, phy
sical freak that ever came under my
observation was a common, everyday
sort of a barndoor rooster," he says.
"That rooster had a tall sixteen feet
.ft r-Vi;t T.v
ROOSTER WITH A LONO TAIL.
long and thought he was 'some pump
kins.' Nevertheless, he was a fraud, a
snare and delusion. He strutted about
with the self oomplaoeut air of a pea
cook, notwithstanding that he must
have been aware of the faot that his
tail was composed of plumes begged,
borrowed or stolen from the caudal ap
pendages ot other roosters. That tail
oertainly was a marvel of ingenuity.
The feathers were so cleverly joined
one to another as to defy deteotion,
exoept on the minutest of sorntiny.
Yet the owner of the bird could take
off and put on that wonderful tail
whenever it pleased him to do so."
Philadelphia Press.
The Largest Dam.
The largest dammed body of water
in the world will be seoured by the
building of a dam at Cloquet, Minn.,
on the St. Louis River, 000 foet long
and eighty feet high, by wbioh baok
water will be extended sixty miles.
Current Literature. .
Ureat liotauic Harden.
The botanic gardens of the Jardin
dea Plantes, Paris, inoludes about
seventy aores. The plants are all
labeled with red labels, medicinal;
green for alimentary ; yellow, for or
namental purposes blue, for art, and
blaok, for poisonous plants. Current
Literature.
MM
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Irak If
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1
WOMAN'S WEAR.
STYLISH COMniJtATIOWH ijj JAC
KETS AND WAISTS.
Handsome Outtns; Jacket of Mght
Gray Cloth A llecomlng Waist
of Lilnnn natlste New Ways
or Wearing; the "Hair.
t I J HE stylish combination por-
If trayed in the first double-col-I
urau engraving illustrates one
qT of the newest fancies of the
season. The open jackot is made of
light gray cloth, the lapels and oollar
being faced with fine suiting in "shep
herd's plaid" (black and white check)
that matches the skirt with which it is
worn. Smokod pearl buttons are used
for decoration. The fronts are deeply
faced and reversed to form long lapels
that meet the rolling oollar in notches.
They are usually worn open, but osn
be closed at the bust if so desired.
The back fits smoothly, side, back and
8TYU8H OUTING! JACKET.
underarm gores, with a onrved centre
seam securing a trim adjustment.
Plaits are laid undernealb, below the
waist line in baok, to form the fullness
now fashionable. The stylish gigot
sleeves are shaped by single seams, the
fullness at the top being laid in back
and forward turning side plaits, that
form single box plaits at the shoulder
seams. The blazer can be made from
one material in self-colored cloth or
of suiting to matoh skirt. Pockets
can be inserted in the fronts if desired,
these being omitted from all the latest
designs, inside breast pookets being
inserted in the front facings that
reach to the under arm and shoulder
seam.
The quantity of material, 44 inches
wide, required to make this jacket for
a lady having a 86-inoh bust measure
is Si yards.
A BECOMING WAIST.
The stylish waist depicted in the
second large illustration is one of the
Reason's novelties, its soft fullness and
handsome deooration making it un
usually attractive and beooming. Ecru
linen batiste is the material repre
sented, made up over green taffeta
linings and decorated with bands of
batiste embroidery and green satin
ribbon. The full fronts and baok are
joined in shoulder seams, and gath
ered in several rows of shirring around
the neok and at the lower edges in cen
tre. A full plaited basque of the
trimming is sewed to the lower edge
LADIES'
in centre. The standing oollar has a
plaited frill standing out from its up
per edge that separates in points at
front and baok. Thrse bands of batiste
embroidery decorate the fronts, the
centre one blousing slightly at the
waist. The biBhop sleeves are fash
ionably full, and are shirred top and
bottom over fitted linings of taffeta.
Straight cuffs of the Vatiste embroid
ery complete the wrists. Waists in
this style are stylishly developed from
any of the numerous weaves of fancy
silk now in vogue, with ribbon, lace,
insertion, jet or spangled passemen
terie for decoration- Rioh combina
tions are possible by the mode.
The quantity of material 44 inohes
wide required to make this basque for
a lady having 88-laou bast measure
Mi 7Uda,
Mtw ways or DUESfisa Tn BAin.
With a return to the fashions of offf
grandmammas there is also a return to
the elaborate mode of dressing the
hair. Tho plain "knot that anyone
could do has given place to an elabor
ate structure of curls and waves and
frizzes and flowers and jewels that
only an artist can accomplish, and tho .
reign of the hair dresser will soon be
gin in the land.
Speaking of tho new coiffures, o
noted French hair dresser says that for
an evening toilet waving the hair is
only accessory j for morning it is in
disnonsable. For tin t.
is raised higher on the head than last
year, wone lor evening wear it is
raised quite op on the top of the head.
In the nrettv dnsion fnr lim.
coiffure given above the bair is simply
waved an ovor tne bead and drawn
baok so that it forms hamln t th.
sides. At the back it is drawn looselv
into a Itnnt wnll fin nn fia UnmA
it is sco tired by a handiome tortoise
shell comb.
For evening wear alKsorts of hand
some accessories, jewels, flowers,
feathers, rosettes are worn, mixed with
tufts of hair. To these ate added
aigrettes worn slightly st one side.
The heir is very muoh pufled around
the head and the waving gives it a
pretty and airy effect. A stylish and
new arrangement of the hair for an
I J.
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FOR DAT AND DISNEB WEAR.
elaborate dinner or theatre party is
pictured here. It is oomposed in front
of bands, which form waved festoons
over the ears. Behind are vosettes ot
pink velvet, one upon another, form
ing an aigrette. Five onrls fall over
the shoulder at the back.
WHITE STREW WITH MliACS.
The new ribbons are wonderful In
ooloring and diversity of patterns. On
white and bright-oolored ground
' WAIST.
there are chine designs, and over these
are narrow black and white stripes or
dots. One design of purple lilacs
strewn all over a white ground, with '
one narrow white satin stripe down
eit.' er side, nearly two inohes from the
edge, is particularly pretty, but the
variety is beyond description.
KVENINO BONNET OF SF ANGLED NOT.
The home milliner has an excellent
opportunity to show her originality in
making np a variety ot bonnets for
evening wear. Spangled net is one of
the newest and most popular materials
to be employed in the make-up of
these necessary little bits of feminine
finery. Rhinestone baoklee and
bnnohea of half-blown pink rosea com
plete this simple but effeotiT littU
evening haaddxeas. '