Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1911 — Page 3

The American Home

WILLIAM A. RADFORD

Editor

Mr. William A. Radford will answer questions and give advice FREE OF COST pn all subjects pertaining to the subject of building, for Oie readers of this paper. On account of his wide experience as Editor, Author and Manufacturer, he Is, without doubt, the highest authority on all these subjects. Address all inquiries to William A. Radford, No. 178 West Jackson boulevard, Chicago, Hl., and only enclose two-cent stamp for reply.

What we need in houses is more pleasing exteriors and more convenient interiors. I like to notice the houses as I pass along a country road. Some look very comfortable and homelike, but/there are too many of the other kind—bare, neglected-look-ing places, and uninviting, not because of cheapness, bue because they lack care and the inspiration born of refinement. In town and in the country I see both old and new houses that I would not care to enter, just because the outside appearance is not attractive. An architect can draw a good design and a builder can put it up in thorough workmanlike manner, but after it is finished and the family moves in, unless real good common sense moves with the family, the neighbors will be inclined to admire the fine house from a distance. Then there are a good many freak houses, houses that are built to suit some one with a fad or fancy of their own. The fellows have been experimenting, which is very costly work. When a man decides to build a house he should remember that the modern dwelling as it is built today by the best talent in the building line is the composite work of one inventor after another for thousands of years. A man must have an extraordinary opinion of his own ability who will deliberately step very far outside of the beaten path, worn as it is by such a succession of architects and builders. There is only one right way for a man who is unfamiliar with building

operations to manage, and that is to employ a man to draw his plans who has spent years in studying architecture and making house plans, a man who knows how to take advantage of materials and how to lay out the space to the. best advantage. It requires a great deal of experience just to read a plan correctly after it is drawn. Plans are drawn to a scale that is easy to understand, but there is not one novice in a thousand who can look at a plan and get a correct idea of the real size, dimensions and accessibility of the different rooms. He may know in a crude sort of way that a quarter of an inch on the plan

represents a foot on the finished work, but unless he is accustomed to a uniform exaggeration of that kind he is sure to feel disappointed in some particular when the house is built. The matter of specifications is just as important as the drawings. There • are a great many little things to specify in making a contract that a person unaccustomed to such work will never think of. A person might possibly find a contractor liberal enough to do all the thinking, supply all the brains and take a crude plan and turn out a satisfactory job. But It wouldn’t happen that way more than one time tn a million. Con-

tractors are in business to make money; that is all right enough, nobody objects to a contractor making a fair profit, what you want to guard against is an unfair profit. The only way of letting a contractor know exactly what you Want is to have it specified both in the drawings and in the contract. A man may study a plan a long time and think he knows all about it, but while the house is going up he can always find room for improvement. This leads to altera-

tions, which are generally expensive. The house shown here is well adapted for construction in the country on a large lot. It has a frontage of forty-one feet and a length of fiftysix feet and contains ample room for most any family. On the first floor the noticeable feature is the large reception hall. On the right of this is the living room and also the sit-

ting room, in each of which Is a fireplace. There is also a kitchen of large dimensions. On the second floor there are five bedrooms, each accessible from a central hallway. The closet room is also generous.

POE STIFLED HIS WELCOME

Mechanical Actions of Distinguished Guest Astonished Servant, Host and the Other Visitors. Todd, who had opened the door silently and crept In, laid his hand on his master’s shoulder. “Marse George, can I speak to you a minute?” he whispered. The boy looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Speak to me! Why haven’t you taken my message, Todd?” . "Yes, sah —dat Is—can’t ye step in de hall a minute, Marse George—now —right away?” “The hall! —what for? —is there anything the matter?” St. George rose to his feet and followed Todd from the room. Something, evidently, had gone wrong—something demanding instant attention, or Todd wouldn’t be scared out of his wits. Several minutes passed: Again the door swung wide, and a man, deathly pale, erect, faultlessly dressed in a full suit of black, the coat buttoned close to his. chin, his cavernous eyes burning like coals of fire, entered on St. George’s arm and advanced toward the group. Every guest was on his feet in an instant. "We have him at last!” cried St. George in his cheeriest voice. "A little late, but doubly welcome. Mr. Poe, gentlemen." ' Kennedy was the first to extend his hand, Horn crowding close, the others waiting their turn. Poe straightened his body, focussed his eyes on Kennedy, shook his extended hand gravely, but without the slightest sign of recognition, and repeated the same cold greeting to each guest in the room. He spoke no word —did not open his Ups—only the mechanical movement of his outstretched hand—a movement so formal that it stifled all exclamations of praise on the part of the guests or even of wet come.—Scribner’s Magazine.

FOR TRACK GRADING

MECHANICAL DEVICE THAT DOES AWAY WITH LABOR, Idea of Duluth Man Means Great Saving 4n Expense of Building Rall- / roads—Method Is Simple, but * Highly Efficient. While machines have been steadily taking the place of ordinary labor-

It consists of a self-propelled car, from one end of which extends a 34foot trussed boom carrying the track lifting device and a carriage* on which are the shovel arms. The track lifting device consists of two traveling grappling arms which engage the ■rails at the joints and midpoints, and lift them until there is sufficient clear space beneath the ties for the shovels to operate, A battery of shovel arms is provided on each side. The battery on one side, or even the individual shovels in each battery, may be operated Independently. The shovel arms have both a lateral and vertical motion, and a joint at the point where the shovels are connected with the arms makes it possible to move them at any desired angle with the arms. This is to provide a horizontal instead of radial motion of the shovels while under the ties. In operating the car Is run out to a point where the boom overhangs a depressed portion of the track. The gripping devices are then attached to the track and raise a section of it. The shovels are pushed out, the sashes lowered until the shovels engage with

New Rival to the Track Gang.

the earth, and then are raised again, the shovels pushing the earth beneath the ties, thus completing the first stages of the operation. The empty shovels may then be operated back and forth to tamp the earth. This operation Is repeated continually, the grader moving forward on the batterylength of track it has just finished. The machine builds embankments without the use of trestle, and with but five men composing its crew, is said to be capable of doing the work of a hundred men with shovels. —Popular Mechanics.

Pensions for Horses.

The highly original will of an eccentric bachelor, Emil von Blzony, is reported from Vienna. The deceased, the brother of a well-known Hungarian deputy, was 65 years old, detested women and lived on a war footing with all his relations. In his will he bequeathed all his real and personal estate, worth about £20,000, to his twelve draft horses. As executors of the will he named the Society for the Protection of Animals at Budapest, stipulating that the interest on his property should be devoted to the care of these twelve animals, and that upon the death of one of them another aged-horse was to be taken in and cared for, so that the number of twelve might always be maintained. Hen 1 von Bizony’s relations were naturally amazed at the contents of the will, and the deputy, Herr Alusius Bizony, will dispute it. Negotiations have been commenced with the abovementioned society, and £4,000 was offered it, but refused.

“Sheep-Nose" Cars.

An interesting type of car is in use on the electric railroad running from Indianapolis to Toledo. This car is provided with a parabolic front end, commonly called a "sheep-nose.” The object of this arrangement is to reduce wind resistance when the cars are running at high speed, also to make it easier for the car to force its way through snow drifts. The frame of the car is very strongly built, and is arranged to carry a steel sheathed pilot which serves as a snow plow.

Naval Dream.

Mr. Recentmarrie—Mary, I do hope you will never have navy beans for supper again; those we had last night gave me a horrible dream. Mrs. Recentmarrie —Oh, John, lam so sorry! What was the dream? Mr. Recentmarrie—l dreamed I was captured by Captain Kidd and made to walk tiie plank.

Belgian Government Lines.

The total mileage of the Belgian government railroads on January 1, l»10, was 1,288 miles of double track and 1,410 miles of single track.

ers in most branches of work, the man with the shovel has held his. position unchallenged in the work of grading and ballasting railroad track. Now, however, a railroad builder of Duluth, Minn., has devised a machine that he believes is destined to do the work of lifting jacks and the gangs of shovelers and tampers.

TRAIN LOSES ITS WHISTLE

Odd Incident That la Believed to Mark ■J a Record, at Least on This Particular Lina. It occurred one day recently, and the passengers on the Big Sandy train are smiling yet when they think of the oddest Incident that has happened on that branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio in years. The train bound for Ashland lost its whistle while still many miles up the valley, and was forced to stop and back up almost the entire distance, looking for that whittle, which was eventually found miles away from where it was missed. The loss delayed the train five hours. It was due at Catlettsburg at five o’clock in the evening, but didn’t reach that point until ten o’clock that night. Trains have been known to lose their switchmen, their cabooses and sometimes a whole cut of cars, but never before has a Big Sandy train been known to lose its whistle. Under the law, a train may not operate without a whistle, and It was this fact that caused the conductor of this train to run back over many miles of track to locate the lost object.—Pikesville Advocate.

PROTECTION FOR THE CARS

Wind Gauge Used <on English Railroad to Prevent Accident While Crossing*Over Viaduct. A singular device for the protection of railroad train trains crossing a viaduct exposed to heavy winds has been employed in England. It consists of a wind gauge fixed at the west end of the Levens viaduct. When the wind pressure reaches 32 pounds to the square foot an electrical contact is made automatically, and bells ring in the signal cabins on each side of the viaduct Upon this all trains are detained until the force of the wind abates. The interruption is telegraphed along the line. In the month of February one year a velocity of 65 miles an hour was recorded. The danger of very high winds to trains on an exposed bridge or viaduct has been more than once tragically demonstrated both in England and In this country.

Railroading by Sails.

Many of the small towns along the coast of Chill are being connected by sail railways. These railways are the idea of an engineer engaged on coast improvement work. Finding the time spend by workmen in carrying materials from the town to the place of operations a costly item he decided to take advantage of the trade winds, which blow in that region with clocklike regularity, and accordingly, he had a number of fair-sized box cars build and provided each with a large sail. These cars not only accommodate the men going and coming from work, but proved amply sufficient to transport the material needed in the construction of the works. The average speed attained by these cars is from 30 to 40 miles an hour.

Tragedy Narrowly Averted.

What might have been a serious railroad) accident was narrowly averted at Junee, Australia, recently. A goods train from Junee was stationary at Bethungra railway station, and slightly in advance of her usual resting place, when the Sydney express to Melbourne, which does not stop at Bethunga, dashed past, striking the stationary engine of the goods train, cutting the buffer off and portion of the front of the engine woodwork was splintered to matchwood. The passengers naturally were greatly alarmed, and there was much rejoicing at the narrow escape from a dreadful death. '

Kitten’s Adventurous Ride.

Crawling unnoticed onto the pilot of the Pennsylvania flier a black and white kitten clung to its perilous position all the way from Indianapolis to Columbus, 0., the other afternoon, and has been christened mascot at the Columbus Union station. When the train pulled into Columbus after its run from Indianapolis the kitten jumped from the pilot and ran to shelter in an empty box car near the station yard. It had been exposed to the rain and wind and was soaked and bedraggled after the ride of 188 miles without a stop. ’ r

Telephone on Trains.

It is reported that the Pennsylvania railroad is experimenting with the use of the telephone for communication between the locomotive cab and the caboose of long freight trains. This will do away with the necessity of signaling by means of lamps, hand signals and whistles. In foggy weather and at night such a means of communication would expedite the handling of freight.

A Weak Explanation.

"I thought you wrote me that you had a beard while you were in France?” “I did, and it was a beauty. But the customs officials claimed that it was a foreign product, and I had to shave before they’d let me come ashore. They’re getting awfully particular these days.”

Modern Magic.

“Jiggs is the most resourceful man I have ever met” "What does he do in a crisis?" "He simply flashes a big roll of bills.” > X

Japanese Railroads.

The Japanese railroads at the close of their last fiscal year had 5,029 miles of line, of which more than nine tenthr belong to the state.

AMERICAN FLEET BREAKS WORLDS GUNNERY RECORDS

WHEN the 15 battleships that had been shooting at targets off the Virginia capes steamed majestically up New York harbor recently, the Michigan brought back the trophy for the year. Her gunners had broken every record. The American navy is pre-eminent on all the five oceans for its unerring marksmanship, but the Michigan’s guns and the men behind them now stand at the head of the roll of fame for accuracy and deadly skill. In the battle practice the Michigan made 12 hits out of 26 shots. Her gunners made four bullseyes simultaneously at 12,000 yards, a fea‘t that is unique in the annals of naval gunnery. To fully understand what it means to make four bullseyes at this distance of six nautical miles the reader should consider these facts: A target rises above the sea less than the height of a three-story house, and is just about as long as a city dwelling of this sort. Only the center of the target-—the big roqnd spot of canvas sewed to the netting between the supporting masts — can be seen even through a good glass. All that the naked eye can distinguish at a distance of six miles is just a tiny, blurry speck on the horizon. It would be Counted good shooting on s6lid ground to hit a speck like that far away. But when the Michigan knocked the targets to pieces she was driving through the sea at the rate of a mile in four minutes. There was a heavy swell on out in the blue water and she rolled and pitched so that aiming the great guns was as difficult as shooting sparrows with a revolver from the back of a bucking horse. Though the Michigan smashed all gunnery records that ever were made the other big men-of-war were not far behind. Taking them collectively, there never was such an aggregation of leviathan sharpshooters sailing under any nation’s flag. That was the spectacular part of the battle practice. What precedes It and leads up to the tremendous climax of a broadside of 12-incb guns is no less interesting. In the hazy and liquid gold of dawn the bugle sounds to “general quarters.” In a twinkling the great steel fortress is stripped for battle. Everything movable or likely to be torn away by the tremendous concussion of the huge guns is stowed below decks. Then the men are lined up and inspected. Every one of them must have had a fresh bath and be dressed in clean clothing—these are the new antiseptic, rules to discount accident. Then the alarm sounds its deep, toc-sin-like strokes; the spotters and the telephone force clap on their leather headgear, like that worn in football games, and shin up to the foretop through the funnel smoke. Up there the concussion is the worst. The sailors wear celluloid ear protectors that go inside the ear and are almost invisible. Then, as the big ship gathers momentum with every second, come the instructions to man the starboard batteries and the information that six salvos are to be fired, 40 seconds apart. The targets have to be picked up blindly, for the ship is playing at grim war. The plain red pennant, the signal for "commence firing,” hangs like a stain'from the yards. Then comes the loading signal from tjie ordnance officer; the "stand by” bells sound their shrill peals. The spotters stand rigid, staring through the soft rubber eye pieces of their binocullrd, waiting the announcement of the final range and deflection. Slowly, far the moving turrets begin to nose upward their guns like intelligent creatures. The big fo’castle deck is an empty, slim, fiat cigar-shaped finger. There is a hoarse hiss of the air blasts clearing the bores. Then —“Fire! ” The shock of the broadside tears into ribbons the bridge screen; it shatters the four-inch-thick glass in the portholes. It is like the explosion of a powder magazine. Complete unison In a broadside is impossible, however, with each firing key In a separate hand, and the buzzers allowing four seconds in which to - press them. Therefore the shock might have been worse. In the dead seconds between the salvos the eye follows the traveling shells, seemingly endless moments, until they bloom out in a garden of mighty geysers of foam around the targets. There Is a burst of throaty oheere from here and there between

decks that tells of a riven target. Down in the turrets of the great 12inch guns the gun pointers say they hear practically no noise at all of the explosions. Their attention is concentrated on the three-foot recoil of the big monster that they have to neighbor with while at work. The men in the turrets go about their labors-with the rapt attention of bookkeepers trying to strike a difficult trial balance. There are loaders, shellmen, sight setters—one manipulating the deflections with a lamp strapped on his forehead —an stripped to the waist. Most of them are gay with tattoo marks—peacocks and Goddesses of Liberty being the favorite designs. Usually the pointer Is the least muscular of the lot Sometimes he is a milk-cheeked youth with a limpid eye —but a sure one. When the huge breech picks itself up on its hind legs and settles back in a quiet recoil, the men reel off the lightning mechanism of their drill with a confident litheness that is almost uncanny. They will even kill a cockroach or tiro on the white armor between salvos. The shock of just one of these great projectiles, weighing 1,400 pounds, is equal to that of a heavy locomotive and five Pullmans crashing into something at the rate of 70 miles an hour. The piuzzle energy of one of the big guns that the new Dreadnoughts carry is 65,600 foot tons. To explain in plain language what this means, suppose that a 16,000-ton battleship be put on top of a 32,000-ton Lusitania, and one of the biggest of the Sound steamers placed on top of that. The total weight of the three would be nearly 60,000 tons. Next try to conceive the power that would be necessary to raise that huge load. The muzzle energy of one of these guns is equal to this task. The energy exerted at the moment of discharge is so tremendous that it would be able to lift all three vessels one foot.

FISH DEALER MIXED ORDERS

Senator Frye Made a Good Showing ir Weight but the Herring Was Smoked. Far more unerringly than by any weather bureau prediction, the ap proach of spring is indicated by th« gleam of the piscatorial fervor that Irradiates the eyes of Senator Frye ol Maine just before the opening of the fishing season. During the wlntei while the streams are ice bound and the spruce trees are white with snow the senator loves now and then to re late a fish story. He tells of a memorable trip on which Senator Spooner joined him at his choicest trout stream. They had it all arranged, after having called into counsel a reliable fish dealer and a trustworthy expressman, that a box of trout should arrive every other day at Senator Frye’s home to indicate the success with which they were casting the fly. The plan worked beautifully—“of course we caught some and some we didn't”—but the expressman was fairly regular in the weight of fish forwarded, and the prepaid charges were about the same from day to day. All went well until one day a dispatch came from the Frye domicile. “Rush two more boxes smoked herring. They are great. Are the salt mackerel running also?" There was a busy time with the wires just then, for the fish dealer had got his orders mixed, and instead of shipping fresh trout to Frye’s home, be had sent herring—thoroughly smoked. But the senator was equal to it. Camp supplies had been mixed with the fish caught that day—of course. He hastened his reply: “You received the bait by mistake. Nothing but smoked herring will ever catch fresh trout, you know.” B Senator Spooner usually concludes the tale truthfully by giving the return message: < .; . “Received the bait, and taken It sic—hook and all.”—National Magazine.

Some Foreign Experiences.

An English lady tells of some of her experiences in renting a furnished flat in the Riviera, which turned out to be a very expensive proposition. One of the amusing incidents of the sojourn was a call from two washerladies. They called and left their cards, and she says they were the only ones who did call on them while they were there.