Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1914 — Page 2

GROWTH OF HOAD IRK IR UNITED STATES UNPRECEDENTED IN 1913

expenditures for the Past Year Will Approximate $185,0Cp,OOO—Period Has Been One of Notable Achievements in Relation to the Improvement of the Nation’s Highways— Many States Had “Good Roads” Day.

In 1904 the first road census ever taken in the United States was conducted by the, office of public roads of the department of agriculture. This census showed that for that year there was expended on the roads of the country about $80,000,000. Our road expenditures have steadily increased each year since,, and'in 1912 they approximated the grand total of $163,000,000, or more than double the amount shown by the 1904 census. As the same percentage of increase was maintained for 1913 as averaged for the period 1904-1912 the exenditure for the current year should approximate $185,000,000. However, these figures tell only a •mall part of the present road situation in the United States, for the past year has been one of notable achievements in relation to highways. It was conspicuous for the development of sounder methods of road finance, for the adoption of better and more businesslike methods of road administration, for the writing of better and more practical legislation on our statute books, for the advancement in engineering practice in road

Gov. Elliott Major.

construction and maintenance and for the general trend and awakening of public opinion and public interest in ail matters pertaining to the betterment of the roads of the country. The practice of designating “good roads days” by the governors of states acquired considerable popularity

During the year Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, , Minnesota, Missouri. Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington by executive proclamation set aside one or more days as “good roads days,” upon which 1 all citizens,, rural or urban, rich or poor, were called upon to don overalls and participite in work industriously donated to the improvement of the public roads. Minnesota went so far as to provide by legislative enactment for an annual "good roads day.” Down in Arkansas the governors of four states got together for a day and worked on the roads with men of all classes and conditions. On this day Governor Hays of Arkansas was assisted by Governor Hall of Louisiana, Governor Hodges of Kansas and Governor Major of Missouri, and it is said that no humble citizen In any of the road gangs did better work than d;d the chief executives of those four gieat commonwealths. However, the biggest thing about this “gojd roads day" movement is not the actual work done on the roads, but the moral effect of this great volunteer movement and the interest it arouses in the good roads cause. ■>. The automobile continues to occu py the somewhat anomalous position of the greatest ropd builder and at the same time the greatest road destroyer. The of Maine is building a great system of state highways by simply capitalizing the revenue from her automobile registration and allied fees, while the great state of New York finds ‘ts highway department severely taxed to so maintain its system of 3 600 miles of state roads as to prevent their deterioration. €>ver a milium automobiles now pass over our public roads annually, which means that millions of men, women and children find recreation, health aod pleasure in the fresh air. the life-giving sunshine and glorious economy of the open road and the Joy of our matchless fields and forests, nllls and mountains.

/ No wonder that every one is an enthusiast for better roads. What if good roads do cost money? The whole automobile industry pays its equal share of general road taxation, and, in" addition, a large revenue through registration and license fees which aggregate very nearly $10,000,000 a year. This vast sum is. generally applied strictly to road maintenance. The two great questions to be determined in this connection are, what part of the wear and tear on our roads is directly due to the automobile traffic, and how can this wear and tear be minimized? Autoists are not averse to paying their full share, but quite naturally they do not want to pay any more, and at present we have no very definite means of determining just what this share is. Public enthusiasm is largely overcoming the want of funds. 1 Great interstate and transcontinental roads are being built almost, one would say, by magic. The “Santa Fe Trail,” the “Lincoln Way,”" the “Meridian Road,” and many others have been routed and so improved from local revenues and public subscriptions as to invite the tourist.

Thirty-five states now grant some form of state gid. fourteen states have more or less perfected provision for utilizing the state convicts in building improved roads.

Last year counties, townships and special road districts issued $29,000,000 in bonds for building better roads. Millions more were also raised from special tax levies. it has been a banner year in all lines pertaining to road improvements. Based on present incomplete returns, the total construction of hard surfaced roads during the last year will reach 15,000 miles. The worldfamed “Appian Way” only had a total length of 360 miles. Legislative enactments have been extremely numerous, and the majority in the right direction. Of the 41 state legislatures in session during the last year, every one had under serious consideration many matters pertaining to the improvement of the public roads, and a large number passed more or less fundamental road legislation. Three states —Arkansas, Montana and South Dakota —joined the ranks having state highway departments, while seven others provided for reorganization of their highway departments so as to make them more efficient and effective in carrying out the work of improving the roads of the state. The federal government has also. contributed to the good work. The $500,000 appropriated near the close of the fiscal year 1912 for rural delivery and experimental roads is being expended equally in each state, the state or local community contributing $2 to every dollar appropriated by the government. The office of public roads of the department of agriculture has continued _tO; give engineering advice and assistance, to gather statistics and data relative to roadrbuliding, to test materials, to carry on experiments, investigations and research, and to desseminate information by bulletins and public lectures and demonstrations. Public sentiment is more generally

DOING THE TANGO ON THE ICE AT ST. MORITZ

When It comes to the tango, t^bi, ballroom is not the only place where this dance, imported from Argentina, is performed. Here we see, during the height 61 the season at Bt.' Moritz, the fashionable resort at Switzerland, the tango as it is done on «pe skates. The photograph portrays Miss Melca, the well-known English skater (front); Baron de Meyer, royalty’s photographer (center), and Lord Carburg enjoying the dance. **’

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

favorable to road Improvement today than ever i before. This Is the outgrowth of the work of the American Highway association, one of the objects pf which was the correlation of such efforts.

Very tangible evidence of this spirit of co-operation and harmony ,waa shown by the American road congress held in Detroit. This congress was held under the joint auspices of the American Highway association and its affiliated organizations and associations, the American Automobile association and the Michigan State Good Roads association. /

It was undoubtedly the greatest road congress ever held in America. The subjects that were discussed encom-

Gov. Hall of Louisiana.

passed all phases of the road subject. The discussions for the most part were by experienced highway officials and engineers. A similar congress was held in Atlantic City in 1912, but the recent congress was participated in by a greater number of affiliated associations throughout the country, was attended by a larger number of delegates, and the discussions covered a wider scope of practical road questions and will prove a more abundant source of reliable information to road officials throughout the country.

MAKE BETTER TEACHERS

New York Schools’ Head Favors Married Women Over Spinsters for the Work. New York —Married women schoolteachers are better able to Instruct and are better disciplined than single women, according to a report made on the subject by Dr. William A. Maxwell, City superintendent of schools, tp the board of education at its last, meeting of the year. The report is the result of a study in 114 cases of women, who served as teachers four years before they were married and: four years afterward. Doctor Maxwell said that although in the same nlimber of cases it was found that before marriage the teachers were absent from school on an average of 23 days during the terin and after marriage the average was 38 days, efficiency of the married teacher was not lessened. There were no statistics in the report to show whether or not these teachers were more efficient than the majority wher have remained unmarried while teaching, and Doctor Maxwell was directed to gather data about the spinsters, so that the board may make more accurate deductions.

WIDENING BRIDGE WITH CONCRETE

When a railway decided to increase its main line to four tracks, its was confronted with the eerious problem of widening its two-track stone bridges. Concrete solved this problem as it has solved many others. The old stone bridge

SAFETY IN “WIRELESS”

VALUE TO TRAIN SERVICE CONSIDERED DEMONSTRATED.

“Line Breaks” From Any Source Need No Longer Be Matters for Consternation Among Division Superintendents—Special Equipment.

The utility of the wireless telegraph in directing the movements of ships at sea, in communication to and from ships and in calling for help in emergencies has been strikingly demonstrated, but it remained for an enterprising American railroad to apply wireless communication to and from moving- trains, 'says the Scientific American. A test has just been made successfully on an eastern railroad on a-regular express train running between New York city and Buffalo, though only a partial test in the experiments .thus far conducted, has shown immense possibilities of safety and time-saving by insuring that trains will always be in communication at any speed and at any distance from stations, regardless of “line breaks” from winter blizzards or from washouts, fog which obscures signals and other extraordinary conditions. In the ordinary wireless telegraph system messages are sent and received between stations equipped with antennae or “aerias” supported on high towers. The road has stations of this kind at Scranton, Pa., and Binghamton, N. Y., with a working radius of about 300 miles. But, of course, it is out of the question to place any structure such as an ordinary aerial on a railroad train which has to pass through tunnels and under bridges, and a prominent feature of these tests is the use of a highly special aerial for the train installation. Some very recent experiments, notably those conducted .on November 21 and 23, h>ive demonstrated that wireless communication can be maintained to and from a train equipped with a very low aerial, viz., a quadrangle of wfre supported at" a height of only 18 inches above the roof of the car. The distance between Scranton and Binghamton is about 65 miles, and in the experiments just made it was found possible to maintain communication from a train running at 55 miles per hour, part of the time, direct from the train to the fixed station away from which the train was speeding; and when the train had proceeded to a point too far away for. its short aerial to force signals through to this first station direct, the signals were delivered to the station by being picked up at the second station and relayed back. At no time during the tests was the train out of communication with both stations in this way.

Railroad Problem In Court.

When is a locomotive 1 tender not a tender and when does It become a plain car? Should the locomotive end of the tender be considered a car, just as the far end has been so considered, or is the entire tender a tender only? These are interesting questions that have been brought to the United States Supreme court < for decision. The courts already have held that the far end of the tender is a car within the meaning of the safety appliance act, requiring the use of automatic couplers between cars, and between cars and locomotives. Upon the decision In the present case depends whether, Mrs. Mary G. Pennell, widow of Jay A. Pennell, will recover from the Philadelphia & Reading Railway company for his death. Pennell was killed when the air brakes on a train on which he was working accidentally set, breaking the old-fashioned link and pin coupler between the locomotive and tender.

Weeds on Railroads.

Claim departments of railroads are anticipating trouble from weeds that refuse to stay down along the rights of way. In lowa there is a law compelling railroads to keep obnoxious weeds out and prevent them from spreading from their track grounds into.the adjoining fields. That this season has been particularly adapted for the rapid growih of weeds of all kinds 1b well known In the claim offices. as complaints have already started coming in with every hall. The Burlington and Northwestern roadß through lowa are among the cleanest in the Btate as shown by the comparative amount of litigation from last summer, when the lhw went HTto effect Every effort Is being made this yUFtb keep them that way, according to tjie officials at headquarter*.

• iwas converted into a modern four-track structure by building a reinforced concrete extension on each Bide of the old bridge, forming a strong and handsome viaduct. —Popular Mechanics.

Old Stone Bridge Converted Into Modern Structure.

RECORD BELONGS TO BOSTON

Busiest Railroad Terminal in the t Country Is the South Station, Located There.

The busiest railroad terminal in this country is the South station of Boston, Mass., which handles more trains, passengers, baggage and mail a day than any other station. The largest railroad station in this country in point of size is the recently complete Grand Central terminal in New York city. These two stations are at the terminal of the New Yorjt Npw Haven & Hartford railroad, which railroad shares the former station with the Boston & Albany .railroad, and the latter with the New York Central railroad. The total number of passengers in and out of the South station from July 1912, to June, 1913, exceeded twen-ty-eight. million; the number in and out of the Grand Central exceeded twenty-two million. Almost twice as many trains are handled each day at the South station as at the Grand Central, blit the number of cars a train is greater at the latter. In spite of this tremendous traffic, the passenger facilities of the Grand Central are far from taxed; although at the present time about 62,000 persons use it daily, when completed the station will have capacity to handle seventy thousand an hour. Twenty-one tracks have still to be completed at this station, whereas at the South station in Boston all the tracks are now in use, with the exception of the two suburban loop tracks, whose operation must await electrification. Engineering News. ■. ' ”

CAUGHT IN DEBRIS OF FLOOD

Pennsylvania Train Saved Passengers and Precious Freight but Lost Some Baggage Cars. Unprecedented rain caused a rapidly rising flood in Duck creek, Ohio, and caught two trains of the Pennsylvania railroad, extinguishing their fires and overwhelming them with war

This Train Had Been Submerged by Flood in Ohio. The Engine Was Struck by a Bridge Adrift.

ter and floating debris. The photograph shown tells the story of the passenger train. The headlight was torn from the engine by a covered bridge which whirled down in the current. All the passengers and crew were rescued, and mail matter, express and most of the baggage escaped unhurt. “ The freight train was literally torn to pieces, the cars overthrown and scattered by the swift current. —Popular Mechanics.

He Looked Out for ’Em.

A green fireman was being broken in, and, among other things, he was warned to look out for the mail cranes located near the track on the engineer’s side. The engineer was running a doublecab engine on the day the green one was with film. Everything went lovely for the first fifty miles, but all of a sudden the old fireman heard a yell, and, going back, expecting to find the green man with his skull crushed, he found him lying over the chain in the gangway and yelling at the top of his voice to back her up. Asked what the trouble was, he replied: “I caught about fifty, ljut missed the last one.” “And sure enough,” said Finley, “he had a pile of mall-bags in the tank that you couldn’t climb over if you tried.”

Co-Operation Vital Need.

There should be no penalty attached to one officer calling attention to the shortcomings of another, and if It is done with the co-operation spirit, both will be better for It, and there would be rather an incentive for each to excel, which would tend to keep the other fellow up to the greatest efficiency. We’ believp in pafety first, alßo In cooperation, hut those having charge of the various branches of the service should not allow themselves to be deceived by either. Sometimes statements are made as to bow and why certain things are done, when in reality the actual conditions are not quoted.—Chicago Post.

The beet way to collect a library to never to buy to lend, but borrow id keep. A simple protection against dancer-one throat affections are Dean’s Mentholated Cough Drops; 5c at Drag Stores. It Is no use trying to pretend yon are a hero when you step on a collar button with your bare feet Dr. Pierce’s Pellets, small, sugar-coated, easy to take as candy, regulate and invigorate stomach, liver and bowels. Do nod gripe. Adv. No Trouble At AIL "And I shall want a private bath.” "ThatTl be all right, all our bathroom doors have locks on them."

important to Mothers

Examine carefully every bottle of CASTORIA, a safe and sore remedy lor Infants and children, And see that it Signature of In Use For Over 80 Years. Children Cry for Fletcher’s Castoria

Peddlers Not Allowed.

Maid —There’s a man called with a bill, ma’am. Mistress —Tell him we have some already.

A CLERGYMAN’S TESTIMONY.

The Rev. Edmund Hesiop of Wigton, Pa>, suffered from Dropsy for a year. His limbs and feet were swot len and puffed. He had heart flutter-

Rev. E. Hesiop.

Kidney Pills the swelling disappeared and he felt himself again. He says he has been benefited and blessed by the use of Dodds Kldnef Pills. Several months later he wrote: I have not changed my faith in your remedy since the above statement was authorized. Correspond with Rev. E. Hesiop about this wonderful remedy. Dodds Kidney Pills, 60c;' per box at your dealer or Dodds Medicine Co., Buffalo, N. Y. Write for Household Hints, also music of National Anthem (English and German wordß) and recipes for dainty dishes. All 3 sent free. Adv.

Aeroplane Kept as Memento.

All that is left of the historic Wright biplane with which Calbraith P. Rodgers flew from the Atlantic to the Pacific two years ago is to be presented to the Carnegie museum at Pittsburgh by the late aviator’s mother. The machine was badly damaged when Rodgers fell to his death In the Pacific ocean a short time after completing his wonderful flight. Subsequently It was used by Andrew Drew until that aviator also was killed with It. The machine has been restored to* its original condition. Both Rodgers’ and Fowler’s Wright machines have motors of but 30-horsepower, yet they flew across the continent in opposite directions at a time when the aeroplane had not been equipped with the 100-hOrsepower motor of today, which makes it much more stable, ( nor had it developed anywhere npar £he speed of which It has since shown Itself to he capable.

Price of Realty in Rome.

In the big cities of the Old World the highest value seems to belong to a property in Rome. Here is where a value of $450 a square foot is found, and the land is not used for an in-come-producing building, but includes the property of the German embassy to Italy. Business property in Rome does not bring nearly this high price. In the principal centers of offices and shops values do not mount much above S2OO a square foot.

WONDERED WHY. Found the Answer Was “Coffee."

Many pale, sickly persons wonder for years why they have to suffer so, and eventually discover that the drug —caffeine —in coffee is the main cause of the trouble.

“1 was always very fond of coffee and drank It every day. I never had much flesh and often wondered wMy I was always so pale, thin and weak. “About five years ago my health completely broke down and I was confined to my bed. My stqmach was In. such-condition that I could hardly take sufficient nourishment to sustain life. “During this time I was drinking coffee, didn’t think I could do without It.

“After awhile I came to the conclusion that coffee was hurting me, and decided to give it up and try Postum. When It was made right—dark and rich — l soon became very fond of it “In one week I began to feel better. I could eat more and Bleep better. My, sick headaches were less frequent, and! within five months I looked and felt’ like a new being, headache spells entirely gone. “My health continued to improve and today I am well and strong, weigh 148 lbs. I attribute my present health to the life-giving qualities of Postum.” Name given by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. Read “The Road to Well : Tille,” in pkgs. Postum now comes in two forms: l Regular . Postum —must be well boiled. Inetant Poetum—-is a soluble powder. A teaspoonful dissolves quickly In a cup of hot water and, with pream and sugar, makes a delicious beverage Instantly. Grocers sell both kinds. "There's a Reason” for Postum.

ing, was dizzy and exhausted at the least exertion. Hands and feet were cold * and he had such a dragging, sensation across the loins that it was difficult to move. After using 5 boxes of Dodds