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THE CHRISTIAN FLAG: v.' VALUE OF GOOD ROADS. IMPORTANT FACTS FOR RURAL COM- MUNIT1ES TO CONSIDER. A distinctively Christian fla? will soon be adopted by a large number of churches throughout the country with out regard to denomination. Buttons on which the flag is conspicuously shown are already being worn. Last rally day at Brighton Chapel, Coney Island, a well known Christian worker had been announced to make an ad dress. The chapel was well filled and when the time for the address had come the speaker failed to appear. The superintendent of the school, C. C. Overton, after apologizing for the absence of the speaker, was obliged to take his place. The subject of his talk was "The American Flag.” On the platform was a beautiful flag, the gift of James H. Perry Post, G. A. R. Mr. Overton dwelt upon the principles for which the flag stood, the devotion of its followers, the loyalty, fidelity and constancy which should be shown by Christ’s followers. The want of a Christian flag impressed Mr. Overton, and as he told the writer, "the Chris tian flag appeared to be floating in the air as I was speaking, and I gave the tVords ty NY J.CROSBY. Y JUlJ.MtW. audience a description of it then and there, as it stands upon our platform to-day. I believe it was an inspira tion from heaven of a banner that should wave triumphant over the world.” The flag is most symbolic. Tho ground is white, representing peace, purity and innocence; in the upper corner is a blue square, the color of the unclouded sky, emblematic of heaven, the homo of tho Christian, also a symbol of faith and trust. In the centre of the blue is the cross, the en sign and chosen symbol of Christianity; the cross is red, typical of Christ’s blood. Every sect of Christ’s follow ers can indorse the flag, ar d it is equally applicable to all n"t.ons. It stands for no creed or denomination. Miss Fanny J. Crosby, the Christian post, has written the words of tho hymn and R. Huntington Woodman the music here reproduced. Neither tho flag, hymn nor music has been copyrighted and all are dedicated by Mr. Overton to the followers of Christ the world over.—Brookln Eagle. Mrsic XL EATING ION T. OOhllAN. Christ ua Christ- ian 'Christ dka Fl»c!- bs Hag! «« flag! God hold it, f'rL fsrl it, bless it? v * Aed The And let the voice of blosd stained erets •( may it wave trl • strain yre make M dis • tut To ev . ’ry cli®« and Th* Christ-iar Flag! W Till ail the wide ere tion, tVh it. And tion tip • It TorOi to • and o'er a • its folds shall speed its g]o • fious may it tear the mis- ■ sion. With mes-sage "Good ted, Oar ear • nest hearts we will and peace to lev • ir.g Sa v • iour Conclusions of Professor I.ntta of Purdue University, Indiana, as to the Monetary Worth of Improved HiKhway* to Farm- era — A Most Convincing Statement. The following paper upon “The Value of Good Roads to Farmers” was written by Professor Latta of Purdue university, Indiana: That good roads have a money value to farmers will be granted by all. That the money value of improved highways is alone suffi cient to justify the cost of their con struction, will be confidentially claimed or readily admitted by many farmers, questioned by others, and denied by not a few. In view of the financial and many other advantages of good roads, a ma jority of the farmers uf the state would, doubtless, favor their construction as rapidly as practicable under some ef ficient, economical and equitable sys tem of highway improvement. But there is a considerable proportion of the farmers—doubtless one-fifth ami possibly one-fourth—who have little knowledge or appreciation of the bene fits of good roads and who, therefore, object on account of the great cost of highway improvement. The farmers of this class know what they will have to bear their full share of the burden of such improvements; they discredit (not wholly without reason) the state ments and conclusions of many public writers us to the losses and gains to farmers from poor and good roads re spectively; hence they view with ap prehension tho general agitation in favor of improved highways. Ignor ing or undervaluing the educational and social advantages, as well as the comfort and enjoyment of good roads, or feeling unable to pay the price of such benefits, these farmers regard with distrust aud disfavor measures lor highway improvement; and they are likely to oppose efforts for the bet terment of our roads unless they can first be convinced that good roads will irove a paying financial investment. Speaking, therefore, in behalf of those who for any reason are not influenced by the higher considerations in favor of improved highways, I raise the question. Will it pay the farmers in dollars and cents to improve their public roads? Before attempting to answer this question, let us consider in what ways permanently good roads will prove financially beneficial to farmers. All will agreej I think that a good road will— ' 1. Economize time aud force in transportation between farm and market. 2. Enable the farmer to take ad vantage of market fluctuations in buying and selling. 3. Permit transportation ‘ of farm products aud purchasing commodities during times of comparative leisure. 4. Reduce the wear and tear on horses, harness and vehicles. 5. Enhance the market value of real estate. But while it is easy to enumerate the ways in which improved roads will be financially advantageous to farmers, it is very difficult to esti mate, in dollars aud cents,the benefits to accrue thqrefrom. Distrusting my own judgment in the premises and fearing, also, that my opinions would have little weight with others, I sought the advice of the farmers themselves. Letters of inquiry were sent to sixty of the most intelligent farmers in forty counties located in the central and northern parts of the state. The sub stance of thegg letters is given here with: 1. About what proportion of the public highways in your county are now good gravel roads? 2. Please estimate the average in crease (in dollars and cents) in the selling price per acre of land through out the county, as the result of such gravel roads. 3. If all the public roads in your county were converted into improved highways, how much, in your judg ment, would it increase the average : selling price per acre of laud through out your county? 4. What would be a fair estimate of the cost per mile of converting our common dirt roads as they now exist into good gravel roads, provided, of course, the work were to be performed ^economically under some competent, general supervision, and not ham pered by legal restrictions? 5. Supposing that your county were divided into 100-acre farms and that the average distance of each farm from market were five miles, what, in your judgment, would be the average annual cost (in dollars and cents) to each farmer of our unimproved high ways? In answering the fifth question please take into account the reduced loads, increased time, extra wear and tear, and loss in sales from inability to deliver products when the market is best. Over forty replies to these queries were received. As would be expected, from the difference in soil, surface ! >- ? *d distance from gravel beds, there is a wide range in the estimates of the different correspondents. Many of the estimates are necessarily mere guesses, while others are based on a thorough knowledge of the matters under consideration. The averages ot these estimates should give—and they probably do give approximately—the consensus of opinion, held by tbe most intelligent farmers of the state, as to the cost and money value of improved highways and the loss due to poor roads. The approximate averages for the forty counties are as follows: First—The average estimated in crease in the selling price of hind due to existing improved highways is $6.48 per acre. The estimates from which the average is made refer in most cases to lands near the improved roads; but in a few instances they ap ply to all the lands of the county. The average increase, therefore, of $6.18 per acre is lower than was in tended for the lauds near the improved roads. Second—The estimated average in crease per acre that would result fiom improving all the public roads is $:D. Third—The estimated average cost of converting thecoinmou public roads into improved highways is $1140 per mile. Fourth—The estimated average an nual loss, per 100 acres, from poor roads is $70.23. If these estimates are even approxi mately correct, they furnish a key to the satisfactory solution of tho ques tion of highway improvement from the money standpoint. On the basis of ; the last mentioned estimate the aver age annual loss per acre from poor 1 roads is over 70 cents, in five years | the losses would aggregate $2432 for ! euery section of laud, and thin sum | would conati'net two miles nt a co. t of j $1226 per mile, which is $70 per mile i above the estimated cost given by the | farmers themselves. The present road ; tax which, under existing laws, is largely thrown away, would, under a proper system of road maintenance, doubtless keep improved highways in perfect repair. If the foregoing statements are a near approach to the truth, it follows that the losses aud expenditures which farmers actually incur on account of poor roads would also secure perma nently good roads. Can any sane mind doubt the wisdom of exchanging the losses, delays, accidents and vexation of spirt, occasioned by bad roads, for the comfort and other ail vantages of good roads when the cost is the same? But there is another side to this question, viz, the increased value of land from highway improvement. As already stated, this increase is esti mated by the farmers consulted at $3 per acre. This would enhance the value of each section of land $5760, which is more than double the esti mated cost ($2292) of the two miles of improved highway, which constitutes the quota for the section. Just here the objection may bo raised that the improved roads would not increase tho productive capacity of the laud, while the e ihauced commercial value would incre ise the taxes. Let us, for the sake of argument, grant this plausible but fallacious objection, and then find what it amounts to. Let us suppose the increase in appraisement for taxa tion to be $4 per acre, and the tax rate 1 1-4 per cent. This would mean an annual increase in taxes of five cents per acre, or $5 per hundred acres. Would not our objector, after enjoy ing tbe benefits of good roads, be very willing to give therefore the extra $5, if necessary? Would he keep the money and go hack to the thraldom of mud roads? If so, he has the option of selling his farm at an advance, ac cording to the average estimates of his brother farmers, that will more than doubly reimburse him for his ex penditure on highway improvement; and he can then remove to some native wild whose quiet waters have not been “troubled” by the spirit of progress. I am aware that many intelligent fanners will not accept the estimates of their fellow farmers as to the money value of good roads—many who will even deny that improved highways have any appreciable money value. 1 am glad to know, however, that many of these very same farmers favor good roads,aud would aid in their construc tion for the same reason that they would build for themselves com fortable and even luxurious homes. In view of the very general recog nition among farmers of the necessity and benefits of good roads. I am en couraged to believe that a very large proportion of the farming classes will aeartily join with tho people of the cities and towns in an effort to devise, adopt and put into execution some ef ficient, economical and equitable sys tem of highway improvement. Why Not a Masculine Virtue? Ed. Howe has commenced a crusade in behalf of the male sex. Ho de clares that for centuries men have grieved because Faith. Hope. Temper ance, Justice and all the other virtues bavr represented by atalnes of* women. "Did any one ever see the figure of n man cut In marble to repre sent a virtue? Can any one name a virtue that's not represented by tho figure of a woman? The men have some good traits, and one predomin ant one should be selected and a heroic figure of a man chiselled out to represent it. Men lock better in art clothes than women do. anyway. What is the matter with a man repre senting Innocence, for instance?”— Kansas C'tv Journal. An Overworked Itraln. r.-cm the Hccord, 7'icrctlon, In>J. Petermined to rise in his chosen pro fession as an educator, Ernest Kemper, of Piereeton, Ind., overtaxed himself men ially and physically. He was ambitions, his mind was always on his work. From early morn until late at nig'ut ho eoutia- ually pored over his books. Few persons, even with the strongest constitutions, can keep up uadcr such u strain. In addition to his studies, Mr. Kemper was teaching a school some three mlios from his home. Finally, h Is excessive study and the exposure of going to and from school In all kinds of weather undermined his health. He was taken to his bed with pneumonia and his overworked brain almost collapsed. For several weeks he was seriously ill. Catarrh ha 1 taken root in bis system and his mind was in a delicate condition. Ho w* isent toColoradowhere he spent three mouths without receiving "henelft. Then a not ed specialist from Clove- land treated him without avail, aud then a hospi tal In Chicago wns tried, but all al so- lulely without benefit. Finally his physician re commended l)r. Williams’ Pink Ovfrsludt/. Pills for Pale Peo ple, aud from the first box he began to Im prove. When he had taken nine boxes ho was completely cured. This famous blood and nerve medicine had accomplished what all his former expensive treatment failed to accomplish. Mr. Kemper says his ca tarrh has entirely left him; he is strong again and weighs nine pounds more than he ever did. Ho gives the pills the entire credit. He is starting touching again and feels abundantly able to continue the work. To prove that the above Is true In every respect, Mr. Kemper made an affi davit ns follows: Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 10th day of September, 1H97, R. F. Wat*. Notary Public. We doubt if these pills have an equal In all the rr.ugo of m*dioine, for building up a run down and debilitated system. The French ought to road the American papers on General Miles. Prayer ami 1‘roliinity are all right In their proper plm-es. hut If you have Tetter or Bcssioa. or Snlt-Hheum. or King, worm, better save your breath and buy '•Tetter- Ine.” 60 cents a box ai drug stores, or by mull from J. T. tihuptrlae, Savannah, Ga. poker Tho long nights in Alaska gives the player a good show. II. D. It. Hus Stood the Test. For 50 years. It’s a sure cure for Rheumatism, Catarrh and Scrofula. tl.U> per large bottle,8 for 12.50, at druggists, or tent for price, exuresa paid, by ill tod lialm Co., Atlan'a,Ua. tHooks of wonderful i tiros cent tree. 8 pal tv doubtless wishes that Columbus bad never disco veil'd America. The Asheville Daily <«n/.ctto Is the leading newspaper of Western North Carolin'i. Terms: a year or 10 cents n month. Complete telegraph service. All the news of the St ite ami e- ticclally of the motiu- ttin region. Weekly edition on trial 25 centa for three months. The Ohio Senatorial investigation appears to have melted on the sidewalk l.utid and n Living A-e best and cheapest in the New South. Land $3 to $ > per acre. Easy Terms. Goal schools and churches. No blizzard*. No cob! waves. New illustrate 1 paper, “Land and a Living," 3 months, for 10 cents. In *t<mps. W. C. Rinbaiwos. G. P. A., Quojn k Crescent Route, Cincinnati. Home men without any mnnev give employ ment to a great mauy—btl) collectors. To ( ure a Cold in Ono Day. Take Laxative Brom i Guitr no Tablets. All Druggist* refund money If itfailstocure. 3-ij. When a political boom is launched it fre quently come* home to roost in tho shape of aloumerung. Oh, What Splendid Coftee. Mr. Goodman. Wlllinms Co., 111., writes: "From one package Halzer’s German Coffee Berry, eooting i3« . I grew 500 lbs. of better coffee than I cau buy in stores at 80 cents a lb.” A. c 8 A package of this coffee and big seed and plant catalogue is sent you by John A, Hnlzer Heed Co.. La Cross, WK, upon re ceipt of 15 cents stamps aud thi* notice. The Music of War. The music of war may be traced aa far back into the past as war can itself. Military music, properly so-called, be gan to be organized by Louis XIII, but it is from the French revolution that the true beginning of heroic music dates. Tbe French conserva tory was formed by a captain of tbe National Guard who was also a yusi- cian, named Sergrette. His little orchestra first taught tbe "Mar- sellaise” to the troops, who in turn taught it to the world. Of all national songs, the "Mavsellaise” is the most heroic. This lies in its ibythro, which is of a marked peculiarity, starting as it does with an upward beat. All the impulse of the composition consists in its peculiarly accented measures. Don’t TRY to keep hou-e without Blue Ribbon Baking Powder. At all Grocer*. 11. H. B. P. Company, Richmond, V irginla. Aft r fix year*’ suffering I wa« cured bv Pi so’* Cure. Maby Thohpso*. 231-3 Ohio Ave., Alleghany, Pa., March W, 1*34. IsrionTio* and all Ktemaeb tmcb'iw cited l)/ late r’s F-p-in Crime und. Samp)* bott:» u»i i d traa Wnta Dr. Taber Mfg. Co., Savannab, Ga. nr ■ II prtnu Albemarle rrolMc ylelilil.U l-4oil. ALLU uUnil shelled grain toaere. lortnfornm w Uon. or ftne roylAteied slock write. Anowlu ad Murk Farm, S. H. Woods. Pro|v.CbarlottravUte, Va. onuM and Liquor Habit cured !u lo to JJO day*. No pay till rnrp<i. Dr. .1. L. Stephen*. Dept. A, Lrlmnon, Ohio. If afflicted with l core eyes, use ) Tl^ompscn’s Eye Water H N. U. No. 11.- 98. p-TigpiS Ci)K emits *N-.KF AH f lSt 1ARS. Jest Cough byrup. Tr.woa Good. Cre | In time. Sold by dr