The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, May 30, 1902, Image 3
i:\iTEr.STA7E COMMERCE S’JIT5.
TO LAUr:CH r.'EW MAGAZINE.
CITIES HARD TO KILL.
CHATHAM EfflST
liESCLTS IK BATHE
Politics and Police Cause Dis
graceful Scenes.
CLUBS WERE FREELY USED
Opposing Political Factions Indulge
In Lively Fighting at the Polls In
Savannah—It Is Said That Result of
Voting May Be Contested.
Savannah, May 29.—Savannah began
a disgraceful primary election for
county officers this morning.
Representatives to the legislature
and a full county ticket are being
voted for.
About the polls there have been
fights and scraps innumerable during
the morning.
The conflicting Union and Citizens’
club or administration forces met at
the courthouse shortly before G o’clock
this morning and at once began to
fight.
The Citizens’ club followers had
been informed that a strong bully had
been imported to whip John Garrity,
one of their workers, and when tue
man resting under that suspicion ar
rived he was set upon so quickly and
so effectively that he vanished, cry
ing, “Enough.”
While the fighting was general the
police only arrested Union club men,
so far as the records at the barracks
go.
Ishmael Carter had his head split
■open with a billy or policeman’s club
and he is in the barracks.
Sam Davis, an ex-policeman, had his
head cut open with a club. He claims
to have been held and beaten. There
were others more or less hurt.
President W. P. LaRoche, of the
Union club, called upon Chairman T.
M. Cunningham. Jr., of the Democratic
executive committee, to declare the
election off before the polls opened
because of the unfair treatment ac
corded his forces by the police, whom
he declined were partisan. The chair
man declined to do so.
Chatham county's irpregentativcs In
the next 1< datei-c will he .Me.- is.
Pleasant A. iovall/J. Penis Cann and
William Harden.
All the present county ofTieers will
be re-elected.
CORPUS CHRISTI DAY.
For Alleged Pcolirg S'; Siuthern Rail
ways Have Qccr Indictsci.
Memphis, May 29.— .'he pie. utica
of common cairiers under section 5
of the interstate commerce acts as
amended has begun here with indict
ments against six railroads, as follows:
Illinois Central Railway company, the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad com
pany, the 'Frisco (K. C., M. and B.),
Southern Railway company and Nash
ville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Rail
way company.
The indictments were returned
against these railroads and their offi
cials because the government contends
that the declaration by each road is
in fact a pool among them to divide
on a pro rata basis the cotton out of
Memphis and to maintain rates. Thte
agreement was known among the rail
roads as a “declaration.”
The government called it a pool and
the evidence of it is alleged to have
been so strong that the grand jury re
turned the indictment.
United Stati s District Attorney Ran
dolph and J. T. Marchand, special at
torney of the interstate commerce com
mission, are conducting the suits for
the government.
THE LATE FORD TRAGEDY.
Story Hitherto Unpublished Regarding
Cause of Unforfjnate Shooting.
New York, May 29.—In connection
with the Ford tragedy, which occurred
recently In this city, a story hitherto
unpublished is in circulation regarding
the cause of the shooting which cos: !
the lives of the author, Paul Leicester
Ford, and his brother, Malcolm, the
famous athlete.
It is to the effec. that Malcolm, who
was not provided for in his father s
wi’.l, notified Paul a week before the
shooting that he must have $25,00'),
which he claimed was his due because
he signed a waiver permitting the pro
bating of the will. He is said to have
declared he needed the money badly
and to have become nun h im ensed
when Paul replied that he c':,i not
have the sum on hand, ad Tag ii.; t he
ah'AUM cone .it ml!, r in. •i.be'.s oi the
Ian :y. Maicoiai is said to have iv- !
P :ed that one c:' the heirs had kep: j
t..e agreement, but that he would j
not consult tite others, and departed '
with the de< laration that lie would re
turn a week htn< ;* for the niomyv, fail
ing to receive which 1,0 should resort
to desperate measures.
It Is Observed With Unusually Elabo
rate Ceremonies at Vienna.
Vienna, May 29.—Corpus Christ! day
was celebrated today with the custom
ary magnificent ecclesiastical ceremo
ny. Emperor Francis Joseph, the arch
dukes, the principal officers of state
and the municipal authorities were
present at high mass In the cathedral
at 7 o’clock in the morning. Subse
quently the whole body paraded the
principal streets, headed by the clergy
and banners of every parish in the
city. The emperor walked, bareheaded,
carrying a lighted candle, behind the
host.
A large party of Americans, includ
ing Robert S. McCormick, the United
States ambassador; Chancellor Hale,
the secretary of the embassy; Captain
Floy W. Harris, the military attache,
and Judge Frederick W. Holls, of New
York, viewed the pageant from the
windows of the United States consul
ate.
SAGASTA AMD . REMIER3HIP.
His Early Retirement Frcm Office
Again Being Discussed.
Madrid, May 29.—The possibility of
the early retirement of Seuor Sagasta
from the premiership is again being
discussed in connection with the differ,
ences,regarding the meeting of the
eortes.
The president of the s**nate, Senor
Montero Rios, considers that as no de
cree proroguing the session has been
issued the law requires the reassem
bling of parliament, and he has decid
ed to summon the senate to meet on
June 2.
Senor Sagasta Is opposed to convok
ing the cortes and will appeal to the
king, who, it is said, will not sign the
prorogation decree wi'hout consulta
tion with other political leaders. It is
held in some quarters that such action
on the part of his majesty will render
Senor Sagasta’s position untenable.
GUILTY OF GRAND LARCENY.
Chicago Man Charged With Stealing
$40,000 from Mother-In-Law.
Chicago, - ay 29.—A jury In Judge
Brentano'a court today returned a ver
dict finding George d’Essauer guilty of
grand larceny. He waa charged with
stealing $40,000 belonging to Mrs. Har
vey, hla mother-in-law. The Jury found
that he waa guilty of taking $15,000.
D'Essauer, according to the testimo
ny, got the money from Mrs. Harvey
by fraudulently reporting that he
would invest it. Instead it was al
leged he spent much of it In traveling
in Europe and America in pursuit of
an actress. It was alleged that he
planned to “star” the actress, but tbe
plan fell through.
British cabinet In Special Session.
London. May 29.—The British cab
inet was especially summoned last
night and sat for a little over an hour..
It Is generally accepted, however, this
morning that the session, though brief,
sufficed to put the final touches on the
agreement which will terminate the
war. The colonial secretary, Joseph
Chamberlain, was sufficiently recover-
«d from his Indisposition to attend
what Is already designated as “the
peace” cabinet.
Russian Famine Grows Worse.
St. Petersburg, May 8.—Correspond.
«nce of the Associated Press.—The sit
uation of the famine stricken peasant?
continues to grow worse. In 241 vil
lages of tbe Minhellnsk district, gov
ernment of Cufa, 6.815 cases of scurvy
were officially recorded on April 14,
as compared with 2,723 cases reported
on March 14. This is only a sample
of existing conditions in other famine
districts.
Jameson Will Return to Africa,
New York, May 29.—Dr. Jameson
will return to South Africa in a fort
night to remain two years, says a
Tribune dispatch from London. He
takes a hopeful view of the future of
the country.
Plaza Congratulates Palma.
New York, May 29.—President Plaza
has sent this cablegram to President
Estrada Palma, cables the Guayaquil,
Ecuador, correspondent of The Herald:
“In the name of the people and gov
ernment of Ecuador I salute you and
sincerely feel rejoiced at the advent
of the Cuban republic." To this Pres
ident Palma replied: “1 cordially ap
preciate your congratulations and
wish you and the people of the repub
lic of Ecuador all happiness and pros
perity."
Tests of Creamery Butter.
Chicago, May 29.—The first exhaus
tive test ever made of creamery but
ter taken from all parts of tbe United
States was finished in Chicago last
night by examiners appointed by the
department of agriculture and the Na
tional Creamery Butter Makers’ asso
ciation. Samples of butter from 500
buttermakers’, representng 19 states,
were examined and similar tests will
be made from now’ until October, when
a report will be submitted.
Refused to Make an Award.
St. Louis. May 29.—The grounds and
building committee of the Louisiana
Purchase exposition, after examining
the bids on the construction of the
Palace of Liberal Arts, refused to
make an award, the figures all being
in excess of the estimate of the $600,-
000 by the department of works. The
committee will order the plans return
ed to the architects for extensive re
vision, in order to bring the cost of the
building within the allowance.
Rochambeau Party Entertained.
New York, May 29.—The members
of the Roe ham beau party went today
to Whitelaw Held’s summer home at
Rhlnebook, where they were entertain
ed at luncheon. This evening the Six
ty-ninth regiment will escort the mem
bers of the mission to Delmonico’s,
where a dinner will be giver them by
the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. At
midnight the party will leave for New-
port.
V. Mi 2 c Dcv:' :d to &tc:ies of the
Gulf Gtat:s.
Montgomery, Ala., May 29.—As an
outcome of the establishment oi a de
partment oi history in Alabama and
Mississippi and flu 1 consequent inter
est in historical subjects the Gulf
States’ Historical Magazine is to be
launched in this city on July 1.
Thomas M. Owens, director of the
history department of the Alabama
state government, is to he the editor,
with Joel C. DuBose, now oi Birming
ham, as associate editor and business
manager.
The magazine is to consist of about
100 pages, is to be printed on a fine
quality of paper, contain historical il
lustrations and be issued bi-monthly.
It is to be devoted to the history lit
erature and antiquities of the gulf
states and those states which lie next
to them geographically and historical
ly.
HIGDON AGAIN MADE COLONEL.
Reinstated by Governor To Command
Third Regiment.
Birmingham. Ala., May 29.—The re
instatement of Colonel Higdon by the
governor to the command of the Third
Al-bama regiment meets with univer
sal approval here, where he has lived
so long.
Colonel Higdon has been connected
w! h the regiment continuously for 15
.wars, commencing as a private and
rising in regular order of promotion to
th • rank of colonel.
It is now' thought that the old
Spanish-American war trouble is at
rest forever; that the new officers w'iil
be loyal to the colonel, and the regi
ment will again take first rank in effl-
cienoy in the state’s service.
Drowned In Abandoned Quarry.
Bessemer, Ala., May 29.—James Bai
ley, aged about 17 years, w’as drown
ed at an old roek quarry, near here
while in swimming with a party of
friends. This is not the first tragedy
in conrectidu with the old quarry.
I)( j ep at all points and fed by springs,
the place lias great attractions for
1:o;t and young nu n. who find it : n
Mi ■- ] swiniining pool. While swim
ming young Paiky was seized with a
cramp and sank to tue bottom. He [
was th. s.,n oi' William Bailey, who j
is employ( d ar engineer at the pipe ,
works near Bessemer.
Eack from Dark Continent.
New Deeaiur, Ala., May 29.—Miss
Ella Gwen< udyke has returned from
an 18 months' absence as a mission
ary in Sierra Leone, Aiiica. This
is Miss Gwencudyke's second trip to
the dark continent, she having pre
viously spent two years there some
years ago. She brought home with
her a black parrot, whicn is said to
be the only one of its kind in the
United States. At her home here she
has the finest and most extensive col
lection of African curios to be found
in this country.
Wife Wounds Her Husband.
Panasoffkee. Fla., May 29.—In a do
mestic difficulty which occurred here
John Conley, the leading merchant of
this town, was shot in the neck by
Mr*. Conley, his wife, and it is believ-
ed that the wound is fatal. Mrs. Con
ley claims self-defense as her justifi
cation, and nas gone to Sumterville to
deliver herself to the authorities.
Increased Capital Stock.
Birmingham, Ala., May 29.—The Mil
ner & Kettig Hardware company to
day filed declarations increasing their
capital stock from $150,000 to $500,-
000. This Is one of the largest hard
ware and machinery concerns in the
state.
Colliery Imports Nonunion Men.
Hazelton, Pa., May 29.—Eleven non
union men brought here last night
from Philadelphia were put to work
today at the Cranberry colliery of A.
Pardee & Co. to fill the places of strik
ing firemen and pump runners. This
is the first importation of non-union
men into the district, it was learned
tod?y on what appeared to be reliable
authority that if necessary the coal
companies will next week arrange for
an interchange of engineers, firemen
and pumpmen, who have signified their
willingness to remain at work, but not
ic their own districts.
Coal Companies Anticipate Trouble.
Pottsvllle, Pa., May 29.—The coal
companies in this section are gather
ing special policemen to protect their
property, and in the event of a conflict
on Monday they will have a large body
of men in the field. It is known that a
strike of the pumpmen, engineers and
firemen is inevitable. Strike leaders
are protesting against the action as un
necessary. They say there will be no
violence upon the part of the strikers
unless they are forced to protect them
selves.
"Would Sooner Wed an Ape."
Lexington, Ky„ May 29.—"Before I
would marry a man to reform him I
would sooner wed an ape and wait
for him to develop," said Rev. Peter
Ainslee, of Baltimore, a minister in
the Christian church, in addressing
the graduating class of Hamilton Fe-
male college at the Lexington opera
house last night.
Snow In Adirondacks.
Malone, N. 1., May 29.—Snow fell
last night throughout the northern
part of the Adirondacks. The mercury
here dropped to 33.
\
THE CAKE OF ilOADS
HvwcrrJNCS cr ^electing a good
HliihVvAY CCA'..vliSoiONER.
i!«* S!)oii:d Uin Jvntlre Tiim-
to tlii* Work a lid Know All Alxmt
Hoad huiidlai?— Wisle Tlri-a I're-
serve Hiahwuym.
\Y. Pierrepont White, secretary of
the Oneida county (N. Y.) League For
Good Roads, in speaking before the 1
Utica chamber of commerce recently
about roadbuilding said:
“In roadbuilding the main object is ;
to get the greatest length of the best
road for the least money. The best i
road will have tbe location which will i
give the best drainage and the easiest
grades and will serve the most traffic. 1
The best road will have the design and
construction which will give a perfect
ly drained bed of dry ea. th supporting
a smooth and water tight surface This
will enable it to shed water with least
delay, to endure trjst with least
change, to carry t: affie with least wear,
to carry heavii t loads with least ef
fort, to carry light loads speedily and ,
with least jolt. The best location and
design of a road can only be made after ,
a thorough survey aud careful location ;
by a civil engineer who has had experi- ,
euce in designing and building roads.
“The man who has charge of the
roads In a town is called the highway
commissioner. Wbut kind of a man ;
should we have as highway commis
sioner? We want a man who is free to
give bis entire time to the care of the
roads from one end of the year to the
other. Each town has upward of sixty
miles of highway to be taken care of.
The New York Central railroad in the
cure of Its four tracks between Albany
and Utica, a distance of ninety-live !
miles, has a civil engineer and35 section
bosses in charge of 280 to 350 men in
tlie summer and 175 to ‘210 men in the
winter, all constantly at work keeping
(he roadbed free from water and tbe
ditches open. The proposition which a
highway comiuissiuiier must meet in
the care of the roads of bis town is ex
actly the same proposition that a rail
road lias to meet in the care of its road
bed.
“The highway c- mmissiotier must
be a man who can s irl in spring
(n the year with a plow, i poning the
ditches on eacl side of the roa 1. Tin’s
in a town of sixty miles of higlnva. s
gives him a furrow 12u miles long o
be opened at the melting ef the snow
in order to lake the water away from
the surface of the road. This w >rk
must he followed as soon as the earth
C •
POOB WOBK AND A POOH HUKKACB.
is dry enough to haudle by his team
and the road scraper. The road should
be made wide enough for two teams
to pass easily and crowned to a suffi
cient height to throw the water easily
to the ditches. Too high a crown pro
duces ruts when the road is used. Too
low a crown bolds the water in the
center of the road. The most satis
factory crown calls for a rise of six
inches In the center of an eighteen foot
road. This will throw the water fast
enough to keep the road from getting
soft and does not expose the road to
rutting.
“The sluices in each town should be
numbered and a record kept of them
and the dates when repairs are made
on them. Wooden sluices should be done
away with and iruuslulcesor tile sluices
put in their place, l^ie continued renew
al of wooden sluices is a constant ex
pense to the town, whereas tbe intro
duction of tile or Iron sluices would
soon provide the town with permanent
sluicing, aud very little expense would
be incurred from year to year in their
maintenance. The highway commis
sioner must see to it that the loose
stones are removed from tbe highways
at least once in thirty days, aud a pru
dent man does it oftener. '
“The highway commissioner should
be an active, energetic man. capable of
engaging and discharging men in bis
employ, capable of handling teams in
the use of the road mach.i.es, capable
of building a ditch so that be won’t
try to run water up bill, capable of
figuring on masonry for culverts, ca
pable of handling any small contract
and able to lay out his work from year
to year so that tbe roads cau be con
stantly improved through tbe operat
ing of a systematic plan of develop-
menL When you have a good highway
commissioner, never let him out of
office.
“It is worse than useless to create
expensive and valuable highways tc
have them only cut to pieces by tbs
use of narrow tires as now used for
the hauling of heavy loads in this
state. When you have got a good
thing, it costs you money, and you
must take care of it and change your
methods to help maintain it. Wide
tires are of the greatest value in pre
serving ordinary dirt roads. A state
wide tire law should be passed, simple
in its requirements, positive In its en
forcement and going »nto operation
two years from this dace in order to
permit every wagon user to have ample
time to adapt his wagon tires to the
new law in the interest of road mail)-
teuance.”
AVlint ttmne. I’nrls, Constantinople
anti l.nndon Have Suffered.
It is a difficult thing to kill a city,
anti there are some well known places
that have so much vitality that they
will survive any number of disnsteis.
Take Rome as a first example. No
fewer than ten times has site been
swept by pestilence. She has been
burned twice and starved out on six
occasions. Seven times she has been
besieged or bombarded. But she still
flourishes. I’erhaps that is why she is
called the Eternal City.
Paris has had eight sieges, ten fam
ines, two plagues and one lire which
devastated it. We make no reference
to the number of revolutions, as they
are too numerous to mention. But Par
is still flourishes.
Constantinople lias been burned out
nine times and lias suffered from four
plagues and live sieges. There are
some people who think that many of
the sultaus have been as bad for tin
city as any pestilence. Aud yet she
goes on.
Lastly there is the English metropo^
lis. London began as a kind of mound
a a swamp. In her early history she
’ is sacked, burned and all her inhab
it ffis butchered. She has been deci
mated by plague five times, exclusive
of typhus, cholera and such maladies.
She lias been more or less burned sev
eu times. She is thriving in spite of all.
Old American Bottlra.
In early American glassware the his
tory of our national art progress nas
beei> written. Choice and precious in
deed are the crude blue green and
brown amber bottles made early in the
nineteenth century, the portrait bottles
bearing busts of Washington, Franklin,
Lafajette, De Witt Ciinto:i. Zachary
Taylor, Kossuth and Jenny Lind. Lo
cal de orative subjects on many lines
of ideas were treated by the lirst Amer
ican bottle makers, and the most ex
quisite Venetian bottle cannot outrank
in value, to a patriotic American col
lector. the primitive old flasks orna
mented vitli Indians. Masonic em
blems. the eagle, stars, flags, log cab
ins. cannon and steamships or such
outdoor themes as the seasons, birds,
fruit, trees, sheaves of wheat, the fish
erman. deer, the gunner and his hounds
and the lirst bicycle. The earliest
American railway, v. th a ear drawn
by a tiorse. is historically celebraied on
a glass Inisk. as wi ll as the hold Pike’s
peak pilgrim, with his stall and bun
die.—Century:
A Qtieep Ja|tniteK«- Mnrrtiiae Canto?:*.
Wild geese are considered the best
examples of conjugal felicity in the
animal world. Thus the Japanese
groom sends the bride it pair of these
birds, and she in turn presents them to
her parents. To further emphasize the
matter the groom brings another pair
to the wedding, and they roost in the
room during the ceremony. Their con
duct is watched with care, for they
must not struggle to escape during the
proceedings. Fortunate is the bride
groom who cannot secure the geese
alive and must be content to substitute
toy imitations of the birds, for then
he has no anxiety lest the wild propen
sity assert itself during the marriage
rites and thus prove an ill omen to the
household.—Woman's Home Compan
ion.
How to Live on Love.
The girl was having a private con
ference with her father on the sub
Ject of marriage.
“The young man hasn’t enough to
support you on.” urged the father.
“But you will give us something,"
she said.
“Not a great deal, my dear.”
“Then we shall live on love.”
“Ugh,” sniffed tbe father.
“Don’t you think we can?” asked the
girl with the beautiful confidence of
youth.
“Yes, if you both stay single.” And
the father declined to discuss tbe mat
ter further.
Finding For th* Lawyer.
Sometimes tbe jury returns a verdict
for tbe lawyer, of which the following
is a good Instance: Mr. John Jones, a
barrister of great influence and ability,
was a leading counselor practicing in
tbe Welsh circuit Upon one occasion
after a felicitous speech on behalf of
his client in a criminal case tbe jury as
soon as the judge bad summed up.
without waiting for the officer to take
their verdict, culled out, “My lord, we
are all for John Jones, with costal”—
Loudon Tit-Bits.
At Home.
“Can you talk on your feet?” said
the young man who was thinking rue
fully of the time he tried to make an
after dinner speech.
“I can.” was the answer, accompa
nied by the baleful smile of a person
who is about to make a deliberate joke.
“I used to lecture ou chiropody.”—
Washington Star.
Pl«a«d.
“What’s tbe matter with grandfa
ther?”
“He’s insulted. You see, he’s nearly
ninety, and he happened to bear you
remark that the good die young.”—Chi
cago Post
Step Toward It.
“Darling, may I consider myself your
accepted lover?”
“Well—er—er— hardly that! But for
the present you may consider yourself
my prevailing fad.”—Stray Stories.
A Mean InninnHtlon.
“Do the birds come and pick up the
breadcrumbs from your hotel lawn?”
“They used to before my wife began
to make her own bread.”—Judge.
Orchards in France are valued at
$400 an acre, vineyards at $210 aud
pasture at $'JU.
That
Tired Feeling
Is a Common Spring Trouble.
It’s a sign fhat the blood is deficient
in vitality, just as pimples and other
eruptions are si^ns that the blood
is impure.
It's a warning, too, which only th#
hazardous fail to heed.
Hood's Sarsaparilla
and Pills
Remove it, give new life, new cour
age, strength and animation.
They cleanse the blood and clear th#
complexion.
Accept no substitute.
“I felt tired all the time and could not
sleep. After taking Hood's Sarsaparilla
a while I could sleep well and the tired
feeling had gone. This great medicine has
also cured me of scrofula.” Mas. C. M.
Boor, Gilead, Conn. u.
Hood’s Sarsaparilla promises to
cure and keeps the promise.
FIND THE SUNNY SIDE.
Try to Get Oat of the Gloom aad the
Shadows of Life.
Nothing contributes more to tbe high
est success than the formation of the
habit of enjoying things. Whatever
your calling in life may be. whatever
misfortunes or hardships may come to
you, make up your mind resolutely
that, come what may, you will get the
most possible real enjoyment out of ev
ery day, that you will increase your
capacity for enjoying life by trying to
find the sunny side of every experience
of the day. Resolutely determine that
you will see the humorous side of
things. No matter how hard or un
yielding your environment may seem
to be. there is a sui.ny side if you can
only see it. Tbe mirth provoking fac
ulty. ev« n under trjiug circumstances,
is worth more to a young man or wo
man starting out in life than a fortune
without it. Make up your mind that
you will be an optimist; that there
shall be nothing of the pessimist about
you: that ; u will carry your own sun
shine n in lever yell
There
as longevity
'.iv sunn;
that e.<
■s our j
H make
feid- s »h
ake with hi,
Th r<
is a wun . i
■ii‘‘d!c'nal
In good cheer. Good news and glad ti
dings have a magic effect even upon
Invalids.
We often see a whole store or factory
or home tiansl'onued by one sunny
soul. Ou tiie oilier hand, we have seen
them blighted and made dark by* a
gloomy, morose, fault finding person.—
Christian Advocate.
ROADS IN DELAWARE.
The State Undly In Need of Better
I! lit b nays.
From one end of Delaware to the
other goes up the cry for good roads.
The old time patching methods and
the dumping of mud on the roads, only
to be washed away by the next rain,
carry off the hard earned money paid
by the farmers for road taxes.
The first step for good roads will be
taken this season when the convicts
will furqish broken stone with which
to' begin the work of building a solid
state road, says tbe Philadelphia North
American. Water and narrow tires
are two cause? which contribute to the
ruin of roads. Tbe rut from a passing
wagon forms tbe trough for rain, aud
the next wagon simply digs deeper,
and the destruction continues. Wide
tires roll and harden the surface, and
every wide tired wagon and traction
engine becomes a road roller.
A movement is now ou foot to have a
wide tire law enacted by the next leg
islature. Every wagou which cuts up
tbe roads can oe changed into a help
in making better roads. Tbe recent
storm left In Its wake wagona and
carriages by tbe hundreds In tbe state
as a monument to bad roads. Turn
where you may, broken vehicles are
lying by tbe roadside, telling of the
February storm and the bad roads of
Delaware.
Railroad* Doln* a Great Work.
It is gratifying to note that the south
ern trunk lines have taken up this mat
ter of good roads and are pushing the
movement with vigor. There is per-
haps a tinge of selfishness to this rail
road activity, as better roads mean an
Increased volume of freight, but the
movement is none tbe less praisewor
thy for that. The railroads are ex
pending vast sums in impressing south
erners with tbe benefit of good roads
and illustrating their argument with
the construction of well drained and
well laid out dirt highways, graded
and kept according to scientific engi
neering principles, says tbe Richmond
(Va.) Times. In carrying out this good
work these roads are looking a long
way ahead—looking, in fact, to a time
when tbe country farmer will be able
to market every pound of hla produce
in wet or dry weather.
Wkat Shoal# ■« Doao.
Papers everywhere are prging th#
construction pf better roads. They
speak of this method and that method,
but It all will amount to notblng until
another and better system is establish
ed. As things now stand, says the
Berg n Springs (Mich.) Era. the road
tax in rural localities is payable tu
work unless the taxpayer can find some
way to get out of it. It would be Just
as sensible to pay the school tax or tbe
tax for an official stenographer In work
as to pay the road tax in that way.
The highways should be made under
the supervision of a competent engineer
ami the work be done by contract.
Then we should know Just what is
done and what it costs, and If it is not
well done /the bondsmen of tbe con
tractor could be held to make it good, j