The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, December 12, 1902, Image 7
I
TALMAGE
SERMON
•t
By Pav.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE. D.D.,
P-vstor of J’lfersoa Park Presby-
tcrian Cnurch, Chicago
Chicago, Dee. 14.—A plea for n more
generous and kindly treatment of em
ployees and friends is made by Rev.
F. Do Witt Talmage in this sermon on
the tc::t Proverbs xx, 14, “It is naught
It is naught, saith the buyer, but when
he is gone his way then ho boasteth.”
Do you see that Jerusalem gentleman
wending his way in ami out among the
crowded booths and storesV Do you
see him stop and pretend to be examin
ing come article us though he were
making up ids mind whether or not to
buy? lie is, in truth, stopping to horr
a eonversaticn which is taking place
between an old Hebrew merchant and
a young man who has just arrived, per
haps from the far east, with camels
laden with a large assortment of ex
pensive shawls. “Well,” says the young
mm to the old merchant, “how much
will you give? I have put every cent
into this enterprise. I must sell those
shawls right away. My creditors are
beginning to crowd me hard. My men
want their pay right away. Those
si: wls are the best I could get in the
east. They cost me $20,000 cash. I
have come a long distance with them,
|ud you certainly' ought to give me
enough to meet my expenses.” The old
m :n shrugs his shoulders. He says:
“Ky young friend, I do not care what
those shawls have cost you. They are
utterly valueless to me. I do not want
them at any price. The moths have
got into some of them. For my pur
poses they are ruined. Besides that,
those shawls are all out of style. They
would be a perfect drug upon the mar
ket. i wish you would leave the shop.
I have a lot of business to attend to,
and 1 have no time to waste.”
The young inexperienced seller bites
bis lip until the blood almost comes.
Then he thinks of ids wife and little
babies. He feels be is staring ruin in
the face. lie knows he must make a
sale right away, else he will become a
bankrupt. He again says, “Can’t you
give me anything for those shawls?”
The old merchant at lirst says nothing.
Then lie answers: “Well, young man,
you seem to lie in hard luck. I will
give you $10,000 if you want me to
take the damaged goods off your
hands.” The tears begin to start from
the young man's eyes. He is too brave
to show them. He goes to the corner of
the street and stands there for awhile
to think. While he is there the old
merchant’s eyes sharply follow him.
Then the young man comes back at
last and says: "1 guess I will take your
offer. That means I must lose all the
money I ever made in my life. That
means I will not only throw away six
months’ hard work, but that now I am
utterly ruined. Here is a receipt for
the money. Give me the money and let
me go to my tent and tell my wife we
are both ruined.” Hardly has the
young man left when King Solomon,
for he is the listener, sees the old He
brew merchant begin to rub together
his hands in glee. A broad, sardonic
smile overspreads ins merciless face.
He calls to bis partner and says:
“Isaac, come here and see these goods.
Dhl you ever see such beauties? Why,
those shawls are worth at least $40,000
clean profit I never struck a better
bargain. That young man simply gave
them away to me. Just look at them,
Isaac. I bought them for $10,000, at
least $15,000 less than they cost. I
must go and tell Rebecca bow much
we have made this morning. Forty
thousand dollars clear profit! Aha, who
would ever have thought that young
man could be such a fool?” Is this not
a rational Interpretation of my text,
“It is naught, it is naught, saith the
buyer, but when lie is gone ids way
then lie boasteth?”
The Meniiinic of Solomon,
While this conversation takes place
between the deceitful old merchant and
his partner, methinks 1 can see a trou
bled look come over the face of the dis
guised king who is standing near by.
Methinks I can hear him soliloquize:
“How contemptible and despicable is
this wholesale system of swindling de
preciations! How deceitful and damn
ing it was for that old merchant to de
spoil that young merchant. 1 must em
body among my proverbs for the bene
fit of all my people a warning against
this almost universal and sinful habit.”
That night, while the great king is sit
ting alone in his palace study, he takes
up his pen and adds another sparkling
gem to his casket of scintillating Jew
els of wisdom. 1 would Interpret the
lesson of this text not only in the mer
chant’s parlance, but also in reference
to the wicked depreciations of every
walk in life, no matter where the sinful
practice may be found.
Discouraging depreciations are found
Id the home as well as in the street, by
the domestic fireside as well as in the
Jerusalem stores, in the nursery as
(well as In the public market place. In
& China it is never considered gentle-
* manly or polite for a man to speak well
•f bis relatives. In America It is also
the custom of some parents, brothers
and sisters never to speak eulogiatlcal-
ly to any of their dear ones, no matter
bow much they may be proud of them
and their successes. They say they are
afraid to praise them. They fear lest
they should give them a conceited Idea
of themselrea and spoil them. There
fore their ^gify is to peck; at All the
faults of t
com men
Now, my friends, as far as I can un
derstand our social life, the greatest
need of the world today is not for a
few more gigantic factories to run
night and day for the manufacturing
of scalping knives and swords and dag
gers and iron tipped clubs or for great
kilns, where brickbats can be hardened
out of dirty clay to throw at our broth
ers. The great need of the world is not
for a few microscopes and X ray lenses
for magnifying and exposing our
brother’s faults and reminding him of
his own imperfections. But the great
est need of the world is for at least
500,000,000 homes to be turned
Into Christlike pharmaceutic establish
ments. In those homes every father
and mother, brother and sister, ought
to be busy all the time trying to com
pound old fashioned, invigorating alio
pathic doses of gospel encouragement.
They should be quick to recognize and
praise one another's good points as
well as their faults. They should en
courage each other with words of in
spiring good cheer as well as caution
them with words of trenchant warning
against the quicksands and the hidden
snares of life.
The (alvinff of Praise.
If a man’s friends do not give him
the encouragements he needs for life’s
struggle, surely his enemies never will.
God knows, an average man gets
enough knocks from his enemies—
enough blows upon his head and heart
—to make it absolutely necessary for
at least some one to say something
pleasant. You do not want your loved
ones to start out in life wAh a de
pressed idea of their own abinties and
capacity for future work, as my fa
ther had when he started, which youth
ful depression he was never able to en
tirely overcome. My grandfather and
grandmother were old fashioned folks,
who brought up their children in the
old fashioned way, never telling them
anything cheering about themselves.
The nearest to a parental compliment
my father ever received was when his
mother read his graduating speech in
the little village paper of Somerville.
After she had finished reading it she
turned to my grandfather and said,
“David, that speech of De Witt’s must
have sounded quite well when he spoke
it.”
Then came the depressing influences
of his college and seminary life. With
but one exception all bis professors
tried to instill into my father’s brain
the idea that lie could never preach.
He was so discouraged that he deter
mined to go to a foreign field and be a
missionary. He thought that perhaps
the “heathen Chinee” or the Fiji island
ers might lie persuaded to listen to his
preaching if he were only able to get
into a region where no white man had
ever been before. The most surprised
being in the seminary—and nearly all
the students were dumfounded—was
young De Witt Talmage when he re
ceived a call to the church and parson
age at Belleville, N. .1. The solemn ad
vice which the New Brunswick profess
or gave, “You will have to change your
style, Mr. Talmage; you will have to
change your style,” found its echo in
the advice of old Dr. Thomas De Witt
of the Collegiate church of New York
city. After my father had been a short
time in the ministry tins great and
good man. Dr. De Witt, after whom
my father was named, sent this mes
sage to him: “Tell my namesake never
to allow ids sermons to be published.
He may he aide to preach, but he cer
tainly does not know how to write.”
The effect of all this depressing and
depreciating advice was such that my
father was never able to fully shake
off the discouragements of his youth.
My mother had to urge him on and on
or without doubt in those first years of
struggle he would have given up the
fight and gone into the law. So, my
friends. 1 urge you never to discourage
a young man. You may be mistaken in
anticipating his failure. Rather cheer
him with commendation whenever it is
possible. Who can tell whether at the
end of ids career ids Divine Master
may not pronounce upon his service the
“well done” with which he rewards his
faithful stewards?
EntMiuraicttnient Wanted.
Some years ago by an explosion of
firedamp four miners were entombed In
a coal mine near Scranton, l‘a. Their
friends worked a whole night and a
day trying to liberate the imprisoned
men. At last the rescuers wore about
to give up in despair. Just then the
youngest member of the firm rapidly
drove up in a buggy. As be leaped out
lie cried: “Boys, you have done well!
It is only a little work more! Come on,
boys, and in a short time we will get
those poor fellows free!” He threw off
his coat and grabbed a pick and began
to strike the rock. At the sound of his
reassuring voice and example the other
men went to work with renewed ener
gy. The entombed men were soon safe
in the arms of their wives and children.
Today the vast majority of our rela
tives do not need words of depreciation.
Like those miners, digging for their
entombed companions, they want
words of encouragement, words*of good
cheer, words of inspiration, words of
assurance, that if they only trust God
and do right certain success will come
to every one of them. Their success
may not necessarily come right away,
but true success will surely come In
time.
Discouraging depreciation is often
found in the dealings of employers
with their employees. Many men and
women who are at the head of large es
tablishments do not like to commend
their employees. They say if you
praise a clerk even a little that clerk
will get too good an opinion of himself
and will ask for an increase of salary.
Or, if you praise an employee, some
rival firm will hear of the commenda
tion and come and steal your man
away. Thus some men never speak
I kindly to those who are in their em
ploy; They chronically and systematic-
•11^ growl and find fault with every-
that when an employee is afraid of los
ing his position he will work harder
ami more faithfully than if the head
of the firm commended him for every
thing he did well.
Now, such a course as that is not
honest or just. The Bible distinctly
says that every laborer is worthy of bis
hire. If a man is paid what he ought
to be paid for doing bis work, there
is no need to fear that be will not do as
good work with a few words of com
mendation as with the depressing ef
fects of unjust and systematic depre
ciation. I tell you candidly and ear
nestly that chronic fault finding has the
same effect In a factory or a store as
the cold, dark, drizzling days of No
vember have upon the floral world,
while words of kindness and apprecia
tion have the same inspiration upon
the flagging energies of the employees
as the inspiring strains of the regi
mental bands had upon the despairing
spirits of the French soldiers when
they were scaling the Alps for their
great Italian victories. During the last
days of that awful ascent, when the
French cannon had to be dragged up-
by the ropes held in the soldiers’ bleed
ing hands, Napoleon Bonaparte com
manded his musicians to keep on play
ing the most inspiring patriotic airs.
So the employers’ words of commenda
tion sound in the ears of the worker
like the notes of sweetest and most
inspiring music, which will make the
employees sometimes even double their
energies to merit the appreciation
which their employers have expressed.
The Spirit of Depreciation.
But though words of commendation
may have sucli beneficent results in the
employers’ dealings with employees,
yet it is the settled policy of many a
business man not only to say nothing
pleasant to his employees, but also to
make his clerks live upon as small a
salary as possible until he is by force
of circumstances compelled to pay
them more. lam sorry to say, too, that
this spirit of depreciation, this reluc
tance to recognize and reward merit,
is sometimes seen in the relation of a
church to its minister, although, thank
God, most congregations are not selfish
and are giving their pastors all the en
couragement and financial support that
they can. A selfish congregation will
start in with a system of fault finding.
It will grind the minister down and
down. It will make the pulpit a dump
ing ground for all its carping and con
temptible criticism. It will for years
keep its minister upon a starvation sal
ary. Then after awhile, when that
minister gets a call from a sister
church in a neighboring city, with an
increase of $2,000 or $3,000 salary, that
congregation will act as though a bomb
had suddenly dropped among them.
They will gather around the minister to
plead with him with beseeching tears.
The boards of the church will immedi
ately meet and vote to raise the minis
ter's salary $2,P00. Resolutions will be
passed begging the minister not to
leave them. If that minister is so valu
able to the congregation now, why was
he not appreciated before? If the con
gregation could raise the salary $2,000
now, why not before? If the congrega
tion could pass commendatory resolu
tions now. why not before? Oh. no;
that is not the policy upon which many
a selfish church and many a business
establishment is run. The policy which
is almost everywhere in vogue is that
against which Solomon is giving the
warning of my text. It is to say as'
few pleasant things as possible, to pay
as little as we can to those who are in
our employ and then to spend the rest
of our time in boasting how much we
have been able to get for little or for
practically nothing.
Depressing depreciation is annually
driving thousands and hundreds of
thousands of poor men, women and
children into a life of crime and into
a quickstep march to a premature
grave. The public is guilty of complici
ty in the evil. It not only encourages
the employer in his inadequate remu
neration of ids employees, but it incites
it. Everywhere the universal cry is,
“Give us something cheap, cheap,
cheap, cheap!” and the heads of the
large factories and stores are dally try
ing to meet this demand, and to meet it
the salaries of employees must be cut
down. By the laws of social economics
some people must be, figuratively,
shoved to the wall. It Is ^ot the head
of the great dry goods emporium who,
as a rule, has to suffer. Oh, no. He will
get his percentage of profit no matter
what comes. But it is the mechanic at
the bench, it is the poor female clerk
who receives a Salary less than she can
live on. It is the poor sewing girl who
has to work all night and far into the
hours of the night. It is not. as a rule,
the capitalist who has to be crushed
and squeezed by the grdat crowds
which swarm around the “bargain
<S>unters” on a Monday morning. It Is
the small wage earner whose heart and
life are being trampled under the feet
of men and women who are scouring
the stores to find goods which they can
purchase at little above, or even less
than, cost. It Is the poor girl and the
young man who on account of the aw
ful struggle for a livelihood, which *ls
dally becoming harder, are throwing
themselves into the outstretched arms
of temptation, and who are becoming
more and more reconciled to lift their
thin, pale lips for the polluted, poison
ous, cancerous kiss of sin.
Cna*ea Many a Funeral.
The grinding and Salanic effects of
sinful depreciation in the business world
are the cause of many a tragedy. Look
at that funeral! Who was that poor
creature whose body is being taken to
potter’s field? Yes, tumble her Into a
pine box and shovel her under the
ground! Who cares? She Is nothing
but a poor working girl—yes, nothing
but a poor working girl—yet her life
was Just ns divr to her as yours Is to
you. She had ru invalid mother and a
little baby brother. At night, when she
would come home from the store, she
would sometimes bring a few faded
m ■——» ■ *mm
flowers and put them In an old broken
pitcher and say: “Come, mother; let’s
play we were out in the country. How
I wish we could see the old farm, where
papa used to take us before he died!
Tired? Oh, yes; a little. The store is
so hot, and the customers, especially
about Christmas, find so much fault
with us, as though we were not human.
But, then, I think of you and the baby,
and the scoldings of the‘floorwalker
do not cut so deep. There, mother, kiss
me good night. You know I must be
up early In the morning to be down to
the store on time.”
Day after day she got weaker and
weaker. The hours were long. The
boxes were heavy to lift. Ah, she was
earning bread. She was earning it
with her life’s blood. After awhile two
little red spots appeared in her thin,
pale cheeks. Her eyes had an unnat
ural brilliancy. Half the night she
would toss and toss, unable to sleep.
The hacking cough never seemed to re
lieve the awful pain In the aching
chest. One day “No. 37” fainted. When
she was being carried to the cloakroom,
an old lady customer stopped and look
ed and wiped her eyes and said; “Poor
little thing! I wonder if my* little
grandchild will ever have to work like
that.” Two of her companions took her
home. After that she could not do
much. Still, a happy smile would al
ways welcome the girls who would
stop at night after they left the store
and bring her an orange or an apple,
bought out of their scanty earnings.
That is all. She's dead now. Tumble
her Into her pine box. Shovel her under
the ground. She Is nothing but a poor
working girl. What Is the matter? Oh,
nothing, except that this continual de
preciation of the price of goods has in
evitably driven some people to the wall,
and she is one of the lirst to go. What
is the matter? Oh, nothing, except the
fact that thousands of men and wom
en, some of whom are members of the
church, are driving prices down and
down until at last a groan of agony is
coming from the throats of hundreds of
thousands of working girls whose mor
al and physical life is being crushed
out of them. If an article is worth
$10, pay it or go without. It is far bet
ter to pay young men or women a liv
ing salary to support them before they
do wrong than to establish rescue
homes to save them after they have
gone astray.
The fiocriNy of Depreciation.
Depreciation, when it Is unjust, is hy
pocrisy, and it is in a large measure
responsible for the depressed condi
tions of spiritual life in the church as
well as in the home and the store.
Some people seem to think that the re
ligion of the Lord Jesus Christ has
nothing to do with the weekday. They
act as if they had a right to leave their
piety at home on u Monday morning,
as they would put on or off their Sun
day clothes. But I want to tell you
that Christ’s teachings are utterly at
variance with such hypocritical non
sense. If u man is not a Christian dur
ing the weekday, lie is not a Christian
on Sunday. If a woman is not a Chris
tian in her dealings with her grocery-
man and butcher, her baker and serv
ant girl and on her shopping expedi
tions, she is not a Christian when she
goes to church. A falsehood is just as
big and black when uttered over a
store counter as when it is told in
church. It is as heinous an offense as
was that lie told under the shadow of
the uplifted hand which the apostle
Peter raised when lie was preachiug to
Ananias and Sapphira near the Jeru
salem temple. And so, my brother, if
you want to consecrate your churches
to God, you must also consecrate your
stores and factories, your advertising
columns, your commercial buyers, your
clerks’ salaries and your draymen’s
wages. When some one asked George
Whitefield whether a certain man was
a Christian or no, the great evangelist
answered: “Ho.w can I tell? I never
lived with him.” So God will never de
clare we are his children unless we re
solve, like John Wesley, that during the
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday
and Thursday and Friday and Satur
day ns well as the Sunday we will try
“to do all tlie good we can to as many
people ns we can as long as we can.”
Beginning our sermon with a text
selected from the book of Proverbs,
we would end with a spirit inspired,
pleading peroration from the book of
Ecclesiastes. The two indirectly teach
practically the same great lesson of our
duty toward our fellow men—“Let us
hear the conclusion of the whole mat
ter.” “Fear God and keep his command
ments, for this is the whole duty of
man. For God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether it be good or whether it be
evil.” Are we one and all ready to obey
this inspired Injunction? Are we ready
to consecrate to the Master’s service
our dealings with human beings, as
well as our direct dealings with Christ?
Are we ready to consecrate our whole
lives to Christ—not tomorrow or next
week or next month, but now—Just
now? Brother, sister, do you know any
better moment to promise to live for
Jesus than this moment, which la now
ready to fly away?
[Copyright, 1902, by Louis Klopsch.]
Children and Divorce.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson says:
“For many years it has been my stron
gest conviction In respect to divorce
that our statute books should have a
double system of laws in respect to
childless marriages, as compared with
those where the interests of children
were included. In childless marriages
It is the Interests of man and wife
alone which have to be consulted, but
the moment children appear the ques
tion becomes Incomparably more diffi
cult. For childless marriages It seems
to me that divorce should be far eas
ier, but In the other case the Interests
of the nex generation become the
primary object, and the law should
place much greater obstacles In the
way of separation.”
0 MED TO TAKE
NO FURTHER ACTION
British Commander to Cease
Aggressiveness.
THE VENEZUELAN SITUATION. .
It Is Said Orders Have Been Sent Re
questing No Further Action, Pend
ing Decision Being Arrived at on
Proposal For Arbitration.
London, Dec. 15.—The Associated
Press has reason to believe that or-
d'erii will, or have been sent, to the
British commander in Venezuelan
waters to take no further aggressive
action at present, pending a decision
being arrived at on the proposal for
arbitration.
This came in the form of a propo
sal through the United States govern
ment to submit the claims of British
aiwi German subjects to arbitration
announced later in the day in the
house oi lords, is now "under consid
eration by the British government.”
Lord I-auiUowne announced: “We
are greatly indebted to the good of
fices of the United States minister at
Caracas.”
Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 15.—Inac
tion reigns in government circles
here. The officials do not know what
to do and are depending entirely upon
the United' States to assist them.
A movement is on loot here, headed
by prominent doctors and lawyers to
request President Castro to resign and
to ask Vice President Ramon Ayala
to assume the presidency and form
a cabinet without party tendencies. It
is also proposed to summon congress
to appoint a temporary president and
arrange the questions in dispute in a
manner satisfactory to all concerned.
General Hernandez El Mooho, who
has Jim been released from prison at
Maracaibo, is expected at Caracas to
morrow. His partisans are active and
further trouble is apprehended. The
Venezuelan government announces
that Great Britain has opened the nav
igation of the Orinoco river. The
warships patrol the mouth of the riv
er and 1 the river itself. This measure
applies only to foreign ships. Vessels
flying the Venezuelan flag are ex
cluded.
The patriotic parade here yesterday
passed off without any extraordinary
incidents. President Castro, during
the day, visited the tomb of Bolivar.
The government reported that the
German cruiser Panther was going to
Maracaibo to destroy the forths there.
Minister Bowen, at the request’ of
the Dutch minister, Dr. Von Leydan,
who is sick at Curacao, has taken
charge of the Dutch interest here. The
leading merchants of l.aGuayra ar
rived here last night, announcing that
owing to the fear it would be shelled
today they left.
At 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon
four loud explosions alarmed the city
of Puerto Oabello. On investigation
it was found that British marines had
blown up the subterranean prison cells
of the castle Libertador with dyna
mite. They also burned the wooden
buildings surrounding the castle and
carried away everything that could be
transported. After the bombardment
of the forts at Puerto Oabello and
the landing o«f marines on the island
where the castle is situated, the forces
of the powers acted just as though
they were at home, causing great in
dignation among the Venezuelans.
When everything was destroyed the
marines re-embarked.
The Venezuelan government war
ship Miranda e*caped the vigilance
of the German cruisers Falke and
Panther, which were searching for her
and arrived at Maracaibo yesterday.
PORT OF PUERTO CABELLO.
United States Consul Ellsworth Talks
of Venezuelan City.
Chicago, Dec. 15.—A special to The
Record-Herald from Elkhart, Ind.,
says:
Luther L. Ellsworth, United States
consul at Puerto Cabello, when told
of the bombardment of that port, said:
“Puerto Cabello, pronounced as
though spelled ea-vay-yo, occupies a
level plain 2 miles wide at the foot of
the mountain with a water front of
about 3 miles, the water line following
an irregular course that gives front
age on the west, north and east. The
city is defended by two forts, Liber
tador, which is on a small island in
front of the custom house, and So
lano, on top of a mountaia 2 miles
from the water line and commanding
the entire town.
“If the allied fleet simply desired to
reduce Libertador the guns could be
brought to bear without necessarily in
juring the town. The fort had, when
I left, alnnit 50 guns, only about 10
of which were modern, and the garri
son could not have been as large as
500. Solano has two Krupp guns and
can garrison about 150 men.
“The American consulate, which
stand* on a corner of the water front.
Is but 120 feet from Libertadlor, ami
if the vessels stood where they could
avoid hitting the town their shot pass
ed near the consulate, which is a leas
•d' building.
"The capture of Puerto Cabello
soon Id be a serious blow to Castro, as
M» ouetoans receipts are second only
to those of l.aGuayra. Besides, the
Valencia road connect* direct with a
line to Caracas.”
bOOD ROAD BENEFITS
SOME ARGUMENTS BY SENATOR
EARLE OF MICHIGAN.
Why lietter Uluhwaya Are Wanted
and Why They Are Deneflcial—What
the Produeern Save by Haallnic
Over Good Kuada.
Why are better roads wanted and
why are better roads beneficial to the
owners of farms, of mines, of manu
facturing establishments or other pro
ducers of material to be transported?
That as much as possible the cost of
transportation may be eliminated, said
Senator Earle of Michigan in a speech
before a good roads convention. The
cost of transportation does not en
hance the value of any kind of product.
There is a market everywhere for ev
ery kind of product, where the price is
set, and what the producer gets for his
product is the price set at this natural
market less the cost of transportation
from the producing point to the market
setting point.
So the farm owners, the mine owners
and the owners of factories in Michi
gan are or ought to be Interested In
anything that will have a tendency to
eliminate any portion of the cost of
production, and the cost of transporta
tion of a product to its natural market
is a part of the cost of production as
much as are the wages paid to the la
borer. If the producers were as eco
nomical with King Mud as they are
with King Labor, we would have bet
ter roads, and much of the cost of
transportation would be eliminated,
and a portion of this saving might well
be banded to King Labor. It Is a fact
that the carriers are transporting wheat
from Nebraska to Liverpool for less
money per bushel than it costs a farm
er to haul it over a common dirt road
ten miles to market.
If it costs $2 to draw one ton to mar
ket over a bad road and only $2 to
draw two tons over that same road
when that road has been made better,
then the better road is the machine to
obtain and use that a portiou of the
cost of transportation may be elimi
nated, provided that the machine (the
lietter road) and its repairs do not cost
more than can be eliminated by its
use for the cost of transportation. If
$2 per ton is a fair average of what is
saved by the use of a good road over
the use of a bad road, It is only neces
sary to find out how many tons are
hauled over any road a year to know
whether that road can lie improved to
a profit or not. To explain, if a given
HAULING HAY IN NOEMANDY, FRANCE.
[This load weighs upward of four tons.]
road cost $10,000 to build, there must
be a travel of at least 1,000 loads a
year over that road at a saving of $2
a load.
Of course, it does not cost $2 to haul
one ton one mile, but the average dis
tance that farm produce is hauled is
seven miles, and a farmer will not go
to town twice in one day seven miles
away, over a bad foad, and going to
town will about use up the day, so that
It has cost to haul one ton to market
whatever one man and one team for
one day are worth, or about $2.50. If
the road was a first class macadam
road, three tons or more at a load
would be hauled and two trips would
bo made, thus delivering at the station
or market five tons more a day than
could be with a bad road, saving
$12.30, a portion of which the producer
can well afford to pay for a machine
that helps to eliminate it.
Potatoes yield about six tons to the
acre, sugar beets about twelve. The
grower can multiply the number of
acres by the number of tons and then
multiply the number of tons by $2, and
he will have the amount he can afford
to pay in taxes or subscription to build
a macadam road if seven miles from
market—that is, if lie is seven miles
from market and has fifty acres of
sugar beets he can afford to pay for a
macadam road $1,200, which Is $2
times (>00 tons. But he won’t have to
pay anywhere near this sum, so he
need not go into hysterics at the as
sertion.
You cannot save the cost of excessive
transportation over u bad road more
than It costs over a good road until
you have the good road to save It for
you; then you can save, and what you
save, or some portion of it, you can
pay toward the retiring of short term
lKinds that you bought the road with,
the same as you did to retire the notes
that you gave for the binder, and there
is no more reason to be afraid of a
bond than there is to be afraid of a
note. Neither cun be afforded for lux
uries, but either can be afforded for
machines which will save more than
they cost, and It is only the timid and
foolish that will continue to out their
grain with a cradle or haul their grain
through mud to the market If there is
enough to cut or to h iuf io prv io get
the machine to cut or livil it with.
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