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OUR GREAT BRIDGES Santee and Wateree Projects and Two on the Savannah All Under Way?Engineer De scribes Construction Features? Heavy Permanent Work and Careful Engineering Four ma3or bridge projects for( highways, all in the low country.; are under way in South Carolina now: The Santee river, the Wateree.! the. Savannah span near Augusta] an? the new bridge over the Savan-j nah ri\-er near* Savannah. In an1 article in The Manuafcturers* Rec-J ord, Robert G. Thomas, editor of the South Carolina highway bulletin and engineer in charge of records, writes interestingly of these pro-: Jects. The article deals principally; xvith the Santee River bridge and! includes a number of pictures ofj the work. It brings out many in- j tcresting facts about the progress being made. , The article follows: "There are now under way in South Carolina four major bridge projects, the? Santee River bridge,] the Wateree - River bridge, the i Savananh River bridge near Au-. gaista, Ga, and the bridge over thej Savannah river near Savannah, Ga.{ * Santee Kivcr Bridge. "One of the great rivers of the South is the Santee. Formed by the confluence, a few miles below! Columbia* of the Congaree and thej Wateree. it reaches the sea near the center of South- Carolina's coast j line between Charleston and] Georgetown. With its various" tributaries it drains most of thej state' and a part of North CaroT lina, about 15,000 square miles al together. Bordering the river on each .vide are thickly timbered swamps four, or more miles wide, I separating an important section of the state and preventing free travel between the two portions. "There is* a highway bridge over] the Congaree at Columbia, and" over, the Wateree there is one at: Camden and one almost completed; between Columbia and Sumter, but there is no highway across the. Santee. "To remedy this situation, there i3 now under construction (begun June 21, 1021) a bridge over the Santee and a causeway across the ;f;amp, near St. Stephens, a town about 65 miles above the mouth ofj the river. At the site the main channel is about 330 feet wide and ii? swamp is nearly four miles j wide. In order to reduce the main- j tenance charges , to a minimum all structures, except the main span, I are of reinforced concrete. The j bridge is to have an 18-foot road-' way ami will be above the highest known water. As the Santee is a navigable stream, a 63 foot draw S^an is provided.. The main chan ; Hfcol crossing has .one 180 foot steel through truss swing span and two 120 foot steel through truss fixed sjsans on concrete piers. j -*'*The approach trestles have a total length of about 6,000 feet. There are seven trestles of lengths and positions such as to provide for the most effective discharge of the flood waters. These trestles alternate with earth embankments. The plans provided for two types ?f-structure, one type having 24 1-2 foot -concrete beam spans on con crete pile bents, the other pedestal type, having 35 1-2 foot concrete beam spans on cast in place bents on timber piles. The later, how ever, have been used to a small extent only. ''j "There are four precast piles to, the bent, the two outside piles; being put up with a batter. These pilesr are. cast on the nearest high ground- in a yard which contains 70 forms-^They are left in the forms one week and then allowed to season one month before driv ing. The trestles were designed for a live load of two 15-ton trucks with 25 per cent, allowance for im pacts^ The embankments are to be ^3 feet high, have a total length of 13,200 feet, and will require 800, <j(00 cubic yards of earth. { ."Material for the fills is being taken from borrow pits outside the i swamps. Progress is being made qe the fills on the Williamsburg side of the river, which requires 70.000 ? cubic yards. The fills on the Berke- \ ley side involve the excavation ot 580.CK)0 cubic yards of material from a 48 acre borrow pit. Under energetic superintendence with standard gauge equipment this part of the work is proceeding rapidly, and the average of about 40,000 cubic yards a month will probably be maintained to the end. "In all there are now, as this is Written. 440,000 cubic yards of earth fill in place: four river piers are completed and the draw span erected; 400 concrect piles have been driven and 760 concrete piles have been cast: and the decks for 70 spans of trestle have been pour ed. To Protect Trestles. ? "In order to protect the trestles from the heavy drift carried by the Santee in flo<^. a strip of land 225 feet wide is provided on tbe up rrream side of the right of way. on which the timber is to remain standing so long as protection to the trestles is necessary. Wooden railings are to be used on the embankments on account of the risk of settlement causing cracking of concrete railings. On the trestles a simple and pleasing form of concrete railing, widely used in the South, will he applied. "The state highway department and the Santee bridge commission let this important work in three contracts: The steel spans to At lantic I'ridg*- company, Roanoke/B Va.: th" substructure of these spans, th" river piers, to the Sim ons-Ma.inmt company of Charles- B t-.'n, S. C. and the remainder of the froject, the approaches ? to the three main spans, to the Rellin Con struction corporation, New Yorkv-B Retaining the concrete work and! jthe general supervision, directed by James Pinnel, superintendent, the ! Rollin corporation sublet the earth w ork on the Berkeley county side j |to Cornell- Ycungj company, of! Macon, Ga.. and Charlotte, N. C. j and on the Williamsburg county i side to P. O. Arrowsmith of Kings- ] tree, S. C. The clearing of the! right of way. 200 feet wade, and' construction of a temporary trestle j was sublet to Brice LaBruce. of! Charleston, S. C. The level of the! roadway is to be three feet above! the high water mark of the 1916' flood. Some of the concrete has been laid under 28 feet of water and concrete construction has been greatly delayed" by high water since early February. "For bringing in material the Rollir? corporation laid five miles of standard gauge railroad from St. Stephens, on the Atlantic Coast Line, alongside a country highway to the edge of the swamp. "J. L. Parker, special bridge engi neer, state highway department, is the designer and iri charge of the construction. W^C. Roberts is the resident engineer and J. W. Wil liams is assistant. "The total cost will be about $850.000. j "Funds are provided by the San tee bridge district, composed* of the counties of Charleston, Williams burg and Berkeley, and' (one-half) by the federal government. Wil Iiamsburg is to pay $60.000. Berke ley $40,000 and Charleston the bal ance. ! "This work is one of the largest ; bridge projects in the Southern states. It will be an important link in the proposed Atlantic, coast al highway and will fill a long felt want in South Caroina. Bridge at Sand Bar Ferry. ?The construction of Sand .Bar . Ferry bridge was begun on March 1, 1921,. as federal aid project No. 127, Aiken county. It is on the Beech Island road four miles below (Augusta. Ga.. at Sand Bar Ferry,j the locality once known as a duel ing ground. "The main bridge consists of four, 175, foot f=teel_deck spans and one 175 foot'steel through span on re inforced conc rete piers. The super-j ?structure of the approaches is of j reinforced concrete on bents of the j 'same material, and extends 511 feet jon the Georgia side and 83 feet on khe South Carolina side. The to tal length of the structure is about j 1.480 feet. The floor of the through span stands 72 feet above low water in the river. j "The total estimated cost of the j Iwork is $222.163.83, to be divided! equally between Georgia . and South Carolina, being a joint state project. Aiken county bears one fourth of the cost and the federal sad portion for South Carolina is one-fourth. * "The contractors, for the sub Structure are A. J. Twiggs & Sons, Augusta, Ga., and for the super structure the Virginia Bridge and Iron company, Roanoke, Va. The resident engineer is Cecil Johnson and construction is under the super vision of Joseph W. Barnwell, Jr., bridge engineer for the state high jway department. The Watcree River Bridge. ; "The construction of the bridge across the Wateree river at Gar ners ferry was begun in June, 1921. Construction is now in progress and. at the end of September it is estimated to be 89 per cent, com plete. The structure as planned has a total length of 1,637 feet 8 inches and comprises two 168 foot steel truss main spans on concrete piers. 25 36 1-2 foot reinforced concrete beam spans with concrete supports on wooden piles and 24 j [ 16* foot panels of creosoted timber] trestle. i VThe total estimated cost is i S349,613.86. one-half of which will; be met with federal aid?the other, reif equally by the two countiesj j of Sumter and Richland. I i "The contractors for the steel works are Austin Bros. Bridge com-; .. pany of Atlanta, Ga... and for the concrete work and approaches the Bardaway Construction company .of Columbus, Ga. F. K. Plough is i resident engineer. "It has been arranged to have j 400 feet of additional trestle On the Richland sido of the river, j 'The completion of this bridge will open another road to Sumter end the Pec Dee section of the state. For the most part of the route there will be hard surface in liichland. through Sumter and J Florence counties to the city of i l loren'-e?becoming one of the jt iost important highways in the 'State and obviating the necessity of the detour to the crossing of the Wateree river at Camd^n. New Bridge at Savannah. "The location of Savannah bridge about nine miles above the city of Savannah has been approved by 'the war department. All surveys and preliminary work have been mad'*, arid the contract for the construction has been awarded. Plans have been prepared by the Georgia state highway department. It is a joint state project, the esti mated cost of $600.000 to be divid ed equally between Georgia and South Carolina. A recent election in Chatham county, in which Savan nah is situated, voted bonds, for the bridge, and c.H necessary funds are. *rov provided. Federal aid to the amount of $150.000 was allotted to tin project some months ago by the South Carolina state highway commission: There is a relocation of a road leading to the bridge in Jasper county,, and a short piece of road will connect with a concrete road on the Georgia side of Savan nah. ' There will be a swing span in the bridge, the total length of bridging being about 5,700 feet, of which 5.000 feet, more or less, will be of creosoted timber and con crete trestling. "On the state highway system, Route 1, starting at Columbia, will have its terminus at this bridge and the bridge will provide long needed communications between South Carolina and the lower part (.?; Georgia, including the city of Savannah." Grow Better Cotton Value of Community Coopera tion in Cotton Growing Clemson College. Nov. 27.?Sev eral years ago the Agronomy Di vision-of Clemson College realized the value of community co-oper ation in cotton growing and in augurated work along this line in several counties of the state. The work will be further developed next season, as an aid in fighting the boll weevil. Community cotton growing is the planting of one good variety chos en by the growers of a commun ity and further 'improvement by seed selection each year. One of the beneficial results to be obtained from this plan is the discarding of inferior varieties, or so called varieties, which are be ing grown in South Carolina, and which cause a large part of the cot ton crop to be of low quality. It is the common belief by many farmers that a variety runs out after having been grown for several years: but if proper seed selection is maintained, the ? va riety should be improved both in yield and in quality and become adapted to local conditions. The so-called running out of varieties is due ciiiefly to crossing of va rieties in fields close together and to. mixing of seed of different va rieties at public gins. These difficulties may be over come if the growers would adopt one good variety and grow it ex clusively. This would result in the production of a more uniform and better quality staple that would sell at a premium, for buyers are fast demanding greater uniformity in length and quality and are willing to pay for these things/. Earliness. prolificness, uniformity and length of staple and a high percentage of lint are some of the qualities sought in producing a desirable cotton for growing under boll weevil conditions. -? ? ? Siki Says Bout Ff-amed Sen egal e Declares He Decided . in Third to Win Paris, Dec. 4.?(By the Associ ated Press.)?"Battling" Siki, the Senegalese conqueror of Georges c-aruentier, declared today in the presence of Deputy Diagne and two witnesses that his fight with Car pentier the light-heavyweight world's championship had been "framed." but fhat -during the fight he had determnied to be the winner. Siki said' that^once he was in the ring with a crowd of 50,000 people acclaiming him^and conscious of his own strength, he' had had a revulsion of feeling, despite re minders from his corner, during his minute's rest, after the third round and had decidento gin and win. VThaCs To be Done About It? (Spartantfcrg Herald). Dr. Rfegs. president of Clemson College, speaking before the Boost ers' Bureau of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the other evening, declared too much im portance is being given to athletics, especially football, in the colleges of the country. He blamed the alumni, the newspapers and the public and we imagine that some where in his blanket indictment he got the guilty parties. He certainly put out an extensive dragnet. There is truth in what Dr. Riggs said. He is not the first to say it. though we believe he is the first college president in South Carolina to come right out in the open with a declaration that the thing is going too far. There is, of course, a place fot athletics in the colleges. And there is a place for the great game ofc football, but it is perhaps tak ing up too much room, or threat ens to do so. It is a problem. And the answer is not in the back of the book. The newspapers and college ath letics is an interesting subject. The newspapers are. of course, interest ed in college athletics because they know the public is interested and intensely interested. And the more men the colleges send out into the world the more the world will be interested. The telephones in news paper offices; on Saturday nights of the football season ring as persist ently as on election nights. Col lege men. or the fond parents of college men, want to know the score: The newspaper that docs not give the score and all the de tails of C.e games the next morn ing is thoroughly uninteresting. The subscribers pay for the paper to get all the football news. And the more football news they get, th" more football news they want. That is why the sport page is call ed the ' Dope Page." In tlie lace of this situation th< newspapers arc helpless. And we suspect the colleges are in just about rhe same tix the newspapers are in. The public wants football. The colleges have given the public some football and they want more football and better football. So what is to be done about it".' Germany sent Russia 6Sa loco motives but Russians have no place to go. It gets dark so early now night schools ran hold two sessions. Washington's Yc The youngest woman who yet I Washington society is Miss Elizabeth Hanna and granddaughter of Mark B A Possible Battle of Rivers. What might develop into a sort I of "battle of the rivers" in which modern engineering and interna- f tional boundaries would play im-'j portani parts is indicated m a dis- < j patch from the Pyrenees. This dis- ! patch states that while France isj considering the diversion of one of the French headwaters of the Spanish river S.egre. Spanish en gineers are studying the possibili ties of making a retaliatory di version of the Garonne which rises in Spain and Hows through France. A bulletin from the Washington, j D. C., headquarters of the Nation-[ al Geographic Society tells some-1 thing of these two rivers which: might bring about a unique "war'' of picks and shovels and concrete dams. "To say that if France shifts the headwaters of the Segre. Spain, in the valley of the Garonne, mayj give her 'a Roland for her Oliver.' says the bulletin, "but it happens to, put this well known phase to a; singularly appropriate use. It was' in the rugged Pyrenees country ; that the greatest exploits of those! two knightly peers of Charlemagne are supposed to have been per- J; formed. Not many miles away, in \ fact, is the great cleft in the moun- ; tains called the 'Breach of -Ro-j land' which legend says the hero1, carved at one stroke with his Gal- f lie counterpart of Excalibur. Kashnicrc-JJke Vale in Pyrenees. ? j "The country about the .head- j j waters of the Spanish Sergre is the 1 better known of the two regions.! Jit is the more or less famous | Cerdagne. perhaps the most beau tiful of the extensive .Pyrenees valleys?a region that might well lay claim to being the peer of any valley of Switzerland. Italy or the , Tyrol, any vale of Kashmere, or ^any of Colorado's charming enier jaJd 'parks.* As level almost as a j floor, the Cerdagne is the product ] of extensive glacial action. To the j south tower the great snowy peaks iof the Spanish Pyrenees: to the eastj I and north, those of France: and to j i the west rises the mighty bulwark; Iof Andorra, the tiny republic of aj j handful of Catalan mountaineers' ?who have tenaciously kept their independence and their medieval-! ! ism. wedged in between two strong nations. "This is one of the*historic high-; ways between Spain and the' north. Hannibal is asserted to j have, come near here on his me morable march toward Rome. Ro^ man legions marched by and: planted their colonies. The Sara-; cen horde poured through to grasp.' southern France. And across .the; Cerdagne In turn came the Array of Charlemagne to press the Moors? southward in the retreat thatifinal-, ly cleared Europe of their rule, j Boundary Arbitrary J?inc. "French and Spanish forces have' fiowed and ebbed across the beau-! tiful valley many times. At last.-j by the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, the Cerdagne was divided' between the two nations: Between" France and Spain the crest of the Pyrenees serves as the natural boundary throughout most of its ex tent. Cut in the Cerdagne the international line runs across the fair mountain valley'dividing it in, a way in which nature has no part.! For a mile or so it runs almost;lit-. erally across tields. then climbs along foothills toward the Andor ra n frontier. "In the other direction the line follows for a space a tumbling mountain stream over which a small bridge carries the road from France Jo Spain Cpon a hill on the south side is the Spanish town! of Puigcerda, long the natural cap-j I ital and trading center of both the Spanish and French ports of the 1 valley; beyond the bridge on the ! north is Bourg Madame, the rail | head of France. j "The valley is an irrigated gar den spot for its simple peasants.! j:i!ike in its French and Spanish portions. Everywhere the available soil is carefully tilled or the flow ered meadow-lands pastured with stock. Until jusr before the World War, the Cerdagne was remote from the world, and the tourists who knew its calm beauty and its I unsurpassed sunsets were few.' 1 r" ' ;Wi!h the completion of an electric: I-railroad t<> Bourg Madame this; scenic gem of the Pyrenees be-i came suddenly accessible, and since the war its visitors have been more ' numerous. Puigcerda .-hares in the popularity, but the Spanish valleyi south and vyest of the town still has the primitive flavor of the past, j Garonne's Headwaters More Iso- \ lated "The heads of the northern val-1 leys of the Cerdagne are the French Hingest Hostess a* TentureA to ?et as fco**?? f?r Hann?, fcraghter of the tat? Das uaii sources of the Segre. The chief of these reach probably 20 miles into French, territory'. They furnish, of course, only a, part of the waters of the Segre. Other tributaries rise in Andorra and in Spain. But the water of French origin is un doubtedly of great importance im mediately south of the internation al line. "The Spanish portion of the French River Garonne, some 50 miles to the west of the Cerdagne, is much more isolated than the latter. The Spanish call this val ley the Val de Aran. It is in al most the geographical middle of the Pyrenees in a region not at all de veloped by railroads on the Span ish side and little de\*eloped on the French side. A well-marked defile of the river as it emerges from Spain into France operates to sep arate the Spanish and French val- : leys in contrast to the situation in , the Cerdagne. Some 20,000 Span iah mountaineers inhabit the Val-j de Aran, and . because of their j isolation they have almost as mark ed a degree of independence as the Andorrans. j "The water flowing from Spain into France in the Garonne valley is*' 'probably considerably greater than the French water flowing into Spain through the Segre." ? ? ? + i Decision of Case Rests With Judge : Oxford, Miss., Dec. 4.?Fate of the suit for damages instituted in federal district court here by Miss Frances C. Birkhead, stenograph er, against Governor Lee M. Rus sell of Mississippi ..rested tonight with Judge E. R. Holmes after a day devoted largely to the opening formalities of the court term and lengthy argument of a demurrer filed by counsel for Mr. Russell to the declaration in which Miss Birkhead made s e>n s a ti on al charges as a basis of her suit in which she asks $100,000 redress for alleged wrongs. Court was adjourned for the day immediately after argument which began with the opening of the af ternoon session, was completed. It was expected that the ruling of the court on the demurrer would be announced" at the morning session tomorrow. ' Vv The demurrer contends generally that the charges set forth in the declaration are insufficient in law to constitute a cause for action. Miss Birkhead, among other things, had charged the governor with breach of promise. Governor Russell sat with his counsel during today's proceed ings. Miss Birkhead. who arrived here last night on the same train which brought the governor to Oxford, did not attend today's court session. Pending decision by Judge Holmes on the contentions made today by the defense, no date has been fixed for the actual trial. In anticipation that the hearing of evidence will begin within a few days, however, more than two score witnesses, were summoned in advance of the opening of the court term to report tomorrow. Both sides were represented to day by an imposing array of coun sel. The Tax of Ignorance. The country is losing $825.000.000 a year through illiteracy. This estimate is no doubt under, rather than over, the real loss. The fed eral government and the states spend millions of dollars in trying to give information to the peo ple in rural districts -about fam? ing ana aonic-nutKiiife. ?,r 700.000. or 10 per cent of our coun try folk, cannot read or write a word. They cannot read a bulletin on agriculture, a farm paper, a newspaper, the constitution of the United States, or their Bibles, nor can they keep personal or busi ness accounts.?Franklin K. Line when secretary .of the interior. .Another Parole Case. Columbia, Dec. 5.?The state l?st another parole ease today and Charlie Martin sained his freedom from the penitentiary'- Martin con tended that the parole granted him by a former governor could not be revoked by the executive branch,! and also that a suspended sentence, suspended on condition imposed !>> ! a circuit jud^<- could not be revok ed by the govenor. Judge Mauldin,< presiding over the circuit court heif. sustained both his conten DAIRY COWS, PIGS AND POULTRY Selling Cream and Feeding Skim Milk Pays "Dairying upon the new basis of marketing cream is undoubtedly the most profitable way of mar keting forage and grain, therefore, eream dairying, or the keeping of a few cows on every farm.. the* sell ing of cream to a creamery, and feeding of skim milk to pigs and poultry is a most practicable and ?asily adopted plan, fitting in ad ' mirably with the plans for pro ducing cotton successfully under I weevil conditions. j "The need for a constant cash ! income from week to week, or month to month, throughout the i year on all farms is very urgeni ; and has been all these years. Mar I keling cream will meet this urgent ! need for a cash income, enabling the farmer to proceed, insofar as current expenses are concerned, upon a cash basis, and it is being recognized now,* as never before, that any practicable means whereby the farmer may relieve himself of the necessity of going into debt for supplies upon which to go while making a crop is of importance. "The feeding of skim milk to poultry of the right kind should en able the farmer to supplement his income from the sale of cream with cash received for poultry and eggs. Skim milk is a most excel lent feed' for brood sows and pigs, and a farmer keeping a few cows with a constant supply of skim [milk on hand will find it much I easier to produce, at least meat i enough for his home needs. In ! fact, the cream dairying, poultry land hogs program in connection with cotton is most practicable and will mean- prosperity for those farmers who adopt this farming ; policy. ! "The keeping of cows will re jsult inyan incidental and constant [ improvement in our soils which I will prove of cumulative value and ! show up in increased production j and greater margins of profits up | on our main cash crops each year/* i?Southern Railway Mark'et Buile ! tin. ? ? ? i Belittling tlic Boll Weevil. The Wall Street Journal of a re cent date answered very completely a statement made by Mr. Alston H. Garside, of the Merchants' Nation al Bank, of Boston, to the effect I that the south can produce 14.-! i 000.000 bales of cotton in 1923.j j That paper points out that since the world reserve of American cot ton at the end of this season bids fair to be less than ten weeks sup l ply the size of the next crop is of great importance and suggests that Mr. Garside in his statement Is not giving due weight to-the boll i weevil. Speaking before the New Eng-j land Purchasing Agents' Associa tion. Mr. Garside cited statistics of yields of five weevil-afflicted states in 1014?Texas, Arkansas, Louis ; iana. Mississippi and Alabama, : which" averaged 185 pounds to the acre, and then said: "If next winter should be very severe in the cotton belt, and a large portion of the weevils should be thereby destroyed, and if the weather during the growing season should make possible the raising of a large quantity per acre ma turing early before the weevil can do serious damage, the south might very well raise 180. or 185 pounds to the acre, which would aggregate 14,000,000 bales." "So far as the weather is con cerned." says the Wall Street Jour nal. "1914 was a freak year. Over a period of 11 years climatic con ditions were responsible for 22.3 per cent of the loss in yield of cotton. Jin 1914, however, it averaged only j 13.8 per cent. Never before or since j then has $he country averaged as j much to the acre. Even in the east f ern states that up to two years ago jwere free from weevils the 1914 ! average has not been attained. Nor in the eight seasons following 1914 (has anything like a yield of 183 j pounds been produced in the whole [country. In fact, an average of 171 [pounds has not been produced sine? i then, although not until this year Jdid the weevils get up to North ; Ca rolina. j "But the weevil is now a greater^ ? factor than even the weather. Last 'year its ravages accounted for more [than 30 per cent of the crop. ac t cording to official estimates. The | ! weevil will practically coyer the j whole cotton belt next year aside j I from the small acreage under ir- j j rigation in the extreme southwest, j j Ordy a small percentage.of weevils j j may come out of hibernation, but, I race suicide is not a problem with I them. A single lemale has been (known to lay 450 eggs, from four [to seven generations are produced in a season, all of which begin propagation. Theoretically, the in-! crease from one female would run 1 into the billions in ;l smsoii. This j ?explains why it is that after the j [first of August few blossoms are to be seen in the fields, j "It is an errpr to count on a <^ot ! ton that will "mature early before ?the weevils can do serious dam-' age." No variety of cotton has yet! been developed that will mature! before the weevils do serious dam-; age. Cotton begins to bloom on I the bottom branches and then I works upward. This ^iv*-s the j '"bottom." "middle" and "top crops." The most that can be hoped : j for without the use of poison is a! [variety that will mature the bottom j land perhaps half the middle crop j before the first of August when [the weevils have increased to dan-: : g'u-ous proportions. ! "But this will not produce IS."., 'pounds. Even it' all the top bolls' I matured it could not be done. In; fact, the records since 1870 show ; [that with the one exception of rJ14,! that the average has never been I produced in the I'nited States. The weevil render.- It less likely now."! CROPS IN PLACE OF COTTON Discussion of Piedmont and Sub-Piedmont Crop Problems * (X. L. Willet in Augusta Chron icle). * t' The red land Piedmont and sub Piedmont country in Carolina shows a big falling off. about o$e third of cotton as compared with .a year ago and a year ago it was bad^ enough?Tn fact, horrid. The Georgia Piedmont country is in al worse condition. The farmers ar.? in a semi-panic and arc living tem porarily off of their already too short lumber supply, which, from several standpoints, is simply sui cide or is a saving at the spigDt and a losing at the bung^iole. These! upland sections see no hope for the I cotton industry for themselves and; what is still worse they see no hope in any other cash crops that axe! to take cotton's place. If the peo pie; however, in this section do^notj want to lose in population, in farm i products, and in industrial and! mercantile life then agriculture ir.1 that section and despite all costs in money and engineering, must keep; up to the normal their farm ac tivities and so hold their labor. Crops Here are several crops that I be lieve are indicated and available for this section above us. First, the Biloxi soy bean, a big seed soy, tall and available for rough forage, for seed selling and for mill grind ing: and, second, the Laredo, small seeded, making the finest hay in America and producing more see.I per acre than all other soys and which bean, aside from its fine hay, is indicated in splendid way for seed growing and seed selling; third, the Lookout Mountain potato which could easily run out all oth er fall eating potatoes which come into us in such immense amounts from the northwest arid, the north east. This potato is productive and i? a better eater than our import ed potatoes. Fourth, the Valencia peanut, and, fifth, the Smith plan in cotton production, is indicated, as I believe, for this above section. It has proven to be a perfect plan in Florida, and seems to be appli cable to the Piedmont section. I can see no reason why it should not be. Get Bulletin 165 from Wilmon Newell, Gainesville, Flori da. ?? The Mississippi Black Velvet [ And I will add now a fourth [crop to this above list. It is a new product just introduced?the Mis sissippi Black Velvet Bean. The Hundred Day Velvet does not ma ture safely and well except in the very low belt. This new velvet, in dicated for land manuring, hay: giazing and bean gathering, will mature well as high up as.North. Carolina and probably in Virginia. Planted here June the twenty-sev enth it matured a long time before frost. At ripening time the leaves f?ll off. This bean has not been developed to take the place in the Coastal Plain of the Hundred Day but to give to the Peidmont section a velvet bean crop not heretofore possible for them. The' pod* is large, perhaps double that of the f Hundred Day. The bean is black, j larger than the Hundred Day and ' flat and looking much like in form j and size the large white lima bpan. The bean is softer than the Hun dred Day and can be negotiated by cattle in the eating of them, much better. In the up-country these beans could be picked and fed later ! from the barn as grain or the pods ; could be sold to the mills for grind I ing.- The lack of the velvet bean j in the Piedmont has been to date ? an agricultural deficiency. This ! section needs badly this Black Mis ! sissippi Velvet Bean. There is no j doubt that it will fill the need. All feeds, are high, grains, hays, etc. By all means let every farm er pick all of his velvet beans this year and save them for home feed ing or for grinding. The grinl j ing of velvet beans in the pod is j indicated in a large way for*\is here I as an industry; It is an industry {that could be tremendously exploit i ed. aud developed. The output I makes a fine feed. Velvet bean i seed wit! be, top, in demand, in the j spring. If the negroes complain j of stinging in picking these beans j let them grease their hands before ! commencing work with vaseline, j It is said to he of great help and j if you have not sufficient labor on I your, farm to pick your velvet bean j crop by all means make it a neigh j borhood matter and so bring in I neighborhood cash in the picking. \ The great drawback here in the j South is that some of us do not i know even the names of the crops ! that are so largely indicated for us | here. These crops all need ex ploitation. We need to learn all ' of their uses and they could all. jn a way. be made money crops. Cot i ton is not our only cash crop in this country. BOMB THROWN AT MILITARY CAR Cork. Dec. 7?A bomb thrown at a military ear today missed its mark, killing two men and two women. The thrower escaped. ULSTER NOT A PART OF IRISH FREE STATE Belfast. Dec. 7?The I'Ister par liament today unanimously declared Ilster, not a part of the Irish Free State. This was provided for under the treaty. The tariff affords relief for some industries but what, we need is relici from some industries. Moving the telephone hook too rapidly doesn't give a signal but it relieves the mind a little. Winter brings back the man who takes a cold bath daily and lies about other things also. Russia's Tragedy i of Ruined Trade Figures From Soviet Periodi- J cals Reveal Paralysis of Economic Situation Washington, Dec. I.?Judging by the statistics of Russia's foreign ? commerce, compiled from Soviet periodicals by Secretary Hoover's experts, the blustering talk of - Russian diplomatic agents and the ? defiant pronounciations of the dic tators at Moscow are uttered ph an increasingly empty national stomach. The bravado of the Soviet's in-, ternatibnal spokesmen, in the chr^? curnstances. is something like that of old Bocc?cio's story-tellers who * decided to take the lid off and put up the most engrossing diversion they cold imagine, while the plague 'raged all around them with its un- > escapable-doom. Only, Boccacio's ribald romancers were trying to fool themselves alone, and they were in no way responsible for the horror that was devouring the land. From Soviet publications of an official or semi-official nature the -| United States Department of Com merce finds that of the total as serted value of Russian imports | for the first half of 1922. nearly^ half consisted of famine relief contributed by foreigners, . while abott half of the import* not in the | charity category were foodstuffs y which the Soviet government It self purchased because of the fa mine' conditions. Imports other than famine relief and foodstuffs^ were valued at 78.500,000 rubles, as ' compared with 213,722,000 rubles in 1921. Russian exports for the first half of 1922 increased about 25 per cent, over those of the entire year of 1921?but even at that they amounted to only 24.974,000 rubles, or less than $13.000,000. Exclusive of famine relief im portations; contributed as charity \ I or purchased by the soviet govern ; meuC out of the rabidly-dwindling j remainder of the old Russian gold j reserve, the statistics , compiled j= > from Soviet periodicals Show that; I the commerce of Russia is declin I ing as a whole even as compared [ with previous totals under the Sn-^ viet regime. But the real signifi cance of the situation is not re vealed unfit the present totals are compared with tho3e of Russian,, j commerce in the pre-war days. Says ; the Commerce Department's bulle j tin: ? / "Excluding famine relief, the im-, ports of the first half of 1922 were j equal to a little over one-tenth of the imports, for the full year 1913.' Imports; Other than foodstuffs and famine relief were equal to about f j 7 per cent of those of 1913. The ex- ' j ports for the first half of 1922 j were equal to 1.6 per cent of those I in the entire year lols." t j Another feature of the compar i ison with pre-war Russian trade is j that the balance is heavily against Russia under the Soviet adminia trat:cn, whereas be?ore the World/ War it was heavily in Russia's favor. From 190 5 to 1913 t$M?: average armual \*ahie cf exports was 1,500\000,000 rubles Jand the. average annual value of* ! her imports was 1,140.000,000 j rubles?a balance in Russia's favor, tin 1921 the excess of imports into I Russia was twelve times that of ex-* ! ports fronqt- Russia, For the first I six months of 1922 the ratio of I imports to exports was almost as ! overwhelming and even if famine 'relief is deducted the imports ex iceeded the exports five and one 1 half times'. 1 It- is understood that the excess, of imports over exports is being paid for chiefly by shipments fromv the old Russian gold reserve, of* which only'about $100,000.000 is" > believed to be left. With the bal jance of trade running against Rus~; sia at the rate of at leasl $100. 000,000. a year, it does not take j much of a calculation to figure how long the Soviet's gold will 1 last. Wings Would Make flop Toad Greater Asset. Washington. Nov. 24.2?If only* the "hop toad" had wings, he would be a wonderful "bird.** The lowly creature is valuable to gard eners, greenhouse owners -and golf ? j course guardians in helping to curb numbers of insect pests, but be cause he can't fly, the Biological Survey of the Department of Agri-V culture says he isn't of much eco I nomic importance. But, the Survey declares, the ; toad should not be destroyed for it i certain proportion of his daily diet 'consists of injurious insects and I other pests of growing plants. An ? analysis of the contents of Che stomachs of 50? common toads { brings the report that while -the j findings in regard to the toad's* 'choice of food are of interest, the ^toad is not of economic importance j because he can't fly. I A report of the* investigation of* (toad life by the Survey, however, jdoes disclose one trait of value in j the "rain-maker**?he is evidently, j not a busyrbody; for, we read: "Toads go constantly about their own work of gaining a lrve-j, hhocd. and so. undoubtedly, fill their proper places in nature. They are not very numerous in one lo ioality. however, and as they can-? j not adopt the methods of birds and ! traverse wide stretches of land to j aid in combatting abnormal local j,increases of crop and garden pests, ; their influence is not strongly felt." i The investigation showed that the* j toad performs some service in such .places as greenhouses, gardens, j fields of small grain and g<?lf i courses. Any harm that toads do* j in the consumption of beneficial j beetles and other insects useful to j man is of little economic import lance and does not warrant thefr i indiscriminate destruction. i Britten is a boxer with insomnia offering $10,000 to anyone who makes him sleep so we say Demp