GOOD ROADS SCHEME. A PROPOSITION TO ABANDON MOSS- COVERED CUSTOM. [he Plans Adopted \Vhere Good Roads are Made-—Money Enough is Spent Each Year in Making Your Roads to Revolu- tionize (in r Highways. The Lykens. Pa., Register has taken pains to compile interesting data con- cerning good roads, and the conclusions drawn by the. editor are as applicable to this vicinity as to the enterprising town of the Keystone State. We quote the article entire: “The people in _,.the neighborhood of» our larger cities and towns are wak- ‘ing up to the importance of better, roads,‘ and each year the demand for better roads increases and becomes more prominent. Much of this is, in country districts, attributed to bicy- cles and bicycle riders, but a little in- vestigation will show that progressive farmers are moving in the same direc- tion. and that the motion bids fair soon to be an irresistible one and one which must be acknowledged and pro- vided for. ln~some of the counties in the southeastern portion of Pennsyl- vania this movement has forced the construction of Macadam and Telford roads at an expense of from $2,000 to $3,000 per mile. for the cost of which townships have been bonded. This has been undertaken after a full and fair vote of the taxpayers and a full under- standing of the probable effects and re- sults of the system. In many townships in Chester county this plan of constructing first-class roads has been tried ‘with excellent ef- fects. and it is likely to be followed by other and adjoining townships. It has been found that the decrease in the cost of repairs will soon assist in pay— ing off the cost of better roads, and that as an investment of capital it ex- coeds government bonds and similar interest-paying securities. What can be done under the conditions which surround the counties alluded to will ’ and can sooner or later be done in other counties, and the inference is that the good work will spread in all directions from the centers already established. In Ohio the road laws of the state permit the construction of permanent roads by a vote of the taxpayers with- in one or two miles of the road whose land is taxed” for the whole cost of the road. It is claimed that in all cases in which roads have been constructed under these laws the land adjacent has increased in value to a greater extent than the cost of the road,‘ and that- this, too. has proven an excellent in- vestment of money and 'apital. In New Jersey a s. .:‘-ewhat similar sys- tem is being pursutd with the best of results, but in this case the cost of the permanent roads is equally divided be- tween the township. the county, and the state. Each year the amount of the state appropriation for this purpose is increased and there appears to be no lctup in the good work. Such improve- _ ments are made by a vote of the local taxpayers. and once begun appears to be permanent and increasing each year. . ,- Any plan for the permanent improve- ment of our roads should be gradual in its work and not place too large a burden upon the taxpayers, either 10- cal. county or state. A fixed amount should be set aside each year for the work, and the result accomplished slowly but surely, every year bringing some increase in the amount of good roads in the township. In many cases it will be advisable to establish a bonded indebtedness so that future generations may assist in paying the cost, but we think that as a rule it will be found that money thus spent will be returned in the increased value of farm property along the line’of the permanent improvement and that the whole cost will be more than repaid in this manner. li‘irst repeal the right to work out the road taxes, have them paid in cash, and then see to it that the cash is hon- estly expended upon the township roads. We have, during the past fifty years. expended enough‘ to have ma- cadinnized our roads from one end of the state to the other and as the result have roads which are not any better than they were fifty years ago. Why not change this plan and try some oth- er? It would be difficult to select a worse one and the chances are that a. change would be for the better. At any rate, as a starter let us repeal the work tax and substitute the cash tax and then elect supervisors who will see to it that the money is honestly expended. The Mikado and His \Vil'e. A refreshing little incident occurred during their stay at their old home, the palace of Kioto. Together they ram- llle‘tl through the gardens, recalling their early days among the familiar trees and shrubs, and we are told that the lihnpress'was invited to go up the stairs of the "Shishinden,'.’ the august audience hall .whcre the Mikado of old used to administer public affairs, and where no female had yet set foot. it is their daily custom to (line to- gether in the evening, and undemon- strative as we naturally are, it is said *that no sign is wanting to show that they enjOy more than their share of conjugal felicity. Reports also say that there never was a woman truer to the old teachings in respect to the womanly disposition and demeanor.— Japanese Lady in The Chautauquan. Evlcted. Marc Antony held aloft the bloody toga of his murdered friend Caesar. _ “That rent”—he pointed toward the rocking garment—“is due to Brutus.” A voice from the gallery broke the breathless silence. “Why underthe sun don‘t you pay it , to him ?” And the bouncer did his work.— J ridge. l __.‘ ' '2 l ELECTRICITY AS A FERTILIZER. Tesla‘s Great Scheme Will Permi c No Mon- opoly in This Branch of Agriculture. Nikola Tesla’s latest contribution to science opens up one of the most sur- prising visions of man’s future control" over nature that the nineteenth cen- tury has produced. It shows that not. only may the earth be made more pro- ductive, but that out of the circumam- bient air may be drawn an element which can restore‘the exhausted ener- gies of the soil and increase the fertil- ity of even the most richly favored lands. As the earth. fills with inhabitants and more and more of its arable soil is placed under cultivation to supply the necessities of life the greater becomes the need to make every square foot of land contribute its utmost quota of vegetable products. Yet, as everybody knows, the elements in the soil that make it fertile are not: inexhaustible. On the contrary, they can easily be drained off by too prodigal cultivation, and then the jaded land lies almost powerless to nourish vegetation until either through the operation of slow natural processes or by the applica- tion of artificial stimulants" its potency is restored. Many worn out farms ex- ist all over the country, and frequently their owners'find the expense of apply- ing fertilizing agents in proper quanti- ties too great for their resources, and so the land continues, like a weary and overworked animal, a burden to its possessor and to itself. . , p, .u /1"q'ul. NIKOLA TESLA. Now it so’happcns that while at pre- sent we must go to various and more or less remote parts of the world to t'nd natural deposits of those com- pounds which are able to refertilize ex- hausted soil or must incur much ex- pense in manufacturing them at home, the chief element in their composition. nitrogen, exists in abundance, sus- pended over every acre of land. One- fifth of the volume. of the atmosphere consists of nitrogen. If that nitrogen thus placed by nature at: our doors could be induced easily and cheaply to enter into the combinations essential to the growth of vegetation the result . would be an immense boon to mankind and an enormous increase of the pro- ductive power of the earth. The experiments and discoveries on which this statement is based are due to Mr. Tesla. That he should have followed up an investigation of this kind is in itself a guarantee of the scientific value of the results attained. Mr. Tesla has the dislike of premature conclusions which is characteristic of all great original minds in science, and the only utterance which he has made on the subject is contained in a contri- bution to the Electric Review, in which speaking of the effects produced with his electrical oscillators, he says: “With currents produced by per- fected electrical oscillators, the produc- tion of ozone is so abundant that it is sufficient to merely turn on the current for a few seconds and ozonize strongly the atmosphere of a large hall. These currents are also capable of bringing about chemical combinations of which the chief is that of the nitrogen with the oxygen of the atmOsphere, and an immense possibility, which I have been following up for a long time, is opened up, namely, the combination of the ni- trogen of the atmosphere on an indus- trial scale by practically no other means than mechanical power. If merely fertilizers of the soil would be manufactured in this manner, the benefits to humanity derived there- from would be incalculable.” Was “lining to Pay Forfeit. One of the prettiest of literary anec— dotes has been related by William Grimm. one of the pair of famous story-tellers. One day a little girl rang their bell. and met him in the hall with the words. "You are the Mr. Grimm who writes the pretty tales?” “Yes—I and my brother.” “And that of the clever little tailor, who married the princess?" “Yes—certainly.” "\Vell,” said the child, producing the book, “it is said here that every one who doesn’t believe it must pay him a thaler; Now, I don‘t believe that a princess ever married a tailor. I haven’t so much~ as a thaler. but here is a grochen; and pl also say I hope to pay the rest by de- grees." Just then Jacob appeared, and the brothers had an interesting inter! view with the little (lame; but they could not persuade her to take away the grochen which she had laid upon I the table. Somewhat Trying for the Baby. Some advertisements are. models of pure English, as, for instance. one con- cerning a nursing-bottle, which con- cludes with—“When the baby is done drinking, it must be unscrewed and laid in a 0001 place. .If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk, it should be boiled!" The. Race is Sometinxes to the'Strong. _ “'I‘hafrival of yours seems to be in a fair way to cut you out. He’s a pret- ty athletic fellow. Are you not afraid of him ?T' "I? Oh no; but her father is. so he hora better show than I have.” I. W EE 1; L "r x now-A 1.; K o A ZEI’ r 111.! - ‘ . THE If j [EN :.'. J-Y . .."...-~.y , .,_~,,'._ ‘t.'. g u. .- .p r»: . NOW is he TIME To Subscribe for the AND t 4. ; AN AMERICAN QUEEy. “OUMALEA” HOBBS IMMEDIATELY NAMED HIS BRIDE “ULALiE.” The Colonel Proves llis Loyalty to‘ the Illikans by Rejecting All Overturcs from the British Governwent—Doesn’t; Care for the Civilization of His Race. Colonel John F. Hobbs, King of the Cannibal Islands of lllika, was mar- ried holiday week to Miss EllinC-ollin, of New York city. As soon as the mar- riage service was concluded "Ouma- lea” IIobbs——wl1ich is the same as to say Caesar in the language of his sub- jects of the South Seas—proclaimed and crowned his bride as "L'lalie," that is to say, Queen of lllika. “Oumalea” and his American queen are likely to be received by his people with extraordinary honors and con- veyed from Shipboard to lllika in his famous war canoe of sixty rowers, which is Capable of a speed of eighteen miles an hour. and once was rowed around an English man-of-var as it proceeded under full steam. Colonel Hobbs. about six years ago. vas sent as a special commissioner by a sydney (N. S. \V.) newspaper to in- vestigate the conditions of an abomi- nable traffic in Kanakas by the Queens- land sugar growers. Colonel IIobhs' schooner was wrecked by a hurricane. lie was cast adrift. and after floating by means of a life . belt until nearly exhausted. was picked up by a canoe manned by natives of lllika. which, by the way, is an island ' not down on the map. They did not devour him. but treated him kindly, and in return he rendered them services which led to his being created a war chief, and later on the death of the reigning king, "Oumalea.” These islands, which contain a popu- lation of thirty thousand souls. lilVU since become a liplomatic quantity. 4 Both Great Britain and France yearn for them on acocunt of their pearl fish- eries. .. but a treaty prevents either I’ou'er 1'rom asserting sovereignty. Britain, however, has sought to coddle "Oumalca" Hobbs with the following tempting offer: Iler Britannic Majesty‘s ,‘dinisters told him that if he would permit them to establish a trading station at lllika they would confer upon him the honor of knighthood and also assure to him ‘ the honor and his subjects the protec- tion of the' British flag. Colonel Hobbs. who is a simonpure democrat, I laughed at this proposal, and then they said they would give him $75,000 for the permission to' work the pearl shell . deposits of the islands. lie put this temptation behind him with equal firm- ness. IIe declared that he did not care ‘ to have his subjects contaminated by ' civilization. “Oumalea” Hobbs says his Illikans ' are now a simple and virtuous people, unlike their neighbors, who have fallen under the influence of Curopeans. Their moral c'ode teaches that selfish- ness is the cardinal sin, and, in a word. for an lllikan to desire anything be.- longing to his neighbor is believed to arouse the profound displeasure of the “great white Spirit Father.” It is not necessary for Colonel Hobbs to be always in his kingdom in order to maintain his sovereignty. I'Ie pos- sesses the token which is known only to the princes of this people, and the revelation of which, either by himself or his heirs at any time will insure the ready recognition of his kingship. The Illikans firmly believe that when he is not with them he is in direct commun- ion with the " “great white Spirit Father." He has abolished cannibal— lSIll. The Hair Cut Cure. The latest cure suggested for the re- lief of headache is a haircut- A cer- tain physician has met with great suc- cess lately in his treatment of persist- ent cases of nervous headaches, and he has finally disclosed the secret. In each case, he says, after the patient has laid bare a long tale of woe—of sleepless nights and miserable days—he prescribed, briefly, a simple hair-cut. It is not necessary that the hair should be cropped off short. The curative property of the treatment is based on - the fact that the tube which is con- taincd in each single hair is severed in the process, and the brain bleeds, as the barbers say, thereby opening a safety-valve for the congested cran- ium.—Tid—Bits. Close Relationship. A man was divorced from his wife, and she married again, whereupon has; band No. 1 inquired of No. 2: “What‘ relation are you to me?” “None that I know of." “Yes, you are,” said N051; “you are. my step-husband—I stepped out and you stepped in!”—Tid-Bits. WHY NOT LEARN? - , I ii i“. “ii, '- til ' She—Fond of dancing? lilo—A. wi’ly. ' Sire-Jilliv ”don't run learn? ‘BEAR TRAP, swsotsn STYLE. It Caught the Bear, but American Frills Proved Too Much for It. ’ Sven Larsen has tried the Swedish method of trapping bears, with Ameri- can trimmings. The bear fell in with the Swedish plan, but kicked on the American frills, and is still at liberty: John Watson runs a small savvmill, and in the spring turns his attention to boiling maple sugar, in which he is assisted by Larsen. The other day he sent Larsen down to the sawmill to fire up .the‘boiler. In a short time Sven came running back bre'athlessly shouting between gasps: ' "Hand me the gun! A big, black devil has his head in the'boiler.” Watson called another man, seized a rifle, and started toward the woods. Larsen and the other hired hand fol- lowing, armed with axes. The bear had disappeared when they arrived at the sawmill, and with it a fine big ham which had been left in a small smoke house. Larsen then began to tell how he had seen bears trapped in Sweden, and pro— posed to catch this one. He secured an empty oil barrel, knocked in one of the heads. and smeared the interior with maple syrup and honey. He so- curcd assistance, and carried the bar- rel toward a spot where the hear was supposed to reside. IIe dug a hole in the ground, and let the barrel down into the earth, leaving about ten inches above the ground, filling the earth lightly about the barrel. He also threw in a piece of ham bone for bruin to catch a whiff of as an extra induce- ment. The following day, while the men were working in a clump of woods near by, they heard a scratching and growling n the direction of the. bear trap, and hurried toward it. Sure' enough there was a big black bear headforemost in the barrel, stuck in tight. Larsen was anxious to run to the log house and get a rifle with which to shoot it. Watson suggested a cheaper and quicker method. His was to dip water out of the run near by, pour it into the barrel, and drown the bear. This improvement on the Swedish sys- tem of bear trapping started trouble. Larsen and the other laborer filled two buckets, and poured one into the bar- rel over the bear's back. As the ice- cold water flowed down its shaggy coat the bear carried on at a furious rate. It clawed. snorted, sneezed, and fought with its hind paws. Larsen had started to throw the sec- ond bucket of water down the bears spine when it gave an unearthly growl and tore itself free from the bar- rel with a jerk. Larsen threw the bucket at the bear, hitting it full on the snout, which the bear stopped to rub an instant before starting in pursuit of Larsen. The latter thus gainedabout a hundred yards. Larsen made for an embank- ment and just cleared the hill, rolling over and over, as the bear made a. vic- ious lungc after him with his paw. The. bear did not follow. It sat down and licked the syrup, honey and blood from its body and slowly trotted off toward the woods—New York Sun. The Queen Dislikes Inaccuracy. Inaccui'acy in an important. newspa- per as to royal matters gives the Queen grave annoyance, and it has been known for an official to call and com- plain of the misstatement and demand a rectification. Not long ago an illus— trated London paper gave. a picture in which her Majesty was represented as holding the arm of her Indian attend— ant. Within a short space of time a member of the royal household called on the editor to state the absurdity of such an error. “The Queen is much annoyed at this mistake on the part of your artist, as it might give grievous ofl’ense to important persons in India. She could never take the arm of a ser- vant.” This will show how closely she watches even the pictorial press. When a good illustration appears of any state function it is a common incident for the artist to be requested to visit the Queen, very likely to receive a com- mission. One \Vas Entirely Enough. The small girl h-ad..been naughty, and mamma had found it necessary to reprimand her. She closed her remarks by saying seriously: - “Now, remember that though I cannot always see what you do, God is always with you.” It was summer, and the little girl, in a not very amiable frame of mind. started 0% for a walk, as she was ac- customed to do, and the big Newfound- land dog belonging to the family started to follow, as he, also, was ac- customed to do. But he was not to go this time. “Go home,” said the little maiden, turning suddenly and stamp- ing her foot when she saw him. “Go home. It is bad enough to have God tagging after me all the time without having you come- along, too.”—New' York Times. , . “2 D. Howells’s Manuscript. People who have seen manuscripts» of IV. D. Howells' writing have been surprised that the work of a man who is such- a prolific writer should show so many changes. One little sketch of his that I happened to see,” says an admirer of the author, “was crossed out and rewritten many times. And it Was a simple sketch, not a story—one that I should have thought he would have written at a. sitting ' without: changing a word.”—N_ew York Times. , Looked that Way. Mrs. Brown—Does Mrs. Dorcas be- long to the sewing circle? Brown—I think so. I’ve noticed that her husband fastens his suspenders with a string—New York Journal.. By way of variation, it may be re- marked that is is' a poor mule that won't work both ways. ,.-.
Norwalk Chronicler