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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1898-6-16, Page 2ANT GOOD ROADS."1 A. W. Campbell, C. E., Road Commissioner of Ontario. The Oreat Need of This Country is eood Roads..liow to Build Them Economically explained by an Expert...Useful Hints and Diagrams to the Road Builders of this Country. • CD0 We &anent, want good. reads? Or are bad roads preferable? is the orY that Ins been eased througbout •the length and breadth of Canada and of this continent "We want good realist" the dennad of men in their sober sen- ses.? Or has Isbor and money been &toed on our roues for a century past merely to campy our time, and keep lour surplus capital in circulation. If we do not want goo & roads, it ba,d roads are preferable, way sl3ould we want rinds at allO , We Must hove roads. That necessity %1'71,12; been Plaeea upon n,s, the ex- rience 'which has taught us the wis- 4ora of Wading other strueturee sub- titentially, twines us tlae eccatomY of having roads that are good, We event roadch will withstand wear. We wont the tabor and money spent on tham to be a paying iuvestment We want roads watch well be good. no =at- tar what the state of the 'weather. We einant roads watch: will not become rut- ted immediately the fall rains come on er when the frost leaves the ground In the spring, remaining in rough ridges for a considerable part of the istlimmer. A road which does this is a loo,d road. The money and. labor spent On It, is largely forced down into the mud, is plowed wider within a year end wasted. A good road is an econ- omical road. In building en economical road, im- terovements must be made in such a way that they will last. Roads in Can- ada aave beea built on the same prin- ciple as a wagon which breaks down ander the first loa,d, and. is used for tire wood after a year of service. Most a the leading roads of Ontario have been made and remade a score of times and. arestill bed roads. They are of the kind that "break up." road that "brealre tips' is like anything else that breaks up, a poor investment, When road building is rightly under- stood in this country, township coun- cillors will no more taink a building roads that break up in the spring,than they will Welk of constacting houses townships find that they coat do more work by commenting eal tee laberat thirty-five cents par day. If statute labor has not outgrown its usefuloess there is certainly need for reform, when a man% labor is' mirth less than thirty-five cents a day, A feeltng in fever of statute laboe still• holds in some localities, but is grow- ing weaker, There is not a country ifl tbe world, charaoterized by good road% where a, system of statute Leber is be use. To a slight, but very slight ex- tent it nta,y be said to be weed in France, but withvery differenti meth - ads of applytog it. If it is to be retain- ed in Ontario, the present feeling of the people strongly indicates that it will have to be placed on a basis where- by satisfaotory remelts oan be obtained, There is a prevalent opinion that a resident on a concession road knows better than anyone else the re-, ctutreenents of that parttcular road, A remarkable feature, however, is that no two citizens agree in. their ideas of what work should be done, or how it simuld be done. No doubt there are cases in wbich one man is right; but when one man is right all the rest must be wrong, Patbanasters are appoint- ed. in tarn from among these to plan and superintend the roadwork. The only result which could reasonably fol- low from such a system is that which we find—waste and bad roads. The pathrnasters can make the road or destroy it; call out{ the men. or not; make the roadway 10, 201, 30 or 40 feet wide, as may suit their individual ideas make the width uniform or of as many widths as there are pathmasters; crown the grade, make it flat or con- caved as may coque to them; they can notify the ratepayers on the beat of the number of days to be performed and instruct the to turn out when they zee fit; the ratepayers briag such implements as they wish, work or do not work, so bang as they put in the time; they haul gravel if they want to put in three days in one; haul sand or turf so long as ta,ken from the 'A CONCRE TE CULVERT. that break u in tife spring, barns that break up in the spring, or fences that book up in the spring. The road builders of this country have not given suffieient consideration to the effect of building bad roads, ,r ear after year work of a flimsy, gainless character is placed on the roads. The remits are only teraporary and are destroyed. by a very little wear and traffic. 'In a very short time the work has to be done over again. But the evil does not end with' this. This annual demand for repairs is so great tb,at no township can re - (mond to it. The roads instead of be - • trig repaired when they need it are ne- alected, grow worse and worsei, and all the evils of bad roads follow. What bad roads are doing for this country is only one side of the evil. The other side is what they are not 'doing. The loss does not arise so much from, the nagney and labor wasted every year, as it does from the absence of the benefits which good roads would bring. Our loss must be measured not so much 13y the money and labor we are throw- ing away on bad roads, as by the op- portunities which: would come to us if the roads were good. • One of the greatest obstacles in the way of road improvement is the narrow view takeu of the question by so many citizens of this country. They have been accustornea to think of roads merely as 'incidental to statute labor; and sta- tute labor they eoxisider as means 'whereby each patitmaster can get a little work done in froet of his own farm which will be of direot personal advantage. They do not see nor appreciate the benefitei which would accrue to the township, county and peovince. They overlook the public good. But public teem" is merely individetal benefit con- ferred (ea every citizen. Money and labor spent on the roads of the, town- ship will enhance the vain of every tetra by' increasing the demand for farm land; it will increase the profits IA the terra by reducing the expense DI the fame, The dairying inaustries would be im.mensear beaefited by good roads; fruit growing would be - Some more remunerative, sale would be • obtained, for produce which is not now taloa& because of the difficillty, of reething the market. , • , STATUTE LABOR. "1 The great majority of roada 18 Can- • edit, are under the control of townsbip cow:wile, and are boat by statute la- bor supplemented by money grants, The etatate labor system, is suited to a pioneer age, It Fruits the abilities of Elie people making a home in a new 3ountry, and it suits the spirit of their circumstances, They feel keenly the need of improving their roads, and work with a will, earnestly and faith- fully. That was the history of statute Jabot in thie pioneer dayof what are new the populou$ distriots of Oartada, But where the townshiPa lave grOwn weal thy and well populated, a different toridition Dente, To such tin extent hag etatiete taboiclegeilerated that onto township Pit; haul one load or ten so long as the day is spent, and the path - master is satisfied. He is the agent of the council, and his worcl is law. af he keeps his raen at work, in good humor, and is securing a good roade he is a good fellow, but can't be kept ia office more then two years. The job must be passed around even if the new matt destroys the good work of his predecessor. Pathrao,sters must cer- tify to the loads of gravel hauled whe- ther they see them hauled or not. Coun- cils must pay that account at so much a load, right or wrong', and qinlity of material must not be considered. The result of this lack of supervis- ion is mismanagement in actual road construction, A description of the ac- tual work done sounds like ridicule, however earnest it may be, A statute labor day is short, of eight hours but the men are rarely on the ground fnr more than six hours. A good part of the Mx hours is spent in gossip, in arguing as to what should be done,and 18 finding fault with what is being done. Another pert is spent in look- ing up scrapers and plows that should have been provided before the work was commenced. When we Consider the class of teams sent out by the ratepayers; the wagons which can catry only lalf a load, the bops who come to do a man's work—these and raane oth- er details, the •friends of statute labor must necessarily frarae numerous apologies. Statute labor is performed at a tims of the year when every farmer can use his time to good advantage on his own landbut instead of remaining where lie ean do the most profitable work, he uses his time in paying a road tax. A large part •of the time spent in road work is unquestionably wasted. A considerable part of our own ma- nual tax bill is also expended on the roads. A careful consideration of this expenditare will slow that tinny of the leading roads, far from. being good:, cost much nem than f irst class roads should cost: Nor is this all, the most regrettable is that, through improper plans and imperfect construction, the most expensivii form of maintenance hes been imposed. •WASTE OF MONEY. Councils oommonly appropriate amount ot money eath year to be omit on the toads. If this raohey were spent in reeking eoraplete and arable work it would bo of the greateet assistance in improving the roads. We /ind, how- ever, that the money is distributed in small sums among the pathractstere is spent in small scans for eepairing tem- porary adverts; in • doing a little draining in front of the farm of some discoateetted ratepayer to appease hira; in doing no particular work at all, but merely to give some other voter at op- portunity to earn a few dollars. In each ways as these ie the money wbiela should be spent on durable improve - rants, scattered i wasted and misap- plied. IMPROVING PRESENT CONDITIONS, if a supervisor were appointed, if petamietere, (and fewer of tanui) were %pointed. tor a term of years to eerry out the direotiono of the supervisor, eed it to these peeitione the right men were appeioted, a eonsiderablestep wohici be taketi tmeards the better man- eget:emit of roads in the townshipS. Under systematia management, nsoney and labor eould be made to work to- gether to the best possible advontege. At present eaoh petlemester is given e few dollars and a few day e of labor, surroonded by neighbors. Nothing but patchwork pan 18 expeoted. By ton- solicieting tide money and labor, by us- ing the statute labor be the ways in whieli it inn be turned to the best ad- vantage, by using tee money in Pur- chasing. material and doing wora to whieh statute labor is riot adapted, by,: seeing that all this worle is properly done, and at the right time • inacii oeculd be done to improve present son- ditions. UTILIZING STATUTE LABOR. • One of tlee most profitable metbeas of using statate labor ie to utilize it in beating- gravel, To this work there is less opportunity for wasting time; it is work which is more agreeable then =oh of the other work of greding and ditching; it is work whioli the aver- age farmer understands to be of direct benefit and is entered intci heartily. It follows Viet it is better for oth- er means to be used in performing other work, For the grading of the roads there is machinery which every township should possess. For the op- eration of these radellihes one naan should be hired, as skill and experienee are absolutely peneesary. It dennot 18 passed around from tarraer to farnier like a scraper or a plow. These me- et:ants do not know how a road ,sliould be aleaped, but in the hands of a man who does, they are exceedingly valu- able. For drainage and ditolung it is usually •best to hire the work done by men who are accustomed to this class •of work. One of the most necessary stens to be taken so as to receive the greatest benefits from statute labor is to set that the material, whether gra- vel or broken stone, is prepared in the pit or quarry, ready to be drawn to the road. If sereeniag, crushing or stripping a pit is necessary, it should be all done before statute labor coin- mences, Gravel. may be plentiful, but of a very inferior quality. Usually no effort is made by the council to soreeh the gravel, remove the surface soil from the pit or in any way prepare the gravel for being plaind on the road. Teamsters go into the pitons or two, at a time, it is of inferior quality, but they. cannot undertake the task of re- raovung the earth and clay, in order to satisfy their few days of labor. In other sections there is no gravel, but field and quarry stone is to be fou.xad in abundance, frequently along tin road to be improved. But with this materia unprepared for roadwork, no- thing can be done by the farraers ex- cept. to plow and scrape the mud, and in other ways, put in their time in useless effort. If the council would purthase or otherwise employ a rock crusher to prepare this stone and leave it ready for hanliag, It they were to purtha.se screens, strip pits, etc., and see that nothing but first-class gravel was provided, farmers would be encour- aged and. would. willingly spend their time to the fullest extent in hauling this material. A SUPERVISOR. The first and greatest need. of every and any system of road construction, is to have one roan at the head of the work to act as a general su,pervison He mint be a praatioal man, and if pos- sible, experienced in road construc- tion, and acquainted with the prin- ciples underlying it. The advantage of having such an officer, appointed by byelaw, with term of office as secure as that of a township clerk will be best explained. by stating his duties: - 1st. The supervisor should prepare a plan of his district, or townshig, show- ing all roads, and the location on them of all culverts, bridges and water- course,s, classifying roads according to their requireraents. 2n1. He should prelate a list of all culverts and bridges, showing dimen- sions, material used in construction, their conditions and the direction of the watercourses passing through them, with memoranda as to the course of the water and location of the out- let. • 3rd. The plans and recordsshould show, as to roads, whether they are of gravel, stone or earth, graded or ungraded, the system of drainage,, and. nature and extent of traffic unon them. He should carefully study the present and future 'requirements of traffic on all roads, the class of roads best suit- ed to each traffic, the width and depth of metal, width of graded portion am- ount of crown and other details of construction. 4th. He should possess full informa- tion as to •location, extent and qual- ity of material suitable for road con- struction, and amount of plank and timber obtainable from ratepayers in the township or district. suitable for repairs. • 55h. Ele should report to the coun- cil as early as possible in each year, Showing the number and location •of citiverts and, small bridges to be re- built or repaired, with a detailed statement of all material required for this work, and an estiaiate of the cost, It would also be advantageous to have a probable estimate of material re- quired during the following year, pre- sented eac,h fall so that, if thought ad- visable, it may be purehased and de- livered on the ground during winter months or other raost convenient sea- son, ea as to utilize as much as pos- sible, the labor of ratepayers during the slack season. 6th,• His report should specify the condition of all bridges, indicating those who require repairs or re- construction, together with an estimate of coet, e,nd a statement dealing with such special protection work on streams as he may deem worth the councila consideration,. There shoold also he reference to any needed re -location or deviatioxi of existing roadswith a view 18 doiag a -way with beidges, celverte expensive grades, cuts ot other features which tend to prevent permeate& work and economic maintenance. 751 Ile should coesult with all path - masters' and report to the council, allowing the number of days' labor iii each divisioa, the work to be undertak- en, and the amount of money which should be appropriated by the come oil to properly utilize the Statute ta- bor. ath, He should arrange with divis- ions desiring. to compound statute la- bor for a term of years, with. a 4view to the construction of permonent end tinished work, Otli. He ehoield take stock ateetially, enl report to cetineil on 0.11 maelelnery and implementa showing their condi- tion ancl tvliere kePt. 10tlis He rhould carefallO exalleine all parte et the township where gravel and stone exiet, and. stioula by borings and tests, determine the quality and exteot, and report thereon to the °min - oil, =lariat, stone, plena, gravel, etc., should be purebasea by the su- Pervieoe in large quantities, aria und., er inetruotions from the counoil, the required amount to be determined by bs eetimetes referred to above. Ae fee as possible the material should be pure chased by tender, a,nd dee eonstderation shoulel be .given, te any ratepayer hah- hag material for sale. When parches - ed it should be delivered and stored at copvenieut points, and Placed in therge of, and used by tbe patbaneter, subjeot to the order of the supervisor, end in emergency wora. Ilth. He should prepare specifica- ttous of all work for which; the coun- cil makes appropriations. Conteects should be awarded to the lowest bidder if proper seeu.rity is given, but the work should be sabject to the improv- ed of the supervisor and all accounts f31iou1d be certified by him before pay- ment. . I 1 l PATHMASTERS. There are men in every township who are capable of taking the oversight of road-construetion, but the system of changing the patlfmastees every one or Iwo years is not likely to produce mext who are well qualified in this resent, Appointed in the spring, the pathruest- er has no time to make a study of the subject such as it demands, Nor is the feet that Jie will be succeeded by some one eLse as pathimaster the following year an encouragement to effort in this diirection. •' Road, divisions or "beats'' should be from three to five miles in length. A pathrria,ster should. be a permanent of - This material is Purclut00d tfrtirol 5 to IP coots a loaa, and when MiXed with an exeesstve enioutit or eland, or tiny is the meet mmeneive road meter - Lel for xenoli traYelled laighwaye. When we coasider the uuna.ber of pits in some townehips and their immense size, re- PresentIng that thonsaxids of loads bave be.en takeo out, and tame conelder the (alert mileage grevellea. We mart reatli- ly see that soxnethiog in the quality of material and the mode of conetruction Is radloally wrong. In eonie instances muela more than the value of a whole farm hoe been paid. for by grovel Pur - obese(' by the load and teken fro= a Stnall corner. If first-onse material were used un- der ordinary traffic, the annuat re- pairs renderel necessary would be very slight Ile searching fdr gravel, the clearest indications are usually to be found along the banks of streams, where any exten.sive strata is apt to be exposed. A post -hole auger affords a convenient means of making taste over the sue - face of the •soil for gravel, but the best implement is generally a simple tome of drill, There are cases in which gravel bed,s may be entered at the level of a stream bed, and water is thereby obtained for washing the metal by natural drainage, affording a cbeaper means of freeing it from sand and earthy matter than by soreeu- ing. Gravel is still being deposited in drifts and bars by the agency of streams; this will be found to partake of the character of the pit gravel of the Inea,lity but generally will contain less clay, although naiad tiny wetly be in excess. This is usually one of the best sources, ae the gravel oan be washed by natural drainage. •Lake gra,vel is often a good. metal but yeti -- ea greatly. It is apt to be slaty, an undesirable quality: It will be free from dirt and clay, but contains suffi- THE GRAVEL OR BROKEN STONE IN PLICE.—Cross-section, fioer, and his division should be spell that the moat of his travel will lead him over the greatest portion of it. He need not receive a salary, • but should, as a slight recompenne, be Pre- ferred in doing small jobs ernder the supervisor, where the work te not con- sidered of sufficient Importance to be let .by contract. He should, in ad- dition, give special attention to all emergency work, such as washouts, broken culverts and bridges. • If the time required. to oversee the statute labor in his division is more than would be needed for his own statute labor, he should be paid for such excess un- der certificate of the supervisor or council, the object being to secure proper supervision of all work per- formed; the council or supervisor to determine whether the excess time was actually necessary to oversee the work of the division, in accordance withthe local by-law- of rules and regulations, which should be fram.ed so as to include this matter. GRAVEL ROAMS. Gravel is very plentiful in many partsc of Canada, and where it can be obtained, of a good quality, within rea- sonable hauling distance, makes a cheap but good road surface. As pre- viously pointed out, it should. be Olean, free froat sand. and clay, since it is the stone, not the earthy materials which are needed on the road. Nor should large stones and boulders be mixed with it, as they will work up, and. roll loosely under the feet of the horses and the wheels of vehicles. In the preparation of gravel it is frequently advisable to place a stone crusher with screen attachm.ent in the pit. By passing -all the gravel through the send and clay are removed and the large stones broken by the one opera- tion. If the gravel is fit to be placed on the road without, such treatment in nearly every case it will be neces- sary to send a man over the road to rake off large stones and break them by hand. Much carelessness is exercised in taking gravel out of the pit. • In the average pit we find. the surface layer of from. two to four feet, composed of earthy matter; then a layer of four or five feet of clean gravel of excel- lent quality; then a stratum of -coarse sand one to two feet thick; and under- lying this another stratum of fairly good gravel. The common practice followed by teamsters is to • scrape THE FINISHED .ROADWAY. down the face of the pit, causing the sail, clean gravel and sand to mix to- gether at the bottom. This is put in the wagons and 'taken to the road. Very few gravel pits provide mater- iel fit in its natural state fax use on the road. Screening and crushing ere oftea necessary, particularly the form- er, to remove sand, and clay from among the stones, It is, the stone which is wantetl on the road—not the sand and clate There is enough sand arid clay already on the road without drawing it several mites from the grav- el pit. Road material, to be of its greatest value on the road should be nearly free from said. and clay. Dirty gravel, while it unites readily arid forms a good roadway in dry weather, dissolves, turns elushy and ruts with equal readiness in veet weather ; where- as with clean material the Mottes as- sume a mechanical olaso the one of the other, that will not yield to all the same extent in wet weather. • Earth mad sand attract moisture and after a few hours' rain the road be- comes softened. In this slight ruts are formed which hold water; the whole structure beeomes saturated, breaking the bond and permitting mole succes- sive vehicle to churn these ruts deep- er until the gravel coating is cut tough . PUROHASE Or GRAVEL. n, greet mane townships bill Omit 01 by the load. This is very much like baying water by the pailful instead of digging a, well. Gravel should be bought by the pit, or by the acre, and ehoulcl be available ab all times for atty fernier who vvents to increese the value of his land, by improving the read poet it, Especial care sbould be teken by• ceunoils to Hee that, peter to tin .performance of etetate labor, the pit is stripped and. the gratrel other- vvise treated if necesettrye • cleat sharp sand to secure oonsolidie, Sion, especially if e roller is used. ' Gravel which retains a perpendicular face in the spring, and shows on trace of slipping when thawing out may gen- erally be asstuned to be sufficiently clean and free from Clay for use on the Toad without any treatment other than is necessary to break stones dgireaaniteetrert.han one inch and a half in ,(To( be Continu.ed.) TRIUMPH OF WHEEL -WOMEN. For more then five years that ex- ample of progressive graciousnesseethe wheelwoman was the recipient of all sorts of /mash ebuse for the-teason that she liked bicycling, bought a, wheel fax herself and insisted. upon riding it.. Years before she &Oen thought of that exercise for herself men had enjoyed cyolingrand it had increased their vig- or o,nd prolonged their lives. Searcely more than ten years ago safety bicy- cles were in their infancy, and mak- ing them fax women's use was an ex- periment undertaken with more or less xxiisgivivg. : .• • It was estimated that the force need- ed. to propel a, wlaeel woe greater than the avexage woman could supply. That was the first abjection to women be- coming cycliets. Then it was asserted that wheeling was too unbecoming and intraodest to be praoticed by the gentl- er sex, When those argtu:aents failed to dissuade women from taking their daily spins they were assailed and ap- pealed to on the ground that the wheel was the personal a.nd favorite instru- ment of Satan, aad that cycling "had a. tendency to lure young girls into paths that leaa directly to sin." Moth- ers were cautioned against permitting their daughters to ride, and basin:13.os be „came unease lest their wives should wheel away. To supplement the anaxiety of the household, clergymen averred that their congregattons had been seriously diminished by the bicycle's populerity, anl that sisters who had. formerly oc- eupied front seats in the churches were to be seen decked in bloese -waists and abbreviated. diciets hurrying past the sanctuery. 'Theatre managers charged the *heel with diverting the attention of young ladies from the hatraless am- usements of - the stage to the doubtful attractions of suburban groves and retreats labelled "Ice Cream and Soda." Other dissatisfied. persons, in- crutiOng dealere In forniture, vowed that, with many housewives, oomfort and aesthetics in the home had become secondary eonditions since the thought of feraiainity had been given to hose- pipe tires and sprockets. Physicians frightened wheetwornen who wouldn't &ward their steel roadsters with threats of paraesthesia end paresis hi the interossei, lurabricales anl adduct- or pollicis. In the last year or two wheelwomen, have showo a decided liking fax cen- tury runs, and for that they have been vigorou..ely scored. IA. few women have exlibitedi bad taate by engaging in Jong club runs composea of men with when' their aequebittence was little' or nothing. Happily, such imprudence has been rare, and the examples fur- nishedd have resulted in better judg- ment, being exercised by others. Having endured criticism, reproach, and discouragement for so long a time, the wheetwomen now rides with a light heart. She has succeeded in showirg that, in the way :of moderate and well- timed. biegole riding, what's good for maa is also good fax hi$ companion,. In other words, in ber battle for the loicyele she hae wort 1 victory over the pessimists and eticklers foe old-time straitlaced decortun, and to quote one of her number, "good health and:con- tentment among the bioyele girls now appear te be contagious. MANAGING A' .110Y.e M.r,s, Springs—How careful you little bey is of his heelthl AO boy is con- stantly r,unning out in all elite of weOther, Withottit ovetootet Or over- shoes, no emitter Whet 5 eay'. do you. Mantiget? Mrs. Brigge—Whati oiy boo catches cold I give non cod levee oiL 14.0.4" eesie THE LILY. In England our calla lily is called the, arum -lily. It is not a "lily" at all, but it is an arum, and the regaltqueen of its family—the family to which the jack -in -the -Pulpit or Indian 'turnip of oux forests is allied. In Australia. the calla is such a past as theowater hyacinth is in horida ; it chokes %I the irrigating channels by its rapid grow- th and requires vigorous measures to subdue. I/another flower called a lily, which has no right, save that of long usuage, to the name, is the lily, of the valley. in medieval times the monks said these little flowers, the simplest of the simple were the "lilies of the field," which our Lord, said were more spleadidly arrayed than Solomon in all his glory. 1 But since then wise men have squabbled over the phrase and the flower to such purpose that they have come to no conclusion. 'but it is more than likely that the plant on which the Sa.viouers eye chanced to fall was eith- er the crown -imperial, or the merle - gen, or an amaryllis -,-each of them flowers of suanotuous coloriag and all natives of Palestine. It certainly could not have been the raoaest bell of the lily of the valley, fax it is not the least like a kinig in his glory, nor, what is more comansive, does it grow wild in the 'Holy Lased. TERRIBLE. NAN-KILLERS, The .iiievein alipaiiztee:utoeoiltroe. toed iii Wars Marvellous es are our Maxim itaid Getting guns, torpedoes, awl all the other instruments of modern war - tare,• human ingenuity in this direo- tit% has by no means exhausted itself, - let a few years the man -killing appara- tus wUl Probably be of a far more won- derful and awful ehaeacter tben at present; for inventors in ditferent Ploinente, many of which will, as eoon (1°1in:tries ore Perfecting terrible im- ea possible, be turned, to practical use, ‘, An engiueer in the north of Eng- land has emit patented a gun witioh is calculated to beat the record in quick diseloarge of bullets, fax it is estimated, that it wt1,1 fire no fewer Shan 30,00 in a single minute. It is es/instructed on the principle of a elhog. A disc from` which, two hands projeet ie set working inside a case at the rate of 15,000 revelations per min- ute, The bullets are poured into the case, an.a caught by the whirling hauds, which shoot them tb,rough an open- ing leading to a barrel, which may be directed to any particular spot. The anathine will be mounted on a motor oar, with blades projeoting from the axles. The bullets are disoharged with enormous velocity, end the in- vent= declares that at close quarters an enemy would be absolutely annihi- lated by them. Experiments aaVa ,a1 - ready been made, and have proved fully satisfactory. : A. new autok-fining gun, will soon be turned out by • a Birmingham firm, which will.put all others a its class into the shade. All the gunner has to do is to tura a wheel, and bullets, width will kill at three miles, are dis- oharged at the rate of 600 PER MINUTE. The gun only weighs jowt., and the barrel may be poirited in any direction with the greatest facility. The prin- ciple is that of an endless belt, which is made to collect the car,tridges when passing through a box. i Shields would appear to be out of date; but the authorities at Pekin are adopting some of a very interesting kind. • They axe about the same size and weight as a Chinese war -shield; but the speciej advantage of them are that they are bullet-proof, and that within each shield a. sward -bayonet is c,oncealed, which, by sixaply touching a, spring, can be made in a seeend to project from the front. The Chinese believe that with these their soldiers will be able to charge the enemy and put them to the sword. with very little risk. • When Germa,ny is next engaged in a great war in Europe sin will pro- bably Make use et a huge engine of an. extraordinary sort, which is being or has been, construCted. It is a kind of land. ironclad, being a big movable -house on „wheels. It is built of im- penetrably thick steel withlong, ugly spikes stioking out like , quills from a porcupine,. whilst there are scores of openings in the walls, from each of which a big gun peeps out. 'Io poisonan enemy or put one to sleep is a decidedly novel idea; but experiments in this direction are be- ing ands at St. Petersburg. A Rus- sian obemist lias discovered an anaes- thetio which he claims to be several thousand times stronger than chloro- form. Efforts ars now being made to inclose it in bombs, which could be shot into the midst of the enemy. They would then burst and take instant ef- fect upon ail around. Those who were not killed would be rendered insen- sible for a long period., and it is cal- otaated that a whale array could soon be made helpless. , , • EIVE-FOOT SOLDIERS. The minimum height in the Mika- do',s army 'IS at fraction of an inch over five feet, and that in the ". Ital- ian army five feet one inch. As the height, of iudividuels in Japan does npt often. exceecl five feet foux inches for males, it follows Shot there is won- derful uniformity oleserva.ble in the pbysique Of the Japanese troops, maxi this fact operates beneficially in long marches, very few falling met of the Milks. What one can do all can do, The Emperer hieasett is much above the average etatare. METHODICAL'. My wife is a great busbies wo- mao," remarked the mao who is StUAli- ously jocose. Tekes care to preserve documents soul that sort of thing? Yee, Why: that woman Won't even earl her heir linters ehe hap the pap- ers to eb,ow for it. THE RICH MEN OF THE WORLD, 11,41:37 C011atrY ill Inc Weted Hos Its Shore of Zoiliteuitiree. GermanY le not generally regerclea a.1 a land of rich men, and yet the guidon lotole sliould have a, very large section deviated to Gleranuy and Astute triarHategary, says the •Loled.on Spec,* tater, It ie true that most ef tbc names would, have Prince before 'theme bat, being of royal blool does not alter the feet of wealth. Without coun,tina the private properties of the sover- eigns, wile aught net to te inoluded, there ere a. dozen or so Teutonic, High, nesses Whose wealth, not merely in 4, lands, but in money, is enorraous, Fax example, that of the lather of the pees,- ent Prince of Bulgaria, was counted by) , many millions sterling. Many or She, dethroned mouarchs, again, are verteokhoo, rich, fax roi en, exit. hes (nage& to be syucenytia for poverty. No one, of t course, knows the exaet wealth of the Orleans family, but it is very great, ' and even B.ourbon,s are well off, Don Carla's, 10 apite of the money he has spent on Spanish and other adventuress Ls a millionaire. •• I THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE would also make a good ehowi for al- though the great landed proprietors have suffered. of tate years, many of She merchants and fioanciers have done exceedingly well. • If roam le to be tru.sted, some of the officials are -also very rioh. Fabulous stems are attri- buted. to one in pertioular. The inn-. liona.ires of Africa would, we suppose, be coofined to Xiniberley and the Rand; but po,ssibly there are some large fortunes in Oairo among Ilia Levantine colony, Asia, -will probably more a very respectablshow in the golden book. It is tru.e that in the Turkish. and, Persianempires million- aires are never long-lived, and this fact tend,s to their non-existence; but for au that, some of the Sartyrn.a Greeks and Datnaseu,s Jews ought to be able to gain admission. India, on the other hand, it the native princes who do not possess sovereign rights are counted, as they must be, contains a great number of extremely rich men. Not only are there mereha,nts in the great cities who are worth several millions in personal property, bu.t there are also four or. five great Zeraindars who have incomes which represent the Interest on two or three millions sterling. The re- action against thinking of India as a place of wealth has, in fact, been car- ried too fax; and. we are apt to forget that priticely fortunes are made an.d kept there. . • The truth about the Chinese for.- tune,s would be moat curious if it could be discovered. Unfortunately, it is 418 land of the orypto-millioa- sires, of the men who live in little houses and hoard gold ingots in the shape et Naples bisouits, It is known however, that 1 THE EMPRESS DOWAGER is ameng thealcb.est, if not the rich- est, person, &aye; while Li Hung • Chang, unless he has lately been plun- dered, which' is unlikely, .must also have vast wealth. Outside China the Chinese- are ciften very rich, and dare to show their wealth. For example, it is always said., and as fax as we know with truth., that several of the Chiaese merchants of Singapore are men of en.ounotts riches. With the American millionaire it is hardy necessary to deal. What place is not full- of the report of his dollars? It should, how- ever, be slated, that, though one or two of the Amerioan fortunes are be- ycald the dreams of avarice, the total number at "warm men" is, in „propor- tion to population, not so great as it is here. There are, ethat is, not so mealy great, but fax more small, mil- lionaires in England. The ena,n wleo rea,ohes the 45,000,000 mark is apt eith- er to lose it all again, or else to turn it into 450,000,000 or $100,000,000. Spanish Sontb. America is not, as a rule, regarded as a place for, rich men, yet, as a matter ot fact, Ohili, Mexico, Brazil. and tin Argentine have all ,.. within the last thirty years produced fortunes on the great spate, and not very long ago tb.e greatest heiress in the world was said to be the only daughter of a South American mite lionaire. CHAPTER ON DENTISTRY. Llad Not Noticed the Coldness 01 the Sur. geon's Forceps. • The spoon," partner came in with his hand to his ja.w, and not in the best of huMor. He had been having a tooth extracted, and as the pain wore away somewhat he was disposea to dilate on it, as men will. After all the perticulers—first attack, what be said, what his wife sold, etc.—he re- marked that he could teach the den- tists something they did not know. "The infernal pain of extractionar said lie, "is due to the coldness of the forusPS. 'Nothing in . the world is so creellY cold as a dentist's forceps, and when they °bitch on to the hot and inflamed tooth a chill goes all through the victim, I think it woull confer a boom on mankind if Some one \vould discover, a. new metal that will warm, or why eau% the dentists dip the forceps into warm water before ap- plying them? It would be a blessing td mankind." . have Ind two teeth extracted within a year," said the old travellers, - man, "and I never noticed the cold- ness you speak of." "You Must be very unobservant, sir," said the special partner, sharp - 1Y, who was mat used to being thwart - "No," replied the traveling man, looking up at the ceiling, "I took gas." , PROVIDING FOR AN EMERGENCY. What 'will you, have,? inquire(' the tyeiter as Mr, Heyroob scanned th'e French' bill of fare, Wel, be answered, placing his finger over aft itebe,, ye kb bring some Oi that. BO don't go away; 'cease if It lasstee like it looks in print I'll :Wive to try eceloathiie oleo.