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.