Beaverton times., October 28, 1915, Image 6

BRICK ROADS ARE EASILY MAINTAINED
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Laying Vitrified Brick for Country Riad Pavement.
Vitrified brick roads, according to
the road specialists of the department
of agriculture, poBsesa three distinct
advantages. First, they are durable
under all traffic conditions; second,
they afford easy traction and mod
erately good foothold for horses; and
third, they are easy to maintain and
keep clean. On the other hand, they
are unquestionably expensive to con
struct and the effort to reduce the
high first cost frequently results In
Inferior construction and consequent
defects.
The cost of a brick pavement de
pends so much upon so many variable
factors Buch as the locality, freight
rates and the distance from brick
kiln that ft Is not possible to make
any definite estimates. The cost of
the rough grading, however, should
be considered entirely apart from the
cost of the pavement, lor the grading
would have to be done no matter what
kind of a road was to be built. Ex
cluding this item, the bulletin already
mentioned (No. 246) furnishes the fol
lowing formula as a rough guide for
the probable expense of a brick road
with a six-inch concrete, foundation
and suitable grades: Cost per square
yard equals 1.90-L, plus .213-C, plus
.138-8, plus .157-A, plus .040-B.
In this fomula C equals cost of
cement per barrel, S equals cost of
sand per cubic yard, A equals cost of
coarse aggregate per cubic yard, B
equals cost of paving brick per 1,000,
and L equals cost of labor per hour.
Thus, if labor costs 25 cents an hour,
the labor cost per square yard of
pavement will be 1.90 times 25 cents,
or 47.50 cents. The cost of the cement
per square yard wiU be .213 times the
price of a barrel and so on with the
other items. It is assumed in this
formula that all materials are deliv
ered on the work. About 10 per cent
should be allowed for wear on tools
and machinery, and for every inch sub
tracted or added to the thickness of
the foundation there will .be a corre
sponding difference of 8 to 12 cents
per jquare yard.
A more Important test is known as
the rattler or abrasion test In this
the bricks are subjected to destructive
Influences Bimllar to those encoun
tered In actual service, and the effects
resemble those which traffic may be
expected to produce upon the com
pleted pavement. Briefly the test con--slsts
of inclosing 10 dried bricks In a
steel barrel in which there are also
placed a number of cast-iron spheres.
Ten of these spheres weigh each 7
pounds. Enough smaller ones weigh
ing a little less than a pound are
dded to make the total weight ap
proximately 300 pounds. The barrel
'Is then revolved at the rate of SO revo
lutions a minute for an hour. At the
end of that time the bricks are taken
out and weighed, and their loss In
weight ascertained. "In this test good
.paving brick will lose from 18 to 24
3er cent of Its weight.
. Equally Important with the char
acter of the brick is the character of
the roadbed on which it is to be laid.
The four essentials for the roadbed
are thorough drainage, firmness, uni
formity in grade and cross section,
and adequate shoulders. Where the
first can be obtained In no other way
It may be necessary to lift the road
considerably above the surrounding
land. Firmness Is secured, if the road
has been properly drained, by making
certain that the roadbed is thoroughly
compact. The subgrade must be -repeatedly
rolled and reshaped until the
desired grade is secured.
Strong, desirable curbing Is neces
sary for all brick pavements in order
to prevent the marginal brick from be
coming displaced, which event would
result In deterioration, finally spread'
tng over the entire pavement
One of the most essential factors of
a brick pavement is a firm foundation
upon which to lay the brick. The Im
portance of this is evident when one
considers that the ability of pavement
to resist wear depends upon the
smoothness of the pavement and a
firm foundation. If the foundation Is
poor one of the bricks may be easily
forced down, causing unevenness In
the surface. Where the traffic is com
paratively light and the subgrade
composed of material that does not
readily absorb water, broken stone
may make a satisfactory base. For
heavier traffic or where the material
composing the subgrade is at all un
stable a concrete base Is necessary.
After the brick has been laid upon
this cushion and the pavement gone
over carefully to remedy alt defects
and remove all Imperfect material, it
should be rolled with a heavy power
roller, gone over carefully once more,
and the joints then filled with some
material to prevent the brick edges
from chipping. Of the various mate
rials used for this purpose a grout
made of equal portions of Portland ce
ment and sand mixed with water is
recommended. Sand alone Is some
times used because of its cheapness,
but it Is open to several objections
and its use in the end is probably not
economical. Portland cement grout,'
on the other band, binds the Individ
ual bricks together and converts the
pavement Into what Is practically a
monolith. Before the grout is ap
plied the pavement should be swept
clean and be kept moist by gentle
sprinkling during the application, of
which there should be two. At the
end of the second application the
grout should completely fill the joints
flush with the tops of the joints. The
final step is to cover the completed
pavements with a one-Inch layer of
fine earth. This is done to protect the
pavement from the weather and to
keep It In a moist condition while the
grout Is hardening.
In addition to the description of the
.various problems the new bulletin
contains in an appendix ccmplete typi
cal specifications for the constructloi
of a brick road. '
WAYS OF TACTFUL NURSE
Many Thlnga That Should Be Ob
. served by Those Who Would Min
ister to the Slek.
The best training In the world can
not turn a woman who has not the
gift for nursing Into a tactful none.
Efficient and dependable she may
be trained to be, but tact and
sympathy must come by Insight How
ever, there are certain rales and cer
tain little niceties that anyone trained
or untrained can and should remem
ber when they are In the sick room.
Be careful that you have no annoy
ing little tricks, such as clearing your
throat, bumming, rocking, drumming
with your fingers or making any un
necessary noise that might be Irritat
ing to tired nerves. As most people
who have such tricks are quite uncon
scious of, them themselves, It Is quite
necessary to stop and think occasion
ally to be sure that you are guilty of
none of them.
Another habit most annoying to pa
tients Is one that many nurses have
of talking to other people, the doctor
or family. In an undertone or whisper
within bearing of the patient This
Is as unnecessary and discourteous to
an 111 person as It is to a well per
son, and to many patients It Is alarm
ing as well. If you have anything to
Bay that cannot be said in the hearing
of the patient, go out of the room to
say It
A still more necessary point to re
member is that the most exquisite
neatness must be the order of the sick
room. The slightest dUorder Is often
intolerable to a nervous patient Re
member that all the patient would
wish to have done in her room you
must do for her, otherwise she will
worry about It If she Is an habitual
person and accustomed to have her
furniture and personal belongings
just so, it will fret and worry her to
have them misplaced. Do not leave
medicine bottles, bandages or any
paraphernalia of the sick room in
sight They are depressing as well
as ugly.
Do not insist upon straightening the
bedclothes if your patient wishes to be
let alone. Do not Insist on anything
that Is unnecessary in the way of at
tentions or regulations. Above all,
hold it always in your mind that you
must study and consider your pa
tient's personality and subdue . your
own. Do not thoughtlessly impose
your will and habits upon a helpless,
nervous Invalid,
Modern Farming.
United States Secretary of Agri
culture Houston was describing atj
a uiuner in nasningion tne cnanges
that have come over farming
methods.
"It's an age of machinery today,"
he said. "The milking machine has
succeeded the milkmaid. The phono
graph has succeeded the melodeon.
The motor plow has succeeded the
horse plow.
"There's an appropriate story abopt
a young farmer who loved two, girls
equally the one slim and petite, the
other tall and herculean.
"The young farmer In this dilemma
asked his father's advice. Tho fa
ther, puffing thoughtfully on a Havana
for your modern farmer is too pros
perous to smoke domestic cigars
answered: "'There's so much machinery used
In farming nowadays, James,' that a
big, strong wife Is hardly needed. 1
advise you to take the little one
she'll eat less.'"
Pottery Made In Thlrty-8even States.
' Thirty-seven states In 1914 reported
a production of pottery, It Is an
nounced by the geological survey.
White ware was reported from eight
states, china from four states, sanitary
ware from ten states and porcelain
electrical supplies from nine states.
Red earthenware, . the commonest of
pottery products, was reported from
thirty-two states, and stoneware from
twanty -eight states.
CITY'S VARIED HISTOnY
VILNA HAS LONQ BEEN A PLACE
OF IMPORTANCE.
Made Capital of the Province of Llthu
anla In the Fourteenth Century
Figured In the Disastrous
Campaign of Napoleon.'
They call VHna "Little Paris." Th
resemblance Is not, however, striking
to the western eye. When you nave
discovered that Vilna stands on a -river,
with bills rising above It, yon
will find little more suggestion of
Paris. Its river, the Villya, can hard
ly be 200 yards wide, and flows
through many winding gorges or de
files densely shadowed by fir and'
birch. The town Is crowded In nar
row and not too savory streets on the
slopes of the nflls, and above It on
the summit, called Zamkooaya Gora,
or Castle hill, stand the ruins of an
eight-sided tower of red brick, the
remains of the castle which Gedynlm,
grand prince of Lithuania, built early -in
the fourteenth century, when be es
tablished Vilna as his capital. But
the site has a much older history.
Whatever the primitive faith of the
Lithuanians may have been and
strange are the stories In old chron
icles it Is reasonably certain that
far away In the dark ages they were
worshiping a sacred fire kept forever
burning, like the Same of the Roman
Vestals, at the foot of this Castle hilL
We may, therefore, assume that Vil
na, like Chartres and many another
city now forever associated with the
glories and the mysteries of the Chris
tian faith, was a shrine of an older
and grimmer religion long before Its
hills had heard the message of Chris
tianity. On the spot where the pagan
fire flamed stands now a place like a
Greek temple, the Cathedral of St
Stanislas, wherein is the silver coffin
of the great Polish saint Casimir. Bat
there is a sanctuary In Vilna mora
honored. Above the old town gate
near the railway station there Is a
chapel which possesses an Image of
the Virgin tar-famed for miracles.
You may see the street below full" ol
ranks of worshipers kneeling and
crouching In prayer. Catholics of the
Latin and of the Greek church unite
In their faith in the Virgin of the Os
tra Brama chapel.
Vilna is the headquarters of the gov
ernor general of the Lithuanian prov
inces and of an army corps. It is an
important educational center. It basi
a large trade In timber and grain. At
the present time its population may
be estimated at 200,000 people. But
Its chief importance Is neither admin
istrative nor commercial It stands
at the junction of the railways from
Berlin and Warsaw to Petrograd, that
is, it Is one of the greatest centers of
communication In Russia. From the
German frontier It is 120 miles dis
tant, from Petrograd more than 400.
From Warsaw It is 257 miles. ' But
these railways, though the most Im
portant, are not the only lines which
converge on Vilna. It 1s connected by
a line running southeast through
Minsk, with Kleff and the great, re
sources of southern Russia, while yet
another branch gives communication
due south with the fortress of Brest
Litovsk and the Prlpet valley and
Rovno. Through' Minsk on the south
eastern line runs the railway, which
by way of Smolensk reaches Moscow.
It was Vilna which Napoleon chose
as the advanced base of bis famous
invasion of Russia. He secured the -line
of the Nlemen and made Vilna
the strategic center of the French,
forces. When he advanced he left -Murat
In command of his magazines
and hospitals. The greatest of French
leaders of cavalry seems an odd and
Inexplicable choice for such a post.
Nor did Murat who might bave done
much for-the advance and something
for the retreat, distinguish himself
at the base.