CHIEF ADVANTAGES
I 1,1,
rMB. J
Construction of Concrete Road Sand
for Use Subgrade Prepared for
ly Two Years' Service.
Concrete roads have shown a
marked increase In popularity during
the fast five years, according to the
( road-building specialists of the D. S.
department of agriculture. In 1909
there were 364,000 square yards ot
such roads in the United States, while
for 1914, the amount is estimated as
19,200,000 square yards.
The durability of concrete roads has
not been proved by actual practice be
cause there are no very old pavements
as yet in existence, but from the condi
tion of those which have undergone
eeveral years' service, it seems prob
able that they will be found to wear
well.
The principal advantages of con
crete pavements which have led to
their increased popularity are:
Durability under ordinary traffic
conditions.
A smooth, even surface offering lit
tle resistance.
Absence of dust and ease with
which it may be cleaned.
Comparatively small cost of main
tenance until renewals are necessary.
Availability as a base for another
type of surface if desirable.
Attractive appearance.
On the other hand, concrete as a
road surface la noisy under horse
traffic, and has a tendency to crack.
Unless these cracks are cared for at
once, they lead to rapid deterioration
tti, the adjacent pavement and finally
require difficult repair work.
In the past efforts have frequently
been made to overcome these objec
tions to a certain degree by covering
the concrete pavement with a bitumi
nous wearing surface. At the pres
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OF CONCRETE ROADS
car-
o. s- K W
and Gravel Piled on Subgrade Ready
Concrete Pavement Road After Near,
ent time, the SDeclallsts in the de
ment of agriculture hold that this
cannot be economically justified, al
though it is possible that future inves
tigation may chance the situation in
this respect. In the present state of
roaa science, however, it seems that
where traffic conditions are such that
a bituminous surface on a concrete
road is practicable, a bituminous sur.
face macadam road would be equally
practicable and certainly cheannr
Where traffic which is too heavy for
macadam road uses a bituminous con
crete road, the bituminous surface Is
likely to give way and the uneven
manner in which It falls tends to pro
duce excessive wear on portions of
the concrete. For a successful mn.
crete road, hardness, toughness, and
uniformity are the most essential qual
ities. These can be secured to a
great extent by care in the selection
of the constituent materials and the
proportions in which they are mixed.
Sample specifications are Included In
the bulletin, No. 249, Portland Ce
ment Pavements for Country Roads.
These specifications are believed to
typify the best engineering practice
as it has been developed up to this
time. They cover such points as ma
terials, grading, subgrade and con
struction. Weaning Time.
Weaning time la from six to twelve
weeks. If the sows are to be rebred
at once, the pigs should be weaned
at eight or nine weeks of ara if ...
litter per year only Is planned, the
pigs may o allowed to run with
the sow until twelve or foupt..n
of age.
!3
WHITE RUSSIAN PUREST SLAV
His Raolal Habitation Is the Most
Backward Region of the Empire
of the Cxar.
A sketch of white Russia, the first
part of old Russian soil to feel the
power ot the invader, Is given In a
statement issued by the National Ge
ographic society.
"White Russia comprises four Rus
sian governments, Vitebsk, Smolensk
Moghlleff und Minsk. It Is said that
the name is derived from the predomi
nant color of the peasant dress. This
division of Russia is bounded by the
Pripet river basin on the south and by
the Duna, or Bouthern Dvlna, on the
north. It supports a population of
about seven and one-halt million, two-
third of which Is white Russian and
the rest Lithuanian, Jiwlsh and Pol
ish. Here, likely, Is (o be found the
purest Slav iype. almost unblended
This region, blanketed by swamps and
marshes, am! smothered in forests. Is
one of the poorest, most backward re
gions in European Russia.
"Finns dwelt here before history be
gan for Europe. They were expelled
by Lithuania, who In turn gave way
before migrating Slavonic tribes,
The country finally passed back
to the Lithuanians, then to Poland,
and was won piecemeal by Great Rus
sia. Polish oppression and religious
persecution worked a wholesale deso
lation here, and thousands ot peasants
fled Into Russia, while those who re
mained Intrigued for Russia's coming.
The whole ot the region was not an.
nexed by the Great Russians until the
end of the eighteenth century. Starva
tion has swept this land again and
again with as terrible effects as those
experienced by India In the grip of
famine.
'The White Russian Is not ot to
sturdy a build as the Great Russian,
nor so comely as the Little Russian.
He is less aggressive than his north
ern neighbor, and more heavy than his
southern neighbor. His hair and eyes
are light, and his face Is generally
drawn. The garment peculiar to him
Is his white overcoat which he
wears on all special occasions as
proudly In sweltering July as In the
winter. His villages are small, Iso
lated and badly kept. His homes are
primitive. His fight tor existence Is
a bitter one. From his ranks are
recruited the workmen for the hard
est, least-paying tasks of the empire."
Victorian Hobby.
The announcement offering for sale
the wedding shoes of Queen Victoria
recalls the fact that her majesty was
a keen collector of historical relics.
At a sale held In November, 1899,
she commissioned a well-known deal
er to secure for her a walking-stick
carved to represent "Wisdom and
Folly," once the property of Prince
Charles Edward. The royal agent
had carte blanche, and the stick was
knocked down to him for a160. This
was a monstrous price when we con
sider that shortly before the young
pretender's dirk, with flint-lock pistol
attached, realized only 3 15s; while
the great Rob Roy's claymore, made
by Andrea' Ferrara, with Its shark's
skin grip and all, went for 37 16s.
At the Stuart exhibition organized In
London some twenty years ago a num
ber of most Interesting exhibits came
from Queen Victoria's collection.
Dundee Advertiser.
The Thief and the House-Dog.
A thief came In the night to break
into a house. He brought with him
several slices of meat, that he might
pacify the bouse-dog, so that be
should not alarm his master by bark
ing. As the thief threw him the
pieces of meat, the dog said, "If you
think to stop my mouth, you will be
greatly mistaken. This sudden kind
ness at your hands will only make me
more watchful, lest under these un
expected favors to myself, you have
some private ends to accomplish for
your own benefit, and for my master's
injury." From Aesop's Fables.
USED BRAINS TO WIN
HOW ATHLETE ACHIEVED TRI
UMPH IN RACES.
Ted Meredith of University of Penn
sylvania Had -Carefully Thought
Out Methods That Brought
Him Victory In Contests. '
There Is a belated story ot how Tea
Meredith ot the University of Penn
sylvania defeated Dill Jlngham of
Harvard in the half-mile race In the
Intercollegiate championships, which
carries with It a lesson valuable to
participants In practically all lines of
sport, the New York Times remarks.
Meredith, It will be remembered, won
both the quarter and half-mile races.
The quarter was won In bis usual
style. Meredith allowed one ot his
competitors to co out and make the
pace, and then came like a streak In
the last furlong and won
When It came to the halt Meredith
completely reversed the order ot
things. He raced at top speed In the
first quarter and had all the rest of
the field on their toes and practically
beaten, doing the quarter In :64. He
then slowed down and even allowed a
couple of' his competitors to pass him,
content with the fact that Bingham,
whom alone he feared, was plugging
along In the rear, hopelessly out ot
It With him disposed of, Meredith
again sped up in the last furlong,
caught and passed the two who had
headed him for a short distance, and
won very cleverly without being ex
hausted.
Meredith's overwhelming triumph
was due to th use of brains coupled
with his powers as a racer. Before the
race he had taken the trouble to find
out the way in which Bingham, the
Harvard man, ran his races. He dis
covered It was his habit to take It
easy In the first quarter, running the
distance In about a minute fiat, and
reserving himself for the final quar
ter, which he would do in the neigh
borhood of fifty seconds. Meredith's
heartbreaking pace In the first quar
ter completely upBet Bingham's plan
for the race, and so bewildered tho
fleet Harvard runner that the latter
had no time to think out and put into
oporation a new pla'.
John McUraw's success as a base
ball manager has been entirely due to
exceptionally acute brain power.
From the beginning ot bit career on
the diamond he analyzed every play
made In a game in which he partici
pated or witnessed. It was the study
that developed the baseball strategy
he made bis own, and which made
him so much of a clairvoyant in
foreseeing the "breaks" of a game for
or against his team.
If Jim Jeffries had been possessed
of enough gray matter he might never
have lost the heavyweight champion
ship to Jack Johnson. But the punch
in the eye In the second round, which
was the turning point in the contest,
angered him, After that It was brute
force agalnBt brute force.
Football Is so entirely a matter of
brains that everybody familiar with
sports admits that the beat eleven ot
the physical boxers or wrestlers, for
Instance, would have no chance what
ever agalnat an eleven such as repre
sents any one of the great universi
ties on the gridiron each fall.
The thinking athlete gets more
sport out of the game he happens to
Indulge in, also, than he would It
merely an exceptionally good natured
athlete or one who Is able to absorb
the Ideas ot a trainer and carry
them out In purely meohanlcal fash
ion. To the young athlete the lesson
modern sports teaches us: Attend
as well to the cultivation of the mind
at to the training of tho body and
Its muscles If you would enjoy com
petitive athletics to the full. The
first Is as necessary at the last to be
come superexcellent at any sport, to
get the greatest enjoyment from sport
and to cope with Itt emergencies.