North Carolina Newspapers

Established 1899 The Pioneer, John Setzer. Written for the De.noc. at. It is the object of the writer to give a geneological sketch of the life and character of the . old j pioneer John Setzer who was the father and progenetor of the; Setzer family in Catawba county. • He came from Rowan county to this county a single man. He was of the German descent, and in possession of a healthy and vigorious constitution which enabled him to battle with all the tumoils and difficulties that he had to pass through in this wild wilderness country then. He was a large, robust man witn strong musc'es to enter U| on, life's journey. It has always.■ been said that he was the leader! at those old fashioned lug rolling or house raisings, as he wm a man of great st ength. It was' nothing for him to handle t le hand spike. He was a V>J / in dustrious, economical and law abiding man. When he arrived at the age of manhood ha married the red, losy cheeked daughter of Mat thias Barringer, Katharine, and to her he gave her portion of the western end of the farm. Then he ettied on it about two miles cast of where Newton is now located, on the Sherrili's Ford road, a little north of the old celebrated muster ground. And they begot the following child ren: John, Matthias, George, Paul, Daniel, David, Jacob, Katharine, Betsy and Sallie. John, the oldest son, married Mary Wnitener, a grand-daugh ter of the old pioneer Henry \\hitener, and begot George, Henry, Logan and daughters. George, the oldest, was a very popular man. He was clerk of the court for sixteen years in j succession. Matthias, the second son, mar ried a Miss Siarmon, and then settled on the OsynaJ farm. They i begut Reuben, Henry, etc He, sold some of his land to the county for the county seat. George, the third son, married a Miss Ward, and lived in the old .John Setzer house. They begot Walter, James, Frank, etc. He was married twice. His last wife was a Miss Batter. Paul married a Miss Deal and !ih%y begot Paul, Frank, etc. Faui married a Miss Simmons* the daughter of Catherine Sim mons., who, after the death of Simmons married John Smith, the father of Fed Smith, her maiden name was BoJick. Paul settled first near where Caleb Setzer now lives. He then sold his farm and moved to Caldwell County where he died. . Daniel had married a Miss Wike, a sister of David Wike and they begot Daniel, Miles Wike's i wife, etc. David married a Miss Sherrill first and she died then he married again and moved to Iredell county and lived near the Cataw ba river. They begot John, ; Pinkney, etc. He belongs to the j Baptist church. Jacob, the seventh son, was married three times and has a large family. He was always known as Saw Mill Jacob. Catharine, the oldest daughter, married Henry Deliinger. .She was a great dancer. Betsy married Charles Ward, they begot John, Conrad, Paul, etc. Sallie married Jacob Deliinger. He was the grand father of J. F. Deliinger. I condensed this sketch as much as I could possibly do to give it justice. All the sons of Johr.Setzer were very industrious and economical farmers and al ways law abiding'peoplt. 1 want to make an agreement with J. H. Shuford, my brother historian, that we suspend for a time of writing about the Shufords, Bakers, Hoyles and Coders and take up the family name of some of the families of other old pioneers and sketches of their family. I want him to give us a sketch of the original pioneer John Hahn family, who came to this section in 17(36. G. M. YODER. | GENERAL NEWS I Gov. Sadley, of Missiouri, an ardent Roosevelt man, and Sena tor Cummins, will not bolt the Tait organization. Bryan estimates thdt Wilson's kiuiality over Taft will be 2,000,- 000. Chairman James, of the Demo cratic conventson, viil notify Gov, Wilson of his nomination for presidency, on August 7 at bea Grit, Gov, Wilson has a correspon dence oi 10.000 letters to catch Up vvita, rHE HICRORY DEMOCRAT Summary of Democratic Platform • \ Reaffirms party's devotion t the principles of democratic government as formulated by | Jefferson i Declares for a tariff for reven jue onlv and denounces the high I republican tariff as the principal cause at' the unequal distribution of wealth. Favors immediate downward irevision of presant duties,vespe cially upon necessaries of life. Favors gradual reduction, so as • >ott » intetfere wish or destroy iegitimat« industries. Denoun ces Pitsidmt Talt for vetoing laritl oil s of 'ast congress. Con dems tepubijati pirty "for fclilu»e to redeem its premises of ; 1908 ior d »wnward revision." Takes issue with the republi can platform as to the high cost living, contending it is largely oue to high.tariff laws. Favors vigorous enforcement of the original features of the anti-trust law. Demands such addi ional legislation as may be necessary to cr.ush private monopoly. Declares for pre i dential preference fprimaries. Direct national committee- to provide for selection at primaries of members of national com mittee. /' v ' Pledges party to enactment of law prohibiting campaign contri butions by corporations and un reasonable campaign cuntribu tions by individuals. i ayors single presidential term and making president ineligible for re-election. Felicitates democratic congress on its record, -enumerating im portant achievement, and pledges and adequate navy. Denounces republican adminis tration on charge of extrava vance and demands return to simplicity and economy befitting a democratic government. Favors efficient supervision and rate regulation of railroads, ex press companies, telegraph and telephone lines, and a valuation of these companies by the inter state commerce commission, and also legislation against over issuance of stock of corporations. In connection with a demand for such a revision of the banking laws as will give temporary re lief in case of financial distress, there is a denunciation of the Aidrich biil prepared by the mometary commission. The present method of deposit ing government funds is con demned and the party is pledged t > the enactment of a law for the deposit of such funds by competitive bidding in state or national banks, without discri mination as to locality. Recommends investigation of agriculture credit societies in Europe to ascertain whether a j system of l ural credits may be devised suitable to conditions in the United States. Pledge party to enactment of legislation to prevent devastation of lower Mississippi valley by floods, and the control of the Mississippi is declared to be a national, rather than a state, problem. The maintenance of navigable channel is also recom mended. Tribute to Wilson. The following is the openirg portion of Judge Wescott's speech in placing Woodrow Wil son before tne Baltimore conven tion: New Jersey, once bound, but by the moral energy and intel lectual greatness of a single soul, now free, comes to this great convention in the glory of her emancipation, to participate in your deliberations, and in formu lating your judgements and as sist in executing your decrees. The New Jersey delegation is not empowered to exercise the attributes of proprietorship, but as commissioned to represent the great cause of Democracy, and to offer you, as its militant and triumphant leader, a scholar, not a char'atan; a statesman, not a doctrainairej a profound lawyer, not a splitter of legal hairs; a po litical economist, not an egonisti cal theorist; a practical politician, who constructs, modifies, -re trains, without disturbance and destruction; a resistless debater and consummate master of state ment, not a mere sophist; a hu manitarian, not a defamer of character and lives; a man whoes ruind is at once cosmopolitan and composite af American; a gentle man of unpretentious habits, with the fear of God in his hear! and the love of mankind exhibit ed every act of his life; above al a public servant who has beer tried to the uttermost and nevei found wanting— peerless, match less, unconquerable Democrat ' Woodrow Wilson. Mr. R. W. Robinson, of thii i city, has showed the bigges peaches we have seen this year HICKORY, N. C., THURSDAY. JULY 11, 1912 The Apple Crop. Aslieville Gazette-News. Elsewhere, as in the Appalach ian fruit belt, the biggest aDple crop ever known is said to be in sight for 1912. The New York Journal of Commerce learns from apple men who have earned something of a reputation in the predicting of the size of crops mat probably 50,000,000 barrels of apples will be marketed thi? year against 30,000,000 barrels in 1911, In no state where apples are grown is there the prospect of a failure; in New York. Maine, Massachusetts and Mich igan the outlook is the best ever known; in Pennsylvania. Mary land, West Virginia and Virginia better crops are expected than last year; in Arkansas, Missouri. Kansas and Illinois the yield p- omises to Jse larger than for several years past, and in what is known as the "Box Aoole Ter ritory" of the states of Washing ton, Oregon and Idaho the pres ent croD will not only be incom parably larger than that of last year, but it may be double that of 1910, a year that broke all rec ords The reason for this is two fold: the seasons have been splendid and so many new trees have begun to bear since 1910 that it if estimated that the fruit ful acreage of this region is now about 64.000 acres as against 32,000 two years ago. There is every reason, the Charleston News and Courier says, "for thinking that the apple crop wil' be bigger and bigger every seas on, but unfortunately there is no ground for hoping that the prices will get any lower. We wonder if the producer gets as much per barrel for a crop of 50,00i\000 barrels as for a crop of 30,000,000, or if not, where the money goes? The consumer has not been ben efited by big crops in the past, except that it has been possible to get finer fruit." The Largest Apple Tree. North Carolina has the largest apple tree in the United States, perhaps in the world. It is an apple tree of immense proportions. It is on the land of Mr. W. G. Smoot, near Trap Hill, in Wilkes county, and is owned by Messrs. J. B. Horton, of Elk m, and H. W. Horton, of North Wilksboro. The shown record shows that the tree is 16 feet, 5 inches in ciacumference at the ground and 12 feet 6 inches just below the first limb, which is eight feet above the ground. It was a large tree ninety years ago. and it is known to be over a hundred years old, and it may be a hundred and fifty. It bears apples right along, the variety unknown, the people of that sec tion calling it the "Rich Apple," because the color is rich, yellow red striped and the flavor rich, j The fruit matures in September and keeps until late fall and is of medium size. Pictures of the big old apple tree have been sent the Depart ment of Agriculture, and men shown in the picture standing by it look of the size of smali boys. Not alone is this big tree de clared co be the largest apple tree in the world. If cut, the stump would give room for seve-! ral men to stand on it at one time, and if it was hollow and ly ! ing down an ordinary cow could walk through its length and not touch her back or sides. I DeGraw Favors Parcels Post. Norfolk, Va., Dispatch, 4th. — Fourth Assistant Postmaster j General P. S. DeGraw, in the principal address today before the ninth annual convention of . Rural Letter Carriers' association of Virginia, indorsed the parcels post and declared that "the es-; tablishment of packages or par cels post, not to exceed a cost of 15 cents for a package of 11; pounds, 5 cents for the first; pound and 1 cent for each ad-1 ditkjnal pound, will greatly bene | fit the patrons on rural delivery routes as well as the merchants located in the villages or town whence rural delivery start-?.'' Speaking generally on the par cels post Mr. DeGraw says: "It has been charged that I did not seem to realize that such a delivery would be a hard blow to country merchants, and would, only benefit the department stores of the cities. I do not, realize any such thing. Of course, 1 there are two sides to every question, which may affect dif-; terent commnnities in different ways. t • • Squire S. L. Killian, has re turned from Blowing Rock where he looked after some business matters. He has a large resi dence in the heart of the town which is for sale. He enjoyed the Fourth of July exercises, es i pecially the climbing of the ; greased pole, Capt. Lovill, of Boon, made an eloquent speech. | COMMENT | The StaUsville Landmark and the Charlotte Observer are dis cussing the demand for and the sliipments of peach seed from North Carolina. The J. K. Mor rison Co. in Statesville bought 15,000 bushels of the seed tw years ago at 75 cents a bushe', totaling $11,250. Mr. W. J. Shuford, of the Hickory Seed Co., of this city, acid a big ship per of peach informs th Democrat 'that the first peach seed ever shipped from North Carolina were shipped from here by Mr. Herbert Chase, then i partner in the A. L. Shuford Co. The Observer presumes that tht use of these shipped peach seeo is for the production of acids by the chemical laboratories of tht drug factories, but not so. They are used by the big nurseries ol the country for seedlings. There is a big rucus in Presi dent Tafi's cabinet. Prof. A- Piatt Andrews, assistant secre tary of the Treasury, has seem ingly been disobedient and rebellious against his chief, Secretary Mac Veigh, and the latter has fired him. The straw that broke the camel's back is Andrew's going to the Chicago convention when his boss told him to stay at home and attend to his business. He accuses Mac Veigh of "idiasyncrasies," "incapacity" and of not knowing his business. "Senator Lodge has championed the side of Andrews. . Mac Veigh is on a big disgust, and serves notice on Mr. Taft that he will not hold his job after March 4, even if Taft is reelected. Taft's managers have bought all the histories and other books of which Woodrow Wilson is the author, and are going to flood the country with garbled ex tracts. Tney think they can especially influence the Catholic vote against Wilson because of some things he has said about the Catholic church. Beware of the garbled extract. Go to your library and look up the context. The Gastonia Progress issued a splendid industrial edition oi; July 4th, covering all the indus tries and enterprises of that thriving city. It was a credit both to the paper and the city. "Clover Balls," Strange Disease, Kills Mule. Raleigh News-Observer, sth. R. J. Buffaloe, living on Route No. sin Wake was here yester day and told of the strange death of a mule belonging to his cous in, Paul Buffaloe, a young far mer. The mule died Sunday at one the stables in town. Every ef fort to get any sort of treat ment through tne animal failed. Nothing could be done for it, and when it died, Dr. L. F. Koonce cut the mule cpen and round two well developed "clo ver balls" as they are called. •These caused the death. The name suggests the danger of clover, Mr. Buffaloe thinks, and he feeds it with care now. The ball is about the size ~of a baseball and gathers mass as it j develops. Of course, the layman jean know nothing about its j cause, though good farmers who 1 nave observed deaths in two or three instances think the con dition of the clover, its excess of furzj, will produce the trouble more quickly than otherwise it would be done. The mule in question was a valuable animal, worth $325 and not yet full grown. This makes three that have died recently, : the other two belonging to Ben jamine Bullock. I Patterson-Stecher. i ' The Democrat has received the fol- I lowing card: Mr. and Mrs. Martin D. Stecher an | nounce the marriage of their daughter Mary Eleonca to Mr. Karl B. Patter son, on Wednesday, June the twenty j sixth, nineteen hundred and twelve, I Chicago. At home after October the first, Hickory, North Carolina. Misses Miriam Long and Lilian Reid, of Charlotte, have returned home after a visit to Miss Margaret McComb. DEATH OF MRS. JOY. Came Suddenly from the Dangerous Nerve Malady, Migraine. The city was saddened Saturdaj morning to learn of the death of Mrs A. K. Joy, wife of Hickory's übU Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. The end was shockingly sudden thougl Mrs. Joy had been ill for a long time. It came at the Richard Baker Hospita. about 9 o'clock, Mrs. Joy had had ont of her bad days, with a headache, but no one thought her to be more seriously ill than usual. The nurse had been with her and had goni out for a few minutes. When she re turned Mrs. Joy was dead. Mrs. Joy's illness started months ago #ith stomach trouble and violen headaches. These seemed to be in cidental, however, to a nerve malady, which the doctors call migraine, the seat of which is the base af the brain. Ouly a few days ago of the ablest nerve specialists wrote Mr. Joy that Mrs. Joy's symptoms 'were those of migraine: that he was on the point ol taking a trip but when he returned he' would be glad to have Mrs. Joy taken to him for examination, ne said that Or. J. H. Shuford's treatment at the hospital was all that could be done. The body was taken to the home of Mr. Joy and Saturday morning was taken to Pittsburg. Pa., their old home, by Mr. Joy, Miss Jessie Joy. their daughter, and Miss Belle McKeown, Mrs, Joy's sister, who had been on a visit to her. Mrs. Joy was a woman of lovely character. It was on account of the health that Mr. Joy, formerly attacheo to the staff of the Pittsburg Leader, came to Hickory to live. Sketch of Woodrow Wilson. Woodrow Wilson (full name Thomas Woodrow but the first name was dropped years ago), was born at Staunton, Va., De cember 28, 1856, son of Rev. Joseph R. and Jessie Woodrow Wilson. Father Presbyterian minister. The presidential can didate spent his early life at Columbia, S. C. t was for one year a student at Davidson Col iege, at the time Gov. Glenn was in college there. Graduated at Princeton College, New Jersey, in 1879: studied law at Univer sity of Virginia; took post grad uate coarse at Johns Hopkins; is i Ph. D. of Johns Hopkins, an L. L. D. of Wake Forest, this ,tate, and a half a dozen other colleges and a Litt. D. of Yale. He was married June 25, 1885, 'o Miss Ellen Louise Axson, ol 3 tvannah, Ga. He practiced law n Atlanta 1882-'B3, was profes sor of history and political econ imy at Bryn Mawr College 1885 28, and Wesleyan University 1888-90, He took the professor ship of jurisprudence and poli tics at Princeton University 1890, holding this position for two years when he was made presi lent of Princeton. "He is the author of "Consti tutional Government," a study in American politics; 4 The State Elements of Historical and Prac tical Politics," "An Old Master tnd Other Political Essays." Hi work on "George Washington" was written in 1896 and his most notable acheivment in literature, "A History of the American People," was written in 1902. He was elected Governor of New Jersey in November, 1910, the first Democratic Governor of that state in many years. His majori ty was the largest ever given an Executive in that state. Teachers Institute. The teachers institute for Catawba county will be held at Newton, Julv 22, and continuing tor two weeks. This insiitute will be couducted by Messrs. C. M. Staley, R. C, Holton, *nd A. P. Whisenhunt. All teachers in the county are required by the school law to attend this institute or an institute held in another county. One section of the work in the institute will be for the teachers of primary grades: another section wiil be for teachers of intermediate grades; and there will be a third section for those teachers who have to teach high school subjects. Teachers will pro vide themselves with the adopted text books, and with McMurrays Teaching How to Study. The teachers institute for the colored teacher.* will also be held at Newton, beginning at the same t me. The Man Wilson Will Need. Madison Herald. While North Carolina Demo crats are voting for Woodrow Wilson, a genuine Progressive, for President this fall, they will also vote for Judge Clark, a genuine Progressive—not a mere sham —for the United States Senate. The next eight years are to be stirring times in this country and the people need men in the Senate to represent them who have always been true, who are men of great ability and who have a back-bone as large as a saw-log. That man is Judge Writer Claf-k. The News says that Mrs. J. S. Warlick, a hustling farmer of Lincolnton county, was in Lir colnton with a load of green corn, having 800 ears in the load. Democrat and Press.Consolidated i 905 Home Course ln Road Making VII. —Highway Culverts and Bridges. By LOGAN WALLER PAGE; Director Office of Public Roads, United States Department of Agriculture Copyright by American Press Asso ciation, 1912. 11 ' CULVERTS and bridges are>:on structed for a twofold purpose In the first place, they are re quired to provide the necessary drainage for the road and, in- the sec ond place, to furnish a suitable cross ing for traffic over waterways. A largv percentage of the highway culverts and bridges in this country were bull; of wood in the first instance, and iu later years many of the smaller cul verts have been rebuilt with some kind of pipe, either of terra cotta, cast iron or more recently of corrugated metal. It is impracticable in a short paper to discuss the various forms of pipe cul verts. They are purchased In the open market, and the road official uses his judgment about the size of pipe that should be laid to serve the require ments of the location in question. The following principles should, how ever, be borne in mind: All pipe cul verts should be laid deep enough so that the pipe will not be injured by the FIG. I.—CONCRETE CULVERT STEEL I BEAMS INCASED IN CONCRETE. traffic passing over it, and head walls should in all cases be built at each end of the culverts to prevent them from being washed out The maxi mum fill to be allowed over a clay pipe culvert should be at least three feet. The objection to pipe culverts is that they become easily clogged and are thus made useless. Clay pipe cul verts are easily broken unless they are well laid and well protected. The most simple and natural form ol bridge consists of timbers laid across the stream or opening which is to bf passed over and covered with planks to form the roadway. Walls should be built to support each end of th timbers, and these are called abut ments. The width of the openinj. which they cross Is termed the span The timbers themselves are callec stringers, and the planks are usually referred to as the flooring. The size of the stringers required in ureases with the span and the distance apart, center to center, that they art laid. For example, a 2 inch by 6 incli stringer will do for a two foot span, while a 0 inch by 10 inch or 6 inch by 12 inch stringer is required for a twen ty foot span. The distance apart that the stringers are required to be laid varies with the .thickness of the planl; :!oor!ng and the amount of traffic. The weight of the materials in the bridge is commonly, referred to as the dead load. The additional load which Ihe bridge is designed to carry Is known as the live load and consists of animals, wagons or motor vehicles or pedestrians. A crowd of people stand ing close together on a bridge is usual ly estimated at about 100 pounds per square foot of floor space. The strength of the bridge depends upon the kinch of timber used, the di mensions of the timber, the amount used and Its location, and also very largely upon the span of the bridge. For example, assuming a loaded wagon carrying 500 pounds per wheel, a yel low pine board one Inch thick and eight inches wide would require stringe'rs to support It about every thirteen Inches apart to carry the load safely, while a plank of the same width and two inches thick would require stringers three feet apart, and a three Inch plank would require stringers about every four feet apart. These figures are based upon the assumption that yellow pine, Douglas fir or a good quality of oak would be used. If such timbers as white pine, hemlock or spruce are used, then stringers would be required r.bout every eight inches for a one inch board, every two and one-half feet for a two Inch plank and every three feet for a three inch plank. " The following table gives the approx imate sizes of stringers required foi the different spans: #1 0) O) Q> © CfiQgj c?*oi 5 2 c |5 # Sg £ c asi t i . js ».£ MM 2 2jc 6 3xB 9 3x6 4xB 3 2x(S Bx6 10 3x6 6x 10 4 2x6 3x6 12 4xB 6x 10 5 3x6 4xB 14 4xB 6xlo 6 3x6 4xB 16 4xlo 6x12 7 3xo 4xB 18 4xlo 6x12 8 Bx6 4xB 21) 4x 10 6x12 In the above table round timbers or logs may be substituted for the strin gers, in which case the diameter of the log should be about one and one-eighth times the largest dimension of the st ringer as given. Fig. 2 Illustrates two methods by which the simple beam of string** may le strengthened and states the cor responding loads that will be carried safely. That is, the simple beam 12 Inches by 12 inches square and 24 feet between points of support will carry safely a concentrated loffd of one and one-half tons at its center, while if the same beam be made into a King post beam by passing underneath the beam a one Inch steel rod, which is made fast at either end of the beam, and in serting a single post under the load at the center of the beam, then such a beam will carry about two and three quarter times as much, or a load of three and three-quarter tons, safely, while if the same beam be built into a King truss beam the load concen trated at the center may then be in creased to nine tons. The best culverts and smaller bridges are built of re-enforced concrete. The cost is greater than for wood&i or pipe constructions in the first instance, but if well built there should be no fur ther cost for repairs. That is, the first cost is the last cost, while durability and safety are secured from the out set. ' i Good materials, consisting of crush ed stone or gravel, sand and portland c ement and water, are required for con crete. Deformed steel rods imbedded in the concrete are used for strength ening the cover spans. The mixing of these materials into concrete and plac ing it in the forjns are extremely sim ple matters after' they are once well understood, but nevertheless should not bp undertaken by one who is unfamil iar with the use of concrete. There are three general kinds of con crete culverts, which are known as the concrete box type. They are built for the smaller sizes up to such as have an opening about four feet by six feet wide. For sizes above that the floor is usually left out where it is not needed to protect the foundation, or paving may be substituted for it. The floor and side walls are constructed of con crete with or without metal re-enforce ment, usually without such re-enforcc monts. The- proportions of concrete ] used for the floor and side walls are 1 usually, 1, 3, G—that is, one part by measure of Portland cement, three parts by measure of sand and six parts, by measure of crushed stone or gravel. For spans above ten or twelve feet the over needs to be strengthened with concrete beams. This type is known is the concrete T beam from its resem blance to the capital letter. They are placed adjacent to each other, the dis tance from center to center depending lpon the load which the bridge is ex pected to carry. # The best type of concrete culVerts for ;paus from ten feet up to thirty feet is he steel I beam incased in concrete, as shown iu Fig. 1. Here the concrete loor is designed to carry the load icross the span from one I beam to an >ther, while the steel I beams carry the load from one abutment to the oth er. It often happens that the culverts are built on yielding foundations and that the abutments sometimes settle, causing cracks that would be danger ous in some types of culverts, but It is the ability of the steel I beam type to withstand such conditions as these just mentioned that makes it the best type to build. The I beams are incased in .•oncrete to protect them from rusting. Sometimes they are simply painted or aiore often not painted at all, and what would be a permanent bridge is al lowed to rust out for lack of proper •are. For details in regard to the methods of designing and building concrete bridges attention is called to bulletin No. 39, "Highway Bridges and Cul verts," issued by the office of public roads, United States department of agriculture. No road can be called a good road that Is dotted with broken, wornout md unsafe wooden culverts and bridges, such as are encountered on — > J • —4 •. SIMPLE Safe Load at C&rrhgr Tarts.. $ Kiivk* fbsr Bmm ■Safm Load at Center 3% Ton*. Kinq Tftuaa Be/)M S«fe Load at Center 9 Tons. FIG. lI.—COMPARATIVE TYPES AND LOADS FOB WOODEN BEAMS. tnany of our highways at the present time. Such bridges are a menace to >ur traveling public and are expensive to maintain. The price of timber Is advancing, and the increasing traffic demands safer bridges and culverts. Re-enforced concrete for this class of work appears to form the best solu tion of this problem. Bridge construc tion is eminently the work for the en gineer, and his services should in all cases be secured. The Road Contract System. There are three systems of road maintenance in use In this country— viz, the contract system, the labor tax, or personal service system, and the system which provides men perma nently employed to look after particu lar sections of road. The contract sys tem haw been used to some extent In various states, but It has never been found entirely satisfactory. As a gen eral rule, the amount paid for this work is small, and such poor service Is rendered that in many cases the roads have become worse rather than better.»