"limes Destroy Chicago Railway Station ' ?? ^ V . . I>earborn station in Chieago.'the terminal for the Santa Fe, Monon, Wabash and C. & E. I. roads, was destroyed by flames the other night. This photograpl) was taken during the height <>f the conflagration. Find 630 Uses for Basswood Tree That Pioneers Thought Worthless Is Utilized -by Many Manufacturers. SCIENTISTS COKE TO RESCUE Took Years of Investigation and Ex periment ? Difficult to Overcome Inherited Natural Prejudice That Wood Was Worthless. Washington. ? At least 80 per cent of the American-born grandfathers nnd grandmothers In the United States are familiar with the slang meaning of the word "basswood." That is be cause such a percentage of these ven v erable persons came from the section of the country in which the basswood tree is indigenous. The reason for the use of such a slang term was that j its colloquial meaning reflected the I opinion of the value of the tree. When i our grandparents wanted to describe i i:n utterly worthless object or even a person deemed to l>e worthless, such A person or object was said to be "bass wood." because of all the vast natural wealtii which the pioneers found in this country the basswood tree was considered of least value. In the early dayr? when the Ameri can pioneer went into the wilderness he had to depend on the things he | found in that environment to fill his j everyday needs. He must build his houses of the native woods, he must j weave his clothes of native fibers and must raise his own food. Such a civ- | llfzation caused these people to put j definite values upon all the products j of nature. Everything had a value, j Hickory was good for ax handles and j ash for wagon spokes. IMne and all kinds of oak were excellent firewood, I but basswood was discovered to be good for nothing. . Its fibers were too spongy and stringy to work nto anything useful. It was not strong to withstand pres sure. It did not last long, and it would I not burn well. Almost any other kind of waste wood at least would make a good fire, but basswood when set alight would sputter for a while and go out, and what little burning it wnuld do gave very little heat in com parison with other fuels. So it was not surprising that men and women who musf put definite values on materials and on people sur- i rounding them should coin a jew word j f<>.- their language and agr-^e that j "basswood" should describe a useless object or a worthless drone. In the | spates from the Atlantic coast to the pniiries and from Georgia and Mis sissippi to the Canadian line the bass wood tree grows In nearly -every coun ty :ind in this section the slang term b isswood can be heaiti a.iong old peo ple to this day. Science to the Rescue. If rhis were a play, at this point the words "Enter science in the form 'of the Department of Agriculture" should be written. To pursue the fantasy, science would be a Prince Charming come to alter the life of Hasswood, the8 Cinderella of the forest. It too? some years of investigation and exper^men ti Hon and the overcoming of tVe In herited natural prejudice and belief that basswood was worthless, but science persisted and the other day the Department of Agriculture issued f r'?m its press a booklet devoted en tirely to this useless wood. . * The booklet lists 0?() practical uses of basswood ! ? The despised Cinderella of the for , est, once the scorn of the pioneers, now in prized for many uses and chief- i Iv through the Investigative work and experimentation of ? tb.s scientific wo kshop of .Uncle Sam The scientists of the department consider al! the characteristics of* a ! commodity and select the good points. Then they find the uses to which such good points am he put. Bdsswood Is a wood of peculiarly clea* more than basswood, and so It was used for the slder of trays and partitions. Picture frames and moldings, where a nonsplitting material was necessary, were found to be practical uses, and finally the outcast basswood was put into such fin? manufactures as musical instruments. One of its uses puts this material In every one's hands. Millions of matches which are struck every day all around the world have basswood sticks. Here was where the nonburning qualities of the wood, which once made it despised, were capitalized. Fires are set . by matches thrown away because they hold fire too long. But the poor burn ing qualities of a hi. sswood stick would minimize the dangerous afterglow and, the fire would not last after it was I needed. So the progress continued. Kif^lien cabinets, tobacco boxes, shoe lasts, Pullman-car finishing, handles of aU sorts, thread spools, shade and mnp rollers, pulleys, and, finally, even cns kets and coffins were made in part at least of basswood. In all (WO practical uses, and every year new uses are be ing found. Even the stringy, ribbonv excelsior which comes packed around dishes nnd other fragile ' articles is made from the once rejected bass wood. t Production Runs High. The total annuaf production Is 250, 000,000 board feet. The existing sup ply standing in the shape of bass wood trees in the United States Is es timated at 9,000, 000, (JD0 board feet. From the lowly position it occupied in the estimation <^f our grandfathers it has risen to such a value tlflt the Department of Agriculture now Is ad vising farmers who, have unused land to plant basswood as a profitable for est crop. It grows rapidly and Is in digenous over a wide area of the conn fry. Mow industry, aided by investigative science, has developed this commodity 's repeated ih scores of instances irf Ponneytlon with many other commodi ties and every such sfep forward adds millions to the total wealth of the American people. Hogs Fatten on Nuts. }Vhitesburg, Ky.? One of the best nut tnroitt, consisting of acorns, beech nuts and hickory nuts, is now on in the eastern Kentucky and southwest ern Virginia mountains, and hogs are ; fattening right along. Farmers of the | mountains who have a surplus ol I swine are lucky and will reap bounti [ ful harvests. It is said the crop Is the ' largest in the history of the oldest In I habitants. "V \ [ Big Hawk Does Stunts. Junction' City,- Kan. ? A huge chick en hawk shared honors with the mili tary aviators ai the Fort Rifey fiylnp circus recently, i The hawk made his #pl>earance wjiile the stuqt flying was in progress and singling out one ot the most (taring of the flyers, proceed ed to follow him through all Ids evo lutions. .Finally the flyer turned the nose of his machine upward, ascend Hn? to a great height, and the hawk, Still following him, was lost to sight. That for You, Fanny , "HOW/ MANM TIMES HAV/e I TolDVOU T*EPiE IS |N EV?fc To &E ANM SMOKING >N TtJI'o ROOM f &ESiDBb-e>0M?3(?Ry HIGHBROW COMINCTo cau Thus afternoon .c, t out! ?TT I ? Western Newspaper Union l/.VAtl 2u.M Ct He Packs a Wicked Wallop INFORMATION LACKING Butcher ? WasJ it French chops your mother wanted little girl? ^ x Little Lil ? Mother didn't mention no particular nationality. _ * A STEADY WORKER AT MEALS. Jasper ? Doan yo' say Ah doan wuk. : I'se swingin' ds pick all de day. Wifi^Yai, so yo* is, so yo' is-r-wot time yo' ain't ?wingi/i' yo' jaw. ? -^rv . ? ? - ^ ALL ANSWERED AT ONCE Frank ? I want to get married. Do 1 you think I will? Maude ? Don't ask me. SURE THING "A dog la man's devoted friend," "He ought to be. If I had somebody to pay my taxes and provide my board and lodg i n g, I'd feel mJghty friendly myself." NATURAL QUESTION "What kkrd of coal do you user* "Egg." "Where can I get ft fefnV