Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1892-12-29

NO. 3e
the goose bone, the ground hog anG
many others of the same nature. These
are not all 30 tickle as many suppose
The observations of the people were
couched In proverbs which soon be-
came general In their use. Among the
char Of these probabilities was to bt
found many grains of wheat.
"AH nations now have q signal ser.
vice similar to ours. but the United
States service ranks first. Its obser.
yattons are becoming of great impor.
tance and are depended on by not ON.
Iy the farmers, but the dealers In pro-
duce who regulate their business by
Its indications. The signal service was
established first as part of the army
i service, and it was found to be of such
| value and served 30 good q part in the
economy of the nation that IL was con.
tinued after the need for which it was
first established had ceased to exist.
1t has been much improved of late and
Improvements with continue to be made
from time to time till the service is as
near perfect as 1t Is possible to make it
The weather service was established
by the general government, but was
transferred to the department of aeri.
culture In 1891, and is now operated
by that department. Jointly with the
signal service dapa<ssment at Wash
ington, and presided Syer by the sec
retary Of agriculture.
"a very important duty is forecast
ing. Observations are made at z O'Clock
q. m. and as reports are receiv ed thew
are chartered on q map and compared
to those made IL hours before, Fore
casts are Immediately sent out. Fore
casts were formerly made at Wash
ington, but are now made at twenty
hve different points. When sent from
Washington to the daily newspapers in
the large cities they reach the farmer
too late to be Of any use The forecasts
are now sent to small stations and
made known by signal flags and whis-
ties. They are sent on an average to
one town In . county. Frost or polar
forecasts are sent In similar way and
have resulted in much saving of crops
when the warnings have been regard
ed.
"Maps are made at q. m. and D.
m. and sent out by mail. These re-
quire but little study to be understood.
Crop bulletins are made by the states
and sent to Washington, where q nat
ional bulletin is prepared and sent out.
These can be had at the post-office by
asking for them and will give the FARM
er much valuable information as to the
value of crops.
"Tornadoes are always preceded by
hot sitting air, and are caused by
the over heated air on the surf,ce Of
the earth rising and the cold air from
the outside of the heated space rush.
ing in to take its place. They are not
of frequent occurrence and are not ex-
pected oftener than once In two years.
''Meteorology should be taught in
the public schools and should be q
part of the course of study in all uni
versities."
Superintendent C. w. Marx of
the Manual Training School of
Columbia discussed industrial
Education. He said in opening
his discourse:
I'm the minds of some there is con-
siderable opposition while others have
not yet learned concerning this system
of education. For those of you who
are opposed to this method have a
steel-p0inted argument to answer any
and all questions. Those of you who
have not heard or are not fully ac-
quainted with manual training, I beg
to give me your undivided attention
for fear not but all of you will be-
come co-advocates of This system and
method of instruction for the young
men and boys of our commonwealth.
This is without doubt the age of iron
and steel; this is unauestionably an
age Of steam ant electricity; this is
decidedly an age of machinery of all
kinds, covering every phase of manu-
facture, agriculture and the useful
arts.
"The cradle and fail have given
place to the binder and thresher; the
stage coach and prairie schooner to
the locomtive and elegant Pullman
parlor car; horse power and man pow
to steam and electricity.
"These are but few of the many
remarkable changes which have oc-
CURED within the last 25 years; yes,
within the memories ofevery one pres
ent.
"In view of this changes, which are
making more rapid strides every day,
can any of you feel satisfied and con-
tent to educate you children in book
studies alone? Let me ask you q sim-
pie question or two: How many of
you can put q spring In an ordinary
mortise door lock? How many of you
can locate the trouble In q binder or
thresher and fix 1t? How many OF
you understand the workings of your
thresher engine? How many of you
really understand the workings of
such an engine? How many of you
realize the damage Of running such an
engine ignorantly or the number OF
lives you jeopard.ze by such accident.
"In view Of these facts, does 1t not
seem clear and rational to every one
here that man, in order that he may
have the slightest hopes for success
in whatever field he may wish to
travel or be employed, must possess
at least an acquaintance with the
present current mechanical appn-
ances, If not q good working knowl-
edge of the same with the why's and
wherefores all well answered In his
mind; SO that when he has q broken
engine he can fix it; 80 that If his
thresher or binder fail to work he can
take them apart, locate and remedy
| the trouble; SO that If he needs any
small job OF carpentering done, he can
pull off his coat and do it, and is not
compelled to send for q man and wait
q week or ten days to have q three or
four hours job done; SO that If his har-
vester breaks down he can repair 1t
himself ard is not compelled to send
it Is miles to town. Have any of you
ever reaffzed the time lost on such en-
occasion? The whole working force
| must be laid off, the ponderous ma
chine must be dragged to town, where
probably several others are; your men
and team wait until machine Is done
and the days go by, for all Of you know
how precious is the time during har-
| yesting.
"Does 1t not seem TO everyone here
that 1t is high time for the educators
of to-day to give at least some atten.
| tion toward educating the mass of the
people in the scientific and intelligent
pursuit of the useful arts. Have you
| not realized how little attention Ii
paid in our schools to anything apper'
tanning to the useful. Does 1t not oc.
cur to you that an undue attention i'
given to the so-called classics
consisting OF Greek, Latin, He.
brew, spanish, French, German
mental and moral philosophy and all
the different ologies and historiesi
Does it not occur to every one here
that With such q curriculum the IA
vored few are educated at the expenss
and neglect OF the masses. Ninty
nine Der cent. of our people Of this, ouI
commonwealth, have utterly no uss