Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-10-22
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labor question is very knotty problem
that is still waiting for solution.
1t knocks at the door of nearly every
state capital, during each session Of the
legislature, but is usually turned away
with promise Of more consideration
at some future time.
The good roads problem is also a
question of Importance in the land. In
some localities one of these problems
is permitted to solve the other. Two
birds are killed with one stone.
That the present mode of employing
convicts is very unsatisfactory is
proved by the unsettled condition of
the question in nearly every state
where it is done. The following is
from recent issue Of the Dayton (O.)
Herald;
The Ohio pententiary seems to suf-
fer from the general business depres-
sion. The annual report Of the board
of managers shows that in 1893 the
surplus Of earnings over expenses was
! $31 ,079 in 1894, the deficit of earnings
was $9,l37, and in 1896 the deficit of
earnings was $55,4G122 The board
ascribes several reasons for this
! change of about $4,000, amt ng them
| the passage of a law requiring the
branding of all prlson-made goods, and
the passage of the L!ewellyn law, re-
stricting the number of laborers en-
gagged in making any one kind of goods
IN the penal and reformatory institu-
tons OF the state to ten per cent. of
the free labor employed in making like
goods in the state. These have led, as
the board claims, to a decentralization
of the contract system. 1t recon-
mends the repeal of the last-named
| law, the first having been declared un-
constitutional. or if this cannot be
done, then that the limit fixed by the
| Llewellyn law be raised to at least 25
per cent. The situation is one of great
interest, and will probably lead to
further agitation of the difficult ques-
tons Of employment of convict labor
In this connection it may be said
that whether or not the penitentiaries
are self-supporting has nothing to do
, with the case.
The more money the convicts make
for the state under the Ohio system,
the more free labor is deprived of.
Thriving peniteItaries are not the
most hopeful of signs.
1t would be even better to tax free
labor to support IDLE convicts than to
have the convicts rob free labor of it's
means of support.
At the present time the work of
making magnificent systems of high
ways appears to offer the best means
of employing many of the convicts.
They should not be permitted to COM
pete with free labor in the manufac-
lures. Roads should be made better.
When, oh, when, will the immemor-
ial moss gatherers known as legisla-
tors awake to the needs of the hour
l.. A. w. Bulletin.
A Mushroom House:-A mushroom
house Is a structure especially adapted
for the culture of edible mushrooms.
Though the growing of mushrooms has
rapidly increased during the past five
years. very few houses have yet been
built for that sole purpose in this
country, the supply Slill coming largely
from beds formed under the benches
of greenhouses, in cellars AMI out
buildings, or other odd corners. AS
the mushroom grows best in darkness,
the essential condition of culture being
friable s. IA iull OF fermenting vege-
table matter moderate moisture, and
a steady temperature between so and
65 degrees, 1t is apparent that an eX-
cavation in the soil Of the proper form
and size, covered with tight roof,
will best meet the requirements. Prob
ably the least expensive form of mush-
rUom-house is modelled after the ordi-
nary even span" greenhouse. substi-
tuting board and paper on single
roof in place Of glass or sash. If the
house is ten feet wide inside the walls,
it will accommodate two ranges Of beds
Of the convenient width of four feet,
| leaving Il passage of two feet wide be-
tween; or 1t may be made eighteen
feet in width, giving the two four-foot
beds at the side an additional passage
! and center range six feet wide.
The mode Of construction is as fol-
! lows; On 4 well-drained site, dig out
I to the depth of three or four feet an
excavation Of the required width and
! length keeping the soil near at hand
! to bank up the structure to the caves
! when completed. Eor the ten-foot
house use posts nine feet long of To-
Gust, cedar or chestnut, and set them
at least two and one-half feet deep in
the bottom of the excavation, placing
them about six feet apart along the
sides. Along the tops, which should
be leveled off, plate Of Sx4-inch scant-
ling is firmly spiked The rafters are
nailed to this plate and should be cut
about six feet long which will bring
the ridge in the middle something over
three feet higher than the plate, thus
securing ample pitch to the roof
Rafters should not b. over four feet
apart and may be conveniently cut
from 2N4-inch stuff. The roof may be