Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-09-23

being swallowed instanter, and digested
M leisure. Then, instead of wasting
time in eating dinner, we could take
il as pill and go about our business
without delay.
Insurance against unemployment
is an experiment, begun in America IN
the current year. 1t is private en-
prise. Its dues are heavier than those
of similar European societies, but its
benefits are also much larger. As In
the case of the European societies,
voluntary unemployment, or nom
employment for any cause within the
control of the beneficiary, makes all
benefits viodable. This excludes the
striker. A significant feature OF this
movement is the effect which 1t will
have upon employment agencies. IL
is to the interest of the non-employ-
ment insurance companies to help
their beneficiaries to get work. Abroad
the societies work in conjunction with
employment agencies, the state lend
ing its own assistance in this direc-
ton. In Chicago a company insur-
ing against unemployment supplies
TO its beneficiaries the services of two
employment bureaus without charge.
Both in point of efficiency and
economy and in the health of the con-
Wet North Carolina's experiment IN
the employment of convicts in road
building is said to have been very sat
isfactory. A surprising discovery Is
that it costs less, by about six cents a
day per convict, to maintain the pris-
oners when at work on the roads than
when confined in Jail, the basis of the
calculation being the returns from
eighty counties. Being offered GER
tain inducements in the way OF re-
wards or the shortening of the term of
Imprisonment if they remain at their
posts and faithfully discharge their
duties, the convicts are employed on
the roads much as hired labor would
be, under the control of a foreman
without any guard. They are even
allowed to remain at their homes from
Saturday night till Monday morning.
The result of this astonishing expert
ment, which has been in operation for
a year, has been, according to Profess
sor Holmes, secretary of the Road
Association of North Carolina, that
"not convict has attempted to es-
cape" 1t is also officially reported
that as laborers the convicts have been
''much more efficient than the labor
which can be hired at ordinary
prices" In addition, this public
punishment of criminals is believed tc
act as a sufficient deterrent on evil
doors.
The military and naval weakness of
Great Britain in this jubilee year has
found jeremiah in Sir Charles Dixie.
He has not been silenced by the
spectacular greatness of the British
feet-by the miles of floating fortres.
ses, the leagues of dashing squadrons,
which pointed moral and adorned a
tale of Spithead Indeed, he revels
in fine pessimism of present doubt
and future anxiety and invites dis
quieting examinations into the real
defences of the Empire. He has dis.
covered on a Parliamentary return,
furnished at his request, that the
claimed equality of England with
France and Russia in sea power exists
on paper alone, and that by next year
even this mythical satisfaction must
go whistling down the wind. The
pregnant reasons of England's exist.
ing weakness are to be found, he
writes, in the want of battle ships and
cruisers, or the absence of that ''pre
paredness," as he styles it, which
would enable her in the first few
weeks of war to blockade the home
ports of her enemies, protect her
trade routes, strengthen and garrison
the coaling and supplying stations and
send to the feet reserves of men
which do not now exist He believes
that the Empire is fatuously denying
dangers that threaten-and if imme-
diate steps are..not taken the friendli-
ness of the country may invite attack
that will be disastrous.
An extensive inquiry into European
crop conditions conducted by the
Orange Judd syndicate of agricultur-
al papers, reinforced by late returns
by cable, indicates that the food crop
situation abroad is grave. CONNER
cial estimates of Europe's Including
needs of wheat imports
range all the way from 800, 900, 900 to
400, 900, 900 bushels. The returns in
dictate that Europe's wheat crops for
1895-4-3 were about 1900, 00O,0 900
bushels. In the famine year of 1891
the crop was only 1000, 900, 000 The
is gaining ground that
Europe's wheat crop this year is even
less than in 1891. If so, she must not
only import her usual supply of wheat,
but 800, 900, 900 bushels more on top
Of that. But this is not the worst Of
it. Europe usually produces as much
rye as she does wheat. This season
the rye crop cannot exceed 875,000,-
300 bushels. OF potatoes she pro-
duces, in ordinary seasons, twice as
many bushels as she does of wheat.
This year it is estimated that only
about l $50, 900, 600 bushels of pota-
toes will be harvested. No part of
the world apparently has any consid-
cradle surplus of cereals except the
United States and Canada. The
potato crop in these countries is
found to be about % per cent. less
han last year, and may be still
smaller. The United States has no
potatoes for export. If prices go high
enough the United States can spare
,40, 900, 900 bushels of wheat, $780,
700, 600 bushels of corn. 100. 600. 600