The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-06-24

isdER [:
IIheyS Carrya 81 sers q - NJ re- lcxt-
y siSely Used an q.
The wheel barrows All rds one the
chief means of trayel and transport id
China especially The mort hernS part
ut the empire and lhrou hout the Feat
plain he Chinese form is q decide ed
imp ont he III pes used IA vest;
,ern countries, tor it is 10 constructed
that the load, which :so etimes ii very
great il bulk aud weigh il carried.
over the wheel, and not between it and
the man who propels it. The high cost
'of timber and the bad roads Aroughou
the country necessi Ia te the vhee lbar-s
rows being both rude and strong, with
saxlesand Wheelsa bic to bearthe strains
which they perience The wheel bar-
row is general constructed OF oak, 1T
q cost Of q bout is ;shili ings. It's weight
Sis. 100 pounds; extreme length six feet:
six inches ncluding shafts extreme
breadth, three feet two inches, and
height, three feet six inches: The wheel
is three feet ina dliamet Ter, and has an
iron tire y inch wide by one-f fourth
inch thick To aid in @steadying and
propel sling the vehicle the wheel barrow
man wears q strap across his shoulders
which is ATTACHED to the shafts on each
side. 8 Boxes, bales Of goods, or what
ever the loads may consist Of are Sc,
cured to the whee harrow BY ropes. The
charge for carrying an average load is
about one shilling and five pence per
mile, but varies according to the load
and the state of the road to be travelled
over. The wheel harrow has seating
accommoda ton. for four people, two on
zach side, and the fare for four people
is 2ll pence per mile. Passenger fares
are lower than those for merchandise,
on account of the avoidance Of labor in.
loading and unloading. A cushioned
seat is provided for the passenger who
generally sits with one leg resting on
the front of the barrow and the other
hanging oyer. the side in a rope loop,
which serves as foot rest. Thus ma
tive is wheeled for miles over the rough
roads Of the country, with severe JOLT
ing, accompanied by peculiar squeak
of the axle in the case of most barrows.
Immediately behind the wheelbarrow,
between the shafts, there is a long, OBJ
long-shaped basket, in which the wheel
barrow man keeps his few belongings.
On heigreat plain wheelbarrows are oc-
casionally seen with a sail set, when a
fair wind proves a great help to the
trundling of the barrow over level
way 4 = .<~:-z + rv;aa > 81 x ~.
Since the institution of cotton mills
at Shanghai (foreign settlements), the
wheelbarrow has been extensively used
as passenger vehicle, especially for
carrying work women to and from the
mills. One man can wheel six women
for a distance of about three miles.
morning and evening, the charge being
one shilling and five pence per month.
The average earnings of wheelbarrow
man are about S11z pence per day. About
1000 licenses are issued monthly to the
same number of wheelbarrows plying
for hire in the streets of the foreign
settlements at Shanghai, where, being
under the municipal regulations. they
are perhaps, the best in China. The fee
for license is 11A pence month, and
| no wheelbarrow is allowed, according
! to the regulations, to carry more than
61h chests of tea, or s1s boxes of kero-
sene oil, or s20H boxes of soap go
pounds each), or ten boxes of soap (52
pounds each) or two bales of American
piece goods. The width of the packages
must not exceed four feet-that is, two
| feet ON each side of the barrow-an nc
wheelbarrow is allowed under any cir.
cumstances to carry more than 6OC
pounds of dead weight. These regula.
tions are, however, not strictly adhered
| to. Sometimes in the streets of the
foreign settlements at Shanghai about
so wheelbarrows may be seen travelling
one behind the other, each carrying
two barrels of English Portland cement
and pushed by one man. Very frequent.
| ly, however, a load is carried on one
side Of the barrow only, so that the edge
of the inch tire cuts into the ma
cadam roadway like knife. The bales
sometimes project three feet on EACH
side, the man pushing the barrow being
almost invisible from the front. The
municipal roads are chiefly of macadam
and the damage they sustain from this
traffic is very great. 1t has been found
| .fter repeated experiments, that granite
broken to pass through a three.quarte1
inch ring and rolled in the usual man.
ner is the only kind of macadam road.
way that will stand this severe traffic
1t is extraordinary to, see .Chinaman
| skilfully balancing and propelling a
heavy load on one side of barrow, and
considering that there are about 1000 Of
these vehicles travelling through the
streets of the settlements, in addition
to large traffic Of other kinds, the up.
sets and accidents are remarkably few
Iron Age. -: :"
BEES ARE VALIANT SOLDIERS.
| Two Instances In Which They Proved
Valuable Allies In War. 4
History records two instances in
| which bees have been used in warfare
as weapons against besieging forces
The first is related by Appian of the