The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-01-25


of stoves. This has been accomplished
by Harvesting an inexhaustible hot
spring, and the novel plan works per
feCtly.
Jackson County. Ky. is far-famed on
account of its family feuds. but It has
other claims for mention besides the
deadly battles of its mountaineers. II
has a population Of 10,O00, yet there is
not a singled colored voter, nor a citizen
of foreign birth Il has no eX-COnfed-
crates within its borders, no saloons, no
registered distilleries. and no work
houses. Further than this, no citizen
within its domains ever locks his house.
They certainly do things on a whole
sale scale out in California. The traveller
down the coast from San Francisco to
Los Angeles rides through thirty-iive
miles Of growing beans. a tract Of 1900
acres is owned by one man. A bean
ranch" may sound rather odd, but that is
what IL amounts 10. The annual bean
crop Of California amounts to 600 car
loads.
Included in the property condemned to
make a right of way for the new Tide
water Railway, az Norfolk is an old
landmark known as Mrs. Ida Gordon's
house. This ancient structure was used
as a hospital in the war of 1872 and is
remembered pleasantly as "a place where
Lafayette used to go to dances.
The announcement that several rail
roads are extending their branches across
South Dakota discovers the fact that it is
Fl -
never had Statewide railroad. The
Indians first objected TO having them
cross their reservations. and then when
their consent was finally gained the pro-
motors were dilatOTy about putting the
lines through. The new roads viii tap a
very fertile farm region that viii greatly
add 20 the wealth Of the Northwest.
The most productive sulphur mine in
the world is in CaIcasieu Parish in the
southwestern part of Louisiana, a few
miles from the Sabine River. The sui
phur is 99S per cent pure. The daily out
put is from $50 to 800 tons through the
year. The cost of production is only $50
"a ton, while the selling price Is S2N.5j per
ton.
It costs one life per day 10 keep traffic
moving on the streets of New York. The
greatest number Of deaths are caused by
street cars. after which wagons and heavy
Grays are the most deadly. Il is a c0inci-
dence that runaway horses and automJ-
tiles are responsible foT an equal number
Of fatalities in this connection it is in
terestiug to note that "a careful compl!V-
ton OF court decisions has established d
.Trr.. Of 4 f.lR
OF the working class, aged ten years, is
computed 1t S2D6l42: fifteen years
81 1634 5; aad twenty-five years, &.4NNu5
The age of twenty-five Is the highest IN
worth, ana from then the price slowly de-
clines until at the age Of seventy man
is valued at only $3.50.
A few wagon roads in the United states
still maintain toll gates. one of these is
in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia
This pike runs for ninety-iour nail g
through the heart OF Western Virginia
from Winchester to stanton. II is opcr-
atcd by the Valley Turnpike Company
and has eighteen toll gates located at
Intervals of five miles. The toll for a
wagon and team is 10 cents al the full
gates. ana cents at the half gates. The
Three Chop road Is another old Virginia
highway that is still operated under the
tolI-gate system. This primitive highway
was surveyed by Lafayette, and was
given the name It now bears beCI- tine
woodsmen were told TO chop the lies
ON trees in blazing the trail So tadJ it
might be distinguished fIom intersecung
ones.
The railroad bridges at Pittsburg handle
more traffic than those of any other city
in this country. The structure over the
Monongahela, in that city, is the finest
and largest on the continent. The en-
trance Of the Wabash Railroad into Pitts
burg was so difficult that inside of sixty
miles it had to build d string of twenty
big bridges. The great miluon-dollar ter
minaI al Pittsburg stands within the
limits of Old Fort DUquesne- II is also
on the site Of the land office Of Gov.
Dunm0re. who. in 1I4, found much diff
fculty In disposing of hundred-acre tracts
in the locality at so each,
One of the sights which everywhere
greets the travellers eye in this country is
thousands of saw mills, greedily chewing
uD our forest wealth. The number OF
these is so great that one can readily be
Heve we are consuming 45,000o00,o00 feet
OF lumber each year. This does not take
into account the damage that is done TO
timber and underground by forest fires.
When this loss is added TO that being cut
for domestic use. for export. for telegraph
and telephone poles for cross ties, and
fuel. and for timbers to be used in mia
ing operations, il is said that our ma
IL .,f fr41h q &
more than twenty years.
While the loss of life from railroad
disasters In the United States is great. the
statistics show that only one person out
or every two million that are carried is
killed by accident The Missouri, Kan
sas and Texas Railway is said TO hold the
record for safety, il having never killed
a passenger inside one of its coaches in
thirty years The United States already
has nearly half Of the railroad mileage in
the world, apd during six months of last
wear 229S miles Of new track was laid
The fact that we used S4C00000 railroad
ties in twelve months shows where a
large part of our timber supply is going
The first railroad in the United States OF
which there Is indisDutable record is
that built by Thomas DeiDer. at his stone
quarry, in Delaware County. Pa This
was i'm 1909. and IL is possible that Silas
Vhitueys track on Beacon street, in Bos-
ton. was laid two years earlier than this.
The highest percentage Of rented houses
in the United states is found in Wash
ington. D. c. Three-fourths Of the families
in this city live in rented homes. Next
10 the District Of Columbia the State with
the largest percentage Of rented homes is