The Washington herald., 1907-03-23


Of his methods the United States large
ly owes its present position as the great
est business nation OF the world. The
progress Of science Is no more rapid than
the Yankee application OF its discoveries
10 business. Our people not only manifest
extraordinary ingenuity In solving com
merciaI problems, but they do things on
a scale the magnitude of which IS as
founding to the more conservative ma
tons OF the Old World.
A short time ago a consignment Of
street cars was made IN East ST. Louis
for use in Los Angeles, Cal. The usual
custom is to load new rolling stock Of this
kind on nat ears for shipment why
not run them out TO Los Angeles on
their own wheels?" suggested the ven
turesome spirit Of Ingenuity. Such a
thing has never been done" replied eau
tious Precedent. That's no reason why
it can't be DONE" replied Ingenuity, and
the cars were made ready They were
fitted with a temporary equipment of
couplers and air brakes, and a train OF
twenty-five cars and a cabOose was start
ed. Oilers rode in the eaboose to watch
for hot boxes. and the scheduled speed
This was the first instance where street
cars have been run on a railroad track.
Makers OF American agricultural imple-
nents have been more aggressive than al
most any other class of Americans in
pushing their wares into foreign markets,
One Illinois concern sent a man TO Asia
Minor with Instructions 10 stay there un-
ill ne opened the market. Catalogues,
samples. much talking-nothing could
overcome the precedent of two or three
thousand years Of plowing with builocks
and a crooked stick. After three years OF
failure. the Illinois man got II into his
head that these Asiatics were closely re-
lated to the inhabitants of his neighbor-
ing State of Missouri, and would have
TO be shown.
he showed them. He rented a piece of
ground, and divided 1t in half. One side
he plowed with an Illinois plow, harrow
ed it with an Illinois harrow. and planted
twenty pounds OF wheat with an Illinois
wheat-driH. The other half was plowed
with native bullocks and a crooked stick,
wasn't narrowed at all, and was planted
with sixty-six pounds OF wheat soWed
broadcast. Everybody waited for the har-
per cent greater yield, and the Asiatics
we're reminded that less than one-third
as much seed had been sOWed on it. Az
ter that. Asia Minor became a good mar
ket for Illinois agricultural machinery.
Boston threatens TO break loose from
the grip Of the ice trust The owner Of
soda fountain in the Hub is now serv-
ing a little science with every drink
bought in his place. in way that IS as
matter-of-fact as oysters and frankfur-
ters are provided in other drink estab-
Hshments of cities less erudite. When
customer orders lemon phosphate, or
some other soft drink, the soda -jerker
pouTs a few drops OF liquid air in the
glass, and the beverage becomes as cool
as the north pole.
Americans like 10 buy East Indian rugs.
but the native designs have not proved
particularly pleasing 10 Yankee tastes.
Therefore company OF American carpet
makers went 10 India, bought ten large
factories, employing 1900 wOrkmen, and
began the business OF making Indian rugs
with American designs. The material
used. the dyes and the methods OF weav-
ing are all Indian Last year 100000
worth of rugs were made IN these Amer
lean factories in India, and sent to the
home market in this country.
One day last summer two business
friends were chatting at a club in
manufacturing town in the Middle West.
One of these men was manufacturer Of
furniture. and the other was a buyer for
a chain Of 10-cent stores located in pros
porous towns IN the Mississippi Valley.
The furniture manufacturer was lament
ing the fact that the dull season was
upon him, that many of his expert work
men whom ne would have 70 lay of
would drift away, where he could not To-
cate them when the rush came on a few
months later. The buyer scented a busi-
ness opportunity, and asked the other If
he would BE- willing 10 turn out stuff at
cost in order TO keep his organization In
tact The manufacturer said he would,
and they figured all over the back OF the
bill Of fare Result: An order for sever
al train loads of little stand tables, which
were sold at 10 cents apiece In the vaTi-
Gus stores oa the buyers combination.
land company In Michigan had an
elephant on its hands in the form OF 1000
acres so thickly studded with pine tree
stumns that no inducement would at
tract a purchaser to buy and clear it
for farming purposes. So the company
built a distillery IN the middle of the
tract. dug up the stumps and roots and
made turpentine. The venture proved so
profitable that the stnmps brought in
more money than the trees did when they
were cut and sold for lumber sORae years
F. before. Piue-stump land is no longer
drug On the market, for after the stumps
arc all made into turpentine, the rich,
cleared farming land remains as addi-
tional profit.
The craze for using cigar bands to orna-
ment glass ash receivers. and like uten-
sis. created such a demand that soale
shrewd fellow began to manufacture
them. Soon there were half dozen con-
Germs turning out thousands of bands that
were entirely innocent Of any association
with cigars or tobacco tn any form The
manufacturers printed attractive adver-
tisements Offering TO sell cigar bands with
the portraits Of all the Presidents, and a
picture Of the Capitol at Washington for
centerpiece. and other similar schemes
which would lend interest 10 the decor
ations. The fad still prevails, and almost
as many cigar bands are printed 70 be
sold outright as are made to go around
cigars,
The people of the United States use So,
coo 900 bottles each year for beer. ale.
mineral waters, and soft drinks. The cry
for a nonrefllable bottle has gone out
20 the Inventors from every brewery and
bottIing works In the country for years
II has seemed almost an impossibility
Notwithstanding the some hundreds of