Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-07-02

THAT a Icopcclduic Oiu uOOu iihC Ouic
could find nothing better to do than
to stay up nights running the potato
crop. So Uncle Sam, who has an
unquenchable curiosity in such mat
tiers, began poking into the moon
myth and discovered that it deserved
respect only because of its age. His
Agricultural Department workers
found that they could raise just as
poor potatoes in the dark Of the moon
as in the light,
In the April number, under the
heading Receivers for the State of
Pennsylvania" we made the state
ment that that state is seventy-nine
million dollars in debt. While the
suggestion that Pennsylvania be de-
elared bankrupt was, of course, not a
serious one, it appears that we were
in error in stating that the Common
wealth was in debt, the state treas
J urer's report, just issued, showing a
balance in the treasury. The journal
which was the source of our informa-
ton acknowledged its error, and we
hasten to do likewise. The good peo-
, pie of Pennsylvania have enough to
bear at the hands of their political
, ring without being burdened with an
! imaginary debt.
. The American railroad system
: changes while you wait. You can see
/ it grow. A decade ago the railways
I received only a billion and a quarter
dollars from the patient people;
hardly more than our annual national
= expenditure. Now they receive
:, with fewer thanks-two and half
!. billions. Then the passenger traffic
!, amounted to only 1873 billions of
!. miles for one passenger; now it
amounts to 29.5 billions of miles. In
. other words if one passenger were car
!. ried each week day from Des Moines,
y Iowa to the sun, his journeying would
:, fairly represent the distance daily
' travelled by passengers on American
:, railroads.
Q Our freight traffic too is bigger. In
I one year we carried a billion tons of
70 freight an average of two hundred
/ and forty miles each. If each man,
IS woman and child in this country,
If hauled each day five hundred pounds
!. of freight a distance of thirty-twO
IS miles, they would not accomplish in
n the year the vast amount of carrying
is that the railroads perform.
n The next ten years will show still
If greater progress. Many railroads
will be rebuilt; others will be electri-
fed. New roadbeds, new tracks, new
-, stations, stronger locomotives, bigger
~. =" and better ears-all of these are in
- the estimate of the next decade. And
:. - if the people stay awake and demand
~ their rights, the whole vast engine Of
=, ~ progress will be equitably and effici.
4o emily administered, in the interest
A not Of stock jobbers, but of investors
~ employees, passengers and shippers.
gs
in care you going to Seattle9" one
Is New Yorker asked another recently
e. "Naw," was the reply.
L. "Well," said the first one, rather
It. anxiously, somebody has to CO."
a Probably neither of these "effete'
IN Fasteners could have told whether
IN Seattle is on the Gulf of Mexico OF
* in the Yellowstone National Park
d and their view can hardly be taken as
S. representative Of public opinion upor
C. the Alaska Yukon-Pacifc Exposition
ID Yet, there is little doubt that the cour
err try is rather tired of expOsitions
j. jamestown learned this to its sor.
ar row, and perhaps Seattle will moi
a find the people so "rair minded" as
they were in 1893.
st Yet, if there is apathy, it will be
or through no fault of Seattle's. The
k exposition, Judging from printed and
Illustrative matter, is extensive, var.
o. led and impressive. The press agent
C. himself could not do justice to the
L. natural beauty of its setting. 1t ex-
I'd plots the vast area west of the goth
oil Meridian. a region of resources and
If of opportunity, and of strong appeal
If to the imagination.
a. While Uncle Sam may regard him.
IN self as a canal builder of no mean
re ability, he is not to have a monopoly
e, of the ditch digging business. Our
il, neighbor on the north has also some
large ambitions in that direction.
The Canadian government proposes
If to build a ship canal four hundred
* and forty miles long, from Montreal
lie to Georgian Bay. A considerable
st part of this route lies through lakes
,r and rivers, but even with such as
lie sistance from nature it is estimated
ID that the proposed canal will cost the
* Canadian government one hundred
a million dollars.
yi The advantage to be derived from
vt connecting Montreal with Lake HUI
It ron by navigable water is obvious.
The constantly increasing output of
d the Canadian Northwest demands
D. cheap TRANSFORMATION To Atlantic