St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-03-01


a few days. Mr.. Merrifield was In
McIndOes on business Friday.
Willis Smith and Ernest CHnes
were in McIndoes Saturday.
Hugh Nelson has a family of bask-
ct makers in one of his houses on the
back road.
Henry Nelson and wife visited at
Eru Blancher's at the Plain Friday
of last week.
Susan Stanley was in town one
day last week visiting at the old
farm house which is closed since her
removal to the village.
Miss Harriet Burns visited at E.
C. Emery's last week.
w. C. Kibby, our mail carrier on
the North Monroe route, was quite
poorly last week but with his re-
markable courage did not miss a
day on his mail team.
Schools in town closed Friday of
last week, all but Miss Winnie John
sons at the upper district, which she
had to keep week later as she was
sick week and could not attend to
her duties.
Milo Bolton is stopping with his
brother, Nathan Bolton, and while
here is breaking colts on the farm.
Mr.. Bolton is an expert at the bust
ness.
TRUCKS CUT COST OF LIVING.
Besides Cheapening Transportation
Motors Will Make More Land
Available For Food Raising.
To say that the use of the motor
a solution to the problem of the
present high cost of living may on
the face of it seem like an absurd
statement; and yet, when the facts
are considered, it will be seen that
the elimination of the horse will be a
great step toward a reduction in the
prices of foodstuffs and other neces-
sary commodities.
The average man finds it difficult to
realize the extent to which the horse
occupies the valuable farm lands and
would be astonished to learn of the
number of millions of acres that are
devoted to the raising of oats and
hay. AS economists have shown
that the high cost of living is partly
due to the scarcity of farm lands
near the large cities and congested
Industrial centers, it follows that if
lands which at present are used for
pasturing the horse and raising his
oats and hay can be converted into
acres on which products for human
consumption may be grown the price
of foodstuffs will be correspondingIy
decreased. The motor truck needs
no pasture and it's fuel is obtained
from sections of the country that are
unsuited to agricultural purposes
and consequently it interferes in no
way with the natural resources of
the land.
This phase of the manner in
which the motor truck may eventual
~ reduce the cost of living is in adj
dition to the more direct effect that
the use of the machine has on the ex-
pense of the transportation of raw
and and finished merchandise be-
tween producer, manufacturer and
consumer. The farmer who uses a
motor to haul his products to the
nearest shipping point can carry
greater loads and in quicker time
than would be the case were a team
of horses used, and perishable goods
will thus reach their destination
in much better condition. What ap-
plies to the farmer holds good to
even a greater extent in the case of
the manufacturer and merchant, who
handle their products at the other
end of the line, and hundreds of in
stances are on record in which it is
proved that the cost per pound, ton
VI p"SnoSO VI Ac1uiAAS Vi ueI1V0IIuS
by motor trucks is from Is to 35
per cent cheaper than is the case
when the horse is used. With this
amount saved each time the goods
are handled, and with the full bene-
fit obtained at both ends, a minimum
cost of production can be reached
These marked reductions in the
cost of production and manufacture
may make themselves felt rather
slowly at first, but in the long run
the consumer cannot help but be ben
Gifted by the rapid changes in trans
portation and delivery that are TAX
ing place.