The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-05-01
W, S. Gearhart Calls Attention
/ TO the Poor Condition of
Kansas Highways.
WOULD USE TRACTION ENGINES
Let the Horses PIow the Corn, Says
State Highway Engineer-Sug-
gests Two Plans.

of the bad condition in which the
roads have been in the winter and the
rush of farm work it is likely, he be-
lieves, that the road work will be neg
lected until late summer or early fall.
Let the horses work on the corn
crop and let the traction engines fix
the roads, he advises. The roads have
deep ruts, and all the dragging they
can be given will not repair the dam
age. Nearly all the roads in Kansas
viii have to be graded this spring if
they are to be in good shape for the
summer travel If the road overseers
wait until fall to grade their roads,
the road will be in an impossible
condition during large part of the
winter
There are two schemes said Mr..
Gearhart, which may be used to ad-
vantage on the Kansas roads this
spring. The first is to grade with
traction engine, the second to let the
grading by contract
''The traction engines will not be in
use until wheat harvest, and where
the road extends for a mile without
any steep grades, the tractor will take
the place of horses. By means of side
draft, two graders may be hitched to
the traction engines. The engine can
then be run in the center Of the road.
It has the advantage of rolling the
newly graded road. There are few
roads which cannot be graded with a
traction engine, and a large amount
of horse power may be saved by this
substitution.
The second plan suggested by Mr..
Gearhart is to let the road be graded
by contract In this way the work
will be done at the right time.
x X X
Fine Wheat Prospect.-According
to farmers from Western Kansas who
have been in Salina recently this
spring is the first year in many that
in the blown districts the surface of
the ground has failed to rise up and
wander around promiscuously over the
prairies in March and April. This
year in portions of Cove, Thomas, Lo-
gan and Sheridan counties, where the
drifting of soil has caused much loss
in previous years, the surface is lying
perfectly still and raising wheat The
twelve inches of snow and the four
inches of rain since the first of De-
cember throughout the western coun-
ties have thoroughly soaked the soil
so that it can not blow, and has made
the sub-soil wet several feet deep.
Never before have conditions been as
good as at present, and the wheat
crop is even better now than a year
ago. Because of the wet soil during
March and early April only small guam
titles of oats have been sOWn, but the
farmers say thIre will be plenty Of
alfalfa to take the place of the oats.
x
Ex-Gov. Hodges Seriously IIi.-Ex-
Governor George H. Hodges is con-
fined to his bed under a physician's
care. He is threatened with pneu-
monia, having caught a severe cold on
his Michigan speaking trip under aus
pices of the Anti-Saloon League. He
has been obliged to cancel some of
his dates.
Saves Lives of Two ChiIdren.-Two
children were saved from drowning
in the Marais des Cygnes river the
other day by Mrs. Fred Osborn of Ar
gentine, who was on a fishing trip
with Ottawa friends. She pulled Mar
garet lies, s years old, from the boil
ing waters below a dam, after the
child had been washed over the spill
way by the current. Mrs. Osborn used
fishing tackle to rescue the child, and
shortly afterward used the same
method to save Harold Mcclure,
h.
stream.
Found Dead Under Auto.-Harrisy
Ross, so years old, was found dead
under his upturned motor car near In
dependence the other night. The cal
was found near a small culvert and
it is assumed Ross was unable to fol
low the road in the darkness and the
car struck the end of the culvert-
Aged Veteran Dies.-Riley Ballar
8 Virginian who served three years il
the Union army in the Civil war, dice
at his home in East Dunkirk the othel
day. He was 81 years old.
X
Judge Rapier Dead.-Judge H. Ra
pier, rs, is dead at Burlington. He
had been elected twenty-five tine:
as Justice of the peace. He was elect
ed the last time a week ago. when ht
received one more vote than his clos
est competitor.
State CoIIegian once a Week.-Thr
student board in charge Of the Kansa!
State Co1egian, published at the Kan
sas State Agricultural College. has de
cided to discontinue publishing tn
paper twice week and hereafter vii
publish each Friday morning.
Lived So Years on One Farn.-Johl
Daleen. 20 years old, is dead at hi
farm home near Falun, Saline county
He lived on one farm since 1869, whel
he came here from Sweden. He wa
member of a party consisting Of tn
first five Swedish families that cam
to this country and settled.
To Enlarge Schooi.-At a meeting
of the board of directors of Friend