Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-06-02


| however. It was not designed to be
thing of beauty, and yet seen Mt little
distance, with the overhead electric
| lights full upon it. II looks like some
great rug sown with varicolored gems
| hung against the wall.
To protect IL from the 'overcurious,
who might be inclined to let their fin-
gers stray over the sinuous lines Of
color, il is shut off by massive brass
rail.
THIS remarkable example Of the
\ photographers art has outlined upon
| it's surface every road in the state Of
Pennsylvania.
It shows at glance the entire sys.
| tom Of highways which are under the
direction and control Of the department:
what condition they are in, what i'm.
provements are under way and their
nature and character.
Thousands of tiny colored pushpins
stuck in the map along each line Of
road, like endless files Of lilliputian
soldiers on parade, indicate the nature
Of work in progress.
II il Is contract work on main ar
terial highway. certain color Is used
to mark the highway itself and another.
running parallel. to designate the par
! ticular kind of work the contract calls
| for.
Other prismatic pushpins show i'm
provements in contemplation or partly
completed. state aid projects and road
building undertaken directly by the de-
partmcnt itself.
1t is the most original thing Of its
kind I have ever seen. 1t is unique.
1t is a wonderful speech saving de-
vice, for under the direction of any one
of the technical experts of the depart
ment a visitor, in the brief space Of
sixty seconds. can see just what has
been done or is doing upon any road or
highway in the state in which he may
be interested.
TOHN HAMILTON. secretary of
- agriculture. who resigned in Febru-
] ary. 1908. to accept the appointment OF
! director Of farmers institutes in the
Department Of Agriculture at Wash
ington. once said in my presence that
| the occupation Of n farmer would never
reach it's highest development as a
money making proposition until each
individual engaged in it kept himself
IN daily touch with the markets of the
outside world.
BY this he meant that the farmer, by
the very nature of his calling and his
rcmoteneSs from great centers of trade,
is at disadvantage as a producer.
| Prices in Chicago, Philadelphia, New
York and other great cities may rule at
a certain figure, and yet. in ignorance
| of that figure. the farmer sells his prod
uCts to local dealers far below the quoted
price and therefore at a distinct loss.
The farmer is and has been 1.-THE
Lii So Lao. 10, - q, H.
clamp" being the nearest miller, whole
sale grain dealer, huckster or neighbor-
hood spcculator.
John Hamilton was right. and it has
only been within the last few months
| that practical steps have been taken to
remedy this condition.
TT YOU enter the main reception room
L that leads to the Office of the sec
retary Of agriculture today in Harris
burg an unusual sound breaks the Off
Cial silence and quietude.
| 1t is the busy clatter of a telegraph
instrument.
1t is a sound that until the year OF
our Lord 1920 was never heard inside
the white. gold and mahogany walls of
the section devoted to the agricultural
interests of the commonwealth.
1t is ''thr market wire
1t is a focal point of interest that
spells out daily story that is saving
the farmers hundreds Of thousands of
dollars.
1t is putting money in their denims
that heretofore went into the pockets of
those whom 7 have designated as the
lamp of whom the farmer was the
victim.
From the Office of the chief Of the
bureau of markets in Harrisburg there
goes out to the leading cities of the
state the price of farm commodities as
| they exist on each particular day in the
great central markets Of the country.
These figures are furnished such daily
newspapers as desire them. They go to
and and? arc posted in pin esD'ers oSss Of ss
In these days of telephones aud rapid
communication. no farmer with any
considerable amount Of grain or produce
to dispose Of need sacrifice il for lack
of knowledge Of the wholesale prices
ruling in the centers of trade.
DR. THOMAS Z. FINEGAN. state
~ superintendent Of public instruc.
ton, tells me that the danger Of short
age of teachers for the public schools is
very immediate and serious menace to
the school system of the state.
The call of the cities. the unusual in
ducements in the way of high wages
and the allurementS Of urban life are
creating n constant drain upon material
that otherwise would be available in the
field of pedagogy.
The danger cry has gone forth in
Philadelphia. The Normal School is
turning out less than one half the grad
yates it did few years ago.
The counties Immediately adjacent
to Philadelphia are suffering from a like
cause. The story is the same every
whore
At Zionsvlle. near the Montgomery
county line. in lehigh county, an ex =
animation for teachers was held last
week.
In other years from fifteen to twent =
applicants were always on hand This
year one solitary individual showed up
for teachers certificate.
ON THE second floor of the Capitol
" directly in front Of the entrance to
the Lieutenant Governors rooms, there
has been set up model in plaster oi
t the Capitol and grounds as they viii
appear when the work of the commits
= sion in charge Of improvements Is com
pleted.
\ The model itself is an exquisite little
work of art.
When the commissioners OF public
buildings and grounds complete theil
task Pennsylvania will have the fnes
v state building, with grounds and ap'