The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-10-01
SALARY RAISED
IN LEGISLATURE
BY STAMP BILL

~S000A 49, OAAAAIA~
IN LEGISLATURE
BY STAMP BILL
CONTINUED from page ons)
companies to build toll bridges over
the great streams Of the state, and
in some instances the toll charged is
az high % . dollar. Senators de-
clared that the tourists were shun-
ming Arkansas on their trips south,
west, or east. A bill was promptly
passed prohibiting the granting Of
any more licenses to build toll
bridges, and the state highway COM
mission is urged to build COMPETE
tive bridges or buy out existing toll
bridges - soon as funds permit.
The system Of toll bridges has
proved = real barrier to the full utili-
cation Of the Arkansas highways.
Millions For Road Work
Arkansas has to date issued some
$26,000,000 in securities to build
highways and the special session
voted an additional issue Of $4,000.
This is in anticipation Of the taxes,
especially the Scent gasoline tax
and the vel. lie tax.
This states highway affairs be.
came muddled years ago to such an
extent that some political subdivi-
sions rspudiated their obligations.
Federal aid was either curtailed or
denied the state, but . most heroic
effort Is being made now to put this
a. q SVA AA t. H. A..s0
Of good roads.
The Cotton Belt
Proceeding south from the Mis-
souri, state line 1T Joplin, No., one
gets the first touch Of the cotton
south at Fort Smith. Cotton is be-
ing picked now and hauled to the
gin. The hum Of the gin and the
Whirr Of the great compressors i'm
press upon the tourist the immensely
Of the cotton trade and the many
hands through which the product
passes before it reaches the manu-
facturer.
An expert cotton picker gets 81 =
hundred pounds and he can pick
some 250ato 300 pounds day. There
are 500 pounds to the bale, and the
gin assesses the farmer about 20
cents = hundred for getting the
seeds out and baling it. The farm
or hauls it home or stores it in To-
cal warehouse and sells to the itiner-
ant cotton buyer or through some
White Men Cotton Pickers
In northern Arkansas. white men
and women were doing most Of the
picking, but toward the central por-
ton OF the state negroes seemed to
be the sole labor employed.
To q northerner the whole Of a1ri-
cultural Arkansas looks dilapidated
and shoddy. Tumble-down shacks,
rail fences or none at all, sheds that
are topping to ruin and most dirty
and Uttered up yards mark nearly
all Of rural Arkansas. There are
few exceptions to this rule through
the fruit growing regions Of the
Oxarks where some Of the finest APP.
pies and Strawberries are raised. But
the average farmer is p tenant or
has = very small plot Of ground.
Abandoned farms were seen at
nearly every turn Of the road, and
tor sale" signs were all too fire.
quent.
But the cities, for the most part,
seemed prosperous. The state is
rich in natural resources. There is
coal, Z great deal Of fine timber, and
the Ell Dorado oil fields are among
rivaling the Caddo district Of Louis
lana.
Alligators, Too!
You know you are in the south
when you get glimpse of an alliga-
tor. Near here is most interest
ing alligator farm. There are 200
or 800 alligators swarming the place
with some ~ young as two or three
years up to . century old or
more. Those 2 or years old
are no longer than your arm,
The attendant declared that they
ate enough to last seven days
and during = period Of the year fast
ed for seven Or eight months. Not
being informed upon the 9ustatory
habits Of an alligator, we had to be.
!teve him with the rest. He threw
IN Tor good measure the s'fact" that
one alligator in . year will eat in
flesh good sized COW. He was
lamentinH the high cost Of Alligator
beet, which retails in Hot SPRINGS at
10 cents . pound.
Chaplain For Hoover
At Little Rock during the session
An aged confederate Methodist min.
lister, who had been chaplain Of the
senate fog years, WAS. forced 20 re.
sign becau.e he would not promise
70 vote Tor Al Smith. All employer
WIRE compelled. to sign ! pledge q
loyalty at the opening Of the ses-
sion.
/ The minister calmly declared he
WA going 70 vote for Hoover. and il
that were treason they could INFO
the beSt Of Il. He said the fact that
he could not vote for al" should
not interfere with his praying Tor
the nlemberS Of the legislature. His
resienaftdn was accepted BY 1 Ovid
Al Smith drown derbies" are on
$40 q the best forgery shops 81
tne south. Music stores aro dress
ing entire windows with latest odi-
lions Of THE Sidewalks Of Nav
York" Tho jazz orchestras e the
Hot Syringe are shouting The melody
through meeaphon9s to those Whose
rheumatism will allow them Is frin
tho light fantastic.