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Show ft THE & -- TIMES-NEW- NEPHI. UTAH S. free " w ROADS mm ... .1 J DOY BE! TER FACTORS AFFECTING ' SCOUTS GRADING Labor Costs, Character of Soil Graded and Tims Limit on Contracts All Counted. - -- 57 fe? ': 3 ' Mk .... KV I, U'. .r..th- . i J M'" (Prepared br th United Rtatea Department of Agriculture.) A great variation in the conditions under which grading for highways is done In different sections of the United States Is reflected In cost data com- piled by the bureau of public roads, United States Department of Agriculture, on 150 miles of federal-airoad. The figures cover the four-yea- r period and are based on a total of 24,500,000 yards of earth. For the groups of states the arrange price per cubic yard is as follows: New England and Middle Atlantic states, $1.33; East North Central, $0.08 ; West North Central, $0.40 ; South Atlantic, $0.01 ; East South Central, $0.41 ; West South Central, $0.50 Mountain, $0.52; and Pacific states, $0.01. The general average price was A d 1017-102- s ' 1 $0.50. Probably the most Important factor affecting the cost was the amount of grading to be done ' per mile, the quantity being very small In the groups having the highest prices. In general it Is noticed that where mostly old ronds are rebuilt, the light work and tearing up the old pavement greatly affected the cost. The amount of fine grading or trimming required for the higher types of pavement wus also a factor. Labor costs, character of soil to be graded, cl'uatlc conditions, time limit on contracts, and cost tf detours for traffic also affected the cost. While each grouf of states did not huve the same volume of grading each year, and therefore the average figure .'or the whole country la not truly epresentatlve, It is interesting to note hat the average cost of grading grad- HIS spring about 13.000.000 Ameri cans received free packages of vegetable and garden seeds from their senators and representatives in confm 1 gress. Uncle Sam not the memher I bought the seeds, tied JLi) of congress up tl'e packages, put them in the y 111811 and curried them free to every nook and corner of the land. Of course. In the last analysis, the people themselves though they apparently got something for nothing. p,ld for thes seeds, since the cost of the purchase and distrihu-tlocame out of the public funds. Doubtless this seed business all seems peaceable enough to the voter ul.u gels the seeds, hut, goodness, he should be In Washington when the annu al flurry over these same seeds ts on! It's really as exciting as a two-rin- g circus, for there are two seed flurries going on at one and the same time. One Hurry is going on at Uncle Sam's seed warehouse, where a small army of girls Is doing up the seeds and pasting on the franks of the nembers of congress and hustling the packages off to the mails. The other Hurry Is In the capitol. where congress Is fighting tooth and toenail over the question of whether It will distribute seeds again next g. lou see. Uncle Sam's fiscal year begins Jm 1 each year and lie has to make a seed appropriation a year In advance or no seeds. So this spring, while congress was fighting out the same old fight on seeds for 1023. the 1022 distribution of seeds was going merrily on under an appropriation made after a prolonged tight In the spring of i.H VI IK J 1 The light over the seed distribution rt,.s about like this: The appropriations usually commit ee the reports agricultural department nppropriul. in bill without the seed Item. Some "seed man" of. fers a seed amendment. The ant Is object 10 je amendment on a point of order.' If the sieaker rules against the seeds the house overrule him. Then the bill goes to the senate and the senate throws out the seed amendment. Th.; bill then goes to conference and the senate and house wrangle over the seed Item with other Items nntll an agreement Is reached. It's like a game of poker bluff and raise. And of course there's a show-dow- n for the agricultural appropriation bill must lie passed, seeds or no seeds. This year the fight was unusually prolonged, but as usual the seed men in the house had their Way. The agricultural bill carrying $.!, kjo.oou contained an Item of $:)0,000 for the free distrlbu. tlon vt seeds In 1023. In the course of the bouse debute this spring Representative Rill G. Lowrey of Mississippi, a "seed man," read Into the Congressional Uecord an Interesting article on Uncle 'Sam's seed distrihu-tlofrom the Washington Sunday Star. Here are ome of the points brought out In the article: At a cost of $,'100,000 food products to the value of $130,000,000 will be grown from 100.000 package of vegetable seeds and 10,000 packages of flower seeds which are being sent out from Washington by each and every one of the 06 senators and 43S members of the house under 13.000.OX) franks (free postage) to home gardeners In every State In the Union. Now, let us look over the historical background for this annual "jtraft." The purchase of seeds and plants by the government may be said to date back to colonial days. As curly ns the IJrltlsh parliament granted 000,0oo to promote the cultivation of Indigo and other crops In the American colonies, and the assemblies' of the various' colonics appropriated small sums from lime to time to encourage the cultivation of plants new to the country, such as hops In Virginia, mulberry tree for silk culture In (ieorgla. and vineyard fur establishment of an American wine lmluitry. In 18.K), through the efforts of Henry U commissioner of patents, an appropriation of $1.KK1 was made for the purisme of collecting and distributing seeds, prosecuting agricultural , vest Igiit Ions, and procuring agrlcultuiul stntlslbs with which 30,000 packages of seeds were pur-- , chased and distributed. This appropriation mnrked the beginning of the ficpartmeiit of Agrn 17-1- j. Kils-wort- In-- iculture. Icniands upon memlers of congress f r seeds became so numerous and Insistent that It was Impossible to nil the orders with tww varlftles of seeds. The practice of sending out larger and larger quantities of vegetable seeds thus rpveloa4. I'urlhg the years from 1KS8 to 1 practically (he entire seed appropriation was eipcndi'i" for -- K Csp five-sixt- . . tStT $r";sr jSjgSg standard varieties of vegetable and flower seeds In 1804 a change was advocated and action taken to discontinue the customary' distribution. This action was not approved by congress, which. In an act approved April 25, 1SSs3, changed the wording of the previous act. The attorney 'general, to whom the question was submitted' for decision,' held that the purchase and dlsirihution of seeds, including vegetable and flower seeds, were mandatory and left the secretary of agriculture without discretion. Congress has reserved for itself the diKtriliurl.m. with proportionate allotments to each iiipiiimt. of of all the seeds and plants purchased by the department. So that Is where "congi-esslonseed distribution" originated. Now. then, it costs Uncle Sam about cents for every package of seeds sent out by a congressman. Kach package contains five different kinds of seed. The following kinds of vegetable seeds are purchased for free distribution: I'eas. beets, lettuce, onions, radish, beans, corn, carrots, cucumber, parsley, parsnip, squash, tomato, turnip and watermelon. There. are 14 combinations, so that a member of congress can select the five different kinds of seeds be wants to send our In one package. Similarly there are 22 different varieties of flowers, such as chrysanthemum, aster., cosmos, balsam. Hmlvtuft. dianthus, nasturtium. ' IMippy. sweet peas. ielunla. zinnias, mignonette. That package containing rive small pniers of seeds, which costs the government 3V4 cents. If bought in the open market would cost .'i0 cents. The office of seed distribution In the of Agriculture keeps an exa1 account f(H each member of congress. Just the same as a hank account. The member Is credited with his quota und Is allowed to draw against that quota. Jusi the came as against a bank account. Prom one sample package, containing five smnli can raise al lea- -l $l." papers of seeds, any pere-worth of food, according to the agricultural au thorlties. Deducting $." for waste, loss in transit, or carekssiiess in planting or tutor soil. It leave n $10 net production. Member of congress arc sending out tills year 13.000.000 of Miese liirgn packages (five paiers In each), which. It Is servatlvely estimated, will return $130,000.0110 fotsl products for an outlay of $300,000, which certainly should have some effect on the economic life of this cotintry. When the annual fight over the approprtutiot is being waged the calm Is often made thai the free-seedistribution comes near wrecking tin Post O.llce department and Is resHtislhle for an annual ih'ficlt. The recairds show that the run Is ixmiida to fioo.ooo r tooikh, usually mm pounds, and thai If the office of seed dltrihuoi pah I postage on each package, the same as any private Individual, the postage bill would hevei have been more than $131,000. and that It would average about $05,000. Kvery seed sent out Is tested for vitality .n! for triteness to name. These lst are made on the exierlmental farm of the department, near Arlington National cemetery, although the germl nation tests are mostly made in Ibe laboratory by using blotter paper. All seed has to be t,f tin particular variety ordered. The (lepnttnieiii wbili opposing the congressional distribution, takes cr good care that the weds are all gos before Hiej are sent out. It sets a very high standard to whirl the seeds must register, a much higher staiidnpl than Is often required commercially. If the seed do not reach that standard, they are shlped hack to the contractor from whom they were piircliMsei' at the hitter's expense. Some years they reject a very large amount this year, for example, abou' irAI.ODO fiolinds. after It had reached Wuslrtigtm because the germination was not high enoii'li This Is sent back as not good enough fur nm grcssOnal seed distribution, but there Is no as surance anywhere that the very same seed Is not dispied of commercially. Uncle Sam buys these weds on straight com petltlve bids, and when any contractor's deliver ies show h consistent poor germination he Is blacklisted. Knelt bidder is Informed why he did not get the contract, told who did get II and why d f cif3 xS'- -' "?"v Sa 1021. ' "i?s3s"y' -- sp-in- SS and the price paid. This is a straight official let ter. Congressmen are coming more and more to send their quotas of seeds out. not to the voting lists In their districts but to the school children, to civic organizations, chambers of commerce, bunks, and factories for workmen, and a grent deal to miners. With the department opposed to the al seed distribution, and with congresscongressionfor It. Oliver K. Jones, originally from habitually Cincinnati, who Is in active clmige of this work, has had an unenviable Job ns buffer lietween the department ami congress for ubout twenty years. He proba.11 knows ably the members of congress more than any other man in Washington because he is culling upon them in offices every day In the year. At present he Is getting more than 200 telephone calls a day from tliem. dictates ulmtit loo letters a day to them, on, I has 20 or 30 .of them culling on him in his nfiice each dav. The seed distribution Is com hided under the bureau of plum Industry, f whi..h !r. Wllliinn A Taylor Is chief. K. A. Oakley ar.il J. K. W. Tracy purchase under contract all the seed that entem into the congressional dlstributl in and suner e the tiietbiinioil und physical wtik of filling the packages innl mailing them. Mr. Tracy Is in charge of the seed warehouse, located at 3.B avenue, which Is not at all modern, well ventilated or lighted. This building was erected iu 1884 and wus the scene of receptions, banquets nd inaugural halts for Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Huron und Abruliam Lincoln. This is not a goverimicnl owned building, but has lieen rented by the department und used as a Seed wu rehouse, for about ten years. The filling of the orders of congressmen ts an Interesting part of the free-seedistribution. The memlerM s ipply their franks In sheets of ten. They are nit up Into single slips and counted Into bundles by exert counters from the hureuu of engraving and printing. As a member sends lit an oriler a blue slip Is made out culling upon the seed warehouse to deliver that quantity, and Ihls Is accompanied by the corresponding number of flunks. The seed packages are either sent to the Mce of the member of congress. If the franks are not .addressed, or are mailed out directly from he seed warehouse If tuey are addressed. These franks are now coming In ul the rate of JO0.0OO or H00.000 a day. Kach memlwr Is entitled to 2M.0OO packages of vegetable seeds and 2.IHKI Itaekages of flower seeds. As each of these packages ctMilnln five small pacr of seeds. It really means thai 1 0,00) papers f seed are sent out 'iy each member of the senate and bouse. The way In which these seeds are first put Into ihe small paers and sealed and then put one each .if five different kind Into a Inrger package und sealed, with the memler's frank pasted on each package for direct mulling. Is u Interesting pnrt of the congressional distribution system. This is done by contiiict, and this year a new contractor is on the Job. Frank Clarke of Waco. Tex., who has speeded up Ike work by devising a new gluing f,.r - it -- orient ually rose from $0.49 In the first quarter of 1017 to $0.07 In . the fourth quarter of 1919, and then gradually declined to $0.34 in the third quarter of 1921. It Is probable that the latter figure would be somewhat higher had all of the states let work In that FIVE BIG QUESTIONS I'enn-sylvani- ii Are the roads In your county a credit to you, or are you ashamed of themT Are the roads in your county wide enough for the convenient passage nf cars?. Are the roads In your county marked, so tliut tourists from distant states have no difficulty to the right rord? keeping Are the roads in your county roads, or only good weather roads? Are the roads In your county such that tourists traveling over them want to come back that way? d I Road Designed to Take Care Deal Mora Than Local of Great Traffic. KENTUCKY TO BUILD ROADS Hewee of Representatives Approves $50,000,000 State Bond Issue Bill by Big Vote. 1 iinchliie. The seed envelopes are filled by tiinchlnery. .vlilcli uutoniiilicully weighs the contents of each nvelope. Two girls work at one of these machines, one filling and the other sealing the li'tle nvelope' "n a revolving belt, r'illing mid scaling Kj.0)0 of these little eiiveloiies Is considered a bh lay's work. The girls get pipework over 20.0(10 i ib . Other girl alt at big tables pasting the congres doiml franks onto the con'alner on which art printed the names of Ihe five varieties of vege. tables or flowers thai are to be placed within. A belt carrier run beshle bnee bin Into which the small fiscknge of seed have dumped. As the rlrl finish pasting the franks on the big they lire carried, one at a time, along t his, m traveling belt roadway and In front of a regular Interval are girl, each of whom fip In a small ciivcIoimv und the container proceeds to an lniector and then past another girl, who seal op the patkage by machinery. Kentucky, famous for several things, la now to add "good roads" to Its list The $50,000,000 state tOHd bond Issue hill has tieen approved by the Kentucky house of representatives by vote of 03 to 34. This measure provides for submitting the proposition to the voters of the state at the election next November. If It Is approved the money Is to be used over a period of five years. To pay off Ihls Indebtedness thret kinds of taxes are pledged a gasoline tax, a Accuse tux and a rood tax. It Sounds the Road. Facts about hnt hapitcus under a roadway as traffic passes over It ara being obtained by the use of an In genious device perfected by the bureau of public roads. The device Is one of the new Instruments developed to discover what thickness of roadbed should be constructed for heavy or light traffic on various kinds nf soil. ln A r Sourc ef Much Trouble. common source of trouble to roads Is that of poor druluage t'tul la of dralna.'e. iy (Conducted A by National Council of tU Bcouta at America ) MODEL RURAL TROOP The following letter from II. H. Kurtz, scoutmaster of Locugtdale, Troop No. 1, Honeybrook, Pennsylvania, shows that the scout program Is equal to any" situation In the hands of a devoted scoutmaster: "This is strictly a rural troop. The borough of Honeybrook, of less than 700 Inhabitants gives us only 10 scouts. The remuinlng 28 come from little hamlets or distant farms; 18 are farm boys boys who live, perform work on farms. Nearly all are. In a greater or less degree, active tillers of tlx oti. "The country la admirably adapted to scouting with wide awl fertile valleys, long ranges of woofled hills, clear streums. We claim ad our territory a section of about 200 square miles. Boys live from five to ten miles This fact from scout headquarteis. makes certain arrangements necessary which will be explained. "We set up a high Ideal. We determined however we might fail In other things, to place the chief emphasis on the oath und law. Scoutcruft was distinctly secondary. After four years we still keep the Meal In view. No boy may enter the troop unless we are satisfactorily assured that he will do bis best to do his duty to God, his country, ond obey the scout law. "Every boy Is In a patrol and knows his number. Each patrol Is propeily officered, the officers being chosen on the ground of worth and merit. There are no elections. The two senior patrol leaders, the six patrol leaders and their six assistants form an 'officers' council,' which administers discipline, outlines the policy of the troop and advises with the scoutmaster. Nothing of Importance is decided (except In emergency) without the council. "Every scout Is uniformed, and every scout procures his own uniform. A poor boy will receive aid from the troop treusury, which he may make good as he is able. Insignia Is provided by the troop. Each scout Is given bis proper badges, shoulder knots, service stripes, etc., and it Is required that these matters be in place, and that they be correct. The troop Is governed by a point system. This Is rigidly adhered to, and each boy reports bis 'points' on honor, at the business meeting. The system governs the 'good turn and all the mutters of the oath and law, and attendance and inspection. In uniform, or out, and at any time ar)d place the scout salutes his superiors, once In the day. Strict and unquestioning obedience Is required as well as regular attendance at all of the business meetings. "The scattered condition of the troop forbids a weekly meeting; so the b:isj ness meeting; held once a month, is to be attended. No boy may go elsewhere on that evening. "In addition to this business meeting, each patrol holds a monthly meeting. Here the indoor scoutcruft work is done, and boys are examined as to tests, or prepared for the court of honor. "Several features peculiar to tills troop, have proved valuable. Each boy. entering the troop, undergoes a partial physical examination. His record is kept, and he Is examined periodically, and his development noted. The records show a stileudld physical standard In the troop. "Every boy who reports, on honor, perfect score of points for three consecutive months receives the 100 per cent duty Bhield. Four such periods entitle him to the Maltese Cross award. We have a boy, of unimpeachable rectitude, who has won the award for perfect score for. two unbroken yeara. "The patrol that gains the greatest number of point In a month Is entitled to the custody of the flags the Troop Flag and Ihe National Ensign. The patrol whose efficiency Is adjudged Ihe highest for the year, receives a medal. "Official hikes are conducted at frequent Intervals. No winter hikes are held. The country boy has his till of winter exeriences In his long Journeys to and from school. Hut when ' spring comes we bike. The patrol nmst fully represented In the yeur's hikes receives a medal. So also does the Individual stiut who Is present st the greatest number of hikes. Kach hike Is conducted by a lender, usually a troop officer, who t responsible for the welfare and behavior of all scouts who are present. No Sunday hikes, no tests passed on that day, and attendance at Divine service required of all." SCOUT , I Boy SAVts KIDDIES Two small childr n were playing Is a Manhattan street when a delivery y wagon frightened starting down the street at a giillop all the Ingredients of a ossible tragedy But. a whs at hand. Kin II Kozel-onzeby name. Instantly taking In the whole situation, mentally awake, as scouts are trained to be, Kmll darted Into the street, snntched the children to safety from almost tinder the feet of the runaway. horse-suddenl- 1 gain! |