The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 24, 1917, Page 6

MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1917. SQUIRREL FOOD Hart! Nows mH? ( “Time ~ HES GooD AN’ SLEEP ASLEEP! MAYBE .SANTA WILL COME ALONG AND PUSH HIM THROUGH BY AHERN WE SAID HE DIDNT BELIEVE (N SANTA CLAUS BUT. VLU-FOOL TH’ Lit "LL BE SANTA CLAUS To GEORGE AN’ BRING Him A BAG OF NICE BONES ON’ A BOTTLE OF HAIR TONIC TO GIVE HMA SWELL COAT OF FUR FOR W winter! CHESTNUT CHARLIE BY BLOSSER STATE HIGHWAY BOA my \ SHOULDN'T BE RD IN REPLY, T0 CHARGES MADE BY - With reference to State Auditor Karl Kositzky’s broadside fired on the state highway commission Wednes- day, when he announced his intention of voting against allowing further hills presented by this board, on the ground that the commission already has expended more than it is entitled to, by law, State Engineer Jay W. Bliss, secretary of the commission, has the following to say: “December 20, 1917, “To the Editor of the bismarck Trib- une: “The article appearing in last night’s Tribune, giving. an account of: the state auditor's unwarranted ant obstructive position in regard to the road situation in North Dakota, has just come to my attention. The broad manner in which you) described the work and difficulties of the commis- sion in the last paragraphs, meets with our heartiest upproval. We feel that you have stated the situation so well that a further answer to Mr. Kositzky’s groundless charges is scarcely required. However, the in- ferences, made by the auditor are so manifestly unfair and unfounded, and his conception of the state highway law is so erroneous that we: ask, your indulgence to present a number of per- tinent facts for publication, more in justice to the cause of good roads and in behalf of the people of North Da- kota who seriously desire better high- ways than in defense of the highway commission or -its -work. Impression Incorrect. “In the first place, the impression which the auditor evidently intended to create was that $80,000:has been.ex- pended by the state highway commis- sion in engineering road .work in or- fer to perform $214.12 worth,of actu- ‘at road construction. This is, abso> “futely false’ and ridiculous,'the fact being that there is practically ho con- | Nection” whatever between these two sums because ;prectically all of the’ $30,000 or more mentioned has :been spent in preparing for 1918 and 1919 Federal Aid work, whereas the $214.12 is the state's share of a small'$6,992.56 State Aid job in Traill county. This job was started late in the fall with the hope of seeing some ‘dirt fly” in our first year, but inclement weather resulted in an early suspension of the work with the construction about one- third completed., The state sauditor carelessly remarks that $30,089.38 . has been spent for salaries and travel- ing expenses. As a matter of fact, the sum mentioned includes postage, supplies, equipment, furniture ‘and fix- tures, five Ford cars, printing, tele- ~~ phone and telegraph charges, freight, express, drayage, and the State High- way commission's salaries and expe: es ($610.00) to the sum of $8,229.29, much of which are assets and can not be chargeable solely and exclusively te the first nine months’ work of the commission. As.stated;.a sum of $8,000. was specifically provided for the: pur- pose of immediately organizing the State Highway ‘commission and_per- forming all the necessary preliminary work; purchasing supplies, offiee and field equipment and securing expert assistance.’ Consequently the: expend- iture of not over $23,000 of .state*high- way moneys derived from the licens- ing of motor vehicles has been made. Where ‘Money Has Gone. “Granted that this amount has been expended on engineering, a question immediately arises. ‘What has been done with that sum?” To describe in detail all:the first nine. months’. work of the commission would be beyond the scope of this letter but in general, the results may be summarized as fol-] lows: “First: Reconnaissance . surveys have been made on 752 miles of state highways and reconnaissance. esti- mates have been completed to the total of $700,000 worth of work. In other words, several hundred miles have been inspected for 1919 work. ) “Second: Kepresentatives have: met with county officials on 82 occa- sions, visiting 35 counties in connec: tion with road work. “Third: A field and office force hi heen developed, standards and op ating methods adopted, the whole time and energy of the force having been practically devoted to next sea- son’s work. :Fourth: A small beginning has been made along educational and pub- licity lines. “Fifth: One contract and two force-account jobs oi state aid wark were partially completed. Sixth: been made for 491.7 miles of federal and state aid highways in twenty-one different counties. Seventh: auditor, apparently Preliminary surveys have The commission's office force, to the size of which the state without any knowledge as to the facts, takes ex- ception, is now engaged in making cosy KOSITZKY OF EXTRAVAGANCE | the ne cations sary plans, estimates, spe and project agreements, so that 440.2 miles of federal aid road work may be ready for bids early in the spring. Estimates for this work will aggregate about $456,000 worth of construction work in the 19 ‘on. It is expected also that requests w the actual amount .of work performed during the season will be greatly in excess of this. A more precise state- ment of cgsts, percentages and com- parisons -with similar work in meigh- boring states is now being prepared and will be submitted at a later date. Apportionment Erroneous. “Your attention is particularly call- ed to the fact that the state audit- or grants the commission a fund of $8,000 by direct appropriation ana als ten per cent of the-auto license fe: collected to date. That portion of the statement referring to the ten per cent of the auto license fees is wholly erroneous. In he first place the law states that two-thirds of such fees (after the Secretary of State's ex- pensés haye been deducted) sall be credited to the state highway fund and, further that the state highway commission ‘shall reserve out of the state highway fund heredy created a sufficient sum annually to meet its expenses and to pay the state's por- .tion of the cost of properly maintain- ing all highways and bridges improved -in the pursuance of the provisians of this act,’ and that the balance shall he a construction fund, of which ten per cent shall be spent at the discre- tion of the state highway commis- sion (for construction) and ninety per cent of which shall be spent by the commission in the several counties in }proportion to the amounts collected therein. “Another point to remember is that all.of the. highway commission's work which'relates to federal aid must be done according to the rules and regu- lations as laid down by the United States office of public roads before it will be approved by the federal government. Otherwise, no federal aid can be obtained. Ye Retort Courteous. “With due deference to the state auditor and his counselors, let me say in behalf of the state highway com- mission, that it considers itself as CAQRVING ON ~ GOSH! | HOPE UKE THIS — S URN METCH ESPECIALLY " be made from time to time and that | {which date he advised the highway ‘and he was invited to meet with them’ | for the purpose of explaining his at- tice forces are ten and eight and one: | WAR 1S AN _AWROL THING SPEAKING Ce WAR» Wo WAS - THE FIRST. BS : OW.cearGE! -.Ger A ROPE AN’ COME UP ON TH’ ROOF AN’ PULL ME UP AN’ SEE WHAT one BRANG Us | By PAUL PURMAN. Almost every day we hear of some athlete offering his services to his country. very line of sport has been represented by stars in some branch of tue service. | How about women in sport?. Are } they doing their bit? b The e—an( in more ways than Mary Lrowne and Molla Bjursted, the world's greates: women Ss last summer devoted ul of their time to patriotic matches, the receipts from whici | went to the Red Cros: Now the day for the women gol!- ers has arrived and we find Miss Mar- saret former national and champion and Miss national champion do- ing their hit for Uncle Sam. Mis urtis has been in France for some time was associate director of the American Red Cross Bureau ot Refugees and Relief. lor months she has headed the movement to find decent homes for | War refugees who have heen compell- ef tolive under deplorable condi- | tions. : Miss Stirling has enlisted in the National League for Woman’s Servic She ig learning’ the intricacies ey is quite prominent in Red Cross handling an automobile and hopes to | work, Mrs. WW. A. Gavin devoted a be in France before many months as j great deal of time last summer to pa- an ambulance driver. | triotic matches for the Red Cross. In all parts of the country women The Women’s Western Golf associa- golfers are aiding the government in| tion has turned over all its funds to’ some work or other. Miss Ellen Mack- | buy ambulances.» SS errs much responsible for, and tne guard: itor withdrew without asking any in- jfan of, the state road funds as any- formation or. availing himself of the one else, jn addition to being in a. exceptional privilege.of personally .ex- j better position to judge whether or {plaining his side of the argamen:. not such expenditures are being made} Delivering the Goods. wisely: We da not believe that the “The highway commission is 1.uch state: auditor on December 18, under; more anxious that the people of the state shall receive full value for ¢v-: ery cent of money expended by them} Curtiss ; commission that after January 1 he would ;appose. further expenditures! than any other sialte department. from the state highway -fund;-had suf-| Merely as a minor evidence of this ficient knowledge of the work of the’ fact, so far as we know, the state! office to justify the position he has/| highway commission is the only de-} assumed. The letter written ‘by the! partment in-the capitol which requires state auditor was received while the'all o fits employees to work an; highway commission was in session eigh, hour day. During the summer | months the days of the field and of-; titude and in order that he might half -hours respectively. It is not our WOMAN GOLFERS ALSO AID UNCLE SAM MISS CURTIS IS ALREADY IN FRANCE; MISS ALEXA STIRLING TO DRIVE AN AMBULANCE | obtain such information as could be intention to indulge in personalities, given. Facts such as are set forth in nor will we engage in any protracted | this letter were presented and the aud- duel of arguments. Our busin is’ + FRECKLES AND HI G00 LITTLE B | \ WUNTED Yonpe! BY EVERY ICEBERG AND NO TRACE oF @ THESE ARE Fore ALL HE’S DELAYING SANTA’S START == BOYS! ctT nv = REINDEER !!4.(T! TIME: To, START MY JOURNEY! A § FRIENDS BY BLISSER ' ONS! = to plan and provide for the constrifc- tion of roads that will be better than any that North Dakota has ever seen before and that will have to be built of both ‘paper’ and’ “dirt.” While we deplore the petty politics, selfish de- sires or other motives, however mer- itorious they may have been intended to be, which prompted tiese unfound- el charges against the highway com- mission, we propose to give the peo- ple other roads they need and have a right to expect. Obstructive and ill- advised tactics, at this or any other time, can result .only in the forfeiture of a more or less large portion of North Dakota's two year federal aid; allotment of $228,000, if such tactics result in preventing the commission from having such work, covered by the necessary plans, estimates and project agreements, with the federal government before July 1, 1918. With a national scarcity of engineering as- sistance and with several of our em- ployees already called into military service, the highway commission will have a serious time, at the best, to turn out all our work according io schedule. To produce in \ three months, plans and estimates for near- ly five hundred miles of road work, and to plan work from one to three years in advance is no task to be per- formed by any such office as the staic auditor seems to feel that we should ‘| lengthy letter. FIND THE RIGHT MAN BUCK HERZOG AN | HIM R Temperament, some of ‘em. call it. Mayhe it is—and then again, may- he you might say a mule’s general attitude toward life was caused by temperament. ; Anyway a discussion of tempera- ment leads to consideration of the | latest move of Charles Lincoln Herzog, second baseman and field captain of the New York Giants, who says he will not play ball with McGraw. Now anyone who kn McGraw and knows Herzog can the men were bound to clash. McGraw will not brook any inter- ference with his way of running a ball club, He is manager, the high-j est paid manager in basedall, and he intends to be manager. Herzog has a very high estimation | of his own ability as a ball player and having managed the Cincinnati Reds made it pretty hard for him to originated from that body, in any way | or manner, “I believe you to be vitally, intert ested in better roads and trust that‘) We'miay have the space necessary jfor the publication of this somewhat ““Very truly yours, J. W. BLISS, “State Engineer.” SPORT CHATTER POOR OLD DAVE. Dave Fultz must have paralyzed his arm. He hasn’t sent a story to the sport eds' for almost a month. An Ohio prizefignt was called off the other night because there was no cqal to heat the hall. They might have started a fire by clipping some splinters off the boxers’ heads. It is reported that Fred Toney has joined the army. The news must havé been as pleasant as a broken leg to Matty. One might believe that Rube Mar- quard is not so left handed after all after reading that Rube wants to go from Brooklyn to Cincinnati. Irregular won a race recently at New Orleans. The fellow who named him must have been brutally frank. Having been traded to the Athletics Chet Thomas and Merl Kopp probably have high hopes of getting in on world! series booty next fall. A bicycle racer fell on his knee and broke his leg. If he had fallen on! his head he would have broken the floor. A Cleveland boxer has been exempt- gure where j | versity of Ilinois. AGER FOR. D THEN WATCH ~ WAL EDDIE COLLINS ; buckle down to the autocratic, czar- dom of a MeGraw- F; s Herzog is. a -wonderful mechanical player. He is a quick, brilliant think- er, ashifty, crafty field general, but Herzog is of that peculiar type which may be either beneficial or detriment- al to his club. If everything is going good and Herzog is feeling fine, well and good, he is out there doing every- thing he can for his club, -working, fighting every minute. But. let the breaks go had and he assumes just the opposite role. Perhaps there is @ manager. who can handle Herzog. Maybe iMalthew- son could do it. Handling him means more than getting just mechanical play out of him, it means putting him right with his teammates, which is the most difficult side of the problem. If this manager can be ,found Herzog will rival.Eddie Collins. “Champaign, Ut, Dec. 24.—B: now is ‘attYatting attention at While’ orlly one man from last year’s team which tied Minnesota for the championship is back this year Coach Ralph Jones is optimistic and believes that from the material he has ‘he can turn out a winner. = . George Halas, who played on the varsity football team all season, is he only veteran to don the. basket’ togs. The defensive and offensive will be centered on him. His game at guard will probably decide whether or not this yeas team will play in top notch form. : The. Alwodd,: Woods and Woods combination ;which so easily 19 last year will certainly be missed,,put the candidates are all scrapping, ,for pla- ces, Milwaukee, Wis., Dec. 24.—Wio will succeed Paddy Livingston as manager of the ‘Milwaukee club of the Ameri- can Association is a question that probably will remain unanswered un- til early in the spring. A. F. Timme, president of the.club, said that he will take his time in looking through the list of candidates. “It is my intention to sign the very best men available regardless of the co! said Timme. “We have not had a real manager for several years. 1 want a man who can build up an .ex- cellent team and. then, be capable of managing it after he has constructed it.” 5 ed because of bad feet and bad hands. However that will not keep him from! doing a little fighting so long as tuere’s coin in sight. International league magnates spent! { 'the first day of their session award- ing the 1917 flag to Toronto. .Which was very exciting, considering that Toronto had only won the flag three months: before. | TUTTE te. rence, Kan., Dec. 24.—The Uni. ve! of Kansas basketball squad has begun practice in earnest. pres | W..O. Hamilton in the first few scrim mages has been using Fearing ant Miller as forwards, Mathews at cen- ter, and Capt. Uhrlaub and Stevenson as guards. Tribune Want Ads Bring Results. mu] have. The inspired contention that we are over-stocked with help is es- pecially unwarranted and very ill- advised, “The highway commission welcomes at all times helpful and constructive criticisms and are at this time glad of the opportunity of presenting she facts with reference to the matter, since a rigid inspection of the work of the state highway commission for the first nine months will show that the commission has, for a newly or- ganized department, conducted its af- fairs with economy and to the best interests of the state. However, we deplore the occurrence of such an annoyance at this time when all of the undisturbed energies and resources of our départment should be absorbed in the work that there (s yet to do. “In conclusion, I desire to state that the commission does not know of, nor recognize the existence of any friction between it and the county commissioners of Cass county and does not believe that these charges right spot, at the right lives abroad. ment Obligations. They ‘ank with the Clocs WIN A BATTLE FOR CHRISTMAS If all the citizens in this territory for Christmas this year, give a United States War Savings Certi- ficate, the Government can place great guns on the War Savings Certificate Stamps are $5 Govern- POUND interest, and are the best investment in the world. They cost $4.12 this December. The interest rolls up just by keeping them. They are better than gold. We have them. let.us tell you about them. TheFirst National Bank BISMARCK, N.D. = i time, to save American bear 4 per cent COM- Come in and } 7 ‘ = « ; c) &) { ae aod d ie v i: ‘ ) i x “a “ ’ 8, ° } 4 j 4 =e ut Uap. wT