Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 12, 1917, Page 8

CIOs oe Instead of painting the gates at grade crossings white, as has been the | common custom, several railroad companies are now painting them black and | h of the long arms is marked with wide stripes, or bands The purpose of this change is to make the gainst a background of light-colored | white. are alternately black and white. crossing guards more conspicuous, CROSSING GATES PAINTED BLACK AND WHITE buildings or a light rondway plain white gates, even when closed, are some times unnoticed by motorists, and accidents result. gates are almost sure to attract attention In any light. It is sald that this But the checked or striped change already has lessened the nurtnber of accidents at crossings.—lopular Mechanics Magazine. AIDS SECTION MAN INVENTION DOING AWAY WITH MUCH OF HIS HANDIWORK. Gasoline Section Car One of First Machines to Relieve Trackman of Some of Difficulties Under Which He Labored. Compelled to do his work by primi tive hand methods that have changed but little since the beginning of rail- railroad long ranked as the roading, the trackman has oorest pald and most unfavorably situated of all la borers. In recent years a change has been taking place, a change that Is fast plucing the trackman in the posi tion that his skill and experience and the importance of his work entitles him to—that of a skilled mechan As in many other lines of work this change is due to just one cause, the introduction of power-driven machin ery for doing the work formerly done by back-breaking hand labor. The first machine to br ak the evil spell, as it might be called, under which the trackman has labored, is the gasoline section car, which hi been In use in a limited way for number of years. What this means to the men engaged in the work is easily understood by anyone who h witnessed the laborious ordeal pumping an old-time handcar. Start ing the day’s work by pumping such a car over from four to six miles of track, some of it upgrade, is enough to destroy the efficiency of any group of men for the remainder of the day. On some of the most progressive rall- roads the section men now ride to their work on a gasoline car that is capable of making a speed of as much as 30 miles an hour, When they reach thelr work they are as fresh and fit as a business mun who has ridden to his office in an automobile, Two other machines that are rap- idly coming into use and that are re- Heving the trackman of much heavy work formerly done by hand are the gasoline welder and the gasoline mow- ing machine. Both of these machines fire proving profitable for the compa- nies that have installed them, What is probably the most import- ant innovation In track work is the pneumatic tamper now being intro duced, It is now known that ma- chine tamping costs less than one third as much as hand tamping, and that track tamped with the machine settles approximately one-half as much as track tamped by hand and subjected to the same service.—Popu- lar Mechanics Magazine. Third Arm of the Army. No country in the world ts so well supplied with alert young wireless telegraph operators as the United States. It is estimated that there are more than 150,000 wireless stations, large and small, scattered throughout the country. For each of these outfits there is at least one intelligent operator, so that America must contain an immense army of wireless experts. The government at Washington has just come to realize that this great force of loyal and alert young men may be made extremely valuable in organ- izing a vast signal system, This new third arm of the army is called the Junior American Guard, which already comprises nearly 10,- 000 members.—New York Telegram. Off-the-Tray Luncheons. For the benefit of persons making extended railroad journeys, who wish to procure their meals at less cost than dining-car rates permit, a western railroad has inaugurated what it calls an “offthe-tray” service. | Waiters pass through the tourist cars and chair cars bearing large trays laden ‘with many kinds of sandwiches, fruits, hot coffee, milk, ples, cakes, etc. It is ex- pected that this service will be espe- cially appreciated by women traveling with small children, and by those who would like to supplement their lunches with a hot drink or a dessert.—Popular Mechanics. Why He Preferred It. “How do you like my new gown?” “Not nearly so well as your old one, my dear.” “What is there about the old gown you like better than this?’ “The old one ts paid for, my dear.” Detroit Free Press. QUEER LOCOMOTIVES IN USE} | Duplex Double Boiler Type Being Er ployed on Grade Between Ori- zaba and Esperanza. The operation of the 4 per cent grade t Orizaba and Esperanza is Interesting from the use of locomo: tives of the Fairlie duplex doubk boiler type. The latest of these et gines, built by the Vulean Iron Works in England, have six 48-inch driving Wheels under each end, with a wheel ba fof % iuches for the entre en Th ght is about 153 net tons in king order, with a tractive power of 59,134 pounds. The four cyl Jinders are 10 by 25 inches The boller is a single structure having two bar rels 4 feet 944 inches in diameter, set back to back firebox 5 feet 411-16 inches by 4 feet 6% inches While there are two Independent fire-| boxes, there is no division above the crown-sheets, so that water circulates freely between the two burrels and there Is ample depth of water o the | crown-sheets when the et e is on the steep grade. The train rr one | engine on the 4 per cent grade 840 | tons. The whole is | able for adhesion, and with the] short rigid wheel base they can tra-| verse sharp curves safely and with a minimum of tire wear The articula- tion of the underframes and the sup ports of the boilers provide for free movement longitudinally and vert ly. The fuel demand is fully 20 per ent less than for two ordinary en gines of practically the same dimen- sions. All freight trains are handled with two engines, one at each end. Trains of 680 tons are hauled at an average speed of ten miles an hour. This Is considered good performance on a continuous grade of 4 per cent, not compensated for curvature and haying curves of 850-foot radius, many of which are reverse curves and are so short that frequently a train will be on three curves at once. Since 1900 all engines have used petroleum oil fuel from Tuxpam. It is stored In tanks of 50,000-barrel capacity and the service tanks for supplying the locomotives are of 500-barrel capacity, ANIMALS SHOW GOOD SENSE Intelligence Better Displayed Along Lines of Railroads Than Any- where Else. There is probably no place where the real intelligence of animals is bet- | ter displayed than along the railroads, | The following is one of many illustra- | tions constantly occurring to demon- | strate that fact. A few summers ago, the engineer of a local passenger train ambling along on one of our branch lines of the southern tler, when rounding a curve, discovered a brindle cow contesting the right of way. She was standing directly in the center of the track with head lowered and tail switching, and to avoid striking her—you know the value of live stock increases when | crossed with a locomotive—he shut off and came to a stop but a few feet from where she was standing. The efforts of the fireman to drive her from the track were futile. She simply turned and proceeded calmly down the track followed by the fireman pelt- ing her with stones, but without effect. Meantime the train slowly followed. The performance continued for possi- bly half a mile, until nearing a bridge | spanning a small culvert, the fireman discovered a diminutive calf strug- gling to extract itself from between the ties where it had fallen. With the assistance of the engineer the fireman quickly lifted the youngster from its perilous position and placed it along- side the track. He was watched grate- fully by the mother cow, who—then, to the amazement of all walked up to fireman, licked his hand, and with her rescued offspring ambled eontentedly away. Cheese Men Find Rennet Substitute. At cheese factories in Ontario search for a substitute for rennet has fol- which | lowed the cutting off by the war of the supply of calves’ stomachs from Europe. Nearly as good results are reported from pepsin, especially scale pepsin, which is better than the pow- dered, and this costs only half as much as rennet for the’same yield of cheese. It can be used either alone or com- bined with such rennet of home pro- duction as can be obtained. The pep- sin is dissolved in water slightly warmed, and the factory at Finch uses ut four ounces to 1,000 pounds of RULES FOR DRAGGING ROADS Dry Highway Should Never Be Worked—Constant Attention Nec- essary—Drag Towards Center. (By E. B. HOUSE, Colorado Agricuttzral College, Fort Collins.) Use a light drag. Haul it over the road at an angle so that a small amount of earth is pushed to the center of the road. Drive the team at a walk, Ride on the drag; do not walk. tegin at one side of the road, re turning up the opposite side, Drag the road as soon after every rain as possible, but not when the ondition as to stick mud is in such g to the drag. Do not drag a dry road. x whenever possible at all sea- sons of the year. The width of traveled way to be maintained by the drag should be from 18 to 20 feet; first drag a little more Road in Rocky Mountains. than the width of a single-wheel track, then gradually increase until desired width is obtained, Always drag a little earth towards the center of the road until it is raised from 10 to 12 inches above the edges of the traveled way. If the drag cuts too much, shorten the hitch, The amount of earth that the drag will carry along can be very consid- erably controlled by the driver, ac- cording as he stands near the cutting end of away from it. When the roads are first dragged after a very muddy spell the wagons should drive, if possible, to one side until the roadway has a chance to freeze partially or dry out. The best results from dragging are ‘obtained only by r applica- tion. Remember that constant is necessary to maintain an in its best condition.—Highw zine, vented attention 1 road y Muga- NUMBERS OF COUNTRY ROADS lowa State Highway Commission Sug- gests That City Plan Be Used— Capital Central Point. Numbering of country roads and residences 80 that every road and country home may be instantly lo- cated, Is advocated by the service bul- letin of the Iowa state highway com- mission, which is just off the press. The system advocated was originally suggested last June. * In the tem suggested, the section upon which the state capitol is located is considered the central point and all roads are numbered north, east, south and west from this. Using the base map appearing in the bulletin, one ean easily locate the number of his road and house. The system is so arranged that practically every road bears the same designation across the state. The numbering system does not in any way interfere with the use of the names of organized tourist routes such as Lincoln highway and others. Federal-Aid Road Act. Under the federal-aid road act, with- in the next five years $160,000,000 will be spent by federal and state govern- “ents in improving rural roads. Cost of Country Roads. The amount of money spent on country roads in the United States increased from $28 per mile in 1904 to $109 in 1915. Idea of Good Roads. Another idea of good roads is to have them without ragweed borders. U. S. WEAK IN SAVINGS ALL NATIONS OF EUROPE LEAD THIS COUNTRY. Deposits cf Eastern States Greater Than Those of All Other Sections Combined. , The first savings bank in the United | States was established in Philadel- j phia in 1816. It was patterned after an institution in Scotland, and it was | the forebear of the 2,159 savings banks that now dot the country. Of these 2,159 savings banks 630 are mu- tual institutions and 1 9 have a cap {tal stock. In the New England and the eastern states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland the mutual savings bank | which has no capital stock is the popular form of institution. Outside of the states mentioned there are only twenty-three mutual saviggs banks. These 630 mutual savings banks have 8 .562 depositors and approxi- matels $4,000,000,000 on depos- | it he 1,529 stock savings banks have 2,380,496 depositors and approx! | mately $800,000,000 of savings depos- its. It will be seen from this state ment that the six New England states and the five eastern states menjioned form the section in which thrift has been carried to a higher degree than in any other part of the country. The total ount of all the savings deposits in banks of the United States a trifle more than eight and a half | ion dollars. This, of course, is ap enormous sum, but when it is reduced to a per capita basis it does not indi cate the possession of large resources by the individual units of the popula- tion. Only 194-10 per @ent of the population of the United States aré savers The average percentage of savings to population of the ten lead: | ing European nations is thirty-seven. The records show that in Switzerland 55 per cent of the people have sav- ings accounts, in Denmark 44 per cent, In Norway 41, in Sweden 40, in Belgium 39, in France 34, in the Neth- | erlands in Germany 31 and in England A curious contrast is | presented by the statistics from Japan | | where there are 8,189,000 savings } bank depositors, but the per capita | amoynt of savings is $3.46, while in | Belgium there are only 3,000,000 de posito! but the per capita of savings } is $28 The United States, with the highest | Scale of wages, has the lowest per centage of savings, while the coun tries with the larger proportion of Savers all have the lower scales of wages. The comparisons chown by the figures indicate clearly that the people of the United States have a | great duty to perform if they are go- ing to win the goal of commercial pre- eminence to which their wealth entt- tles them. Told in other terms, the per capita Savings @eposits in the United States is $3 4. In Norway it is $62.42, in Jermany $67.73, in Denmark $57.85 and in Switzerland $86.47. THRIFT MAKES SWISS GREAT High Standing of Little Mountain Re public Due Largely to Practical Habits of Its People. The practical and sound-minded people of the Alps, living in the midst of the war's great caldron, are ac credited as being the most thrifty people on earth. With the possible ex ception of the Scotsman, it would be correct to assume that, individually, the Swiss takes the lead in this re spect . One hundred years of peace has con- tributed to the present satisfactory condition of Switzerland. It doubtless: has made possible the country’s pres ent high standing in the family of na- tions, politically, industrially and financially. ' The impression that the Swiss are uot an industrial people, but a nation of hotel and inn keepers is not borne out by the facts. They are both. The popular mind has long associated the country with {ts hotels and nothing more, and little account has been taken of Switzerland's great textile, watch, food, metal, and dairying indus. tries. All this has been made possible by the peaceful and thrifty nature of the people. It is interesting to note the classifi. catéon of Swiss savings banks. There are compulsory and noncompulsory in stitutions. The compulsory are but three in number. There are in the country ordinary sayirfgs banks, schoo] savings banks. factory savings banks, consumers’ unions’ savings banks, and savings banking against unemploy- ment, in all, 1,047 institutions, with depositors and deposits, in 1908, as follows: Depositors, 2,025,491; deposits in francs, 1,596,975,114; deposits in dol- lars, $308,216,197. There are no postal savings banks in Switzerland, but the project is now being agitated in the country. Over 28 per cent of the depositors have from 100 to 500 francs ($19.30 to $96.50) on deposit; 23 per cent have from 1 to 50 francs ($0.19 to $9.65); 183 per cent have from 1,000 to 2,000 francs ($193 to $386); 40 per cent have from 50 to 100 francs ($9.65 to $19.30); 9 per cent have from 2,000 to 5,000 francs ($386 to $965), while 2 per cent have more than 5,000 francs ($965) on deposit. This great little country maintains the proportion of savers to population et 65.4 per cent, the largest of any na- hss on earth. In Woman's R: What Is Known as the Dressmakers’ Dress Has Won Immediate Favor by Its Originality and Beauty—Smart Peplum Blouse The “dressmakers’ dress,” which is heralded as the incoming mode, cannot fail to win over admirers when It ts presented in models as chic as that pictured. Nothing less than genius ever succeeded in making a one-piece dress of such originality and beauty, that is equal to doing the duty of a suit. Note that there is a double skirt, with the overskirt full and that the bodice opens over an embroidered vest. The vest and overskirt provide as much warmth as the coat in a coat suit. In the picture, the underskirt seems narrower than it really is. This effect }ls more a matter of straighter lines | | f dian scant material. It is full enough ‘or comfortable walking. The over- skirt is laid if four plaits at each side of the front and in box plaits across the back. It is bordered at the front with six narrow folds of silk, and they give it a very slight flare at the bottom. The bodice is an affair for an ex- vert dressmaker to describe, and the uninitiated fashion reporter can only marvel at it. It Is draped away from the vest at the waistline and orna- mented with folds of silk that extend themselves to the skirt. A tab of em- broidery lends a line of bright color to the sedate tones of the cloth and silk folds and repeats the design (of which there is a glimpse) that covers the vest. The bodice appears to be in one piece, with the skirt at the back. Full straight sleeves are shirred in at the wrists and bordered with fur, and a soft muffler collar of fur pro- tects the throat. Any of the soft wool fabrics might be used in a dress of this kind, and it is more than likely that we shall see it made in satin. The hat worn with it is a Russian of Satin Has Hat Bordered With a Fringe of Ostrich. woman of fashion must have some thing that fs not too warm, but warm enough, to meet the most unexpected wind that blows, and It is Hable to be a “Northern” in Florida or a “Sou'west. er” in colder climes, Here is a new peplum blouse of satin with a smart hat of the same mate rial to keep it company. The pepium really deserves its name, with its skirt reaching almost to the thigh. It fas. tens at one side, along the shoulder and under the arm, and like other new gar- ments Its first impression makes one wonder how the lady got into it. The wide velvet-hued collar is a remnant of winter fashions and the short _—— © AMMONATR Vannes ONONEAOTETAEATII HERALDING THE INCOMING MODE, sleeves are harbingers of a new or der of things in sleeves for the com- ing spring. Both of them are finished with small satin-covered buttons. Soutache braid, which has already had a great vogue, decorates the lower part of the blouse and the peplum with a simple scroll pattern. The braid is sewed ulong one edge in the manner introduced by Paris milliners in the present season. It does not He fiat to the garment.and it makes an alto- gether satisfactory decoration for tail- ored hats as well as other things. The short sleeves promise long gloves or some other covering for the forearms. The hat is bordered with a fringe of ostrich and is untrimmed. It might be embellished with a pattern in soutache braid with very good effect. ‘The arm bag, a gorgeous thing of silk, metal braid, laces and bead em- NEWEST IN PEPLUM BLOUSES. ° : inspiration of satin embroidered with colored silks. This is the last word in custumes. Hats have been matched up with muff and neckpieces, with bags and frocks, and now. it remains for them only to be matched up with blouses. For early spring, and between sea- broideries, is an absolute necessity brighten up the sober tailored cos turties of broadcloth and velvet, Thes¢ arm bags are all sizes and shapes. A Bit of Velvet. ' Narrow black velvet edges many ot the flounces introduced on the skirts of gens or for the journey South the | gowns.