Weekly Transcript from McCune, Kansas • 9

BP MYSTERIOUS RORAIMA. SOME GREAT EXPLOSIONS. Perllou Ascent of the Famed Sonth American Mountain Success fully Made. SETTING WAGON TIRES. Farmers Can Do This Work More Effectively and Cheaply Than the lllaekumlth.

There are many jobs that a farmer can 3o for himself, if he only makes the attempt. One of these is the setting of he tires on the wheels of his vehicles. The usual charges at a shop for one wheel will exceed the cost to the farmer of setting all four, and the time spent in hauling them to and from the shop, to say nothing of the trouble and vexation of unsatisfactory work or ruined wheels, is far greater than it would be to do the work himself. To do this it requires an outlay of only the cost of a metal trough and linseed oil, about IMPASSABLE ROADS. A Story from Michigan Which Should Teach a Needed Lemion to Every Mosahaek.

No one who has given the subject close thought can doubt the moral and sentimental value of good roads. The successful maintenance of schools and churches and the spreading of their good influences is directly dependent upon the character of the highways. The social life of the country is quickened or suppressed as the roads become good or bad. The youth of the country leaves' the farms mainly for the reason that the social advantages are so often sadly hedged about by impassable mud roads. Isolation, ignorance, crime, is the universally accepted course of things.

But alas! sentiment is something that it is difficult to deal with in a statistical way. The business side of the road question appeals to all. The following from the Bay City (Mich.) Tribune tells the story the old, old story: "A farmer from Saginaw county brought in a load of grain yesterday to be ground. Although living much nearer Saginaw than this city, he stated that it was impossible for him to draw a load of grain to Saginaw on account of the condition of the roads. He came into the city without any trouble on Bay county's stone roads, and he is positive that the failure of Saginaw to get a sugar factory was due to the poor condition of the roads in that county.

While in the city this farmer made arrangements to rent 20 acres of land west of this city for six dollars per acre, and he will grow ten acresi of beets and ten acres of chicorj'. He will rent his farm near Saginaw for two dollars an acre, there being a difference of four, dollars per acre in the relative values of the two farms on account of good roads and a market for products in Bay county." The same conditions are to be found in thousands of localities, and the people are beginning to ask if there is never to be any advancement along the lines of road making and road keeping? Good ltoads. RACK FOR CATTLE. Animals Cannot Get Caught in It, Nor Can They Waste the Feed Set Before Them. Advices from British Guiana bring interesting details of the final scaling and exploration of the famous "Mountain of Mystery," the table-capped Roraima, which stands on the borders of Brazil, on object of fetich veneration to the Indian tribes of that nation and hitherto a source of wonder and keen speculation to geographers, geologists, botanists and naturalists.

All previous attempts to scale and explore the elevated table land forming the Bummit of Roraima, proved abortive until Everard F. Thurn, magistrate and commissioner of the Northwest territory, found a practicable ridge along the southwest wall. He, however, merely gained the summit edge. Some years later in 1896 Messrs. Quelch and McConnell, two officials, did as much, but failed to penetrate the mysteries of the mountain.

Last year they made a second attempt, in which they were completely successful. Although standing isolated on an open elevated savanna or plain, Roraima is really the termination of the Pacaraima mountains. The savanna itself is something of an elevated table land, being 2,500 feet above sea level. Above this the mountain proper rises 5,000 feet, 1,500 feet of which presents a formidable mural precipice more perfect in form and wonderful in aspect than anything like it to be found elsewhere, and which has made it the center of the great Indian legend and traditions, and not less the object of modern scientific interest. The exploring party left Georgetown on August 20 and returned November 18, the journey each way occupying 40 days of incessant toil and hardship, while nine days were spent on the summit of the mountain in exploring or rather exploding1 its "mysteries." The results are exasperatingly negative.

Not an ethnological relic was found, and evidently the foot of man had never trod its heights. The alleged mystery of that summit resolved itself into an almost arid waste of rock of most singular and not uninteresting formation, interspersed with scanty vegetation, the highest tree not exceeding 20 feet in height. No animal life was found, except an abundance of beetles and insects. A large number of birds was secured, but of these only three were new to the colony, and may not prove to be unknown. A detailed scientific report of the exploration will shortly be presented to the government of Guiana.

N. Y. Tribune. "WHEEL IN POSITION FOR SETTING. One Seven Tuna of Powder Were tiled to Dislodge 200,000 Tout of Hock.

Among the many incidents which are; on record, one of the most notable isi that of the explosion of 55 tons of blasting gelatin which was being unloaded, from a railway train at Braamfontein, 300 yards west of Johannesburg, in South Africa, on February 19, 1896, and which was exploded by an end-on collision. The result of the explosion of this enormous quantity of one of the most powerful explosives used was to produce a crater 300 feet long, 65 feet wide and 30 feet deep in solid ground; or, taking a cubic foot of earth as weighing 100 pounds, the superficial explosion of this 55 tons of explosive gelatin excavated about 30,000 tons of soft earth. Besides this there was a total destruction of all buildings within a radius of 330 yards, while from that, distance to COO yards all the buildings were shattered and the roofs were battered in up to about 1,000 yards. But all these buildings were built chiefly of corrugated iron and mud, and therefore were of a mostunsubstantial character. On the other hand, we have in the United States the blowing up of the Hudson river Palisades at Fort Lee in 1893, when the explosion of two tons of dynamite, placed in a chamber in the rock, brought down 100,000 tons of rock; the blasting at the Dinorwic quarries, Lamberis, in the same year, when 2 tons of gelatin dynamite, placed in chambers in the dike, overthrew 180,000 tons of rock; and the destruction of the famous Talcen Mawr in 1895, when seven tons of powder, poured into two shafts, dislodged a mass of rock computed to weigh from 125,000 to 200,000 tons.

From this we. find that the dynamite on the interior at Fort Lee was over 40 times as efficient as the explosive gelatin on the surface at Johannesburg, while the powder at Talcen Mawr was over 42 times as efficient. It is, hence, not surprising that the superficial explosion of the 300-pound charges of gun cotton thrown; by the Vesuvius' guns at Santiago during the late war between the United States and Spain produced no serious structural damage, and simply harassed the enemy by their frightful reports, which occurred at intervals arid unexpected times. Cassier's Magazine. Growth of a Fashion.

The Nephdla Madagascariensis is purple spider with pink eyes. Except entomologists, nobody knows it by that uame. Its home is an island in the Indian ocean. There it is called the Halabe. Like other spiders, its principal occupation is catching flies and eating them.

Incidental thereto is the. weaving of webs. The latter, a pale crocus, have a shimmer of gold. They are very pretty, quite ornamental, and, as it now appears, promise to be seen elsewhere than at Tamatave. Some time ago a dress was made from them.

It was immaterial as a moonbeam and beautiful as a rainbow. A lady put it en. As her complexion was chocolate, it must have been becoming. In it she was crowned queen of Madagascar. Subsequently a party of Frenchmen passed that way.

They removed the headgear, but they left the gown-Though deposed, she wore it still. It. may be that she had no other. Women with 100 frocks have sworn that they had not a stitch to their backs. She' may have been like unto them.

Some queens are dowds. Others lead the fashion. This lady set one. Other Frenchmen passed that way. The rumor of the beauty of the sheen and translJvcence of it they carried back with them to Paris.

Now it is'reported that by Eastertide the most modish of ruedelapaixia confections will be silks woven from the crocus webs of fat and far-away purple, pink-eyed Collier's Weekly. How to Find Out. "Bessie," said Adolphus to his sister, "I have taken a fancy to a young lady with whom I am but slightly acquainted, and would like to know what her faults are. How can I find out?" "Praise her to her young lady acquaintances!" said Bessie. Tit-BiU.

Having seen an inquiry some time ago for plan for cattle rack that cattle cannot get fast in, break nor waste feed from, I herewith send you a rudely drawn plan for a rack that I have been using for two years, and that I find has all the above points. This rack is five feet wide at bottom and top, and can be made any length. Corner posts 6x6 or. round poles nine feet long, set in the ground two feet. Top end pieces 2x6 pinned or spiked to posts.

Top side pieces 6x6, or six-inch pole the length rack is wanted, placed on inside of posts. Notch in a 2x6 piece 18 inches from the ground in posts at each end, and on the center of end half a gallon to a set of wheels, though more than enough to do the work will be needed, as the trough, while boiling, must be filled so as to cover the felloes. This trough (a) can be made of galvanized iron by a tinner. It should be about 28 inches long, three inches wide and five inches deep at the middle. By making the bottom only 16 inches long and slanting the two ends to the top, the bottom will nearly conform to the circumference of a wheel.

Set this pan on brick or stone in such a way that a re can be built and kept up under it. Put in enough oil to cover the felloes, and let come to a boil. You are now ready to put in the wheels. To prepare the wheels, let them soak in water until the tires are tight, washing out all the mud and dirt possible. On one side of the trough drive a stake, the top of which is to be about the height of the hub of the wheel when set in, the pan.

A stake with a fork at the top will be found the most convenient. On the other side, set in the ground a 2x4 in which a row of half-inch auger holes have been bored, ranging from a few inches below to a few above a level, corresponding with the stake on the opposite side. By running a piece of sapling through the wheel, and laying one end in the fork of the stake, letting the wheel hang in the pan, just free of the bottom, and inserting a pin in the auger hole of the 2x4 that is at the desired height, as a rest for the other end, the wheel can be easily managed. If it is wedged on the sapling, it can be turned by that means. After being placed in the oil the wheel should be slowly turned to prevent charring.

The length of time required to boil a wheel depends on its condition, as does the amount of oil it takes for a set. Two sets of wheels can be easily set in half a day. This job will prove far more satisfactory than one performed by a blacksmith, who, often on account of the dry wood swelling after he, has shrunk the tire, ruins a wheel by dishing it. Orange Judd Fmer. In nearly every paper devoted to the dajry that we pick up, we find kindness to the cow urged.

Is it a fact that men are so reckless as to be brutal to the cows, and that so much space need be need to urge kindness? Cost of a Drought. What the drought of the last few years has cost New South Wales has been estimated and the estimate makes up a bit of very doleful arithmetic. The flocks of the colony have shrunk from 66,000,000 to 46,000,000, representing a loss of 20,000,000 sheep. If to this is ridded the loss of natural increase, the shrinkage amounts to 50,000,000 sheep; enough, that is, to equip a considerable-sized colony. In addition, there has been a loss of nearly 300,000 horses and 150,000 cattle.

That the colony has been able to survive these terrific losses is a striking proof of energy and resource. Translated into money, the colony has suffered a loss, due to mere inadequate rainfall, of from 12,000,000 to 20,000,000 sterling. For so much, when expressed in pounds, shillings and pence, do a few inches more or less of rainfall count! We are probably entering on a cycle of years, a contemporary thinks, when the kindly skies will pour on the far-stretching plains their benediction of rain, and these vast losses will quickly be made up. Westminster Review. IDEAL CATTLE RACK.

pieces lay a six-inch pole; this pole makes the bottom of the rack; then take 1x6 boards seven feet or flat rails and make a V-shaped rack by nailing one end to bottom pole and top end to top pieces or poles. Board up the ends with any scrap lumber, and on each side put 12-inch bottom board and ten inches above this place a six-inch top board, and by this you will have a manger to catch any hay the cattle may drop in pulling their hay out of the rack and by stripping this manger sheep can be fed when not used for cattle. Stockman and Farmer. Easily Accomplished. "Did you ever have any trouble in getting out of town?" asked the friend to whom Mr.

Stormington Barnes was relating his theatric experiences. "None whatever," was the answer. "The towns we played were so small that all we bad to do was to walk two or three blocks." Washington Star. One of the best ways of destroying weeds on the lawn is by cutting off clost and applying turpentine..