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He should be employed by the day so that he may be liable to discharge 
at any time for neglect of duty. He should be selected by competitive bids 
for day labor of eight hours per day. 
Man and team could be secured for nine months’ service at the rate 
of $1.50 or less per day. The rate at present paid by our county commis- 
sioners for man and team is $2.50, because they are employed for but a 
few days at a time. And for this $2.50 a man is secured who takes no 
interest in the road and who piles on the material because it is easier to 
draw gravel than to spread it, and because it makes his job last longer. 
To secure the adoption of such a system for our gravel roads requires 
only that county commissioners should be convinced that it is more de- 
sirable as well as more economical than present methods. They have 
full powers to act. ; 
For our township roads it requires that all road taxes sbould be paid 
in money instead of in day labor as at present. The day-labor system 
produces the same kind of results that*vould be secured by a school 
system if the citizens assessed were permitted to work out their school 
taxes by taking turns in teaching the public school. When road taxes are 
paid in money, the division of township roads into sections, and the em- 
ployment of attendants, will solve the road problem. 
This method of maintenance by an attendant who devotes all of his 
time to the road, is in use in isolated cases in the United States, principally 
in New York State. In European countries it is acknowledged to be the 
only satisfactory method of maintenance, and it is the basis of the superb 
system of highways enjoyed by France and Germany. 
SomeE Tests oN Batt Bearines. By M. J. GOLDEN. 
These tests were made to determine the amount of power absorbed 
by ball bearings of the form used in supporting shafting and spindles, 
when the load is light. The bearing, in this set, was loaded with 
weights that varied from ten pounds (the weight of the parts) to three 
hundred pounds, by increments of forty pounds, except the last one; that 
was ten pounds. The apparatus used is shown in the sketch, where (A) 
is a spindle that is revolved by means of a belt from a counter-shaft. To 
this spindle is attached (B), the inner part of the ball race; the outer part 
