ol. LXXII. No. 4184. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 4, 1913. 
WEEKLY. $1.00 PER YEAR 
“A ROAD-MAKING BEE.” road, where work was most needed. We had bank- 
How Th?y Do the Work in Kansas ers ’ mercliants ’ lawyers, doctors and preachers all out, 
Last year the Kansas Agricultural College announced C,ad in overalls - and the work that was accomplished 
t It citizens of Lfen, Kan., turned out and built a mile that da y 111 removing rock and brush, cutting down 
good road somewhat after the plan of the old husking the high places, filling in the low places, widening out 
o 1 building “bee”—low almost for- 
g >€ten. This is certainly a novelty 
id a good one, and we have obtained 
Cue story from the president and sec- 
i tary of the “Good Roats Club.” Let 
il.hm tell it in their own vords. 
c Story of the Presdent. 
We must admit first of all that 
we have no secret, and the main 
part is to work with entiusiasm 
rst, last and all the time Just 
t link good road, talk good road, 
u ad set apart some certain time, 
and get everyone out that t is 
possible to get out, who will ccme 
nd help improve the roads. Ihe 
an is not entirely our own nir 
e we the originators of it, bu 
ill our city and township is in 
ae lead of this movement in this 
part of Kansas, and our ex¬ 
ample is being followed by some 
of our sister townships and cities. 
Under our present system of 
oad tax levy the amount raised 
as insufficient to put our county 
roads all in good condition and 
maintain them so, and repair 
ridges and culverts, so a move 
,vas started something over one 
year ago by the citizens of our 
little city, and our worthy secre¬ 
tary, H. J. Meierkord, was the 
main booster of the plan. This 
vas that a day be set apart and 
very business place be closed, 
nd every able-bodied man should 
to out and give free of charge 
one day’s work on the road. The 
aove appealed to the people more 
specially in the city, and to some 
n the country, and they re¬ 
sponded to the novelty, and all 
agreed to give one day. So April 
15, 1911, was fixed as the day that 
veryone should come out. One 
general overseer was chosen and 
nen were to be divided into 
quads; one captain was chosen 
or each squad, and they were to 
vork on the main traveled road 
.or four miles west from town. 
Arrangements were all made 
'id the ladies invited to come 
out with baskets full of things 
lecessary for the inner man 
working on the road, an invitation 
which received a generous re¬ 
sponse. 
April 15 came bright and clear, 
with a pleasant, cool air that was 
refreshing, so one could work 
and not become fatigued. About 
80 men with about 30 teams, 
with plows, scrapers, graders, 
picks, shovels, axes and crow¬ 
bars came out, and went to work 
in five squads, stationed at dif¬ 
ferent places along the stretch of YOUNG STOCK ON A MICHIGAN FARM. Fig. 2 
P/RT OF “THE CONQUERING SPIRIT OF YOUTH.’’ Fig. 1 
the narrow places and grading in others was some¬ 
thing that caused the most pessimistic to sit up and 
gaze and say: “I did not think they could do so 
much.” The dinner that the ladies served at one 
long table was certainly not only gratifying to those 
who partook thereof, but was a 
credit and honor to those who 
served it. The social and friendly 
relations produced by that day’s 
meeting and working instilled into 
our people the germ of enthusi¬ 
asm which will stay and grow, 
and has spread so that our ad¬ 
joining township and city of 
Palmer caught the fever and 
asked our citizens to join with 
them to better the condition of 
the road between the two cities, 
six miles apart. Our people ac¬ 
cepted and with the trustee, John 
Clark, and his worthy members 
of the town board and town peo- 
.ple cooperated and solicited our 
; State Engineer to furnish us with 
a man from the State department 
to be with us, to advise and in¬ 
struct us in the improving of our 
roads. 
It was not until the latter part 
of May that Mr. Gearhart ap¬ 
prised us of the time he could 
send us a man, so with only one 
week’s notice we were to have 
Mr. Losh, Assistant State En¬ 
gineer, with us, June 4, one day 
only, with the understanding that 
Mr. Losh was to complete one 
mile of road to his own plans. 
Meetings were called, committees 
appointed and arrangements 
made. 
Both cities agreed to work on 
two miles between Linn and 
Palmer, all in Sherman Town¬ 
ship, and all to unite at one place 
for dinner. When the day came 
it was an ideal June day; there 
were 60 teams, 150 men, with six 
graders, three of which were run 
by one steam engine, and one 
gasoline engine, the other three 
graders being operated by teams. 
About 100 ladies turned out to 
furnish dinner and about 50 chil¬ 
dren and young ladies were there 
to make the day more enjoyable. 
The dinner was all that could be 
desired, and after all had done 
justice to the many good things 
to eat they were given a good 
short talk from Mr. Losh which 
was both interesting and instruct¬ 
ive, along the line of good roads. 
The work that was done that day 
in improving those two miles of 
road certainly stands for credit 
and honor to any community. 
People from different parts of the 
country came to see and to learn 
and they all marvelled and said, 
“How did you get people so en¬ 
thused in the work?” 
