age demanding as much of him, in the way of progressive advancement, as it does of any of the professional men. He has his conventions and institutes, where various means and plans are discussed, for the bettering of his farm animals and farm crops. We find that different parts of the state contains different qaulities of soil, and have varied amounts of rainfall, and that certain men make a study of these things, and experiment with all varieties, of seeds, plants, etc., and by practical observations, learn what is best suited for each particular section of country. The results of these experiments are placed in magazines and journals, and the farmer has the same helping hand held out to him, in the way of up-to-date literature, as does the physician. The old world is just the same size it has always been, but the population is growing larger, so the man in the agricultural districts, have the great problem to meet, "How to produce more from the same piece of soil next year than they have this."

Now, we have taken a hurried look into the problems the men are constantly meeting, and have seen in a slight way how they are trying to fit themselves to conquer the same. Would a woman be less progressive? What is being demanded of us, what has always been demanded of us? That we try to compete with the men in their various professional undertakings? No, indeed. The demand is the same that it has always been, that we make homes, good homes.

No matter whether a woman lives in Alaska, in a little hut made of ice and snow, or whether she lives in a palm-shaded home in Florida, whether she lives in a shack on the plains, or a brown-stone front in a city, her aim and purpose in life, is to make as happy and comfortable a home as possible with what she has to do with, for those whose pleasure it is, for her to care for. Is it not a noble calling, and should we not take as much pride in our part as the men do in theirs? This class of womanly women is found in every station in life.

What makes a good home? A competent leader, and who is that leader but the mother. You can think of two women in your own experience, and give each of them the same materials to work with, scant though they be, and one will make a comfortable clean, wholesome place to dwell, a place you would love to call your home, and the other will take of the same, and by careless, uncleanly housekeeping, establish an abode that is positively repulsive. What is the cause? One is qualified and the other is not, one has ambition and the other has not. More is demanded of a woman in a way than of a man; she must know how to cook, to prepare wholesome food for her family, with what she has to provide with, often though it be scant. She must know how to sew, how to mend and make last that which she already has, and how to prepare new materials in such a way, that they will be a comfort, and must know how to use money in a judicious manner. Nearly every woman is called upon sometime in her life to care for the sick, to do more or less nursing, and so she needs to know as much as possible along this line. Again she must know how to use money in a judicial manner. Nearly

every woman whose husband is in moderate circumstances needs to plan and figure a great deal, to make her purse get the various needs of the family.

Would the world demand that a woman try to pattern after the men in their business methods? We would say yes and no. It demands first of all, that she be womanly, and do a woman's work, but why should she not have help along her line of work, in order to advance, as do the men. The various magazines on home keeping, and home making, are within the reach of everyone, or nearly everyone, and practical lessons are now being given girls, under the heading of Domestic Science. But often when this last opportunity is offered, do not many women shun and even, in a way, make light of such help?

For instance, we find in most of the colleges and universities of today, departments of domestic science, etc., and you have heard many a mother say, "it is all nonsense, This cooking by recipes." "Didn't I learn to cook in my mother's and my own kitchen and didn't I learn to mix the ingredients without measuring every little particle? My common sense told me how much of each material to use." But let us ask the question, "where did you get that common sense? How long did it take you to train that "common sense" of yours?" The people who cook this way are often the best cooks, that we find anywhere. But why not take a shorter cut, and train our "common sense," if we may call it such, in less time. It takes years to learn to cook the other way, and often a saving is made in the way of baking powder, butter, sugar, etc., when we measure out the ingredients more accurately.

There is a little story that fits in so nicely it seems fitting to tell it nere. An aged grandmother one day on arriving to visit her daughter, found her grandchild in the kitchen baking. "What are you doing, my dear?" she asked. "Baking pies for dinner, grandmother." The grandmother replied, "I am proud of you, my child, you are doing something that is a credit to yourself, and a help to some one else, and while I think of it, I want to give you a little advice. When you go over to see your cousins or your friends across the creek, I want you to always go into their kitchen and just steal all you can." The child looked up horrified, "Why, grandmother! Steal all I can? You of all people advising me to do such a thing!" And the grandmother replied, "Yes, my

dear, Just steal all the knowldege you can, and when your friends come to visit you, I want you to take them out in your kitchen and help them to steal all the knowledge they can from you."

The thought in this little anecdote impressed me so much. I think the idea is beautiful, that every one has something valuable, she can give to some one else, and while all women cannot go to schools, where the various subjects along domestic lines are taught, yet can we not glean a great deal from one another, and also from this helpful literature that is always to be had?

A woman is not proud enough of her walk in life. We find that it takes an artist to paint a beautiful picture, and that only the one who

has the artistic taste and fingers can do so, it also takes an artist to sing pretty songs, but all are not gifted with a voice. Again we feel that it takes an artist to make a good home, for a person to be able to cook well, sew, etc., and a young lady with such accomplishments should be just as proud of them, as are those who have the talents that are mentioned above. All can acquire this last if they but make up their minds to do so, and we find the American girls today, proud of what they can do along these domestic lines, instead of doing as some girls did, in years past, boasting of what they could not do along the lines of cooking, sewing, etc., "It is not what a person can't do, but what they can do that counts, anyway." The day is past when a young lady is ashamed of toil stained fingers.

A woman is inclined to underestimate her value. Not that we wish her to be conceited, far from that, but she should realize and feel, that she is a great help in keeping this old world living. So often a woman feels that the husband and father are the only ones bringing in the silver dollars, and that she is not earning much of anything. Did you ever stop to think of the old adage, "A dollar saved is a dollar earned," and if you are one of the older women, and have done your own cooking, sewing, and housework for years, think if you could overturn the "saved" dollars, from an imaginary bank, what a small fortune would come tumbling forth. A person must pay for comforts when they leave home to live among strangers, and so many of us enjoy them all, and scarcely take time to give a "Thank you" in return, when we know a word of appreciation so often goes so far.

How many look at such a woman as Frances E. Williard, and others. and think if their lives could only have been the same, how much they might have helped to make this old world better. They have their place, and have accomplished a great deal, that is highly appreciated. But what would America be today without the good, straight-forward stalwart men that make up her great common wealth, and possibly the reader of this article is one of the mothers, who is raising sons to be manly men and daughters to be womanly women, and if you would have an ideal, what more beautiful one could be asked for. Washington, Lincoln or McKinley could not have given the United States the standing that she has with the other nations today, had they not had the citizenship that they had to back them. And who moulds the characters of these citizens but the American mother, whose training has influenced their lives.

It is our duty as woman to advance, and to take advantage of every opportunity that is offered us, to be progressive in all things that pertain to our mission in life. We should not neglect to make and keep ourselves as attractive and beautiful as possible. Beautiful in every sense of the word. As the poet expresses the meaning of this so well, I shall give you his words,

"What is beauty? Not the show

Of some shapely limb and feature. No,

'Tis the stainless soul within

That outshines the fairest skin."

ROAD ADMINISTRATION.

BY GEORGE R. CHATBURN, PRESIDENT OF THE NEBRASKA GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION. Delivered January 20, 1911.

To build and maintain good roads without competent and systematic supervision is as impossible as for a jack carpenter to economically construct a sky-scraper. Every successful business must have skilled, experienced and trained management. It would be foolish to place the

affairs of a department store in the hands of an inexperienced person, no matter how honest he might be. It requires long years of hard labor to "work up" to the management of any large commercial, manufacturing, or even educational concern. We members of this convention realize the importance to the state of its highways; that they are the arteries and veins through which the life blood of internal trade and commerce pulsates; that without them our whole social organism could not exist. The country could better dispense with its railroads than with its wagon roads. Indeed, had the railroads not been invented, the settled parts of our country would now be covered with vast systems of toll roads managed with skill and kept in the pink of perfection. But the railroads came and replaced the toll roads that were creeping out into the country; the wagon roads were neglected, each community maintaining its own road in a barely passable state. By such inefficient and inadequate maintenance the flow of the life blood of commerce and society has been retarded, happiness hindered and civilization curtailed. Meanwhile the great railroads, which replaced and to which the interests of the people turned, to the great detriment of the toll roads, have thriven mightily. Their enormous growth and success has been largely because the owners and directors have realized the importance of thoroughly systematizing the management, of employing the most skilled persons available for the several parts of the work, of paying salaries commensurate with the importance of the position filled, and of centralizing authority.

THE STATE AID PRINCIPLE.

Less than a quarter of a century ago (1887) the first practical effort within the boundaries of the United States for systematic road administration was inaugurated. However, such administration of road affairs has been in vogue in Europe for more than a century. At a mass meeting of farmers and others interested in the betterment of roads, called by the state board of agriculture of New Jersey, a committee was appointed to examine the laws of their own state, of other states and foreign countries, and report such amendments as in their judgment would best serve the interests of the commonwealth. This committee held meetings

and studied many laws, but after careful consideration they recommended the abolishment of the office of road overseer; as a result the board of agriculture had a bill prepared and presented in the state legislature of 1888 to that effect. Through the influence of the overseers this bill was defeated; was again introduced in 1889, and again failed; and met with a similar fate in 1890. But in 1891 they succeeded in securing its passage. The plan of placing the roadways under the township committees proved so successful that the opposition were not only unable to effect its repeal, although a trial was made, but the state went farther in the line of centralization by entering upon an entirely new departure. This new law, passed in 1891, and made operative in 1892, is what is commonly called the State-Aid Law, a law which has influenced legislation in nearly three-fourths of all the states of the Union. The following quotation from this first state-aid law gives the salient features:

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"That whenever there shall be presented to the board of chosen freeholders of any county a petition signed by the owners of at least twothirds of the land * fronting on any public road praying the board to cause such to be improved, and setting forth that they are willing the peculiar benefits conferred shall be assessed thereon in proportion to the benefits conferred to an amount not exceeding ten per centum of the entire cost of improvement * * * it shall be the duty of the board to cause such improvements to be made * * That one-third of the cost of all roads constructed under this act shall be paid for out of the state treasury."

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It will be seen that under this act the abutting property holders pay one-tenth of the cost of improvement, the state one-third and the county the remaining 56 2-3 per cent. The friends of the law demanded its enforcement, the opponents as strenuously objected, and carried the matter into the courts, but the law was upheld, and ever since there has been an increasing desire for these state-aid funds. A few changes only have been made in the law, these tending to its more efficient administration, the most important being the authorization of the appointment of a state highway commissioner, who should be a practical road engineer. to superintend under the law the distribution of state-aid to the several counties and give general supervision to its use in construction.

In 1893 Massachusetts adopted a similar law. Under this law the state bears 75 per cent and the county 25 per cent, no part being borne by abutting property owners. In 1895 Connecticut adopted the state-aid principle, and New York in 1898. Without mentioning further dates it may be stated that at the present time the state-aid principle is in operation in some one of its various forms (according to Good Roads of July, 1910, from which the map herewith submitted is taken) in thirty-three out of the forty-eight states. On the map all those states which furnish cash for the improvement of roads, or give it to the counties and townships for that purpose, are represented by horizontal line shading. Those which do not furnish cash aid but supply other assistance, such as