Cheer Up!
"You look happy this good morning," said one.
"Happy? I have the habit," responded the other; "feel like the brightest June day God ever let the sun shine on. Old troubles and worries gone—killed them all. I'm the happiest murderer alive. Can't explain except that I discovered that Misery wasn't worth while, and I wrung its neck. In the last two months I have found things in life I never knew were there before. And the petty, annoying things are dead—every one of 'em. My wife first thought I was sick, then crazy; now she has the virus herself. Business is better, home is happier, life is sweeter. Medicine? Not on your life. I have always been troubled with too much good health. It wasn't that. Religion? No, not that either. It's just plain emancipation—a casting away of the things that hung heavy on my heart, in order to give it a chance to receive and enjoy the worth-while things that come my way. I tell you, man, it's great"—and he smiled beamingly as he left the car.
Emancipation! That's the word. Freedom is self-made. It cannot be given by any act of Congress, or taken away by any tyranny. The liberty to enjoy life is innate. Whether one is happy or unhappy depends upon his own will.
Misery is a disease of the will. Joy comes by willing to be joyous.—Ford Times.
All the Same Franklin
Robert Owen was "the father of modern business"—the world's first great business man. He invented the one-price system. He made it pay—therefore, it survived. Go back to the beginning of most of our best business methods of to-day and you go back to Robert Owen—who made a fortune at which even our moderns would not sneeze—and who died only a little more than fifty years ago.
Also, Robert Owen invented the trade mark.
It is related that when Owen went up to New Lanark to buy a cotton mill owned by David Dale, he met Mr. Dale's daughter. She acknowledged the introduction by saying:
"So, you're the man who puts his name on the package?"
You see, the trade mark was doing its work.
"You must be proud of your name," she continued.
"Wouldn't you be?"
"Not of yours!" she snapped.
But later she thought better of the suggestion, for she became Mrs. Robert Owen.—Ford Times.
What Good Roads Mean
Good roads mean more cultivated farms and cheaper food products for the toiler in the cities; bad roads mean poor transportation, lack of communication, high prices for the necessaries of life, the loss of untold millions of wealth, and idle workmen seeking employment. Good roads will help those who cultivate the soil and feed the multitudes, and whatever aids the producers and the farmers of our country will increase our wealth and our greatness and benefit all the people. We cannot destroy our farms without final decay. They are to-day the heart of our national life and the chief source of our material greatness. Tear down every edifice in our cities, and labor will rebuild them, but abandon the farms and our cities will disappear forever.—Governor Wm. Sulzer.
What California Is Doing
In addition to the State system of highways now being constructed in California under the $18,000,000 bond issue, several other State roads are provided for by recent legislation. Appropriations were made totaling $115,000 for construction and maintenance of special highways; of this, $70,000 is for building a road from Saratoga Gap to Redwood Park, which will allow tourists traveling over the Coast route or through the Santa Clara Valley to easily make the run to the park. Other roads to be improved from the appropriation are the Myers-McKinley highway, along the west side of Lake Tahoe; the Trinity-Humboldt road; the Emigrant Gap road; the Alpine road; and the Placerville road to Lake Tahoe. Other legislation permits the State to pay one-third the cost of a county road, when requested by a majority of four-fifths of the members of the County Board, the amount not to exceed $50,000 in one year in any county.
What Could Be Saved
A thorough system of good roads would strike an immense blow at the high cost of living, and this, of course, would be added to whatever motors can be substituted for horseflesh. It is not too much to say that if modern methods for handling package freight can be substituted for the medieval procedure that now goes on in railroad freight sheds, transfer wards and terminals, and if our railway stations were all accessible by good roads an amount equal to the annual expense of this government, plus the national debt and the expense of all our States, could probably be saved every year.—Secretary of Commerce Redfield.
Auto Licenses by the Ton
An order for 200,000 1914 automobile number plates and 20,000 motorcycle plates, of an aggregate weight of 165 tons and amounting in mass to from four to six carloads, was awarded to-day by H. A. French, purchasing agent of the State Engineering Department, to the California Metal Enameling Company of Los Angeles. The contract, which illustrates the standing of California as a Mecca for automobiles and motorcycles, amounts to $38,800.
The plates are to be furnished in pairs to owners of machines when they register with the department for 1914, under the new act, which changes the system of registration and requires the payment of taxes on a horsepower basis. A bright red background with white figures is to be the distinguishing characteristic of the 1914 automobile and motorcycle plates. These colors will be changed in 1915, as the law provides for annual registration hereafter. Under the new law, which goes into effect January 1, 1914, each automobile and each motorcycle must have two number plates, permanently attached to the machine, one in front and one in the rear, with a clearance of sixteen inches above the ground. Swinging plates will not be permitted after January 1st, and the rear plate must be attached where the rear light can shine upon it. The automobile plates will be of a size to accommodate six figures, and will be 5½ inches wide and 16 inches long.
May It Be Soon
That plans are well under way for the transformation of the Great Highway into an esplanade along the ocean front was the report made to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors recently in response to a question by Supervisor Andrew Gallagher. George Gallagher said that the Street Committee and Finance Committee had well under way plans for permanently paving the great Highway from Sloat Boulevard to the county line. In addition, the Sloat Boulevard is to be improved and paved from Junipero Serra to the ocean. Supervisor McCarthy added that if finances permitted, two boulevards are to be built around Twin Peaks. Some of the work is dependent upon the amount received by the city from the State automobile license tax, which has been variously estimated at $50,000 to $75,000.
