Did Ya Know... Carthage will be spraying for mosquitoes, starting today. Your area will be sprayed in the evening on the day your trash is picked up. Tuesdays zone will be sprayed next Tuesday, Sept. 2, and Mondays zone will be sprayed next Wednesday, Sept. 3. You might want to turn off window or attic fans between the hours of 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the evening your area is sprayed.

Did Ya Know... The Carthage Water & Electric Plant Board will have a meeting at 4 p.m. today in the City Hall Council Chambers at 326 Grant.

Did Ya Know... Area Agency on Aging and The VantAge Point will have a seminar on long term care insurance Friday, Aug. 29 at Northpark Mall.

Agent: Leave your number. I’ll call you when an old man’s part shows up. Actor: I’m a young man. Agent: By the time I call, you’ll be old.

"Listen, I’m having an affair."

"Really? Who’s catering it?"

"Does advertising pay for your company?"

"It certainly does. Yesterday we put in an ad for a night watchman, and we were robbed!"

Held Up In Cassil Place.

Chas. Hines, a well known young man of this city, was held up and robbed of $2 in front of G. W. Read’s residence in Cassil place yesterday morning about 4 o’clock. He was on his way up town to join a party to drive to Wentworth and look at some mining land. His assailant was a burly man.

Mr. Hines was walking along rapidly when a man accosted him with, "Hold on a minute." He promptly stopped, thinking the fellow wanted a match. As the man approached, Hines saw that he held in one hand a revolver and in the other a short club. "Hold up your hands," he commanded, but this Hines refused to do and he was dealt a stunning blow over the eye with the club. The blow staggered him but he made a snatch for the revolver and was dealt another blow on the forearm that almost paralyzed it. "Stand still or I’ll brain you," commanded the man and the young man obeyed without further parleying.

Jousting Continues.

The ongoing jousting between Council members Charlie Bastin and Lujene Clark continued at last Tuesday's regular Council meeting. Both have expressed a willingness to at least consider running for the Mayoral position next spring.

This particular spat was initiated when a Council bill proposed by Bastin that would more severely limit travel expenses for City staff came up for first reading after being discussed in Finance Committee, of which Clark chairs.

During a past Council meeting Bastin criticized the wording of the bill as it was presented and Clark took offense that she felt herself or City Clerk Barbara Welch was being blamed for the errors.

Tuesday, Bastin asked why the bill, with its new wording, had not been discussed at the Finance Committee meeting earlier in the day. Bastin is a member of the committee but was absent.

Clark and other Committee members understood that Bastin was to bring the bill back to Committee with the wording he preferred. Clark was visibly upset even after the meeting.

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If your tavelin' out on the highway and the speed limit is 65 there are a couple of variables that always have ta be considered.

First is the 50 mph drivers. Some of 'em are farm trucks with loads and such, bein' careful. Others are folks who just aren't comfortable with any speed higher than that. These are understandable. Sometimes annoying, but understandable.

The other variable is the driver that thinks 65 really means 75 or 80. This is also annoying and at least perceived by most to be even more dangerous than the poky driver. Still, this is a variable that is understandable.

I personally think the most annoying and dangerous driver is the one that drives at around 60. You're never sure if they're watchin' for a turn comin' up or if they're just not payin' much attention to their speed.

A slow vehicle you pass. A fast car ya just stay outa the way. The half fast ones might as well be drivin' down the middle of the road.

This is some fact, but mostly, Just Jake Talkin'.

Metcalf Auto

Click and Clack Talk Cars

I heard a story on my local NPR station about a place in Houston where car owners can have the air in their tires replaced with nitrogen at a cost of $100. This service is advertised as a fuel economy enhancement because nitrogen diffuses through the tire at a slower rate than air, and so the tires stay at the proper pressure longer. Is this a scam, or what? - Mark

Ray: Yes. And a very clever one at that.

Tom: Their claim that nitrogen keeps your tire pressure more constant is actually correct. But their reasoning is wacko. It has nothing to do with diffusion of air through the rubber.

Ray: The reason nitrogen pressure stays more constant than air pressure is because air contains water vapor, and so it expands less predictably than nitrogen. There’s a different percentage of water vapor in the air on any given day, so you never know exactly how much tire expansion you’ll get from the water vapor.

Tom: It’s not enough expansion for you or me to notice, but some race-car drivers notice it.

Ray: But for you and me (and everyone else reading this column), Mark, it makes absolutely no difference at all. And it’s simply not worth it.

Tom: Seriously, you can keep your tire pressure constant enough for street and highway driving by simply checking it periodically.