1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
593 
Asiatic  or  Malignant  Cholera. 
For  months  back  Europe  has  become  more  and  more 
alarmed  and  has  taken  progressively  greater  precau¬ 
tions  and  established  stronger  safeguards  as  Asiatic 
cholera  made  its  terrorizing  way  northward  and  west¬ 
ward  from  the  Russian  port  of  Baku,  on  the  south¬ 
western  coast  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  where  it  arrived 
early  last  spring,  after  having  traveled  from  India 
through  Afghanistan,  Turkestan  and  Persia.  The 
plague  is  indigenous  to  India,  in  some  parts  of  which 
it  is  originally  generated  at  all  times,  particularly  in 
the  delta  of  the  Ganges  and  the  flat  lands  around 
Madras  and  Bombay.  In  its  epidemic  form  it  is  most 
virulent  and  widespread  every  twelfth  year,  the  re¬ 
curring  periods  of  the  great  Hindoo  festivals  at  the 
greatest  of  their  temples.  Of  these  the  most  famous 
is  that  of  J uggernaut,  on  the  northwest  coast  of  the  Bay 
of  Bengal,  to  which  over  1,000,000  pilgrims  from  all 
parts  of  India  flock  every  year,  and  upwards  of  three 
times  that  number  every  twelfth  year.  The  next  in 
importance  is  Hurdwar,  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas 
where  the  Ganges  issues  from  the  mountains,  and  there 
3,000,000  pilgrims  assemble  every  twelfth  year.  The 
fearful  mortality  among  these,  together  with  the  un¬ 
speakable  filth,  starvation  and  contempt  for  all  sani¬ 
tary  conditions  periodically  generates  epidemic  ma¬ 
lignant  cholera,  which  spreads  to  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  generally  to  other  nations  of  late  years, 
since  means  of  communication  have  multiplied  and 
travel  has  enorm  msly  increased.  The  present  epi¬ 
demic  started  from  Ilurwar  at  the  great  12-year  festi¬ 
val  nearly  two  years  ago.  It  progressed  slowly  until 
it  reached  Baku,  as  travel  and  means  of  transportation 
were  limited  in  the  intervening  country,  but  after 
striking  Russia,  its  march  has  been  comparatively 
rapid.  From  Astrakhan,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Volga, 
it  traveled  up  that  river  and  spread  out  on  both  sides, 
but  particularly  into  Europe  on  the  west,  where  travel 
and  river  and  railroad  transportation  were  much 
greater,  for  it  always  presses  forward  fastest  along  the 
most  traveled  lines. 
In  its  progress  through  Russia  and  Germany  west¬ 
ward  to  England  its  advance  has  been  traced  step  by 
step  from  town  to  town  and  village  to  village,  being 
always  propagated  by  the  arrival  of  infected  articles 
or  of  persons  affected  by  the  disease  from  places  where 
it  was  known  to  prevail.  Attempts,  however  strin¬ 
gent,  to  isolate  localities  and  to  quarantine  land  travel 
both  in  Russia  and  Germany  as  well  as  on  the  frontier 
between  the  two  countries,  have  utterly  failed  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  the  plague.  It  has  already  in¬ 
vaded  nearly  all  parts  of  European  Russia,  and  caused 
at  least  150,000  deaths.  In  Germany  the  first  great 
outbreak  occurred  less  than  two  weeks  ago  in  Ham¬ 
burg,  to  which  place  it  was  brought  by  the  crowds  of 
unutterably  filthy,  shiftless,  abominable  Jewish  exiles 
on  their  obnoxious  way  from  Russia  to  this  country. 
At  present  it  is  known  to  be  slaying  hundreds  and 
thousands  in  over  40  towns  in  the  Fatherland,  includ¬ 
ing  Berlin,  and  to  be  spreading  rapidly.  It  has  already 
broken  out  in  Vienna  and  several  other  places  in 
Austria  ;  in  Paris,  Havre  and  other  cities  in  France  ; 
in  Venice,  Genoa  and  Naples,  Italy  ;  at  the  Hague,  in 
Holland,  and  at  Antwerp  and  Brussels,  Belgium.  In¬ 
deed  its  ravages  are  sure  to  be  soon  felt  all  over  con¬ 
tinental  Europe.  Syria  and  Egypt  have  also  been 
stricken.  In  Great  Britain,  despite  all  precautions,  it 
has  made  its  dreaded  appearance,  in  London,  Liver¬ 
pool  and  Glasgow,  and  is  pretty  sure  to  visit  most 
other  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  now  that  it  has 
secured  a  foothold.  Last  Wednesday,  August  31,  the 
American-IIamburg  steamer  Moravia  arrived  at  the 
port  of  New  York  after  a  10  days’  voyage  from  Ham¬ 
burg.  She  had  358  passengers  on  board,  and,  within  24 
hours  after  leaving  port,  cholera  broke  out  among  them 
and  there  were  22  deaths  from  it  during  the  voyage. 
Thus  the  terrible  plague  has  at  length  reached  our 
shores,  but  owing  to  the  precautions  taken  it  has  not 
yet  effected  a  landing.  Even  if  it  should  do  so,  the 
skill  of  the  age,  and  the  safeguards  adopted  would,  to 
a  great  extent,  rob  it  of  its  terrors. 
The  Federal  and  State  authorities  are  acting  ener¬ 
getically  and  harmoniously  in  all  the  seaboard  and 
frontier  parts  of  the  country  to  prevent  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  the  plague  altogether,  and  to  localize  and  mini¬ 
mize  its  ravages  should  it  creep  in  despite  all  precau¬ 
tions.  The  President,  having  turned  aside  from  a 
political  tour  to  attend  to  the  emergency,  has  directed 
a  quarantine  of  20  days  against  all  vessels  bringing 
immigrants  to  this  country  from  any  foreign  port. 
The  authorities  at  each  port  here  will  doubtless  have 
discretionary  power  to  exempt  vessels  from  ports  or 
countries  where  the  disease  does  not  exist ;  but  the 
general  opinion  is  that  the  measure  is  equivalent  to 
an  embargo  on  the  European  steerage  traffic  until  the 
disappearance  of  the  plague.  Strict  inspection  of 
cabin  passengers  and  disinfection  of  their  belongings 
are  also  rigidly  required.  The  mails  and  cargoes  of 
ships  are  also  to  be  fumigated  ;  and  unless  the  Treas¬ 
ury  rules  for  the  disinfection  of  wool  and  other  articles 
likely  to  convey  the  genus  of  the  disease,  at  the  ports 
of  embarkation,  are  strictly  obeyed  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  American  Consuls  there,  they  will  be  rigorously 
debarred  from  touching  land  in  this  country.  The 
m  tin  danger  of  infection  is  from  Canada,  whose  quaran¬ 
tine  regulations  and  provisions  are  notoriously  inade¬ 
quate  ;  but  the  number  of  national  health  inspectors 
along  the  frontier  has  been  doubled  and  the  utmost 
vigilance  enjoined.  All  along  the  coast  the  State 
authorities  have  also  acted  vigorously,  taking  all 
sanitary  precautions  and  making  ample  arrangements 
to  carry  out  a  rigid  quarantine.  In  all  cases  the  num¬ 
ber  of  sanitary  inspectors  has  been  adequately  in¬ 
creased,  and  every  wise  precaution  suggested  by 
science  and  experience  has  been  adopted.  Nearly  all 
the  cities  and  large  towns  throughout  the  country 
have  also  begun  to  clean  up  foul  places  and  remove  all 
invitations  to  the  scourge.  At  none  of  the  four  prev¬ 
ious  visitations  of  the  disease  in  this  country — in  1832, 
1818,  1852  and  1806 — was  anything  like  such  elaborate 
and  widespread  preparation  made  beforehand  to  check 
its  career  and  minimize  its  fatality. 
What,  then,  is  the  character  of  the  plague  which 
spreads  abroad  such  terror,  and  against  whose  devas¬ 
tations  so  many  precautions  are  taken?  It  is  probably 
the  severest  and  most  fatal  of  all  diseases  that  now 
curse  humanity.  It  is  a  specific,  infectious,  and,  in  a 
certain  sense,  contagious  disease  whose  vehicles  of 
transmission  are  the  discharges  from  the  bowels  of 
persons  already  affected,  and  from  these  the  cholera- 
infecting  matter  is  exceedingly  apt  to  be  diffused 
through  the  air,  to  contaminate  water,  milk  and  other 
exposed  liquids,  and  to  become  attached  to  clothing, 
bedding,  etc. ,  and  in  these  various  ways  to  find  ready 
entrance,  through  the  lungs  or  alimentary  canals,  into 
the  bodies  of  healthy  people,  where  it  is  capable  of 
developing  the  disease  in  a  more  or  less  severe  form 
according  to  the  quantity  introduced  and  the  predis¬ 
position  of  the  subjects  to  the  malady.  Overcrowding 
and  other  insanitary  conditions,  especially  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  decomposing  matter,  are  favorable  to  the 
spread  of  the  disease,  although  of  themselves  incapable 
of  originating  it.  High  temperature  favors  its 
development,  though  some  of  the  severest  epi¬ 
demics  have  raged  with  the  utmost  fury  in  winter. 
It  may  be  carried  from  place  to  place  by  the  agency 
of  the  wind,  but  there  is  no  satisfactory  evi- 
idence  on  this  point.  It  generally  prevails  more 
extensively  and  virulently  in  low-lying  districts 
than  on  elevated  situations.  Shallow,  porous  soils 
are  particularly  favorable  to  its  development.  It  has 
been  amply  proved,  too,  that  among  persons  living 
under  precisely  the  same  conditions,  some  will  suffer, 
while  others  will  escape,  so  that  there  is  undoubtedly 
a  special  liability  of  individuals  to  infection.  The  most 
fruitful  source  of  infection  in  all  cases  is  the  use  of 
drinking  water  and  other  beverages,  especially  milk, 
contaminated  directly  or  through  atmospheric  impuri¬ 
ties  with  emanations  from  the  discharges  of  patients. 
Boiling  the  liquids  invariably  kills  the  germs,  and  the 
hotter  and  sooner  they  are  drunk  thereafter  the  bet¬ 
ter.  Of  cases  promptly  and  properly  attended  to  in 
the  first  mild  or  premonitory  diarrheal  stage,  five  out 
of  six  are  likely  to  recover ;  but  of  those  who 
have  reached  the  second  or  “  collapse  ”  stage  through 
the  first  or  at  a  bound,  as  is  frequently  the  case, 
hardly  one  in  two  can  hope  to  pull  through  by  the  aid 
of  the  greatest  skill  and  care.  The  period  of  incubation, 
during  which  no  symptom  of  the  latent  disease  appears, 
seldom  exceeds  15  days,  and  is  generally  much  shorter. 
The  name  cholerine  has  been  given  to  a  form  of  the 
disease  milder  in  all  its  stages,  but  essentially  the  same. 
An  Interesting  Work. 
Under  the  direction  of  the  New  York  State  Dairy¬ 
men’s  Association,  Messrs.  Geo.  T.  Powell  and  Chas. 
W.  Jennings  have  recently  made  a  census  of  the  dairy 
business  of  the  town  of  Bovina,  in  Delaware  County, 
N.  Y.  The  results  of  this  work,  which  will  be  pub¬ 
lished  in  a  bulletin  at  an  early  date,  will  be  very  inter¬ 
esting  and  valuable.  There  are  about  120  dairy  farms 
in  the  town,  with  dairies  averaging  about  22  head  of 
cattle.  With  the  exception  of  four  or  five  scrubs,  every 
cow  in  the  town  is  a  Jersey,  Guernsey  or  a  grade  of 
these  bloods.  I  he  butter  of  the  town  last  year  aver¬ 
aged  about  23  cents  per  pound.  It  is  all  made  in  pri¬ 
vate  dairies  ;  there  is  not  a  butter  or  cheese  factory  in 
the  town  and  not  a  separator.  The  best  herd  in  the 
town  is  that  of  John  Hobbie,  of  Bovina  Center,  30 
cows,  nearly  all  thoroughbred  Jerseys,  which  averaged 
347  pounds  of  butter  per  head,  which  sold  at  an  aver¬ 
age  of  20  cents  per  pound.  The  product  of  two  or 
three  other  dairies,  with  smaller  averages  of  produc¬ 
tion,  sold  at  26  cents  per  pound.  Two  or  three  Bab¬ 
cock  testers  were  found  in  the  town.  Most  of  the 
dairymen  use  creamers  such  as  the  Delaware,  Crystal, 
Cooley  and  Triumph,  and  some  use  a  home-made 
affair.  Some  few  set  their  milk  in  tin  sap-buckets  on 
the  cellar  bottom,  without  water,  and  many  use  the 
old-fashioned  shallow  pans.  Very  few  in  the  town 
use  ice.  The  best  and  most  successful  dairymen  are 
those  who  feed  best.  Some  60  tests  of  milk  were  made, 
some  of  herds  and  some  of  individual  cows.  Some 
herds  showed  as  high  as  six  per  cent  of  butter  fats,  and 
individual  cows  showed  eight.  There  must  be  a  good 
many  400-pound  cows  in  that  town. 
Farmers’  Loan  Associations. 
We  have  often  referred  to  the  fact  that  many  farmers 
need  cash  at  times  to  develop  some  line  of  farming 
Frequently  they  are  crippled  financially  because  they 
cannot  obtain  the  needed  amount  just  at  the  right 
time.  They  do  not  know  where  to  obtain  a  loan  except 
at  a  high  rate  of  interest.  We  receive  many  letters 
from  our  readers  asking  for  advice  as  as  to  how  to  se¬ 
cure  a  loan.  Their  plans  may  be  fully  practical  and 
safe,  but  because  they  are  new,  nearby  friends  and 
neighbors  who  might  lend,  will  not  advance  a  dollar. 
Too  often  such  neighbors  prefer  to  put  their  money  in 
bonds  of  Western  or  Southern  towns  instead  of  using 
it  to  build  up  home  industries.  Here  is  a  sample  letter 
from  Presque  Isle  County,  Mich.: 
I  have  !>00  acres  of  timber  land,  with  about  100  acres  improved,  and 
also  400  of  “plains”  land  which  will  grow  good  crops  of  clover, 
and  it  affords  good  feed  for  sheep  now.  There  are  also  alongside  of 
the  tract  hundreds  of  acres  of  land  which  would  afford  abundant  pas¬ 
ture  to  thousands  of  sheep  in  the  summer.  I  have  about.50  tons  of  hay 
this  year— more  than  enough  for  all  my  stock.  It  would  bring  about  $111 
per  ton  In  the  lumber  camps  nearby.  I  think  If  I  had  a  partner  who 
would  take  a  $1,000  share  in  ray  property,  so  that  wo  could  have  cash 
enough  to  buy  100  sheep  and  build  one  barn  for  winter,  we  could  clear 
$1,000  this  winter  out  of  timber,  so  that  we  could  buy  more  sheep  and 
build  another  barn  next  summer.  There  are  lots  of  building  mate¬ 
rials  so  that  the  buildings  would  not  be  so  costly  as  in  some  other 
places.  Now,  if  Tins  Rural  New-Yorker  knows  of  anyone  that 
would  take  a  share  in  the  place  or  lend  $1,000  at  a  reasonable  rate  of 
interest,  a  s'art  can  be  made  a  year  sooner.  The  land  is  all  paid  for  aud 
there  is  no  mortgage  on  any  of  it,  and  I  don’t  like  to  put  any  on. 
This  is  a  sample  of  several  propositions,  all  of  which 
seem  reasonable  and  practicable.  How  can  such  men 
obtain  their  loans  ? 
Business  Bits. 
Lively  times  just  now  In  the  hop  fields! 
It  seems  like  reading  of  the  old  days  of  ’4i>  to  learn  that  a  Nevada 
farmer  recently  sold  out  his  potatoes  at  10  cents  a  pound  ! 
I).  M.  CAMPBELL,  of  Oneonta,  N.  Y.,  breeder  of  Ayrshire  cattle 
writes:  “  Your  paper  is  doing  good  work  and,  from  my  correspondence, 
appears  to  be  far  reaching.”  Mr.  Campbell  is  one  of  the  Ayrshire 
breeders  who  believe  in  letting  folks  know  where  these  fine  cattle  can 
be  found. 
Another  Old  Machine.— Here  in  Chaplnvllle,  N.  Y.,  I  have  a 
mowing  machine  made  by  Walter  A.  Wood,  purchased  tn  1807.  and  it 
has  been  used  on  mv  farm  of  80  acres  every  year  since.  For  a  few 
years  after  it  was  pu-chased  it  cut  the  grass  on  the  farms  of  three  of 
my  neighbors  in  addition  to  that  on  my  own.  It  does  good  work  now, 
although  the  bearings  are  considerably  worn.  wm.  w.  w. 
This  note  comes  from  one  who  says  he  has  been  helped  by  an 
answer  in  the  Farmer's  Club  department  of  Tiie  It.  N'-Y.:  “  It  Is 
strange  to  me  that  all  farmers  do  not  appreciate  what  a  friend  to  help 
them  they  have  in  The  Rural  New-Yorker— the  knowledge  they 
can  gain  from  a  simple  perusal  of  each  issue,  together  with  the  prac¬ 
tical  wisdom  and  advice  they  may  secure  by  only  making  known  their 
needs,  should  not  for  a  moment  be  compared  with  the  subscription 
they  pay.” 
“Clear  as  Crystal.”— If  anything  is  clearer  than  that  we  want 
to  know  what  it  is.  And  yet  it  is  none  too  clear  to  be  used  in  the  pro¬ 
cess  of  butter  making.  That  is  what  the  Crystal  Creamery  Co  ,  of 
Lansing,  Michigan,  decided  when  they  made  up  their  minds  to  push 
their  creamer.  Their  creamer  is  made  of  glass— the  milk,  cream  and 
dirt— if  there  is  any-are  all  in  plain  sight,  where  they  should  be. 
The  result  of  the  honorable  business  done  by  this  firm  Is  that  people 
see  into  the  creamers,  like  them  and  purchase.  Take  a  look  yourself. 
Government  Railroads.— Rural  writers  seem  to  be  afraid  that 
should  railroads  be  run  by  the  General  Government,  the  army  of 
office-holders  would  run  the  country.  While  everything  British  Is 
unpopular  with  Americans,  may  one  who.  as  the  satirist  has  said,  was 
born  in  a  country  of  “  fair  faun  chiles  sae  fond  of  country  that  they 
leave  It  fast  in  scores,”  make  a  suggestion  in  this  line.  At  one  time  I 
studied  to  enter  the  Custom  House  service  of  “good  Queen  Vic,”  and 
no  servant  of  the  Government,  i.  e.,  no  one  who  comes  under  the  rules 
of  the  British  Civil  Service,  is  allowed  to  take  any  part  in  general  elec¬ 
tions.  Why  shouldn’t  Americans  try  a  dose  of  this  “Civil  Service 
Reform”  so  that  public  servants  could  not  be  branded  with  the  charge 
of  “  offensive  partisanship.”  R  SX-I)E 
WANTS  A  Place.— Some  weeks  ago  The  R.  N  -Y.  started  a  discuss¬ 
ion  of  the  chances  of  young  men  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  As 
our  readers  know,  this  has  called  out  many  interesting  comments. 
Among  them  Is  this  note  from  a  young  man  in  Chester  Countv,  Pa.: 
My  idea  at  present  Is  to  qualify  myself  to  own  and  manage  a  small 
fruit  and  flower  farm.  As  I  have  not  sufficient  capital  either  to  take  a 
course  at  an  agricultural  college  or  buy  any  land  at  present,  my  re¬ 
solve  is  to  get  a  position  with  some  careful  and  reliable  man  who 
would  be  willing  to  aid  me  In  acquiring  good  moral  and  business 
habits.”  The  R.  N.-Y.  believes  that  this  young  man  is  worthy  and 
reliable  and  we  will  furnish  his  address  to  those  who  would  like  to 
correspond  with  him. 
Dioging  Drains  in  Swamps.— During  dry  fall  weather  is  the  best 
time  to  make  drains  in  swamps.  Then  the  latter  are  drier  than  at  any 
other  season,  and  the  ground  of  course  is  firmer,  although  It  may  be 
wet.  I  he  bank  of  the  ditch  will  stand  In  dry  land  that  would  run  down 
when  full  of  water,  and  may  Btay  so  for  years,  as  the  tough,  fibrous 
peat,  when  dry,  is  not  weathered  in  the  least,  but  when  saturated  with 
water  will  run  down  easily.  A  good  way  of  digging  out  swamp  muck 
when  the  land  is  wet  is  as  follows:  A  beginning  is  made  at  the  lowest 
part,  and  a  pit  12  or  16  feet  long  and  as  wide  as  may  be  required  is  dug 
out.  the  water  being  thrown  out  if  it  does  not  run  off.  A  bank  12 
Inches  thick  is  left  to  keep  back  the  water.  Then  a  new  pit  is  made 
leaving  a  bank  as  before;  if  water  comes  in  it  is  dipped  out  with  a 
scoop,  and  in  this  way  a  succession  of  pits  is  made  until  the  end  is 
reached.  Then  the  dividing  banks  are  taken  away.  In  this  way  I 
have  dug  out  several  hundred  loads  of  muck  in  grouDd  so  wet  that 
frogs  were  found  five  feet  below  the  surface  in  the  soft  stuff,  and  the 
man  who  did  the  work  had  dry  feet,  of  course  wearing  rubber  boots. 
But  no  water  troubled  him.  The  best  tool  for  digging  muck  is  a  grain 
scoop  shovel.  ..  s 
