1891 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
9i 
The exodus of Jews to this country is 
heavier than ever before. 
A convention of Western railroad mag¬ 
nates, including the president and one di¬ 
rector of each of the great roads west of 
Chicago, has lately been in session in this 
city. An agreement for permanently regu¬ 
lating freight and passenger rates has been 
made. Tonnage pools are to be formed in 
which each road will be allotted a certain 
percentage of the total business. Rate 
cutting is to be abolished. There is a dif¬ 
ference of^opinion as to whether separate 
offices of the combined railroads through¬ 
out the country shall be maintained, or 
whether joint agencies shall be established 
for the transaction of the business of all the 
roads. Probably the latter plan will be 
adopted. All questions affecting the joint 
interests are to be decided by an Advisory 
Board, consisting of chosen representatives 
of all the roads. The name of the new com¬ 
bination is to be the Western Traffic Asso¬ 
ciation, and it is to be based on the model 
of the Trunk Line Association between 
Chicago and the seaboard. Instead of one 
commissioner, however, as in the latter, 
there will be six to regulate and superin¬ 
tend all traffic arrangements. It will have 
complete control of all railroad traffic in 
all directions between the Mississippi and 
the Pacific, and doubtless a great if not 
paramount influence on all through trans¬ 
portation between the Atlantic and Pacific. 
It is the most extended and important rail¬ 
road combination that has ever been 
formed in any country. It professes an in¬ 
tention not to raise passenger or freight 
rates, but to seek greater profits by prevent¬ 
ing cut-throat competition and the con¬ 
struction of needless parallel lines and by 
the curtailment of working expenses, etc., 
etc. Jay Gould has been the prime mover 
in the matter. The new combination ap¬ 
pears too unwieldy and its interests seem 
too conflicting to permit it to last long; 
but while it lasts it can tax the trade, man¬ 
ufactures and traffic of the country for its 
own financial benefit just as it pleases. 
As the United States has assumed charge 
of all immigrants, Castle Garden where 
over four-fifths of all foreigners arriving 
in this whole country landed, has just been 
transferred from the State to the city. The 
wooden additions will be removed and the 
picturesque old Castle will be again visible 
and be devoted probably chiefly to amuse¬ 
ments. 
CAMP LIFE IN A FARM HOUSE. 
MARY WAGER FISHER. 
VII. 
As Anaximander was taking no extended 
vacation he was prevailed upon to spend 
one day mid-week at the farm, and Thurs¬ 
day was fixed upon. We had learned that 
we could hire a horse and carriage from 
one of the neighbors for a drive over 
the country on Thursday afternoons. 
On the first of these holiday excur¬ 
sions the weather was “threatening”—it 
had seemed all day as if it might rain the 
next minute ; but no rain fell and the sky 
continued to darken and clear at intervals, 
while a lively breezo sent scraps of clouds 
scudding overhead in a noticeable way. 
Several times during the drive I comment¬ 
ed on a peculiar lurid brightness on the 
horizon, unusual for mid-afternoon, being 
not unlike an after-sunset glow. However, 
we continued our drive, and reached the 
farm about six o’clock. While we were 
out we had obtained a quantity of delicious 
early apples from a farmer whom we did not 
know; but who, nevertheless, refused to 
take any money for them, and we had all 
eaten of them bountifully. But Wilfrid, 
who always had room for more, remarked 
that when we got back he intended to go 
first to the wild cherry on the creek and 
have his fill of cherries, for they were just 
ripe. But when he and Anaximander re¬ 
turned from taking the horse and carriage 
home, there were increased Indications of 
rain, and Wilfrid took a water-bucket to 
bring drinking water from the spring 
house across the road. He had not been 
gone more than 10 seconds when there came 
a sudden angry spurt of rain, which sud¬ 
denly ceased. 
The breeze of the afternoon had now be¬ 
come a wind, the tree tops were swaying, 
and the articles upon the piazza began to 
dance about in a very uncertain way. A- 
hurried to close the windows, while I 
unhooked the hammocks and tried to take 
into the house such movables as I could, 
that would be injured by rain. The [sway¬ 
ing trees about the piazza shut out all 
the view of the sky; but the look through 
them was strangely ominous. My first and 
whole thought was for Wilfrid, and going 
within (an instant later I could not have 
closed the door after me)—I ran to a corner 
room from which I could see him if he 
were in sight. The moments that followed 
were the most terrible I ever experienced, 
because Wilfrid was away and maybe 
crushed to death by a crashed tree or 
broken building. The noise that surged 
about the house—the house itself, with its 
thick walls of masonry, oaken beams and 
oaken floors, never even quivered—was 
like the wild outburst of a giant’s fury, 
twisting, writhing, and tearing up the 
earth in his rage—a sound as if mountains 
and forests had been uprooted and were 
being whirled and swirled through the air. 
And Wilfrid without!! Anaximander, who 
had been hurrying from room to room, clos¬ 
ing the windows, did not seem to realize the 
awfulness that prevailed out-of-doors, and 
finding me, as he said, “gone crazy,” coolly 
remarked: “Why, the child knows enough 
to keep out of the rain 1 He is all right 1” 
“ Oh, go for him! go for him 1” I gasped, 
senseless in my appeal: for no human being 
could have maintained his footing in the 
maelstorm visible through the windows. 
“ I will, after a bit,” he replied, “ this 
blow can’t last long.” It lasted not more 
than one minute—an eternity of terror to 
me, seeing only Wilfrid’s mangled body, 
and the life and light gone out of his bonny 
face. At the first subsidence of the storm, 
Anaximander threw on a large water-proof 
cloak and started for the spring-house. 
The western horizon at this moment began 
to take on a marvelous yellow glow, which 
shot up to the zenith, bathing in yellow 
the landscape, and transforming the gray 
road into a golden street. Presently, 
through this strange effulgence, I saw 
Anaximander coming with the boy beside 
him, both walking under the cloak and 
holding it out in front of them like the 
projecting roof of a tent. The child’s face 
shone with delight, and he was eagerly 
talking. He bounded into the room where 
I stood, shouting, “Oh you silly mamma 1 
Papa says you are just about daft about 
me 1 See! I am all right, only a little 
wet. The rain came from every direction 
and as if shot out of a gun. Isn’t it a 
strange light in the sky f ” 
“ I am very thankful, thankful,” I said, 
kissing his rosy cheeks. 
“ I don’t see why 1” he laughed. “I didn’t 
see that the storm was so very tremendous 
Guess I’ll go out and see how things look,’* 
and he and A. passed through the house 
until they came to the door opening upon 
the piazza. From the time this was opensd 
until half an hour later, the boy was 
screaming like an auctioneer, running back 
every few moments to me to detail what 
the cyclone had done. And when, later on, 
he was tucked in his cot for the night, he 
said with much emotion: 
“Indeed, we have reason to be very, very 
thankful, mamma! The cyclone escaped 
the rear of the house only by about 10 
feet.” 
It would take too long to tell all about 
our “ private cyclone,” as we called it, as 
no other place was damaged by its passage. 
It tore down 15 splendid trees, beginning 
with the wild cherry on the creek, passing 
thence up the rear of the lawn in a path 
about 100 feet wide; leveling to the ground 
everything in its path, and the Colorado 
Spruce, the superb drooping maple, two 
feet in diameter at its base, breaking some 
down and uprooting others. It tore down 
out-buildings or unroofted them; moved 
the large carriage house five or six feet on 
its foundation walls, then stretched out an 
arm towards the barn and tore off hundreds 
of shingles from its roof. The great 
branches from the maple that shaded the 
house in the morning were torn off and 
stacked up against the piazza. Our only 
pear tree, laden with pears nearly ripe, and 
the grape vines were picked clean of fruit 
and thrown to the ground. Jones and his 
family had no idea of what had happened, 
but as the road to the barn was blocked 
with prostrate trees of chestnut and wal¬ 
nut, Wilfrid was sent to inform the family, 
and they came in great excitement, which 
increased as they saw the destruction 
wrought in such a brief time. For days 
after people came from every direction to 
view the scene, the like of which had never 
before been Known in that region. The tail 
end of the cyclone struck and demolished 
in part a street car building in Philadelphia, 
killing two or three persons. 
PLAIN POINTERS 
From Persons and Papers of all 
Parties. 
Protection for the American Work¬ 
ingmen. —An order has been issued to the 
employees of the Cambria Iron Company, 
stating that on February 1 their wages 
would be reduced 10 per cent. This re¬ 
duction includes 5,000 men, from iron 
workers to miners, in the employ of the 
company.—Pittsburgh dispatch, January 
19. 
Sensible remarks by Congressman 
Hallowell, the defeated opponent of 
farmer Jerry Simpson, the Alliance Con¬ 
gressman-elect from Kansas: I seri¬ 
ously protest against all this ridicule of 
my successful opponent. It is not fair to 
his party or to him. He is the representa¬ 
tive and exponent of the intelligence and 
integrity of the men who elected him. I 
think in all candor that the press and the 
country should treat him as such and not 
belittle him, for he is more than the peer 
of such men as I have mentioned. 
A Brilliant Discovery.— In the year 
1882 the corn crop of the State of Kansas 
amounted to 144,453,000 bushels. With 
slight variations and a drop in 1887, the 
crops Increased from the figures given 
above to 240,580,000 in 1889, but in the year 
1890 the crop was nearly annihilated, the 
total output being but 55,269,000 bushels. 
Can any better solution be offered for the 
upheaval of the Republican party and the 
strength of the Alliance in the State of 
Kansas ? The figures tell their own story. 
Our‘ tariff reformers may lay it to the 
McKinley tariff if they will, but if the corn 
crop of 1890 had exceeded 2,000,000,000 
bushels, our friends in the West and North¬ 
west would have voted the Republican 
ticket with the same assurance as hereto¬ 
fore.—Albany Journal (Rep.) 
Good Advice for CoNgRESs.—The less 
Congress has to do with the Nicaragua 
Canal scheme the better for Congress.— 
Boston Advertiser (Rep). 
OUR BOOK CLUB. 
The Rural New-Yorker, price, $2 ; The American Garden, 
price, $2 ; taken together, $3. 
Either Rural or Garden, 1 year, in club with any American 
books (strictly on one order) to 
the value of $1.00, sent prepaid for $2.50 
“ 1.50; “ 2.75 
j » sent upon one Order. " 
tHOH' 'it vf : frk 'X - ’X 1 •X4f'X _ X’"X“X4(~X“X4^X"X4^XS<“X4£4^X“X“XHi(“X“X"X~X"X"X' ^ ^ 5*00 ^ ^ 550 
“ 10 . 00 , “ 10.00 
Both Rural and Garden, 1 year, in club with any American books to 
$1.00, sent prepaid for $3.85 
1.50, 
4.25 
2.00, 
4.50 
3.00, 
5.25 
5.00, 
6.50 
10.00, 
11.00 
If sent upon one Order. 
•L'Xr/r vf*Jf*X“X-*X“)(“X~X.*)f-X“X-X“X.*X“<fvr -X-) 
X-X“X-X-X-X-X"X“X-X-X"X-X-X“ 
HSHnf your own subscription is already paid for 1891, the paper 
or magazine may be sent to any other address, the books to your own, 
if sent upon one order. 
THE RURAL PUBLISHING CO., Times Building, New York. 
Turn the Guns on the Guilty White 
Men. —While everything was being done to 
end the Indian war, white men were selling 
cartridges to the hostile Indians. The 
Caucasian race has some low-down speci¬ 
mens, in spite of its general good record.— 
Baltimore-American (Rep). 
The Light of New Days. 
We—wife and I—have been more than 
pleased with our Pittsburgh lamps. At 
first we only half believed the claims of the 
manufacturers. We did not know that 
any kerosene light could be so beautifully 
soft and strong—a powerful light without 
glare and flicker, 
easy and delight¬ 
ful for tired eyes. 
Now we are con¬ 
vinced and hearti¬ 
ly indorse all the 
claims so far test¬ 
ed. The lamp it¬ 
self is a thing of 
beauty. Here is a 
picture of perhaps 
the handsomest of 
the series. They 
are finished in sil¬ 
ver, embossed and 
highly ornamen¬ 
tal. The “ Pitts¬ 
burgh ” is a prom¬ 
inent feature of our Premium List and we 
would be glad to send one to every home in 
the great Rural family, and we have ar¬ 
ranged to furnish our subscribers with any 
of these lamps at special rates. The silver 
lamp above figured, complete, with a year’s 
subscription, for $5.50; in brass, ditto, at 
$4 50. Retail prices for these lamps are con¬ 
siderably higher. For other styles see 
special circular, which will be sent on ap¬ 
plication. ipsrzf your own subscription 
is already paid for 1891, you can sell the 
subscription to some other party. 
Scroll Saw and Lathe. 
This scroll saw is one of the best made, 
swings nearly 16 inches clear,is composed en¬ 
tirely of iron and 
steel except the 
tables and pitmans, 
has very little fric¬ 
tion,will saw Black 
walnut one half 
inch thick, two feet 
a minute, and will 
saw inch walnut 
readily. A hand 
drill, screw-driver, 
$1 worth of pat¬ 
terns and one dozen 
saws go with each 
machine. Price $8: 
given for a clu*b of 
12 new subscrip¬ 
tions at $1.50. The lathe with stand and 
turning tools, all of excellent make, for $2 
additional. Saw and lathe complete sent 
for 15 new subscriptions at “ club price,” 
$1.50 each. 
Vacuum Tipped Arrow Pistol. 
This is as nearly harmless as any shoot¬ 
ing toy can possibly be. The projectile is 
an arrow armed with a rubber cup, which 
acts on the principle 
of a fly’s foot, stick¬ 
ing to the target by 
pressure of the atmos¬ 
phere. It is as accurate 
as a revolver. Price of pistol with arrow 
and target, bronze, 50 cents; nickel-plated 
75 cents. The first is sent, prepaid, for four 
trial subscriptions; the nickel-plated one 
for six at 25 cents. 
Hay Knives. 
Everybody knows what a good hay knife 
is. We will send one of the best (price 
$1 50; with a yearly subscription for $2.50. 
ESP If your own subscription is paid for 
1891, you can sell the subscription to your 
neighbor. 
Little Giant Tree Pruner. 
This is a combination saw and cutting 
tree pruner to be attached to a long pole. 
It is one of the best implements of its class. 
Price, $1 50, with a yearly subscription for 
$2.50. Q®" If your own subscription is 
paid for 1891, you can sell the subscription 
to your neighbor. 
