i9o 
March 18 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Ill 
Rural New-Yorker 
71MES BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
A. national Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
ELBERT 8. CABMAN, Editor-In-Chief. 
HERBEBT W. COLLINGWOOD, Managing Editor 
ERWIN G. FOWLEB, Associate Editor. 
Copyrighted 1833. 
Address all communications and make all orders payable to The 
Rural Publishing Company. 
Money orders and bank drafts are the safest In transmitting money. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1893. 
The papers tell us that the inauguration at Wash¬ 
ington last week was made the occasion of about the 
worst public drunken debauch ever witnessed in this 
country. So many drunken men were reeling about 
in the storm that the public ambulances were kept 
busy taking them to shelter. It was much the same 
four years ago and will continue to be the same until 
some party goes to Washington without the rum shops 
and the drunkards to shout for it. Say what you will 
about Populists or Prohibitionists—there would be 
more reform than rum about the inauguration of their 
President. * * 
Comptroller Wemple of New York State, in his 
report for 1891—’9?, estimates that $2,500,000,000 of 
personal property annually escapes taxation in this 
State. The assessed value of this kind of property in 
that financial year was $404,173,588, or less than one- 
fifth of wl?at escaped taxation. Corporations shirked 
their due proportion of the public burdens as atro¬ 
ciously as did individuals. Of 654 transportation com¬ 
panies in the State, 343 managed to escape altogether, 
while big insurance companies, telegraph and other 
associations outdid the railroads as “ artful dodgers.’’ 
Honesty, therefore—and chiefly in rural districts—had 
to bear much more than its proper share of taxation. 
In the words of that other monumental rascal, these 
dishonest capitalists and corporations may well, in 
the light of the past, ask the public: “Well, what 
are you going to do about it ? ” 
* * 
There is probably not in the State of New York to¬ 
day so mean and hoggish a corporation as the Long 
Island Railroad, presided over by Austin Corbin and 
his coadjutors. Its passenger rates are too high—so 
much so that they act as a general damper on travel, 
and its freight rates are but one remove from piracy. 
The people of Long Island have submitted to the ex¬ 
tortion of Mr. Corbin long enough. The time has 
come when the politics of Long Island should hinge 
on the question of legislative interference with this 
corporation, which has sucked the blood from pro¬ 
ducers and consumers alike and which has been a 
most effective handicap to Long Island’s growth. 
Vox populi, vox Dei. Let the people remember this. 
Let them not waste any time or attention on Mr. Cor¬ 
bin, but go to the legislature for relief. Let them make 
the fight there, and if they fail the first year they 
should go at it again. Success is to be won by an 
earnest fight. The power that made this corporation 
can and will stretch out its hands to prevent the spoli¬ 
ation of the people, if the matter be fairly pre¬ 
sented. Up and at them 1 
* # 
We have had a number of complaints concerning the 
business methods of a certain firm in Chicago, that 
makes a specialty of furnishing creamery supplies. 
Mr. Wales referred to it in his article last week. 
This firm advertises heavily in all the agricultural 
papers except The R. N.-Y. We refused its advertis¬ 
ing though it has been offered us repeatedly. We do 
not like its way of doing business, and shall give no 
countenance to its operations, no matter what other 
agricultural papers may do. This firm sends a repre¬ 
sentative to a farming community where there is no 
creamery. By securing the cooperation of one or two 
prominent farmers, the glib-tongued agent induces a 
number of the farmers to subscribe for stock in a 
creamery. The whole thing is painted in glowing 
colors and, in spite of any conservative appeal to 
common-sense that may be made, the agent usually 
succeeds in securing a contract for building a creamery 
about twice as large as the community can well sup¬ 
port. The firm then retires well satisfied with a profit 
large enough to pay good wages to the “ prominent 
farmers ” who helped boom the scheme. The farmers 
start up with their creamery, run it for perhaps six 
months on half the quantity of milk needed and then 
figure up and find they are running behind all the 
time. Why ? They paid nearly twice as much for the 
outfit as they ought to, they built too big a plant to 
begin with, and there are holes in the contract that 
permit the firm to put in inferior goods and fixtures. 
The operations of this firm have compelled several of 
our experiment stations to issue special bulletins 
warning farmers to go slow in starting these creamer¬ 
ies. Dozens of complaints have reached us, all of the 
same tenor—disappointment and dissatisfaction with 
the promises and practices of this firm. These people 
are too sharp to step outside of the law in their deal¬ 
ing, and they can only say : “ Well, if these farmers 
are fools enough to get caught let them go it—they 
had a chance to see what was going on 1” This same 
view of the matter is probably what induces other 
agricultural papers to advertise this firm and thus 
practically indorse its methods. This The R. N.-Y. 
will not do. We are not seeking the easiest sort 
of agricultural journalism, but the truest and most 
helpful. * * 
The McMahon Bill now before the New York State 
Senate provides for the appointment of a commission 
to regulate telephone charges, and should meet with 
the hearty approval of the public. The original Bell 
telephone patent expired at 12 o'clook last Tuesday 
night, but this fact will have little or no effect on the 
present monopoly, as it has already bound the business 
men of the country with iron bands in all directions, 
and holds a multitude of patents on special features 
of the invention, which will probably protect its pres¬ 
ent extortions for years. Its business is not to serve 
the public but to plunder it. What does it care about 
furnishing first-class service at reasonable rates, when 
it can charge arbitrary rates on the meanest plant 
that will do the work? A number of the patents it 
has purchased and holds unused, would, if put into 
service, greatly increase the efficiency and decrease 
the cost of telephoning; but why should it go to 
the expense of making the necessary changes in its 
equipment, when it can, under the present conditions, 
charge what it pleases ? It has already wrung tens 
of millions of dollars from the pockets of the people 
beyond a generous return for the talent and capital 
represented by it. Isn’t it full time that the law which 
has hitherto protected its questionable rights should 
at length check its unquestionable extortions ? 
* * 
Is there any legislation affecting the social and fam¬ 
ily relations of the community more seriously in need 
of reform than the discordant divorce laws of the 
country at large? Marriage is the basis of the family, 
the family of the State, and the State of the Nation, 
why then tolerate any longer the fast-and-loose jug¬ 
glery with the foundation of society practiced in too 
many of the States? Why clamor against the infamy 
of Utah and remain silent about the disgrace of South 
Dakota? But what should be the nature of the reform? 
Ah! there’s the rub. Inasmuch as the question affects 
the morality and stability of the Nation, however, 
shouldn’t the laws relating to it be uniform in all parts 
of the Union? Already eight of the States have ap¬ 
pointed commissions on this subject—Delaware, 
Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New 
Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, while the Gov¬ 
ernors of California, Connecticut, Kentucky and North 
Carolina have officially favored the proposed uniform¬ 
ity of legislation. The National Divorce Reform 
League favors, in the first place, an attempt to secure 
uniform legislation in the several States, and, should 
this prove impracticable, it advocates an amendment 
of the Federal Constitution giving Congress power to 
regulate the laws for the entire Union. A proposed 
constitutional amendment to that effect has been al¬ 
ready adversely reported in the House, on the ground 
that it would be in violation of the essential principles 
of our Federal system, so that the most feasible plan 
seems to be to seek reform through the State Legisla¬ 
tures. The matter is of paramount importance and, 
on moral and patriotic grounds, eminently worthy of 
the best attention of our readers. 
* * 
It is reasonably estimated that there are over 10,000 
bucket shops scattered throughout the country. They 
are located in the small as well as large towns and 
cities, and even in large villages they have correspon¬ 
dents who get commissions on the business they secure 
or pay for the quotations sent to them. Many of them 
start with little or no capital; for what is required 
beyond enough to furnish the office more or less 
roughly or elaborately ? They never pay the general 
public unless they have to, and most of them manage 
so that they never have to. Of course, they pay in 
individual cases, but they are always “ahead of the 
game,” while customers are certain to fall away 
behind in the long run. For a man without principle, 
keeping a bucket shop is an easy and safe way of 
swindling the public. The patrons always play on a 
small margin, generally from one to half of one per 
cent. Suppose a man puts up $10 on 10 shares of 
Manhattan or Chicago & Northwestern stock, and 49 
others do likewise. The shares are constantly flunctu- 
ating, and though at the close of the day they are 
higher than in the morning, all the 'investors may 
readily lose. How ? By secret arrangement between 
the bucket shop owner and some unscrupulous member 
of the Stock Exchange or an intermediary : the broker 
during the day quietly sells 50 or 100 shares at one 
point below the opening price regardless of the fact 
that it has since risen one point. This costs him from 
$100 to $200, which the bucket shop man, having 
received $500 from his dupes, readily pays with $100 
more for the man’s trouble, still retaining $200 for his 
own share. This trick is often played with farm pro¬ 
duce through a member of a Produce Exchange. 
When failure is threatened or a specially fortunate 
run of luck has filled the rascal’s coffers to an unusual 
extent, he shuts his doors, and what can his dupes do, 
even if he remains to face their reproaches ? Usually 
however, in such cases he disappears, not infrequently 
to return to start the same business again, and finally 
to fleece, very often, the same gudgeons. The bucket 
shop is an unmitigated evil ; an incentive to the 
baldest kind of gambling and a source of rich reward 
for dishonesty, and should be promptly suppressed. 
# # 
BREVITIES. 
I went to hear a fellow make a speech the other night; 
I tell ye what, he pictured up the future good and bright. 
He said the time was coming when 'most every nation would 
Be banded up together In one great big brotherhood. 
Then charity will rule us, and the rich will only pray 
For some new-fangled method for to give their gold away; 
And poverty and trouble, want and envy, so he said, 
In that good time a-comlng would be just knocked on the head 
It’s way off In the future, this great happy by and by. 
Won’t none of us be In It. for It’s too far off, says I. 
Let’s not sit here a-waltlng; It will never come, Indeed, 
Unless we all hitch to It and just quicken up Its speed. 
The world will be no better until folks like you and me 
Can learn to view our neighbors with an honest charity, 
And realize this lesson that the past has always told, 
The things of highest value never can be bought with gold. 
Scouring kills souring. 
Cow peas will please cows. 
Go to that Kansas garden—page 188, and learn how to Irrigate. 
How has the Concord grape ever managed to hold the market so 
long ? 
What Is your private opinion of a man who will overwork a willing 
horse ? 
Gump meams a dolt or Idiot. Gumption means shrewdness or 
smartness. Gump shun Is good advice. 
What would give a rosy outlook to dairying? A law compelling 
manufacturers to give oleomargarine a rose color. 
Wanted ! somebody to give us one single Instance where adultera¬ 
tion has ever really cheapened an article of food. 
Mr. Baldwin’s dairy cows, page 183, are herded like sheep. No 
stanchion or halters there—and yet they win a prize with their 
butter. 
A certificate of government bounty paid for maple sugar ought 
to be a good advertisement of purity. Surely no bogus sugar can 
pasB muster. 
HENS that go out doors “ when the weather permits ” are all right, 
because, left to Itself, the weather would not let them go out from 
November till April. 
Mrs. Allen, page 183, noticed that when her cows were not com¬ 
fortable both milk and butter yields fell off. That Is to say, cream 
comes from comfort. 
Now don’t care a button If your cow Is a glutton so long as she 
turns her food to milk; but a mere manure maker, why, let the 
butcher take her; her mistress will never dress In silk. 
The man who said he was eager to bet his “ money on a bob-tailed 
nag ” must have been breeding Hackneys. When we can legally pre¬ 
vent the docking of Hackney tails, we shall have a tine horse. 
Mr. Birge. page 185, gives us another Illustration of the value of a 
silo. The cows called dry rye hay good enough for bedding only. When 
mixed with ensilage, however, It became plenty good enough to eat. 
Who can give us, from actual experience, the real cost in time, 
money and labor of spraying an acre of potatoes with Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture by means of a Knapsack sprayer ? No estimate or theory, please, 
but actual experience. 
A friend In Illinois sends us his circular In which he announces 
that he sells pop-corn “ cured without the aid of rats or mice.” That 
is a good way to put It. The struggle of life Is to get rid of the harm¬ 
ful assistance of those who force their work upon us. 
Among the Institutions to be described this year Is a Connecticut 
steer farm where dozens of yokes of good Devon steers are trained 
and sold every year. Don’t laugh, you Western farmers. These 
steers are as active and quick as your horses and earn money for their 
owners. 
ON another page will be found a list of questions concerning frozen 
ensilage. Prof. King of Wisconsin, Is an expert In the construction of 
silos and he desires to secure all possible information as to the con¬ 
struction necessary to prevent freezing. He says that the great bulk 
of silo experience has been obtained in a series of comparatively 
warm winters. The present winter affords a good opportunity for 
observing the effect of freezing in the silo, and we hope those of our 
readers who have actual experience to offer will put it on record. 
A judge In Pittsburgh, Pa., Is reported to have said when sentencing 
252 oleomargarine dealers to pay $100:—“ This law has been in force 
eight years, and only three years ago the United States Supreme 
Court affirmed its constitutionality. Since it Is on our statute-book, It 
must be lived up to, but I will Bay that I think it an outrageous law, 
and it should never have been passed. It should not be permitted 
longer to disgrace the 8 tate, and the people should see that it Is an¬ 
nulled.” Probably If a bogus lawyer were brought before the judge 
—that is a man never admitted to the bar—he would give him the full 
punishment. The proper thing for that judge to do Is to resign If the 
State laws do not suit him I 
Owing to the prevalence of contagious pleuro-pneumonla in Can¬ 
ada, and the English embargo on cattle from that country, the United 
States Government has prohibited the Importation of cattle across the 
northern border except after a quarantine of 90 days. At first our 
friends over the line were disposed to resent this measure as 
likely to seriously injure their trade, forgetful of the promptness with 
which the Dominion scheduled American cattle when. In 1878, Eng¬ 
land put an embargo on them; now, however, they are disposed to 
view the matter less seriously as they learn that their interests are 
not greatly involved. In 1891 Canadian cattle to the value of only 
$21,000 were shipped to the United States out of a total of $7,745,000 to 
all countries. The amount of benefit or Injury people are likely to 
sustain from a measure has always a great Influence on their opinion 
of Its character 
