1893 
369 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE PROSPECT. 
Congress, over a year ago, passed the Geary Chinese 
Exclusion and Registration Law which, briefly, pro¬ 
vided for the total exclusion of Chinese laborers after 
it went into effect, and for the deportation to China 
of all resident here who had not registered with the 
officers of the Internal Revenue Rureau before May 5. 
The Six Companies of San Francisco, who control 
all of that class in this country, forbade them to 
comply with the law on the ground that it was uncon¬ 
stitutional, and out of the 110,000 who, it is esti¬ 
mated, reside here, only 3,100 registered in the 34 dis¬ 
tricts that have reported, and in the 29 others prob¬ 
ably not over 2,900 have done so, making a total of 
6,000. Just before the law was to go into force, the 
Government instructed its subordinates not to arrest 
unregistered Chinese on and after May 5, as the law 
provided, but to defer doing so until they had received 
further instructions, so as to afford an opportunity 
for testing the constitutionality of the law before the 
United States Supreme Court. Accordingly on May 5 
three unregistered Chinese were arrested in this city 
and brought before United States Judges Brown and 
Lacombe on habeas corpus, who refused to grant it, 
and the case was at once taken before the United 
States Supreme Court at Washington, where it was 
tried at once. Last Monday the Court handed down 
its decision. Five of the members were for and three 
against the constitutionality of the law—Chief Justice 
Fuller and Justices Field and Brewer being the dis¬ 
sentients, Justice Harlan being absent. Justice Gray, 
in announcing the judgment of the Court, said that 
the power of the Nation to restrict or prohibit the 
immigration of any aliens or to require those already 
in the country to remove therefrom was a well set¬ 
tled principle of international law and was confirmed 
by an unbroken line of decisions by that Court. A 
motion for rehearing the case before a full bench was 
denied, and so the decision stands. 
X X X 
The Geary Law provided no appropriations for its 
enforcement, and of the appropriation of $100,000 for 
enforcing the previously existing Chinese laws for the 
fiscal year 1892-3, only $16,806.03 remain unexpended, 
while the cost of sending the 104,000 unregistered 
Chinese laborers in different parts of the country to 
China cannot be less than $6,000,000, as the rate on 
shipboard is $35 per head, and the other expenses 
would run the amount up to at least $75 per capita. 
As there are no funds to be applied to the purpose, it 
is probable that either a special session of Congress 
will soon be called to make a suitable appropriation 
and perhaps modify the law, or that no action will be 
taken until the meeting of the regular session in 
December, or of an extra one called before that time 
to act on the financial and tariff questions. It seems 
contrary to the Geary Act to extend the time for 
registration beyond May 5, otherwise most of the resi¬ 
dent laborers here now would no doubt comply with 
its provisions. Returned Chinese missionaries predict 
mob violence against Americans in China, and retal¬ 
iation by the Chinese Government; but the latest 
cablegrams intimate that the government, while vig¬ 
orously protesting against the law, will not resort to 
such extreme measures. Chinese merchants in this 
country, to whom the law does not apply, threaten to 
sue the government for damages caused by the expul¬ 
sion of their customers and the consequent ruin of 
their trade and the loss of money due tq them from 
the exiles. Many complications and no small injury 
to American trade are likely to result from the en¬ 
forcement of the law, and various plans are being 
devised by the Chinese, their able lawyers and the 
multitude opposed to the law, to evade it. 
XXX 
In the programme adopted by the Republican League 
Convention at Louisville the other day, there is one 
proposition to which all parties are likely to assent— 
the necessity for prompt action for the improvement 
of roads throughout the country. This is the first time 
the road question has been made a national political 
issue, and it is likely therefore to receive a greatly 
increased amount of general attention. As in not a 
few other matters, Massachusetts has long been ahead 
of her sister States in her care of the highways, and 
to this more than to any other cause is due the large 
number of summer residences of wealthy city people 
which are a source of advancement, beauty and income 
in the rural parts of the State. Neighboring sections 
may be equal or even superior in beauty and pictur¬ 
esqueness of natural scenery, but in her roads the old 
Bay State offers invalids and lovers of ease and pleasure 
opportunities for agreeable drives and other sources 
of enjoyment unattainable elsewhere. Isn’t the con¬ 
dition of the roads one of the first questions asked by 
seekers after country residences, and does not their 
choice largely depend on the nature of the answer ? 
In order to preserve and improve her excellent high¬ 
ways, a bill is now before the Massachusetts Legisla¬ 
ture which provides that all farm and other heavy 
wagons designed to carry from 1,800 to 3,000 pounds 
shall have wheels with tires not less than three inches 
wide ; when the load may be 3,000 to 6,000 pounds, the 
tires must be four inches, and wagons carrying up¬ 
wards of 6,000 pounds must have five-inch tires. Freight 
wagons with springs, designed for more than 3,000 
pounds, must have tires at least four inches wide. In 
this respect the old Bay State is following the example 
of France and Germany, and indeed of several other 
European countries, in which the laws have long reg' 
ulated the width of wagon tires in accordance with the 
weight of the load the wheels are designed to carry. 
Wouldn’t it be advisable for other States to follow 
the example of Massachusetts ? 
X X X 
When the telegraph first began to be successfully 
operated people thought the end of rapid and conven¬ 
ient long-distance communication had been reached. 
Then came the telephone, by means of which actual 
speech may be transmitted 1,000 miles. People then 
ceased to marvel and began to believe that nothing is 
impossible with modern inventors. It is largely due 
to this, we think, that the public do not “ go wild ” 
over the new device, the “ telautograph,” by which a 
person in New York may write a letter which will be 
instantly reproduced in his exact handwriting in 
Chicago or St. Louis. In 1874 an Englishman devised 
a scheme of telegraphic writing, but it was never 
made of great practical value. From that time inven¬ 
tors have been steadily at work trying to make the 
writing telegraph as practical for business uses as is 
the telephone. This is the way all great public bene¬ 
fits have been developed. For instance, it has been 
known for many years that the electric spark would 
furnish light, but only within a recent period have 
appliances been invented for conserving and distribut¬ 
ing this light so that it may be of practical use. 
X X X 
The telautograph is the result of six years’ hard 
work by Prof. Elisha Gray. The machine is now in 
practical operation. It is, of course, impossible to 
describe such a device in print—it is enough to say 
that it works somewhat like the ordinary telegraph, 
only that the marks made at one end of the line are 
exactly duplicated at the other. The sender of the 
message may use an ordinary lead pencil. Near the 
point of this pencil two silk cords are fastened the 
ends of which are so adjusted to small drums and cog¬ 
wheels that the slightest movement of the pencil 
point operates the machinery so that an exact dupli¬ 
cate of this movement is communicated by electricity 
to another pencil at the other end of the line—just as 
certain marks are transmitted by the ordinary tele¬ 
graph. Thus the exact movements of the pencil are 
transmitted, and of course, the pencil at the end writes 
out just what the first one puts on paper. Words, 
drawings, figures, in fact all pen work will be at once 
reproduced as far away as the telegraph now reaches. 
X X X 
It is hardly possible to conceive of all the possibil¬ 
ities of the telautograph. The telephone and tele¬ 
graph convey words only, but the new device will 
send some of the writer’s individuality along with the 
words. All correspondence that is now done by mail 
can be done by wire. A telautogram is a letter over 
the writer’s own signature. But, let us ask, who is 
to control this great invention ? Is its use to become 
the means by which some vast monopoly will take 
millions from the people ? The inventor of such a 
device should be paid in full for all his time and study, 
but have the people no rights in such a case ? The 
history of the telegraph and telephone service will 
illustrate how, in the hands of monopolists, these 
necessary aids to business cling closely to the towns 
and cities. The town is served while the country 
serves. Nothing would do the farmer more good 
than to extend to his farm the benefits of the elec¬ 
trical railroad or the privilege of speaking and writ¬ 
ing over the wire. This country might well try the 
experiment of buying the patent rights in the telau¬ 
tograph and encouraging its use everywhere. 
X X X 
Electricity is fast driving the horse from the street 
cars ; is it to drive him from the canal tow-path also ? 
The New York Legislature at its last session having 
passed a bill for the equipment of the Erie Canal with 
the trolley system, the present summer is likely to wit¬ 
ness an experiment in the use of electricity for canal 
navigation. Should it prove successful, it is expected 
that the expense of running canal boats will be greatly 
reduced and that, as a result, freight facilities by 
water will be greatly increased, and railroad rates 
considerably reduced during the season of navigation, 
and of course the system is likely soon to be adopted 
on all the other canals throughout the country. Such 
a contingency would offer a partial solution for the 
troubles of grain shippers in the Northwest, due to 
the delays at Buffalo and the heavy expenses exacted 
by the elevator monopoly there. The canal horse, 
however, must then vanish from civilization, and the 
tow-path cease to be a seminary for statesmen. 
A FOUR-LEGGED HERO. 
A DECORATION DAY STORY. 
Ye wist l'dteh a story—brlngln' Deooratlon Day 
An’ sim’lar things Into It? Wall now! Whilst yer Pa’s away, 
A-meetln’ with old comrades in the churchyard with them flowers, 
A-callln’ to the present ghosts of brave old war-tlmo honrs. 
I’ll jest whirl In an’ tell ye. whilst the thing Ison my mind, 
A story of old war times that ye ain’t a-gonter And 
In printed books or papers, but fer all thet, I tell you 
It ain’t a-gonter answer fer ter say It Isn’t true. 
We come from West VlrRlnny—jest take out yer little book 
Wherein they’s maps an' plcters, an’ ye won’t scarce need ter look 
Ter see the way she binges, right betwixt tho North an’ South. 
Them mountains, ns ye may say, were the teeth ’o slavery's mouth. 
An’ brother tit with brother, yes, an’ father fit with son. 
All mi/ boys loved the Union, an’ the whole of ’em but one 
Marched off to serve McClellan—Billy’s wife wus Southern bred. 
Fer her sake he turned Southward, where old Stonewall Jackson led, 
An’ me an’ mother waited through the war with no one there 
But Katie, Billy’s dauRhter—little tot with eyes an’ hair 
Jest like yours to a shadder - her poor mammv’s heart grew still 
When news come back that Billy wus asleep at Malvern Hill. 
I tell ye, It wus lonesome waitin’ through them weary days. 
The memory of them dotn’s can’t be blotted out she stays. 
Fust one side an’ then ’tother went a-rldln’ back an’ forth, 
As war went rollin’ southward or again rolled back up north. 
One evenin’ I sat noddtn’ with my bad leg on a chair 
A tap came at tho winder—I was mighty hard to scare 
In them days—“ Come” I shouted—strange enough It Is to tell, 
The door swung slowly open, an’ In walked, or rather fell, 
A slender, llght-halred feller, pale, with ragged coat o’ bluo, 
A bandage on his forehead—didn’t need to ask—we knew, 
A wounded Union soldier; knew It all before he said, 
“ A Friend!” We washed an’ fed him, an’ Just tucked him Into bed. 
Dunno how far he’d wandered In his weakness an’ his pain. 
Just rnved about his mother; with the fever at his brain. 
We hid him In the attic an’ we nursed him up with care 
Till tardy strength came to him an’ brought back his rightful share 
Until one pleasant mornln’—seems as though ’twas yesterday 
Around the rocks below us rode a squad of troops In gray. 
“ Run! Jump Into that haystack!” I says, “ Pull the hay down right!" 
He warn’t scarce undercover when the sogers rode In sight. 
Our Katie sat there playin’ with her dog out In the sun. 
I called her up an’ whispered, “ Don’t betray him, little one! 
’• Don’t tell them where he’s hldln ’, never mind what they may do. 
Stand for the Union, Katie. I know you’ll be brave an’ true!” 
“Now, then! We want that soger!” says the leader. “ Well,” says I, 
“ Ye better come an’ git him—I would say—ye better try.' 
Then Katie’s little doggie brussled up his hair an’ growled 
As though he’d like to fight ’em, and the ugly captain scowled 
An’ then grinned through his whiskers. “Here, jest catch that dog! 
he said 
“ An’ tie that rope around him—’round his neck below his head, 
An’ let the young ore see him—you’ll hear from her ’fore he yelps. 
Now hang him up! Be lively! Come now! Every little helps!” 
They catched poor little Hover an’ jest drug him to tho tree 
Down there beside the haystack—little Katie looked at me 
With eyes jest runnln’ over. Oh! If I’d a had my gun 
I’d drilled through that big feller a big passage for the sun. 
Poor 'lttle girl, she pleaded; “Please, sir, let my doggie go! 
Please, please don’t hang old Hover—you jest know I love him so.’ 
i. well, will ye tell 7 ” “I can’t, sir, please, I love the Union, too, 
An’ grardpa told me alwavs that I must be brave an’ true.” 
“Well, string him ud !” Poor Hover! They jest yanked him till his 
toes 
Scarce scraped the ground—no whimper from the little dog arose. 
The little four-legged hero—jest chuck full o’ Union grit. 
They was tarrler blood Into him, an’ them tarrlers never quit. 
“ Nnw win ye tell ? ” Poor Rover, how ho turned his patient eye 
Up to his little mistress ! “ Don’t ye tell me any lie 1" 
The sneerin’ sojer added; but she raised her little head 
An’ jest fought back her Bobbin’. “ I will never tel l.” she said. 
Up rlz that hay stack lively—much to every one’s surprise, 
Out jumped the Union sojer. Are lest blazin’ from his eyes ! 
Jest couldn’t stand It longer. He stood up an’faced’em all. 
“ Don’t dare to plague that baby—fight with men or not at all. 
They jumped on him an’ bound him with his hands behind his back, 
He stooped an’ kissed poor Katie ’fore they led him down the track. 
“ Don’t cry, my little woman, you were true as steel,” he said. 
The baby didn’t hear him, for her little dog was dead. 
They passed on down the mountain, leavin’ Katie lyin’ there, 
Her baby fingers clutchln’ poor dead Rover's curly hair. 
At last the war was over an’ the wounds begun to heal; 
The ranklin’ In ver bosom sorter lost Its savage feel. 
We wondered If that sojer ever lived ter git away; 
Set talkin’ It with Katie on the porch one summer day. 
A man rid up the mountain. My old eyes Is gettln dim, 
But I ain’t need no glasses. “Katie, girl,” says I, “ that s him.' 
Seems though I’d always knowed him—we jest set an’ talked away, 
When he spoke up all solemn: “ This Is Decoration Day. 
The graves of all the heroes will be covered thick with flowers, 
The brave an’ silent sojers sleepln’ through the summer hours. 
Then little Katie whispered ’fore she thought jest how ’twould sound, 
“ Old Rover loved the Union !” That big sojer give a bound 
Up straight ez though you’d shot him. “ Come," says he, “ now rlght- 
away 
Let's show our love for Rover this first Decoration Day. 
Queer sight It was to see ’em huntin’ posies on tho road, 
Don’t take such willin’ workers long to git up quite a load. 
I limned an’ mother with me jest ter see ’em decorate. 
They wan’t no great of talkin’—couldn’t none of us orate. 
The sojer only muttered—something gllstenln In his eye 
“ Who dies to help his country has a holy death to die /” 
That's how the story started. I was sorter scared, I own, 
When, ’most afore I knowed It, Kate bloomed out a woman grown. 
The sojer says “ I want her!” Wasn’t nothin’ I could say. 
Should seen how things was workln’—now I reckon that’s the way. 
Your eyes an’ hair an' Agger favors hern my little dear, 
An’ I, yer double gran’pop, am a-slttln’ talkin’ here ! 
We don’t ferglt old Rover when It’s Decoration Day; 
We give him fond remembrance, though his grave Is far away. 
Yer mammy says we never will be apt to pay the score; 
He died to help the Union—not a single man done more. H. w. c. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Mr. J. N. Reimers of Davenport, la., has matters of Interest for 
swine breeders. 
The Vacuum oil people have done a good thing In giving, free of 
charge, one of their patent swabs with their leather oil. It Is made 
of lamb skin, with wool on, and makes the work of applying the oil 
comparatively easy. 
Hard-wood ashes, potash salts and bone fertilizers may be had of 
the Fitch Fertilizer Works. 288 North Madison Avenue. Bay City, Mich. 
Thor quote prices delivered at any railroad station In the country. 
There Is some advantage in this as you know just what the cost, Includ¬ 
ing freight, will be before ordering. 
For the benefit of some readers who have recently been asking 
about small powers for churning, milk separators, ensilage cutting, 
thrashing, and so on, we would say that the 8t. Albans Foundry Co., 
8t. Albans, Vt, make an excellent small tread-power In various sizes. 
With one of these small powers the bull can be made to earn hla 
living very nicely. 
