1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
4oi 
THE PROSPECT. 
F. H. Mason, United States Con&ul at Frankfort, 
Germany, sends to the State Department an account 
of a discovery in electrical heating that promises to 
revolutionize some departments of iron working. 
Briefly described, the apparatus and methods are as 
follows : 
The apparatus consists of a glass or porcelain vase, which maybe 
of any size conveniently adapted to the purpose, provided with a 
lining of lead connected with a strong conductor of positive elec¬ 
tricity. The vase Is filled to three-fourths Its capacity with acidified 
water. A pair of Iron tongs with Insulated handles Is attached by a 
flexible conductor to the negative pole of an electrical current gener¬ 
ated by an ordinary dynamo. With this simple and Inexpensive equip¬ 
ment the following phenomenon Is produced. The electrical current 
having been switched on, a bar of wrought Iron or other metal Is 
taken up with the tongs and plunged Into the water within the vase. 
Immediately the water begins to boll at the point of contact; the Im¬ 
mersed portion of the Iron rises quickly to a red, then to a white 
heat, and emits a stream of brilliant white light. In a few moments 
the heat becomes so Intense that the Iron melts and falls off In 
bubbles and sparks, leaving a clear, glowing surface In perfeot condi¬ 
tion for welding. The heating process has been so rapid that neither 
the water nor the end of the bar held within the tongs has been 
more than slightly warmed. 
Thus we have the singular phenomenon of iron al¬ 
most instantly heated to a white heat in water. The 
practical possibilities of this discovery are great—not 
only as regards iron working but also in its use for 
household heating for domestic purposes. In that 
good time coming when the farmer will have an elec¬ 
tric current constantly on tap at his front door, he 
can do all the work that requires the turning of a 
wheel, light and heat his house and do blacksmithing 
work at his pleasure. 
X t X 
There is no longer any doubt that the whole power 
and influence of the Federal Administration will be 
used to secure the prompt repeal of the Sherman 
Silver Coinage Law early during the next session of 
Congress. The objects of that and other laws passed 
as compromises for one providing for the free coinage 
of silver have not, it is charged, been secured. The 
first of these compromise measures provided for the 
purchase and coinage of $2,000,000 worth of silver per 
month. After a trial of this for a dozen years, came 
the Sherman Act requiring the Secretary of the Treas¬ 
ury to buy 54,000,000 ounces, or 4,500,000 pounds of 
silver per annum and to issue paper money redeem¬ 
able in coin, in payment. Under the first act silver 
was purchased to coin over $400,000,000 ; but it was 
impossible to force them into circulation, and the 
Treasury now holds about $300,000,000 of them. 
Under the Sherman Act providing for the purchase 
and storage of silver, the price at the start was $1.25 
per ounce ; the last purchase was made at 83% cents, 
and the Treasury now has 5,000 tons of the white 
metal on hand. It is asserted that the stock of silver 
bought up since 1878 could not be sold now at less 
than $100,000,000 below the price paid for it, and of 
course the country at large is the loser. 
X X X 
Again, although under the Sherman Act there has 
been an addition of 3% millions of dollars per month 
in Treasury notes to the National circulation, a late 
Treasury report shows the circulation per capita at 
different dates to be as follows : 
January 1,1890..... $24.38 
January 1,1891. 25.17 
At date of report. . 23.37 
Thus although $140,000,000 have been added to the 
currency since 1890, tLere has been a decrease of 
$2 per head since June 1, 1891 In the report of the 
Mint made at the beginning of the year, the following 
is given as the per capita total of the currency in the 
four countries named, and in these the per capita cir¬ 
culation is the greatest: 
Gold. Sliver. Paper. Total. 
United Kingdom. $14.74 $2.(13 $1.32 $18.42 
France. 20.52 17.95 2.09 40.56 
Germany. 12.12 4.26 2.16 18.54 
United States. 16.06 8.85 6.24 25.15 
Thus there is none of the leading nations of the 
world with anything like the same volume of currency 
as the United States except France, where there are 
few banking facilities, and where the use of checks 
and drafts, so common here for transferring credits, 
is almost unknown in many large communities. Again, 
while France has $800,000,000 in gold ; $700,000,000 in 
silver, and $81,402,000 in paper, making a total of 
$1,581,402,000; this country has $654,000,000 in gold; 
$575,000,000 in silver, and $405,790,000 in paper, making 
a total of $1,634,790,000 of all classes of currency. 
X X X 
At present, however, the advocates of the free coin¬ 
age of silver have a decided majority in Congress, 
though of course Administrative influence may lessen 
or even entirely remove this majority before the next 
session. It is likely, however, that some compromise 
will be adopted. Of those already suggested one is to 
change the weight of the silver dollar so as to make it 
include the face value of the metal of which it is com¬ 
posed—or a ratio of 20 to 1 as compared with gold in¬ 
stead of 16 to 1 as at present, though just now the 
commercial v alue of silver is as 24 to 1. The present 
dollar weighs 412^ grains and is considered too un¬ 
wieldy for general circulation; the proposed dollar 
would weigh 639 grains, and would be subject to period¬ 
ical variations in accordance with fluctuations in the 
value of gold or silver. Would the public who decline 
to handle the present dollar be likely to prefer the 
other? But then Treasury notes could be issued on 
the security of the silver, as at present. Over 420,- 
000,000 silver dollars are already coined; are they to 
be recoined of heavier weight and is the government 
to be the loser ? The principal other compromise 
measure suggested is the removal of the Federal tax 
of 10 per cent on the notes of State banks and the re¬ 
habilitation of State bank issues throughout the coun¬ 
try. This would prevent any contraction of the cur¬ 
rency due to the stoppage of the issue of silver dollars 
or Treasury notes secured by them. The stock argu¬ 
ment against the measure is that it would result in 
flooding the country with “ wild cat currency,” or ir¬ 
redeemable and irresponsible paper circulation. The 
present S f ate laws appear, however, to be amply suf¬ 
ficient to guard against such an abuse, and fresh pro¬ 
visions and guarantees can be readily added for the 
public protection. The country must return to State 
banks sooner or later; and, if doing so now would offer 
a solution to the present difficulty, why not do so at 
once? | x | 
Since the South Carolina Legislature decided to try 
the Norway method of controlling the liquor traffic, 
viz., putting it in the h?nds of the State, the Massa¬ 
chusetts Legislature has appointed a committee to in¬ 
vestigate the matter. Some of the most influential 
Prohibition papers regard this as a helpful experi¬ 
ment. A league is being formed in New York State 
to attempt to secure the adoption of the principle of 
State control here. It is a hopeful sign when men of 
all parties who desire to curtail the power of the sa¬ 
loon can begin to And some practical scheme for work 
on which they can all agree. As an illustration of an¬ 
other way in which Scandinavian thought has influ¬ 
enced public feeling in America, the action of the 
North Dakota Legislature in establishing courts of 
conciliation is suggestive. North Dakota has a large 
Scandinavian population, and it is natural that a law 
that has proved useful in Norway should be tried 
there. As to the new law, the Christian Union says: 
Appeal to the ordinary courts Is not forbidden, but difficulties be¬ 
tween neighbors must first be referred to a court of conciliation, con¬ 
sisting of a justice of the peace and two citizens. Before this court 
the parties to the dispute must each present his case In person; no 
lawyer Is allowed to appear before It. When both sides have been 
heard, the conciliators must reach a decision as soon as may be, and 
endeavor to bring the disputants to an agreement. If either party 
feels certain that he Is wronged, and that he will gain by rejecting the 
decision of his neighbors and entering upon a regular siege of litiga¬ 
tion, that course Is open to him; but It Is believed that In North Da¬ 
kota, as In Norway, the great body of casos will be settled by this In¬ 
expensive, speedy, and thoroughly Christian method of procedure. 
X t X 
The expulsion of the Jews from Russia is to be 
extended to the Polish part of the Empire as well as 
the Eastern provinces, and is all European countries 
refuse to receive the exiles, an unprecedented influx 
of them is to be looked for here, as about 500,000 of 
them are to be affected by the recent ukase in Poland 
alone. Wherever they have formed a settlement, the 
Russian Jews have, as a whole, proved very undesir¬ 
able immigrants, being filthy in their habits, disin¬ 
clined to steady work, and thankless for favors even 
from the philanthropists of their own race who con¬ 
tribute generously for their relief and betterment. 
Several attempts have been made in this country and 
South America to establish agricultural colonies of 
them, notably by Baron Hirsch, who has spent millions 
in the experiment, but, without exception, they have 
all either proved complete failures or are dragging out 
a wretched, discontented existence, whkm is pretty 
sure to end in a total collapse. The modern Jewish 
immigrants never take kindly to agriculture ; but 
prefer to remain in the cities and pick up a precarious 
living by slop-work, peddling, rag-picking and similar 
occupations. A land “ flowing with milk and honey” 
for the Israelite of to-ds y must be either provident¬ 
ially provided like the manna of old, or donated by 
the wealth of others. 
X t X 
The Royal Ark Endowment Order of Massachu¬ 
setts has just given up its swindling life and 3,000 of 
its dupes must be content with 5% per cent of the 
amount they had paid in. These endowment schemes, 
which promised to pay each member, after a few 
years, a big sum in return for a small investment, 
originated in the Old Bay State. But though this 
State was the first to tolerate them, she has been the 
most relentless in prosecuting them. The system was 
first legalized in 1887, and soon not less than 56 orders 
or companies were in operation. Their fraudulent 
character was recognized in 1890, and the creation of 
new ones was forbidden by law. In 1891 they began 
to collapse in quick succession, and of the 56 original 
swindles not more than eight survived in 1892, and 
these are now in process of liquidation, with grievous 
loss, in all cases, to the investors. During their ex¬ 
istence the companies and orders had admitted 334,- 
000 members in Massachusetts alone, and the total 
amount of bonds issued by them promised $120,000,000. 
In monthly and weekly contributions and payments 
no less than $12,500,000 was collected. Of this amount 
about $3,000,000 was applied to the redemption of 
bonds, chiefly in the hands of the founders and em¬ 
ployees of the concerns and their friends. About 
$2,000,000 was distributed in sick payments, $4,000,000 
went into the pockets of the officers as salaries, fees, 
etc., and $3,500,000 was left at the end for the remain¬ 
ing 330,000 members. Similar organizations sprang 
up like pestiferous fungi all over many other States, 
and the careers of all were like those that have cursed 
the Old Bay State. From the first The Rural New- 
Yorker has vigorously denounced the frauds on the 
editorial page and elsewhere, and we trust few, if 
any, of our readers are among their dupes. 
X t X 
When the bounty on domestic sugar was substi¬ 
tuted for the duty on the foreign product, it was en¬ 
acted that the law should remain in force till 1905, so 
as to allow it a fair trial. Acting in good faith, the 
sugar planters of the South, especially those of Louisi¬ 
ana, added largely to their plants and made immense 
improvements on them at enormous aggregate ex¬ 
pense. This, they assert, was done by them relying 
on the government’s good faith, and on that only. 
They now argue that under the circumstances the 
government cannot honestly repeal the bounty law 
before 1905, and if it should do so, they declare they 
will go to the United States Supreme Court for relief 
for such repudiation of a contract. What is said of 
the sugar interest in this regard is equally true of a 
large number of other industries, the plants for which 
were greatly enlarged and improved, as the owners 
relied on the stability of the McKinley tariff. What, 
then, is the outlook for a favorable decision by the 
Supreme Court ? Very poor. That body has repeat¬ 
edly decided that while it is within its jurisdiction to 
pass upon laws enacted by Congress, it is not within 
its province to interfere with that body in its legisla¬ 
tive capacity, so that it cannot enjoin it from passing 
any law. Then, again, in cases where a State has 
enacted Prohibition legislation which rendered valu¬ 
able plants useless, and ruined a multitude of lucra¬ 
tive kinds of business, it has been repeatedly decided 
by the State and Federal Courts that the aggrieved 
parties had no redress. The same would doubtless be 
the outcome of litigation in this matter. 
X X X 
Four days ago came the announcement that the 
drought which had lasted nearly eight months in 
south central Kansas had been broken by three inches 
of rainfall, produced by a long-continued bombard¬ 
ment of the sky and the firing of heavy and light ex¬ 
plosives by the people of Wellington, Winfield, Arkan¬ 
sas City, South Haven, Caldwell, Hutchison and New¬ 
ton, as well as by those of the intermediate country. 
All appeared to agree that the downpour was due to 
the bombardment. This was according to the Dyren- 
forth or Government system. Now comes word from 
Topeka, Kansas, that Clayton B. Jewell, “Superin¬ 
tendent of rain-making for the Chicago, Rock Island 
and Pacific Rai'road,” who after a year’s experiments 
with the Melbourne or Australian rain-making system, 
is confident that he can act Jupiter Pluvius in short 
order, is going to southwestern Kansas to break the 
drought which “ has continued there uninterruptedly 
for eight months.” He eschews explosives, except as 
auxiliaries, and simply generates gases which he 
sends heavenward. “ These collect the moisture in 
the air and clouds. With the clouds he establishes 
electric communication, and the electric discharges,” 
tl.e telegram tells us, “ are dilated, resulting in pre¬ 
cipitation.” Soon after he begins operations, light 
clouds begin to gather ; these soon consolidate and 
shortly “one vast cloud overspreads the heavens.” It 
appears that the Rock Island has sufficient confidence 
in him to fit up a laboratory for him in a special car 
and send him regularly on experimental tours over 
its lines in the Northwest. Should the derided rain¬ 
making experiments prove successful, what a striking 
example would be afforded of the ridicule that met 
the first attempts at railroading, telegraphing and 
many other novel attempts which have proved over¬ 
whelmingly successful in the end, and what a blessing 
would accrue to the agriculture of the globe. 
X X X 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Some of the readers of The B. N.-Y. speak very highly of Morgan's 
grape and berry hoe for cultivating grapes and berries. It Is a very 
simple Implement and Is easily handled, and seems quite the thing 
for this purpose. Anything that will save time and labor In the busy 
season Is sure to be popular with fruit growers, and the economy of 
this Implement Is no doubt the reason why It has, In such a short 
time, become so much used by progressive growers. It Is made by the 
D. S Morgan Co , Brockport, N. Y. 
The incubator exhibit at the World’s Fair will be Installed June 
15 In the Live Stock Department. The Buckeye Incubator Company, 
of Springfield, O., will have In operation an extensive display of the 
different machines manufactured by It. The company Invites visitors 
Interested In poultry to make Its exhibit their headquarters, where 
facilities for correspondence will be furnished, as well as Information 
In regard to any feature of the poultry exhibit. It will be an Inter¬ 
esting exhibit, and few, If any, farmers or poultrymen will be willing 
to miss seeing It. 
