1903 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
377 
Events of the Week. 
domestic.—T he little town of Frank, N. W. T.. In 
the foothills of the eastern slope of the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, was virtually wiped out April 29. Sixty persons 
were killed outright, and many houses were wrecked 
by a landslide from the top of Turtle Mountain, over¬ 
looking the town. An Immense quantity of rock and 
debris was hurled over the vicinity, causing death and 
destruction throughout a wide area. The mountain vir¬ 
tually toppled over on the little town. Immense pieces 
of rock were thrown high in the air, and descending 
crushed in the roofs of houses and stopped up the mouth 
of the Frank mine. Most of the buildings in the town 
were destroyed, and buildings were crushed as though 
they were eggshells, and their inhabitants Instantly 
killed. The earth opened, and there was a gigantic fis¬ 
sure three-quarters of a mile long. Old Man River, 
which runs through the town, was completely dammed, 
and the railroad track was rendered impassable for a 
distance of two miles. The 17 miners entombed by the 
rock while at work escaped. The rescue party gave up 
all hope of tunnelling through the rock for them, but 
the men inside fought their way out inch by inch. They 
had their tools and used them to advantage. There are 
two theories of the disaster. The miners on the spot 
say that Old Man River undermined the mountain of 
rock during the course of centuries and caused a collapse 
of the mountain. Another theory Is that there are nu¬ 
merous caverns In the mountain filled with gas, and the 
gas in one of these caverns exploded and blew up the 
mountain.A furious snowstorm began in Wy¬ 
oming April 28, continuing undiminished April 29. The 
temperature fell to zero, and heavy losses are expected 
among sheep, as shearing had been going on for two 
days. Snow also fell in Minnesota, Kansas and Wiscon¬ 
sin. In western Kansas the temperature dropped 23 de¬ 
grees in an hour. The cold wave continued April 30. 
Snow fell in Chicago. At Marquette a storm of midwinter 
severity prevailed all day, impeding railroad traffic and 
prostrating telegraph and telephone wires. More than 
a foot of snow fell throughout northern Michigan in 24 
hours and at Houghton sleighs were used. The same 
conditions prevailed in parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. 
Reports from southern Kansas counties are that wheat, 
which has jointed, is damaged by the heavy frost. It 
is impossible to tell the extent of the damage, but fear 
is expressed that it is serious. In the northern counties, 
where the wheat has not yet Jointed, there was no ma¬ 
terial damage. Grapes are practically ruined and other 
Fall fruits are more or less hurt. F. Wellhouse, presi¬ 
dent of the State Horticultural Society, is authority for 
the statement that apples probably escaped injury, al¬ 
though he says the effect of the frost will not be known 
for a month. Peaches are killed. In Nebraska Winter 
wheat and other grain was not injured in the least by 
the snowstorm. Fruit, however, was badly damaged and 
quite ruined in many sections, according to reports from 
north and central Nebraska. There was heavy frost 
throughout Missouri April 30, and fruit of all kinds was 
heavily damaged, strawberry crops in many sections be¬ 
ing completely destroyed. Apples, peaches, pears, apri¬ 
cots, etc., suffered extensive Injury. Early garden stuff 
was ruined. Indications are that Winter wheat has not 
been seriously damaged, as a large percentage of the 
crop had not yet reached pointing stage. The frost waa 
equally severe In the fruit belt of southern Illinois, and 
the loss will be heavy, especially In strawberries and 
grapes. A report from Carbondale says the grape crop 
is destroyed throughout the section. In Texas, fruit and 
vegetables suffered badly. In the Red River Valley, 75 
miles north of Dallas, the damage to the crops is esti¬ 
mated at $1,000,000. Farmers declare $10,000,000 will not cover 
all the losses. . . . April 30 the factory of the Crescent 
Powder Company, at Hollidaysburg, Pa., was completely 
wrecked by a series of four explosions. Nine men were 
killed and about 20 Injured.Forest fires were 
raging in several districts of Pennsylvania, New York 
and New Jersey May 1. In Potter County, Pa., sawmills, 
sawed lumber and other property was burned to the 
amount of nearly $2,000,000, and one man was burned to 
death, while the town of Cross Fork was literally wiped 
out. At Kinzua two big sawmills were burned, and 
scores of derricks and small tanks filled with oil were 
licked up by the fiames. The total loss in the district 
between Tionesta and Warren alone is estimated at 
$200,000.The law enacted to carry out in part 
the provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Con¬ 
stitution by prescribing punishment for those who by 
intimidation, bribery, or otherwise prevented negroes 
from voting was. May 4, declared entirely void by the 
Supreme Court. A previous decision had declared It un¬ 
constitutional so far as State elections were concerned, 
and this judgment makes the invalidity apply also to 
Federal elections.At Detroit, Mich, May 3, an 
express train plowed through a crowd of excursionistt: 
standing on the tracks waiting for another train, killing 
15 and wounding many others.A torpedo fac¬ 
tory at Cleveland, O., was wrecked by an explosion May 
2; eight persons killed and 30 wounded.Thirteen 
lives were lost at sea Just before dawn May 5 in a col¬ 
lision between two coastwise steamers, the Hamilton 
of the Old Dominion Line and the Saginaw of the Clyde 
Line, off Winter Quarter Light, on the Delaware coast. 
The Saginaw went to the bottom in 20 minutes. All 
those lost were on the Saginaw. Most of them were 
negroes. The Hamilton was bound from New York to 
Norfolk. The Saginaw was bound to Philadelphia from 
Norfolk. The accident occurred in a dense fog. 
ADMINISTRATION.—Action was taken by the Secre¬ 
tary of State May 4 with regard to the refusal of the 
Congress of Salvador on Friday last to authorize the 
payment of the half million dollars awarded the United 
States against that country by the tribunal which arbi¬ 
trated the claim of the Salvador Commercial Company, 
an American organization. Secretary Hay sent a tele¬ 
gram to Mr. Merry, the United States Minister to Sal¬ 
vador, directing him to request the payment of the 
award, which is overdue more than two months. Should 
payment be refused, and this is expected, a demand, in¬ 
stead of a request, for the amount will be made. What 
will be done if this course should fail remains to be de¬ 
cided. The State Department twice asked Senor Lopez, 
the Salvadorian Minister here, for the payment of the 
award, but it was never ascertained whether he trans¬ 
mitted this information to his government. Future 
negotiations will be conducted through Minister Merry. 
. . . . Prominent ministers of Salt Lake have for¬ 
warded to the State Department at Washington specific 
charges that President Smith and other officials of the 
Mormon Church are living there in open polygamy. The 
charges are sworn to by some of the most reliable per¬ 
sons in Utah. The affidavits were sent to Secretary Hay 
in connection with the protest against the action of Ger¬ 
many in expelling Mormon missionaries on the ground 
that they are teaching the doctrine of polygamy. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Beginning early in May. Pur¬ 
due University, Lafayette, Ind., will operate the cream¬ 
ery equipment of its dairy department on a commercial 
basis, securing milk regularly from farmers in the vi¬ 
cinity. Prof. H. E. Van Norman has secured H. N. 
Slater, of Fairmount, Minn., as assistant in the creamery 
work of his department. Mr. Slater Is a creamery butter- 
maker of wide experience, a graduate of the Minnesota 
Dairy School. 
The Delaware State Board of Agriculture has been 
invested with the powers of an immigration commission, 
and is endeavoring to induce settlers to go to that State 
to take up cheap lands. Such land can be bought upon 
easy terms. Many farmers there are desirous of securing 
suitable families for their tenant houses, offering, in ad¬ 
dition to steady work, the advantages of house, truck 
jiatch, firewood, etc. A. W. Slaymaker, Camden, Del., is 
the secretary of the Board, from whom further informa¬ 
tion may be secured. 
The Division of Entomologry and Botany of the Ken¬ 
tucky Agricultural Experiment Station (Lexington) will 
furnish free to a limited number of applicants cultures 
of Soy bean root nodule bacteria, with directions for 
inoculating seeds. Cultures will be sent by preference 
to those upon whose land the nodules do not develop 
spontaneously, and with the understanding that each one 
receiving a culture will report results. 
FRUIT PROSPECTS. 
It seems as though fruits of all kinds are nearly ruined. 
We can hardly expect more than one-fourth to one-third 
of a crop, but can tell more about it when this cool wet 
weather is over. j. m. r. 
Nebraska. 
Strawberries have not been damaged by frost. In my 
locality they are only raised for family use; none for 
market. The prospects for Winter apples in this Pied¬ 
mont section is good, so far. w. m. b. 
Bryant, Va 
Ice one-quarter inch April 30; early strawberries, 
peaches, pears, apples, all in blossom. No rain for two 
weeks. Thermometer below 30 degrees. Outlook for fruit 
dubious. About one-fourth apple trees will bloom. The 
temperature fell 55 degrees in 30 hours. h. h. b. 
Connecticut. 
Cold wind all day from north yesterday (April 27) ac¬ 
companied by rain all last night, followed by sleet This 
morning everything is covered with ice; ground not 
frozen. Large trees are breaking with the weight of ice. 
Fruit trees are all in full bloom. Strawberries are not 
far advanced yet. We look for it to be colder to-night. 
York, Neb. o. h. p. 
It Is snowing and growing cold fast (April 30). Pear 
trees are white with bloom. Japan plums the same; 
Early Richmond cherry beginning to show color. If 
there is no change to warm before to-morrow night 
there will be ice an inch thick on pails and puddles. 
Where will my crop of peaches be, that promise so fine 
to-day? I have a block of Champion, Crosby, Carman, 
Waddell and Bokhara that are showing color nicely on 
top, while others two rods apart are pink on every limb, 
high and low; 1,006 pears in bloom. How can I enjoy 
this blizzard? How can a man enjoy seeing his house 
burn when there is no Insurance to help out? s. b. h. 
Cherry Valley, Ill. 
GERMANS STUDY GUARANTEED MILK. 
Forty or fifty representatives of the German Agricul¬ 
tural Society are making the tour of the United States, 
as guests of the Government, studying our methods of 
farming with a view to Improvement in German agri¬ 
culture. Their first official trip was a visit to the milk 
farm of the Walker-Gordon Laboratory Company at 
Plalnsboro, N. J. This farm consists of 300 acres of 
sandy loam, two miles east of Princeton, and is per¬ 
haps the best located of all the 16 farms which fur¬ 
nish the “Walker-Gordon Guaranteed Milk.” The visi¬ 
tors were informed that this milk sells for 15 cents a 
quart in New York; that it is supplied to more than a 
dozen other large cities, and that the supply does not 
yet equal the demand. Only a small number of the 
delegation speak English. They were therefore divided 
into groups of 10 or 12, each group being conducted by 
a person familiar with the business and accompanied by 
one able to translate when necessary. Volunteer aids 
were also distributed among the groups, adding more 
detailed Information to such as could understand a little 
English or the little German spoken by their companions. 
They were all very intelligent people, many of them be¬ 
ing professors in German institutions. They were quite 
familiar with the Deering harvester, the mowing ma¬ 
chine, etc., but the corn planter, drill (especially the 
barrow drill), manure spreader, the variety of harrows 
and the gang-plows seemed new to them. 
The dairy barns excited their greatest admiration. 
These were devised by Q. E. Gordon himself, who had 
come on from his home in Washington, D. C., to receive 
his guests. In these barns are 250 cattle, each having 
1,300 cubic feet of air space. The floors are all cement, 
and the entire upper half of the walls consists of win¬ 
dows. A record Is kept of the feed (and of the milk) of 
each cow. All this, as well as the comfort of the mov¬ 
able stanchions, the pine shavings for litter, the facili¬ 
ties for promoting cleanliness, the methods of transpor¬ 
tation, the cooling and bottling of the milk, the washing 
of the bottles, etc., was carefully noted. One of the 
delegation would not be satisfied until I had found for 
him the name and address of the manufacturers of the 
bottles. 
When everything had been Inspected the guests sat 
down to a luncheon which was enjoyed equally by them 
and the other visitors. Appropriate replies were made by 
Herr von Fluegge, who owns vast feudal estates in 
Pomerania, and High Government Councillor Brettrelch, 
of Munich. Among those who had come on to meet the 
delegation were: Dr. J. M. Rosenau, of the U. S. Marine 
Hospital Service, Drs. Hamlll, Pearson and Schreiber, of 
Philadelphia, and Hon. Franklin Dye, secretary of the 
New Jersey State Board of Agriculture. Throughout 
the visit Mr. H. W. Jeffers, the farm manager, gave 
lucid explanations of the work. 
At the conclusion of the lunch, Mr. Gordon expressed, 
in a few well-chosen words, his gratification at the pres¬ 
ence of his guests, and Introduced Dr. Augustus Calll6, 
Professor of Pediatrics in New York, who spoke to a 
similar effect in German. Dr. E. B. Voorhees, Director 
of the New Jersey Experiment Station, told, very grace¬ 
fully, how we are trying to make practical the scientific 
theories for which we are so largely indebted to German 
research and learning. The delegation is in charge of 
Mr. J. I. Schulte, of the U. S. Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, who will accompany it for the next two or three 
months, the official journey probably ending at the St. 
Louis Exposition. After luncheon and the taking of their 
photographs, the distinguished guests took the evening 
express train for Washington, where they will be formally 
receive by the officials of the National Government. 
J. B. J. 
APPLES IN COLD STORAGE. 
We are Informed that the stock of apples in storage 
here now is quite small, and at the present rate of sell¬ 
ing, will soon be entirely exhausted. We do not know 
that any special variety of apples displayed a superior 
keeping quality in storage this season, but may state 
that the Baldwin, so long as it remains firm and good, 
is preferred to the Ben Davis, and is more largely used. 
Pittsburg, Pa. somers brothers company. 
Apples here are practically all out of cold storage. 
Farmers are still bringing in a few, but there are very 
few in their hands. Cold storage apples have been sell¬ 
ing from 60 cents to $1 a barrel more than apples held 
in cellars. We have not had any Ben Davis apples on 
our market, but notice that this apple has held its own 
well, and it takes a good-looking Baldwin to sell in any 
market as well as it does. w. w. blodqet co. 
Worcester, Mass. 
There are less than 3,000 barrels of apples In cold 
storage here at the present time. The russet is the most 
desirable apple for very late keeping. Ben Davis will 
keep in storage to better advantage than ordinary Bald¬ 
wins. There is little advantage, however, in storing the 
Ben Davis in this locality unless apples are very scarce. 
Consumers pay from 60 to 76 cents more per barrel for 
good Baldwins in this market at all seasons of the year. 
We believe that the Ben Davis apple has seen Its best 
days. The southern markets are the only outlet for the 
Ben Davis, and they take them in limited quantities 
when other varieties are beyond their reach. 
Cleveland, Ohio. strauss a Joseph. 
All varieties of apples have kept well, the late varie¬ 
ties naturally keep best, and for late In the season the 
cold storage fruit sells from 50 to 75 cents higher, owing 
to being firmer. We do not consider the cold storage 
affects flavor materially, though It may to some extent, 
as it is conceded that upon most all kinds of goods It 
diminishes flavor to some extent ’ after a time. The 
crop was heavy and the Ben Davis had to come down 
with all others, but it holds up well considering its 
quality. We find upon Injulry from two of the largest 
storage houses 5,000 to 6,000 barrels on hand; think safe 
to say not over 8,000 or 9,000 In all. s. H. a e. h. frost. 
New York. 
There are only about 600 barrels of apples remaining 
in cold storage here to-day. In our own experience this 
past season the Ben Davis was the best keeper, showing 
less rot and less scald. The Baldwin, however, took the 
lead in selling. Two months ago our best Baldwins were 
selling at $3.50, while Ben Davis went slow at $2.50 to 
$2.75. As the season advanced the Ben Davis sold more 
readily and two weeks ago was going at $2.75 to $3.26, 
at which prices we cleaned up some days ago. For late 
markets we can always get more f®r choice cold storage 
stock than we can for cellar fruit. Our experience Is 
that cold storage fruit holds its flavor better than cellar 
stock, and is more solid, firm and crisp. However, our 
trade previous to January 1 prefers fruit that has not 
been in cold storage, but for later markets the storage 
stock takes best. ernest m. merrick. 
Washington, D. _ 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Shoo-Fly must be doing the business for southern 
cattlemen. The orders we saw in the manufacturer’s 
office from men who had used it in previous years, show 
that it has given satisfaction. They use it in large 
quantities. 
W. C. MTClubb, president of the Farmers’ Handy 
Wagon Company, Saginaw, Mich., writes us that they 
are anxious to get some farm views showing their handy 
wagons In actual use on* the farm; $75 is offered for the 
successful contestant. The company will send conditions 
governing the contest on application. 
G. J. Tansey, president of the St. Louis Transfer Com¬ 
pany, writes Moore Bros., of Albany, N. Y., as follows; 
“For the past three years the St. Louis Transfer Co., 
which has in commission about 700 horses, has been 
using your Gall Powder, and the foreman of our stables, 
and our general superintendent report that it is one of 
the best remedies for galled shoulders and sore necks 
that they have ever used.” 
The firm of White & Rice, of Yorktown, N. Y.. is com¬ 
posed of two young men who have developed an old, 
rocky farm Into a profitable piece of property. Forced 
to start without capital they found It necessary to use 
the most thorough and painstaking care in all depart¬ 
ments of the farm. After much experimenting they de¬ 
cided to breed White Leghorn poultry. They selected a 
type or standard and have been culling and mating ever 
since with this standard in view. Those who buy eggs 
or birds of them receive the benefit of all these years 
of selecting. 
