1900 
THE KUKAJL NEW-YORKER: 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—At Larimer, Pa., April 24, one man was 
killed and five others injured by a dynamite explosion. 
The explosion occurred in a large double house, which 
was totally destroyed. The cause is unknown. 
A disastrous cyclone passed over southern Nebraska 
April 24. The whole of Blue Valley, for 100 miles, was 
in its path.Fire started in Hull, Ont., April 27, 
and practically destroyed the entire town. The flames 
leaped the river to Ottawa, on the opposite side of the 
stream. When it crossed the river the flames took pos¬ 
session of Victoria Island, on which were situated the 
carbide works, lumber mills, street and incandescent 
electric works, power houses, and numerous smaller con¬ 
cerns. Firemen and militia were powerless to control 
the flames. The property loss is put at $17,000,000, and 
12,000 people were homeless; seven lives lost. April 28, 
an attempt was made to burn the Dominion rifle range 
near Ottawa, and a number of smaller incendiary fires 
have occurred. The city is under militia guard. 
Chicago labor unions issued an order boycotting the 
Dewey celebration, because the grand stand was built 
by non-union labor. Complaint was made April 26, that 
girls who are to sing in the grand chorus, which is to 
be a feature of the celebration, have been threatened 
with violence if they attend rehearsals. April 26, three 
non-union men engaged in hauling sand were shock¬ 
ingly beaten by a mob of 50 strikers.April 27, 
disastrous floods visited Waco, Tex., six persons were 
drowned, and the property loss reached $50,000. 
Forest fires in Atlantic County, N. J., April 28-20, caused 
a loss of $100,000.Forest fires in northern Michi¬ 
gan and Wisconsin are doing great damage. Ames, Ar¬ 
nold and Nathan, Mich., were totally destroyed April 
2u, with millions of feet of lumber, and Niagara, Wis., 
was in great danger. The Michigan fires covered an 
area 20 miles square May 1. Near Duluth, Minn., rail¬ 
road bridges are destroyed, and one train was aban¬ 
doned.A saw mill at Cecil, Ua., was wrecked 
by a boiler explosion April 20, killing five men. 
"{Syndicate” Millei-, the swindler, who promised his vic¬ 
tims 520 per cent interest on their investments, was sen¬ 
tenced in Brooklyn, N. Y., April 20, to 10 years in Sing 
Smg. .... Winnipeg, Man., is suffering from an 
epidemic of malignant smallpox. The disease is unusu¬ 
ally prevalent ail over the United States.More 
than aoo miners were entombed May 1, at Schofield, Utah, 
by the explosion of a number of kegs of blasting pow¬ 
der; 267 bodies were recovered up to May 5, and it is be¬ 
lieved that the full death list will exceed 200. 
May 1, the coal mines at Bristol, Tenn., were on fire, 
and great loss of life was apprehended.At the 
Dewey parade in Chicago May 1 fully 600,000 people 
cheered the Admiral along the line.Severe for¬ 
est fires are devastating thousands of acres in .Pennsyl¬ 
vania.The transport Sherman, from Manila, 
arrived at Sail Francisco April 20 with one case of bu¬ 
bonic plague on board.The Kiowa and Com¬ 
anche Indians, on their reservation in Oklahoma, are in 
dire need of food, deaths from starvation being reported. 
Merchants on the reservation refuse credit, and as their 
reservation will soon be opened to settlement, these In¬ 
dians will be homeless. 
CONGRESS.—The estimates for the general deficiencies 
in the public service, to be included in the general de¬ 
ficiencies apppropriatlon amount to about $2,500,000. . . . 
Senator Pettigrew’s vote of sympathy with the Boers 
was defeated April 28.The struggle over the 
Oleomargarine bill is likely to be cut short by the House 
Committee on Agriculture. The committee contains a 
strong majority in favor of the Grout bill, and it has 
been decided that the sub-committee be asked to give 
some good reasons why it cannot conclude its hearings 
or report. If the sub-committee holds out in prolonging 
the delay desired by the oleo manufacturers, the com¬ 
mittee will proceed to vote at once on the bill, and order 
it reported favorably. There are no important amend¬ 
ments, and the bill puts a tax of 10 cents a pound on 
false butter sold as genuine.May 2, the House 
passed the Nicaragua Canal bill, after a stormy debate, 
during which Mr. Hepburn gave Mr. Cannon the lie. 
.... The Senate Foreign Relations Committee agreed 
to report a bill reorganizing the consular service, and 
providing for examination and classification. 
PHILIPPINES.—The insurgents recently lost about 200 
men in North llocos, where they are very aggressive. 
They attacked Lavag April 17, losing 40 killed and 80 cap¬ 
tured.The Manila Chamber of Commerce is 
making a formal protest against the taxation under 
American military authority, declaring it excessive. 
Insurgents besieged a small force of Americans at Sa¬ 
mar, killing 19 before reenforcements arrived. 
Philippine trade reports for the last four months show 
that the Islands purchase nearly half their goods from 
China, and sell most largely to Great Britain. 
It is generally reported that Aguinaldo has been killed 
by savages in the interior. 
CUBA.—Mrs. Wilson, wife of Gen. Wilson, Military 
Governor of Matanzas, was burned to death April 28, the 
result of stepping upon a match in her carriage. Being 
dressed in light flimsy materials, she was fatally burned 
before aid could reach her. 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.—The plague is abating in Hon¬ 
olulu; only one case appeared between March 31 and April 
9. There have been few cases at Kaluhui. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—April 25, a powder 
magazine at Pretoria, belonging to the Boer government, 
exploded; 13 workmen were killed, and 52 injured. 
April 29, the collapse of a foot bridge at the Paris Ex¬ 
position buried passersby under it, killing nine and in¬ 
juring about 40 others.Three new cases of bu¬ 
bonic plague are reported at Port Said. At Sydney, N. 
S. W., the number of cases thus far is 188, of which 54 
have proved fatal.Fighting continues in the 
Orange Free State, but news is limited. Mafeking has 
entered upon its seventh month of siege, and keeps cheer¬ 
ful on scant rations of horseflesh and oat bran made into 
coarse bread and porridge. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The British Board of Agricul¬ 
ture has put into rigid enforcement an old order forbid¬ 
ding the temporary entrance into England of foreign 
dogs, so that no tourists will be permitted to take dogs 
into the country. This is to prevent the entrance of 
rabies, which, the authorities believe, has been practi¬ 
cally exterminated in Great Britain. 
Two special trains left Chicago April 25, consisting of 
38 refrigerator cars, which carried 1,000,000 pounds of 
tinned and crated bacon consigned to the American 
army in the Philippines. The meat was shipped from 
San Francisco about May 3. This quantity comprises 
45 days' rations for the entire army in the Philippines. 
E. R. Rolfe, a prominent farmer at Pine Hill, N. Y., 
was killed by a vicious stallion April 28. He had gone 
into the animal’s stall, when he was attacked and so 
frightfully mangled that he died before a physician 
could arrive. 
After 24 hours of steady rain, snow began falling 
through southern and eastern Wyoming and western Ne¬ 
braska, April 30, the storm becoming a blizzard in some 
sections. Sheep-shearing was at a standstill, and it is 
feared that there will be heavy losses among sheep al¬ 
ready shorn. 
The body of John Blagg, a prominent Farmers’ Alli¬ 
ance lecturer, was found in the Solomon River, at Abi¬ 
lene, Kan., April 27. The cause of his death is a mys¬ 
tery. 
Horticulturists will be interested to know that the San 
Jos6 scale law was recently tested in Chicago, Ill., by 
the prosecution, on complaint of an inspector, of a Chi¬ 
cago tree dealer, and that he was found guilty and fined 
for delivering nursery stock in the State without a copy 
of certificate of inspection attached. The stock in ques¬ 
tion seems to have come from an old Indiana nursery 
bought up on speculation with a view of clearing it out. 
The case was tried in Justice Hoglund’s court, and pros¬ 
ecuted by the State’s Attorney of Cook County. As this 
is the first prosecution under the law it will serve as a 
precedent in other cases, and those disposed to evade the 
law should take warning. 
It is reported that an extensive orchardist, and an of¬ 
ficer and prominent member of the Illinois State Horti¬ 
cultural Society, has ordered 50 barrels of sulphate of 
copper, for other persons, for use in spraying. It is pre¬ 
sumable that most of this is for persons who are making 
their first attempts in spraying, and illustrates what is 
being done in one locality. Another officer of the Illi¬ 
nois State society reports the same condition of affairs 
in his section, a wonderfully increased demand for spray¬ 
ing outlits and for implements for cultivation of or¬ 
chards. 
Two steamers from the Rio de la Plata, with 400 bul¬ 
locks and 200 sheep, arrived at Liverpool, England, May 
1, all the animals being affected with foot-and-mouth 
disease. They were immediately slaughtered, and the 
affected members disposed of at sea. 
The Prussian government has agreed to a compromise 
on the meat inspection bill, excluding sausages and 
canned meats, but admitting pickled meats in pieces of 
over eight pounds, if thoroughly pickled. Fresh meat 
can only be admitted in entire carcasses. 
The flood loss in Texas is very great. There is every 
indication that the flooded area of the Brazos and Colo¬ 
rado River Valleys will exceed that of the great inunda¬ 
tion of last year, when the damage exceeded $8,000,000. 
Replanting is necessary through a wide section, and both 
seed and labor are scarce. Negroes are leaving the bot¬ 
toms, and there is no labor to take their place. 
The transport Siam, which sailed from San Francisco 
March 11, with a consignment of 386 horses and mules, 
arrived at Manila April 26, with 17 cases of glanders 
among the animals on board. 
The sale of Hereford cattle at the Kansas City stock 
yards April 26 averaged prices of about $279 each, being 
considered rather low. The best price was $755, paid 
by C. A. Stannard, Emporia, ICan., for the cow Rollea. 
John Hudson, Canyon, Tex., paid $750 for the cow Level. 
H. B. Watts & Son, Fayette, Mo., paid $500 each for the 
cows Wild Rose and Alberta II., and $600 for the cow 
Rebecca. W. N. Montgomery, Anaconda, Mont., paid 
$425 for the cow Cheerful Maid and $400 for the cow 
Queenie VI. Wm. Humphrey, Ashland, Neb., paid $430 
for the cow Queen Quarantine. 
At a recent sale of Herefords in Chicago the cham¬ 
pion bull. Dale, was sold for $7,500, to Clem Graves, of 
Bunker Hill., Ind. Dale was bred by Mr. Graves, who 
sold him about two years ago for $1,000. The figure just 
realized is the highest price ever paid in the ring for a 
Hereford bull in this country, the nearest approach to it 
being $5,100 paid for Sir Bredwell. 
MILK WAR AT SYRACUSE, N. Y.{ 
A Tussle Over the Tuberculin Test. 
The City of Syracuse is experiencing a milk famine, 
the result of the refusal of the dairymen to submit 
their cows to the tuberculin test, and the refusal of 
the Board of Health and the city clerk to grant li¬ 
censes to sell milk in the city without a test. All 
licenses expired on April 30, and warning was given 
by the police that no milk should be sold after that 
day without a license. There was nothing to do but 
submit, and the dairymen have gone out of business. 
Almost to a man they have stood together to resist 
what they consider an unjust requirement. The 
grounds of their protest are these: 
First, they declare that the tuberculin test has not 
been an accurate indicator of health or disease. What¬ 
ever may be said of it theoretically, it has not in prac • 
tice proved truthful. One case cited is this: A herd 
of cows was tested in the town of Manlius, and four 
animals were tagged as tuberculous. Within a few 
days these four were driven to another farm and 
tested. Three of them were pronounced sound. A 
few days later the fourth cow was passed all right on 
a third test. It is also declared that about $25 would 
34i 
buy a certificate of health, regardless of the test. In 
the second place, the dairymen declare the rule un¬ 
fair unless it is enforced against the dairies supply¬ 
ing butter and cheese as well as milk. How often the 
test should be applied is another question entering in¬ 
to the dispute. If it is an ordeal of annual occurrence, 
like a tax, it hardly appears scientific. The dairymen 
consented to accept the test on all cows which were 
not subjected to it last year, but their offer was re¬ 
jected. The claim is also put forth that the tuberculin 
injection has injured the health and certainly the 
productiveness of the cows. In this declaration there 
is almost universal concurrence by the dairymen, and 
thousands of well-informed people in the city object 
to buying milk from cows which have been “tam¬ 
pered with.” Among these are many eminent phy¬ 
sicians. They also declare that the tuberculin test i 3 
losing favor in other States, particularly Massachu¬ 
setts and New Jersey, and they cite authority of the 
highest order as to the fact that communities not 
using the test are as free from tuberculosis infection 
as any others. 
There seems to be a little politics in the contro¬ 
versy also. The health officials are not men of a 
stamp to command public admiration or confidence. 
They have shown themselves insolent, tyrannical and 
grossly ignorant. The assistant health officer pub¬ 
lished on April 30 “an official statement,” in which he 
advised the use of condensed milk for infants and 
invalids, and declared that people are foolish for buy¬ 
ing natural cows’ milk at any time, inasmuch as it 
contains from 84 to 90 per cent of water at the best. 
And yet this man poses as a scientist, and is paid a 
high salary as a health guardian! The public press 
has been grossly unfair in its utterances of opinion, 
and even in the publishing of news on the subject. A 
statement of the dairymen’s side was refused publica¬ 
tion until paid for at 25 cents a line. It has not been 
shown, that any infected milk has been sold in Syra¬ 
cuse. The dairymen request that at least a few analy¬ 
ses be made by the public bacteriologist, and if the 
bacilli of tuberculosis are found they will eliminate 
any suspected animal; paying for the cost of analysis. 
What the outcome will be no one at present can tell. 
I do not see any disposition on the part of the dairy¬ 
men to surrender. The hostile press is urging them 
to commit some act of violence, or to defy the law, 
so as to bring the matter into court. The same papers 
are urging the health officers to begin actions at law 
to restrain the milkmen from “holding up” the milk 
supply. Of course nothing of this sort will be done. 
Many of the people go daily to the farms to secure 
their supply of milk, where they get it at reduced 
price or gratuitously. The dairymen also furnish the 
hospitals free of charge while the controversy lasts. 
The people generally are good natured over their de¬ 
privation, and thousands have signed a petition asking 
the officials to rescind their demand. 
JOHN T. ROBERTS. 
A FARM HOME IN CUBA. 
On page 235 we told a little story of a Cuban enter¬ 
prise that is well deserving of support. Mr. Elmer 
E. Hubbard, an old New York boy, went to Matanzas 
after the war, and started a little industrial home for 
destitute boys and girls. We now learn further par¬ 
ticulars from Mr. Hubbard, although he says it is 
hard to find time to write with 80 children and several 
grown people to look after. Just now he is living with 
about 35 of the larger boys in tents, while the building 
is used for the little girls and boys. He says that 
more and more poor widows keep coming to him to 
ask that their children be taken, since there is noth¬ 
ing else to do but beg, or at least barely get along, 
without decent clothes to wear to school. The farm 
connected with this little home seems to be prosper¬ 
ing, and Mr. Hubbard says that they are breaking 
their oxen, and have begun plowing. While they will 
plow all they can, they will not do much planting until 
the rain comes next month. He has ordered 100 
American Brown Leghorn chickens, and they wil! 
soon be on Cuban soil all ready for business. He 
hopes they will give a good account of themselves, 
and we have no doubt but that they will. Mr. Hub 
bard says that six cf these children have recently gone 
to the States. One has obtained work at Key West, 
and the others go into homes in the North, where 
they will be trained and educated for the making of 
New Cuba. Another, a beautiful girl, now almost a 
young woman, went to one of the larger towns to live 
in the home of an American missionary. Mr. Hub¬ 
bard says that these children most need homes in 
good, sound American families, where they can be 
trained and fitted for the work of making their beau¬ 
tiful Island what it ought to be. He says he would 
like to see numbers of people come down to Cuba to 
make homes for themselves, and also make homes for 
a dozen to 20 children each, for a few years. When 
you come to think of it, that would be a glorious work 
for many Americans to engage in. One such home as 
that would at least partly offset the work of one im¬ 
ported American saloon. Our experience convinces us 
that unhappily most people would ^ather contribute 
the money to pay some one else to establish such a 
home, than to go to work and do it themselves. It is 
easy to buy patriotism in that way, but it often turns 
out to be of a very inferior kind. We feel sure, how¬ 
ever, that a dollar invested in Mr. Hubbard’s brand 
of patriotism would be worth 100 cents of the best 
money that ever was coined. We regard the men who 
go into business of this kind, and labor without re¬ 
ward to build up and dignify New Cuba, as far better 
Americans than those who would seek selfishly to de¬ 
velop the Island for their own gain. 
