1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
821 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—A gale at Colorado Springs, Col., Novem¬ 
ber 22, caused property damage amounting to $200,000. 
Hundreds of ranches were swept clean of farm buildings 
and products.A high-license local-option bill, 
with referendum order, was defeated in the Vermont 
legislature November 22.The United States Su¬ 
preme Court has sustained the decision of a circuit judge 
at Kalamazoo, Mich., in the case of Ruth I. Eye vs. Chas. 
A. Chapin. Henry Fye, father of a little girl, brought 
suit for $25,000 damages against Chapin for damages in¬ 
flicted by the latter’s $400 Newfoundland dog on the 
child. The jury gave complainant damages for $10,000, 
which Judge Buck doubled under an obsolete law. 
Chapin appealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed, 
but decided the sum should not be doubled. 
Chester B. Lawrence, Jr., a stock broker, made an as¬ 
signment in New York November 23, with liabilities of 
about $200,000. His customers were chiefly women, who 
meet with heavy losses.It is reported that the 
notorious Indian renegade, Apache Kid, has been killed 
in a raid at Colonia Pacheco, Mexico. The War Depart¬ 
ment has expended $50,000 in the effort to capture him, 
alive or dead, and the Territorial governments of New 
Mexico and Arizona have offered rewards amounting to 
$10,000, with the same end in view.A landslide 
at Clarksburg, W. Va., November 24, carried away a strip 
half a mile long and 20 feet deep, blocking up five soft- 
coal mines, and causing damage aggregating $3,000,000. 
No lives were lost.The Canadian steamer St. 
Olaf was wrecked in the lower St. Lawrence November 
21, in a blinding snowstorm; 26 lives lost.A tem¬ 
porary injunction has been issued against the trustees of 
the Jay Gould estate restraining them from paying to 
Anna Gould (Countess de Castellane), any portion of the 
income of the trust estate. The proceedings are brought 
on behalf of the creditors of the Count and Countess de 
Castellane, who want a portion of the latter’s income 
applied to the payment of their debts.The 
schooner Maumee Valley was wrecked in Lake Huron 
November 24; eight lives lost.Rio Blanco 
County, Col., was practically under martial law Novem¬ 
ber 28, the Ute Indians having run off their reservation 
and put on warpaint.Senator C. K. Davis, of 
Minnesota, died at St. Paul, Minn., November 28. He 
had been in the Senate since 1887; was chairman of the 
Committee on Foreign Relations, and had a fine record 
in the Civil War. His death was caused by blood poison¬ 
ing, the result of a small cut on the foot. 
Comptroller of the Currency Dawes in his annual report 
urges more stringent laws to regulate the loaning of 
funds by banks to their own officers and directors. 
PHILIPPINES.—It w T as announced November 22 that a 
detachment of 100 men, from Companies I and M, Twen¬ 
ty-fifth United States Infantry, colored, under Captain 
O’Neill, made a clever capture of 30 insurgents, with 
rifles, supplies and 1,500 rounds of ammunition, in a 
camp east of San Marcelino, which the Americans 
charged at daybreak. Captain Gulick, with 16 men of the 
Forty-seventh Infantry, had a sharp encounter with in¬ 
surgents concealed in a block house near Binorongan. 
With nine men Captain Gulick swam a river, gained the 
hillside, routed the enemy and, incidentally, killed sev¬ 
eral fleeing Bolomen. The same party, with a score of 
comrades, drove the insurgents from Bulasan, where they 
were entrenched. The detachment killed 14 and cap¬ 
tured five in two days. Particulars have just been re¬ 
ceived from Iloilo of the battle of October 30 at Bugason, 
Island of Panay. Two hundred Bolomen and 50 riflemen 
attacked the Americans, who lost three killed, Lieutenant 
H. M. Koontz, Sergeant Kitchen and Corporal Burns, all 
of Company F, Forty-fourth Infantry. Corporal Burns was 
boloed while reconnoitering, and Lieutenant Koontz and 
Sergeant Kitchen were pierced by spears while going to 
relieve an outpost. When the garrison in force attacked 
the rebels 49 of the latter were killed. None of the other 
parties of attacking natives made much of a stand, and 
the insurgents lost 103 killed all told. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—President Kruger, of 
the Transvaal, landed at Marseilles November 22. There 
was a great public demonstration of enthusiasm. There 
was an elaborate procession and a profuse display of the 
Transvaal colors interwoven with those of France. Anti- 
British demonstrations were checked. Plans are ar¬ 
ranged for a reception to Mr. Kruger at Paris. 
The American Government has not approved Germany’s 
policy of vengeance in China, and will instruct Minister 
Conger to endeavor to have the demands made at Pekin 
moderated, so that they can be accepted by the Chinese 
government.The Sultan of Turkey refuses to 
recognize an American consul at Harpoot. Some time 
ago Dr. Thos. H. Norton was appointed to this office, 
but in spite of repeated requests, the Sultan refuses to 
grant him an exequatur.Conflicting reports are 
received as to the condition of the Czar of Russia. Of¬ 
ficially it is stated that he is improving, but rumor as¬ 
serts that he is suffering from quick consumption. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Continental Dorset Club 
held its annual meeting at Chicago, December 6. 
The National Grange concluded its convention at Wash¬ 
ington November 22. Discussion of a resolution intro¬ 
duced by Mr. Naudain, of Maine, recommending the es¬ 
tablishment of a Department of Commerce with repre¬ 
sentation in the President’s Cabinet, ended in its refer¬ 
ence to the Committee on Legislation without recommen¬ 
dation. A communication was received from the White 
House saying that the President would be pleased to 
confer with the Executive Committee on agricultural 
legislation. The Grange is especially interested in the 
Grout oleomargarine bill, and asked the President’s good 
offices in behalf of that measure. The committee con¬ 
sisted of Messrs. Jones, of Indiana; Norris, of New York, 
and Bachelder, of New Hampshire. 
The Michigan State Poultry and Pet Stock Association 
will hold its exhibition at Detroit January 7-11, 1901; sec¬ 
retary, John A. Grover, Concord, Mich. 
The Kentucky State Horticultural Association will meet 
at Bowling Green December 11-12; secretary, J. C. Howes, 
Fernci’eek, Ky. 
The Missouri State Grange will meet at Fayette De¬ 
cember 10-14. 
The Rhode Island State Grange will meet at East Provi¬ 
dence December 11-12; secretary, J. A. Tillinghart, King¬ 
ston, R. I. 
Floods following heavy rains have damaged the celery 
crop in California to the extent of $150,000. 
Four divisions of the National Department of Agri¬ 
culture have been affiliated under the name of Office of 
Plant Industry, with B. T. Galloway, Superintendent of 
Gardens and Grounds; Albert F. Woods, Chief of Vege¬ 
table Physiology and Pathology; F. Lamson-Scribner, 
Chief of Agrostology, and G. B. Brackett, Chief of Po¬ 
mology. The plan is to bring about closer union and co¬ 
operation in these several branches, with a view to de¬ 
veloping the work along the broadest possible lines. Hor¬ 
ticulture will be made a special feature in future, and 
particularly the intensive lines of work, especially that 
of growing vegetables and flowers under glass. 
At the twenty-eighth annual convention of the Central 
Illinois Horticultural Society the following officers were 
elected: H. Augustine, president, Normal, Ill.; George J. 
Foster, vice-president, Bloomington, Ill.; S. N. Black, 
second vice-president, Clayton, Ill.; J. C. Blair, secretary, 
Urbana, Ill.; W. S. Zeigler, treasurer, Clinton, Ill. Prof. 
J. C. Blair of the State University was present with a 
complete spraying outfit. He illustrated and urged its 
use on trees or plants infested with insects or worms. 
Horticulturists were warned against the Squash bug and 
told to use the Bordeaux Mixture for a spray. Senator 
Dunlap, of Savoy, read three papers. 
At the recent convention of the Grain Dealers’ Na¬ 
tional Association, at Indianapolis, Ind., H. S. Grimes, 
president of the State Board of Agriculture of Ohio, read 
a paper on “Reliable Government Crop Reports.” He said 
the present system of Government crop reports is inade¬ 
quate and unsatisfactory, and claimed that fewer agents, 
well paid, would give more reliable statistics. The dis¬ 
cussion of the paper brought out a statement by John 
Ross, of Lafayette, that more grain dealers have been 
ruined by Government reports than by all other influ¬ 
ences; that the reports were misleading and were manipu¬ 
lated by capitalists. Des Moines, la., was selected as the 
next meeting place, and the following officers were elect¬ 
ed: B. A. Lockwood, Des Moines, la., president; T. B. 
Baxter, Taylorville, Ill., first vice-president; H. S. Grimes, 
Portsmouth, O., second vice-president; Chas. S. Clark, 
Chicago, secretary and treasurer. 
The twenty-second annual meeting of the Ontario Agri¬ 
cultural and Experimental Union will be held at the On¬ 
tario Agricultural College at Guelph, Canada, Decem¬ 
ber 10-11. 
The Ontario Provincial Winter Fair will be held at 
Guelph, Ont., December 11-14. Lectures will be given 
each day and evening during the Fair, on topics relating 
to live stock and poultry and their products. 
NOTES FROM THE HORSE SHOW. 
The Horses and What They Did. 
Anyone who thinks that the automobile and trolley car 
will soon have the scalp of the horse, and that in a 
few generations as an an extinct animal his bones will 
be put in museums for curiosities beside the ichthyosau¬ 
rus and pterodactyl would have changed his mind if he 
had attended the Horse Show in this city for the week 
ending November 24. More and better horses than ever 
before, something less than 900, were exhibited. The 
ring in Madison Square Garden was prepared at con¬ 
siderable expense. The floor is made of iron and cement, 
and this was covered 12 inches deep in the middle and 
two feet on the turns with clay brought from the eastern 
end of Long Island. The clay was rolled, hammered and 
packed until as springy as rubber. Three inches of tan- 
bark spread on this finished the job, making a most 
favorable footing for the performances of trotters and 
jumpers. The animals exhibited may be grouped into 
five general classes, viz.: The special performers like 
hunters, high jumpers, and high-school horses, speed 
animals, ponies, general-purpose horses, like the Hack¬ 
ney, strong and tough, of fine appearance and good 
roadsters, and heavy harness horses, though but little 
attention is given to them. Each class has its admirers, 
but it is probable that something of the Hackney type 
would receive more votes than any other as a general 
favorite. Their style, mettle and strength, and their 
ability to travel right along without making any fuss 
about it, make an excellent combination. In the early 
part of the show the actions of some of the roadsters 
caused considerable excitement. Two of the 12 that were 
entered in this class ran away, and another plunged and 
pranced so that he had to be taken from the ring. The 
runaways were stopped by grooms with some difficulty, 
and no one was hurt. No matter how well a horse may 
be broken for ordinary road work, there is no telling 
what a high-spirited animal may do when he gets in a 
building where is a great crowd, music, cheering and 
hand-clapping. The horse which would probably have 
taken the first prize in this class, lost it by bolting at 
these strange sights and sounds, and the driver had his 
hands full to avoid a collision with the others. 
In many particulars the most interesting part of the 
show is a trip through the stables downstairs, where the 
horses can be seen without harness on. The Shetland 
ponies in their stalls received great attention from the 
visitors. They like to be petted by the passers-by, and 
fret if tied so that their heads are kept away from the 
crowd. They are so gentle and friendly that even the 
smallest child is not afraid to rub their noses, and they 
have a warm corner in the hearts of the children. One 
interesting class was that of the trotting-bred yearling 
colts. A dozen of these young shavers, clean-limbed and 
graceful, and with an action that showed that they might 
make names for themselves later, were so evenly 
matched that the judges had a hard task to decide be¬ 
tween them. Veteran breeders take great Interest in 
studying such youngsters and also the two-year-olds. 
An event was the judging for special prizes of the horses 
best known in the contests on the Speedway along the 
Harlem River. The value of the 17 animals entered in 
this contest was placed at $160,000. No attempts were 
made to show great speed in the restricted limits of the 
ring. A big crowd watched the contest in four-in-hand 
coach driving. The skill which these coachmen acquire 
is remarkable. In judging, everything is noted, from 
the coachman’s manner of mounting and holding the 
reins, to the twists and turns he makes. To show their 
skill in entering a gate from the road, they make turns 
through hurdles set close together. The performance of 
Howlett, the French coachman, was far ahead of that 
of any other contestant. He went through the narrow 
passages and made the crooks and turns as easily as in 
an open field, and, when going through the most difficult 
spot, touched up the leaders with the whip and brought 
r.he lash back to its proper place without appearing to 
move the whip hand more than three inches. He made 
but few motions, a point considered most desirable in a 
coachman. The high-jumping contest was closely 
watched. The horses admitted to this are tried before¬ 
hand with low jumps, and all inferior ones weeded out. 
For the high jump the fence is first put up to five feet, 
and gradually raised to 6% feet, which is the limit al¬ 
lowed. At 5% feet, a number balked or knocked off the 
top rail; at six feet three, several failed to clear it in 
three trials; and at 6% feet one felt that he was being 
imposed upon, and plunged straight at the fence, knock¬ 
ing it down. The horse which won the first prize ran 
into the ringmaster after making the jump, and knocked 
him down, so that he lost his hat and some papers he 
was holding. He scrambled up, however, and, when the 
crowd saw that he was not harmed except in ruffled 
dignity, they were much amused at the incident. This 
high-jumping contest is the most exciting part of the 
whole show. A number of years ago one of the jumpers 
after clearing the bar, was so excited that he rushed to 
the fence at the side and leaped over into the crowd be¬ 
fore the driver could stop him. It is a hard strain on a 
nervous animal to have to put forth his greatest effort 
in such a small space, and then cool down at once just 
as though nothing had happened. In the trial of hunters 
a series of jumps is made over five or six hurdles some 
distance apart. These are supposed to represent the 
fences cleared in the exciting and rather dangerous cross¬ 
country hunts, where the animals sometimes fall on slip¬ 
pery ground, throwing the riders with great violence. 
Of course, it must be understood that this show is not 
for common or untrained horses. An ordinary animal 
would stand no chance, whatever, unless trained to show 
off his good points by those who understand the business. 
The most that a farmer can do is to furnish the raw 
material. It would pay one who is doing anything in the 
line of breeding horses for sale to visit this show, if 
within reasonable distance. A careful study of the ani¬ 
mals will give him a better idea of the types of horses 
considered most desirable by high-priced buyers, than he 
could get in any other way; also some excellent points on 
driving and the general handling of horses may be picked 
up. The ability to drive well and handle high-spirited 
horses in the best way is worth having. So many ani¬ 
mals are misused and even spoiled by incompetent 
drivers, that the best farmers will often give quite a 
bonus to get a hired man who can be trusted to use their 
best teams properly, either in the field or on the road. 
POTATO-CROP NOTES. 
I have hot heard of any rot in this section. Potatoes 
were a fair crop here, but prices have been low—25 to 30 
cents per bushel. However, this is a fruit rather than 
potato section. a. b. 
Allegan Co., Mich. 
The southwestern section of Michigan is not an im¬ 
portant potato-growing section, although a good many 
are shipped in a good year. There is but very little com¬ 
plaint of wet rot here. Early potatoes were a good crop, 
but late ones didn’t do well on account of wet weather. 
Shippers are paying 25 cents per bushel. a. j. d. 
Van Buren Co., Mich. 
Our crop is scarcely an average. There could be a 
few cars shipped from here at an advance in price (mar¬ 
ket price now 50 cents per bag). Our best varieties are 
for early, Early Harvest; next Thorburn and late Green 
Mountain and Great; Northern. Our most successful cul¬ 
ture is to seed with clover; let this grow up in Spring 
and plow down and plant, making ground firm by rolling. 
Best way is to plow in deep, drop potatoes every third 
furrow 15 inches apart, then harrow and roll. If manure 
is used put it on in the Fall. We usually have good suc¬ 
cess with these methods if crop is well cared for. 
Canada. 1 . w. r. 
I think this season is the driest we have ever known 
here, and coming after the dry season of last year it has 
about ruined the meadows. Most farmers have not 
nearly enough hay to go through the Winter. The ground 
is too dry to plow, and no Winter grain sown to speak 
of. We thrashed in July 114% bushels of fine Gold Coin 
wheat from 4% acres sown October 2, 1899, which, con¬ 
sidering the Winter, was a good yield. e. p. b. 
Hopbottom, Pa. 
Apples at Louisville. —There are a good many north¬ 
ern apples sold in this market, and the demand will be 
greater from now on. We had a very fair crop in this 
section, but it is of poor quality, and now about out of 
the way, and we shall have to depend entirely upon the 
northern markets. There have been a few cars of New 
England apples received here already, and they, as a 
rule, have given good satisfaction. More Baldwins and 
Greenings are sold here than anything else, though 
there is a good demand for Kings and other kinds. The 
trade here has looked to New York mostly for its supply, 
and no doubt most of the apples will come from that 
State, unless we can get them from New England to 
better advantage. Michigan apples are also coming here 
to some extent, but do not give good satisfaction, as 
they are not regarded as good keepers. This section 
will undoubtedly be a good outlet for good apples up to 
the middle of December. Usually we have a dull time 
from that on until the latter part of January, when we 
again have a good demand which lasts up to March 1. 
Louisville, Ky. d. b. sperry. 
