1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
95 
Events of the Week 
DOMESTIC.—The Mayor of Allentown, Pa., which has 
been overrun with idle tramps, has concluded to try a 
new remedy—to disinfect all tramps caught there; to give 
them a good washing; to vaccinate them, and to make 
them work on the streets for 30 days. Thirteen were 
given this sentence January 24. The Mayor announced 
that the sentence awaits every tramp brought before him 
during the remainder of his term.A mine dis¬ 
aster at Lost Creek, Iowa, January 24, caused the death of 
21 men and injuries to eight others; property loss $10,000. 
The explosion occurred at the noon hour, and was what 
is known as a “dust” explosion. The miners had just 
fired their usual noon shots, one of which proved to be a 
fizzle. The burning powder ignited the gas and the ex¬ 
plosion followed. Smoke and debris were blown out of 
the shaft 200 feet high. Part of the top works were torn 
away, and the fans and cages were partially wrecked. 
.... Fire in the wholesale district of Mobile, Ala., Jan¬ 
uary 25, caused a loss of $300,000, and the death of two 
men.January 27 a terrific explosion occurred at 
Park Avenue and Forty-first St., New York, caused by 
dynamite stored for use on the Rapid Transit tunnel. 
Seven persons were killed and 125 injured; the property 
loss may reach $1,000,000. The sunken approach to the 
street railway tunnel used by the Madison avenue line 
cuts through Park avenue, and the shaft for the rapid 
transit subway was run down beside it at the intersection 
of East Forty-first St. The street railway approach was 
housed over with a superstructure used for the operating 
plant of the rapid transit contractors. Temporary build¬ 
ings for storage purposes were thrown up against the 
superstructure at the mouth of the shaft and there the 
explosion occurred. It tore a great gorge in the street, 
demolished the temporary buildings and part of the su¬ 
perstructure and sent a mass of earth, splintered timber 
and twisted iron high in the air. Much of it went bat¬ 
tering against the front of the Murray Hill Hotel, and, 
although the walls and main structure of that building 
stood the shock, nearly every room in the front of the 
house was wrecked. The Manhattan Eye and Ear Hos¬ 
pital, on the east side of the avenue, fared nearly as badly 
and had to be abandoned by the management. The Grand 
Union Hotel lost all of its windows and glass partitions, 
and practically every front window in the Grand Central 
Station was shattered. The great clocks on its front 
towers were blown from their cases. Thousands of win¬ 
dows, some of them seven blocks from the tunnel shaft, 
fell in fragments. It was the shower of broken glass and 
falling debris that injured the greatest number. The 
cause of the explosion and the quantity of explosives 
that blew up are not definitely known. Several causes 
have been advanced. One was that a fire started near the 
powder room and that Master Mechanic William Tubbs 
lost his life in a desperate attempt to quench it before it 
reached the deadly fuel. Another was that it started 
from a spark produced by a stray current of electricity. 
A third placed the blame upon a blast in the tunnel. Still 
another gave a gas explosion from electrical contact. 
CONGRESS.—The pay of rural mail carriers has been 
increased from $500 to $600 a year.The treaty of 
cession of the Danish West Indian Islands was signed in 
Washington January 24. Following the invariable rule in 
such cases, the State Department officials decline to make 
public any of the details of the treaty, so that it is not 
possible to state positively the price to be paid, though 
this is believed to be in the neighborhood of $5,000,000. It 
is known also that Denmark has abandoned the position 
she was inclined to occupy toward the conservation of 
the political rights of the inhabitants of the islands, and 
leaves the United States a free hand to deal with them, 
without pledge of American citizenship or of free trade 
privileges. It is assumed that the status of the Danish 
West Indian Islands, politically and commercially, should 
the treaty be ratified, will be similar to that of Porto 
Rico. Having gained these points in the negotiations, the 
State Department officials believe that the treaty is cer¬ 
tain to receive the approval of the United States Senate. 
.... The draft of the Army Appropriation bill has 
been completed by the House Committee on Military Af¬ 
fairs. The bill carries about $90,000,000, a reduction, com¬ 
pared with the sum appropriated by the act for the cur¬ 
rent year, of about $23,000,000. The estimates were pre¬ 
sented for an army of 100,000, but the committee has made 
provision for 83,000, which is a larger number than the 
War Department expects to retain in the service next 
year. The bill contains an item of $25,000,000 for the trans¬ 
portation of troops and supplies, which includes the main¬ 
tenance of the transport service between San Francisco 
and the Philippines.The United States Senate, 
January 28, discussed the Philippine question for three 
hours, with great bitterness. The race problem, involving 
the lynching of negroes, was injected into the debate, 
and much feeling was shown on both sides. Prior to the 
outbreak on the Philippine question, the Senate concluded 
the consideration of the bill establishing a Department 
of Commerce and Labor and passed it. 
PHILIPPINES.—The American Chamber of Commerce 
at Manila has appealed to Congress for the enactment of 
laws allowing Chinamen to enter the Philippine Islands 
under such restrictions as the United States Philippine 
Commission may enact. The appeal says that the present 
restrictive law concerning immigration is of no benefit to 
the Filipinos. Chinamen, if admitted, would not enter 
into competition with local labor, and their entry into 
the islands is imperatively needed, as the tobacco, hemp 
and sugar lands of the archipelago are only partially cul¬ 
tivated. Without this legislation the country cannot be 
properly developed. Building in Manila has been badly 
retarded because of the lack of labor, and for these rea¬ 
sons the American Chamber of Commerce, composed en¬ 
tirely of American citizens, prays for immediate action. 
. . . . Col. Charles W. Miner, of the Sixth Infantry, 
reports that the conditions on the Island of Negros are 
unsatisfactory and that 400 bolomen and 40 men armed 
with rifles, under the command of the fanatical bandit 
leader, Papa Isio, are terrorizing the people. 
The condition of Capt. David D. Porter’s marines, who 
took part in the expedition into the interior of Samar, 
is much worse than previously described. The 36 men in 
the party were absent two weeks, though they had rations 
for only five days. On January 21 Capt. Porter and 26 
of his men reached the coast. Of the other 10 men noth¬ 
ing was known. The marines report that they suffered 
fearful hardships and were without food for several days. 
The natives who accompanied the marines claimed they 
were unable to distinguish the edible roots, which the 
marines did not believe. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—At the thirty-eighth annual 
meeting of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association 
the following officers were elected: President, J. W. Big¬ 
elow, Wolfville, N. S.; senior vice-president, P. Innes, 
Kentville, N. S.; secretary, S. C. Parker, Berwick, N. S.; 
treasurer, Geo. W. Munro, Wolfville, N. S. 
At the annual convention of the Indiana Short-Horn 
Breeders’ Association E. W. Bowen, Delphi, was elected 
president, and F. H. Gilchrist, Hope, secretary. 
The New Jersey Bee Keepers’ Association has recently 
been organized, with the following officers: President, B. 
F. Onderdonk, Mountain View; vice-presidents, W. W. 
Case, Hunterdon, H. N. Van Duyne and J. D. Craig, Mor¬ 
ris; secretary, Geo. N. Wanser, Cranford. The dues are 
$1 a year. The Association will appeal to the State Legis¬ 
lature for a law to suppress foul brood and other contagi¬ 
ous diseases among bees. 
Early in January a farmers’ institute was held at Rush- 
ville, N. Y. It was largely attended and much interest 
taken. The director, C. E. Chapman, did well, and all 
agreed that the interest and attendance were the best of 
the season. The farmers were aroused and decided to do 
something for themselves. Accordingly, they recently or¬ 
ganized a club called the Rushville Farmers’ Club, which 
includes members from Yates and Ontario counties, and 
the towns of Gorham, Middlesex and Potter. The officers 
chosen were: President, H. M. Boardman; secretary, W. 
H. Savage; treasurer, George Fitch; a vice-president was 
chosen from each of the three towns. 
In the hope of raising the State’s revenues $1,000,000 by 
compelling manufacturing corporations to pay a tax, and 
at the same time cut in half the amount of tax now paid 
on real estate, the legislative committee of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania State Grange is preparing to bring injunction pro¬ 
ceedings in Harrisburg to compel the State authorities 
to assess the capital stock of manufacturing corporations 
the same as other corporations. Under the present sys¬ 
tem, capital stock of manufacturing corporations is ex¬ 
empt from taxation for State purposes. Other corpora¬ 
tions are required to pay a tax of five mills on the ap¬ 
praised value or selling price. The whole question of dis¬ 
criminating rates under which the State and local rev¬ 
enues are collected will be opened up by these proceed¬ 
ings. It is said that if the committee is successful pro¬ 
ceedings will be instituted against the county commis¬ 
sioners to compel them to assess property equally for 
local purposes. _ 
IRRIGATION OF THE ARID LANDS. 
Views of a Colorado Citizen. 
I read with some interest the editorial in your issue of 
December 21 on the recommendation of President Roose¬ 
velt in favor of the construction of storage reservoirs for 
the irrigation of the arid lands of the West. The narrow 
and sectional views therein expressed, and the ignorance 
of the real facts in the case, are so at variance with the 
general tone of your editorial columns that I cannot re¬ 
frain from giving expression to a western view of the 
matter. You say that the vast majority of American 
farmers is opposed to the project. I have heard of much 
opposition to this project, but it has not been from farm¬ 
ers so much as from politicians. The West has not been 
strongly Republican of late years, and hence has not 
been in high favor at Washington. While many millions 
of dollars have been appropriated annually for divers and 
sundry improvements throughout the eastern half of the 
country, the moment a small expenditure is suggested 
for the West, lo, “it is not necessary!” Now, the States 
in the arid West that are interested in this matter are 
great enough in area and in resources of various kinds to 
form an empire, and they are increasing in population 
and in wealth at a rate that you can scarcely conceive 
of. But, more to the point, they are a part of this Nation, 
and are adding tremendously each year to the wealth of 
the Nation, and they are, of right, entitled to a share of 
the money expended for the public benefit. But, in this 
case, these States are not asking even so much as that; 
but merely that the proceeds from the sale of public 
lands within their borders be set apart for the survey 
and construction of storage reservoirs so that, gradually, 
not only the West, but the Nation, may be built up by 
the utilization of its now waste resources. You say fur¬ 
ther that if this project be carried out, the country will 
be flooded with food products far in excess of our present 
needs. As to agriculture, Colorado is much the same as 
the other arid States, and can be taken as a sample of 
them all. We have had to learn by experiment what we 
can produce to advantage, and the steady growth in the 
population of the State has been sufficient to absorb the 
gradually increasing agricultural product, so that there 
has never been a time when we have not shipped in more 
farm produce than we have shipped out, and we have 
now nearly reached the limit of production under existing 
conditions because we are cultivating practically all the 
land that can be irrigated from the natural flow of the 
streams. The storage of the water that goes to waste 
in the Spring floods would greatly increase the area of 
tillable land, but, in the nature of things, the building of 
storage reservoirs and the increase of production result¬ 
ing therefrom will come so slowly that the State of 
Colorado will, for many years, easily absorb all that In¬ 
crease, and the farmer of the Eastern States will not 
know from any competition he feels that a storage 
reservoir has ever been built. For the same reason that 
the work must, of necessity be done slowly and the ex¬ 
penditure of money be limited to the amount received 
from the sale of public lands, the danger of “the great¬ 
est political job on earth” is not apparent, for there will 
be no big “job” without a big lot of money to be spent. 
As to your fear that these (to be) irrigated lands will 
fall into the hands of corporations and trusts, where 
have you known any large corporation take hold of 
farming and stick to it? Even farming on a large scale 
by individuals is so rare as to prove the rule that agri¬ 
culture is a profitable occupation only when carried on 
in a small way—small as compared with any trust oper¬ 
ations of the present day. Furthermore, the cattle com¬ 
panies, the largest aggregations of capital that have any 
interest whatever in the matter, are opposed to the bill, 
because the extension of the area of irrigable land has 
always brought in the small farmer who fences and 
cultivates and improves the land, whereas the cattle 
companies greatly prefer the proposition to lease the 
public lands whereby they might gain control of vast 
tracts for grazing, and leave them unimproved. If you 
object to this project because “it is unnecessary,” prob¬ 
ably you would have said, 98 years ago, that the Louisi¬ 
ana Purchase was unnecessary and unwise, yet you will 
scarcely deny that the foresight of Thomas Jefferson, as 
shown in that act, has played no small part in making 
us the great Nation we are to-day. And I say without 
fear of successful contradiction that there is no way in 
which so small an expenditure of money will produce so 
great ultimate results in the building up of the West 
and, consequently of the Nation, as in the gradual recla¬ 
mation of these now almost valueless lands, by means 
of the building of storage reservoirs. Now, for the first 
time in the history of our Government, we have a Presi¬ 
dent who, though an eastern man by birth and residence, 
has seen enough of the vast empire west of the Missis¬ 
sippi to know something of its needs and its possibilities, 
and I venture to suggest the wisdom of being thoroughly 
informed as to the merits of this proposition before you 
oppose it further, for I am satisfied that, with only a 
brief survey of the actual situation, you will be con¬ 
vinced of the wisdom and the justice of this wise recom¬ 
mendation of President Roosevelt, and will not oppose 
it further, but, rather, will encourage it with all the 
power and influence at your command. 
Boulder, Col. chas. l. parsons. 
How Illinois Farmers Regard It. 
I am glad to see you take up the matter of Govern¬ 
ment aid to irrigation in the West. It does not seem to 
me that the time has come yet when we need that land. 
We ought to leave it for a future generation. We have 
taken the cream from many square miles of fine farm¬ 
ing land, and we ought now to take care of what we 
have, rather than reach out for more. Right here In 
central Illinois, where land is worth from $65 to $100 per 
acre, it is not half farmed, and many acres lie largely 
unproductive, when a few dollars spent for tile or even 
for surface drainage would more than double their value. 
I can point out many a field within a few minutes’ ride 
of where I sit that does not produce one-half what it 
might if it were farmed as it should be. Not but what 
we are fair average farmers about here, but the best of 
us do not get what we ought to out of our land. The 
fact is, as it seems to me, that there are not more than 
half enough people for the land as it is, without adding 
a lot more by building irrigation plants by Government 
aid. Think of the great quantity of land all through the 
South now going to waste; being washed into the rivers 
by every rainfall simply for the lack of some one to 
take care of and cultivate it. This land, much of it at 
least, is not the best, of course, but a great deal of it is 
good. We should first make the best use of what we 
have, and then irrigate. There is quite a lively demand 
for farms in this neighborhood (Christian Co.); a good 
many men coming from 40 or 50 miles farther north, after 
selling their farms there at $100 to $125 per acre, buy 
here at $65 to $80. The farms they sell are generally 
tiled, while those they buy here are not. They reckon 
that $10 per acre spent in tiling will make this land 
equal to that which they leave. It has been quite com¬ 
mon here for the owners of small farms and renters to 
go a few miles farther south and buy land at very much 
less than they could get it for here; in many cases for 
one-fourth or one-third. Six or seven years ago, two 
young men, brothers, went from here to Fayette Co., 
30 miles distant, where they bought land in the bottoms 
of the Kaskaskia River (railroad lands) at $8 or $10 per 
acre. They cleared and improved and made farms which 
they now hold at $50 or $60. I have no doubt there are 
many such chances all over the country. g. w. b. 
Rosemond, Ill. 
THE MILLER'S TOLL.—Regarding the question of toll 
by J. H. A. on page 873, our nearest mill, in North Bran¬ 
ford, charges eight cents a bushel for all kinds of feed 
and 10 cents for rye flour, but has taken no toll for years, 
on account of the great variety of mixtures brought for 
feed, the poor quality of some and the difficulty of dis¬ 
posing of such a mixed lot of stuff as the toll would be. 
At the town mill in Guilford they keep a separate run for 
wheat, and govern their toll by the market price of wheat, 
taking slightly more than the cash value to allow for the 
trouble of disposing of the toll. e. c. g. 
Fair Haven, Conn. 
ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY, N. Y.—This is one of the 
largest counties in the State, and its valleys are very fer¬ 
tile, being well adapted to dairying, but there are many 
farms covered so thickly with rocks that it is impossible 
to cultivate them, consequently they are covered with 
worthless weeds. The supervisors are purchasing stone 
crushers and putting the rocks on the highway; now we 
need something to destroy the brush and weeds, and we 
know of nothing excepting goats or fire that will destroy 
them. We would be pleased to hear from anyone who has 
any experience with Angora goats in a climate where the 
mercury goes down to 20 and 30 below zero many days in 
Winter. The five beautiful rivers that flow through this 
county from the Adirondacks to the St. Lawrence fur¬ 
nish all the water power we can utilize. There are 21 
Subordinate Granges in this county and a Pomona Grange 
with a large number of members; a well-organized fire 
insurance attached that has not exceeded $1 on the $1,000 
in 23 years. We also have space in a county paper where 
we can publish our Joys and woes, thus becoming better 
acquainted with our neighbors. This organization has 
done more to elevate and help the farmers and their 
families than words can express. It is truly said this is 
the farmer’s club. Many of our people hnve free mail 
delivery, and they certainly do appreciate it this stormy 
weather, and there are many more objects In view that 
we will accomplish in due time. t. h. h. 
