1902 
- rji 
,41 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
421 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—There was a brisk snowfall at Canandai¬ 
gua, N. Y., May 28, which covered the ground. 
The Memorial Day address of President Roosevelt at 
Arlington Cemetery was a notable deliverance, as the 
Executive made a defence of the Philippine army. He 
declared that it had performed a most arduous task, 
under circumstances of the greatest difficulty, and, while 
there may have been some instances of cruelty, the 
President gave assurance that the guilty would be pun¬ 
ished. In speaking of the ultimate destiny of the Fili¬ 
pinos, the President said it could not be decided “wheth¬ 
er they are to exist independently of us or be knit to us 
by ties of common friendship and interest” until they 
shall have shown their capacity for self-government. . 
. An important order was issued May 31 from the 
War Department, by direction of the President, by which 
the numerical strength of the army is reduced from 77,- 
287 enlisted men to 66,497, a reduction of 10,790. It is pro¬ 
posed to maintain a force in the Philippines equal to one- . 
third of the aggregate strength of the army, and to 
change this force every two years, as far as that is prac¬ 
ticable.A cloudburst occurred at Dunham, 
Iowa, June 2, and several thousand acres of corn were 
washed away. The Burlington track for five or six miles 
was undermined, and all traffic on the Keokuk branch 
blocked. Many cattle and sheep are reported lost. . . 
, A volcano is reported in active eruption a few miles 
from Grant, New Mexico. The Redoubt Volcano, Cook 
Inlet, Alaska, is throwing up an enormous sheet of flame 
.... The coal strike is affecting many industries, and 
is expected to extend from the anthracite to the bitumin¬ 
ous regions. Firemen and pumpmen are joining the 
strikers, and many mines are flooded in consequence. If 
all the West Virginia soft coal miners go out, it will add 
30,000 mine workers to the total of 148,704 already on 
strike. Of this latter number, 147,000 are out in the an¬ 
thracite region and 1,704 in the Michigan soft coal field, 
where a strike has been in progress since April. If pro¬ 
duction in West Virginia is suspended, the total supply 
of coal that will be cut off will reach 80,000,000 tons. Of 
this latter, the anthracite fields produce 54,000,000 tons, 
the West Virginia fields over 25,000,000 and the Michigan 
district about 900,000 tons. 
CONGRESS.— The proposition to lease the public lands 
for grazing purposes, which has been investigated at 
some length by the House Committee on Public Lands, 
went over indefinitely, and will not be considered again 
at this session of Congress.The Senate, after 
a debate lasting seven weeks and two days, passed the 
Philippine Government bill June 3 by a vote of 48 to 30. 
Three Republicans—Messrs. Hoar, of Massachusetts; 
Mason, of Illinois, and Wellington, of Maryland—voted 
against the measure, and one Democrat—Mr. McLaurin, 
of South Carolina—voted for it. All amendments offered 
by the minority were rejected. After the passage of the 
Philippine bill the Nicaragua Canal bill was made the un¬ 
finished business, and its consideration began June 4. The 
House began consideration of the “Anti-anarchy bill.” 
.... The omission of two or three words from the 
Chinese Exclusion law which was recently enacted has 
created considerable alarm among Senators and Repre¬ 
sentatives of the Pacific coast. Certain provisions of the 
act declare that the exclusion of Chinese persons shall 
be enforced “so far as the same are not inconsistent with 
treaty obligations.” The United States has treaty obli¬ 
gations with all foreign nations, and the failure to spe¬ 
cify that the obligations specified in the Exclusion act 
have reference to treaties with China has aroused an 
apprehension among the Pacific coast people that Chinese 
residents of Hong Kong who have become British sub¬ 
jects might claim admission under the act. It is also 
apprehended by these people that some of the Central 
American countries might go into the business of nat¬ 
uralizing Chinese, in order that advantage might be 
taken of what is feared is a defect in the recently- 
enacted Exclusion law. 
PHILIPPINES.—An Investigation of cholera statistics 
in the Philippines since the introduction of the disease 
from Canton, China, March 20, shows the total number 
of cases in the city of Manila to be 1,165 and 935 deaths 
up to May 27. During this time in the provinces, so far 
as the records have been made up, they show 5,001 cases 
and 2,878 deaths. Of the fatal cases in Manila 30 were 
white people—20 Americans and 10 Europeans, which, con¬ 
sidering the proportion of natives to white people, is an 
unusually large number. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—May 31 the Boer repre¬ 
sentatives signed terms of surrender at Pretoria, and 
peace was announced. Military occupation is to be with¬ 
drawn as soon as possible, and self-government substi¬ 
tuted. There is to be no tax on the Transvaal to pay the 
cost of the war. The sum of $15,000,000 is to be provided 
for restocking the Boers’ farms. Rebels are liable for 
trial, according to the law of the colony to which they 
belong. The rank and file will be disfranchised for life. 
The death penalty will not be inflicted. The burgher 
forces are to lay down their arms and hand over all their 
rifles, guns and ammunition of war in their possession or 
under their control. They are to swear allegiance to 
King Edward. All prisoners are to be brought back as 
soon as possible to South Africa, without loss of liberty 
or property. No action is to be taken against prisoners, 
except where they are guilty of breaches of the rules of 
war. A condensed history of the struggle is as follows: 
October 11, 1899, Boer forces crossed into Natal to attack 
strong forces of British, concentrated on the borders of 
the Transvaal; Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley be¬ 
sieged. December 10-15, British suffer great reverses at 
Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. January 23-24, 
1900, British suffer severely at Spion Kop, in a second ef¬ 
fort to relieve Ladysmith. February, 1900, Lord Roberts, 
who had succeeded Sir Redvers Buller, organized an 
army of 200,000 men, in three divisions, each one numeri¬ 
cally superior to the entire Boer force. He was in per¬ 
sonal command of the forces against Cronje, and cap¬ 
tured the latter with 4,000 troops. The result of his op¬ 
erations was the relief of Kimberley, Ladysmith and 
Mafeking and the occupation of Bloemfontein, the capi¬ 
tal of the Orange Free State, and subsequently (after 
more fighting) of Pretoria. President Kruger escaped to 
Europe, but De Wet continued the war, though without 
any large organized force. February 16, Kimberley re¬ 
lieved. February 27, Cronje surrenders with 4,000 men. 
February 28, Ladysmith relieved. March 13, Bloemfontein 
occupied. March 27, General Joubert dies. May 18, Mafe¬ 
king relieved. May 28, annexation of Orange Free State 
proclaimed. June 5, Pretoria occupied. July 30, surrender 
of Prinsloo with 3,000 Boers. September 11, President 
Kruger flees from the Transvaal and sails for Europe. 
December 11, Lord Roberts sails for Europe, leaving 
General Kitchener in command, to conduct a campaign 
against roving bands of Boers. The war is declared over, 
and there is, in fact, no Boer army against which to 
carry on a campaign, but the fighting continues for more 
than a year. December, 1900, De Wet makes a raid in 
Cape Colony. January, 1901, De Wet’s raid continued. 
September, 1901, Botha make an unsuccessful raid into 
Zululand. Spring of 1902, Kitchener make a big drive of 
De Wet and Delarey, but fails to capture them. Delarey 
turns on the British and captures General Methuen, who 
is subsequently released. March 23, Peace negotiations 
begun. March 26, death of Cecil Rhodes. May 31, peace 
terms agreed upon. _____________ 
GRANGERS AND THE ISTHMUS CANAL 
Pennsylvania in Favor of the Project. 
Personally I favor the canal, and believe our people 
generally do who have given It consideration. Quick and 
economic transportation and communication is decidedly 
helpful to promote a higher type of civilization among 
people or nations—commercially or Industrially, we, as 
farmers, rise or sink with our own nation as a whole. 
We desire the Government to control the canal, as we 
believe greater justice will be done the people. I am 
somewhat familiar with Nicaragua route, but not with 
the other, so am unprepared to say which is better. 
Pennsylvania. a. m. Cornell. 
/I Mississippi Valley View. 
I am in favor of the canal. Besides the general con¬ 
siderations which apply to the whole country, we of the 
Mississippi Valley have a special interest in the canal as 
a regulator of freight rates. In view of the prospective 
consolidation of transcontinental lines of railway, this 
is a matter of grave importance, since the canal would 
doubtless exercise a very strong, if not a controlling in¬ 
fluence in regulating such rates. The choice of a route 
should of course be made with due consideration of all 
interests involved. I suppose that the Panama route is 
now preferred by most of those best qualified to judge. 
I think it probable, however, that the Nicaragua route 
would be more advantageous to the Mississippi Valley, 
since it would be about two days shorter, for Gulf ports, 
than the Panama route. Still the latter route has some 
advantages which might more than offset loss of time. 
Minnesota. geo. c. hill. 
How Connecticut Farmers Feel. 
The Grange has endorsed the Nicaragua route. It Is, 
however, not bound to that if it shall be shown that the 
Panama plan is the better one. We simply believe a 
means of moving ships, either naval or commercial, from 
ocean to ocean, other than going around South 
America, should be provided. Especially is this needed 
as we add island territory in each ocean. I cannot see 
that the opening of a canal will materially affect the 
farmers of Connecticut. As a regulator of trans¬ 
continental freight charges, it may in some instances 
lower the price paid to Eastern farmers for produce by 
canners, but I think this improbable. We of the Grange 
also believe, as a matter of National safety, and as a 
commerce regulator, there should be a ship canal from 
the seaboard to the Great Lakes on United States terri¬ 
tory, also one from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi 
River. This will be an advantage to the farmers of 
the West in moving their crops abroad, and I have no 
fear as to its results upon us in Connecticut. We must 
be specialists, and as such we can protect ourselves if 
we are industrious, thoughtful and organized. For our 
tobacco growers, however, we do fear tropical compe¬ 
tition. We believe it will be much wiser for our Gov¬ 
ernment to build these canals than to subsidize ships 
or at present irrigate arid lands. frank s. hopson. 
Oregon Farmers Want It. 
Wheat and its products must continue to be for many 
years our great staple export crop, and to dispose of 
our surplus we must reach the European markets, from 
which we are at present separated by a very long and 
dangerous voyage. The length of time required to make 
this trip and the risks encountered in the dangerous 
passage around the Horn, compel ship-owners to 
charge a much higher rate of tonnage than they would 
need to do were it possible to secure quicker and safer 
delivery of their cargoes. The present rates, in fact, 
are so high as almost to preclude any possibility of 
profit for the grower. Again, there is a large and con¬ 
tinuously growing trade between the States of the 
Pacific coast and the Eastern sections of the country. 
This trade is at present controlled almost entirely by 
the railroads. Comparatively few ships are loaded here 
with cargoes for the eastern ports of our own country, 
or come here with cargoes from those ports. While 
the railroads can easily prevent competition over the 
long ocean haul they are not always over-scrupulous 
as to the effect of their charges upon industrial interests 
east or west. With the rapid development of the live¬ 
stock, dairy and other kindred interests that are now 
just beginning on this coast, there is no question that 
with more liberal treatment there would be a greater 
patronage of the roads in the shipment of these products 
and the return of manufactured articles of all descrip¬ 
tions. While ocean traffic across the Isthmus would 
probably not be able to carry any of this class of pro¬ 
duce it would so cheapen rates upon other things as to 
compel more reasonable rates upon all classes. The 
Grange in this State has, lor a number of years, an¬ 
nually passed resolutions favoring the early building 
and ownership of the Nicaraugua Canal by the United 
States. The Nicaragua route has always been regarded 
most favorably by a large majority of the people on this 
coast, because it has always been deemed the most prac¬ 
ticable and the only one which the United States could 
be free to construct and operate. The possibilities and 
even probabilities of endless complications arising from 
any attempt of the United States to take over the dis¬ 
carded bubbles of the Panama companies, are far too 
great for anyone who is a real friend of the measure 
to advocate that route. The agitation for consideration 
of the Panama route is felt to be only an excuse for de¬ 
laying any action at all. Austin t. buxton. 
Oregon. 
Wanted by Indiana Farmers. 
Not long since I brought the subject of the proposed 
canal across the Isthmus before our farmers’ club, and 
the concensus of opinion was that it would undoubtedly 
be of great advantage to farmers of the Ohio and Missis¬ 
sippi valleys and we think the Nicaragua route prefer¬ 
able. New Orleans is naturally the port of export for sur¬ 
plus products for the Central West. A canal across the 
Isthmus will give us a much better outlet to the world’s 
markets, and will help to make New Orleans a thriving 
export city. A recent trip down the Mississippi con¬ 
vinced us that farmers could get their surplus products 
to New Orleans by water much cheaper than by rail to 
eastern ports, and all that was necessary to revive the 
river trade was for the Government to improve our riv¬ 
ers, so that large boats could run at all seasons of the 
year. Enormous quantities of grain, meat, cotton and 
other products are now exported from New Orleans, but 
most of these products are carried from farms by rail, 
as there are not enough boats on the river to carry the 
trade, and as the rivers now are they afford a good stage 
of water only about half of the year. With a canal 
across the Isthmus, and yir rivers improved, I feel sure 
that we farmers could reach foreign markets easier, 
quicker and cheaper than we now do, and all this would 
mean that much more profit for our products sent abroad. 
So we are not only in favor of the proposed canal, but 
the improvement of our rivers and harbors as well, but 
railroads will fight it, and as long as they do it will be 
a difficult matter for us to get what we want and need. 
Indiana. _ w. w. stevens. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
MAY 24.—The prospect for fruit in Daviess County is 
exceedingly poor. There will not be any peaches; but 
few apples. Winesaps are fairly set, but at this time 
are dropping badly. Wheat will not average over 10 
bushels per acre. All farm work is three weeks late. 
Grass is looking fairly well. A large acreage of corn 
and tobacco is being planted. J. H. h. 
Owensboro, Ky. 
MAY 30.—Early strawberries are nearly all killed by 
three nights’ freezing. Peaches at time of freezing look¬ 
ed to be all right, but have nearly all dropped off. A 
very light crop of plums. Apples and late strawberries 
bid fair to be a heavy crop; grapes are looking well, but 
it is too early to tell what kind of a crop. A great many 
acres of grapes are being set out this Spring. We have 
over 30,000 acres of grapes in the belt now; over 300,000 
gallons of wine were made here last Fall. There are 
more grape roots grown here than in any other place 
in the world; 300 to 400 acres are grown each year. 
Fredonia, N. Y. I. P. w. 
MAY 31.—Later showing mal^s it appear that the cold 
spell about May 9-12 and what followed did considerable 
damage. Cherries and plums have very light setting; 
peaches in many instances nearly ruined; currants and 
gooseberries injured somewhat. Grapes here uninjured, 
but some damage reported in east end of belt. We had 
no frost or snow, May 27-28, only a cold wind. a. i. l. 
North East, Pa. 
MAY 31.—Since writing two weeks ago we have had 
several thorough soaking rains that have wet the sub¬ 
soil and gone down to the springs and wells. This ob¬ 
viates the danger of a serious drought this Summer, and, 
barring accidents, assures a fair crop of fruit. Apples 
are sticking well and are growing finely. The Codling- 
moth is getting in his work, however, and the Canker- 
worm did some harm, but is gone now. Altogether, I 
think the fruit outlook is better than commonly. 
Edwardsville, Kan. w. d. c. 
JUNE 2.—During blossoming period the indications were 
for a very large crop of fruit, but as we have had a very 
wet Spring the young fruit has dropped badly. Apples 
have hung better than peaches, plums or cherries. The 
Baldwin crop will be a light one here this season, as 
there was a good crop last season. Small fruit crop will 
be good; currants have dropped badly, and bunches will 
be short. Wheat, rye and grass crops generally look 
well. Too much rain for the majority of our mint and 
onion growers. h. m. 
Fennville, Mich. 
JUNE 2.—The prospect for a good crop of wheat, corn, 
and potatoes in St. Clair Co., Ill., at this date is very 
favorable. Some wheat will be cut the latter part of 
this week. We have new potatoes large enough to eat. 
In this section the potatoes are almost all grown under 
straw. I have about five acres covered with straw; have 
some under straw that are large enough to eat. Some 
corn is nearly waist high. Strawberries, blackberries 
and raspberries are a short crop. Ben Davis apples 
promise a fair crop; other varieties scattering. Plums 
and cherries are a short crop. s. m. r. 
Belleville, Ill. 
JUNE 2.—Another late Spring; sudden alternations of 
heat and cold and very little rain. Grass crop will be 
short; apples here about one-third average crop; peaches 
not enough for local use; cherries half a crop. Burbank 
plum trees without fruit, but the branches of this va¬ 
riety that were budded into the peach trees are again 
overloaded. Pears promise half the average yield. Grapes 
and small fruit generally, except strawberries, will yield 
a fair crop if we have sufficient rain from now on. The 
weather prophets here place implicit reliance upon what 
they term a certain indication of May frosts. They make 
a note of the foggy days in February and look for killing 
frosts on corresponding dates in May, so on May 10 we 
had one-eighth inch of ice which scrolled up the clover 
without harming the fruit perceptibly, and on May 26 
the tops of the mountains opposite were w r hite with snow, 
but just here, while we shivered in our beds and ov*-r- 
coats, vegetation escaped injury. j. y. p. 
Hudson, N. Y. 
