1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
565 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—July 30 the Brazos Valley, Texas, was the 
scene of a disastrous flood, the result of prolonged rains. 
In some sections the water was higher than In the great 
flood six years ago. Hundreds of acres of cotton were 
under water. Five lives were lost and hundreds of head 
of live stock were drowned in the flood in Caldwell and 
Hayes counties. The towns of Martindale, Staples and a 
number of smaller settlements located in the Valley of 
the San Marcos River and all tributary streams, were 
inundated and many houses swept away. ... A terri¬ 
fic electric storm, accompanied by hail, damaged crops in 
many parts of North Dakota July 29. The section which 
appears to have suffered most is that in a belt crossing 
the northern line near Michigan City. Along the road 
for a few miles east of Niagara to west of Mapes the 
crops were literally pounded into the ground. This hail 
belt is fully 10 miles wide. ... A collision occurred be¬ 
tween police and strikers at Shenandoah, Pa., July 30, in 
which 19 men were injured. Three policemen, one of 
whom may die, were shot; Joseph Deddal, a merchant, 
was clubbed to death, and many of the rioters were 
wounded. Sheriff Deddal, of Schuylkill County, sent to 
Governor Stone a call for troops. Friction continued at 
Shenandoah up to August 6, the town asking for a mili¬ 
tary guard, as local officials could not preserve order. . 
, . . The officials of the American Packers’ Association, 
known among canners of the eastern shore of Maryland 
as the “tomato trust,” are having a $1,000,000 mortgage 
recorded in all the counties on the Maryland and Dela¬ 
ware Peninsula in which the trust has been able to ac¬ 
quire canneries.A Chicago grain firm obtained 
an injunction July 30 prohibiting James A. Patten and 
associates from continuing a corner in new July oats 
and from bidding up the price of the cereal or calling for 
further margins. This Is the first time in the history of 
the Chicago Board of Trade that dealers who are short 
have resorted to the courts to assist them in a dilemma 
like the present, and the injunction came as a decided 
surprise, although drastic measures had been threatened 
to prevent heavy losses. Default on 3,000,000 bushels of 
short new July oats, lawsuits and action by the Board 
of Trade are seemingly the inevitable results of the 
granting of the restraining order. Cornered and unable 
to secure new July oats wherewith to meet their con¬ 
tracts, the dealers who are short appear to have prac¬ 
tically thrown up their hands.The little town 
of Los Alamos, Santa Barbara Co., Cal., sustained seri¬ 
ous damage from an earthquake July 31. All brick build¬ 
ings were damaged, and not a chimney left standing. 
Throughout a strip nearly 20 miles long and four miles 
wide the earth was rent with deep Assures. August 1 
four severe shocks of earthquake were felt in Los Ala¬ 
mos Valley, and several buildings that had escaped injury 
on the previous day were cracked badly. One immense 
structure a short distance from Los Alamos was turned 
partly around on its foundation. Everybody who could 
left Los Alamos, many departing on a special train. Late 
advices state that the earth continues to tremble at in¬ 
tervals.July 31 two brothers, Joseph and Sam¬ 
uel Trite, lost their lives in a well on the farm of their 
father, near Westminster, Md., while rescuing their 
brother, Edward. They were overcome by gas. 
August 1 Joseph Hardesty was killed and his four sons 
were seriously injured by the explosion of a boiler at his 
sawmill, on Wolfe Creek, Ohio. Mr. Hardesty’s body was 
blown 40 feet In the air. The mill is a total wreck. . . 
. . Superintendent of Irrigation Armstrong, of Denver, 
Col., has received a report from Commissioner Banning, 
of Water District No. 2, that 30 farmers, fully armed, 
inarched to the head gates of Fulton Ditch, on the River 
Platte, near Henderson, and breaking down the head gate, 
allowed an immense amount of water to flow into the 
ditch, thus saving their crops. When the gatekeeper 
tried to interfere with them they are said to have threat¬ 
ened him with death.According to a decision 
of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, which 
aifirmed the judgment for plaintiffs of the Federal Cir¬ 
cuit Court of Nebraska, a saloonkeeper may be held re¬ 
sponsible for the death of a patron of his place in the 
event that death occurred from an accident resulting 
from the inebriated condition of the patron. The suit was 
filed by the widow and daughter of Charles Walker 
against John Moser and others, who were engaged in the 
saloon business at Ashland, Neb. Plaintiffs charge that 
Charles* Walker on February 7, 1900, drank intoxicants to 
excess at Moser’s saloon and in consequence was thrown 
from a buggy and killed. A verdict giving the plaintiffs 
damages was appealed. . . . There was a conference 
at Spokane, August 4, between the executive officials of 
the railway lines in eastern Washington and a committee 
of farmers in regard to railway rates and shipping con¬ 
ditions. President Mellen, of the Northern Pacific, praised 
the farmers for their direct manner of procedure instead 
of appealing to politicians.The steamers City 
of Venice and Seguin were in collision in Lake Erie, off 
Rondeau, Ontario, August 4. The former boat sank. 
Three lives were lost. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The monthly statement of the 
National debt shows that at the close of business July 
31, 1902, the debt, less cash in the Treasury, amounted to 
$973,910,367, which is an increase, as compared with July 1. 
of $4,453,126.Commissioner of Pensions Ware 
said August 4 that legislation enacted by the last session 
of Congress will result in at least 10,000 new pensioners. 
The number of pensioners on July 1 of this year was 
999,446. This shows a steady growth of the roll for a num¬ 
ber of years. Commissioner Ware said that this growth 
was accounted for by the constant new pension legisla¬ 
tion by Congress. 
PHILIPPINES.—A force of constabulary discovered re¬ 
cently an extensive Katipunan organization in Tayabas 
Province and captured the headquarters and records of 
the organization. When the police attacked the head • 
quarters the natives fled, leaving six prisoners and one 
dead man. A confession made by a prisoner and the docu¬ 
ments taken revealed the existence of an extensive active 
organization. The constabulary columns in Cavite have 
met again the bands of Felizardo and Montallon and 
scattered them in running fights. Captain Bamagon, a 
bandit, was killed and Felizardo was forced to abandon 
his horses.Business men in Manila are plan¬ 
ning an organization to procure legislation at the next 
session of Congress for relief from the effects of an un¬ 
stable currency. Recent reports received at the War 
Department indicate that the conditions are much more 
unsatisfactory than at any time since the American occu¬ 
pation of the archipelago began, and that early action by 
Congress is the only hope of preventing a commercial 
panic. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—C. W. Merchant, J. H. Parra- 
mere and R. G. Anderson, of Abilene, and Capt. Willing¬ 
ham, of McMillan, prominent Texas stockmen, will en¬ 
gage a range for next season in Canada. Heretofore, 
Texas cowmen have been sending cattle to the Dakotas 
and the Wyoming country, but next Spring they will try 
the experiment of using a Canadian range, as they ex¬ 
pect in Canada to meet with less disturbance from public 
authorities. The Texas combination expects to pasture 
about 200 head of cattle in Canada next year. 
John W. Springer, President of the National Live Stock 
Association, says his organization is watching every 
move of the big packers, fully realizing the ruin which 
would ensue if the contemplated combine of all large 
packers should be effected. If they are attempting to de¬ 
ceive the stockmen and the public they will incur the 
opposition of every live stock producer in the Union. 
Such a combine would be more disastrous than any other 
that could be formed, for then one man would arbitrarily 
fix the price to the consumer of meats. It would be 
against public policy and would result in the greatest 
commercial warfare ever waged on this continent. 
“SA1/E THE FARM 
Part II. 
The American small farm commanded the destinies and 
fortunes of this country until the best of its blood and 
the bulk of its earnings ran down hill to the town and 
city. It is needless for me to enumerate the causes which 
led to this concentration of population and wealth in a 
THE FISHERMAN: “Fish seem to bite all right, but I 
don’t have any luck landing my catch.”—Brooklyn Eagle. 
few crowded centers. If we will look at the matter calm¬ 
ly and without prejudice, I think we shall agree that un¬ 
just burdens have been heaped upon the land. Other 
forms of wealth have escaped taxation and public bene¬ 
fits have stimulated other lines of business to pay larger 
and surer interest, and create a shoddy and artificial 
form of society. This has attracted the farm earnings 
which should have been invested in the farm itself, so 
that the land has given its very life blood to nurse other 
favored industries which might steal away the ambitious 
girls and boys. At the time when the American small 
farm given up to general agriculture was most prosper¬ 
ous the profits were sent from the soil for Investment, 
and the ablest of the boys and girls followed to the town 
to watch the money. It is interesting to think how chang¬ 
ed the history of this country would have been if the 
money which was dug out of the eastern farms had been 
kept at home for investment. Suppose the millions which 
represent the farm savings of 50 years in the section east 
of the Hudson River had been invested at home in farm 
property at five per cent, instead of being sent through 
a city middleman to Kansas, Nebraska or Dakota in the 
hope of earning 10 per cent! It is safe to say that every 
$1,000 of such investment pulled a good man away from 
the old homestead. Had this money remained at home 
the development of this country, if not so rapid, would 
have been truer and with fewer knotholes, which show 
where moral ideas have been cut off! We might have 
ranked lower in the world’s scale of material wealth, but 
there would have been fewer incapables and fewer 
despairing moral cripples at large to be provided for! 
But it is idle for us to speculate as to what might have 
been. We are more concerned in asking how we may 
send fresh blood and active capital back to the land, and 
in this way restore something of the old-time spirit of the 
Fatherland. For it must be admitted that, as at present 
made up, there are elements of danger in American so¬ 
ciety. The optimist sees these dangers, but says we can 
outgrow them—but does he not forget that our National 
habits are now fixed like the branches of a large tree, 
so that growth without vigorous pruning means increase 
of trouble? By breaking down the independence and 
character of the small farmer we are slowly destroying 
the governor on the steam engine—the most conservative 
element in American society. With our congestion of 
population in the cities we are like a man with defective 
circulation. The blood may crowd at the heart while 
hands and feet are cold. When the old farmer turns his 
farm over to a tenant and moves away to town the farm 
becomes a less Inspiring force for good government, it 
is no longer, in its true sense, a home. Two families in¬ 
stead of one look to it for support. It becomes a ma¬ 
chine for grinding out dollars rather than a training 
school for men and women. A man may leave his farm, 
go to the city and sell his labor for twice as much cash 
as his rude acres afforded, and yet prove a less valuable 
citizen than when he worked his own land. The reason 
for this is clear, and it touches the heart of the problem 
of the American Fatherland. The farmer’s property is 
natural. It may not be readily sold or changed. He is 
tied to his home and his job—he works for himself! This 
gives him a feeling of independence and at the same time 
makes him conservative and slow to change. There are 
those who become impatient at this farm conservatism 
but few of those who criticise it realize how this slow 
acting on the part of the small landed proprietor has in¬ 
fluenced American history, and what it will mean when 
this influence becomes weakened. When a farmer leaves 
his farm and goes to work for others in the town his 
connection with public affairs changes, lie becomes less 
a partner of nature and more a servant of man. His 
property is artificial—more at the mercy of the elements. 
His home, if he owns one, is more easily sold, and hence 
is less of a home. His job and his living depend upon 
forces outside of his capital and work. A change in 
business methods, a new invention, a political upheaval— 
any one may leave him stranded on the rocks of idleness. 
On the farm these things would have touched him indi¬ 
rectly. They could not have left him idle—without home 
or work. In the town they may even deprive him of the 
God-given right to labor! While the farmer can afford to 
be sturdy and independent, the town workman knows 
that in the end he must knuckle down in spite of his 
skill or of his labor unions. So many of our people have 
changed from the free independence of the farm home 
to the cramped and narrow life of the town that we are 
in danger of losing the strongest side of our National 
character. I know that it is customary to say that the 
life of the farm home is narrow and cramped, it is a 
fair part of an education to look at the possibilities of 
li£ e _to lift one’s eyes above the unfortunate drudgery. 
Viewed in this way the life on the farm wilh its near¬ 
ness to Nature and its chances for study and reflection 
broadens out to inconceivable possibilities. It is a true 
saying that no man shoulders a musket in defence of a 
boarding house unless he is well paid for It. No man can 
buy with $1,000,000 the force and character which 100 
homes of the plain country people of 40 years ago gave 
as a free gift to their country. It seems clear to me that 
one of the most important problems now confronting this 
Nation is that of repopulating the rural districts. We 
need and must have a new adjustment of social forces. 
Men and capital must be induced to leave the great cen¬ 
ters of population and give us, on a broader and truer 
scale, the sturdy yeomanry which made our Republic 
possible. Unless this can be done 1 do not see how our 
country can avoid falling into the National habits and 
tendencies of the older European nations. So long as the 
farmer or small landed proprietor must feel that it is a 
disadvantage to keep his capital in land, the true con¬ 
servative, National spirit must grow weaker and less 
inclined to assert itself. Greater dignity and profit must, 
in some way, be given to agriculture. It cannot be said 
that the vast sums of money thus far spent upon agri¬ 
cultural education have given adequate practical re¬ 
turns. It is no part of this discussion to attempt to show 
why this is so. The fact remains that whole sections of 
agricultural lands are still being depopulated, and that 
the farmer does not wield the Influence that he once did 
or that he should. The fact that certain sections, like 
western New York, are prosperous and powerful through 
the well-directed efforts of farmers is only an additional 
reason why the failing sections should be restored. An 
agricultural school that can educate and send to the 
country an enterprising man or woman who has the en¬ 
ergy and capital required to save a farm will accomplish 
more for the Fatherland than any institution which sends 
forth 10 lawyers to put brass into the Golden Rule, or 10 
so-called statesmen to tinker with the rudder of the ship 
of state. We can live without lawyers or statesmen, but 
the peculiar force that underlies American civilization 
will dry up like the uncovered spring of the forest if the 
city is permitted to claim many more of our farms! 
h. w. c. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Apples in this locality are about a 40-per-cent crop. 
Some orchards are fairly laden and others without any 
fruit. F - B - 
Penn Yan, N. Y. 
A full crop of hay has been secured in fair condition. 
Oats have made a splendid growth and are heading oui 
well. Potatoes have also made a wonderful growth and 
appearances warrant one in saying there will be 25 per 
cent more than an average crop. Plums in abundance. 
Our strawberry crop was above the average; prices, how¬ 
ever, held up through picking to 10 and 12 cents per box. 
Gooseberries and currants are bringing the same price. 
Potatoes are selling well and are very fine. o. n. h. 
Hampden, Me._ 
THE THRASHERMEN’S TRUST.—On page 469 we gave 
some news about the proposed union of thrashermen for 
the purpose of raising the price for thrashing. It ap¬ 
pears from the following letter that they are likely to 
carry their point: , , , , 
The thrashers have indirectly carried their point, and 
for three reasons: First, there is the largest wheat crop 
in many years, some fields yielding 40 bushels per acre, 
one small field even making 50 bushels per acre, a great 
many making 30 and 35 bushels. Second, there has been a 
very wet harvest and the wheat is badly sprouted. At 
this writing the Mississippi River is very full and threat¬ 
ens to overflow the great wheat district protected by the 
Sui levee. Thirdly, No. 2 wheat is worth 63 cents, and 
on investigation it was found that in some localities the 
farmers had been paying five and six cents per bushel 
for thrashing, so all of these facts have combined to 
make the farmer submit to the union. k. a. 
Klnderhook, Ill. 
