1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
25 
M9NG the * 
RKETMEN. 
WHAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
A Trade Name. —One of the peculiar characters 
of the New York markets has just died. She belonged 
to the class of marketwomen described in The R. N.- 
Y. last year, except that she made a specialty of one 
article. For many years, she has made a specialty of 
horseradish, and thus acquired the only name by 
which she was known around the markets—Horse- 
Radish Louise. These women are a hardy lot, and 
their appearance would indicate that they can endure 
almost anything ; but this one contracted a cold dur¬ 
ing the last blizzard, and this resulted in her final 
undoing. There are many such characters about the 
markets, and their absence would be felt by a large 
number of customers. Some of them are old land¬ 
marks. 
X X X 
Grapes from Abroad. —“ Look here, and I will 
give you some points,” said a handler of hothouse 
grapes as he was about to open a box of imported 
ones which had just come in. The box was of very 
thin wood, nearly two feet long, about a foot wide, 
and six or eight inches deep. When the cover was re¬ 
moved, the top was found to be covered with stiff 
brown paper on which the weight of the contents was 
marked. Each cluster of grapes was inclosed in a 
paper sack, and these were well surrounded by a 
heavy covering of rice hulls. The box was completely 
filled with this packing so that there was no shaking 
around. Some of the clusters came out in good con¬ 
dition, while others were too soft, apparently either 
overripe or had been bruised in some way. Those in 
good condition sell for about $1 per pound, the others 
from 50 to 75 cents per pound, according to the con¬ 
dition. 
X X t 
Selling Cats as Babbits. —A short time since, 
the newspapers contained accounts of the arrest of an 
Italian in a western city, for selling cats as rabbits. 
They were skinned, the heads, feet and tails removed, 
and the uninitiated, perhaps, could not tell them from 
the genuine article. But some one, more familiar 
with rabbits, had his attention attracted, and the re¬ 
sult was that the enterprising Italian was arrested 
and heavily fined. I was speaking of this to a com¬ 
mission merchant in this City, who handles large 
quantities of game, and he assured me that a great 
many cats had been sold here, not as rabbits, but 
under their own names. The purchasers were the 
proprietors of some of the French restaurants. The 
kind wanted were large, fat, Tom cats, and he said 
that they paid 30 cents apiece for these. He had sold 
numbers of them, to these people. This may be a 
good way to dispose of the cats, but we prefer to have 
genuine rabbits. 
X X X 
Eggs from Virginia. —In one commission house, 
I saw a bushel basket full of very fine white eggs, of 
remarkably good size for this time of year. Out of 
curiosity, we weighed a dozen of the average-sized 
ones, and found they weighed just 1 % pound. These 
came from Virginia, and eggs from that part of the 
country have been improving. In the past, a larger 
part of the eggs from the South have been small, but 
latterly, southern farmers seem to be paying more 
attention to their poultry, and the result is that the 
eggs are improving. This lot of which I speak, were 
as fine eggs as one would wish to see, clean, white, 
and were selling at prices nearly equal to the best 
northern. I am very glad, indeed, to note this im¬ 
provement, for the southern poultryman has a great 
opportunity in producing and shipping strictly fresh, 
first-class eggs to the northern cities at the time of 
year when many of the northern hens are on strike. 
Considerable quantities have been coming recently 
from Virginia and Maryland, as well as from other 
parts. 
X X X 
Apples from Oregon. —A good many Oregon 
apples have come to this market within the past few 
weeks. The reason for this is the short crop of the 
East, and consequently high prices. These apples 
are packed in boxes holding about a bushel. One lot 
that I examined contained four layers of apples, laid 
in regular order, like so many eggs in a crate, each 
layer containing eight rows one way and four the 
other, or 32 apples, making 128 apples in the case. 
They came in refrigerator cars as much for protection 
against cold, as for any other reason. They sell all 
the way from $1 to $2.50 per case. The variety, so far 
as I have seen, is the Ben Davis. The dealer handling 
the lot I examined, said that the quality was no 
better than that of the same variety in the East, but 
the apples were, if anything, a trifle larger and 
smoother, and certainly made a very fine appearance. 
In a year of a full crop in the East, there would be 
a small chance for these apples in this market. They 
would sell, but the cost of transportation for such a 
long distance, would render the business unprofitable. 
XXX 
Wrong Kind of Peppers. —“Why won’t people 
learn to do as they are told ? ” was the plaint of one 
commission merchant. The comment was called forth 
by several packages of small Florida peppers which 
had been lying around the store for a number of days. 
The curious part of it was that the shipper of these 
peppers had been shipping the same kind for several 
years, and had been repeatedly told every year that 
this variety is not wanted in this market. Had they 
been the big, Bull Nose kind, they would have sold 
quickly at good prices, as there has been a good de¬ 
mand for them. Still, the man persists in growing a 
variety that is not wanted, in spite of all protests. 
The same thing is true with regard to many other 
products. Instead of trying to supply the demand 
that exists, people persist in sending products that 
the market does not want and will not buy except at 
a low price. It is a curious attribute of human nature 
that leads people to do these things, but they do it 
every year and every week in the year. How in the 
world are we to educate such people to the fact that 
they must furnish what the market demands, if they 
are to profit by it ? f. h. v. 
THE FARMER AND THE TELEPHONE 
A FARMERS’ ORGANIZATION IN OHIO. 
What It Means to a Lonely Farm Home. 
Wiring the Country. — Throughout Geauga 
County, in every one of the 16 townships, the tele¬ 
phone wires are strung. It is essentially a rural 
telephone system, as there are no cities in the county, 
and only two or three villages of any size. The 
county, perhaps the most rural of any in Ohio, is said 
to be the best equipped with telephone lines of any 
in the State. It is now possible for every citizen to 
communicate by telephone, either directly or by mes¬ 
senger service, with every other citizen of the county, 
and by connecting service with other lines, with an 
infinite number of points in surrounding counties. 
The Bainbriclge Telephone Company. —One of 
the leading companies is the Bainbridge Telephone 
Company. It was organized by a company of farmers, 
eight in number, nearly all of whom reside in the 
township of Bainbridge. They formed a regular 
stock company, each one taking a certain number of 
shares, and they went about the erection of poles and 
stringing of wires with the positive assurance of only a 
few patrons except themselves. But they have not been 
disappointed, as one farmer after another along their 
lines is asking to have a telephone put into his house, 
and many that are not along the lines are asking to have 
them extended so as to take them in. Those who take 
phones are pretty sure to keep them, and only an in¬ 
stance or two has yet occurred where phones have 
been removed, and that was where a patron was 
about to move away, or, in one instance, where one 
man refused to comply with the business rules of the 
company. 
The Way to Do It. —This Company began in the 
right way about the whole plant. They did not make 
the mistake of some other local companies, and put 
up a cheap line. They purchased the best cedar poles, 
painted cross-arms, bought double-galvanized wire, 
and as good telephones as could be had, and used the 
metallic circuit. This gave good service from the 
start, and did not get the patrons out of conceit with 
them, through the line constantly being out of order. 
Their plant is now as good as any to be found in large 
cities. It stood the terrible strain of the great snow¬ 
storm of December 4 and 5 last, only one wire being 
broken. 
The Cost. —The cost of erecting one mile of this 
system is approximately as follows : 
Twenty-five poles. $25.00 
Twenty-five four-pin cross arms. 2.50 
100 pins, 100 insulators and four bolts. 4.00 
One mile double-galvanized wire. 5.00 
Digging holes and erecting poles. 10 00 
Drawing and scattering poles. 2.50 
Stringing one wire. 2.50 
Total.$51.50 
But nearly all the labor of erecting this line has been 
done by the stockholders themselves. The president 
helped dig holes, the manager did the stringing and 
stretching the wires, and all hands turned in and 
erected the poles, and did nearly all the other work. 
The poles are the main things to look out for; these 
are stocky, White cedar, 25 feet in length. The man¬ 
ager of the Company, who is an intelligent young 
farmer, is becoming quite an electrical expert, and 
puts in telephones, makes proper connections, re¬ 
plenishes batteries, and repairs them when out of 
order. The switch-board is located at the intersection 
of their lines at one of the stockholder’s houses, and 
requires as much attention as a sick baby, but the 
attendants receive pay for their labor. 
The Kent. —The patrons are charged $12 per year, 
payable in advance, or $1.25 per month, also in ad¬ 
vance, for the use of their telephones. The Company 
takes entire charge of keeping things in repair, and 
gives all its patrons free use of one other country 
line almost as extensive, and the Chagrin Falls Com¬ 
pany’s lines. Chagrin Falls is the busy little city 
where nearly all the farmers for many miles around 
go to transact business. 
Numerous Benefits. —The volume of business 
that one can do and stay at home, will astonish any 
farmer who tries it a month; and the total for a year 
is enormous. The telephone is speedily passing from 
an article of luxury to a thing of necessity. Nothing 
of importance occurs but one knows it immediately. 
I often received the important war news while at 
work in the field, and in a few minutes’ time from 
Washington, although three miles from the post office; 
I also listened to the reading of the latest evening 
edition of Cleveland papers, just before retiring, 
although the reader was three miles away. The 
movements of the erratic steam-thrasher are followed 
unerringly whenever it comes into the neighborhood, 
and maybe that isn’t an important thing to your wife. 
The United States weather forecast can be obtained 
at any hour, and enables one to prepare for weather 
conditions to-morrow. The doctor can be summoned 
or consulted at any time, though the way be long, or 
the night be dark or stormy. The condition of sick 
friends may be learned at any time. The prospect of 
visitors is known, and one’s wife rejoices that she can 
go about the preparation for their reception before 
they arrive. No end of agreeable chats with friends, 
all come within one’s own house, though situated far 
in the country away from the busy scenes of city life. 
The Women Folks get more real comfort and 
solid enjoyment out of the telephone than any one 
else. To them, it comes as a boon worth many times 
its annual cost. They take right hold and enjoy it. 
It is a fact that the ceaseless round of domestic duties 
is much more tiring and monotonous than out-door 
work, and to women it comes as a relief to this 
monotony that is inspiring. It is an antidote to the 
weariness of household drudgery. The family news 
items, the recipes, the remedies, the congratulations, 
etc., that go over the line are simply too numerous to 
mention. Here is a sample: Anna and Ellen are 
sisters who reside five miles apart. Ellen has a birth¬ 
day, and Anna (the younger) wishes to congratulate 
her. It is a dark, rainy day in Autumn. Anna rings 
her up and says, “ Hello ! Sister, do you know what 
day it is ? ” 
“ No ! ” comes back the answer ; “ it is so dark that 
I can’t see.” 
“ What, can’t you see a milestone when you pass it?” 
“ Well, that’s pretty good ; but when you get as old 
as I am, you will be willing to let a few milestones 
pass without seeing them.” 
And so they chat and visit, and when they hang up 
the receivers, it is to go about the household duties 
with lighter step and more cheerful hearts. I have 
spoken somewhat freely of the benefits of the tele¬ 
phone on farm life; I know of no disadvantages of 
importance. Of course, in the country, where the line 
must be extended long distances to secure patrons, 
there is not the privacy about it that there is in cities 
where every patron has a private wire. But in the 
country, several telephones, usually not more than 
five or six, are connected with one wire and then each 
hears the other’s rings. But few, however, regard 
this with disfavor. a. r. Phillips. 
Ohio. 
To Club-Raisers. 
We wish to thank our good friends who have been 
sending clubs of subscriptions during the last month. 
Never before did we receive so many clubs during an 
equal length of time. They came, in the main, from 
friends who are not working for the prizes, but who, 
on account of a friendly interest, look after the clubs 
in their immediate neighborhood. This saves the 
other members of the club the trouble and expense of 
sending their own renewals, and at the same time, 
gets the renewals in promptly, so that there is no 
lapse, and no one misses a number of the paper, as 
they would, if the subscription were allowed to lapse. 
Once more, however, we wish to remind the regular 
club-raisers that the $2 daily prize goes out every 
day, and the large cash prizes will be due February 1. 
The time is getting short, and the clubs are small. 
Our advice is to hustle now for the rest of the month. 
There is money in it for you. Ask for samples and 
supplies. The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
