4o5 
1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
UNCLE SAM AND HIS FARM. 
IT “BEATS THE WORLD.” 
Doing Business at the Old Stand. 
Our Folks ancl Farm. —Your Uncle Samuel started 
110 years ago, with a fair-sized family of 3 929,214 
souls. While his farm at that time was much smaller, 
and while he had less land at that time than at pres¬ 
ent, he considered himself rich enough to “ give us all 
a farm.” At the end of the last fiscal year, there were, 
in this country, 74,389,000 people who attempted to do 
business on 1 893 470,100 acres. This gives something 
over 25 acres for each man, woman and child, but most 
of us have failed somehow, to secure our share. The 
smallest State is Rhode Island, with 694,400 acres, and 
the largest is Texas, with 167,865,600 acres. The popula¬ 
tion has changed about considerably ; 110 years ago, 
Virginia ranked first in population, and continued this 
rank for 30 years ; now, she ranks 15th on the list. In 
1790, Virginia ranked first, Pennsylvania second, 
North Carolina third, Massachusetts fourth, and New 
York fifth. Now, New York ranks first, Pennsylvania 
second, with Illinois third. The population is pretty 
well bunched in some places. Rhode Island contains 
318 people to the square mile, Massachusetts 278, New 
Jersey 193, while Nevada contains but .42 of a man 
for each square mile, which we suppose represents a 
man’s worst half—possibly his divorced wife. The 
American is not by any means a thoroughbred ; be is 
made up of all kinds of races. Even now, there are 
9,249,574 foreigners, or those born in other lands. Of 
these, 2,784,894 were born in Germany, 1,871,509 in Ire¬ 
land, while 6,184 Spaniards have come under the 
shadow of the starry flag. Uncle Sam has over 25,000,- 
000 people at work earning all or part of their living. 
There are 10,000,000 farmers and hired men alone, and 
over 9,000,000 colored people. 
Uncle Sam’s PocketDook.— Your Uncle needs a 
good-sized pocket to hold his money, and a double set 
of books to carry his accounts. The actual amount of 
money now in circulation, is divided as follows : 
Classification. March 1, 1899. 
Gold coin...#702,305,269 
Silver, standard dollars. 63,135,375 
Subsidiary. 69,143,844 
Notes, United States. 308,305,398 
Treasury, act of July 14, 1890. 94,204,459 
National bank. 239,275.723 
Certificates, gold. 32,966,839 
Silver. 396,400,705 
Currency. 23 105,000 
Total.#1,928.842,612 
PAPER CURRENCY OU EACH DENOMINATION OUTSTANDING. 
Denomination. Total. 
One dollar. #53,828,615 
Two dollars. 33,344,290 
Five dollars. 286,458,337 
Ten dollars. 321,336,997 
Twenty dollars. 228,900,906 
Fifty dollars. 52,054 690 
One hundred dollars. 59 387,570 
Five hundred dollars. 16.310,500 
One thousand dollars. 56,126,500 
Five thousand dollars. 4 840,000 
Ten thousand dollars. 10,440,000 
Fractional parts. 31^206 
Total.#1,123,059,611 
Unknown, destroyed. 1,000,060 
Net.#1,122,059,611 
There ought to be in circulation $24 71 for each one 
of us, but a great share of it is held back in banks 
and vaults, so that it is often hard to turn farm 
products into cash. Too large a share of the paper 
money is in big bills. Fractional currency would 
be better. 
The Cost of Life. —The last statement of the 
public debt showed that Uncle Sam still owes $347,- 
367,470, the annual interest charge being $34,387,- 
408 80. In 1872, this debt was $1,814,794,100. The 
debt represents $13 81 for each one of us, and the 
interest charge amounts to 51 cents apiece. The cost 
of running the Government for one year, was 
$532,381,201. The heaviest single expense was $147,- 
452,369 for pensions. The Interior Department, which 
handles the pension funds, costs each man, woman 
and child in the country, $2 25 per year. The De¬ 
partment of Agriculture costs four cents per capita ; 
in 1892, it cost five cents. The Department of Justice 
costs one-half cent, and we pay $1.26 each to the War 
Department, and 80 cents to the Navy. We each 
contribute $1.36 to the Post Office Department, but 
we pay back for our stamps, on an average of $1 20. 
We each pay $7 16 for the Government expenses. The 
tariff, about which so much has been written, con¬ 
tributes as revenue, $2 01 for each man, woman and 
child, and it costs about 25 cents each to collect it. 
The total tariff duties collected on merchandise in 
1898 were $145 575,066—the heaviest item being the 
tax on sugar, $29,475,927. It cost $7,152,276.58 to col¬ 
lect it. The internal revenue taxes brought $170- 
900,641, of which beer provided $38,885,152, and oleo 
$1,107,775. In 1898, Uncle Sam sold land to the value 
of $1,243,129, and collected $1,975,849 from the National 
banks Illinois pays the largest internal revenue tax 
—$39,658,686 
A Big Farm. —We hear a great deal about the 
wealth of our railroads and factories, but Uncle Sam’s 
farm far outranks them all in business. Here are a 
few figures, showing the value of a year’s crop : 
VALUE OP PRODUCTS. 
Corn. 
Tobacco. 
.$34,254,070 
Wheat. 
Hay. 
Rye. 
Potatoes. 
. 89,643,OH) 
Oats. 
Poultry and eggs..290,000,000 
Barley. 
.... 25,142,139 
Wool. 
Buckwheat... 
Butter. 
Cotton. 
.... 319,491,412 
Cheese. 
Total.... 
VALUE OP LIVE STOCK. 
Horses. 
.... $478,362,407 
Oxen. 
.$612,296 634 
Mules. 
.... 96,109 516 
Sheep.. 
Milch cows.... 
.... 434 813,826 
Swine. 
. 174 351,409 
Total.81 888,654,925 
By the side of these figures, how small the railroad 
statistics appear. The total gross receipts for all rail¬ 
roads for one year were $1,123,546,666. The gross in¬ 
come from telegraphs was $23,915,733, and from tele¬ 
phones $5,130,844. Uncle Sam could have sold his live 
stock, and paid for all the telegraphs, all the tele¬ 
phone messages and all the passenger and freight ser¬ 
vices conducted in the country for one year. Seventy 
per cent of the railroad earnings were derived from 
carrying freight, and the farmers of the country pro¬ 
vided fully 75 per cent of this freight service. 
The total resources of the 3,585 National banks in 
the country were $4,003,500,000, and of the 1,059 sav¬ 
ings banks, $1,964,044,861. See how quickly Uncle 
Sam’s crops and stock could have bought them in. 
Why, he sent $853,683,570 worth of farm produce out 
of the country last year. Think of it, the value of the 
gold and silver produced in the entire world during 
1898 was but $474,235,100. The corn alone produced 
last year by Uncle Sam would have paid for it all, 
with a nice little sum to spare. Since the discovery 
of America in 1492, it is estimated that the world has 
produced $9,220,725,400 worth of gold. In five short 
years, Uncle Sam’s farm will produce more wealth 
than the entire world has yielded in gold for 400 
years ! In these 400 years, the world has produced 
$10,793,437,100 worth of silver. Uncle Sam’s corn, 
wheat and hay, would buy it all in 10 years ! 
Some Expenses. —This country owes vast sums of 
money abroad. The interest and principal, if paid 
at all, will be paid by exports Last year, the farm¬ 
ers alone sent over $853,683,570 worth of farm products. 
With the miner, the forester and the fisherman, they 
contributed nearly 76 per cent of our total exports, 
which are to pay Uncle Sam’s debts abroad. The 
manufacturer and the railroad men may well take a 
back seat in the face of this tremendous business 
showing. Uncle Sam is a generous-hearted soul; he 
is taking good care of the coming as well as the past 
generation. There are now 993,714 pensioners draw¬ 
ing money from the Government. There are still 
three survivors of the War of 1812, and 2,407 widows 
of those old soldiers, Uncle Sam spends $98,033,524 
in the postal service, and takes care of 73,570 post 
offices. Your Uncle is, also, taking care of 262,965 
noble red men. An army of 271,947 school-marms 
and 131,386 teachers of the male persuasion are shoot¬ 
ing American ideas into 21,032,472 children, who range 
all the way from 5 to 18 years of age. Uncle Sam goes 
down into his pocket to the extent of $187,320,602 to 
pay his teachers and provide other school expenses. 
The total assessed valuation of property in this coun¬ 
try was $27,884,418,733. American inventors took out 
616,871 patents in the last year, and their brain 3 are 
still at work on other wonderful things. 
Uncle Sam also provides the best ma-ket in the 
known world. On an average, each one of the 74,389,000 
men, women and children in his household, makes 
use during the year, of 25 26 pounds of raw cotton, 
4 21 bushels of wheat, 22.73 of corn, 61 pounds of 
sugar, lt.45 of coffee, .91 of tea, 5.34 pounds of domes¬ 
tic wool, and 48.9 of foreign wool The average 
person disposes of 1.10 gallon of spirits, 15.64 gallons 
of fermented liquors, and about a quart of wine. 
Events of the Week. 
Domestic.—The tornado at Hondo, Mexico, May 10, killed 22 
persons. A tremendous fall of hail accompanied it. . . A col¬ 
lision between an express and an excursion train on the Read¬ 
ing Railroad, at Exeter, Pa., May 12, caused the death of 27 per¬ 
sons; 40 or more were hurt. The express was late, and the 
excursion train crashed into it, plowing through three cars. . . 
The Boston Elevated Railroad has just received a consignment of 
300 tons of steel guard rails from England. The American steel 
trust has been able, by eliminating competition, to raise prices 
enormously, and it is found that such materials may be pur¬ 
chased in England low enough to make a saving of 33 per cent 
after duty is paid. . . Murderous strikers in Duluth continue 
to interrupt street-car traffic. May 13, one car was wrecked with 
dynamite, and an attempt was made to kill a non-union motor- 
man, six pistol-shots being fired into a crowded car. . . The 
schooner Nelson, laden with coal, foundered in Lake Superior off 
Grand Marais, May 13; nine lives were lost. . . The govern¬ 
ments of Germany, England and France will press the damage 
claims of residents on the Island of Cuba, during the war, against 
the United States, though it is not yet decided' that this country 
is liable for them. . . The grain shovelere who were on strike 
at Buffalo agreed on a compromise May 15, but renewed 
the strike afterwards, saying that the contractors had violated 
their agreement. The coal and ore handlers are still out, de¬ 
manding high°r wages. . . May 15, nearly 700 students of 
Princeton University attacked Pawnee Bill’s Wild West show 
with stones and cannon crackers. The showmen charged the 
students on their ponies, several were injured on both sides, and 
a colored man who was knocked down may die. . . Street-rail¬ 
way employees in Wheeling, W. Va., have been on strike for six 
weeks. There is no violence, but the people sympathize with 
the strikers, and unite to boycott the cars. It is said that since 
the boycott went into operation, the company’s income from 
fares has not been over #5 a day. . . May 16, an earthquake 
shock extended over a large part of Connecticut, sufficient to 
shake houses and their contents, and in some places, to damage 
chimneys. . . Striking miners at Huntington, Ark., attacked 
negroes who had taken their places, May 16, shooting at them, 
and throwing dynamite into their camp. One man was killed. . . 
The grand jury of the Federal Court at Moscow, Idaho, has found 
indictments against 400 riotous miners for delaying the United 
States mails. In addition to this, they will be tried for arson, 
riot and murder. . . A severe windstorm near Altoona, 
Pa., caused serious damage, May 16. At Akron, O., a tornado 
caused a heavy loss, and at Canal Fulton, O., a wall of a school- 
house was blown in, and nine children injured. The storm ex¬ 
tended to Michigan, and at Alvordton, a schoolhouse was turned 
over on its side, and the teacher and 10 children badly Injured, 
two fatally. In Delaware and Clayton Counties, Iowa, the storm 
killed six persons, and caused much damage; a number of farm¬ 
houses are unroofed or otherwise damaged. At Altoona, Pa., a 
furious rainstorm caused great loss, flooding the streets and 
bursting sewers. In some parts of the city, the surface flood 
was five feet deep in the streets. . . A fire in the lumber dis¬ 
trict of Chicago May 17, resulted in a loss of over $400,000. . . 
The leading soap-makers are about to form a trust, with a capi¬ 
tal of $50,000,000. . . The Mazet Committee resumed its labors 
May 16, Mayor Van Wyck being one of the witnesses. He lost his 
temper on the stand when asked questions which showed his 
connection with corrupt enterprises. Other witnesses swore that 
hundreds of protected poolrooms are running wide open in New 
York. 
Farm and Garden.—Fifty acres of burned Adirondack forests 
have been replanted by the Forestry Department of Cornell. A 
nursery for seedlings to be used in future plantings has been 
started. . . The drought In Roumanla threatens great dam¬ 
age to the wheat crop of the lower Danube region. . . An open- 
air horse show was given in New York, during the week ending 
May 20. . . Terrific storms over central Kentucky May 12-13 
caused great damage to growing crops. . . Heavy frosts re¬ 
cently occurred in Mexico. In the State of San Luis Potosi, the 
damage to crops amounts to $5,000,000 Nearly all the tropical 
products for which this region is famous were destroyed, but 
crops are being replanted in the hope of gathering at the end of 
the year at least part of the usual yield. In Vera Cruz the dam¬ 
age was also very heavy. The crops of Indian corn, black beans, 
bananas and sugar cane were almost totally lost. The tobacco 
crop, however, was only partially destroyed. . . Chinch bugs 
and Hessian flies are causing injury to the wheat In some parts 
of Illinois and Missouri. . . L. J. Rose, once a millionaire land- 
owner, and breeder of the famous trotting Btallion Stainboul, 
committed suicide at Los Angeles, Cal., May 17. . . Sixteen 
Jersey and Guernsey cattle belonging to Isaac Shivers, of 
Phcenlxville, Pa., were condemned for tuberculosis, and killed. 
The State pays only $25 each for these fine cattle. . . Consul 
Grout finds a market for American wheat even on the island of 
Malta. 
Cuba.—The Cuban soldiers do not wish to give up their arms 
when they are paid, and their generals refuse to aid in the dis¬ 
tribution of the $3,000,000. . . Bandits continue to commit dar¬ 
ing crimes in the province of Puerto Principe. A party of 200 
American cavalry, with a number of the Cuban rural guard, have 
started out to suppress them. . . An inspection has been made 
of the Havana fortifications, and they are declared worthless 
Cabanas Fortress cost originally $14,000,000, but it is said that a 
few well-placed shots would demolish it, and the same is said of 
Morro Castle. The forts are entirely unprotected on the land side. 
Philippines.—Fresh troops are being sent to the front from 
Manila to reenforce Gens. MacArthur and Lawton. Some of the 
Nebraskans who have been continually in active service, ask for 
a brief rest. These men have been UDable to wash their clothes 
for months, being compelled to sleep in their uniforms, and they 
are worn out with heat, continual service, and hard fighting. It 
is said that it is impossible to relieve the volunteers, because 
the regulars sent to Manila are mostly new recruits, who cannot 
be depended upon like the seasoned volunteers. . . A Filipino 
priest from Cavite states that the insurgents have started a new 
powder mill at Buena Vista, obtaining their sulphur from a vol¬ 
cano, and saltpeter from a newly-discovered mine. . . The 
peaceful conditions at Manila have caused an extension of the 
order requiring the inhabitants to be in their houses by 7 p. m. to 
8 o’clock. . . English employees in Luzon rice mills have been 
ordered to leave by the insurgents, and have filed protests with 
the British consul at Manila. . . Our troops are to be sent to 
occupy the Island of Mindanao, and investigations are being 
made of the state of affairs in the Sulu group, which have never 
submitted to Spanish rule. . . Gen. Lvwton captured San 
Isidro May 16. A launch from the Concord, while trying to land 
at Aparri, Luzon, was driven off by hostile natives armed with 
arrows, and compelled to retreat. Agulnaldo is fleeing to the 
north, and avoiding battle. 
Porto Rico.—Half the troops stationed in the Island are now 
discharged, and waiting for transports to bring them home. Ad¬ 
vices received May 13 stated that hundreds o’ the men are penni¬ 
less; they have neither food nor shelter, and are compelled to 
sleep on the wharves, or in the quartermaster’s yards. The 
barracks are too crowded to give accommodations, and the men 
are forced to live like tramps. Men returning home complain of 
the filth and poor accommodations on the transports, which are 
as foul as during war time. . . The transport Meade ran on a 
reef near Ponce, and is badly damaged. 
General Foreign News.—An explosion occurred May 12 in a 
chemical factory at St. Helens, Lancashire, England, killed 
four persons and caused damage amounting to $500,000 The 
entire town was strewn with debris. . . Terrible drought 
exists in Roumania. . . May 17, Queen Victoria laid the cor¬ 
nerstone of the new South Kensington Museum. This is to be the 
Queen’s last appearance at any great public ceremony. She 
celebrated her eightieth birthday May 24. . . The International 
Peace Conference opened at The Hague May 18, with a brief ses¬ 
sion, after which it adjourned until May 20. The work of the 
sessions is to be secret. The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Monsieur de Beaufort, has been appointed honorary president. 
The Armenian refugees in America have sent a request, through 
ex-President Cleveland, that the Conference will consider the 
condition of their people under Turkish tyranny. Among the 
American delegates are Seth Low, Andrew D. White, Ambassador 
to Russia, and Captain Mahan. The countries represented are 
Austria-Hungary, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, 
Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Japan, Norway and Sweden, 
Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Servia, Spain, 
Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States. 
