1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
58i 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—At Lindsay, La., July 27, a mob shot and 
killed an unknown negro, suspected of being a criminal 
in hiding. After his death, it was discovered that he was 
a harmless lunatic who had escaped from the State asy¬ 
lum. . . The Italian government is pressing the State 
Department for an investigation of the recent lynching of 
live Italians at Tallulah, La. . . A steamer, which 
reached Dunkirk, France, from Philadelphia, July 26, re¬ 
ports having passed through vast fields of petroleum, 
covering the surface of the ocean, near the Grand Banks 
of Newfoundland, which causes the belief that some great 
oil steamer has collided with an iceberg, and foundered 
with all hands. Icebergs in the North Atlantic are a con¬ 
tinual danger at this season. . . July 28, violence con¬ 
tinued in Cleveland. A car was blown up and completely 
wrecked. Dynamite torpedoes were placed on car tracks, 
and a bomb was thrown into the car barns. Feople who 
ride on the cars are being boycotted; employers whose 
employees ride on the cars are warned to discharge the 
employees or make them quit riding on the cars. Out of 
town people who board the cars are shadowed and boy¬ 
cotted, the influence being extended to out of town mer¬ 
chants. July 29, the boycott was extending and persons 
riding on the cars were prevented from transacting or¬ 
dinary business or buying food. Physicians have been 
forbidden to attend the sick children of those who ride 
on the cars. . . Chicago brickmakers are on strike; 7,000 
were out July 28, and building operations are seriously 
delayed. . . July 30, the west-bound express on the Erie 
Railroad was wrecked near Port Jervis, N. Y., two per¬ 
sons being killed and 30 injured. The wreck was caused 
by a landslide which covered the east-bound track. A 
freight train ran into this and was thrown on to the other 
track, where it was struck by the express. . . Jufy 30, 
there were 30 cases of yellow fever, and three deaths 
from that disease, at the National Soldiers’ Home, near 
Hampton, Va. There are 4,000 inmates in the home, which 
has been put under strict quarantine. August 1, there 
was one new case and one death in the home, and three 
cases outside, at Phoebus, making in all 40 cases, and 
seven deaths. . . A runaway trolley car at Spring City, 
Pa., July 29, dashed down a steep hill, and jumped the 
track, injuring 30 persons. . . The town of Kale, O. T., 
having a population of 800, was destroyed by fire July 27; 
two lives lost. . . The gunboat Machias has been or¬ 
dered to San Domingo, and will be joined by the cruiser 
New Orleans, owing to disturbed conditions in that coun¬ 
try, consequent upon the assassination of President Heu- 
reaux. . . Lizzie Cassidy, the 19-months’ old child of 
Thomas Cassidy, a Brooklyn, N. Y. laborer, disappeared 
from her home July 7, having been, apparently, stolen. 
August 1, unknown persons informed her parents that the 
child was held by the Gerry Society. It was learned that 
the baby had been found in the hallway of a New York 
tenement house July 17, and sent to the society as un¬ 
known. The child was well cared for, and when found, 
was dressed in new clothes of better material than when 
she disappeared. The police are investigating the mys¬ 
tery. . . An investigation is in progress at the New 
Jersey State Industrial School for Girls. The matron, 
Mrs. Eyler, is accused of brutal punishment of the in¬ 
mates. Farm laborers testified that they were compelled 
to hold the girls while the matron whipped them. . . A 
severe outbreak of typhoid fever at F lushing, N. Y., is 
causing alarm, and the Board of Health is investigating 
the milk supply. . • Yaqui Indians are on the warpath, 
near Ortiz, Mexico. . . A tornado struck Elizabeth, N. 
J., August 2, covering a track 1,000 feet wide with wreck¬ 
age. No lives were lost, but the property loss was $150,000. 
The same storm extended over a wide area in New 1 ork 
State and Pennsylvania. Near Amsterdam, N. Y., a num¬ 
ber of farm buildings were struck by lightning and 
burned. Through Chautauqua County, grapes, grain and 
other crops were damaged by wind and hail. At Utica, 
streets were flooded, and 215 telephones were burned out. 
At Syracuse, the iron grand stand at the State Fair 
grounds was badly damaged. . . At Corry, Pa., about 
500 people returning from a circus at night, were held up 
and robbed August 2, by armed highwaymen, who ter¬ 
rorized the entire crowd. . . A furious storm destroyed 
the town of Carrabelle, Fla., August 2. . . Postmasters 
have been instructed to decline mail matter of the third 
or fourth class (packages, books and papers) addressed 
to the Yukon district. Letters and postal cards may be 
sent, but there is no way of forwarding packages. . . . 
The property of the Ruskin Cooperative Colony, at Rus- 
kin, Tenn., was sold by a receiver July 26. The 1,700 acres 
and buildings brought $12,000. The colony, which was 
founded by J. A. Wayland, in 1893, is at an end. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Fruit growers at Ashland, Ore., 
have formed an association for the purpose of marketing 
their fruit. . . The Union Pacific land department has 
closed a deal with the Uintah County Woolgrowers’ Asso¬ 
ciation, of Utah, for the lease of 108,000 acres of railroad 
land to the sheepowners of that section. The lease is one 
of the outgrowths of the fight between the sheep and 
cattlemen for possession of that territory, and this lease, 
with the land already owned by the sheepmen, gives 
them control of a large scope of country. Previous hold¬ 
ings with this lease give the sheepowners a practical 
monopoly of the grazing in Uintah County, Utah. . . A 
heavy frost the latter part of June, followed by hot 
weather, damaged wheat in many parts of Oregon. . . . 
Umatilla County, Ore., is trying to enforce the law 
against the Canada thistle, which has become a great 
pest. Landowners who knowingly permit the thistle to 
gro^ are fined $10 for the first offense, and $25 for each 
subsequent offense. . . South Dakota sheepmen have 
called a meeting to be held at Fort Pierre, October 2, for 
the purpose of organizing a sheep raisers' association. . .. 
Tuberculosis has again appeared in ex-Gov. Morton’s 
famous herd of Guernseys at Ellerslie Farm, Rhinebeck, 
N Y , and the sale of these animals, recently announced, 
is given up. . . An outbreak of rabies among domestic 
animals is reported from Erie County, N. Y. The disease 
first appeared among dogs, and has extended to horses, 
cows and calves, several persons being bitten, also. . . . 
North Dakota and Minnesota were threatened with a 
grasshopper invasion July 26. . . July 25, a violent hail¬ 
storm entirely stripped every tree in a peach orchard in 
Snyder County, Pa., of the ripening fruit. The owner 
had expected to gather 2,000 bushels. . . Sheep-killing 
dogs have been doing a good deal of damage at Constan¬ 
tine, Mich. Tiie law there provides that a dog-owner may 
be fined $1.50 a day for each day he keeps the dog alive 
after being notified that it is a sheep-killer. . . The 
Pingree potato patches around Detroit, Mich., which are 
cultivated by the poor, comprise 182 acres, and are in 
fine condition. . . Prof. John Fields has been appointed 
director of the Oklahoma Agricultural College. . . At 
Clear Lake, S. D., July 28, a hail and wind storm de¬ 
stroyed standing grain, and the loss to wheat is estimated 
at 25,000 bushels. . . Tuberculosis tests at Fort Dodge, 
Iowa, showed a number of cases in two large herds. . . 
The boiler of a thrashing engine exploded at Big Prairie, 
Mich., July 31, killing seven men and wounding others, 
The water in the boiler had been allowed to become too 
low. . . The first bale of cotton of this year’s crop 
which reached New York sold at auction for $2,000. The 
money will go to the Texas flood sufferers. . . The 
Noble County, Ind., Horticultural Society met at Rome 
City, Ind., August 9-10. . . The Kalamazoo celery crop 
is estimated this year at 1,000,000,000 bunches. . . Russia 
will hold a dairy exhibition at St. Petersburg this Fall, 
beginning September 13. None but Russian products will 
be admitted to the exhibition of dairy products, but the 
exhibit of machines, etc., will be international. Preserved 
milk, condensed milk, milk flour, etc., will be admitted to 
the international exhibit. . . The Minnesota State School 
of Agriculture, at Minneapolis, is erecting new experi¬ 
mental greenhouses. . . The Georgia State Horticultural 
Society held its twenty-third annual session, together 
with an exhibition of fruits, plants and vegetables, at 
Tallulah Falls, Ga., August 2-3. P. J. Berckmans, of 
Augusta, is president of the society. 
PHILIPPINES.—Gen. Hall defeated Gen. Malabar’s gar¬ 
rison of 300 Filipinos at Calamba, July 26, after a sharp 
running fight. The American losses were four killed and 
11 wounded; 30 Spanish prisoners were rescued. . . The 
gunboat Helena has been cruising through the Sulu Archi¬ 
pelago, replacing the Spanish flag with the Stars and 
Stripes. . . July 30, the rebels attacked Calamba, but 
were repulsed. In spite of the floods, they continue 
active. . . Up to June 2, according to official reports, 
our loss in the Philippines was 736. 
PIAWA1IAN ISLANDS.—The eruption of Mauna Loa 
continues, but Hilo is no longer in danger from the lava. 
It is the greatest eruption since 1880. . . The transport 
Para arrived at Honolulu July 20, with colored soldiers 
of the Twenty-fourth Infantry. The first day ashore the 
men carried weapons, but the second day they were 
searched, and concealed razors, pistols and bayonets taken 
from them. 
CUBA.—Cuban veterans have united in an appeal to the 
President that he fulfill the promise of making Cuba an 
independent republic. The sentiment of the best people, 
however, is against this, owing to the many quarrels 
among the Cubans. . . August 1, Gen. Ludlow ordered 
the suppression of a paper in Havana called the Recon- 
centrado, a scurrilous sheet, which has been slandering 
the authorities, but on promise of better behavior, it was 
permitted to continue. 
CORN HARVESTING MACHINERY. 
When and Where Profitable. 
The corn harvester is especially adapted to the har¬ 
vesting of corn designed for ensilaging, and 10 or 15 
acres of heavy ensilage corn will justify one in buying 
a corn harvester. When it comes to corn which is 
raised for the grain alone, one is in some doubt as to 
the economy of purchasing a corn harvester. In or¬ 
dinary field corn, only about half as many tons per 
acre of gross material are secured as when the corn is 
designed for the silo. Then, too, it is left to ripen 
and lighten greatly before it is cut. It is frequently 
planted in hills, or if not in hills, is not drilled as 
thickly as the corn designed for ensilaging, so it will 
be seen that the farmer who is raising corn for the 
ears has really less than one-half as much weight to 
handle as he would have if he had raised the corn for 
ensilaging, and cut it when it was quite green. 
The cutting and shocking of corn planted in hills, 
and harvested when the ears are all well glazed, is 
not an expensive operation. The disagreeable part of 
the whole business is the husking and binding of the 
stalks. The corn harvester does not husk the corn, 
and if the stalks be bound in sheaves by the har¬ 
vester, the ears are not so easily husked as they are 
when the stalks are left unbound. Then, too, most 
farmers in the East have but a few acres of corn, and 
they can easily find time to cut it by hand, husk, bind 
the stalks, and take them to the barn. 
I have not had enough experience in harvesting the 
large varieties of corn, as raised in the West, with a 
harvester when it is designed to husk the corn, and 
utilize the stalks, to speak intelligently. My impres¬ 
sion is that the extra expense of husking the corn 
when lit is harvested and bound by machinery, and 
the labor of getting these large stalks to the cattle, 
is often not equal to the extra roughage secured by 
this method of harvesting. My impression is, also, 
that for some time in the future, most of the corn of 
the West will be husked on the stalk, and the cattle 
will be turned into the fields early in the Winter to 
gather what may remain of the roughage. Of course, 
there is great loss of roughage by this method, and 
so it comes to be a financial question: Will the added 
roughage be equivalent in value to the added expense 
of harvesting, husking and securing the stalks by the 
new method as against the old method? I his finan¬ 
cial question will soon settle itself. Farmers are in¬ 
telligent enough to know very quickly whether it will 
pay to add labor and expense to the corn crop, or 
whether the simpler, cruder methods are most re¬ 
munerative. I ’ p * ROBERTS. 
OLD DAYS ON THE FARM. 
OHIO FARMING IN TIIE EABIY HAYS. 
Wages on a Working Basis. 
Part IV. 
The few things bought or traded for at the stores 
during all these years were so high as to make lux¬ 
uries of many that we now consider common necessi¬ 
ties. There is not a single entry of sugar bought. 
The maple trees furnished both sugar and molasses. 
A very few items of coffee are recorded, and at from 
37% cents per pound in the ’20s to 16% cents in 
the ’40s, but this was for unparched coffee. To 
compare it with our roasted coffee of the present day, 
these prices should be doubled. Boots and shoes 
were nearly all made at home by shoemakers who 
boarded in the families for the time, or at neighbor¬ 
hood shoe shops. They cost about the same then 
as now, although the leather was often made on the 
shares at neighborhood tanneries, from hides pro¬ 
duced on the farm. Fine clothing was very much 
higher then than now, and common grades were by 
no means cheap. Much of the cloth used in making 
garments of all kinds was homemade. Men’s suits 
were sometimes made by professional tailors. Jeans 
made an extra good suit, and the goods often cost $1 
per yard. Linsey was commonly used for women’s 
dresses. Calico was an extravagance, and silk a rare 
luxury. At our old homestead, there was a loom and 
every appliance for making woolen, worsted and linen 
goods of all ordinary kinds. Wool and flax were both 
grown on the farm for this purpose. The women 
folks had to work hard as well as the men, and got 
little enough for it, as the following accounts will 
show: 
Amelia Bearer’s Account. 
Amelia Bealer came to J. Van Deman’s to work on Nov. 
21, 1830, at 75 cents per week. 
Nov. 22—To 6 yards of calico (g> 37% cents.$2.25 
1831— 
Jan. 1—To 1 pair of coarse shoes. 1.50 
Feb. 1—To 4 yards flannel @ 50 cents. 2.00 
June 1—To 4 yards jaconett muslin @ 75c..:. 3.00 
July 24—To 1 pair calfskin shoes. 2.00 
Sept. 24—To 1% yards bobinet lace @ $1 per yard.1.50 
Nov. 18—To 7 yards black silk @ $1 per yard. 7.00 
Nov. 18—To 1 fine Leghorn bonnet. 5.50 
Nov. 18—To 4 yards gauze bonnet ribband.40 
Nov. 18—To 3 yards silk ribband—wide. 1.12% 
Dec. 25—To 1 week’s lost time making dress and 
wedding .75 
1832— 
Feb. 10—To 2 woolen blankets. 5.00 
Mch. 25—To cash paid for Walker's Dictionary.62% 
April 5—To 1 dress handkerchief.J5 
June 24—To 1% yards Irish shirting.18% 
June 26—To 7 yards gingham @ 33 1-3 cents.2.331-3 
Aug. 4—To 1 silver thimble.25 
Aug. 4—To 1 pair side combs.12% 
1833— Mary Ann Perren. 
Aug. 10—By spinning 10 doz. skeins wool yarn @ 
16 ... 
Sept. 4—By making 2 fine shirts @ 50c.1.00 
Mch. 12—By making 6 coarse shirts @ 27%c.......1.65 
Mch. 12—By making 3 full bosomed shirts @ 62%c. 1.87% 
May 16—By making one coat and waistcoat. l.u> 
May 16—By making 1 pair pantaloons. f ‘/2 
Aug. 15—By knitting one pair of socks. 
Aug. 15—By making one calico dress... .Wb 
Sept, l—By weaving 17 yards table linen @ 6%c.1.06% 
The wages of a good woman in the house, at 75 
cents per week, were surely low enough, yet some 
girls worked for 62% and even 50 cents per week. 
Needlework may seem high, at 50 and 62% cents for 
making shirts, but it was all hand work. Spinning, 
weaving and knitting were also very tedious jobs, yet 
not very costly when hired done. With all our im¬ 
proved machinery, we have not reduced the prices of 
all sorts of woolen goods as much as might be ex¬ 
acted. 
On one page of these old books, is the record of ex- 
ienses incurred in securing a pension for my grand- 
aother, after she had become a widow. The business 
/as *all done with the branch office at Cincinnati, 
hrough local attorneys and county officials. Here are 
hree of the entries: 
1838 - nr 
’eb. 9—Justices’ and clerk’s tees.51-25 
Ich. 11—Clerk’s certificate. 
lay 26—A. Dickey, attorney..... •••-• .....ou.uu 
lav 26—John McLean for service to obtain pension 
certificate . 52 ’°° 
This makes $108.25 in fees to secure the pension for 
he widow of a Revolutionary soldier, which is fully 
ip to, if not beyond, the most extravagant charges 
>f the present day for similar services. The farmer 
tad to bear a large share of the burdens then, as he 
loes now. He handled little money, paying his bills 
argely in trade. The fractional parts of a cent were 
rery commonly used then, owing in part to the old 
Colonial money not having entirely given way to the 
nodern money which we now have. r lhe hired men 
md women had to lose the time when sick or away 
Tom work for any reason. They had horse races and 
ihows that attracted them away sometimes. Some of 
hem went to school for a month or so during the 
Winter. Books were bought and in one case, at least, 
ny father persuaded a hired man to take an agricul- 
ural paper, the Ohio Cultivator. Another took the 
)hio Temperance Advocate through his efforts, which 
iroves that the anti-liquor leaven was working where 
mce the fumes and smoke of the stillhouse filled the 
lir. Truly, there has been a great advancement in 
norals and in rural life in Ohio, as elsewhere, within 
;he last century. E - VAN DEMA ^ 
