773 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The yellow-fever epidemic at Key West, 
Fla., is now practically over; there are few new cases. 
. . The Supreme Court of Michigan has decided to oust 
Mrs. Merrie H. Abbott, who was elected prosecuting at¬ 
torney of Ogemaw County. It is held that, under the 
present statutes, a woman cannot hold elective office in 
Michigan. . . The Supreme Court of Illinois decides that 
the American Glucose Company (the glucose trust) is an 
illegal combination, and that the officers of the trust were 
guilty of conspiracy in their attempt to limit production 
and fix prices. . . At Laporte, Ind., three women, known 
as faith-cure healers, were indicted for causing the death 
of a sick child, who was treated by prayer, medical care 
being denied. . . An explosion in a workman’s shanty 
at a stone crushing establishment at Rockland Lake, N. 
Y., October 20, killed six men, and injured two others. 
The cause is unknown. . . The annual report of the 
Army Chief of Engineers estimates that over $100,000,000 
will be needed for coast defenses, rivers and harbors. . . 
Seven men were swept off the structure of the Brooklyn 
(N. Y.) Elevated Railroad October 21, one being killed and 
six badly injured. A woman who saw the accident died 
from the shock. There had been a stoppage of trains, 
and passengers were walking on the narrow footpath by 
the track. A boy, who tried to enter a moving car, swung 
against a group of these people, knocking them into the 
street. . . A fire in the business section of Broadway, 
N. Y., October 22, resulted in a loss of $300,000. . . A dis¬ 
astrous fire at South Chicago, Ill., October 22, injured 12 
persons and caused a loss of $120,000. . . Yellow fever 
continues at Miami, Fla., and the health officials recom¬ 
mend the depopulation of that town. . . October 23, it 
was reported that a blizzard had been raging in Teton 
County, Mont., for a week. At Choteau, the drifts were 
10 to 12 feet deep, and the snow was three feet on the 
level. It is said that it is the severest October storm for 
20 years. The bodies of eight sheep herders have already 
been found, and 15 others are missing. . . Advices from 
Cape Nome, Alaska, state that a severe epidemic of ty¬ 
phoid fever exists there. . . A child died recently at 
Brewsters, N. Y., from lockjaw following vaccination. 
. . New cases of yellow fever have appeared in Louisi¬ 
ana. . . Trouble has developed on the Mexican border, 
between Arizona cowboys and Mexican officials. Troops 
are to be sent to the scene of the trouble to restore order. 
. . Furniture manufacturers have united to increase 
prices 10 per cent. . . The deficiency in postal revenue 
for the last fiscal year was $6,610,770, the smallest since 
1892. . . October 30, 20 miners, out of 442 indicted for in¬ 
terfering with the United States mails, were put on trial 
at Moscow, Idaho. The trouble grew out of the Wardner 
strikes. , , Guatemala has consented to arbitrate the 
claim for $125,000 brought against that country by Mr. 
May, of Tennessee. . . The City Hospital at Findlay, O., 
was destroyed by fire October 23. By heroic work the 
patients were removed, but seven may die from shock; 
property loss, $50,000. . . A dynamite explosion at Nor¬ 
ristown, Pa., October 24, wrecked surrounding houses; 600 
pounds of the explosive went off without warning. . . 
Forest fires are causing serious apprehension in many 
parts of Pennsylvania, owing to the prevailing drought. 
In the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains hundreds of 
acres of valuable timber have been destroyed, and con¬ 
stant fighting is required to keep the fires from buildings. 
At Olyphant, electric light plants and collieries have shut 
down for lack of water. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The universities of Illinois and 
Iowa made extensive exhibits at the Decatur, Ill., corn 
carnival. . . A big Chicago company is credited with 
forming a corner in flax seed. . . A sugar-beet conven¬ 
tion was held at Clear Lake, Iowa, October 17. Among 
the speakers were Secretary Wilson, E. H. Dyer, Cleve¬ 
land, O.; H. T. Oxnard, New York; T. R. Cutler, Utah, 
and others. . . A National exhibit of purebred Here- 
fords was held at the Kansas City stockyards during the 
week beginning October 22. There were over 300 entries, 
stock coming from as far east as Virginia, and as far 
west as Nevada. . . October 17, a sale of Short-horn 
cattle was held at Kansas City, Mo., from the herds of 
H. C. and J. C. Duncan, of Osborne, Mo., and George 
Bothwell, of Nettleton, Mo. Forty-one animals were sold 
for $8,910, an average of $217. The highest price, $722, was 
paid by J. W. Smith, of Allerton, Iowa, for the four-year- 
old cow, Herman’s Athena. W. E. Robinson, of Fair- 
port, Mo., paid $475 for the young bull, Violet’s Galahad. 
Both are Scotch-bred animals. . . The breaking of a dam 
near Milaca, Minn., caused damage of more than $100,000 
to farm property. . . At the Spokane, Wash., exposi¬ 
tion, Nez Perce County, Idaho, was awarded a silver cup 
valued at $150 for the best general display of fruit, grain, 
vegetables and grasses. . ■ Suit was recently brought 
against the Great Northern Railroad in North Dakota, 
for shipping a load of sheep from Culbertson, Mont., to 
St. Paul, Minn., without sufficient food or water. The 
defendants were fined $100 and $500 costs. . . The Cali¬ 
fornia Citrus Growers’ Tariff Committee has adopted a 
resolution calling on all the Citrus growers and associa¬ 
tion of southern California to contribute one-fifth of a 
cent a box on their crop of the coming season, for the 
purpose of creating a fund to carry on a campaign against 
the ratification of the Jamaica treaty. . . The revolution in 
Venezuela has caused a shortage in food, and the gov¬ 
ernment of that country has suspended, temporarily, the 
duty on corn. Large shipments are being made from 
this country. . . A fire in the breeding stables of Gideon 
& Daly, near Holmdel, N. J., October 24, destroyed a 
number of Thoroughbred horses, valued at $50,000. . . A 
dairymen’s convention will be held at North Yakima, 
Wash., December 28-30. . . The Fall army worm is re¬ 
ported to be devastating Fall wheat in Kansas. . . The 
fifth annual horse show was opened at Kansas City, Mo., 
October 23, with nearly 500 entries. 
PHILIPPINES.—Gen. Pio del Pilar, an insurgent com¬ 
mander, has offered to sell Aguinaldo to Gen. Otis for 
$500,000. . . The insurgents were repulsed at San Isidre 
October 20. . . October 23, the rebels were routed near 
Calamba; our loss was one killed and four injured. . . 
The transport Grant sailed for Manila with troops Octo¬ 
ber 25. 
CUBA.—A tornado and cloudburst struck Sagua la 
Grande October 20. The American hospital was wrecked, 
four patients being killed; in the city six persons were 
killed and 19 injured. Crops were damaged severely. 
GUAM.—Capt. Leary, who was appointed Governor of 
Guam, has sent an urgent request for reenforcements, 
and a battalion of marines is to be sent to him. This is 
the island of the Ladrone group which was captured by 
the Charleston without a blow, last year. The natives 
appeared to be peaceable, and welcomed the Americans, 
but they are now disposed to be hostile. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Bubonic plague has ap¬ 
peared at Santos, Brazil. . . At the opening of the Eng¬ 
lish Parliament October 17, the Queen called out all the 
military reserves. A grant of $50,000,000 is asked for war 
expenses. The African natives are vex - y restless, Basutos 
and Swazis threatening to rise against the Transvaal and 
the Orange Free State. The Boers appear to have sus¬ 
tained severe losses at Mafeking. The first official news 
of battle came from Glencoe, Natal, where the Boers 
were defeated with heavy loss, October 20. The British 
loss was 40 killed and 170 wounded; Boer loss unknown. 
On the British side one general, two colonels, three cap¬ 
tains and five lieutenants were killed, and 21 officers 
wounded. Another Boer defeat was sustained at 
Elandslaagte October 21. So far at each battle the Boers 
outnumbered the English, but were routed by superior 
marksmanship. . . At Kimberley, which is closely in¬ 
vested by the Boers, the local tradesmen entered into an 
agreement that they would not raise the prices of food. 
. . A second battle at Glencoe October 23 was a Boer 
defeat. ___ 
“BRITON AND BOER." 
A St at ament of England's Side. 
We have expressed ourselves freely on the South Afri¬ 
can war and the causes that led to it. An American 
would naturally sympathize with the “under dog” in a 
struggle to maintain a republican form of government. 
There is, however, another side; and we are very willing 
to present it. An old and valued friend in Canada sends 
the following courteous statement, which may be accepted 
as the British side of the case: 
IS IT A REPUBLIC?—I see De Witt Talmage 
speaks of the Transvaal as a republic. If so, it is of 
an anomalous variety, a republic in the government 
of which the citizens paying most of the taxes 
(nine-tenths, it is said) are not represented; a re¬ 
public in which the governing power is vested in the 
minority; a republic in which the language of the 
majority may not be used in addressing the legisla¬ 
ture or the courts of law; a republic in which a mi¬ 
nority is permitted to go armed, while the majority 
is denied the same privilege; a republic in which the 
children of the majority may not be taught in their 
own language in the public schools; a republic that 
entered into an agreement with Great Britain to aban¬ 
don the practice of slavery, but which has failed to 
keep it; a republic that agreed with Great Britain 
that there should be a reciprocity and equality of 
treatment of the people of each in the country of the 
other, an agreement that has been strictly kept by 
Great Britain, the Dutch of Cape Colony standing on 
an equal footing with residents of British origin. 
WHAT CONQUEST MEANS.—The effect of the con¬ 
quest of the Transvaal will simply be to place the 
Dutch of that country on the same level of treatment 
as that enjoyed by the English of Cape Colony. The 
mines are private property, owned by Germans, 
French, Americans, Russians, as well as by English 
capitalists, who bought and have worked them. Brit¬ 
ish conquest will make no change in this respect. It 
will, however, put a stop to the dishonest methods of 
levying taxation, such as the dynamite monopoly and 
the liquor monopoly, which in effect have amounted 
to a partial confiscation of the property of the Out- 
landers. In reviewing the situation in South Africa, 
it must steadily be kept in mind that over all hangs 
the Black Terror. The whites of all races constitute 
but a small minority. England for very safety must 
maintain her prestige. 
WHAT ENGLAND DOES.—England is accused of 
being a land-grabber, and on the face of it there ap¬ 
pears to be plenty of ground upon which to support 
the accusation, and yet, I think, it would puzzle her 
accusers to prove that the exploitation of her energies 
on this line has proved otherwise than beneficent to 
the occupants of the lands that she has brought un¬ 
der her sway. Take, if you will, French Canada, and 
compare the condition with Canada under French 
rule as it was, and probably would be now, if such a 
bond existed; take Egypt or take India. England is 
not perfection, certainly not, but the world has never 
known anything to compare with the confederation 
of free nations that have grown up under her mother¬ 
hood. England stands for freedom, civilization, con¬ 
stitutional government, religious toleration, human 
progress with, I willingly admit, such an admixture 
of selfishness as of necessity pertains to all that is 
merely human. Sometimes I think that your people 
rather magnify her defects, and fail generously to 
acknowledge their indebtedness to her for the quali¬ 
ties that they inherited from her loins, qualities by 
the exercise of which their present high standing 
among the nations has been mainly secured. 
ANOTHER VIEW.—Just imagine what would be 
the result to South Africa if the English were driven 
out. It has not so chanced, I fancy, that you have 
made yourself acquainted with the Boers and their 
doings in South Africa, their manner of living, their 
ideas of justice, and its practical administration un¬ 
der the law where the native black or the foreigner 
is concerned, tneir treatment of the missionaries (see 
Livingstone’s account of the way they served him out). 
Sympathy wiu naturally go out to the weaker party; 
no fault should be found with that. But England’s 
action in this instance has been stimulated by a de¬ 
sire to rectify the unjust treatment of the weaker 
party. There is, moreover, a good deal of evidence to 
justify the suspicion that the Boers have been cher¬ 
ishing the hope, if not the expectation, that they 
might, by securing the cooperation of some of the 
European Powers (jealous of and hostile to Great 
Britain), either directly or indirectly, and so drive 
the British out of South Africa. England, indeed, by 
the extent of her preparations, would seem to have 
been influenced by a desire to make such an exhibi¬ 
tion of her fighting capacity and her willingness to 
use it, as would deter certain of her European ene¬ 
mies, who have been itching for an opportunity to 
attack her when at a disadvantage, from making the 
attempt. It cannot be believed that the Emperor of 
Germany was moved by a sincere regard for repub¬ 
lican institutions when he sent his officious message 
of sympathy to President Kruger. The government 
of Great Britain is a government of the people, and is 
in its essence, if not in its form, more truly repub¬ 
lican than is the oligarchy of the Transvaal, mis¬ 
named republican. 
BRIGHT SIDE OF AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. 
The letter from C. E. Chapman, on page 741, calls 
to mind some observations about the cattle show ring 
at fairs, which are rather more pleasant to think 
upon than those which he relates. Because they are 
of a brighter hue, I am led to relate some of them, to 
show that things are not in so bad a way as this cor¬ 
respondent has led us to believe. The interest in cat¬ 
tle exhibits at our county fairs is growing rapidly, 
and in right channels. In one county, where, only a 
few years ago, comparatively few cattle were shown, 
there were 180 in the ring at the last fair. Sixty-five 
were purebred, and the remainder grades, with no 
premiums for grade bulls. The interest on the part of 
spectators was almost as great as of the exhibitors, 
as was shown by such a crowd being present that 
the judge had much difficulty in seeing the animals 
properly. The questions asked of the judge showed 
that the people were there to learn. Here is a sam¬ 
ple from a spectator: “I have been thinking of buying 
one of those heifers, and I wish you would tell me 
how good a cow you think she will make.” 
At another fair an exhibitor was showing two year¬ 
ling heifers, the only entries in their class. Notwith¬ 
standing that he would receive both first and second 
premiums, anyway, he made a special request of the 
judge to name which one should take first place. At 
previous fairs, under similar conditions, he had made 
the same request, and now had the opinion of four 
judges, three of whom had favored one animal, and 
one the other. He will watch the development of 
those heifers with much interest to see if the majority 
were correct in their judgment. 
Another exhibitor said: “This is my first season at 
the fairs. I have now attended two, and have taken 
a few prizes. I did not expect to take many; I came 
to learn. I am perfectly satisfied with the work of the 
judges, and have learned a great deal. I see how 
my cattle may be improved, and I shall try to put 
them into a condition to win more prizes another 
year.” These few illustrations may be sufficient to 
show that some people are learning something at the 
fairs; that good work is being done in some places, 
and that a wholesome interest is found in the minds 
of exhibitors and spectators. I mention cattle only, 
because they have been my especial study when at 
the fairs, but I know no reason why equally hopeful 
signs may not be found among other classes of ex¬ 
hibits. LEROY ANDERSON. 
The Farmer’s Guide says that the largest pumping 
establishment in the world is near Gueydon, in south¬ 
western Louisiana. Its capacity is 285,000 gallons a 
minute, and is sufficient to irrigate 30,000 acres of rice 
fields. This land, which would produce only 30 bushels 
of corn or half a bale of cotton per acre yields $40 in rice 
by irrigation. 
In regard to the flavor of the muskmelon which ran 
into a bed of peppermint, I have not the least doubt but 
what such does occur at times, but I believe that it is 
more than likely that this took place after the melon 
was picked. As to the gourd vine running around a 
peach tree I do not think it probable that such a flavor 
would be imparted. l. h. pammel. 
Iowa Experiment Station. 
