1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
295 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The trouble that the New Haven Rail¬ 
road Company has had with dynamiters continues. In 
addition to the effort to destroy the unfinished railroad 
bridge across the Naugatuck River at Derby, Conn., 
when seven sticks were placed under the structure, dyna¬ 
mite has been placed on the tracks between Derby and 
Seymour. This is the fourth time within two months 
that dynamite has been picked up on the lines of the 
company running through this region. . . Sickness and 
starvation are decimating the Copper River Indians in 
Alaska. General Funston has been ordered to do any¬ 
thing he can for the Indians. The only military post in 
the Copper River region is a small post at Copper Cen¬ 
ter, used by men of the Signal Corps, who have supplies 
sufficient only for their own subsistence.Judge 
Henderson M. Somerville, of the Board of United States 
General Appraisers has handed down a ruling which up¬ 
sets Secretary of the Treasury Shaw’s famous “bale of 
hay” personal baggage order, and his late one, promul¬ 
gated a few weeks ago, to the effect that returning 
American tourists may bring in anything within the $100 
limit, provided it is not for sale. This has been inter¬ 
preted to mean presents for others, as well as personal 
effects. Judge Somerville’s decision laid down the rule 
that duty must be paid on presents, and that only per¬ 
sonal effects are free. The decision was made on the pro¬ 
test of A. Obendorf, of Baltimore, who brought over in 
his baggage several articles described as ladies’ kid 
gloves, silk fabrics, cotton embroidery and toys The 
value of the articles was less than $100, and Mr. Oben¬ 
dorf declared them, and said that they were presents 
for members of his immediate family. The Collector at 
Baltimore, however, assessed duty on them, and this ac¬ 
tion is now sustained by Judge Somerville. . . . The 
Iowa State Senate March 18 voted an appropx-iation of 
$125,000 for the location at Knoxville of a hospital for 
habitual drunkards. This is the first open approval of 
Iowa’s so-called “dipsomaniac law.” This law, which 
went into effect two years ago, has been severely criti¬ 
cised. ... A series of earthquake shocks swept across 
New England March 21, playing queer pranks with 
swinging chandeliers and delicately balanced breakables, 
arresting the attention of night workers, frightening 
those who have had earthquake experience in the past, 
and even awakening some light sleepers. Many Maine, 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and pro¬ 
vincial towns felt the shock, virtually at the same hour. 
Halifax did not experience it, but St. John, Fredericton 
and other New Brunswick points felt the earth shake. 
Two shocks were felt in western Maine, while in the 
eastern part from three to seven were noticeable. Bar 
Harbor reported seven. The bell in the fire engine house 
at Bar Harbor swayed several times, sounding an alarm. 
The worst disturbance in Maine was reported from Cal¬ 
ais, where buildings were rocked, pictures shaken from 
the walls and chimneys damaged. The heaviest shock in 
that city was preceded by rumblings of the earth. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The Senate, by a vote of 45 to 16, 
confirmed the nomination of Brigadier-General Leonard 
Wood to be a Major-General March 18. By this action of 
the Senate, in executive session, General Wood takes the 
rank of Major-General from August 8, 1903, the day on 
which President Roosevelt made the promotion. The 
contest against his confirmation has been notable and 
bitter, beginning November 19, 1903, soon after Congress 
convened in extraordinary session, and continuing 
through the present session. The principal charges 
against General Wood involving his official conduct in 
Cuba, upon which testimony was taken before the Sen¬ 
ate Military Affairs Committee, were: Tampering with 
courts so as not to give an impartial trial to E. G. Rath- 
bone, Director of Posts; his veracity was questioned; he 
was accused of inspiring the Runcie magazine article 
criticising the administration of General Brooke; he was 
charged with granting a franchise to the Jai Alai Co., 
a gambling concern, in violation of law; he was accused 
of insubordination toward General Brooke, his superior 
officer, and it was alleged that he interfered with the 
civil courts of Manzanillo. Another ground of opposition 
to General Wood’s promotion was that it is undeserved; 
that his brief and comparatively inconspicuous army 
career does not justify promoting him over several vet¬ 
eran army officers with long and brilliant careers in ac¬ 
tive service. . . . Senator Hoar introduced March 21 
the bill prepared by Commander Booth-Tucker, looking 
to the colonization of vacant public lands by actual set¬ 
tlers. The bill creates the Bureau of Colonization in the 
Department of the Interior, and provides machinery for 
advertising the public lands and obtaining settlers. The 
Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue not to 
exceed $50,000,000 of 60-year three-per-cent gold bonds, to 
be issued in sums not exceeding $5,000,000 yearly to de¬ 
serving settlers in loans of not over $1,500 to any one 
person, who is required to enter upon a homestead and 
who “is certified as worthy and deserving by one person 
holding official position under the Federal Government 
or any State or municipal government, and by one per¬ 
son of recognized standing in a charitable or religious 
organization.” The money is to be repaid by the settler 
in annual installments, with six per cent interest. The 
homestead and all the settler’s personal property thereon 
is held as a lien to secure repayment of the loan. 
PHILIPPINES.—Secretary Taft received March 21 a 
mail report from Governor Wright telling of the recent 
elections held in the Philippines for provincial governors. 
Governor Wright says that the elections passed off 
quietly, and comments particularly upon the readiness 
with which the Filipinos have acquired American poli¬ 
tical methods. There are ward heelers and political 
bosses in the Philippines as well as in this country, and 
Governor Wright says that in general the Filipinos are 
exceeding the Americans in adopting up-to-date political 
ideas. The result is that two American Governors have 
been defeated, and protests of ballot-box stuffing and 
other irregularities have been received from the prov¬ 
inces of Albay, Batangas, Ambos, Camarines and Iloilo. 
Capt. Arlington W. Betts, a former Volunteer officer 
who settled in the Philippines and married a mestiza 
woman, was Governor of Albay province. He became a 
candidate for reelection and was opposed by Ramon San¬ 
tos, a wealthy Filipino. The political campaign was 
very warm. Betts was defeated and has protested that 
the election was not properly conducted. In the Camar¬ 
ines, P. Montell, another American, was defeated by 
Mariano Abella. Governor Wright says that in the main 
he thinks the elections were fair and that the protests 
in some instances are largely founded on disappoint¬ 
ment. Elections were held in 32 provinces, and returns 
from 28 provinces show that 16 Governors had been re¬ 
elected. , 
THE BUSINESS OF VIOLET GROWING. 
While the rest of us have struggled through the toils 
of an unusually severe Winter it might be interesting to 
know what the violet men have been doing. A well- 
equipped greenhouse is not a bad place to spend a little 
time on a cold day, and to an outsider a half day or so 
given to visiting the violet houses and inhaling the frag¬ 
rance of thousands of budding flowers is a delight. It is 
a novelty to step from the snowy outdoors and have one’s 
next glances resting on spacious beds of foliage and flow¬ 
ers. In the Rhinebeck district the general condition of 
the plants at this time is good. There is a pretty gen¬ 
eral feeling that the business should have no more crowd¬ 
ing; that p7 ,0 =em production is meeting all demands and 
occasionally overreaching them. Prices have not been as 
favorable this Winter as in other years, yet at moder¬ 
ate prices violets must still be considered a paying crop, 
as the houses are each producing from 7,000 to 19,000 
blooms per week. The violet men are by no means dis¬ 
couraged, though they are not enlarging their plants 
this Spring, and this, with the fact that no new people 
are starting in the business, is a pretty good sign of 
the times. The depressed market conditions are due to 
two general causes; first, overproduction of inferior 
blooms and flooding the market with them; second, to the 
. weakened financial condition of many of the people who 
were and are buyers of violets, causing them to curtail 
even with luxuries. Of course the latter condition will 
improve, and the market is broadening each year, so 
we cannot see the end. For the present a strong feature 
in the case for the grower is that there is no way to 
cheapen the cost of production. No matter what the 
markets are they must cost just so much, and this past 
Winter, to mention one item, the cost of heating the 
buildings has been at least one-third more than usual. 
Liven with these present drawbacks violet growing is a 
nice business, and clearly does not go with general farm¬ 
ing. It is something not to be picked up at odd times by 
any of the home people or the hired man, but from start 
to finish the growing of fine violets requires constant and 
most intelligent care. A few moments of hot sunshine 
after a Summer shower has cleared away the whitewash 
from the glass means loss if nobody is at hand to look 
after it. A few moments of wrong temperature on a 
Winter’s night means loss. A slight excess of fumiga¬ 
tion means loss; so also with the least carelessness or 
oversight anywhere. It is not as in former days, when 
any sort of a violet would sell and bring money in what¬ 
ever shape presented. It now calls for specialized knowl¬ 
edge as does the culture of fine roses, of fine apples, the 
dairy business or the poultry business. w. s. teatok. 
BUSINESS BITS 
The Imperial Steel Range Co., 140 State St., Cleveland, 
O., show their own confidence in their ranges by offering 
to take back after six months’ trial any range that does 
not give perfect satisfaction, and pay freight charges 
both ways. This is certainly liberal, and more than fair 
on their side. A catalogue of all sizes and styles will be 
sent you free. 
The Royal Carriage Co. has sent us a copy of their 
new 1904 catalogue. They show a large variety of bug¬ 
gies, surreys and carriages, and the prices are printed in 
large plain figures. They also show a large line of horse 
goods needed on every farm. Anyone intending to buy 
a vehicle of any kind this year can have a catalogue 
sent to his address by writing the Royal Carriage Co., 
416 E. Court Ct., Cincinnati, O. 
Fruitvale Farm offers great opportunities for some 
man with fair capital who wants a chance in the coun¬ 
try. We have known Mortimer Whitehead, the pro¬ 
prietor, for many years. His farm is a money maker 
in the right hands. We have had people ask if we knew 
of any chance for them to invest money safely in a 
farm without waiting too long for returns. Here is 
just the chance for them. Address Gerald Howatt, 
White Plains, N. Y. 
It seems at first glance as though this old saying—al¬ 
most too good to be true—were particularly applicable to 
the offer made by the “1900” Washer Co., Binghamton, 
N. Y., to send any housekeeper on request their family 
washer for 30 days’ trial, paying the freight and also 
the expense of returning it at the end of that time if not 
found entirely satisfactory. Surely a remarkable in¬ 
stance of how far a progressive manufacturer will go 
to convince the public of the value of his product when 
he himself is convinced. 
More money has been spent in advertising and intro¬ 
ducing the Acme harrow than was ever spent on any 
other tool. Year after year farmers have been invited 
to examine and compare it, and whenever they do so 
they are forced to admit that the Acme leads all other 
tools for the special work claimed for it. It pulverizes 
the soil, crushes clods and levels the seed bed, thus com¬ 
bining for surface culture the work of disk, plank drag, 
cultivator and plow, with none of the defects of harrows 
with fixed or spring teeth, which drag rubbish to the 
surface. There is no single tillage tool made which 
works the surface so thoroughly on all soils. That is 
why it has stood the test of years. Write to D. H. Nash 
Millington, N. J., for particulars. 
No Maker Has 'I / 
P irf i tie / l. 
ISH 
I* 
The TONE of 
PIANOS 
AND 
ORGANS 
It Makes Them 
The Joy of Any Home 
Ihe instruments are beautifully made 
and guaranteed to last a lifetime. Sold 
direct from the factory without dealers’ 
profits—cash or installments. 
The Cornish Plan of giving the buyer 
dealers’ profits helps in buying right. 
The Cornish Album—most beautiful 
ever made— shows our fifty stylos. 
The Embossed Pianos and Organs 
show exactly how our instruments look. 
The 5000 References will give you 
confidence that we and our instruments 
are both right. 
rr*-~ 
* *2; 
Let us send you a piano or organ on 
thirty days’ free trial. We are glad to 
put them beside any Instrument costing 
twice as much. 
We will teach you to play free, if you have 
no local teacher. If you buy and at the end 
of the year find the instrument not as repre¬ 
sented send it back and you will get your 
money with six per cent Interest added. 
Fair, isn’t it? We have done this for fifty 
years and have a quarter of a million satis¬ 
fied customers. 
(ORNISH (0. 
Washington, 
New Jersey. 
Sit down and write 
to us to-day. 
.. N,° House. Smoke meet with 
KRAUSERS LIQUID EXTRACT OF SMOKE. 
ri?«.V/° m i hickorj lf ood - S 1 ™ deliciou. fleror. 
Cheeper, cleaner than old way. Send for cir¬ 
cular. fc. hranaer Sc Brof, JliUon. Pa. 
Cattle Stanchion 
The most practical and humane Fastener ever In 
vented. Gives perfect freedom of the head. Illustrated 
Circular and Price freeon application. Manufactured 
by O. H. ROBERTSON, Korestville, Cuuu. 
Are You up-to-date on Binders 
\ ou are not unless you’ve seen the New Century 
or read about it in our new catalog. It’s the only 
new Grain Binder on the market for 1&04 and is one 
of the greatest successes ever produced in a factory 
famous for successful innovations. It’s equal has 
not been built for doing heavy work and lots of it. 
If you’re figuring on a heavy crop this year buy a 
New Century and save trouble and money. Some 
wise dealer in your vicinity is selling the Walter A. 
Wood line. Ask him for our handsome new catalog 
or write us for it, naming this paper, it’s free. 
| WALTER A. WOOD M. & R. M. CO., 
Hoosick k alls, N. Y. (Independent Manufacturers) 
Repairs furnished for Walter A. Wood machines of any date. 
carried at central points all over the country. 
