1904. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
785 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Four fishermen were drowned off Cape 
May, N. J., October 12, their boat capsizing in a heavy gale. 
. . . Driven down the coast by a raging northeast gale, 
the three-masted schooner Wentworth, of Moncton, N. B., 
struck on Chatham Bar, off Chatham, Mass., October 13, and 
all on board perished in the terrific seas. With the excep¬ 
tion of the loss of the steamship Portland in November, 
1898, the wreck of the Wentworth is the worst disaster that 
has occurred on the Cape Cod coast during the last decade. 
Of the 12 persons who were on board the stranded vessel, 
not one reached shore alive, although two bodies were res¬ 
cued from the surf the next day, one of them that of a 
woman, believed to be the wife of the captain, Esau Puddle. 
With her three small children she was accompanying her 
husband on a trip from Hillsboro, N. B., to Newark, N. J. 
. The report of the United States Commission ap¬ 
pointed by President Roosevelt to investigate the General 
Slocum disaster is a sweeping condemnation of the New 
York steamboat inspection service, both as inefficient and as 
insufficiently manned. The inspectors are charged with hav¬ 
ing failed utterly to comply with the statutes, and the 
statutes are considered far from perfect by the commission. 
The owners of the Slocum and her master are severely cen¬ 
sured for their neglect, the incompetency of the crew and 
the poverty of equipment. President Roosevelt deems it 
necessary to demand the removal of the local supervising 
steamboat inspector, Robert S. Rodie, Inspector of Hulls 
James A. Dumont and Inspector df Boilers Thomas II. Bar¬ 
rett. The report consists of 62 pages in print and a map. 
Half the space is devoted to the steamboat inspection ser¬ 
vice. It shows that the supervising inspector and the two 
inspectors of hulls and boilers virtually left all the work 
lo the 18 assistants, exercising but little real supervision. 
The reinspection showed that 26.35 per cent of the excur¬ 
sion craft were deficient in hose and 33 per cent in life pre¬ 
servers, though the hazard to life on those craft is greatest. 
The inspectors, it was found, carried out their duties in an 
unsatisfactory way, even upon their own interpretation of 
tlie statutes, which was in fact a misinterpretation. New 
men were scarcely ever instructed in their duties; their in¬ 
spection of hose and apparatus was merely visual, and 60 
per cent of the hose on some vessels was found upon rein- 
spection to be defective. The statutes and regulations re¬ 
garding life preservers and hose are found wholly deficient. 
The present law also makes it difficult to fix responsibility 
or to bring home a criminal liability. The commission rec¬ 
ommends, also, that uniformed watchmen and deckhands be 
posted on excursion steamers in numbers proportionate to 
the crowds. Inspectors should have the power to see that 
bad vessels or appliances be destroyed, even after they con¬ 
demn them, and to revoke licenses. The force of inspectors 
must l)e increased at once and tlie salary system, which is a 
sort of piece work arrangement, be changed. Many other 
changes are recommended. . . . Fire started in the En¬ 
terprise mine, Excelsior. Fa., October 15, and assumed such 
alarming proportions that it is feared the village may be 
destroyed by cave-ins. It may be months before the fire is 
out. . . . Six persons were killed and many were in¬ 
jured by a tenement fire in New York October 17 ; it is be¬ 
lieved to be the work of an incendiary. . . . Charles W. 
Russ, J. II. Stone, II. C. Quintard and James Russ, officers 
of the Nonpareil Cork Company, of Camden, N. J., retracted 
their pleas of not guilty and entered pleas of guilty October 
18 in the United States District Court, to indictments for 
placing iron rods in life preservers with the alleged intent to 
evade the National steamboat inspection laws. The pleas 
of guilty were entered in order that the indictment may be 
demurred from on grounds of insufficiency in that the goods 
were sold in open market and not to the Government, and 
that, therefore, there was no conspiracy against the United 
States Government. . . . Summonses have been issued 
by order of the Health Department of St. Louis for Dr. J. 
R. Lemon, physician in charge of the baby incubators on 
the Pike at the World’s Fair, and for Dr. O’Neil, the attend¬ 
ing physician of the institution, to answer to a charge of 
violating city ordinances by the shipment of the bodies of 
infants from the city without procuring certificates from 
the Health Commissioner. This is the second investigation 
that has been taken up against this l’ike show, another hav¬ 
ing been made by the Health Department about two months 
ago. At that time complaint was made by a visiting physi¬ 
cian from New York, who said that the concession was not 
managed on strictly sanitary conditions. He denounced 
the manner of handling the children and declared that the 
ventilation was bad and not calculated to prolong the life 
of the inmates. The incubator owners said that the New 
York physician was the representative of a rival incubator 
company and that he was seeking to get the St. Louis con¬ 
cession. 
ADMINISTRATION.—It is officially announced that the 
arrangement for a parcels post between the United States 
and France, including Corsica and Algeria, will go into 
force on November 1 under contracts with the Compagnie 
G£n6rale Transatlantique and the American Express Com¬ 
pany. ... It became known October 14 that among the 
mall matter seized on the British steamship Calclias when 
that vessel was captured by the Russian Vladivostok squad¬ 
ron was a pouch containing mail for the United States 
cruiser Cincinnati, then at Nagasaki, Japan. This pouch 
was opened while in the possession of the Russian officials, 
subsequently resealed, and sent on to its destination. Mails 
addressed to American warships are essentially domestic and 
not international mails. Letters sent to officers or men on 
our warships in foreign waters are put in one bag and sent 
at the domestic rate of two cents per ounce. Such letters 
if forwarded through the mails of a foreign country at once 
become foreign mails, and are subjected to another rate, ex¬ 
cept In the case of certain countries where the domestic rate 
applies, as, for instance, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and those 
sent to the postal agency at Shanghai, China. Therefore, 
the mail destined to the Cincinnati was domestic mail. For 
the Russsian officers to open that mail or tamper with it in 
any manner constituted as great an offense against the in¬ 
ternational relations as if they opened a mail sack,.sent 
from New York to Philadelphia. The right to examine 
mails carried by neutrals and destined to belligerents would 
never give the right to open domestic mails of a neutral 
even if found on a vessel sailing under the flag of a third 
country, also neutral, as was the fact in this case. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—During the Roanoke Fair the 
Hereford Cattle Breeders’ Association of Virginia was 
organized with the following officers: President, Murray 
Boocock, Keswick; vice president, Haynes L. Morgan, Salt- 
yille; secretary, Edward Gay Butler, Berryville; directors, 
II. B. Howe, Dublin; E. I. Phipps, Bridle Creek; II. B. 
bproul, Staunton; J. D. Stubbs, Sassafras; A. Meschendorf, 
Iorest Depot; E. L. Eakly, Cremona. 
The forty-seventh annual meeting of the Missouri State 
Horticultural Society will be held at Neosho, Mo., Decem¬ 
ber 20-22. 
The annual meeting and exhibition of the Maine State 
f omoiogieal Society will be held in Grange Hail, Skowhegan, 
November 16-18. 
The Iowa State College, Ames, offers its regular short 
course in stock and corn judging from January 2 to January 
■ 4, 1905. Application should be made to C. F. Curtiss, 
wean of the Division of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa. 
The Rhode Island College of Agriculture announces a six- 
weeks’ course in farm practice, a six-weeks’ course in poul¬ 
try-keeping, and a 12-weeks’ course in farm mechanics, 
farm practice begins November 9; poultry-keeping January 
4; farm mechanics January 3. For further information ad¬ 
dress Kenyon I.. Butterfield, President, Kingston, R. I. 
CROP PROSPECTS . 
The present week apples are $1 per barrel, slow; cabbage 
84 per ton on track ; onions 50 cents per bushel; potatoes 50 
cents, short crop. Corn poor in quality ; short crop. Oats 
good, 50 cents per bushel ; buckwheat light crop. Beans 
light, no market open as yet; hay good. 88 to 810 per ton. 
Williamson, N. Y'. g. h. k. 
The orchards through this section are mostly small, and 
where there was a fair set of fruit they have blown off, so 
that the Winter crop is exceedingly small, and so far as I 
know there has not been a buyer In this section. Apples are 
selling to the stores in Trenton and Lambertville in a small 
way at about 81 per barrel in bulk. I think there is not 
25 per cent of the usual crop to sell or store. i. j. n. 
Mercer Co., N. J. 
September 22-23 we had a very hard freeze; almost every 
one’s corn was uncut. To-day we had a snow squall, with 
a gale from the east. Farm work is very backward on 
account of so much bad weather. Most of the potatoes 
have been dug, and they are a fine crop with but very 
little rot. Buckwheat was a very light crop. Rye is 
mostly sown, and is looking quite well: pastures are short, 
too cold weather for them to grow. Corn, where cut before 
the freeze, is a fair crop. Apples are abundant and slow 
of sale at present; barrels at factory are now 38 cents. 
Columbia Co., N. Y._ o. w. h. 
OUTLOOK FOR POULTRY. 
Indications point to a light supply of turkeys from all 
quarters for the coming Fall and Winter. There is an 
average crop of fowls and chickens. This information we 
get from our shippers throughout Indiana, Ohio, Illinois. 
Iowa and other Western States. The nearby supply of 
poultry of all kinds is somewhat lighter than last year. 
Philadelphia, Pa. edson bkos. 
In regard as to turkeys, as well as other poultry, the 
supply may fall short in some States, caused by continuous 
rainy weather, but we think conditions throughout this 
section favorable especially for turkeys. The demand dur¬ 
ing the Summer months is not as great as may be expected 
from now until our next Summer season. The best ruling 
prices generally exist two days previous to any holiday. 
Christmas prices for poultry of all kinds usually rule higher 
than those of Thanksgiving. Chickens at Thanksgiving find 
but very little sale, turkeys being demanded. We think 
there will be a sufficient supply to go all around and per¬ 
haps a little more than usual. 
Cincinnati, O. henry ranstck & sons. 
We think there may be a little shortage in turkeys, and 
that the frozen stock of last season is very closely sold up, 
which might have been an outcome of the beef strike. So 
far as we know all other kinds of poultry will be in large 
supply for the holidays. We have just received a letter 
from Wisconsin saying there was a good crop of poultry in 
that section. They usually ship largely of geese, ducks and 
turkeys, but not many chickens. We are looking for a good, 
active demand for Thanksgiving. Many of the turkeys are 
not fully matured by that time, and so large, fat, young 
birds are likely to rule high and be of limited supply, while 
thin ordinary stock will be plentiful. The Thanksgiving 
market prices depend so largely on the weather conditions 
during the two previous weeks that it is hard to estimate 
how they will rule; soft, mild or rainy weather tends to 
bring the stock in poor condition, while with cool, clear 
weather stock will come fresh and bright, and sell to much 
the best advantage. amos keyes & co. 
Boston. 
SELLING APPLES IN BOXES. 
Is the Small Package Better Than Barrels ? 
I have never shipped any apples in boxes. I got 50 boxes 
last year to try, but could not pack them tight enough to 
keep the apples from rattling. It may have been that I 
did not put the apples in properly, but I would advise 
everyone to let the boxes alone and use barrels. 
Linden, \ r a. q. h. t. 
Last season was my first experience with bushel boxes 
for apples. I purchased a few only for experiment, which 
did not prove satisfactory as barrels. The boxes cost me 
laid down at Elkton, Va., 18 cents each. However, I did 
not give the boxes an entirely fair trail, as many were 
shipped so late in the season that the apples were injured 
by the cold weather. L . l. f. 
Last Winter I bought a lot of 100 bushel boxes, ex¬ 
pecting to ship apples to West Virginia in them, but all 
parties preferred them in barrels on account of difference 
in freight rates. I did not attempt a private trade in 
boxes. My experience and opinion in that with the same 
freight and express rates the box is better than the bar¬ 
rel for No. 1 apples. In my case the people I sold to 
could not handle in car lots. j. c. c. b. 
Pennsylvania. 
In reference with my experience in selling apples in 
boxes I like tlnft mode of selling my best apples. I make 
two grades: fancy and No. 1. Apples sold in this way 
bring a much larger price than when sold in barrels. 
They make a much better appearance in boxes, nicely 
packed, with a white paper lining. Many people will buy 
a small quantity of .apples who would not buy a barrel at 
a time. q. w. koiner. 
Va. Agricultural Commissioner. 
Our experience with the bushel box was very gratifying. 
We packed Winesap and Albemarle I’ippin this way, and 
have inquiries now from our customers for the package; it 
is in demand. We also believe the apples keep better if 
anything than in barrels, as they can be handled so much 
easier. For fancy fruit I would want only boxes, as it 
brings better prices. We sold very near all of our stock 
through the retail grocer. We have no apples in this 
section this season. j b 
Lynchburg, Va. 
Last Fall we handled one car of apples from Y’irginia, 
which were put up in one-bushel boxes. We did not store 
them very long, say about 60 days, and we lost very few 
of them. Our trade out here does not care to have them 
put up this way. as they prefer the regular apple barrel. 
For small fancy trade, we believe this is the way to handle 
nice apples, but do not think it is desirable for the trade 
in general. We sell to the trade only, but we noticed 
them selling to the consumer by the box, which was a 
great help to the retailer, in the way of not having to 
measure or lose in measure. The boxes we had were al¬ 
most airtight, and if in cold storage, they will keep all 
right, but to make a nice package, the packer must use 
care in putting in the first and second layers, so they will 
open up in the usual way. 
West Va. blgefield produce & commission co. 
I only packed a small lot in boxes. I like the box very 
much for several reasons; it is small and can be handled 
much better than barrels, and if you do not want to ship 
your fruit when packed you can pack in house with less 
labor, and by labor that could not handle barrels. If you 
have your fruit to overhaul after it has been packed a 
while, the box is much the easiest to open and repack. I 
sold the boxes I packed to a jobber who bought my crop. 
It was the first boxes he had handled. I asked him to 
report to me how the trade he sold to liked them. He re¬ 
ported that he and his trade both liked the box package. 
I find the commission men are the only people I have seen 
oppose the box package. They say it will cost them as 
much work and time to sell a 1k>x of one bushel as to sell 
a barrel, and for that reason they oppose the small 
package. w . B . w. 
Big Island, Va. 
From very limited experience I am in favor of the bar¬ 
rel. In the Baltimore market, where mv fruit was all sold, 
the peopfle are in the habit of taking their market baskets 
and gofhg into those large open markets, which are scat¬ 
tered about the city, and buying in small quantity from 
day to day. It seems to be the custom of the people, for the 
better classes and wealthy seem to enjoy this personal 
marketing rather than to entrust it to servants. The bushel 
box is too large for this trade, and will sell for no more 
than the barrel. The freight is five cents higher per 100 
pounds in boxes, arid boxes cost a little more. A private 
trade by express would be all right for boxes. This section 
is too far from the large centers of trade for fruit to go by 
express. For a market like North Dakota and Minnesota, 
the box is the best package. Farmers do not hesitate to 
pay 85 a barrel for apples, while box apples from Wash¬ 
ington and Oregon sell more readily. People would rather 
have Y'ork State apples for they are far superior in quality 
to the Pacific Coast fruit. Our York State fruit put up 
in boxes in the same manner as the Coast fruit will out¬ 
sell it in that market every timb. h. e. m. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. 
Apples in Western New York. 
The apple situation is something like this: Greenings have 
been moving very freely at about 81 to 81.19. some cases 
a little more and some a little less. The ruling price to¬ 
day for Greenings alone is 8L King appples are moving at 
81.75, occasionally five to 10 cents more. Baldwins are 
81.25, hut extreme sales 81.30 to 81-35. Farmers are sell¬ 
ing quite freely if they are in shape to pick and to pack 
their stock, but they are making ^ales, and everything indi¬ 
cates that the season will go through on about the present 
basis. The apples not going into cold storage are going 
west. I do not think that many apples will be stored by 
farmers in this section, except it may be cases where they 
will be behind with their work. At some other points the 
nominal price for Greenings is 81, for Baldwins 81.25. This 
constitutes nine-tenths of the whole crop of Winter apples 
Medina. N. Y. __ s . b. 
FOREIGN APPLE MARKETS. 
The latest cable advices from the principal markets of 
Great Britain are of a more cheerful character; not only 
are prices somewhat better, but the demand has been good 
and large, more especially for red fruit. I have advices 
of sales that give nets here in Boston of $1.50 to $2.50 
per barrel for Fameuse, Wealthy, Gravenstein, King, Mc¬ 
Intosh Red. Some very fancy lots of King and McIntosh 
Red netted 82.75. Sales of the same fruit in the half bar¬ 
rel cases sold to give nets here in Boston from $1 10 to 
$1.50 per case and one fancy lot of King netted $1.75. 
G EO. A. COCHRANE. 
“ SNAKES” IN THE CABBAGE. 
There is a story circulated here by the people and news¬ 
papers to the effect that a deadly poisonous snake or 
worm is found in cabbage, and it is hurting our trade. Is 
there any truth in it? P n 
Iowa. 
The story is a “fake." As nearly as we can trace it this 
story started in Tennessee where people said they found 
“large snakes” in cabbage. This was reported in the’ papers 
and each reporter seems to have added to the story as it 
Passed through his brain. It seems impossible to head the 
lie off. Probably some one saw a common green worm in 
a cabbage. Never having seen one before lie told about it 
and got the worm larger and larger until it appeared like 
a “snake.” We have known men to pull a fish three inches 
long out of water and go home and tell their wives it 
weighed 10 pounds or more. It was much the same with 
this “snake.” 
BIG PEARS DANGEROUS.—A peculiar accident happened 
at New London, Mo., Wednesday afternoon of last week. Mrs. 
Gilfoid Harris and hev mother, Mrs. Lemon, were engaged 
in gathering pears at the latter’s home, when a mam¬ 
moth pear in the very pinnacle of the tree fell, striking 
Mrs. Harris, who was up on a ladder, on the head, render¬ 
ing her insensible. She dropped from the tree, falling on 
her mother, who was knocked to the ground receiving 
Painful injuries, and in the fall Mrs. Harris’ right arm 
was broken.—Barney (Ills.) Adage. 
county in the "Terrapin State” and lies from 2,600 to 
3,000 feet above sea level, cradled amid the picturesque 
curves and crags of the Alleghany Mountains. A hundred 
years ago this part of the county, known as the “Youghio- 
ghany Glades,” was the paradise of the hunter and the 
fisherman, many coming from as far away as Baltimore 
and Washington to shoot deer, bear and wild turkey, and 
to catch mountain trout, of which there was a wonderful 
abundance. Later, on the advent of the B. & o. R. R. 
it became a favorite Summer resort, and to-day there are 
hundreds of cottages and hotels nestling in shady nooks 
or standing upon breezy heights all through this part of 
the country which belong to and are occupied by the resi¬ 
dents of various cities during the Summer. For years it 
was supposed that the climate was too cool and the grow¬ 
ing season too short to make farming a profitable employ¬ 
ment; the soil was also considered thin and not very pro¬ 
ductive, but under the intelligent application of more 
modern methods and a small admixture of lime with the 
native clay and sand, varied and excellent crops are 
grown. It is famous for the excellent quality of its buck¬ 
wheat and potatoes, the former yielding 35 bushels per 
acre and the latter 200 or more. A high grade of oats is 
also grown with 35 to 40 bushels to the acre. Timothy and 
clover yield immense crops this year. The orchard's are 
lairly breaking down under loads of apples, plums and 
pears. '1 he finest strawberries produced anywhere are grown 
here. Two families near here grow them for market and 
last year picked nearly 4,000 quarts from 1U acre, for 
which they received $500. The Summer visitors insure good 
prices for all small fruits and all garden and orchard pro¬ 
duce is as high here during the Summer as it is in the 
great cities. The nearby mountains are covered with 
giant chestnut trees which yield great crops of nuts com¬ 
manding from $4 to $6 per bushel when picked. Fine 
mutton and heef are grown here, and before the country 
was thickly settled it was a favorite grazing ground for 
the stockmen of Virginia and Pennsylvania, who drove 
great herds of cattle up here to feed on the luxuriant 
native grasses of these tablelands. M r K 
Maryland. K ’ 
BUSINESS BITS . 
Those of our readers who are admirers of the Guernsey 
breed of dairy animals will do well to attend the sale' of 
the Brookdale Herd at Cochran’s Stock Y r ards, West Chester 
Pa. on Wednesday. November 2; 50 head of very choice ani¬ 
mals will be offered. 
We are often asked where good hard wood ashes can be 
obtained for fertilizer purposes. Any of our readers desir¬ 
ing ashes at this time we would refer to John .Toynt, Luck¬ 
now, Ont., Canada. Mr. .Toynt makes careful selection and 
his ashes are just as represented. 
We believe it pays to investigate everything. If you have 
a building that needs roofing, write to F W Bird & Son 
East Walpole, Mass., and see what they ha\ r e to say about 
Paroid. It won’t cost you anything, and in justice to your¬ 
self you ought to hear every side of the story. 
There is no question that a hydraulic ram is the most 
economical means of water supply for house and barn for 
those who are so fortunately situated that a ram can be 
used. If you have any doubt as to whether your conditions 
are suitable for the use of a ram write to Niagara Hydraulic 
Engine Co., P. O. Box 78, Chester, Pa. You will get an 
unbiased opinion. b 
Many of our readers will no doubt be buying cookers and 
steamers, and many have been advertised in our paper from 
time to time. The Rippley combination cooker, manufac- 
tured by the Rippley Hardware Co., Grafton, Ill., has been 
advertised for several seasons, and is used and recommended 
by many of our leading eastern farmers, breeders and State 
experiment stations, as it can be used for so many purposes 
a .?^°? kin S and steaming feed, heating water in stock 
tanks 300 feet from cooker, boiling spraying mixtures, etc. 
