1904. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
833 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—November 2 nine firemen and a battalion 
chief were overcome by the fumes while putting out a burn¬ 
ing haystack at Brooklyn, N. Y.; two men are likely to 
die, and the remaining eight were very ill. The property 
damage caused by the fire was only $700. . . . Eire in 
a factory at Fourteenth and Washington streets, New York, 
November 2, caused a loss of $75,000. . . . Professor 
William Farr, Washington, D. C., the proprietor of several 
alleged diploma factories, was, November 2, ordered re¬ 
manded to Tennessee by the District Court of Appeals for 
trial on the charge of using the mails to defraud in con¬ 
nection with the Nashville College of Law. Farr said he 
was president of that institution, and is alleged to have 
supplied diplomas to anyone who would pay $10. He was 
also at the head of similar concerns in Washington, in¬ 
cluding Washington Law' College, and endeavored to pre¬ 
vent the Columbian University from changing its name to 
George Washington University, claiming priority of name. 
When arrested on the Tennessee charge he tried to obtain 
his discharge on a writ of habeas corpus and an appeal to 
the Court of Appeals. This w*as denied. . . . William 
E. Sergeant, while hunting in Fairfield. Conn., November 2, 
had occasion to climb over a stone wall. In doing so he 
rested his gun against the wall, then he reached over 
the wall and grasped the gun by the muzzle and pulled 
it toward him. The trigger struck a twig and the 
gun was discharged. Mr. Sergeant's head was almost 
entirely blown off. . . . The hoisting engine at the 
Auchincloss colliery of the Lackawanna Coal Company, 
seven miles below Wilkesbarre, Pa., got beyond control 
November 2, and caused the death of 10 men, who were 
dropped several hundred feet into the shaft, where their 
bodies and the wreckage which fell with them were 
hidden in 300 feet of wmter. ... An old reservoir at 
Winston-Salem, N. C„ collapsed November 2, releasing 180,- 
000 gallons of water, which rushed through the outskirts of 
the tow'n; nine persons were drow'ned. . . . William 
Jackson, a farmer of Bethel Hill, I’a., was engaged in 
picking apples, November 3, when he fell and strangled on 
a tree. lie had a bag tied around his neck and shoulders 
in which to place the apples. He lost his balance when 
near the top of the tree and plunged downward. The bag 
of apples went on one side of a limb and the man on the 
other. The weight of the apples balanced his body, holding 
him suspended in that position and gradually causing 
strangulation. His lifeless body was found in the tree about 
an hour later. . . . The Supreme Court of the United 
States, November 7, affirmed the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the State of Wisconsin in the newspaper boycott 
case arising from the alleged business combination of the 
Sentinel, the News, and the Evening Wisconsin, all pub¬ 
lished at Milwaukee, against the Journal of that city, af¬ 
fecting advertising rates. The opinion was delivered by 
Justice Holmes, and upheld the validity of the Wisconsin 
anti-trust law so far as it applied to this case. . . . The 
election November 8 showed the North and West solid for 
Roosevelt, while the South was Democratic; Roosevelt re¬ 
ceiving 343 electoral votes, Parker 133. In 1900 McKin¬ 
ley received 292 electoral votes, Bryan 155. Roosevelt's 
pluralities in almost every Republican State exceed those 
of Mr. McKinley, not by hundreds, but by thousands. In 
New York State he has a plurality of more than 100,000. 
Mr. McKinley had 143,551. In Connecticut and New Jersey, 
which the Detnocrats called doubtful States, Mr. Roose¬ 
velt's pluralities greatly exceed anything ever given. The 
so-called doubtful States of West Virginia and Indiana and 
Montana give their votes to Roosevelt. The States of 
Maryland and Missouri, which were conceded to Parker by 
both parties, are found in the Republican column. The 
returns from Congress districts indicate further gains. 1 he 
Republicans will have a larger majority in the next Con¬ 
gress than they have in the present one. In New York 
State Mr. Higgins is elected Governor by a large majority, 
although he was cut by thousands and thousands of votes. 
The overwhelming vote for Mr. Roosevelt carried him 
through. 
ADMINISTRATION.—Consumptives will hereafter be de¬ 
barred from employment in Government positions where 
the work requires them to come in contact with the public. 
An order to this effect has been issued by the Civil Service 
Commission. This new rule applies particularly to post- 
offices, and is in line with regulations adopted in nearly all 
municipalities to prevent the spread of the disease. The 
order says that hereafter all applicants for employment with 
the Government must submit to a physical examination, if 
the presence of tuberculosis is suspected, and that if the 
disease is found the sufferer shall not receive an appoint¬ 
ment. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Russia has accepted the 
telegraphic draft of the Anglo-Russian Convention for the 
Commission of Inquiry into the North Sea incident, sub¬ 
mitted to Russia, and the final exchanges will be ratified 
in London. The Commission is to consist of five members, 
namely, officers of Great Britain, Russia, the United States 
and France, these to select a fifth. If they cannot agree 
upon a choice, the selection is to be intrusted to the Sover¬ 
eign of some country to be chosen by Great Britain and 
Russia. The American Navy will be invited to send one of 
its highest officers as a member of the Commission. Ad¬ 
miral Dewey will, of course, be given the refusal of this 
mission, and it is believed that his acceptance will be agree¬ 
able to the President and Mr. Hay. Should he not accept, 
the President and Secretary Morton will select another 
officer of high rank for this duty. 
SOMETHING ABOUT TEXAS LANDS. 
Some time ago The R. N.-Y. published two letters written 
by J. W. S. from Limestone Co., Texas, which interested me 
so much that I decided to go there and see the conditions 
for myself. I desired to learn what the chances were for a 
northern farmer (who wished to change his location) to 
better his condition. My visit was in the latter part of 
October, and I found most of the crops gathered. The cot¬ 
ton crop was nearly all picked, being rapidly ginned and 
baled ready for market. Most of the farmers are holding 
it back since the drop in price, as they are not obliged to 
✓ sell. The first on the market brought 11 cents per pound; 
was then priced 9% to 10 cents. It was thought that the 
crop in Limestone County would yield the growers the 
neat sum of one million dollars as gross returns. Corn was 
worth about 60 cents per bushel, and was all gathered. 
The average yield per acre was claimed to be 40 bushels. 
Sweet potatoes are also raised in large quantities. In fact, 
the soil appears to me to be very productive, and the only 
drawback to a farmer was the possibility of an early 
drought. Cotton and sweet potatoes-appear not to be mate¬ 
rially affected, but late corn and perhaps oats suffer. In 
some sections fruits, vegetables and melons are largely 
grown for the northern markets. Along the line of the M. K. 
& T. R. R., from Greenville to Hillsboro, the surface is 
gently rolling and the soils are of a black, waxy nature, 
very sticky when wet, but capable of growing large crops 
of cotton and the cereals; not good fruit or vegetables, 
especially potatoes. This kind of soil is found in the val¬ 
leys and depressions, generally in large bodies. The uplands 
are of a lighter color, a sort of sandy clay loam, easily 
worked, and fine for the production of vegetables, fruits, etc. 
Most of the farms are quite large, from 300 to 800 acres 
or more, and not half of the land contained in them is 
being cultivated, the remainder being allowed to lie idle, or 
as pasture. Very few of the owners farm, but rent out 
their lands to negroes on shares. A northern farmer would 
not live on the farms with fhe miserable shanties and con¬ 
veniences that suffice for the colored renter. The large 
farms are being cut up into smaller tracts, and sold at quite 
a low figure, considering the nearness to market and the 
railroad facilities and the productiveness of the land. Some 
can be bought on long time by paying a cash payment down. 
To the farmer who knows how to farm and does not own 
land, the Southwest is the coming country that he must look 
to for a home. It will not be long before all these cheap 
lands will be taken and the present opportunity gone. There 
is already an upward tendency in prices of land. No man 
with a little money and good judgment and energy need 
remain without a home if he takes advantage of the chances 
now offered in Texas. w. 
Ohio. 
SHODDY AND WOOL WASTES. 
A general idea of shoddy is that it is some inferior arti¬ 
cle, and a deception, but whenever it is applied to the manu¬ 
facture of cloth it is greatly misrepresented. Its value is 
from two cents up to 50 cents per pound, and in some cases 
certain kinds are absolutely necessary for the manufacture 
of cloth. The largest quantities of shoddies are used in 
medium priced cloth, and are made from the small pieces of 
cloth clipped and saved by tailors in making up suits. If 
anyone would take a piece of this cloth and pick it apart, he 
would find long pieces of fiber which look like hair, which 
■are twisted together. These fibers, of course, if they can be 
brought back to the state they were in when made into 
cloth are of great value, and that is what is done in making 
shoddy. These bits of cloth are run through a shoddy 
picker, which to the average mind could be likened to a 
comb, which combs and pulls the fibers out and puts them 
in a state which resembles the one that tney were originally 
in. This is used in the moderate priced goods, eassimeres, 
overcoatings and all such class of cloths. The lowest 
priced shoddies, of one or two cents per pound, are made 
from the very lowest class of goods, and are run through a 
shoddy picker and used for cheap mattresses and similar 
stock. Some shoddies are also made from the yarns which 
are wasted in the manufacture of different cloths. These 
are run through a shoddy picker or some similar machine, 
which combs the fibers out in their original shape; they are 
then used in the goods similar or of a lower class. These 
shoddies are oftentimes of greater value and better than 
wool in the manufacture of cloth, as some of the wools are 
very short fiber and damaged in different manners, so that 
they have not the strength and fibre that a good shoddy has. 
Wool waste is the material which is dropped from the dif¬ 
ferent machines in the process of the manufacture of cloth. 
This is just as good as the original stock, but has become 
soiled or dirtied, and it has to be washed and cleaned before 
it can be used again. Of course there are some very low 
classes of waste that are used for bedding; this is composed 
mostly of the wood fibers and other dirt that has been 
cleaned from the waste in the different processes. We have 
a manure which is dusted from the wool, which is used a 
great deal for a fertilizer in this vicinity. On the fleeces 
there are dung balls which hang to the wool, which the 
wool sorter throws one side, and . they are sent to us to 
clean, and we run this through a machine which crushes 
the manure from the wool; we then bag it and sell it to 
farmers, and it makes a most excellent top-dressing. 
Massachusetts. w. w. windle & co. 
THE OUTLOOK FOR FEED PRICES. 
We look for pretty fair prices for mill feeds, such as 
bran, middlings and mixed feed, from the fact that the crop 
of wheat was very light last year, and many of the small 
or medium-sized mills will not run, as they have no wheat. 
While there has been a pretty fair crop of corn this year, 
stocks are very low, and we are the corn-raising country. 
Corn is used for so many purposes now that we believe it 
will bring fair prices also, and such products as linseed 
meal cotton-seed meal, etc., will bring fair prices this 
coming Winter. the ansted & BURKE co. 
Springfield, O. 
We do not think that the corn crop will be as large as 
some people seem to think. In our opinion we shall have 
comparatively high prices for feed, as very few flouring mills 
will run full time, owing to there being no export demand 
for flour This country cannot begin to use the amount of 
flour manufactured by homo mills. A large part of it 
should be shipped abroad, and would be under ordinary con¬ 
ditions. Speculators, however, ran the price of wheat 'way 
up beyond all reason, and millers, therefore, cannot grind 
it and ship it abroad except at a great loss. We are not 
informed in regard to linseed meal, cotton-seed meal or 
gluten, but think that the prices will be well maintained on 
account of the comparatively scarcity of mill feed. 
Goshen, Ind. the gosiien milling co. 
Demand for mill feed has been about the same as usual 
this season. The price it seems to us is rather dear, con¬ 
sidering the large crop of corn and oats, but against this 
influence we must remember that the demand for mill feed 
is constantly increasing, which has an important bearing 
on its price, regardless of other feed stuffs of all kinds. 
This is due strictly to its merits, as nothing will replace 
or give the same satisfaction as bran for certain purposes. 
At the present moment bran and mixed feed are worth at 
Boston rate points about $21 to $23 per ton, according to 
quality. Lake and rail rates will be withdrawn about 
November 20, which will increase the cost of carriage 50 
cents per ton, and on December 4 there will be an advance 
in freights of two cents per 100, or 40 cents per ton, 
making the cost of carriage from western to eastern points 
90 cents per ton higher than at present. Therefore, if this 
difference in freight is absorbed entirely by western mills 
the prices in the East should remain stationary. As a 
rule, however, the advance in freight is divided more or less 
equally, and usually results in a higher delivered price. To 
sum tip, in spite of the large corn and oat crop, we see no 
real reason for any material decline in mill feeds during 
the coming season. sparks milling co. 
Alton, Ill. 
So far this season, especially regarding mill stuffs, such 
as bran, middlings, mixed feed, the trade lias been very un¬ 
satisfactory, which we can attribute to the Summer-like 
weather that has prevailed, unseasonable for this time of 
the year. Usually we have quite an urgent demand from 
the East, especially for feeds of this character during July, 
August and September, but this year it has not materialized 
as yet. Regarding cotton-seed meal, we are pleased to state 
the season is about 30 days old, and we have sold large 
quantities of it to the East; also the West; in fact, this 
feed is getting more popular every year, and used more 
extensively amongst the cattle feeders throughout the coun¬ 
try. We find linseed meal has been too high for the average 
domestic consumer, and the bulk of it has been exported 
during the past three months. Regarding prices, we think 
linseed meal a little high, as this article at this time last 
year was selling about $1 per ton under cotton-seed meal, 
while this year it is reversed, and the linseed meal is from 
$2 to $2.50 per ton higher than cotton-seed meal. Mill 
feeds, such as as bran, middlings and mixed feed, are as 
low now as they were right after the new crop, and we 
therefore think them low enough at this time, especially In 
the face of our not having had our usual heavy eastern 
demand up to this time, and it seems almost a certainty 
that with the low stocks now in the East they will be com¬ 
pelled to buy shortly, or as soon as we have a spell of cold 
weather. hunter Bros, milling co. 
St. Louis, Mo, 
CROP NOTES. 
The apple crop here was abundant, buyers paying 40 
cents per 100 pounds for picked Baldwins and Spies, about 
pay for picking and delivering. I’otato crop good ; quality 
first-class, very little rot. a. p. y. 
Millville, Pa. 
We had the first rain November 3 that we have had for 
60 days; it seemed as if the whole earth had turned to 
dust, but since the rain it is already looking green again. 
Wheat and oats are mostly in the ground. r. n. r. 
Sweetwater, Tenn. 
Apples are selling for 20 to 25 cents per 100 pounds; 
hand picked 25 to 30 per bushel; potatoes 40 to 50 cents 
per bushel : onions 60 to 80 cents; cabbage $3 to $4 per 
ton on track; oats 35 to 40 cents per bushel: hay $8 to $10 
per ton; beans $1 per bushel; buckwheat 50 to 65 cents 
per bushel. Corn light crop; potatoes light; onions light: 
apples heavy; beans light; hay heavy; oats heavy ; wheat 
looking fine, acreage large. , g. h. k. 
Fairport, N, Y. 
The fine Fall weather has given the farmers almost per¬ 
fect. conditions for Fall work, which is being well Improved. 
The two early frosts cut the corn quite badly, especially 
some of the silage, as very few had their silos filled; also 
somewhat injured field corn, which is a good crop and 
nearly husked. .Potatoes are keeping well and selling for 
65 cents per bushel, apples at 50 cents, eggs 35 cents per 
dozen and hens nearly all on a strike. As a whole, farmers 
have had good crops and realized fair prices for the season. 
Connecticut. A. h. p. 
L. R. Rogers, Orleans Co., N. Y., raised this year from 17 
acres 4.607 bushels of potatoes: six acres of these were 
Sir Walter Raleigh, which yielded 2.180 bushels: not very 
bad for a poor year. The apple crop is being harvested very 
rapidly at present, and if the open weather continues for a 
few days longer the bulk of the crop will be harvested. 
The dealers have been buying a great many and shipping 
them in bulk, which has helped to get rid of them faster, as 
there are more than the dry houses can use. They have 
been paying 30 cents per 100 for windfalls and 50 to 60 
cents for picked fruit; $1.40 per barrel for Baldwins, barrel 
included. They have offered $1.50 for a few lots. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. w. p. r. 
POULTRY OUTLOOK.—We have never known the re¬ 
ceipts of turkeys to be so light this time of the year. We 
thought probably the shippers were holding them back for 
better prices at the holiday time, but we have heard from 
a good many of our shippers that they are very scarce in 
their section, and it looks as though prices will be higher 
this coming Thanksgiving than ever. The receipts of other 
kinds of poultry seem to be the same as other seasons, 
although ducks are quite scarce with us. 
Buffalo, N. Y. harlow Bros. 
A WELDING COMPOUND.—The following account Is 
given of a powder exhibited at the World's Fair: Thermit 
is a heating and welding compound in the form of a powder. 
After a pinch of a special ignition powder has been placed 
upon it and lighted by a Bengal or storm match, a powerful 
chemical reaction takes place, within the space of half a 
minute, by which the temperature of the whole 
mass, no matter how large the quantity used, is raised 
to 5,400 Fahrenheit, and a pure liquid steel is given off. the 
rest of the compound rising to the surface in the form of 
aluminum slag or corundum, in the proportion of three 
parts to one. The molten steel, amounting, by weight, to 
one-half the thermit powder, will melt at once the surface 
of any metal to which it is applied, although the latter is 
entirely cold, and unite with it into one solid mass. In 
this way all sorts of repairing of machinery and other 
metal work can now be done readily by hand which has 
hitherto required the removal of the broken portion and its 
shipment to the foundry. An incalculable amount of time 
and trouble and money are saved by the device, which per¬ 
mits all repairing to be done on the spot almost instanta¬ 
neously. It has already been extensively applied to such 
purposes as the closing of cracks in metallic plates or sur¬ 
faces of any kind, the welding of trolley rails, of steel or 
wrought Iron pipes, and of broken roll-bosses. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The Warriner chain hanging stanchion is one that gives 
satisfaction wherever used. It allows the animal the great¬ 
est freedom and comfort, and at the same time has all the 
advantages of a rigid stanchion. For full information write 
to W. B. Crum, 73 Main St., Forestville, Conn. 
Coal is abundant this year, but very high in price. The 
greatest leak in household economy, is the loss of heat up the 
chimney. There Is only one known way to evade it and get 
coal at half price. That is to use the Rochester Radiator 
advertised in our columns. They absolutely save one-half 
the coal or your money refunded. 
We are pleased to see that the Middletown Machine Co., 
of Middletown, Ohio., are entering the farmers' field with 
their 3% horse power Woodpecker gasoline engine. After a 
careful test, during which hundreds of Woodpecker engines 
have been sold, the manufacturers have decided that the way 
to sell engines to farmers is to let the farmer try the engine 
on his own farm. We can’t see how any man who has any 
use for a power can afford to let this chance go past with¬ 
out a careful investigation. The offer is fully explained in 
the Woodpecker advertisement in this Issue. 
Stevens Brothers, Lacona, N. Y., have made a change 
in their firm name, and will hereafter be known as The 
Stevens Brothers—Hastings Company. The addition to this 
firm comes in the person of Eugene M. Hastings, whose abili¬ 
ties for many years while in the service of Messrs. Henry 
Stevens & Sons, and Henry Stevens & Son, have made him 
widely and most favorably known in Holstein circles. The 
Stevens Brothers, already possessing one of the great herds 
of the country, in June last acquired II. A. Moyer’s large and 
famous herd, which had become widely known as “Moyer- 
dale", and contained many famous and remarkable animals. 
