1004. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
897 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The hydraulic plant owned by the Oliver 
Mining Company, Norway, Mich., has been destroyed by 
(ire, which followed an explosion. The loss will reach 
$500,000. All the machinery in the mines was operated 
by the plant. . . . At a conference of members of the 
Kansas Legislature at Topeka Nov. 30 it was decided to 
push a bill making pipe lines common carriers. This is a 
movement in opposition to the Standard Oil Company, which 
has a monopoly of the Kansas field. It is proposed to com¬ 
pel the Standard to carry, for a reasonable consideration, 
oil to independent refineries to be located within the State 
of Kansas. The Standard has just completed a pipe line 
to Kansas City, where it has built a big refinery. 
Dec. 1 the grand jury at Brook Haven, Miss., returned true 
bills of indictment against Will 'and Oscar Franklin. Will 
Porter and Henry Lofton, charging them with the murder 
of Henry List, a negro boy, in November, 1903. A true bill 
was also returned, charging Oscar Franklin with the mur¬ 
der of Eli Ililson in December, 1903. The'se are "white- 
cap" cases, and interest centered in their disposition. Others 
are suspected of complicity in these killings, but those 
mentioned are the only name's made public. . . . Reports 
from all over Ohio show that the young wheat is badly 
damaged by the drought. The farmers and dealers say 
the outlook is the most discouraging for years. In luck¬ 
ing County hundreds of wells have gone dry. Dispatches 
from all sections of West Virginia state that the drought 
which had prevailed since August was ended by a light 
rain Dec. 2. The damage to the Winter wheat crop will, 
it is believed, be enormous, the rain having come too late. 
Rain was reported Dec. 2 from one or two places throughout 
Kentucky, breaking the drought which has prevailed since 
July 3.loseph Kirwin. who was indicted by the 
Federal Grand Jury at Detroit, Mich., on a charge of piracy 
on the high seas, for the robbery of Mrs. M. B. Sweeting, 
of Jackson, Mich., on the steamer Western States, Septem¬ 
ber 10, pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Swan to 
life imprisonment. Dec. 3. Kirwin entered Mrs. Sweeting's 
stateroom, choked her and placed a handkerchief soaked with 
chloroform over her face. He robbed her of $40 in cash 
and three diamond rings. Kirwin two years ago was ac¬ 
quitted of the charge of murdering Maggie Snedeger. in 
Cleveland. . . . Joseph I.eiter, who has been the central 
figure for several months in a bitter warfare with the United 
Mine Workers of America at Zeigler, III., and his attorney, 
Henry It. Platt, of Chicago, have been indicted by the Perry 
County grand jury, sitting at Pinkneyville, on three counts 
charging them with having taken men under armed guard 
through that county without a permit from the Governor. The 
penalty is from one to five years' imprisonment in the peni¬ 
tentiary, without the alternative of paying a fine. . . . 
Fire started in an automobile garage in New York December 
5, destroying or injuring 41 automobiles,’ and injuring 10 
persons. The fire, which was increased by a series of ex¬ 
plosions, was caused by leaking gasoline: damage was esti¬ 
mated at $250,000. . ' . . George W. Thatcher, the Day- 
ton, O., attorney who was indicted for the alleged forgery 
of the name of the late P. P. Mast, millionaire manufacturer 
of agricultural implements, to notes aggregating $300,000, 
but who escaped conviction, was locked up in jail Dec. 5 on a 
charge of using the mails to defraud people all over the 
United States. In magnitude the case is similar to the 
Chadwick matter. Thatcher was arrested by Postal In¬ 
spectors Games and Holmes. They have letters from people 
who assert Thatcher duped them into parting with sums 
of money ranging in amount from five to hundreds of dol¬ 
lars. Most of the complainants are poor people, men and 
women, who say Thatcher promised them large sums of 
money from vast estates in England, to which country be 
lias made several trips for various heir associations. He 
interested Mast in the Mercer estate, and hundreds of others 
as well. He promised the heirs to recover Union Square 
and contiguous property in New York. The value placed 
on this property was $20,000,000. The Mercer estate, pro¬ 
nounced mythical, is one of several represented in allur¬ 
ing colors by Thatcher. Three thousand “heirs" of this one 
estate gave Thatcher from $5 to $1,000 each, it is charged. 
The judgment of the lower courts dismissing the 
complaint in the case of the People, appellant, vs. Bootman & 
Robinson, of New York, was affirmed at Albany Dec. 6 by 
the Court of Appeals. The State, through the Forest, Fish 
and Game Commission, brought suit against Jacob V. Boot- 
man and Howard It. Robinson to recover $1,168,315 in fines 
for violation of the game laws in having game birds in their 
possession out of season. The defendants kept a large cold 
storage warehouse in New York City, and between May 23 
and June 1, 1901, a large number of game birds in their pos¬ 
session were seized. In their defence Bootman & Robinson 
asserted that the game birds came to them from places out¬ 
side the State, Indiana and Nebraska in particular, and that 
as commission merchants they had a right to keep the game 
in cold storage until the proper time for marketing it. 
ADMINISTRATION.—Representative Boutelle has pre¬ 
pared a bill to make the oleomargarine tax four cents 
per pound, regardless of whether the product is colored. 
. . . The annual report of the General Superintendent 
of the life-saving service showed that 1,061 vessels were 
assisted, involving the lives of 3,300 persons and a money 
value of nearly $7,000,000, only thirty-four lives having 
been lost. . .' . The Postoffice Department has begun 
an investigation of charges of improper political activity 
against rural mail carriers made by Congressmen. . . . 
Congress convened Dec. 6, and listened to the reading of the 
President’s message. The message is a departure from the 
usual form of the President’s annual communication to 
Congress, in that it is not a complete review of the affairs 
of the Government for the year. After a few words urg¬ 
ing economy in expenditures, the President entered into a 
long discussion of the relations between capital and labor, 
declaring that industrialism is the dominant note of mod¬ 
ern life, and that the problem involved is second only to the 
intimate relations of family life. lie recognizes the right 
of both capital and labor to organize, and declares the law 
must be enforced against: all forms of violence. Discussing 
the control of corporations, he says it is difficult to have 
patience with the argument that they should be left to the 
regulation of the State authority. Only Federal power is 
considered adequate. The President favors legislation Jo 
prevent rebates in freights and to give the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission power to make rates. A considerable part 
of the message is devoted to the country's foreign policy, 
lie says the nation's aim should be for peace with righteous¬ 
ness, but righteousness is more important than peace. The 
navy is declared to be the glory of the Government, and 
there should be no halt in the work of its upbuilding. The 
position of the country in the Philippines is declared to la' 
primarily for the good of the Filipinos, and the hope is 
expressed that the islands will ultimately come into the 
same relations that now exist between this country and 
Cuba. The President strongly urges improvements for Wash¬ 
ington, with a view to making it the model city of America. 
He suggests an investigation of housing conditions and a 
compulsory education law. He remarks on the difficulty 
that exists in securing in other nations the observance of 
principles which here we regard as axiomatic, and announces 
that it is necessary for us to insist firmly on the rights of 
our citizens without regard to their creed or race. lie 
then says: "It has proved very difficult to secure from 
Russia the right for our Jewish fellow citizens to receive 
passports and travel through Russian territory. Such con¬ 
duct is not only unjust and irritating toward us, but it is 
difficult to see its wisdom from a Russian standpoint.” 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—Rear Admiral Charles II. 
Davis will be the American representative on the North 
Sea Court of Inquiry. Rear Admiral Davis is a native of 
Cambridge, Mass., and is in his sixtieth year. He was 
graduated from the Naval Academy at" Annapolis in 1864 and 
rose rank by rank until he became a rear admiral this 
year. He has served on various stations and duties, espe¬ 
cially in connection with expeditions for the determina¬ 
tion of difference of longitude by the use of submarine 
telegraph cables. He was superintendent of the Naval Ob¬ 
servatory in 1897-'98, and again after the war with Spain 
until 1903. In the Spanish-American War he commanded 
the Dixie. Ilis most recent command was of the Alabama. 
He is the author of several works on the scientific matters 
in which he is Interested and of a life of his father, who 
was also Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis, whose work 
was notable in connection with the Nautical Almanac. The 
list of admirals chosen to serve on the international com¬ 
mission is as follows: Great Britain—Admiral Sir Lewis 
A. Beaumont: Russia—Admiral Kaznakoff : France—Admiral 
Fournier: United States—Rear Admiral Charles II. Davis; 
Austria-—Admiral von Spaun (in case the other admirals 
are unable to agree on a fifth member). 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The thirty-ninth annual con¬ 
vention of the Iowa State Horticultural Society was held 
at Des Moines December 13-16. 
The annual meeting of the Ohio State Horticultural So¬ 
ciety will be held at Chillicothe, O., December 20-22; sec¬ 
retary, E. M. Woodard, Kirtland, O. 
The thirty-eighth annual meeting of the Kansas State 
Horticultural Society will be held at Topeka Dec. 27-29; 
secretary, Win. II. Barnes, State House, Topeka, Kan. 
The Pennsylvania I.ive Stock Breeders’ Association will 
hold its annual meeting at Harrisburg January 25 and 
26, beginning the evening of the 25th. The Pennsylvania 
State Board of Agriculture meets the 24th and 25th. The 
secretary of the Breeders' Association is E. S. Bayard, East 
End, Pittsburg, Pa. 
EXPERIENCE WITH FARM LABOR—At first I em¬ 
ployed single men—soon quit that, and built nice little 
comfortable houses with a good-sized lot for garden, fruit 
trees, etc., and employed married men only, who live in 
them, making a perfect little home for their families. 
The houses are kept in good condition, well painted, fences 
whitewashed, etc. I give the women folks one-third of 
the poultry, eggs, etc., they raise. I furnish everything— 
each family has two to four quarts of good Jersey milk daily, 
a good fat hog each Winter, with an occasional beef di¬ 
vided up; more or less wood, and all the potatoes they 
want. In addition to the above I pay them $300 to $350 per 
year. I require first-class farm men in every particular, and 
if satisfactory to me they remain generally three to 10 
years, and 1 have never had a man who would not gladly 
take his job again if wanted. Some of my men who saved 
their money, now own and live on their own farms. One 
in particular I remember, who worked for me seven years. 
His wife( no children) did laundry work. They saved $260 
to $270 per year; now have a nice farm all stocked and 
paid for. Some of my men have had steady work in Chicago 
at $2 per day, and they prefer my employment: say they 
can save money here, not in the city. These conditions prove 
perfectly satisfactory, and I have no difficulty in getting 
or keeping the best of farm labor. Illinois farmer. 
SELLING TENNESSEE PRODUCTS.—The farm products 
of east Tennessee consist of all kinds of stock, wheat, oats 
and corn ; no cotton in upper east Tennessee. Wheat is never 
shipped except to Bristol, 30 miles, and Knoxville, 100 miles. 
Freight charges are from $14 to $20 per car. Cattle, sheep 
and hogs are shipped in carload lots to Warrenton, Va., 
Richmond, Washington and Baltimore, Chambersburg and 
Lancaster, Pa. Freight rates range from $60 to $75 per car 
to the different points mentioned. Poultry and eggs are 
shipped in large quantities to New York, Washington, Rich¬ 
mond and Atlanta. Express and commission on eggs to any 
of these points t is about throe cents per dozen. Chickens 
from 2% to three cents per pound. There are special cars 
run to pick up chickens and eggs at way stations and run 
to New York in carload lots, but I know nothing of the 
charges. No corn or oats are shipped; not enough raised 
to supply home demand. J. M. M. 
Telford, Tenn. 
FARMERS’ INSTITUTES, JANUARY, 190 5 . 
2-3.Ira .Cayuga. 
2-3.Pulaski .Oswego. 
4-5.Parish .Oswego. 
4-5.Voorheesville .Albany. 
6-7.Wolcott .Wayne. 
6-7.Belleville .lefferson. 
6 .Esperance .Schoharie. 
7 .Gallupville .Schoharie. 
9-10.Williamson .Wayne. 
9-10.Adams Centre ....Jefferson. 
9 .Franklinton .Schoharie. 
10 .Preston Hollow .Albany. 
10-11.Geneva, State Fruit Growers' Association 
10-12.Webster .Monroe. 
11-12 . 
11. 
.Oak Dili . 
. ... Greene. 
12 . 
13-14 . 
.Macedon Centre .. 
13-14. 
13-14. 
.Windham . 
16-17. 
16-17. 
.Hammond . 
16-17. . 
IS. 
18-19. 
. Morristown . 
....St. Lawrence. 
18-1 9 
19 . 
19-20. . . 
. Madrid 
20 . 
20-21 . 
. Gouverneur . 
....St. Lawrence. 
20-21 . 
21 . 
. l’endlcfon . 
. ... Niagara. 
23-24 . 
. Bowmansville .... 
.. .. Erie. 
23-24 . 
24 
25 
25 
2 l - 
27- 
30 
30 
.Andes .Delaware. 
.Downsville .Delaware. 
..Rochester, Western N. Y. Horticultural Society 
.Massena .St. Lawrence. 
.Liberty .Sullivan. 
.Hanover Centre .Chautauqua. 
.Lawrenceville .St. Lawrence. 
.Monticello .Sullivan. 
.Frewsburg .< 'hautauqua. 
.Sherman .Chautauqua. 
■31.North Bangor .Franklin. 
30 .Otisville .Orange. 
31 .Bullville .Orange. 
23. 
25. 
20 . 
20 . 
26. 
26. 
28. 
• 28. 
28. 
-31 . 
SOUTHERN OHIO NOTE.—I have 425 lambs in the barn 
and lots, sorted two days ago into three lots; 130 weighing 
65 pounds average. 198 averaging 51 pounds, 98 averaging 
41 pounds. It will probably be May 1 before all of them 
are gone from the farm. 1 liave a fine lot of Alfalfa hay. as 
good corn in quality as I ever had. and fodder of the finest 
quality. These three products will be expected to put the 
lambs in market condition, excepting possibly a quantity 
of rye pasture in the Spring. Since sowing the rye it has 
been so dry that it. is all it can do to live. Without the 
tubular well put down last Summer I could not feed lambs 
at all this Winter. JOHN M. JAMISON. 
Crops have been good, excepting potatoes, which rotted 
badly. Prices range for pork from $7 to $7.50 per 100 
pounds. Fresh eggs bring 35 to 40 cents per dozen. With 
some dissatisfaction with the price of cream paid patrons. I 
think as a rule farmers are satisfied with life, with their 
barns full of hay and silos bursting, sleek-looking stock. I 
don't see where the cause for complaint can come from. 
For an outsider to come in here, I think there is every 
encouragement to make a good living. Of course these New 
England farms are rough, and stony, but they are not so 
all over the State, and neighbors are near, churches, schools, 
stores, and two fairly good markets for farm produce; 
New Hartford five miles off and Winsted seven miles. Of 
course working the land here would not be like working 
prairie soil, or some of the land in other States, but it af¬ 
fords one a very good living, and is much better than work¬ 
ing in the over-crowded cities. There are a number of good 
farms for sale here, from $10 to $15 an acre. On the hills 
which surround our valley there are some excellent grazing 
farms that could be bought cheap. r. l. n. h. 
Barkliamsted, Co nn. 
PRODUCTS, PRICES AND TRADE.—Commencing Decem¬ 
ber 12 the freight rate on grain from Chicago east was ad¬ 
vanced one cent per 100 pounds. . . At the London 
sheepskin sales, December 2, about 100,000 hides were sold, 
most of them bringing a trifle over previous sales. 
Italy is becoming an increasingly good customer of this 
country, our exports for the last reported year being $35,- 
032,680. Some of the items were: Cotton goods, $19,821.- 
681; mineral oils, $1,710,248; tobacco, $3,767,394, and bi¬ 
cycles, $48,221. . . . Owing to the increased prices of 
wool, all sorts of substitutes are in heavy demand. There 
is a great boom in woolen rags used in making shoddy, and 
dealers in noils, combings, etc., are doing more than ever 
before. . . . Turpentine is steadily rising. Business 
here has been heavy at above 50 cents per gallon, and 
southern markets are very firm. . . . The visible supply 
of coffee is considerably decreased. The Brazil crop is light', 
and one concern seems to have bought about all available of 
the lower grades. . . . The steel trade is very active, 
railroads and manufacturers having placed large contracts. 
Further advances are expected in sheet and tin plate bars 
and billets. . . . During the week wheat advanced two 
cents, on account of reports of serious rust damage in South 
America. Flour made another slight advance, but there is 
no active buying. ... On account of the light catch 
of codfish on the eastern coast, a number of carloads have 
been shipped to New England from the Pacific coast. The 
Bering Sea cod are said to be of fine quality. . . 40.- 
000 bushels of Oregon wheat, shipped to Antwerp, Belgium, 
some time ago, have been bought by millers in this country, 
and will be brought back for flouring purposes. 
SEND TO-DAY 
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Last year field trials were made for me, 
by i,ooo farmers, on fertilizing crops with 
Nitrate of Soda 
(The Standard Fertilizer) 
These trials show that the yield 
can be increased enormously 
by using Nitrate of Soda as a 
top dressing. 
I want i,ooo farmers to make 
trials for me this year on a por¬ 
tion of their wheat fields. I 
will supply the Nitrate of Soda 
Absolutely Free, 
if the farmer will pay transpor¬ 
tation charges. The increase in 
grain and straw will return this 
outlay many times over. 
If you cannot make the expe¬ 
riment, &* least send for my bul¬ 
letin, “Food for Plants,” con¬ 
taining most valuahle informa¬ 
tion on the use and value of 
fertilizers. Send name and ad¬ 
dress on POST CARD. 
WILLIAM S. MYERS,Room 148 
12-16 John Street, New York. 
