i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
75i 
some of them sufficient to take the feet 
from under a person, through which these 
eggs passed, we cannot but wonder at the 
large percentage which turned out good.” 
Last call for that dry road dust to make 
adust bath for the hens. 
A Wyandotte enthusiast makes the 
following statement: “It is told of an 
eminent divine that he once said he be¬ 
lieved God could make a better berry than 
the strawberry, but he never did. The 
same sentiment applies with equal truth 
to the Silver Wyandotte ” The Wyan¬ 
dotte is a good bird when you get a 
well bred “strain.” There are, however, 
Wyaudottes and Wyandottes. This is true 
of all comparatively new breeds. 
Dorkings for Crossing. 
U. O. M., Greenwich, Conn .—What is 
the address of parties who have the Silver 
Gray Dorkings for sale ? Are they a 
yellow skinned variety ? I want to use the 
roosters on my hens next year to introduce 
new blood. For the last 10 years I have 
used purebred Light and Dark Brahmas, 
Plymouth Rocks, Cochins, Wyandottes 
and Leghorns. The Wyandottes and Ply¬ 
mouth Rocks seem to fill the bill the best 
for me. 
ANS.—Henry Hales, Ridgewood, New 
Jersey, has excellent Silver Gray Dorkiugs 
for sale. The Dorkings have white skins. 
This adds to their disadvantage in the gen¬ 
eral market, where a bright yellow skin is 
popular ; but for delicacy of flesh and high 
proportion of breast meat the Dorking can 
not be excelled. There is no bre c d better 
A Fattening Coop. Fig. 341. 
suited to a special market. The Dorkings 
are a long established breed, and when 
crossed on other breeds bring chicks very 
strongly marked with the Dorking char¬ 
acteristics. With us they are not extra 
good layers._ 
JOHN WYCKOFF'S FATTENING 
COOP. 
While visiting Mr. Wyckoff’s farm near 
South Lansing, New York, I was so favor¬ 
ably impressed with his coop for fattening 
chickens that I send a description of it to 
The Rural New-Yorker: There are four 
legs two by three inches, and three feet six 
inches high; the sides are six or eight feet 
long, nailed on to the legs and extending 
from the tops downward to within 18 inches 
of the bottom. The ends are two feet long, 
put on in the same manner, except that 
they extend above the top of the legs far 
enough for a roof—see Figure 341. The 
small door is eight by ten inches and the 
hole through which the roost pole runs is 
two by three inches. The feed-boxisfiveby 
eight inches with a hinged cover. In the 
sliding end of the coop are cut notches 
which run on strips nailed to the sides— 
shown in the picture. Food, drink and 
oyster shells are kept constantly in the feed- 
box. So far as I could see the only means 
of getting the chicks in and out was through 
the small door, and Mr Wyckoff being a 
large man, I asked him how he could get 
through so small a hole. To show me how 
he avoided the necessity of doing so, he 
took hold of the end of the roost pole which, 
after running the whole length of the coop, 
projected about two inches beyond it, 
and pulled it out, and I found that the op¬ 
posite end was fastened to it with a pin, a 
strip an inch square being nailed on each 
side about three inches from the top, and a 
corresponding notch cut in each side of the 
sliding end, thus forming a way upon which 
it ran. When the other end was pulled 
forward the chickens were forced within 
easy reach of the little door. The bottom 
was of slats and when the end was drawn 
in, the coop could be easily cleaned. On the 
whole, the coop seemed a very complete de¬ 
vice, as whatever chickens they wanted 
could be caught without frightening those 
left in the coop. A. C. hedden. 
Tompkins County, N. Y. 
FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF RAIL¬ 
ROADS. 
Not the least of the advantages of federal 
ownership of the railroads would be the 
greater care that would certainly be taken 
of human life. In what other country is 
there such reckless waste of the lives of 
railroad employees and passengers as in 
this Land of the Free ? Recent statistics 
show that the number of fatal accidents to 
railroad passengers in this country is four 
times greater than in England, and the dis¬ 
proportion is still more startling on the 
government railroads of the Continent. 
Indeed, so greatly has irresponsible power 
brutalized many of our railway managers 
that they apparently care little for the 
limbs and lives of the passengers committed 
to their care except in so far as the awards 
of damages may affect the coffers of their 
companies. So calamitous has been the 
disregard of the lives of the employees 
of the various roads that the President 
of the United States ha3 thought it 
his duty to urge upon Congress the 
passage of a law to compel the roads 
engaged in Inter-State commerce to use 
automatic couplings to economize the 
lives of their brakemen. Appliances for 
the protection of the lives of the em¬ 
ployees are comparatively cheap, but 
human lives are cheaper, for nearly all the 
roads stipulate that they shall not be held 
responsible for accidents to their hands. 
So great has been the pressure of the va¬ 
rious railroad potentates and of their 
Washington lobbies upon Congress, that the 
humane law urged by the President nearly 
two years ago, has not yet been passed. 
In no other country in the world would 
such reckless disregard of human lives at 
grade crossings be tolerated. The number 
of easily avoidable disastrous and fatal ac¬ 
cidents at such places every year in this 
country aggregate thousands; but in spite 
of constant public clamor and frequent 
State legislation, the number of precau¬ 
tions taken to avoid them by our despotic 
railroad kings has been shamefully few. 
As this country is much more sparsely 
settled than Europe, there is no excuse for 
the vast preponderance of such accidents 
here. Officials employed by the people and 
responsible to them, knowing that their 
conduct would be subject to rigid criticism, 
would be far more careful of the lives and 
welfare of the public. 
Under government large sums now spent 
in advertising and corruption would be 
saved. Bribery by free passes, which are 
really paid for by the public, would be an 
abuse of the past. The number of high of¬ 
ficials, as well as the extravagant salaries 
paid them, would be cut down, though the 
saving made in this way would doubtless 
be offset by higher wages for those in the 
lower ranks of the service. The costly army 
of lawyers now employed by the roads, often 
more for political than for legal services, 
would not be necessary for government 
railroads. Stock watering, by which the 
public are forced to pay heavy interest on 
fictitious capital, would no longer be 
possible. Subsidiary or parasitic corpora¬ 
tions for construction, equipment and 
supplies, by which the managers now 
surreptitiously filch millions, to the 
loss of the security-holders, would 
be abolished. Extravagant interest even 
on watered capitalization would no longer 
extort exorbitant profits from the pockets 
of the people. While the railway magnates 
are constantly endeavoring to wring from 
the public from five to ten per cent, on 
their capital, in addition to the vast sums 
misappropriated and squandered, the gov¬ 
ernment could get all the money it might 
need for three per cent, or even less. The 
interruptions to the travel and traffic of 
the country due to the constantly recurring 
quarrels between the corporations and their 
employees, would no longer disturb and 
embarrass the commerce, comfort and wel¬ 
fare of the nation. The employees would 
be assured of regular and profitable em¬ 
ployment, while public opinion, kept 
thoroughly informed by the absolute pub¬ 
licity of all railroad management, and 
acting directly on Congress, would insure 
their just and humane treatment and the 
redress of their reasonable grievances. If, 
in spite of these conditions, any turbulence 
should arise, the power of the Nation would 
guarantee the public against any forcible 
interference with the railroads. Indeed, 
there would be little danger of any need for 
the use of the National forces. Amid the 
hottest turmoil during the strikes on the 
New York Central, Quincy and Missouri 
Southern railroad systems, no attempt 
was made by the exasperated strikers to 
interfere with the United States mails. 
But, granting that the assumption of 
the ownership of the railroads by the 
General Government, would be of great ad¬ 
vantage to the people at large, what would 
be the justest and safest way of making 
the transfer ? The problem is not an easy 
one. Its solution in detail will require the 
best legal ability and highest statesman¬ 
ship. A large proportion of the railroad 
stock and bonds of the country is owned 
abroad; a large proportion is also con¬ 
trolled by the directors and managers of 
the various roads ; but probably a majority 
is the property of our citizens at large. Care¬ 
ful justice, therefore, both to the general 
public and the security-holders should dis¬ 
tinguish all dealings of the government 
in acquiring the ownership of the roads. 
Indeed, if the scales are to incline one way 
or the other, it should be in favor of the 
present owners. The government can bet¬ 
ter afford to be a good deal generous than 
a trifle unjust. Existing lines should be 
purchased at a fair price, to be settled by 
arbitration. Many of the roads are already 
more or less heavily indebted to the gov¬ 
ernment, and, of course, this indebtedness 
should be held as part payment. The 
Union Pacific alone owes the United 
States $51,000,000, the unpaid balance of 
money loaned, besides the grant of vast 
areas of land, for which no payment was 
ever expected. Germany has paid for 
some of her roads as high as 25 times the 
average annual dividends paid to the secur¬ 
ity-holders during the last preceding five 
years. In France the government has the 
right to purchase the railroads at any time 
at a capitalization of an average of 15 
years’ income. Where an honest price is 
refused, the government could bring recal¬ 
citrant roads to terms by building parallel 
lines. The construction of all future rail¬ 
roads should, of course, be exclusively by 
the government. 
The question is often asked: What 
would be the result if a million more men 
were scrambling for office in addition to 
the tens of thousands already in the gov¬ 
ernment service? Would not any un¬ 
scrupulous Administration have an unfair 
advantage in its efforts to retain power, by 
the aid of such vast patronage ? There is 
far more danger to our institutions from 
the conscienceless abuse of their vast po¬ 
litical power by irresponsible private cor¬ 
porations than from any use of its patron¬ 
age any Administration, however reckless, 
would dare to make. The railroads have 
no responsibility—not even to conscience or 
the laws—; the government, the creature 
of the people, is absolutely responsible to 
them. Is it likely that where the people 
are the rulers, governmentownership of the 
railroads would be more injurious to their 
interests than where the people are the 
servants of hereditary rulers ? Out upon 
such a notion ! Moreover, under the new 
order of things, the railroads should be en¬ 
tirely divorced from politics. The spoils sys¬ 
tem is not a natural growth of our institu¬ 
tions, but an excrescence on the body politic. 
An industrial civil service would be of vital 
importance not only on account of the rights 
it would guarantee to employees, but also 
on account of the protection it would afford 
them from intimidation or control by the 
government for political purposes. All 
admissions to the service should be made, 
either by lot or in the order of their appli¬ 
cation, from candidates thoroughly fit for 
the duties they have to discharge. Pro¬ 
motions should be a matter of right based 
on certain meritorious conditions, and not 
a matter of favor, and no employee should 
be dismissed except for cause, after a hear¬ 
ing by an impartial tribunal established 
for the purpose. With a system elaborated 
on these lines, all danger to our institu¬ 
tions from federal ownership of the roads 
would be removed. When once the people 
of this country shall decide to take from 
private corporations the power of arbi¬ 
trarily taxing the commerce and industries 
of the country, and relieve the public 
from grievous extortion, they will certainly 
prove equal to the emergency, and accom¬ 
plish their wishes with justice to all and 
without danger to their cherished institu¬ 
tions. 
|Ui.$rcUaucou.$i ^Uvmi.sing. 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural New Yorker. 
PICKET MILLS, 
Drag and Wood Saws, 
HORSE POWERS, 
MARSH STEAM PUMP, 
B. C. JUCIHNKRK CO., 24 Levi St., Battle Creek, Mich. 
Cards 
CDrr Send your name anti address a postal card 
mt L«:<>r all the Latest Styles .4 Silk Fringe, PLo* 
toi'raph. Envelope, Beveled Edge, Crazy Edge Cards 4c., 
SampUaoX all free. HOME and YOUTH, Cadiz, Ohio. 
A LEVEL HEAD. 
The Advantage of Presence of Mind 
in an Emergency. 
During the late strike on the New York 
Central Railroad, the militia were ordered 
to be in readiness in case of a riot, but they 
were not called out. 
In an interview, Gov. Hill said the troops 
were not to be called upon except in case of 
an emergency. The emergency had not 
arisen, therefore they would not be ordered 
out. He remarked that this was the first 
great strike with which he had had exper¬ 
ience, and he did not propose to lose his 
head ; the only point at which there bad 
been serious trouble was at Syracuse, and 
there a deputy-sheriff had lost his head 
and precipitated an encounter. 
The strike continued several weeks and 
there was riotous action at various points 
along the road, but the civil authorities 
were able to cope with it without calling 
on the millitia. 
The test of a man’s real ability comes 
when an emergency arises which makes a 
hasty call on his good judgment and dis¬ 
cretion. The man who retains his presence 
of mind, maintains his equipoise and ex¬ 
ercises sound discretion at such critical 
junctures, is to be relied on and will be put 
to the front. 
Men with level heads have the staying 
qualities which do not falter in the face of 
danger. Otis A. Cole, of Kinsman, O., 
June 10, 1890, writes: “ In the fall of 1888 
I was feeling very ill. I consulted a doctor 
and he said I had Bright’s disease of the 
kidneys and that he would not stand in my 
shoes for the State of Ohio.” But he did • 
not lose courage or give up ; he says : “I 
saw the testimonial of Mr. John Coleman, 
100 Gregory St., New Haven, Conn., and I 
wrote to him. In due time I received an 
answer, stating that the testimonial that 
he gave was genuine and not overdrawn in 
any particular. I took a good many bottles 
of Warner’s Safe Cure: have not taken 
any for one year.” 
Gov. Hill is accounted a very successful 
man; he is cool and calculating and be¬ 
longs to the class that do not lose their 
heads when emergencies arise. 
• « 
• • 
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I TO OLD SUBSCRIBERS. 
Your subscription will be extended 
a year from the time it expires if 
you send us 15 ten-weeks trial sub¬ 
scriptions for THE RURAL NEW- 
YORKER (or three months for THE 
AMERICAN GARDEN) at 25 cents 
each. Send these before December 1 
and you may win part of the 
♦ « 
• 4 
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to be given away to the ten who 
send in the largest clubs of these 
trial subscriptions. See “Publisher's 
Desk,” page 748, for particulars. 
You also get any article from our 
Premium List, or a cash commission 
in lieu of the extended subscription, 
as preferred. See page 748. 
• • 
V 
♦ « 
SCRIBNER’S 
AND 
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Ask Your 
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