1505. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
54i 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The wreck of the Twentieth Century Lim¬ 
ited on the Lake Shore cost $771,000. This is the estimate 
following the disbursement by two life insurance companies 
of $206,000 to heirs of tlie dead. Of this sum $100,000 was 
paid on life policies and $166,000 on accident policies. 
There remains yet to be paid by life insurance companies 
for deaths in this wreck $150,000. The railway company 
affected by the wreck will pay $95,000 for nineteen deaths 
without litigation. Injury claims are estimated to represent 
at the present time without litigation $200,000. The loss 
of the engine stands for $25,000 and of the library car $10,- 
000. To these figures is to be added for incidental losses 
not enumerated, such as delay of trains, track repairs, in¬ 
vestigation expenses, etc., $25,000. The total of this is 
$655,000, which, added to what the insurance companies 
have disbursed, makes $771,000. . . . Another failure in 
the Postofflce fraud prosecution was recorded June 2.S when 
United States District Attorney Beach abandoned the case 
against James G. Metcalf, Ilarry llailenbeck and Norman It. 
Metcalf, charged with conspiracy to defraud the United 
States in connection with a contract to furnish money order 
blanks, and against llailenbeck alone on the charge of pre¬ 
senting a false claim against the Government. . . . Pres¬ 
ident Hadley, of Vale, announced at the alumni dinner in 
New Haven June 2S that a gift of $1,000,000 had been made 
recently by John D. Rockefeller. President Hadley also 
said that $2,000,000 in all have been given to the university 
within a comparatively recent time, the other million being 
subscribed by graduates in sums varying from $50,000 to 
$250,000. . . . _ A painter working in a flat building in 
East New York, N. Y., June 29, lit a cigarette and threw 
the match away without noticing where it went. It landed 
in a pail of benzine. The explosion threw one man through 
a window and into the street. Burning oil flew over the 
clothes of four others and they rushed into the street with 
their clothes ablaze. Before people could get to them and 
tear the burning clothes off several were frightfully burned. 
The first floor and the walls of the building were ripped to 
pieces by the explosion and the building took fire. The 
blaze was put out quickly. A number of children who had 
been playing in the street were struck by hits of broken 
glass and several were painfully hurt. They were treated 
on the spot by doctors from the hospitals. ' The explosion 
broke windows for blocks around and caused a panic in the 
neighborhood. Three of the men were fatally burned. . . . 
The big firm of Sears, Roebuck & Co., of Chicago, is laying 
out 20 acres in the West Side district of that city as an 
industrial village for its business and employees. The 
buildings will give 40 acres of floor space, and the main 
building will be the largest single building in the world 
devoted to the handling of merchandise, being one-fourth of 
a mile long and one block wide. The railroad tracks will 
run directly into this building, with trackage sufficient, to 
load 32 cars at a time. In this building every express com¬ 
pany will be represented; every railroad, the two big tele¬ 
graph companies and the Government Postoffice Department 
will also be represented. In addition to the business build¬ 
ings there will be homes for employees, and a park with a 
large artificial lake. It is is estimated that 7,000 people 
will bo employed in these buildings, and the buildings, equip 
ment, etc., will be an investment of close to $4,000,000. 
. . . Thirty-eight indictments against 21 persons were 
returned at Milwaukee, Wis., June 30, by the Grand Jury, 
which has been investigating county and municipal graft for 
10 days. The preliminary report involves many supervisors, 
who are accused of taking money from prospective bidders 
for work on county buildings and other similar boodling. 
How the county poorhouse came to be floored with marble 
dr.d to have tiled bathrooms was a matter of interest to the 
jury, and its investigation led to the indictments. . . . 
John Hay, Secretary of State, died at Lake Sunapee, N. II., 
July 1, quite suddenly, though he had been in ill health for 
some time. He was born at Salem, Ind„ October 8, 1838, 
and was graduated at Brown 20 years later, being a class¬ 
mate of fhe late Elbert S. Carman, for many years editor 
of Thk It. N.-Y. He studied law in Springfield, Ill., and in 
1861 became assistant secretary to President Lincoln. He 
saw some of the Civil War as aide-de-camp under Generals 
Hunter and Gilmore, with rank of major and assistant adju¬ 
tant general, brevet lieutenant colonel and colonel. He 
was First Assistant Secretary of Legation in Paris and in 
charge several times from 1865 to 1807, was diplomat in 
charge at Vienna 1807-68, Secretary of Legation at Madrid 
1808-70, editorial writer for five years of the New York 
Tribune, First Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador 
to England. lie was the author of “Pike County Ballads" 
“Castilian Days,” and part author of a life of Lincoln, 
written in conjunction with John G. Nicolay. Mr Hay’s 
forbears were Scotch and English. His great grandfather 
came from England to Virginia, and down to the time of the 
slavery agitation the Hays lived the lives of Virginian gen¬ 
tlemen. Charles Hay, Mr. Hay’s father, moved out of Vir¬ 
ginia because of his hatred of slavery and settled in Salem 
lnd., where he was generally beloved as a physician. The 
death of Mr. Hay called out sincere eulogiums of his char¬ 
acter in both Europe and America: a memorial service was 
held for him in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, July 5 
Seventeen men, whose control of the meat-packing industry 
of the country and exactions on meat producers and con¬ 
sumers alike have for years caused protest throughout the 
nation, and the corporations of which they are the chief 
officers, are under indictment at Chicago for'violation of the 
Sherman anti-trust law. After an investigation extending 
over several months, and costing in the neighborhood of 
$300,000. the Federal Grand Jury brought in its report be¬ 
fore Judge Bethea July I, and promise was given that 
as soon after Independence Day as possible the heads of 
the great packing companies, their assistants and attorneys 
would appear to plead to the indictments. In addition to 
the bills under the anti-trust law four officials of Schwarzs- 
chihl & Sulzberger were indicted on the charge of getting 
rebates from railroads. The corporations indicted for con¬ 
spiracy in restraint of trade are : Armour & Co., Swift & 
Co., Nelson Morris & Co., the Cudahy Packing Company and 
the Fairbanks Canning Company. The men indicted o'n the 
same charge are: J. Ogden Armour, president of Armour & 
Co.; Clias. Armour, of Armour & Co.; Arthur Meeker, general 
manager of Armour & Co. : T. J. Conners, director Armour & 
Co.; P. A. Valentine, treasurer Armour & Co.; Samuel Mc- 
Iioberts, assistant treasurer. Armour & Co.; Louis F. Swift, 
president of Swift & Co.; Charles Swift, of Swift & Co. ; 
Lawrence A. Carter, treasurer Swift & Co. ; Arthur F. Evans, 
attorney for Swift & Co. ; It. C. McManus, attorney for 
Swift & Co.; A. II. Vender, general counsel for Swift & Co.; 
Edward Cudahy, of Cudahy & Co.: D. E. Hartwell, secre¬ 
tary Swift & Co. ; Edward F. Swift, vice-president Swift & 
Co.; Edward Morris, secretary Nelson Morris & Co.; Ira W. 
Morris, of Nelson Morris & Co. The four employees of 
Schwarzschlld & Sulzberger who were indicted for 'alleged 
rebating with the railroads are connected with the traffic 
department of the corporation. Their names are Samuel 
Weil, B. S. Cusey, C. E. Todd and V. D. Skipworth. . . . 
Setting aside all precedent, union teamsters at Chicago 
July 3 suggested the employment of non-union teamsters by 
the package express companies to avoid a strike of the 
union drivers of those companies. This was the direct re¬ 
sult of injunction orders restraining the package express 
companies from refusing to deliver to boycotted houses. The 
union drivers asked the companies to employ two non-union 
drivers each, the non-union men to make deliveries to the 
strike-affected firms, while the union drivers took care of 
the remainder of the business. The union men promised not 
to molest the non-unionists. . . . Fire at Birmingham, 
Ala., July 3, resulted in the death of two firemen, injury 
to four others and a property loss of $100,000. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The deficit in the United States 
Treasury at the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, 
approximates $25,000,000. This is about $7,000,000 in ex¬ 
cess of the estimate made some months ago by Secretary 
Shaw. This deficit does not cause any alarm in Administra¬ 
tion circles. Treasury officers say it could continue for 
three years without exciting serious concern. To fall back 
on in an emergency there is an available cash balance of 
$137,000,000 and a working balance of $57,000,000. The 
deficit is due to enlarged arid extraordinary expenses rather 
than to diminished revenues. As a matter of fact, the rev¬ 
enues have Increased, while expenses have jumped in the 
year by leaps and bounds. The receipts from all sources— 
customs, internal and miscellaneous—will aggregate for the 
current fiscal year about $543,000,000, as compared with 
$541,000,000 in 1904. Customs receipts, it is true, have 
dropped off about $500,000, footing up to a total of $201,- 
000,000. The gains come from internal revenue and miscel¬ 
laneous sources, the former aggregating $232,400,000 in 1904 
and $233,500,000 this year, while miscellaneous receipts have 
increased from $46,700,000 to $48,000,000. . . . John F 
Wallace, Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal, resigned sud¬ 
denly June 20, to accept a New York position with a salary 
of $05,000 a year. Mr. Wallace’s resignation leaves the con¬ 
struction of the canal without a head, and tile work neces¬ 
sarily will be crippled until the new chief engineer has had 
time to study the plans and evolve his own methods. Mr. 
Wallace is criticised for his failure to appoint an assistant 
chief engineer, who would be familiar• with his plans and 
able to continue the work in his absence. John F. Stevens 
is to be the new Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal. He 
is a well-known railroad man, and had been selected to con 
struct the railroads in the Philippines. W. A. Darling has 
now been chosen to take up this work. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The agricultural, live stock and 
meat producing interests of the whole country are prepared 
for a national reciprocity conference at Chicago, broader in 
its scope and of more importance than any similar meeting 
ever held in the United States. Ex-Senator W. A. Harris, 
of Kansas, who, since he left the Senate, two years ago. lias 
been conspicuously identified with the live stock interests 
of the West, making his headquarters in Chicago, is in 
Washington to promote the conference, which will meet 
August 15. The movement was inaugurated at Chicago at 
a meeting between representatives of the National Live Stock 
Association, the Short Horn Breeders’ Association of Amer¬ 
ica, the National Live Stock Exchange, the Chicago Commer¬ 
cial Association, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the 
National Grange, the Millers’ Federation, the Chicago Board 
of Trade, the Agricultural Implement Manufacturers' Asso¬ 
ciation and other similar business organizations. These 
various bodies are represented on a committee of arrange¬ 
ments, with headquarters in Chicago. 
The twenty-ninth biennial meeting of the American Borno¬ 
logical Society will be held at Kansas City. Mo., August 
8-10. The society may bestow a medal upon a display, or 
collection of fruits if deemed meritorious. It may also 
award a medal to a new variety of proved value. Special 
attention is called to this feature. Be it understood that 
the exhibits are not competitive, but that each is judged 
upon its own merits and if found worthy a medal is awarded. 
Medals are of two kinds, silver and bronze. Both form hon¬ 
orable records of pomological progress. Let all those who 
have new varieties of fruits, or old varieties of superior ex¬ 
cellence forward them to the meeting at Kansas City Ex¬ 
press should he prepaid, and the packages should be sent in 
care of L. A. Goodman. Kansas City, Mo., for American 
Bornological Society._ M 
COW PEAS AND WHEAT. 
Mould it be possible and practical to use a crop of cow 
peas between two crops of wheat? It has been suggested 
that after wheat harvest cow peas could be sown, plowed 
under after three months’ growth, and the soil again fitted 
for wheat—so on year after year. 
I know of no one in this lower section of Delaware who 
follows this plan of fertilizing, but I believe the general 
custom is to follow wheat with buckwheat and Scarlet 
clover; getting a crop of buckwheat that year, and the fol¬ 
lowing Spring cutting the clover for feed, or plowin'' it 
under at option of grower, following that with corn. 
Delaware. s. b. adkins. 
While 1 have never tried using cow peas between our two 
crops of wheat, or have known anyone else in the neigh- 
borhood to do it. yet I believe it would be a success and 
have been arguing for this method for two or three years I 
rather expect to try it. at least in a small way, this year, 
and will be glad to let you know the results. The only, 
objection to the method is that of having our corn ground 
to plow for wheat; this second plowing of our fallow would 
make a great deal of work at. one time. I am also an, ad¬ 
vocate of sowing cow peas in our corn at its last, working 
to turn down for wheat in October. I think we are not 
making anything like the use of cow peas that we should. 
Delaware. frkd. brady,. 
I do not know of any farmers here who practice follow¬ 
ing wheat with a crop of cow peas grown on same land to 
plow the peas under and work the land up and sow wheat 
the same season. The objection to this plan would be the 
expense and time required to fit the land for wheat after 
plowing under a heavy crop of peas. M'e often grow a crop 
of cow peas here after wheat harvest, which comes in June 
and cut the peas for hay in September, seeding same land 
to wheat in October, plowing the cow pea stubble in very 
shallow, and working the soil up very fine before seeding 
In plowing a heavy crop of peas it would be necessary To 
plow deep in order to cover the pea vines. The expense 
to firm this soil down to fit the land for wheat would be a 
serious objection. I do not think it would be practical. 
There seems to be difference in opinions in regard to using 
acid phosphate and potash on cow peas. My experien/ce 
has been that it did not pay. I have also used complete 
fertilizers on cow peas, and could not see any benefit that 
they did the cow peas. At present I do riot grow any 
wheat. I think the cow peas are a great help to our light 
land, making a No. 1 hay; the stubble and roots furnish con¬ 
siderable plant food to the land. The peas bring high 
prices for seed, when grown for the peas, one of our best 
crop's. A. A. DAVIS. 
Delaware. 
CONTROL OF CITY MILK. 
Statements by Boards of Health. 
Although examinations of milk have been made from 
time to time, no milk has been condemned here for more 
than a year. A few years ago several cows were found 
to be tuberculous, and were killed, but I have not been 
able to learn that the owners were compensated therefor. 
In my opinion no milk has been delivered in this city dur¬ 
ing the present season from any dairy where human in¬ 
fectious disease has developed. M’e have had occasion to 
remove one driver of a milk wagon, who had diphtheria, but 
he was not connected with the dairy. The milk dealers gen¬ 
erally are working in harmony with the board of health. 
From all that has heretofore transpired the power of the 
board seems to be adequate for the protection of the public 
health. g. v. r. Merrill. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
M'e have for a long time endeavored to secure a tuberculin 
test of all cows supplying the city with milk, but up to this 
time we have failed to do so. Concerning the milk from 
tubercular cows, I am of the same opinion as Bang of 
Denmark, who says that of all the tubercular cattle,’but 
one per cent are found to have tuberculosis of the milk 
apparatus. I, however, believe that when tubercular organ¬ 
isms are found in milk, they frequently have gained entrance 
along with the manure. M’here human diseases have been 
prevalent we have succeeded in stopping the sale of milk 
from such dairies most effectually. M’henever we have a 
case of scarlet fever, diphtheria or typhoid fever the in¬ 
spector visiting the premises always includes the name of 
the milkman. In every case of such disease the name of 
the milkman is entered opposite it, together with other 
data in a register kept, for that purpose. If any milkman 
has upon his route more than three cases of any one dis¬ 
ease closely following one upon the other, his milk supply 
is traced to its source, even if that source be a number of 
miles*away. By this means we succeed every year in stop¬ 
ping one or two small outbreaks of diphtheria, scarlet fever 
and typhoid fever. M 7 e have little difficulty in stopping the 
sale of such milk, and we have under the law sufficient 
power. In our city we condemn a very small amount of 
milk. M r e do not believe that this is the way to do work, 
unless the milkman is a flagrant violator of the law. I 
know of no case where compensation has been given to a 
dairyman for the destruction of cows or other property in 
the interest of the public health; nor do I believe that 
such compensation should be given any more than com¬ 
pensation should be given to a man for counterfeit money. 
Rochester, N. Y. G. w. goler. 
As you will see by reading our rules, we can stop the 
sale of any milk we have reason to believe is bad. Our 
authority stops at . the city line, but the license system 
really gives us power over dairies, for if objection is made 
to our inspections we can refuse or revoke the license to 
sell milk or cream. No milk has been condemned and no 
property destroyed. There is no central station here, the 
farmers peddling their own product. We have just finished 
inspecting the 100 dairies that furnish this city with milk, 
and find many violations of the new rules. Those Re¬ 
sponsible for these violations will receive due notice, and if 
satisfactory conditions are not forthcoming the offending 
parties will be called before the board to show cause why 
their license shall not be cancelled. H. it. crum, 
Ithaca, N'. Y. 
There is a concurrent -jurisdiction over the sale of milk 
and the regulation of dairies, by both the local boards of 
health and the State Department of Agriculture. While 
the jurisdiction of the State Department of Agriculture is 
throughout the State the jurisdiction of the local boards of 
health is only for the smaller sections of the State. The 
City of Albany regulates the sale of milk within its boun¬ 
dary. All milkmen are licensed, and submit to the de¬ 
partment a statement of their source of milk supply, the 
quantity they use and other information of like import. 
As opportunity offers the milk supply to the citizens of 
Albany is tested at various times, and particularly in such 
cases in which the milk is under suspicion. It does not 
often happen, however, that the milk is found below the 
standards. We do not go into the consideration of the 
bacteriological examination, nor into the use of milk pre¬ 
servatives. For the former there is no appropriation, and 
the latter is more properly under the jurisdiction of the 
State Department of Agriculture. We have a very few 
dairy cows within the limits of the City of Albany, over 
which this department, has jurisdiction. The question of 
tuberculosis infection of cattle in the City of Albany is 
left, for solution, entirely to the State Department of 
Agriculture, where it properly belongs. The dairies within 
the City of Albany, which happen to be in association with 
contagious diseases, are controlled as the circumstances 
at the time seem to warrant. M’hile no general rule is 
made for the control of these conditions generally, it can 
be said that prompt and vigorous measures are adopted 
in each case to stop the spread of contagious disease 
through the use of milk. Milk delivered in the City of 
Albany from dairies outside its limits in the immediate 
neighborhood of which are cases of human contagious dis¬ 
eases are also controlled. For the important contagious 
diseases, generally classed as such, such as scarlet fever, 
diphtheria and typhoid fever, we have a system of col¬ 
lective investigation. One of the questions asked by the 
inspector in such cases is the source of the milk supply. 
In case any number of cases of contagious disease appear 
upon the milk route of any one milkman, that, source of 
milk is immediately investigated. During the period of 
this administration this collective investigation has twice 
resulted in locating the probable source of contagion in 
contaminated milk. The control of the milk supply in 
each of these cases resulted in the prompt abatement of 
this menace to health. Joseph n. craig, m. d. 
Albany, N. Y. _ 
POTATO CROP OUTLOOK. 
Botato beetles are more plentiful than last season ; some 
farmers report their crop badly damaged. I do not know 
of any farmers who use Bordeaux Mixture. The potato 
crop looks fairly well, but needs more rain. As a rule, we 
do not cultivate or stir the ground often enough. Coj-n 
looks poorly and needs rain, and warmer weather, g. s. 
Laplume,’ Ba. 
Some reports indicate that Botato beetles are not so plen¬ 
tiful as usual this season, but. T have as many as I ever had. 
Most growers have increased their acreage of potatoes this 
year, while T decreased mine 30 per cent. T had a piece of 
ground next to last year’s potato field that held the snow 
all M’in ter and did not freeze very deep, which probably 
saved a good many beetles from freezing. The only kind of 
blight that can be prevented by Bordeaux Mixture appears 
so rarely here that no one now sprays for ft. There has 
been a large acreage of potatoes planted, and good weather 
has prevailed since June 1. The prospect for cheap potatoes 
was never better at this time of year, but there is still time 
enough for the prospective crop to be cut down 50 per cent 
and its value increased 100 per cent. e. tolly. 
Ohio. 
I am very sorry to report that we have all fhe Botato 
beetles we can use and a few millions to spare. T think 
on account of the cold wet weather we have been having that 
the small ones have been late in hatching, but they are 
coming ahead now in good shape, and bid fair to make up 
all lost time unless fed on the only article that Botato 
bugs ever ought to have a chance to eat. The potato crop 
looks fine where tended as it should be. M’e have had lots 
of rain, and some farmers have that as the excuse for 
weedy crops. However, the outlook for a big crop is fine. 
Only a few farmers in this section use Bordeaux Mixture. 
Those who have used it have failed so far to show results 
sufficient to prove its use profitable. I used 13 pounds per 
acre last year, in four applications, and 1 am satisfied that 
my potatoes kept green and growing for two weeks after 
about all other vines were dead. But my crop rotted as 
badly as the rest. They run from 20 to 50 bushels pv> r 
acre of rotten ones that we hauled to factory at 12 cents 
per bushel. About 300 bushels of good stock per acre. 
River Falls, MBs. e. h. O. 
TROUBLE M’lTTT REAS.—Last year I recommended to 
your cabbage growers the use of salt for the destruction of 
the maggot. It has saved my crop for 15 to 20 years, and 
is still doing it. Tf any reader lias tried the simple pre¬ 
scription to his advantage, I ask him to wash his hands 
with me by telling me what is the matter with my sweet 
peas, and how to save that fragrant crop? For two or 
three seasons past some pest has attacked the root-stalks, 
the effect being to cause the plants to lop down, loose en¬ 
ergy to attach themselves to the supports, and finally to 
perish away before showing a blossom. “First of All” gar¬ 
den peas in the next row are displaying uncommon/ energy 
and productiveness, showing that this latter-day pest does 
not attack the whole pea family in the same way. The 
Bea aphis came on in force two years ago ;_but the suc¬ 
ceeding seasons have not encouraged his attacks. e. w. ' 
Glen Summit, Ba._ 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The discussions in The R. N.-Y. during the pjist year on 
the subject of cement for building on the farm Indicates 
the possibilities of the many uses to which cement can be 
profitably put. Inexpensive machines for molding cement 
in any form desired are now being offered so that almost 
any farmer can afford to own an outfit. Just at this time 
the Atlas Cement Machine Co., 3.38 So. Ave., Rochester. 
N. Y.. is looking for trade on a fence post machine. It 
seems to us a cement post would be practically indestruc¬ 
tible and in the end much cheaper than wood posts. 
Botato growers have long sought a machine that will 
combine what may be called essential principles. It must 
be within the strength of one good team. It must get out 
the potatoes and leave them on top of the soil, and must be 
sold at a moderate price. After many trials it seems to be 
accepted as a fact that in order to do fair work on a va¬ 
riety of soils a digger must have some device for lifting the 
tubers and shaking them free from dirt and vines. The 
various devices of plows with bars or shaking prongs do rea¬ 
sonable work on some soils, but fail on others. D. Y. Hai¬ 
led? & Sons, York, T> a., have spent much time and money in 
developing potato diggers. They have produced several bar 
and shaker diggers which work well under some conditions. 
Now they offer an elevator digger which we understand is 
different from others of this class. M'e believe it will pay 
readers of The R. N.-Y. to investigate it. 
