1S05. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
589 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Sluggers of the “wrecking crew" type in¬ 
vaded the Chicago Federation of Labor at its semi-annual 
election July 16 and after holding tip the judges at the point 
of revolvers and tearing up the ballots used brass knuckles 
and slungshots on Michael Donnelly, prominent among the 
conservative labor leaders, and left him for dead on the 
floor of Bricklayers’ Ilall. Three years ago Donnelly was the 
victim of a similar assault, when he was beaten severely by 
sluggers and had carbolic acid poured into his mouth. John 
C. Driscoll confessed recently to the grand jury that he paid 
hired thugs $50 each to "put Donnelly away." Donnelly will 
recover, but probably will lose the use of his right eye. 
After breaking up the election, the sluggers made an attempt 
to get at President Dold of the Federation, but were fright¬ 
ened away by the presence of friends of the labor leader. 
After one of the most bitter struggles in the labor 
history of Chicago, the teamsters’ strike was officially de¬ 
clared off at midnight July 20. The strike lasted 15 weeks. 
There were 4,250 men thrown out, of whom 2,000 are still 
without places, the remainder having secured work in other 
lines or with houses that were not affected by strike bound 
orders or doing business with strike-bound houses. The 
strike was called on April 6. There are 35,000 union team¬ 
sters in Chicago. The cost of the strike to the unions was 
$300,000. The wages lost by the strikers is $750,000. The 
cost of the strike to the employers is $2,100,000 in wages, 
and the loss of business is estimated at more than $12,000,- 
000. The cost of the strike to the city is $175,000, and to 
the country $100,000. Persons injured by the strike number 
450: deaths 21. To preserve peace there were 2,200 police¬ 
men, 1,400 specials and 3,400 sheriffs. The strike started 
over an attempt to hold 10 little tailors who went out on a 
strike. There was at no time any cpiestion of wages or hours 
among the teamsters, but they went out on a sympathetic 
strike. . . . Amasa A. Marks, the well known manu¬ 
facturer of artificial limbs, died at Willowmere, his home at 
Sound Beach, Conn., July 19, from heart disease. II ,vas 
dressing when the fatal attack came, lie had been ill for 
some time, but was able to be about. Mr. Marks was one of 
the most progressive men of the town, and was especially in¬ 
terested in having good schools. lie was born in Waterbury 
in 1825, and in 1851 established the business in New York, 
which he has continued ever since. In 1863 he invented a 
rubber foot which gave his business a great impetus. Santa 
Ana. the Mexican general, made his first visit to New York 
to obtain from Mr. Marks a leg, and other famous soldiers, 
including Okuma, a Japanese cotint, have used his produc¬ 
tions. . . . The grand jury at Kansas City, Mo., re¬ 
turned indictments July 15 against William A. Towers, a 
prominent cattleman, on a charge of fraud, and against Carl 
II. Rightmire, Bruce Belchelderfer and Charles Wiggins, 
weighmasters at the Kansas City stock yards. Mr. Towers, 
it is alleged in the indictment, borrowed $30,000 from a 
Kansas City brokerage firm on a herd of cattle in Bent 
County, Colorado, which it is charged lie had already mort¬ 
gaged. It is also charged that the herd did not contain 
2,000 cattle, as represented. The weighmasters are charged 
with conspiracy with certain traders to defraud cattle dealers 
through a system of underweights and overweights by which 
considerable money was obtained. . . Five miners were 
blown to pieces by the explosion of 25 pounds of dynamite 
in a storage powder house at the West Riverside coal mine, 
two miles west of Des Moines, Iowa, July 1!). No one knew 
of the explosion until the day shift came to work. The men 
killed were engaged in sinking a new shaft, and during the 
early morning a severe rainstorm came up, which compelled 
them to stop work. They sought shelter from the storm in 
the powder house. While they were in the house lightning 
struck a tree near the building, and glanced off the house 
itself, igniting the dynamite as well as two kegs of powder. 
Not a piece of wood larger than a foot long remains of the 
building. . . . The boilers of the United States gunboat 
Bennington blew up while the vessel was at anchor in San 
Diego Bay. Cal., July 21. Ensign Newman K. Perry and 56 
seamen were killed, 51 men were wounded and 17 are miss¬ 
ing. Some of the wounded may die. Of the 190 men on the 
ship only 30 escaped unhurt. Lieut. Yates, in temporary 
command of the gunboat, was badly scalded. Hundreds of 
eyes were on the Bennington at the moment of the horror, 
for the bay was dotted with pleasure craft and ferry boats 
whose passengers watched the trim gunboat with passing in¬ 
terest. These watchers saw a cloud of steam burst from a 
point just forward of the smokestack. Through this steam 
came flying the bodies and fragments of bodies of men, to 
lie scattered upon the waters. Coincidently a roar like 
thunder told the cause of the tragedy. The strong steel 
upper deck was ripped away from stem to stern. The force 
of the explosion seemed to reach all parts of the ship, as 
nearly every man on board had some mark o‘f deadly steam or 
bruises caused by shock. Many bodies were so mangled as to 
be recognizable ’ only by clothing. Commander Young was 
among the first of those who reached the vessel from the 
shore. lie said there was no question that a boiler which 
had shown signs of weakness recently was the one which 
blew up. During the recent trip from Honolulu the steam 
pressure was kept reduced in this boiler for fear of disaster. 
When the explosion came Engineer Nelson was inspecting the 
boilers to see how much pressure they would safely bear. 
The vessel was 10 years old. . . . Fire in the Humble, 
Texas, oil fields. July 23-24, caused the death of 12 workmen 
and property loss of $650,000. . . . Senator John II. 
Mitchell, of Oregon, convicted of taking a fee for work be¬ 
fore a Department of the United States in a case in which 
the Government was interested, was sentenced July, 25 by 
Judge John .T. Dehaven, of the United States District Court, 
to serve six months in the Multnomah County jail and to 
pay a fine of $1,000. John Hippie Mitchell is 70 years old. 
He' served in the United States Senate from 1873 to 1879. 
from 1885 to 1897 and from 1901 to the present. Mitchell 
was born in western Pennsylvania. Iiis name when he lived 
there was John Hippie. lie moved to the Pacific coast in 
1860, leaving a wife and family behind him. and changed 
his name to Mitchell. He married again, and one of his 
daughters by the second marriage is now the Baroness Roche¬ 
foucauld. if the judgment of conviction is upheld by the 
Supreme Court Mitchell will forfeit his seat in the Senate. 
Daniel S. T.ainont. Secretary of War under President 
Cleveland, and vice-president of the Northern Pacific Rail¬ 
road. died at his country home at Mlllbrook. N. Y., July 23. 
Mr. Lament was in his fifty-fifth year. lie was born at 
Cortlandville. N. Y., the son of John B. and Elizabeth Scott 
l.amont and married Juliet Kinney, lie was one of the 
most trusted of Mr. Cleveland’s cabinet officers and was on 
as intimate terms of personal relationship with him. both 
then and since, as any other man in th« United States. 
The New Orleans Board of Health made known 
July 25 tile status of the yellow fever and the number of 
cases and deaths in that city. 'Pile fever was first discov¬ 
ered July 13, when several suspicious cases were discovered. 
It was not actually proved to be fever until July 21. Dur¬ 
ing the time between July 13 and 21 the Board of Health 
made a house to house investigation to find how many cases 
of fever and how. many deaths had occurred up to that time. 
The conclusion reached was that there had been 190 cases 
and 20 deaths up to July 21. Since then the record has 
been : July 21. one new case, one death: July 22, 16 new 
cases and three deaths: July 23, nine new cases and two 
deaths: July 24. nine new cases and one death: July 25, 
eight new cases and two deaths. A thorough ward organiza¬ 
tion was perfected for fighting the fever on the lines that it 
is due to infected mosquitoes. The quarantine limits on all 
vessels from infected Central American ports were increased 
from five to six days. About half the Louisiana towns and 
parishes have quarantined against New Orleans, and the 
other half has refused to do so. In consequence of this re¬ 
fusal the State of Mississippi has already quarantined the 
entire State of Louisiana, and Texas has given notice that 
she will do so. The quarantine, however, is of a much less 
violent form than of old. and in no case has It yet been 
made applicable to freight. July 26 there were six deaths 
and 11 new cases, making 165 cases to date. The death 
rate is about 22 per cent. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The State Department has been in¬ 
formed by its consuls that the Chinese boycott against Amer¬ 
ican goods instituted .Tilly 19 was organized by the trade 
guilds in five ports—Shanghai, Canton. Tien-Tsin. Hankow 
and New-Cbwang. It is not believed that the boycott will 
lie successful or do anv oarticnlar inb'rv to American goods 
except in the cities of Canton and Shanghai. There is no 
official action which the United States Government can take 
so long as it remains a simple boycott, or refusal to pur¬ 
chase American goods, but it is thought that the boycott will 
be discouraged by the Chinese Government as far as possible. 
. . Willet M. Hays, the Assistant Secretary of Agricul¬ 
ture, has taken hold of the affairs of the Bureau of Statistics, 
with instructions from Secretary Wilson, approved by Pres¬ 
ident Roosevelt, to cleanse the bureau of the stigma left by 
the cotton leak scandal. It is regarded as extremely likely 
that there will be a complete reorganization of the force 
employed in the statistical department, as well as a thor¬ 
ough revision of tlie orders concerning the monthly crop re¬ 
ports, the latter having already been outlined in a circular 
issued by Secretary Wilson. Mr. Hays will probably be in 
charge of the bureau until after Congress assembles, as it is 
believed that a competent man to take the place of Mr. Hyde, 
who resigned as chief statistician, cannot be had for the 
$3,500 a year paid by the Government. Congress will be 
asked to increase the salary, and it is the intention of Sec- 
letary Wilson to place a man in charge of the office whose 
ability has been established, but who has had no connection 
with statistical bureaus attached to stock brokerage offices. 
Whoever is appointed will first be approved by the President. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The biennial meeting of the Amer¬ 
ican Pomologieal Society is postponed from August 8-10 to 
September 19-21. It will occur at the Coates Hotel, Kansas 
City, Mo., as first announced. 
Wilmont Newell, the Louisiana State entomologist, and a 
member of the State crop pest commission, reports that the 
condition of the cotton crop as far as the boll weevil is con¬ 
cerned is excellent. The damage to the crop has been small 
and the weevil has not appeared in many sections where it 
prevailed last year. Mr. Newell believes that in most of 
these cases it has been killed by the extreme cold weather 
of last Winter. The farmers who followed the commission's 
suggestions and planted an early cotton crop and did not 
try to cultivate more land than they could handle will do 
practically as well this season as any other. Those farmers 
who have not tried the intense cultivation methods and have 
not planted their cotton early are suffering from the weevil. 
A deal was closed at the Ideal stock farm in East Aurora, 
N. Y., whereby the Japanese Government acquired possession 
of 34 horses to lie used for breeding purposes in Japan. The 
Japanese Government paid $110,000 for the entire lot. which 
included four hackney fillies, two hackney stallions. 17 thor¬ 
oughbred racers, including several stake winners, and 11 
trotting bred stallions. The average price per horse at East 
Aurora was $3,529, but the cost of the horses when they are 
landed in Japan, it is said, will be the highest ever paid for 
any collection of horses bought by any Government in the 
world for purely breeding purposes. The animals are to be 
sent to California by express under the care of special ex¬ 
pert attendants, and they are to be sent across the Pacific 
in a ship especially arranged for their comfort. 
Peter Comstock Kellogg, the well-known live stock auction¬ 
eer, died at his home in Montclair July 24. aged 64 years. 
He had been ill two weeks with dysentary and the recent hot 
spell left him so weak that his death was expected. He was 
born in Troy, this State, and came to this city when a young 
man to attend the College of the City of New York. lie was 
the first to introduce combination auction sales among breed¬ 
ers of trotting horses and purebred cattle. His word was 
always taken by buyers, for they knew be tried to tell the 
truth about the merits of the cattle he sold. He was well 
up on agricultural and turf topics and wrote on these sub¬ 
jects under the name of “Hark Comstock." He married 
Julia Snow, of Buffalo, in 1869, and she died in 1892 Two 
sons survive him. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Bugs and acreage of potatoes greater in amount than last 
year. Early potatoes show signs of rotting. Hay about 
three-fourths of a crop. Apples a total failure in most 
orchards around Du Bois. Grain looks fair, but frequent 
rains of past two weeks have interfered seriously with har¬ 
vesting. Spraying is in its infancy. f. e h 
Du Bois, Pa. 
\Ye can only report what we hear, and that is that there 
will be a hay crop sufficient for requirements. It is only a 
question of quality, and we understand there will be more 
clover mixed, and light clover mixed, etc., this crop than 
there was last, but that it is exnected there will be ample 
No. 1 Timothy and No. 2 Timothy for requirements. 
Newark, N. J. j. c. smith & wallack co. 
I can only report for my own orchard, which has been 
carefully sprayed and fertilized each year, as follows: Bald¬ 
win, 40 per cent; Spy, 30 per cent: Smokehouse, 80 per 
cent; King, 75 per cent ; Summer Rambo, 100 per cent : early 
varieties failure; York Imperial, 75 per cent. Neglected or¬ 
chards in the neighborhood do not show any fruit. Pears 
blossomed freely, but have dropped so that not over °5 per 
cent of a crop remain. 
Harrisburg, Pa. , 
All estimates regarding the size of the apple crop in Or¬ 
leans and Niagara counties have a tendency to decrease 
this year, instead of increasing, as has been the case for 
several years past. At present writing I do not think that 
there will be 2-> per cent of last year's crop of so-called No. 
1 fruit. Wheat, oats and hay are bumper crops, and barn 
room is at a premium. Side delivery rakes and bay loaders 
are having a good sale, especially the latter, b d v b 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
The crop of early apples in Delaware is, in my judgment 
larger than ever before. I am not sure about the late ap¬ 
ples, but it seems to me that there will be a good many 
Of course the apple crop of Delaware doesn’t cut much of 
a figure. I hardly know what people mean when for ex¬ 
ample, they say there will lie half a crop. Unsprayed trees 
in Delaware do not produce half a crop the best of years 
as a rule. I should say that sprayed orchards have a fair 
average for sprayed trees, and unspraved orchards more 
than a fair average crop for unsprayed trees. 
Delaware. wesi.ey whbb. 
This year is certainly the record-breaker for wet weather. 
Out of 22 past days it has rained more or less 17 Hayin" 
impossible: hundreds of tons ruined through inability to 
haul in. Crops otherwise doing nicelv ; oats fine, corn grow 
ing. but needs sunshine. Wet weather doubtless will blight 
potatoes. Fruit prospects nil; No apples, peaches pears 
plums: all buds killed by a sleety freeze in middle April’ 
Small fruits abundant. This section was visited in Spring 
by fearful ravages of canker-worm, defoliating entirely miles 
of forest trees and stripping orchards of all foliage' 
Fayette Co., Pa. D u P 
ire have a very good crop of hay in Michigan, both of 
Timothy, and clover. As far as we can judge at present 
from our own observation, the crop will be a large one 
although we have not covered all parts of the State The 
weather so far has been very bad for cutting hay, and the 
early cutting in many sections has been practicailv a total 
loss, but we are informed by our own men and o'ur eorre 
spondents that there is so much moisture in the grass that 
it has not ripened up as early as usual, and on that ac¬ 
count the crops that are now standing are In good shape 
even if they stand for another week. We have had favor¬ 
able weather now for three days, and we presume for another 
week : we do not see why we should not have a large crop 
of hay of good quality. feurin brothers compvxy 
Detroit, Mich. 
Observation on a trolley trip to Geneva recently through 
the garden of central and western New York shows grass 
heavy and about two-thirds cut; much of it housed in' bad 
shape owing to continued rains. Wheat a big crop one of 
the best we ever saw in this section: a few fields cut and 
shocked, but many still waiting the harvester. Rye very 
little, and mostly dead ripe. Oats turning in a few fields': 
rank growth and lodged badly. Corn uneven, verv few fields 
that we should call good : many, in fact, most of them, full 
of weeds and grass. Barley good crop, but needing to be 
cut at once. Potatoes spindling and very full of weeds: 
many bugs, no evidence of spraying for blight. Too much 
wet weather. A few pieces of cabbage, mostly small and 
uneven and full of weeds. An occasional field of sugar 
beets. Beans small and uneven, badly washed on rolling 
ground and drowned on low lands. c. i. 
Rochester, N. Y., July 21. 
DROUGHT IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY . 
In some localities an occasional shower has drenched the 
earth quite thoroughly, while in others there has not been 
rain enough to wet the bottoms of the potato hills in two 
months. In consequence the situation which now confronts 
us in the midst of Summer heat is a drought which lias al¬ 
ready damaged the farms very badly, and is still further 
piling up a list of losses to crops. Oats are a poor crop— 
the straw short, and the kernels light and poorly developed. 
Many farmers are mowing fhem for fodder. Corn is too 
young yet fairly to estimate the loss, but as the ears are 
now setting, it is reasonable to anticipate that the present 
heat and dryness will affect the yield. Apples are falling 
from the trees in considerable numbers, and peaches, plums 
and pears also. Yet plenty of rain, if it falls soon, may 
save these crops. Hay is now being rapidly housed, and the 
crop is short, very short. This is one of the most impor¬ 
tant of all crops in its general growth and use. In this 
county there are 2,000 farms in round numbers of 180,846 
acres, yielding about an average of 325,520 tons of hay. 
Many farmers who have gathered their hay, or a majority of 
it, have informed us, some that it is one-third short, some 
that it is one-half short, while some think their shortage 
is small. On the whole we estimate that the general 
average is one-third short of last year’s crop. This means 
a great deal to every person. It means that some farmers 
will keep less cows next Winter: it means that others will 
have to buy hay, and it means that there will be an in¬ 
crease in the price of hay. It may also mean that milk will 
lie higher, if a shortened supply has any influence on the 
market. Altogether, even with the arrival of timely rains 
soon, there will be a firm feeling in the hay and milk mar¬ 
kets at least, while if the drought assumes a much worse 
hofd upon us, there will he a sharp advance in the cost 
of living next Winter.—Wantage Reporter, Sussex Countv, 
N. J. 
BLACK ROT OF GRAPES. 
The season of 1905 has been in many respects an ideal one 
for the growth of parasitic fungi. Not only are Fear and 
Apple blight extremely abundant and very destructive, and 
the other enemies of the orchard found very freely, but 
the enemies of the grape are also strongly in evidence. The 
two principle fungus enemies of the grape are downy mil¬ 
dew and black rot. Both of these are strongly in evidence 
in grape growing sections this season. The former does not 
attack Uoncord or Niagara very severely as a rule, but the 
latter has been the cause of the complete destruction of the 
crop of several vineyards recently visited. The writer has 
just returned from an examination of Niagara vineyards in 
Seneca County, and finds a very interesting, though in some 
instances deplorable, condition of affairs. In many neglected 
vineyards black rot. has practically wiped out all hope of a 
crop. In vineyards where spraying has been done in a care¬ 
less, hit-or-miss style, black rot is also prevalent and has 
done considerable damage. In some cases the crop is re¬ 
duced 50, 60 and even 75 per cent. Where spraying was 
commenced early, and continued for at least three applica¬ 
tions, and where the work of application had been thor¬ 
oughly and conscientiously done, the rot rarely exceeds 10 
per cent. Neglect, both as to cultivation and spraying, is 
accompanied by abundance of rot. In one 40-acre vineyard 
not a single basket of grapes will be harvested this year. 
This vineyard not only is a complete loss to the owner, but 
it is a menace to the vineyards in the neighborhood, and I 
am strongly of the opinion that should owners of neighbor¬ 
ing vineyards bring action against the owner of this vine¬ 
yard they would stand a good chance of winning substantial 
damages in any court of law. Such vineyards should be 
placed under the ban as orchards infested with San .Tost* 
scale are condemned. 
We have long passed the day when the question is asked, 
“Does spraying pay?” Yet hundreds of growers do not real¬ 
ize that a remedy is within their reach. We suppose the 
trouble is, that the remedy must be applied at a time when 
the fruit grower is excessively busy. The item of expense 
too is worth considering. It costs practically a dollar an 
acre to spray grapevines with Bordeaux Mixture. Thev can 
be sprinkled or spattered much cheaper than this, but a 
good spraying cannot be given for less money. If a man has 
a vineyard of 40 or 50 acres he can readily reckon the cost 
of each application, and it is a matter of some moment 
whether he shall make one. two or three applications. Yet, 
this year, the man who.sprayed thoroughly is the man who 
will secure a crop and probably make some money. 
_ JOHN CRAIG. 
MISSOURI APPLE PROSPECTS.—After the unprecedent¬ 
ed cold the past Winter and the cold east rains of April 
15 to 20, we could hardly expect a full crop of apples. While 
the orchards were in good condition (and are still in fine 
shape), blooming beautifully, yet injured vitality of the 
trees by the severe cold, and the failure of the 'bloom to 
pollenize well, caused the young apples to drop all through 
the months of May and June, until the prospect for a crop 
is not good. In some places the fungus damages have been 
severe and the insect pests have been abundant. The pros¬ 
pect, therefore, for a full crop will lie : In the Ozarks 25 to 
35 per cent; in central Missouri 20 to 30 per cent: in north 
Missouri 15 to 25 per cent. While this is true we have 
special locations where the crop will be 50 to 60 per cent, 
and even the small average that the State makes, means, be¬ 
cause of the large number of orchards, a good many biv—ls 
of marketable apples for sale at picking time. The prospect 
so far as heard from, shows less than half a crop in New 
York, a little more than half a crop in Michigan, but n still 
larger percentage in the new western and Pacific States 
This justifies us in saying that the prices will be fairly 
good and that it will pay to take care of all our apples. 
Grapes will be an abundant crop; peaches, of course, are a 
failure: pears a very light crop; plums a verv good crop. 
Mo. Hort. Societ.w _ l. 'a. Goodman. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
An opportunity is offered to get an exceptionallv fine 
strain of live stock and poultry in the sale advertised by 
Rev. W. P. Maekay, of Jamaica. L. I., this week. Mr. 
Mackay is obliged to close out his stock because of an en¬ 
forced change of residence, and his customers will get the 
benefit of his careful selection and breeding. 
What is one-horse power? How do you determine what 
size power you need to run the machines on your farm? 
How do you get your water supply, and what kind of nump 
is best for your use? A little book on farm powers' will 
interest yon. It is got up by an advertiser to tell about an 
engine, but the general information is no less valuable on 
that account. If you want this little book or other infor¬ 
mation on the subject drop a line to the Fairbanks Com¬ 
pany, New York, and It will be sent you. 
The Silver Mfg. Co.. Salem. Ohio, have just issued a 
new catalogue of their feed and silage cutters. This cata¬ 
logue Is made unusually attractive by a wealth of descrip¬ 
tive illustrations. They also publish a little book called 
“Modern Silage Methods.” which contains a mine of informa¬ 
tion on silage, beginning with planting and carrying the 
question through its various subjects—cultivating.' harvest¬ 
ing. putting into the silo, feeding and results; also illus¬ 
trations and full information on the building of silos. This 
book is sent to any address for the sum of 10 cents, stamps 
or coin. But the illustrated catalogue containing much In¬ 
formation in itself is mailed free on request to above ad¬ 
dress. 
O. L. Chase, 415 Sixth Street, St. Louis, Mo., sends us 
a most interesting discussion on paint. Our first inclina¬ 
tion was to print it in full, but it would take considerable 
space, and if you are interested at this time in paints yon 
can get it by mail in reply to a postal card. Mr. Ohiase 
has evidently made a study of the paint subject, and has 
introduced some new features. ne ships the oil and 
color pigments in separate cans, to be mixed as used, and 
has produced a paint that be guarantees to last for eight 
years. He shins it direct, freight prepaid, from his factory 
to the consumer, and gives you an opportunity to use two 
gallons. If not satisfactory, he allows you to return the 
remainder, and makes no charge for the" two gallons used. 
Those are terms certainly intended to inspire confidence. 
If interested at all in paints, drop him a card as above, 
and he will send you the Information. 
