THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
115 
1906. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—The steamship Valencia of the Pacific Coast 
Steamship Company’s passenger fieet, which had tempo¬ 
rarily replaced the City of Pueblo on the San Francisco- 
i’uget Sound route, pending repairs to the regular boat, 
was driven to destruction in a dense fog January 20, 10 
miles east of Cape Beale, which marks the northern en¬ 
trance to Puget Sound. Only 35 persons were saved out 
of 154 ou board. The survivors were almost dead from 
exposure. . . . Union funerals will be demanded by the 
Funeral Drivers’ Union of New York and vicinity, which 
was organized as a local branch of the International Broth¬ 
erhood of Teamsters. A committee will be appointed to 
draft a new schedule of wages and conditions. This will 
be submitted to the undertakers when it is passed on at 
a meeting of the union. The first demand will be recogni¬ 
tion of the union. The closed shop in the driving of 
hearses and mourning carriages must be conceded or there 
will be trouble. The wages are to be graded according to 
the relative importance of the drivers at the funerals. The 
highest wages will be demanded for the hearse drivers. 
. Fourteen lives were lost in an explosion January 25 
in slope No. 4, of the VVitteville mine, Poteau, I. T. The 
explosion was caused by fire damp. ... A jury before 
Judge Thomas in the United States Court, New York, 
January 27, found William E. Van Schalck guilty of crim¬ 
inal negligence in failing to maintain a system of fire drills 
on board the excursion boat General Slocum, which was 
burned to the water’s edge in June, 1904. Van Schaiek 
was sentenced to 10 years in Sing Sing at hard labor. Van 
Schalck was over 00 years old, and regarded ns one of the 
best river captains in the employ of the Knickerbocker 
Steamship Company. The verdict, and especially the sen¬ 
tence, came as a great surprise to those in the court room. 
The Jury disagreed on the first two counts, but the third 
and most important, that of criminal negligence, was 
agreed upon within 23 minutes after retiring from the court 
room. . . . President Edwin It. Wright, of Typographi¬ 
cal Union No. 10, of Chicago, was fined January 29 by 
judge Holdom, of the Supreme Court, $100 and sentenced 
to 30 days in jail for contempt of court. Edward Bessette, 
a member of the union, was fined $50 and sentenced to 30 
days in jail. The union itself was fined $1,000. The charge 
was violation of an Injunction granted some weeks ago by 
which members of the union were enjoined from interfer¬ 
ing in any manner with the operation of the printing es¬ 
tablishments controlled by members of the Chicago Typo- 
thetae and from interfering in any manner with the non¬ 
union workmen employed in these establishments. In an¬ 
nouncing his decision Judge Holdom said: “It cannot be 
tolerated that any class, condition or combination of men 
can show its hostility to this court and flout its judgment 
and in open meeting express its contempt for the order and 
the judge. If this court cannot be upheld, then govern¬ 
ment is a fraud and a sham.” . . . That the Milwaukee 
Refrigerator Transit Company has recejVed a total of 
$00,520 in commissions since its organization in 1903, be¬ 
sides the suin of $229,979 in mileage, and that the sum of 
$100,500 had been paid in dividends during that period was 
the main fact brought out by the government January 29 
in examination of T. F. Howe, president of the company, 
at Milwaukee. The examination was held in connection 
with the suit recently instituted by the Government 
against the transit company, the I’abst Brewing Company 
and seven defendant railroad companies for alleged vio¬ 
lation of the Elkins anti-rebate act. . . . Claims of con¬ 
spiracy on the part of the Illinois Central, Chicago & 
Alton, Burlington, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, Lake Shore, 
New York Central, Boston and Albany, Lackawanna, and 
Lehigh Valley were made at Chicago recently before 
Chairman Knapp of the Interstate Commerce Commission. 
The charges were preferred by It. It. Shiel of Kankakee, 
Ill., who claims that the railroads were in conspiracy with 
the packers to ruin the business of independent packers in 
the Fast. Their efforts, it was charged, have been directed 
against him and others whereby he was charged excessive 
freight rates. The defence of the railroads was that Shiel 
changed the character of his shipments, which prevented 
his getting the through rates from the West. After hear¬ 
ing the evidence the commission adjourned to hear argu¬ 
ments March 1. 
ADMINISTRATION.—January 25, the House of Represen¬ 
tatives by a vote of 194 to 150, passed the bill providing 
for the admission of Oklahoma and Indian Territory and 
Arizona and New Mexico as two States. This was a ma¬ 
jority 17 greater than that by which the rule for the con¬ 
sideration of the bill was agreed to, an increase largely 
accounted for by the fact that of those Republicans who 
voted against the adoption of the rule, Representatives 
Darragh of Michigan, Fulkerson of Missouri, Gronna of 
South Dakota ami Steenerson of Minnesota voted for the 
bill, and Representatives Kennedy of Ohio, McLachlan of 
California, McMorran of Michigan, Otjen of Wisconsin and 
Slump of Virginia, who voted against the rule, were not 
recorded on the passage of the bill. There were 42 absen¬ 
tees on the roll call. Ilad they all voted against the bill 
it would still have had two majority. ... A resolution 
introduced in the House by Mr. Gillespie, Texas, calling 
on the President to furnish all information in the posses¬ 
sion of the Interstate Commerce Commission tending to 
show a combination among the Pennsylvania Railroad, the 
Baltimore and Ohio, the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Norfolk 
and Western and allied companies to restrain trade and 
create a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Anti-trust 
law, was passed, without division, January 29. 
THE BEEF PACKERS.—President Roosevelt caused to 
be given out for publication January 20 certain corre¬ 
spondence that had passed between him and Attorney- 
General Moody and between the Attorney-General and 
District Attorney Morrison at Chicago. The President 
made it known that his purpose in giving out this matter 
was to publish the fact that an attempt had been made 
through newspapers “to poison the public mind” in regard 
to the prosecution of the Chicago beef packers. Evidence 
was submitted to the Attorney-General by District At¬ 
torney Morrison, who Is conducting the Government's case 
against the packers, that a reporter for a Chicago news¬ 
paper accepted money from an attorney of the packers, in 
consideration of which he was “to color” his accounts of 
the trial in favor of the defendants. The case was handed 
over to the Secret Service bureau and It was developed 
also that another reporter had declined to accept money 
for tDo same purpose. The District Attorney found that 
it would be impossible to punish the guilty reporter for 
contempt of court or to disbar the attorney who gave the 
money. 
ISTHMIAN CANAL.—At the executive session of the 
Interoceanic Canal Committee January 26 President T. P. 
Shouts of the Canal Commission, admitted that he was 
drawing $12,000 a year salary from the Clover Leaf Rail¬ 
road Company. Mr. Shonts was before the committee, at 
two hearings. The first, in the morning, was behind closed 
doors. Labor and sanitary conditions were discussed. At 
the afternoon session, which was public, Mr. Shonts told 
of the repairs made upon houses to shelter employees. 
The French, he said, left 2,100 houses in more or less di¬ 
lapidated condition, and of this number 1,000 had been re¬ 
paired and made habitable. Hotels had been enlarged and 
some new hotels built. Senator Morgan inquired whether 
the hotels and houses already there would not be sufficient 
for all needs if the canal work was built by contract. Mr. 
Shonts replied in the affirmative, and added that no mat¬ 
ter whether the canal was built by contract or otherwise 
the United States ought to retain absolute control over the 
Canal Zone and direct the sanitation. He expressed the 
opinion that the Governor of the Canal Zone ought to 
reside and have his headquarters at Ancon, which is ad¬ 
jacent to Panama. 
STANDARD OIL INVESTIGATION.—As the result of 
the investigation at Cleveland, O., on the methods of the 
Standard and Republic Oil Companies, Attorney-General 
Wade Ellis may take action to oust both from Ohio. Mem¬ 
bers of the Scofield, Shurmer & Teagle firm testified to the 
throttling methods of the trust at the hearing January 26. 
They said that the Standard used every means possible to 
get customers away from them, and that frequently they 
were forced to cut rates to meet Standard prices. Should 
the Supreme Court of New York decide against Mr. Hadley in 
his quo wjfrranto proceedings to make II. H. Rogers and 
other Standard Oil officials answer his questions it is not 
expected that he will attempt to question local Standard 
officials. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Midland Live Stock Show 
will be held at Oklahoma City, Okla., March 13-16, in con¬ 
nection with the twelfth annual convention of the Oklahoma 
Live Stock Association. There will be a sale of registered 
stock, and a great roping contest. 
The institute scheduled for Red Hook, N. Y., March 
9-10, is to be held at Upper Red Hook: that at Mineola has 
been changed from February 7-8 to February 20-21. 
"APPROVED BOXES” ON RURAL MAIL 
ROUTES. 
At times there is trouble over the boxes on rural 
routes. The Postofliee Department issues certain rules 
and specifications covering such boxes, and reserves the 
right to refuse to put mail in any box not approved by the 
inspectors. At Clinton, Conn., a controversy arose between 
some of the patrons and the postal authorities over boxes. 
As stated to us some years ago, boxes then “approved” by 
the authorities were put up and used with satisfaction. 
Then, after this successful service, these patrons were in¬ 
formed that they must take these boxes down and buy new 
ones or their mail would not be delivered. It seemed a case 
of injustice, and we put the case before the authorities at 
Washington. After long delay we received the following 
letter, which seems to indicate that mistakes can be made In 
high places. The question is, will they be remedied? 
“This office is in receipt of your letter stating that you 
have received a communication from one of your sub¬ 
scribers in Clinton. Connecticut, stating that some years 
ago, when rural delivery was established at Clinton, patrons 
were notified that they must put op approved boxes, which 
they did. many of them paying $2.50 for a box: that it 
was understood that these boxes were approved by the 
Government and that they are still weatherproof and fit 
receptacles for mail, hut in spite of this the patrons have 
been notified by circular letter from this office that their 
boxes do not conform to the official regulations, and in¬ 
structed to put up new boxes. 
“In reply to your request for information upon the subject, 
you are informed that in compliance with directions from 
this office the Postmaster at Clinton, Conn., furnished the 
Department with a list of names of persons on rural routes 
from that office who were maintaining non approved boxes. 
In this list were included the names of a numlier of persons 
maintaining Corbin boxes, some of which were indicated as 
being made of wood and iron, while others were made of 
iron. 
“In February. 1901, a commission was appointed by the 
Postmaster General for the purpose of examining rural 
delivery boxes suitable for use on rural routes, and they 
recommended the adoption of 14 such boxes, among which 
was one manufactured and presented by the Corbin Cabinet 
Lock Company. New Britain. Conn. This box was con 
structed entirely of metal. Subsequently, with a view of 
permitting anyone to manufacture rural mail boxes who 
desired to do so, the Postmaster General, on July 9, 1902, 
issued an order giving specifications for the manufacture of 
rural mail boxes and the necessary method to be pursued to 
secure the approval of the same, and this order stated that 
the original 14 boxes, where erected on rural routes or 
contracted for by patrons in good faith prior to Oetoberl, 
1902, were entitled to be served, but that none of the orig¬ 
inal 14 boxes could be erected on rural routes and served 
by rural delivery after October 1. 1902. unless such boxes 
were manufactured according to specifications indicated in 
order No. 739 of the Postmaster General, herewith enclosed. 
“Inasmuch as the Corbin boxes made of wood and Iron 
maintained by patrons of rural delivery from Clinton. Conn., 
have never been recognized by the Department as approved 
boxes, patrons maintaining such boxes were given 60 days’ 
notice in which to provide themselves with approved boxes. 
It is probable that some of the Corbin boxes in use on rural 
routes from Clinton are of the pattern approved by the De- 
lartment prior to the promulgation of.order No. 739 of the 
’ostmaster General, which are entitled to be served, and 
that the persons maintaining these boxes have been improp¬ 
erly directed to substitute such boxes bv approved ones. 
'Ibis matter has. however, been taken up with the Postmas¬ 
ter at Clinton. Connecticut, with a view of ascertaining lust 
what kind of Corbin boxes are in use on the two routes from 
that office.” p. v. de graw. 
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General. 
HOMES IN THE MIDDLE SOUTH. 
I wish to have a say about the citv man removing to 
the country. M.v appeal is not to the rich man. He can 
live where he pleases, or to the very poor man. he must 
live where he can. My appeal is mainly to that great 
middle class who have been able to economize and save 
a little with the intent to own a home of their own. These 
by a judiciously selected home in the country will gain 
freedom, a day off when they please, time for a peaceful 
spell of sickness and convalescence, pure, fresh air and 
water; fresh fruits and vegetables for the table, real 
cream and butter, with buttermilk and sweet milk to 
drink. He will have bis own conveyance, and go when 
and where he pleases. His house will be large, roomy ami 
more comfortable; mixed shade and sunshine around It. 
The house yard will be large, well set with fruit, and 
Shade trees, flowers and green grass. He will find the 
schools and churches as good as those he left in the city. 
He can wear comfortable clothing at all times. He will 
find plenty of valued friends from the beginning, and these 
will give him honest advice about his farm operations, 
though he must at all times remember that one, however 
well intentloned, cannot plan for another. One thing he 
must be sure to select some crops that will bring in some 
money within the year, and he must remember never to 
pay out all his money; keep a little. 
And now 1 would advise seeking a home in the middle 
latitudes. There is a perversity in man that leads some to 
seek northern homes where they can bask in the genial 
warmth of a good fire, while others, too lazy to make a 
good fire, go south, where none is needed, leaving this 
great strip of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ten¬ 
nessee, South Missouri, and Arkansas with cheap lands and 
sparsely settled. Here in this middle latitude one is free 
from the lassitude of the South or the long tiresome shut-in 
months of the North. Here the climate is ideal, cold 
enough to give health and energy, yet warm enough to 
work at something in the open every day in the year. 
Here the greatest diversity of crops and systems of farming 
can be adopted. One can more nearly follow the bent or 
bis inclinations in this middle belt than elsewhere. Seek 
a situation near one of the great railroads running north 
and south, preferably on plateau land, and raise for your 
money crop such things as will bear transportation and sell 
for cash, and you will make no mistake. Summer fruits 
will go north, while Fall and Winter apples and pears will 
find a hungry market south. If one’s Inclinations are to 
raise the tree fruits he must seek something to bridge the 
chasm of five or six years until they begin to make a re¬ 
turn. Many things that are raised by the market gardener 
and sold in the city from his own wagon, must be avoided, 
and such things sought as will bear transportation and 
commission. Poultry and eggs fit these conditions and give 
almost immediate results; strawberries are ideal and give 
returns in one year. A short-legged, long, round-barreled 
medium-sized hog is ideal in an orchard, and will make a 
market for himself or his products anywhere; will give 
immediate remunerative and long continued results There 
is great diversity in the prices of lands of much the same 
quality in these middle latitudes, and many fine sections 
are handicapped by fool names given them by unthinking 
first settlers-, such as Frozen Creek. Brushy Fork Bear 
Wallow, Wind Sick. King’s Mountain and dozens of other 
foolish names that have served to preserve choice sections 
for us later comers. r A m'k- 
Kingsville, Ky. K ’ 
SALES OF IMPORTED POTATOES. 
Where Do They Go? 
It is some time since any European potatoes came here, 
fully 12 years, and, as my memory tells me, there has 
been none since then. I hardly believe that any will come, 
as our city Is full of native stock. frank m. (barber. 
Chicago. 
This foreign stock does not come into our market. I 
understand that some of this stock has been going to New 
5 ork, Norfolk and possibly to New Orleans, but do not. think 
very much to the latter point. cochrane & Hettinger. 
Chicago. 
There are very few foreign potatoes in this market, on 
account of the large local crop received around here. It is 
only when they are very scarce in this vicinity that we can 
use them. Our trade prefers (he domestic stock, either of 
our own raising or from New York State. 
Harrisburg, Pa. the Harrisburg grocery & produce co. 
We received the first lot of European potatoes which ar¬ 
rived In this port. It was a small consignment, and we 
sold it at the same price as we would Wisconsin Burbanks. 
He are buying Wisconsin Burbanks at 77 cents a bushel 
delivered here. We are satisfied that European potatoes 
could not be laid here at this price. We understand that 
a shipment of 600 sacks is due some time this week (Janu- 
ary 19). We do not know if they are consigned or pur¬ 
chased. If consigned, the chances are they will be sold 
at a low price. koiil.mann bros. & sugarman. 
New Ormans, La. 
We have rarely found any of these goods coming in our 
direction. We have handled in former seasons a few 
carloads only, bought from New York importers. As a 
rule, they do not sell as well as our domestic stoek, ami at 
the present moment ns compared with the handsome goods 
we are getting from Golorndo would be discounted 10 to 15 
cents per bushel. The introduction of European potatoes 
has a depressing effect on the market with us They are 
handled with us more as a curiosity than anything else. 
Memphis, Tenn, yt. carter & co. 
,, , >., .mi- uiiiiKei uere so rar 
this season. A few times in the past, when our home cron 
was short and prices very high, limited quantities of im¬ 
ported potatoes have found their wav into our market At 
this time and under present conditions we do. not believe 
they can get on our market with any satisfaction to the 
shippers. At the present time this market is well supplied 
with Ohio and Michigan stock, which is selling in a jobbing 
wav at 68 to 70 cents per bushel. The market is not strong 
but under moderate receipts is nearly steady. 
Columbus, Ohio. john amicon bro. & co. 
. : ,. iiiui. Luiiurr warns, mu si nave anil 
will have a flat roof for his many needed buildings. It 
should require a fall of but one or at most two inches to the 
foot. Such a roof requires less area to cover a building 
makes the upper story more convenient more roomv and 
less expensive. The roof being flat can be put on cheaper 
easier, better, quicker and safer, and the same holds good 
in repairing. I lie roof must be cheap, light, easilv put on 
wind, bail and water proof, and sufficlentlv fireproof to 
resist sparks or a lighted shingle, and with slight Inex¬ 
pensive and not too frequent repairs last forever There is 
the challenge. A fortune awaits the genius who makes the 
combination. j A MC K 
CELERA GOING TO SEED.—Many thanks for the Interest 
so many took in answering my questions about celery going 
to seed, page 3. I had a little experience last Summer with 
celery as follows: The first of June I bad a bed of celery 
plants in my glass house that were just large enough to 
set out in the field : they were three inches apart each wav 
There was no call for them, so we let them stand. We com¬ 
menced tearing down the house and rebuilding again and 
were not careful about treading on the plants, neither did 
we water them, so they got pretty dry : in fact so dry thev 
could not grow at all. We got the house enclosed the last 
of August, and as the celery plants were alive we thought 
we would let them stand there and grow them for our 
family use. The first of September I commenced watering 
them, and they made a rapid growth, and bv the middle of 
October we commenced using it. and have had all we wanted 
of very fine celery up to the first of January, when I dug 
up what was left, as I wanted to use the ground for other 
things. Not a single plant has shown any signs of going 
to seed. Why did they not go to seed if stopping their 
growth makes them go to seed? dexter field. 
Oregon. 
ONTARIO NOTES.—.While a practical fruit grower and 
shipper. I can and do receive other Canadian farm papers 
that perhaps are more in touch with our conditions, as to 
kinds of fruits to set out in different localities, vet I find 
the old R. N.-Y. a reliable standby for solid, plain, well- 
written articles that pertain to fruit growing and kin¬ 
dred subjects. Ontario has had a banner year. Cheese, 
good price all through the season : pasturage.’ good; apples! 
fair crop, high price and good quality: eggs the same. I be¬ 
lieve the laborer, mechanic, the farmer and shipper have just 
closed the best and most profitable business year in the history 
of Ontario, with splendid prospects for next year. I have 
shipped 4,700 barrels of apples myself: sold $530 worth of 
apples out. of my own orchard. I have 25 acres now ; set¬ 
ting out 10 more next Spring. This farm could onlv pro¬ 
duce mortgages before I bought it. I have raised 12 chil¬ 
dren, splendid investment: set out orchards, moved barns, 
built houses, and still doing business at the old stand. 
There Is no luck or chance in these results. Unity hard 
work, sobriety, intelligent management, good pay to help, 
good board, are contributive factors to success. w. j. b. 
Warkworth, Ont., Can. 
