1906. 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
139 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Charged with conspiracy to defraud the 
United States out of 20,000 acres of land in Hooker County, 
Nebraska, Rev. George G. Ware, rector of a church in Leads, 
S. D., and president of the U. B. I. Cattle Company of 
Nebraska, was found guilty by a jury in Judge Munger's 
court at Omaha. Neb., January 20, on every count of the 
two indictments on which lie was being tried. The case 
has been one of the hardest fought of all the land fraud 
proceedings. The Department of Justice was understood 
to be especially anxious for a conviction, for the reasons 
that Ware was considered one of the worst offenders against 
the homestead laws, and also because the case was con¬ 
sidered as a test of the possibility of procuring convictions 
under the charge of conspiracy. The evidence in the case 
showed that systematic filings by inmates of the Grand 
Island soldier's home and by old soldiers from Iowa and 
other points were made in behalf of Ware through the instru¬ 
mentality of Frank W. Lambert and Harry Welch, co-defend¬ 
ants in the case. Ware admitted paying a commission to 
Lambert of .$.30 for each filing secured. He explained on 
the stand he wanted friendly homesteaders on the range 
who would permit him to use their hay and pasture land. 
Lambert and Welch pleaded guilty to the charge of con¬ 
spiracy, and Lambert was the chief witness for the govern¬ 
ment.After a trial lasting twelve days, Helen 
M. Post, the famous “mental healer,” was found guilty in 
the United States Court at Jacksonville, Fla.. February .3. 
She was sentenced to pay $500 fine and serve .30 days in jail. 
Mrs. Post, who is 75 years old, was head of the Mental 
Science Institute at Sea Breeze, Fla., and was charged with 
using the mails for fraudulent purposes. Her patients 
resided in every State in the Union. She professed to cure 
all ills by “absent treatment.” She was convicted about 
two years ago and sentenced to imprisonment for one year 
and one day. She appealed and the decision was reversed. 
Notice of appeal was given and the defendant was released 
on $2,000 ball. . . . Captain Mark Casto and his crew 
of six men were made beneficiaries of the Carnegie Hero 
Fund, January 31, for their gallant rescue of 42 sailors and 
10 passengers from the Clyde liner Cherokee on January 14. 
Besides medals to the captain and crew, a sum aggregating 
$0,500 is awarded. Captain Casto, besides receiving a gold 
medal, is awarded $1,500, so much of it as may be nec¬ 
essary to be used for the purpose of liquidating the mort¬ 
gage on his property at Pleasantville, N. J. Five thousand 
dollars is to be set aside as a special fund, from which the 
executive committee shall pay such amounts as they approve 
from time to time for the education of Mark Jacob Casto, the 
nine-year-old son of Captain Casto. The disposition is 
made by the desire of Captain Casto. The crew, besides re¬ 
ceiving a silver medal, each, get $500, to be placed to their 
credit as a savings fund, in trust, for two years from the 
date of award, the income to be paid semi-annually until the 
expiration of the trust, when the principal is to be paid in 
full. In case of the death of the beneficiary, the principal 
and interest standing to his credit shall be paid to his next 
of kin. The money and medals are to be awarded at once. 
A further resolution was passed expressing the high apprecia¬ 
tion of the bravery and devotion to duty shown by the 
members of the United States Life Saving crews of North 
and South Brigantine stations. . . . The depth of the 
people’s feelings and purposes regarding crime in Chicago 
was responsible for two stirring anti-crime meetings January 
■31. At a meeting of the Anti-Crime League the sentiment 
was unanimous for $1,000 saloon licenses—a measure which 
will at once provide funds for the employment of more 
policemen, and reduce the number of barrooms. It was 
announced by the State's attorney that eight judges would 
sit in the Criminal Court and endeavor to clear the calendar, 
which includes the cases of 90 men and women charged with 
murder and attempted homicide. . . . The horror felt 
by tha people of Seattle, Wash., at the spectacle of rescue 
parties leaving helpless men, women and children to their 
fate clinging to the rigging of the wrecked steamer Valencia 
received expression at the meeting of the Chamber of Com¬ 
merce January 31, when Josiah Collins introduced a resolu¬ 
tion. calling upon President Roosevelt to send from Wash¬ 
ington a board of inquiry. Convinced that the investigation 
into the conditions of the Valencia at the time of the wreck 
being held by the local United States inspectors is an 
attempt to whitewash the steamship .company and Its officers 
and acquit themselves and brother inspectors of the charge 
freely made against them of passing worthless life-saving 
equipment and unseaworthy boats, the citizens of Seattle 
anxiously await the decision of President Roosevelt. At the 
local investigation the testimony has shown that the life 
preservers contained no cork at all. but reeds that sank 
when thrown Into the water: one passenger ripped open 50 
and tested them and all sank, although they were passed by 
Government inspectors two weeks before. It has been shown 
that there were no fire drills on the Valencia; that members 
of the crew 7 occupied the lifeboats to the exclusion of 
passengers, that the steamship Queen, within half a mile of 
the wreck, refused to give aid, although sailors among the 
survivors swore it could easily have been done; that there 
were no oars in the lifeboats; that the taps would not fit 
in the bottom of the lifeboats and that the captain displayed 
no competency whatsoever. . . . The practices of the 
Building Trades Council of St. Louis are severely condemned 
by the December Grand Jury in its report. The Grand 
•fury recommends that immediate steps be taken to enact 
State laws covering intimidation, extortion and conspiracy 
in restraint of trade for the specific purpose of regulating 
the trades unions. The report declares that the policy of the 
unions is not only illegal, but subversive of personal and 
property rights. The report declares that mechanics cannot 
get employment unless they join unions and pay almost pro¬ 
hibitory initiation fees; that the making of apprentices 
is under such strict regulation that a proprietor cannot even 
teach his own son a trade in his own shop; that contractors 
have been forced into making agreements not to use material 
from a sub-contractor who is deemed unfair to labor unions 
and that Investments cannot be made in building enterprises 
without being subject to artificial conditions created by the 
illegal acts of the Building Trades Council, and the unions 
affiliated with it. 
ADMINISTRATION.—Richard G. Wagner, owner of sugar 
factories at Chippewa Falls and Menominee Falls, Wis., 
opposed the Philippine tariff bill in the hearing before the 
Senate Committee on the Philippines, Februray 1. He de¬ 
clared that it costs 3% cents a pound to produce sugar in 
the United Stales, and that Philippine sugar could be de¬ 
livered in (he interior of flic United Stales for two cents 
a pound if the duty were taken off. The passage of the bill, 
he said, would destroy the sugar interests of the United 
States within 10 years at the outside, for the reason that 
capital could not be induced to invest in the face of such 
competition, and therefore progress in the way of reducing 
the cost of production would be at a standstill. lie took 
the position that with the encouragement of protection the 
cost of production in this country would be lessened at least 
one cent a pound within the next two or three years. This 
statement was based on the fact that the farmers of 
Wisconsin have taken so kindly to the beet raising that the 
factories are no longer compelled to solicit acreage con¬ 
tracts. Mr. Wagner said the farmers now average $5 a 
ton for beets, making the gross receipts per acre about $75, 
and that with improved agricultural equipment they could 
afford to raise the crops for much less. 
STANDARD OIL.—Senator Minturn, of Hudson County, 
N. J., introduced in the N. J. Senate January 30 a joint reso¬ 
lution instructing the Attorney-General to proceed against the 
subsidiary companies of the Standard Oil for the purpose 
of annulling their charters. The resolution was referred to 
the Judiciary Committee. . . . Oil producers of Kansas 
and the territories who met at Kansas City January .30 to 
consider the recent, decision of the Standard Oil Company 
to purchase only half the usual quantity of oil in this field, 
recognized In this a club which was being held over their 
heads to induce them to oppose the agitation in Missouri 
against the trust. They are at the mercy of the corporation, 
however, and all they could do was to vote to curtail their 
production, as there is no other buyer and all the storage 
tanks in the district are filled. .T. E. O'Neill, manager for 
the Standard in the Kansas field, told the producers that 
in view of the hostility of Attorney-General Hadley the 
company had decided to abandon construction of its second 
pipe line to Whiting, Ind. . . . Frederick II. Soile, a 
former independent oil dealer of Springfield, Ill., filed suit. 
January 30. for $50,000 damages against the Standard Oil 
Company of Kentucky, alleging that the company sent 
representatives into the field to drive him out of business. 
ISTHMIAN CANAL.—T. P. Shonts, chairman of the 
Panama Canal Commission, was a witness before the Inter- 
oceanic Canals Committee of the Senate January 30. He 
was examined concerning the Market contract for feeding 
the employees and about labor conditions. lie admitted that 
he had made the contract with Markel without consulting 
Chief Engineer Stevens, because he was anxious to get things 
moving, and he abrogated the contract after receiving a 
cablegram from Engineer Stevens stating that Markel would 
make $1,000,000 out of it and that employees were com¬ 
plaining of the service. There were frequent references 
in Mr. Shonts’s testimony to the “gold roll" and the "silver 
roll,” which proved to be a classification of employees, the 
whites being paid in gold and the colored laborers in silver 
Senator Simmons asked if Mr. Markel didn't agree to reduce 
the price of feeding employees from 40 cents to 30 cents a 
day, and Chairman Shonts replied in the affirmative. In 
his judgment Markel wouldn’t have made any money at 30 
cents, and it would have required $200,000 capital to 
organize the business on a proper basis. Mr. Shonts said 
that the employees were apparently well satisfied. Health 
conditions were excellent. Not a single case of yellow fever 
had been reported at Panama for 74 days, and at Colon none 
had been reported for 90 days, except one doubtful case. 
“The period included covers the worst fever season of the 
year,” said he. “We had 250 United States marines stationed 
there for a year.” said Mr. Shonts, “and never lost a man.” 
lie said hospital accommodations wTre abundant and sepa¬ 
rate hospitals were maintained for whites and colored, or 
there was what was termed a “gold hospital” and a “silver 
hospital.” Mr. Shonts was questioned concerning the wages 
of labor and replied that there were two bases, but the 
average daily wage was $2.76 a day. “You could get 
Chinamen cheaper than that?” inquired Mr. Morgan. “Yes, 
we have an offer of Chinamen at $1 a day.” Mr. Shonts 
said lie had been experimenting with labor from the north 
of Spain. The eight hour law applied, but the contract 
labor law and Chinese exclusion law did not apply, lie 
believed the workmen received too much pay. lie would 
increase the hours to 10 and allow the pay to remain the 
same, thereby adding 20 per cent to the results. TTe de¬ 
clared the Canal Zone was not wide enough, in his judgment. 
THE BEEF TRUST.—Charles G. Dawes, president of the 
Central Trust Company of Illinois, Edward Morris, vice- 
president of the Fairbanks Canning Company, and Saul 
McRoberts, treasurer of the Armour interests, in the United 
States Court January 30 swore that Commissioner of Cor¬ 
porations Garfield promised the packers immunity from 
prosecution. These witnesses testified also that Mr. Garfield 
said he spoke with authority after having conferred at length 
with the President of the United States and the Secretary 
of the Department of Commerce. The witnesses declared 
that Garfield went so far as to promise that the President 
would hold inviolate the information that might be divulged. 
That Mr. Garfield demanded his information under oath 
was shown by Mr. Morris when ho identified a letter sent to 
him by Mr. Garfield. Because of this demand, the packers 
contended, they are entitled to immunity under the provision 
of the laws invoked by the Government. 
SUGAR BEETS IN NEW YORK. 
In 1905, about 5,000 acres in Central New York were 
growing sugar beets. The industry has proved to be so 
remunerative as to make the probable increase for 1906 to 
Include 8,000 acres. The only factory for making beet 
sugar is at Lyons, the capital of Wayne County, where in 
1904 about 500,000 tons of granulated sugar were made. 
A fair average yield of sugar beets per acre in Central 
New York is probably 18 tons, and the price, at the cars, 
or nearest railroad station, is $5. Some growers, who take 
to work late in the morning are satisfied with a yield or 
15 tons per acre, while one other, who has “the get-there 
gait,” and even in the unfavorable season of 1904, gathered 
28 tons on one acre, rtf course this land was most thor¬ 
oughly enriched and cultivated, and of the sandy loam order. 
Perhaps the most remarkable fact connected with this 
remarkable yield, is that the plants, or beets, were in every 
way two feet apart; that is. they were two feet apart in 
the row and the rows were two feet apart. The probabil¬ 
ities of a profitable investment were far from flattering 
when the little plants were first cultivated, as the vacant 
spaces seemed to present such a waste of ground, but in 
the fullness of time all beets joined hands, covering all 
space. Three crops of beets In succession, on the same 
ground, should be the outside limit. Commercial fertilizers 
at the rate of 400 pounds per acre, and harrowed in just 
before putting in the seeds, will l>e the order in the absence 
of stable manure, and will be the order regularly with some 
growers, because of less weeds and less bending of backbone. 
The time to sow the beet seed is in corn-planting time, or 
when apple trees are in full bloom. Never attempt to grow 
beets on land that has been pre-empted by “quack.” About 
12 pounds of seed will be required on an acre, and can be 
obtained at the sugar factory in Lyons. There is usually 
only one weeding by hand. 
In addition to the $90 or $100 per acre for the beets, 
the dairy farmer will find in the remaining pulp, after the 
sugar has been extracted, one of the richest, cheapest and 
best milk-producing products ever fed in early Winter. This 
pulp is now eagerly sought by dairy farmers, and has a 
ready sale from Buffalo on the west to the valley of the 
Hudson on the east. c. f. b. 
Auburn, N. Y. _ 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN NEW YORK 
Dr. Merrill. President of Colgate University, located at 
Hamilton, N. Y., one of the most prominent educators in the 
State, addressed the Farmers’ Institute at Hamilton upon 
the general question of education. “We have," said the 
Doctor, “450 young men pursuing studv at Colgate, of whom 
115 are working for the ministry. The founders of this 
institution said we must have an institution -to prepare 
clergy for the wilderness from Albany to Niagara Falls. 
We are not training men in farm science or practice, but I 
am deeply interested in the subject. In my opinion the 
Federal and State Governments are not doing enough for 
the farmer. I believe more money should be turned over to 
you and to those institutions equipped to train men along 
agricultural lines, rtf what value is a knowledge of Greek 
to a man who cannot use judgment concerning the common 
things of living? A man must be able to make both ends 
meet or of what value is his education? I have lived here long 
enough in this section of short, growing period and long 
cold dormant Winters to understand that the problem or 
farm work is a complex one. and young men who intend to 
follow this practice should be trained therefore, and I want 
to give my voice and energy in whatever manner it may 
present itself towards the uplift of agriculture.” 
The writer felt gratified to hear this distinguished educa¬ 
tor and college executive take this broad and generous view 
of farm and country necessity. I believe we should court 
the views and ask the support of men of this type. We 
must have the colleges of this Slate, and this will apply to 
every State, deeply and thoroughly interested in the great 
subject of agricultural training. There was in New 
York some disagreement among our college pffcsidents con¬ 
cerning the proper administration of this subject, and at 
that time perhaps some words said upon both sides that did 
not at the time promote the kindliest feeling, and perhaps 
would better never been said. But the heat of battle has 
passed, and we are now face to face with the real problem of 
inaugurating the most complex of all-educational schemes, 
that of teaching agriculture in our secondary schools, or 
in an independent or separate school. We need the help 
of these trained men in solving the problem, and the writer 
firmly believes we should associate these men with our own 
special thinkers along this line. Let every educator become 
a party to the solution of a question that involves not only 
the welfare of the country dweller, but of every human 
being, viz., agricultural education._ h. e. cook. 
FLORIDA NOTES. 
Manatee County has more acres of naturally fertile soil 
than any other section of Florida. It is peculiarly adapted 
to truck growing. Two crops of potatoes can be grown 
each year. The land being fiat, the potatoes are planted on 
high wide ridges to keep them out of the wet. Mixed trains 
are run by the Seaboard Railroad, which serves this section, 
the aim being to accommodate the fruit and vegetable growers 
with careful service rather than to please the tourists with 
rapid trains. Many northern families have, for health 
reasons, located at Sarasota in comfortable Winter homes. 
They come every Winter to enjoy the climate, and for hunt¬ 
ing, boating and fishing. Many tarpon are caught. I saw 
a young man catch a fine string of sea bass from the dock 
using black linen thread for a line. At. last a big fish got 
away with hook and sinker, which ended the fun for the 
time. The land in Manatee County is especially adapted to 
sugar cane, which grows 12 feet in a season, and the 
planting lasts 20 years. Many small farmers have a “sugar 
patch” and make their own syrup and brown sugar. 
The It. N.-Y. may possibly have sent to it accounts of 
other clusters of grape fruit, some of which may be larger 
than the one of which I recently sent a picture. I heard of 
one the other day which numbered 24 and in a recent issue 
of the Seaboard Magazine there Is a representation of a 
very large cluster, and also a fine picture of a tree loaded 
with pomelos showing the characteristic bunch form. I 
notice that turnips here are always sold in bunches, with 
the tops on, no matter how big the roots or tops are, anil 
ascertained that the cut-up turnips are cooked with the 
tops which are eaten ns greens. We have learned to like them, 
and can now somewhat understand how badly a homesick 
Florida Congressman felt when he had to send home to have 
some sent by mail. A Florida lady fells me they should be 
cooked two hours with but little water and with a nice 
piece of fat salt pork, here called bacon. The grounds of 
the Tampa Bay Hotel, now the property of the citv and in 
use as a public park, are ablaze with scarlet Poinsettia, 
which in New York is grown only in hothouses. The 
property, comprising 63 acres, cost the late Henry B. riant 
$.3,000,000, and was bought by the city for $125,000. The 
orange crop is large this year, and picking has about ceased. 
'Plie groves have l>een rejuvenated, and now have the healthy 
prosperous look they had previous to the freeze of 1895. At 
the start orange buyers paid for the fruit in the groves $1.50 
per box, the price dropping afterward to 90 cents. 
_ J. YATES PEEK. 
NEW YORK NOTES.—This has been quite a wonderful 
Winter here; plowed about seven acres in January; have 
about 4,oo<) of the older peach trees trimmed, brush burned, 
etc. I have not trimmed the younger trees yet, but will go 
at it soon. The buds were all right up to yesterday but 
the thermometer was four below zero this morning and has 
been near zero or b»low all day. I hardly think It will 
hurt many of them though, as they were very dormant before 
the warm weather came. t. h. k. 
Tompkins Co., N. Y. 
INDIANA NOTES.—We have two canning factories in our 
town; they are paying the following prices this season: 
Tomatoes. August delivery, $8 per ton : September delivery. 
$7: October delivery, $6. Beans. No. 1, $25 per ton: No. 2. 
$20; No. .3, $15. Pumpkins $2.50 per ton. Very open 
Winter. Corn in bottoms only half gathered, badlv damaged 
from wet weather and overflow. Prices, corn 38 cents; 
eggs, 15; butter, 13; hens. 8; geese, 60 cents each; calves, 
5 to 5Y 2 ; hogs, 4 Vt to 414 per pound. f. j, n. 
Austin, Ind. _ 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Opr readers will find it of interest to them to write to 
the .Tudson A. Tolman Company, 7744 Woodlawn avenue, 
Chicago, for a catalogue of their steel ranges. Their experi¬ 
ence in steel range manufacturing enables them to sell steel 
ranges direct from factory to farm at a. cost of less than 
one-half of what your local dealer would charge you for 
the same range. They have such confidence In their ranges, 
that they are willing to ship them on one year’s decision 
trial. Send for catalogue E. 
Heavy steel wire for fencing is, of course, more expensive 
than light wire, if only the first cost is considered The 
thrifty farmer, however, looks ahead and the question of 
durability and service is more important. The Frost Wire 
Fence Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, lias- demonstrated that 
their heavy wire fence is more economical than the best 
light fence. High carbon “specially tempered” coiled, spring 
steel running wires, and heavy, hard steel uprights con¬ 
nected with the Frost New Locks prevents the fence from 
sagging, as all light fences invariably do. Upon request 
the Frost Company will mail a catalogue and a small model 
demonstrating the merit of the Frost New Lock. 
Every housekeeper knows that washing clothes is a very 
simple operation. There Is only one wav, however to wash 
clothes clean, and that is to take good soap and water and 
rub the dirt out. But washing by hand with a tub and 
washboard is such hard work that most women are not 
equal to the task. There is a better way, and we’d like for- 
you to know about it. There is at least one washing ma¬ 
chine that actually relieves washdav of all its hard dis¬ 
agreeable features; that washes clothes as clean as the 
best hand washer in the world can possiblv do it; that does 
the work in less than half the time, with less than half the 
exertion, and overcomes every objection you mav have to a 
washing machine. Wouldn’t you like - to know about such a 
machine? Mr. Ball, the inventor of this washing machine- 
wants to send you his beautiful little book, “The Favorite- 
Way on Wash Day.” Write for it to-dav. it’s free 
Address, It. M. Ball, 115 Cleveland street, Muricie, Ind. 
Tub United Factories Company, of Cleveland. O has 
united with them this year under the one selling head 
the following factories: Cleveland 'l’op Co.; The Itovai 
Carriage and Harness Co.: Invincible Steel Wheel Co ; Cleve¬ 
land Paint and Varnish Co.; The Cleveland Steel Range Co * 
Ohio Sewing Machine Co.; Consumers’ Tool Co ; The 
Hearwell Telephone Co. The plan under which these factor¬ 
ies operate is unique. They have alreadv closed up the 
sales end of their own business and cut out all selling ex¬ 
penses. and they are selling their entire output to con¬ 
sumers under one selling head. The United Factories Com¬ 
pany are thus enabled to offer to the readers of farm papers 
a wide range of useful articles at less than regular factory 
prices. They have issued a big catalogue, combining the 
old catalogues of all these people, which should he in the 
hands of everyone of our readers who are looking for 
bargains. Address, United Factories Co., Dept. 31 Cleve¬ 
land, Ohio. 
