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1§06. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
637 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC*—William Ilochstein, proprietor of Ihe Interna¬ 
tional Shipping Office, 5 Clinton St., N. Y., was arraigned be¬ 
fore United States Commissioner Shields August 1 on a war¬ 
rant charging him with peonage. The complaint was made 
by Annie Lipkowich, who avers that her husband, Philip, 
went to Ilochstein on May 30 for employment, and was sent 
by him ou a ship to Alabama, where he was to be employed 
by the Nixon Lumber Company, near Montgomery. She has 
never heard from her husband, she says, and fears he is a 
prisoner >n some turpentine camp in the South. David Rob¬ 
erts, secretary of Ihe Southern Immigration Society, called 
on Commissioner Shields and denied that the alleged abuses 
existed. He showed clippings from southern papers denying 
the alleged peonage said to exist in the lumber, turpentine 
and pitch camps. Mr. Rol>erts had just come from a meet¬ 
ing of the Southern States Immigration Commission at 
No. I.lti Fifth avenue. At its meeting the commission dis¬ 
cussed the peonage rumors, and decided that something 
should be done to assure foreigners going out to the camps 
that nothing of the kind could happen where labor was sent 
to proper places. .Tames E. Graybill. general counsel, was 
ordered to take steps to prevent undesirable labor going 
South. . . . The last saloon license that will be issued 
in Chicago until the 1 city nearly doubles its present popula¬ 
tion was given out July .31. The license number is 7,.353. 
Under the Markin ordinance, which went into effect August 
I, no more saloons will be permitted in Chicago until the 
ratio is one saloon for every 500 population. . . . Chi¬ 
cago lias more prisoners awaiting trial for murder than any 
other large city in the world with the exceptions of St. 
Petersburg and Rome. Chicago leads New York and Paris 
by a large margin, while London, with her unparalleled pop¬ 
ulation, has no prisoners whatever awaiting trial for mur¬ 
der against Chicago’s 35. Judge Thomas, of Alabama, in a 
series of statistics on this subject, says the proportion of 
homicides to population in the United States is now 129.3 
per million annually. In Canada the annual proportion is 
3 per million. . . . The Yosemlte Valley was formally 
turned over to the United States Government August 1 by 
the Yosemite Valley Commission. As soon as the transfer is 
made the Federal authorities will be in possession of the 
famous park that for years lias been under State control. 
The State Commission died hard, contending that there 
was doubt about the constitutionality of the act of recession, 
but the Attorney-General of California advised them to make 
the transfer. The passing of the State commission will he 
welcomed by all Californians, as it was made up of profes¬ 
sional politicians, who took no interest in the proper care 
of the valiey. . . . John W. Neff, former Auditor of 
Erie County,* N. Y., was found guilty Augus't 2 of grand 
larceny in the first degree. Neff is the second man to lie 
convicted in the graveyard scandal, which has stirred up 
Buffalo and Erie county for two years. Rowland J. Con¬ 
over, the man who had the contract to clear the graveyard 
for an armory site, was the first to be convicted. Sen¬ 
tence upon him has been held up for several months, and he 
was tlie chief witness for the people. Others indicted in this 
case were Frederick Greiner, one of the big Higgins leaders in 
Buffalo and the postmaster of Buffalo; Frederick O. Mur¬ 
ray, the Collector of the Port; Gibson, Jackson and Stock, 
supervisors, who, it is alleged, shared the swag with Neff. 
Greiner was tried for bribery and acquitted, the court hold¬ 
ing that the evidence of an accomplice uncorroborated was 
not sufficient. Murray. Gibson, Jackson and Stock are wait¬ 
ing sentence. . . . Terrible heat conditions are prevail¬ 
ing in the Inyo County, Cal., gold fields and adjacent desert, 
and mining prospectors are dying daily from sunstroke. W. 
H. Adams, a mining engineer, who has returned from the 
Panamint range, says eight prospectors were brought in 
dead from the heat while lie was in_jhe region. At Baltarat 
he relates, the thermometer registered 135 at noon and at 
midnight stood at 116 dgrees, which was the average for 
three days. In the desert section lying south of Redlands 
the mercury went up to 160 and could record no higher. 
. . . Punishment by death is recommended by the July 
Grand Jury in Chicago as the maximum penalty for attacks 
on women. The recommendation was made to Judge Dupuy, 
In the Superior Court August 2. Changes were also rec¬ 
ommended in the existing laws prescribing punishment for 
assailants of children. 'Fhe action Is the outcome of the 
prevalence in Chicago of such attacks. . . . William 
II. Belcher, who while Mayor of Paterson, N. J.. embezzled 
more than $150,000 and absconded a year ago, but returned 
and surrendered July 30,. was arraigned before Justice Scott 
in the Passaic County Court August 3 and sentenced to serve 
12 years at hard labor in the State prison at, Trenton. 11 is 
embezzlements wrecked a building and loan company, and 
wiped out the entire savings of many working people who 
had trusted him. . . . Hatfield, the rainmaker of Los 
Angeles, returned to Victoria. B. C., August 4 from Dawson, 
where he had been retained to bring sufficient water from the 
clouds to accommodate the hydraulic interests of the Up¬ 
per Yukon. If successful he was to receive a bonus of 
$10,000 from the mine owners and the territorial govern¬ 
ment. lie failed, but the territorial government pays all 
expenses of himself and his brother from the time they left 
I. os Angeles until they return. Some Klondikers assert that 
the Hatfields simply looked wise and exhibited their cloth 
covered cabinet (which no one was permitted to enter), 
In order to enjoy a pleasant and profitable Summer. 
The Milwaukee Avenue State Bank. 409 Milwaukee avenue, 
Chicago, was closed August 6 by the State Bank Examiner 
Th e cause of the closing was gross malfeasance on the part 
of two leading officers, President Paul O. Stensland and 
Cashier II. W. Bering. It develops that the bank was looted 
to the extent of about $700,000. This amount in fictitious 
notes was found. It is not yet known what was done with 
the money lost, whether the amount was put in wildcat 
real estate speculation or in the security market: but mem¬ 
bers of the Clearing House committee were told that fully 
$ 700,000 was wholly unprotected—was represented entirely 
bv bogus notes. . . . Sixtv-five farmers of Bartholomew, 
ihd. feeling Ihemselves outraged by the reckless speed at 
which automobiles are driven over the county, have joined 
in a petition to the county prosecutor asking for the right 
to carry arms. They say they and their wives and chil¬ 
dren are in constant danger from auto drivers, and that 
they ought to be permitted to defend their lives and to be 
prepared to do so. The petition says that they ask the 
privilege under the State law, knowing that they would be 
amenable if found carrying revolvers without a record of 
their right to do so being made in the courts. 3 here have 
been a number of accidents from reckless driving of machines 
in the countv the past few weeks, but the immediate cause 
of tills petition was the running down on August 4 of Mrs. 
Polly O’Neal. She is 65 years of age and was seriously 
injured in the accident. Tlie occupants of the machine came 
to' her assistance for a few seconds, but refused to give 
their names. Their machine was not registered, and Mrs. 
O'Neil does not know who it was that ran her down. . . . 
A deer delilieratelv kicked up its heels August 4 in the face 
of Joseph Beauregard’s horse at Ware. Mass., which in its 
fright overturned Beauregard’s milk wagon. Beauregard 
presented Deputy Game Commissioner D. T. Shea with a 
claim for several' hundred quarts of milk and damages to his 
milk wagon, for which, he savs. he is entitled to compen¬ 
sation under the statute providing recompense for the depre¬ 
dations of deer. . . . August 7 the grand jury found 
true bills against 14 members of the Philadelphia. Pa., Ice 
Exchange, charged with conspiracy to increase the price of 
ice. . . . Twenty-five people are known to have been 
drowned, hundreds were rendered homeless and $590,000 
worth of property was destroyed as the result of a flood in 
south Texas August 7, when the Colorado River was forced 
out of its banks bv heavv rains. There has been great destruc¬ 
tion of property and growing crops in the lowlands. At Brown- 
wood it is reported that five hundred persons are homeless. 
The Concho River is within three feet of the high mark of 
1900 A strip of eountrv 30 miles long and from two to four 
miles wide is covered with from three to 10 feet of water. 
GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS.—The Italian steamer Sirlo. 
from Genoa and Barcelona for Buenos Ayres, was lost off 
Cape Palos. Spain. August 4: 645 of those aboard were saved 
and about 300 lost. I,caving Genoa on August 2. with about 
600 Italian emigrants on board, the Sirio called at Barcelona, 
Where she embarked some Spaniards. Altogether her pas¬ 
sengers are believed to have numbered between 700 and 800. 
Her crew numbered 127. Many of the emigrants were on 
deck when the vessel ran on submerged rocks. The shock 
was very severe Shortly after the steamer struck her boil¬ 
ers exploded, which accounts, it is believed, for many deaths. 
The fate of the vessel.was apparent at once and the wildest 
panic ensued, in which terrible scenes were enacted. Many 
persons were killed in fights to obtain life belts and to get 
into the small boats. The Sirio filled quickly and went down 
by the stern. The company owns 104 vessels and is building 
seven others. It lately bought the steamers British Empire, 
British Prince and British Princess. Since 1884 it had car¬ 
ried 11,000,000 passengers without the loss of a life. Pop¬ 
ular rage continues to be centered on the captain's alleged 
cowardice after the steamer struck. The accident is ascribed 
to tiis overconfidence in his knowledge of the coast. A saloon 
passenger, who is a godson of Queen Margherita of Italy, 
savs he saw several women .clinging to life belts in the water 
thumped with their fists by men until they were compelled 
to let go the belts. aid.all were drowned. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Summer meeting of the New 
Y’ork State Fruit Growers’ Association will be held at Fre- 
donia August 30-31. The following programme is offered: 
Address of welcome. I,. McKinstry : response, S. D. Willard, 
Geneva, N. Y.; “Some Recent Investigations into Spray 
Injury.'’ Prof. U. P. Hedrick, horticulturist at the Geneva 
Experiment Station, and Mr. Charles Wilson, instructor in 
horticulture at Cornell University. Question Box, con¬ 
ducted by Mr. Willard. “ r I'he N. Y. State Fruit Growers’ 
Association Its Past and Future.” F. E. Dawley, Fayette¬ 
ville, N. Y.; “Some Up-to-Date Methods in Grape Growing,” 
Sherman J. Lowell. I’omfret, N. Y.; “Commercial Fruit 
Growing in the Province of Ontario.” Linus Woolverton, 
Grimsby, Ontario, secretary of the Hoard of Control of the 
Ontario Fruit Stations: “The Future of the Chautauqua 
Grape Industry,” Winfield A. Holcomb, Fredonia, N. Y. : 
“The Mulch System as Applied Young Trees,” II. W. Col- 
lingwood. The 31st will be spent in visiting points of in¬ 
terest in the Chautauqua fruit section. T. B. Wilson, Hall’s 
Corners, N. Y., president; E. C. Gillett, Penn Yan, N. Y., 
secretary. 
THE DESTROYING OF NIAGARA FALLS. 
On page 589 Mr. McFarland speaks of “the plain people 
of the country who come to see the Falls because they love 
the Falls, and are uplifted and benefited by viewing God’s 
majesty as there displayed.” In fact, the great majority 
(of the great minority of plain people) who visit the Falls 
go there just as they'would go to a picnic, or to a circus— 
foil a day’s outing or out of curiosity, and they would be 
uplifted and benefited just as much by going to the seashore- 
or to any pleasure resort. In all creation the predominance 
of the utilitarian spirit can be recognized. I cannot 
imagine that a kind and all-wise Providence has created the 
great cataracts and rushing waters' of the world just for the 
sake of their circus show features. When hungry humanity 
asks for bread, thq great Creator does not hang up the rich 
loaves in a show case and say : “You can look (at so much 
a look) but you mustn’t touch !” I cannot look at the Falls 
without being uplifted and inspired. Hidden in tlie great 
mass of waters I see a vast amount of human comfort and 
happiness—warmth and light for the homes of millions, and 
rest for their tired muscles, and my heart is overflowing 
with faith and hope and new courage and gratitude. Were 
not these waters made to flow and jump so as to minister 
to the wants and necessities of a needy people? Did the 
All-wise and Almighty not foresee that a time would come 
when the simply of wood on the earth's surface would run 
short, and when the greedv claws of Avarice, under the claim 
of “divine right,” would Jmve clutched the vast deposits of 
coal and oil in the bowels of the earth, exacting every drop 
of sweat and blood that can be squeezed out of “the plain 
people?” The day mav not be far when the plain people 
will demand their rightful inheritance, theirs by divine right 
in fact, and take the management of their affairs in their 
own hands. Having lost control of the coal and the oil. 
they demanded and secured free alcohol, which may turn out 
a competitor to coal and oil. and they should try to make 
such use of the waters that Providence has put within their 
reach as will inure to the benefits of the plain people rather 
than as at present to a few favored corporations, whom 
the new law is trying to give a monopoly. As a matter of 
fact, the destruction of the Falls and its scenic beauty, even 
if all the present demands of the power companies are ac¬ 
ceded to, seems to be a long wav off. The changes that 
have thus far taken place have enhanced rather than marred 
the scenic beauty of the Falls and added to the interest that 
attaches to its various features. t. greiner. 
MICHIGAN CROP CONDITIONS. 
There are some peaches all over the State, but at no point 
is there a full crop or anything like one. The yield for the 
whole State will be about 40 per cent. Points that har¬ 
vested a full crop last year are generally light. A few 
years ago nearly every section of the State suffered from 
great loss of trees caused by the “yellows.” Those who 
were prompt In taking out and destroying diseased trees as 
soon as discovered found that they could hold the disease in 
check. The cases of yellows are now less common, but an¬ 
other similar disease—the “little peach”—is now prominent 
and the prompt extermination, of these diseased trees is the 
only salvation for the trees that now appear healthy. This 
disease is difficult to distinguish from many other injuries, 
but when in doubt, the safest and surest way is to destroy 
promptly all trees that look “sick.” Elbertas are very 
light all over the State and the hardy varieties, such as 
Gold Drop, Hills Chili, Kalamazoo, Engles, Lemon Free, 
Smock and Salwav will have to furnish most of the crop. 
Last season Michigan’s apple supply was very light. Alle¬ 
gan and Oakland counties having about all of the first-grade 
stock. With favorable conditions from now on, the crop in 
Michigan promises to be a good one. Prospective buyers 
now in the State are offering to contract for good varieties 
at from 75 cents to 90 cents per barrel for apples on the 
trees. Early varieties seem especially promising and now 
beginning to be marketed, several sales lieing reported at 
point of shipment at $2 per barrel. Late stock does not 
promise quite as well. Estimated percentage of Winter 
fruit based on a full crop are as follows: Allegan County, 
61: Berrien. 79: Kent. 60; Oceana, 42; Van Buren. 59; 
Ottawa, 75 ; Lenawee, 64 ; Oakland. 80. Average for State, 
64. Grane prospects are especially favorable and a large 
crop is now reasonably expected. The per cent of an aver¬ 
age crop in the Lawton. Paw Paw and St. Joseph sections 
is now given at from 85 to 100. Plums were considerably 
injured at blossoming time, many growers reporting all the 
way from a failure to a light crop while the average is from 
35 to 45 per cent. I.ate plums are generally reported best. 
Pears blossomed verv full and Ivieffers generally hang loaded. 
A half crop of other varieties is now reported. 
Michigan Hort. Society. Ci B. bassett. 
CONDITIONS IN N. W. ARKANSAS. 
It is with great pleasure I read your paper, as the moun¬ 
tain districts in the East are identical with this section 
(northwestern Arkansas), with the exception that there the 
country is old and improved, while here the old mossbacks 
still exist. Of course near towns here of over 1.000 popula¬ 
tion affairs are quite different, but from 5 to 15 miles off 
from small railroad trading towns conditions are certainly 
unique. We lived in Washington. D. C.. for several years, 
then moved to Tacoma. Wash., and from there to Mt. Pleas¬ 
ant, Iowa. We now live at Fayetteville. Ark., a growing 
town and location of the State University. I am farming 
here 24 miles from Fayetteville and five from Winslow, a 
town of 75 population, from which point, however, tens of 
thousands of cars of White oak and chinkapin posts have 
been shipped and also millions of feet of hickory, walnut 
and wild cherry. I read of men asking what to plant to 
make posts. You can buy A1 White oak and chinkapin posts 
here for three cents, locusts six cents, all peeled. 
Your paper seems to cling to fairness as its policy. The 
buyers of these posts, members of the Western Lumber Deal¬ 
ers or lloo IToos, ship these posts to Kansas per carload 
for three cents, get 17 to 19 cents for three-cent posts, and 
25 to 29 cents for locusts. The poor farmers who make 
these posts do not make fair wages for themselves or teams. 
You may sav, “Why don’t they quit hauling them to town 
at that price?” Well, they at*e in debt to the buyer, who 
also has a 13 price store, and don’t ever seem like they are 
able to quit. That seems to me to be a big graft that is 
wholly overlooked by the United States people in general. 
If you could see these one-time stately forests being hewn 
down and destroyed, and see the hewers barely live, and the 
protected buyer amassing his thousands, you would surely 
feel sorry for them, and agree with me that it is a de¬ 
plorable thing for the people of these backwoods sections, 
and more, the money is all going into the hands of the big 
buyer, who doesn’t even live here. The woods are being 
destroyed, while the profits that naturally belong to them 
are not used to help the country one mite. I, however, have 
run off the subject I intended to write you about, the labor 
question here, for those closer the railroad who do farm 
and have their orchards. The families here have usually 
from 7 to 14 children. My next door farmer has 11 boys 
and one girl, ranging from 22 down to three years old. The 
oldest boy, or man really, works for from 60 to 75 cents a 
day. depending whether it is general farm work. Or work in 
the timber. I have had grown men 40 years old work for 
$1 per day, eat only one meal with me, and, in fact, you 
can hire any of them at that. I never have known of any 
men I ever hired drinking at all. There are no saloons in 
this county: about twice a month, no often^r. the young 
boys sometimes get happy, but they are in the minority. 
There are enough sober, industrious workers in this State 
to solve all of the New Y’ork labor question: in fact, they 
now go to Kansas. Nebraska, Illinois, Texas, Iowa and the 
new States to work. A large per cent of them, however, 
come back to the old rocks and hills and clear waters of 
northwest Arkansas. We will need them all here In a few 
years, though, as this is the fruit spot of the world. These 
two counties had 2,000,000 bearing apple trees in 1900, and 
I can get on my house now and in less than an hour's time 
count 5.000 more right around here. I suppose all this in¬ 
terests you but little if you have not been through this 
country, but if you should be here this Fall and see the 
thousands of carloads of apples and peaches shipped north, 
east, south and west, you would sure wonder how this 
country happened to be overlooked so long. Every crop here 
this year is the finest seen for years. ,t. m. p. 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
The outlook for the grape crop this Fall, while not a full 
crop, is very good for quality. The Grape root-worm is 
present in greatly increased numbers in spite of the vigor¬ 
ous warfare against it last season, and the growing of the 
crop becomes yearly more expensive : a great many vineyards 
in this section, and mine amongst them, were very seriously 
hurt before the station people found out and taught us how 
to combat and fight the pest, and I have adopted the plan 
of pulling out and replanting yearly a part of the acreage, 
until the whole is replanted with young and vigorous vines. 
I am satisfied that I will get results quicker that way than 
trying to bring new vigor back into the old vines. q. s. 
Westfield. N. Y. 
As to the condition of the apple crop in the Northwest. I 
would say that while In some sections, like the Y’akima and 
Wenatchee valleys, the crop is good, this is not true of the 
State as a whole. I have not traveled extensively over the 
State of Washington this year, but I am able to quote one 
who has; F. A. Huntley, Horticultural Commissioner for 
the State of Washington, who has recently traveled over the 
entire State in his official capacity, and hence knows the 
condition of the apple crop, says in his report: “Eastern 
Washington will not have one-quarter of a crop of apples 
this year. Outside of Y’akima, Wenatchee and some parts of 
Stevens County there will not be enough fruit to supply the 
home consumption. Never in the history of the State have 
the fruit Indications been so unfavorable. I visited the 
Clarkston district and found a light crop of all kinds of 
fruit. At Walla Walla there is none worth mentioning. 
3Tie same condition is prevalent all through eastern Wash¬ 
ington. The cause of all this was the hard freeze in the 
early part of March. Y’akima is fortunate that the freeze 
did not kill the apples here. YY’enatchee will have a very 
good crop of apples." I know from other sources that Prof. 
Huntley’s report is correct. The same condition prevails 
in northern Idaho. No apples will be sent east this season 
from the Northwest, except what are known as- fancy apples 
that sell very high in the eastern cities. The apple crop 
from this section will not be a menace to eastern growers. 
Seattle, Wash. f. Walden. 
ENGLISH APPLE CROP.—W. A. McKinnon, Canadian 
commercial agent at Bristol, writes under date of June 30 : 
“From all accounts to date, we may look for a vary fair 
crop of apples in England. Rain at this time is greatlv 
benefiting the orchards in the southwest of England, though 
in other parts it would appear that there has been consid¬ 
erable damage from blight and otherwise. On the whole, 
unless exporters have reliable advice to the contrary, they 
should be verv sparing of their shipments of early anples, a--- 
I am inclined to think this market will be reasonably well 
supplied wit.h the cohimon sorts of apples until Christmas." 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The James Leffel & Co., Springfield, Ohio, have issued a 
very handsome and complete new 52 page catalogue. Illus¬ 
trating and describing their line of steam engines and holl¬ 
ers. ’Phe details of construction are plainly shown and fully 
explained, and the catalogue is one that should he In the 
hands of any prospective purchaser of work in the steam 
power line. * A copy will he furnished free to prospective 
buyers, stating their wants, and addressing the company as 
above. 
We have often been asked where blood flour can be ob¬ 
tained. Some remarkable results have been obtained by 
feeding this flour to young stock—especially calves. Cases 
are reported where sick animals have been brought back 
to health and those that were backward forced into vigor bv 
daily feedinir of this material. 3’he “flour” is pure blood, 
free' from dirt or waste, dried and made into a fine powder. 
It is quickly digestible, and not only a food but a tonic as 
well. All feeders and especially those who have young stock 
should try blood flour. Write to Swift & Co., Chicago, III., 
for literature and samples. 
Old silage makers who know the necessities of silage ma¬ 
chinery are the ones who will appreciate most the excellent 
machines for Ibis work that are being manufactured by the 
Bapec Machine Co., of Lima. New Y’ork. In the introduction 
to the Bapec catalogue, the Bapec Company makes direct an¬ 
swers io the three vital questions connected with silage ma¬ 
chinery. These concern the elevation, capacity, power. The 
elevation to required heights is all-important. 'Che Bapec 
certainly has one of the most efficient blowers made. Still 
it does not depend entirely upon the force of the air blast: 
“it throws as well as blows.” and the Company guarantees 
that if proper speed be maintained there will not be the 
least difficulty in elevating either green or dry silage to a 
height of 50 feet. There ci\n> be no clogging or other inter¬ 
ruption. Certainly no one about to buy silage machinery 
should fail to investigate the Bapec line before placing his 
order. Write for the Company’s catalogue giving all partic¬ 
ulars. 
Horace L. Bronson. Cortland. N. Y’.. reports among his 
important sales is, to Dr. Samuel A. Robinson, Cevesville, 
Va., Altje De Kol 35597. .Toe Bach Josephine 46940. Neth- 
erland Fancy Rosetta 45618, Daisy Peoples 51359. Countess 
Dorinda De Kol 47418. Manor Grace Bietertje 54738. Lndv 
of Burton Aaggie 60573, Shadeland Dulcibel 4th 54886. 
Scotia 4th 37262, and to head this magnificent lot of fe¬ 
males, he selected the bull Aaggie Cornucopia Mercedes Count 
39256. Nearly all of these females had been officially tested, 
several of them having made official seven-day butter rec¬ 
ords of about 20 pounds or better. Tlie two or three that 
had not vet been tested have since freshened at Covesville. 
and made advanced registry there. The bull was sired by 
AaggLe Cornucopia Pauline Count, son of the present cham¬ 
pion cow of the'world. Aaggie Cornucopia Pauline. 34.31 lb., 
and the dam was Mercedes .Tulip’s Pietertje’s Grand-daugh 
ter. a grand daughter of Mercedes .Tulip’s Bietertje. the 1900 
world’s champion cow. Mr. Bronson says he never sold to 
one man so many high-class, high-registering females at 
one time. 
