1906 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
717 
MR. WADSWORTH AND THE MEAT 
INSPECTION BILL 
James W. Wadsworth insists that he wanted a rigid 
meat inspection bill. A bill that would satisfy him would 
evidently not satisfy the representatives of those who 
were to eat the meat! We print below part of a speech 
by Jlon. E. Stevens Henry, of Connecticut, on June 19. It 
is found on page 9,211 of the Congressional Record. 
‘*In this connection I wish to say that I have repeatedly 
and earnestly protested against the procrastinating policy 
pursued by the majority of the committee, of which I am 
a member, in unduly delaying legislation urgently demand¬ 
ed by the President and the country providing for a com¬ 
pulsory inspection of meat products. 
“The Senate passed the agricultural appropriation bill, 
with the Beveridge amendment attached as a rider, on May 
25. Upon the same day, in the absence of Chairman Wads¬ 
worth, I appealed to Mr. Williams, the leader of the 
minority, to permit the bill to go to conference by unani¬ 
mous consent, but because of the peculiar conditions then 
existing in the House this request was courteously refused. 
“Consequently, under the rules of the House, the bill was 
again referred to the Committtee on Agriculture. Indulg¬ 
ing the hope that the differences between the Senate and the 
House might be quickly and quietly adjusted, I then urged the 
committee to immediately report the bill back to the House 
with the usual recommendation that the House disagree to 
all of the Senate amendments and ask for a conference, 
but the chairman of the committee objected to what he 
contended was hasty action, and preferred to allow the 
managers of the beef trust opportunity to intervene and 
organize opposition to the proposed legislation. 
“The stock-growing and other allied interests were so¬ 
licited to come to the rescue of the alarmed packing Indus¬ 
try and aid in securing milder restrictions than the drastic 
provisions of the Beveridge amendment. An emasculated 
substitute was privately prepared, which had the approval 
of the packers’ representative, who appeared before the 
Committee on Agriculture. This substitute was deservedly 
characterized by the President as a “packers’ bill,” and was 
abandoned almost immediately after its presentation to the 
full committee. 
“Nearly a week's time was then occupied with lengthy 
hearings, which served no good purpose other than to 
demonstrate that the allegations made by the President’s 
personal agents, Messrs. Neill andf Reynolds, concerning 
the scandalous conditions existing in the Chicago packing 
houses, were fully substantiated by a prior and official 
report submitted by the Chief of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry. 
“Still another week was consumed in preparing a com¬ 
mittee substitute for the Beveridge, or Senate, amendment, 
which when reported to the House met with such a storm 
of disapproval from Representatives and also from the press 
throughout the country that its withdrawal became im¬ 
peratively necessary. 
“The House may now be congratulated that after days 
and weeks of Inexcusable delay and uninforming discus¬ 
sion in committee, that through the kindly and persuasive 
intercession of Speaker Cannon, the Committee on Agricul* 
ture have at last come to an agreement, and presents for 
the approval of the House an amended bill fairly satis¬ 
factory to most of the members of that committee; a bill 
which in all important features practically conforms to 
the Beveridge amendment adopted by the Senate. 
“It is to be hoped that the Senate will promptly concur 
in the comparatively unimportant changes made by the 
House, and speedily enact legislation that will receive the 
approval of the President, and because of the implicit 
confidence the great mass of our people have in the inf, 
tegrity, honesty, good judgment, and equitable fairness of 
the present Chief Magistrate, we may reasonably hope that 
popular sentiment, which at all times supports his efforts 
to ferret out and punish corporate selfishness and greed, 
will approve of the corrective measures provided by the 
proposed legislation, to the end that consumers of the 
products of American canneries may regain confidence in 
the cleanliness and wholesomeness of the meats slaugh¬ 
tered and canned in the packing houses at Chicago and else¬ 
where. 
“In conclusion let me express sincere regret that without 
impugning the motives of the President, we did not follow 
the example of a unanimous Senate and at once accept 
(the recommendations made by him, and thus have avoided 
undue publicity and unnecessary exaggeration of a dis¬ 
reputable scanda.1 which threatened to at least temporarily 
embarrass one of the great industrial interests of the 
eountry.” 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—On warrants charging conspiracy, embezzle- 
nneM and perjury, Adolph Segal, the Austrian promoter, 
wlrA, with the late Piesident Hippie and a coterie of direc- 
ttors, kt is charged, wrecked the Real Estate Trust Company; 
William North, treasurer of the company, who, it is 
alleged, was a party to most of Hippie’s illegal acts, and 
'William J. Collingwood, assistant: treasurer, were placed 
under arrest at Philadelphia Sept. 5. It was brought out that 
.-as many as a dozen persons knew in one way or another of 
(the operations by which Hippie violated his trust and in¬ 
volved the company in losses that cannot be estimated, 
ilt was testified that Segal was allowed to overdraw his 
account for hundreds of thousands of dollars; that he was 
permitted to obtain loans for himself on securities of real 
worth advanced by other men as collateral for their loans; 
and further that President Hippie, by the presentation of 
worthless loan checks, was permitted to overdraw his ac¬ 
count almost a million dollars. It was shown that all this 
was done for years, despite the fact that many minor 
officials had protested against it to President Hippie and to 
the treasurer and the assistant treasurer. ... A one- 
story building being moved on rollers at Butte, Mont., got 
away from the movers on upper Main street September 9 
and ran fo'* three blocks down hill, killing four horses, 
tearing down poles and wires and wrecking vehicles till it 
came to a stop in front of Senator Clark’s bank. Several 
men had narrow escapes. The building made record time 
without injury to itself. . . . In a complaint filed with 
the Indiana State Railroad Commission September 10 by the 
National Refining Company and the Tiona Refining Com¬ 
pany, both of Indianapolis, and the Evansville Oil Company 
of Evansville, charges of discriminations in tariff rates in 
favor of the Standard Oil Company are made against 41 
roads. The railroad companies made defendants comprise 
practically all that are operating in that State. The plain¬ 
tiffs say that they are each and severally engaged in buying, 
selling and refining petroleum products, and that they 
ship over the lines of the defendant companies: that the 
railroads have for many years made an unjust and unrea¬ 
sonable tariff classification of petroleum and have compelled 
the petitioners to ship under that classification; that the 
railroads made certain classifications, except from special 
points of .shipment, and the change resulted vastly to the 
benefit of the refinery at Whiting, Ind., and that rates from 
that point were made lower than from others. The peti¬ 
tioners submit a rate classification which they assert is fair 
and which they ask the State Railroad Commission to adopt 
and enforce. . . . Three men were killed and nearly a 
score injured seriously September 10 by the collapse of a 
large garage that has been in the course of construction for 
some time at Mineola, Long Island, for Robert A. Greaves, 
the wall paper manufacturer of Manhattan. The building 
was to have cost about .$40,000 and to be of concrete. It 
was being rushed, night and day and also on Sundays for 
cars of Mr. Greaves and his friends that were to come out 
from Manhattan for the automobile races for the Vander¬ 
bilt cup. The building was to be four stories, and in the 
center a large tower on which was to have been placed 
an ornamental clock. Twenty-five masons and carpenters 
were at work on the upper part of the building, which col¬ 
lapsed without warning. ... A fire started in the 
Pratt & Lambert varnish factory in Borden avenue, Long 
Island City. N. Y„ September 10. whirled through it and 
leaped through the lumber yard, storehouse and factory of 
the J. F. Blanchard door and window casing manufactory, 
burning itself out by destroying the Booth drop forge 
factory. The only water available at the time was from 
an 18-inch main running through Borden avenue, which 
four engines sucked dry in a few minutes. Many valuable 
minutes elapsed before the fireboats David A. Boody and 
Abram S. Hewitt could worm their way through the muddy 
Newtown Creek and lay hose lines to the blaze, a hundred 
yards away, across the tracks of the Long Island Railroad. 
The railroad service was held up entirely while the tire 
was going on because of the hose pipes across the tracks. 
In addition to this, the fire burned up the telephone and 
telegraph wires strung on poles along the avenue, and this 
embarrassed the firemen in sending to Brooklyn for more 
engines. The blaze did damage that amounts to some¬ 
where near $350,000. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The announcement was made Sep¬ 
tember 6 that Vespasian Warner, Commissioner of Pensions, 
turned into the Treasury at the end of the fiscal year an 
unexpended balance of $201,348. Commissioner Warner did 
not make a saving on pensions. This is the way the ex'- 
traordinary thing happened : By failing to till vacancies in 
the offices, whose force is larger than is ueeded for the 
business that comes up every year. Commissioner Warner 
saved $92,552. The activities of the special examiners who 
travel from place to place to make inquiries into claims 
for pensions were curtailed, with the result that $00.000 
was shaved off the per diem expenses of these officials. 
Under the President’s order No. 28, the old age order, the 
number of examinations by medical surgeons was materially 
reduced. Thirty thousand dollars more saved. The force 
of clerks in the pension agencies throughout the country 
was reduced, cutting $7,000 off the payroll. A saving of 
$11,000 additional was effected in other ways. . . . Sec¬ 
retary of Agriculture James Wilson and the representatives 
of the beef packers have reached a compromise on the- 
question of lalielling meat products. Under the pure food 
law enacted at the last session of Congress each food prod¬ 
uct must contain the names and percentage of the compo¬ 
nent parts of the product. The basis of the compromise 
reached is that the names of the constituents of the meat 
food product will be placed on the label of the can but that 
the percentage will not be required. The board having in 
hand the preparation of regulations under which the pure 
food act will be enforced held an important meeting Sep¬ 
tember 0. Tentative regulations were completed and placed 
before the Secretaries of Agriculture, of Commerce and 1 
Labor and of the Treasury for signature. Consideration was 
given a request that the regulations should be made public. 
It was decided that the new rules should not be given out 
until after the meeting of the board in New York on Sep¬ 
tember 17. 
SPELLING REFORM.—The President’s simplified spell¬ 
ing order, originally applicable to the Executive Depart¬ 
ment, has been extended to all branches of the Govern¬ 
ment. The Public Printer sent to interested officials Sep¬ 
tember 5 a booklet containing a list of the revised words, 
and on the flyleaf appeared the following: “By direction 
of the President, the following list of words showing the 
revision in spelling is tssuedi for the use of the Government 
departments. All cony for publications to be printed at the 
Government Printing Office should be prepared in accord¬ 
ance with this list.” There is no suspicion that Mr. Still¬ 
ings has exceeded his authority. He has been in communi¬ 
cation with the President on the subject, and it is under¬ 
stood that he is acting in accordance with his chief’s wishes 
In the announcement he now makes. Civil Service Com¬ 
missioner Cooley announced that in future candidates for 
civil service positions will be allowed to spell either in the 
old-fashioned way or according to the simplified method in 
writing their examinaton papers. It will not be counted 
against them whichever way they spell. 
THE TRUSTS.—John D. Rockefeller will have to stand 
trial at Findlay, O., on the charge of violation of the 
Valentine anti-trust law. His trial likely will begin the first 
week in October unless his counsel finds a way to delay 
it. Judge Banker overruled motions to quash information 
filed by Prosecutor David in the cases of the State against 
the Manhattan Oil Company, and F. T. Cuthbert and E. R. 
Curtain and the State against John J. O’Brien, manager of 
the Buckeye Pipe Line Company. In the preliminary hear¬ 
ing the defence argued that the Standard and John D. 
Rockefeller, charged with a misdemeanor such as a viola¬ 
tion of the Valentine' anti-trust law, could only be pros¬ 
ecuted under an indictment found by a regular Grand Jury. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—It is proposed to hold a National 
Congress of Horticulture during the Autumn of 1907 at the 
Jamestown, Va., Exposition. All persons interested in any 
phase of horticulture are therefore asked to co-operate in 
this movement, and all local. State and National societies 
are invited and urged to be represented either by holding 
their regular session, or by duly authorized delegates. It is 
hoped that this Congress will bring together a multitude 
of horticulturists that could hardly he expected to come 
together in any other manner, and that a goodly number 
of the National societies will decide to hold a regular 
session during the week in which the Congress Is in session. 
Iowa’s corn crop is estimated at 381,000,000 bushels by 
George A. Wells, secretary of the Iowa Grain Dealers’ 
Associalion, in his final report on the season’s crops. Wells 
Insists that his figures are conservative, and that with a 
satisfactory September the chances are good for a yield of 
more than 400.000,000 bushels. His estimate is an increase 
of 36,000,000 bushels over last year's yield. This will he 
38.5 bushels per acre. The percentage reports front all sec¬ 
tions of Iowa show that the corn is to-day 3.4 per cent 
better than at this time last year. Other estimates of Iowa 
crops are as follows: Oats, 147,000,<)00 bushels: Spring 
wheat. 5,000,000 bushels; barley, 14,000,000 bushels; rye, 
1,500,000 bushels. _ 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
Owing to rains during blooming time the apple crop Is 
almost a total failure; worst in my recollection. Pear crop 
good. A. T. G. 
Washington, D. C. 
Our section has never had a poorer fruit crop in many 
years. Apples about 25 per cent of usual crop : pears not 
better than 10 per cent; peach and plum not a fruit; straw¬ 
berries were good both in yield and price. If we eat our 
three apples per day this year, some place else will have 
to grow them. g. k. w. 
Lyndon, Ky. 
’The country around Clearfield is quite a farming country 
—some nice farms, but eggs are so scarce, according to report 
of storekeeper, that it is necessary to fall back on cold stor¬ 
age stock for the time from now until next Spring for a 
part of the needed supply. c. E. s. 
Clearfield, Pa. 
The favorable conditions for insect development have 
increased and spread the San Jose scale to a great extent 
in Monmouth Co., N. ,T., and I am informed by good au¬ 
thority that there are not over 25 per cent of fruit trees 
in this county as compared with 10 years ago. This alarm¬ 
ing decline is largely due to the destructive scale. Apples, 
however, are less affected by its ravages, and the crop is 
perhaps larger than last year. There appears to be a steady 
decline in all varieties of pears except the Kleffer; of these 
there is an abundance, and of line quality, except on old 
orchards, where they usually diminish in size. The peach 
crop is away below the average, and as a whole is not up 
to I be normal in either quantity or quality. 
Monmouth Co., N. J. t. m. white. 
A recent report of potato crop in northern Michigan 
stated it was good if we were to judge from the vines 
then. That is correct, but when we find only from three 
to six potatoes in our best-looking hills it does not seem 
as though we are to have a good crop. Potatoes here are 
our main crop, and I judge not only from my own field, 
but from hundreds of acres that I have examined, not the 
tops but the bottoms, and 50 per cent is no under esti¬ 
mate. Dry weather affected both early and late, and now 
frost in many sections of the eountry has done its work. 
Kalkaska Co., Mich. s. t. g. 
Ilay one-half crop, quality good. Wheat not much 
grown. Oats large growth of straw, heads short, no thrash¬ 
ing done yet. I do not think they will turn over 30 bushels 
per acre. Corn good growth of stalks and where planted 
early well eared. Silos will all be full. Buckwheat large 
growth of straw mostly lodged, hut hot filled much; will 
not. yield over 20 bushels per acre. Potatoes, early ones, 
yield fair where kept free from bugs, mostly dug; late 
varieties not so good, one-half crop. Both varieties blighted 
badly, not much spraying done around here. 1 would put 
the early crop at 75 per cent and late crop at 50 per cent. 
Not many orchards about here, and what few trees there 
are are not cared for; no spraying; not over 50 per cent 
of a crop. Small fruits almost an entire failure. The 
onion crop is good and a good many grown; late cabbage 
looking fine, also tomatoes and cauliflower. 
Broome Co., N. Y. e. p. brotzman & son. 
Carroll County has had a very dry time of it. We have 
been having nice rains all during August, and corn will 
make 20 to 30 bushels the acre: hay very short: mine was 
the best there was, and it did not average one-half ton to 
the acre. There is a good fruit crop this year, and the 
garden lias been nice considering the dry weather. I would 
be very glad if one of your readers could tell me how to 
raise salsify. Mine always goes to top, and no root to speak 
of. I sowed a small plot of ground to Alfalfa a year ago 
this Spring. It has done splendidly, and I am thinking of 
trying to seed a larger field of it. I think that Kaffir corn 
is the crop for the chicken raising farmer on thin soil. The 
heads make a balanced ration—seems so at least—for the 
hens and the fodder is relished by all kinds of stock. Eggs 
are 12 cents a dozen; butter 12 cents a pound; corn 58 
cents; hay $10 a ton in the stack; chicks 10 cents a pound; 
old hens eight cents, and I sold a hog yesterday for $5.50 a 
hundred. What do you think of our market? j. a. n. 
Missouri. 
The chief crop for the Colville Valley, when I live, is 
Timothy hay. which grows three tons per acre on the best 
land in the valley. Most of this hay is baled and shipped 
out of the country, part of It: goes to the coast cities and 
part of it to British Columbia. In the last year or two a 
large amount of this hay has been used in the home mar¬ 
ket: this is on account of the many sawmills being built 
in this locality lately which keep a number of logging teams 
at work. The Colville Valley Is about 50 miles in length 
and from one to three miles wide; this flat bottom land, 
most of it of the very best soil. On both sides of the valley 
are foot hills, which extend back from four to 10 miles. 
These foot hills are nearly all covered with good saw tim¬ 
ber, such as pine, fir and tamarack : no hard wood grows In 
this part of the country. Most of the lumber cut by the 
mills here Is shipped to the Middle States. Lumber is not 
very high in price here yet. There are also some small 
grains grown, such as oats and wheat. On the bottom land 
oats are raised instead of wheat, on higher land wheat seems 
to do better than on the black soil on the bottom land. Back 
of the foot hills on both sides of the valley are high moun¬ 
tain ranges covered with timber almost to the top. This 
country is also well watered : on nearly every quarter section 
can be found a spring or a running stream. Among the 
latest happenings I will mention the creation of a Forest 
Reserve in the eastern portion of Stevens County, as far 
east as the Idaho line. This came as a great surprise to the 
people of this county, as it includes nearly all the public 
domain in tlje eastern portion of this county, both the sur¬ 
veyed and unsurveyed land. There are said to lie hundreds 
of settlers residing upon said lands as squatters which are 
now trespassers. A Government official is here from Wash¬ 
ington investigating the matter pertaining to the drainage 
of the Colville Valley. Some parts of this valley need drain¬ 
age in order to make it productive: in fact the land thus 
reclaimed makes the most productive land, in this county. 
I am quite an old settler in this country: have been here for 
18 years: very few whites lived in this country at that time* 
Some Hudson Bay men who had married Indian squaws lived 
here, and some of them are living here yet. p. s. 
Washington. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The Kalamazoo Carriage and Harness Co. is offering 
buggy bargains to Fall buyers. Address the company at 
Box 220, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
The Gilson Mfg. Co., of 144 Park street, Port Washing¬ 
ton. Wis.. will ship any of its gasoline engines on free 
trial to farmers desiring to purchase. 
Something new in the way of baskets is being offered 
to our people this week by Monger Mfg. Co., Beach City,. 
O. It is made of wire, and should appeal to fruit and veg¬ 
etable growers. 
We know many of our people will be in the market for 
lime during the coming Fall, and we are glad to be able 
to refer all such to the Rockland-Rockport Lime Co., 24 
Milk street, Boston, or Rockland, Me. 
TIamei.ess horse collars are an invention which is rapidly 
winning its way to public favor advertised elsewhere in 
our columns. Users of these collars never complain of 
galled necks; the collars are lighter; having no hames or 
straps, they are more convenient, and while the cost is a 
trifle more at the outset, they are the cheapest in the eud, 
as once bought they are practically indestructible. 
A RDST-proof tin cap is the latest device for getting a 
tight roof, and it seems very practical. The ordinary cap 
furnished with ready roofings is made of tin scrap which 
rusts in a very short time. Many roofs have failed because 
the tin caps rusted out. A patent on this new rust-proof 
cap has been granted F. W. Bird & Son. East Walpole, 
Mass., the makers of Parold Roofing. It is made of new 
sheet steel and has more binding surface than the ordinary 
round cap because it Is* square. 
Granite Roofing is unique in the fact that It weighs 
140 pounds to the roll, or nearly double the weight of the 
ordinary three or four ply. It is more permanent and sub¬ 
stantial covering than the ordinary roofing, being especially 
valuable for use where cost is an important consideration. 
Its stone surface makes painting or coating entirely un¬ 
necessary. Moreover, it is easily laid and is proof against 
fire. Sample will be sent free on request by postal to the 
makers. Eastern Granite Roofing Company, New York, 
Chicago, St. Louis. 
The all-the-year-round work of separating cream, churn¬ 
ing butter, running the washing machine and pumping 
water is with us always, but this is the season when five 
Stoddard Gas and Gasoline engine finds its widest range 
of usefulness. The Stoddard engine is ready at an in¬ 
stant's notice, under perfect control, absolutely safe, has 
the greatest actual capacity in proportion to size and gives 
the most power for the least money. These engines are 
built by the Stoddard Manufacturing Company, of Rut¬ 
land, Vt. 
