1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
859 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—Five persons were scalded to death by escap¬ 
ing steam from a broken boiler drum In a sugar house near 
Vacherie, La.. October .30. A hole two feet square burst in 
the boiler drum which stood near the sugar bouse. The 
sugar house was filled with steam, and in it were found 
three men, a little girl and a negro, fatally burned.. 
The grand jury at Burlington, Vt., October 31, reported 
indictments against Dr. F. A. Rich of that city and Victor 
L. Spear of Randolph, former members of the State Cattle 
Commission, for willful neglect of official duty. It was 
specifically stated in the indictment that the two men sold 
diseased cattle which had been condemned by them. The 
grand jury also returned indictments against the Consoli¬ 
dated Rendering Company, a Maine corporation, and L. E. 
Bingham, for buying and selling diseased cattle. The com¬ 
pany was fined $3,000 by Judge Rowell for contempt in 
refusing to bring before the grand jury its books. 
Four of the five cotton oil companies recently sued by 
Attorney-General Rogers for alleged violation of the Arkan¬ 
sas anti-trust law effected a compromise with the State 
November 1 by paying $1,250 in each case. The companies 
that compromised were the Southern Cotton Oil Company, 
the Arkansas Cotton Oil Company, the Consumers Cotton 
Oil Company and the Buckeye Company. The case against 
the Dixie Company was dismissed. The companies were 
sued for $135,000, and it was alleged that they were in a 
combine to fix the price of cotton-seed products. Under 
the terms of the agreement the companies will he permitted 
to continue in business in the State provided they con¬ 
form with the anti trust law. . . . Commander Robert 
E. Peary has gained for the United States the record of 
“farthest North.” Although he failed to reach the north 
pole, as ho hoped, in his vessel, the Roosevelt, he got up to 
87 degrees and 6 minutes, north latitude, heating by .32 min¬ 
utes the record of the Duke of the Abruzzi. 86 degrees and 
34 minutes. The Duke of the Abruzzi got within 237 statute 
miles of the pole. Commander Peary got within about 203 
miles of the arctic explorers’ goal. . . . Fire destroyed 
the piano factory of Jacob Bros., New York city November 
3. The blaze defied the efforts of the firemen for two hours, 
and at one time threatened to spread among the thickly pop¬ 
ulated tenements of the block. It caused damage estimated 
at a quarter of a million dollars. . . . Gen. John Henry 
Ketcham, who had been nominated 19 times for Congress by 
the Republicans of the Twenty-first New York district and 
who was in Congress almost continually from 1866, died 
November 4 in St. Elizabeth's Hospital in this city after a 
long illness following a third attack of paralysis. Congress¬ 
man Ketcham received a unanimous vote every time ho was 
nominated. lie declined to run for election to the Fifty- 
third and Fifty-fourth Congresses because of ill health. 
Early in the October last, although he was then in the hos¬ 
pital in a very weak condition, the Republicans in conven¬ 
tion at Poughkeepsie placed him in nomination once more. 
Gen. Ketcham was 73 years ohl and was born at Dover 
Plains, Dutchess county, where lie made his home. With 
seventeen terms to his credit. Gen. Ketcham eclipsed the 
record of the late William I). Ilolman of Indiana, the“watch- 
dog of the Treasury,” who served sixteen terms, and also 
that of Charles O’Neil and William D. (Pig Iron) Kelly of 
Pennsylvania, each of whom served fifteen terms. Sunset 
Cox served fifteen terms, three of them as a Representative 
from Ohio and twelve from New York. Samuel J. Randall 
of Pennsylvania served fourteen terms. Alfred D. I farmer of 
Pennsylvania served fourteen terms; II. II. Bingham of 
Pennsylvania, the present “father of the House,’ has served 
fourteen terms and has been renominated for a fifteenth. 
Richard P. Bland of Missouri served thirteen terms, as did 
also the late Robert R. Hitt of Illinois. O’Neil, Kelley, 
Ilarmer, Randall and Bingham all represented Philadelphia 
districts. 
ELECTIONS.—Returns from most of the States east of the 
Mississippi River indicate the re-election of a Republican 
House of Representatives by a sweeping majority and an 
increase in the Republican strength in the United States 
Senate. Democratic gains were scattering, and no signs de¬ 
veloped anywhere of a positive reaction against Republican 
policies. The record of the administration was the Issue in 
practically every State except; New York and Massachusetts. 
The next House of Representatives stands as follows: Re¬ 
publicans 222, Democrats 164. Charles E. Hughes was 
elected Governor of the State of New York by a plurality of 
about 50,000 votes. There will be a substantial Republican ma¬ 
jority in both Senate and Assembly. William R. Ilearst carried 
every borough in this city in his race for the Governorship. 
Massachusetts remains Republican, re-electing Governor Cur¬ 
tis Guild, Jr., by about 40.000, a majority over John M. 
Moran, District Attorney of Boston, who carried that city 
by a reduced plurality. The Republican State officers and 
Congressmen were re-elected in Connecticut by about the 
same pluralities as two years ago. The Republican State 
ticket, headed by C. M. Floyd for Governor, was elected by 
about 6,000 plurality in New Hampshire.. In West Virginia 
all five Republican Congress nominees were elected. Senator 
Elkin’s re-election Is assured. The Republicans and Demo¬ 
crats divided the Congress Districts in Maryland, each side 
taking three. Minnesota elected the Republican ticket except 
Governor. Governor John A. Johnson, Democrat, was re¬ 
elected by a probable majority of 20,000. Michigan went 
Republican by from 60,000 to 100,000, electing a large ma¬ 
jority in the State Legislature. New Jersey elected a Repub¬ 
lican Assembly, but by reduced majorities. The Congress 
election resulted in the return of eight Republicans and two 
Democrats, a gain of one for the Democrats. Hudson County 
went Democratic, and Essex Republican by small margins, 
and Newark elected a Democratic Mayor. In the Thirty- 
fourth New York District Peter A. Porter, Independent, 
defeated J. W. Wadsworth for Congress. 
ADMINISTRATION.—The President has dismissed in dis¬ 
grace from the army the entire battalion of negro troops 
concerned in the Brownsville (Tex.) riots, because of their 
failure to disclose the identity of those of their number 
who had been guilty of violence and murder. As an evidence 
of his intention to be fair to the colored troops, the President 
has accompanied this act by an order which may amount to 
the court martial of a white army officer of high grade who. 
was charged with having cast slurs on the negro troops. . 
The Supreme Court of the United States November 5 affirmed 
the decision of the court of claims in the case of Daniel 
Red Bird, the Cherokee nation and others, versus the United 
States, known as the “white man’s case.” The cases in¬ 
volved the long-pending claims of between 2,000 and 3,000 
white persons to the right to participate In the distribution 
of the lands and the funds of the Cherokee nation because 
of marriage with members of the tribe. There arc more than 
four million acres of land, and the tribal funds are extensive. 
The decision was favorable to the Indians. . . . Herbert 
Knox Smith, Deputy Commissioner of the bureau of corpora¬ 
tions in the Department of Commerce and Labor, said Novem¬ 
ber 6 that as a result of investigations that he lias been 
conducting the United States Government will prosecute 
the Standard Oil Company to collect, if possible, $160,000,000 
in penalties for violations of the Elkins act. Indictments 
have been filed against the company in different parts of the 
country. Mr. Smith said his Department about a year ago 
began to Investigate the oil industry in this country and the 
freight rates for oil in the different States. This investiga- 
ton showed that the Standard Oil Company got a lower rate 
than any of the other refiners in tills country. Every rail¬ 
road company but one gave the information asked for will¬ 
ingly, and that railroad was the New York Central. The 
investigation showed that the Standard Oil Company had a 
system by which It had control of the whole country with a 
preferential freight, rate in its favor. 
FIRE INSURANCE NOTES. 
Various Causes of Fire. 
PARLOR MATCHES.—The big, red headed, snapping par¬ 
lor matches are dangerous, and should be prohibited in 
every household or public place. They cause more fires 
than any other one thing. It is true that in many cases 
the one using the match is able to put out the fire, and 
but little damage is done to the curtains, drapery or mer¬ 
chandise, but not always. A lady was burned to death by 
her clothing getting on fire. A friend of mine succeeded 
in getting off his smoking jacket just, in time to save his 
life, but the garment was ruined. He scratched a parlor 
match to light a cigar and a portion flew into his shirt. 
A store in Ontario was decorated with gauze for the holi¬ 
days, and when the clerk went to light the gas, the flying 
piece of match set the trimming on the celling on fire. In 
spite of the efforts of the proprietor and clerks, the store 
was consumed. I saw a clerk strike a match to show they 
were harmless, and saw a piece of it light on a pile of 
ready-made clothing. If we had not seen it and ho had 
closed the store, there might have been another mysterious 
fire before morning. For your own safety, chuck them out, 
for they are as dangerous for a careful person as one who 
Is careless, because the piece does not show, while flying 
through the air. The most singular case I can vouch for 
is that of a box of matches kept in one of these small, 
metal boxes, with a tight cover, which hung on the wall 
the opposite side of the room from the stove. At 10 A. M. 
without anyone near them they “went off” and melted the 
box. If the family had been away the house would have 
burned down. What made them ignite is a mystery. 
CHIMNEYS.—The chimneys should always be built from 
the around up. Where they are resting on beams, or sup¬ 
ports in the second story, the weight will in time cause a 
sag, and the part above the roof catching on it holds so 
that lower half settles away, leaving a crack just below 
the peak of the roof, In the attic. This Is a very dry, warm 
place, full of dust and cobwebs, and very difficult to get 
at or into. A spark from the crack sets the dust on fire, 
and it will not be seen until beyond control. Many houses 
have only a small hole in the ceiling opening into the attic, 
and the smoke is so dense one cannot enter it, if lie could 
get through. Cutting a hole in the roof makes a draft and 
destruction is rapid. The prepared mortar now on sale is 
poor stuff, and soon drops out, requiring constant attention. 
Chimneys should be cleaned frequently, as a good deal of 
heat is formed when they burn out, which weakens the 
mortar, and may ruin the chimney. Summer kitchens are 
frequently piped with cement stacks. Some of these are 
poor and crack easily, such are very dangerous. Vitrified 
pipe, glazed ware, is much better. Insurance companies 
usually refuse to insure where they are in use or charge 
prohibitive rates. Stove pipes pull apart, get burned out, 
or rust so there are holes in them, or are not renewed 
for years. Coal gas is very destructive to the already 
very poor material used in the modern sheet iron stove pipe. 
Farmers are more careless, "economical’’ or ignorant than 
town people, because they do not have so many visitors to 
arouse their pride; make their money less rapidly, which 
causes them to count their pennies oftener, and think less 
about fires because they have no fire warden to compel (hem 
to inspect. The co-operative companies of New York Slate 
paid for losses in 1905 among the farmers $755,541, one- 
half of which could have been saved by more care on (lie 
part of the owners. As much more was lost because of 
the lack of a proper amount of insurance on the property. 
As the policyholders of these companies are members they 
paid their own losses, and lost it all. Had this property 
been insured in stock companies the loss would have been 
a third more in added cost of premiums. 
CARELESSNESS is not confined to farmers alone; a 
$5,000 loss with $3,000 insurance was adjusted by me within 
a month in Steuben County, where they admitted that the 
furnace had not worked properly for a week before, yet no 
effort was made to inspect it, and the fire started in the 
top of it. Evidently it had got clogged. Another case, a 
lady carried a heavy hall lamp, without any handle, into 
a bedroom to look under the bed (for a man, I suppose), 
and dropped it against the stove as she stumbled. The fire 
department “drowned the house” and finished the wreck 
made by the fire. A man went into the haymow, setting 
his lantern on the beam, while he tried to catch some 
doves. The doves flew against the lantern, knocked it off 
Into the hay and burned the barn. A man drew gasoline 
from one barrel on the first floor into one in the cellar by 
means of a pipe. While waiting for it to run out, he lit a 
cigar, and also the vapor from the gasoline, which ex¬ 
ploded and nearly cost him his life and store. Smoking is 
prohibited by the companies, but is universally disregarded 
by the patrons. A $5,000 loss of a fine barn and stock 
within a month cannot be attributed to any other cause. 
A smoker becomes immune to the germs of ordinary caution, 
and respect for others. He will smoke anywhere, and takes 
risks anybody else would pronounce positively dangerous. 
I have seen a man mowing away hay with a lighted clay 
pipe in his mouth upside down. I remonstrated with him, 
and got the comforting and assuring answer that “if any 
of the burning tobacco dropped out, it could not burn in 
green hay.” 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION was scouted by me for 
a long time as foolish, but I now believe that It occurs. A 
man in Ithaca recently saw smoke issuing from between 
two tin cans, and found a bunch of cotton waste on Are. 
This had been pushed back into this place and had “got 
hot.” Some men repairing an engine left waste in a cor¬ 
ner, and the store was all on fire at that point in 24 hours. 
Hay has got so hot that one could not bear his hands in it, 
and it had to be drenched to avoid tire. A man in Lansing, 
N. Y., claims that shocks of corn piled on his barn floor, 
for some time, broke into flames when he opened it. It 
was put out, and I see no object for prevarication, as the 
loss was but little. Rags oiled will ignite, especially if in 
the sunlight. The use of engines for thrashing, baling hay 
and straw and sawing wood, causes some fires, especially 
where wood is used. Sparks fly into the straw and smolder 
for a day or two. Wood should not be used, and if if is 
used for starting a fire the engine should not be placed 
near the buildings until the wood is all burned out. The 
gasoline engines are much safer in my estimation. 
OVER-INSURANCE and encumbrances are responsible for 
many of the “fires of which there is no reason.” Owing 
to the low price of farm land, the actual cost of the build¬ 
ings is greater than its selling value, and a reasonable 
two-thirds insurance on all of the buildings, should they 
burn, would bring the owner or mortgagee more cash than 
the farm would sell for. Insurance companies pay cash, and 
a fire sale is a cash sale. The mistake of building beyond 
one’s means is sometimes repaid by a fire with a heavy 
insurance. A man with a heavy mortgage which he can¬ 
not pay is helped out by the money from a large policy on 
the burned barn, and can get along for a few years with 
a shed, and clear title to the land. An agent must take 
into account the selling value of the land and the char¬ 
acter of the owner. A man is sometimes unjustly accused 
of burning his buildings, and should not insist on too large 
a policy. The company should supply careful agents, and 
in case of loss should pay full cash value up to the face 
of the policy, but the owner should know something of the 
value of his farm, and assist the agent in getting at the fair 
amount. In settling a loss I always try to put myself in 
the owner’s place, on one side, and of the other members 
who must pay for the loss on the other, and come as near 
the truth and justice as I can, and so far, after seven years 
of this work, have never had my award protested by patrons 
or company. A fire is a terrible thing, and no one ever 
receives complete compensation. There is a lot of labor, 
inconvenience and trouble no policy can cover. There is a 
shock to the nerves which one can never get over, and a 
dread of another fire which, in some cases, amounts to 
torture. In most cases there is no more expectancy of a 
fire than you have while reading this article, and I can 
do you no greater service than to urge you to “look well 
to your fires.” _ c. e. chapman. 
CROP PROSPECTS . 
Potatoes average about half a crop, owing to the long 
spell of dry weather. Most of the potatoes from this 
section are shipped to New York hy canal; the price is now 
$1.50 per 180 pounds. Apples are a failure here; what few 
are sold bring about $1.75 per barrel; practically no spray¬ 
ing is done here. The Borden Company is building a bot¬ 
tling works at Gansevoort, eight miles north of here, which 
will prove quite a stimulant to the dairy business in this 
section Hired help in all kinds of business is very scarce, 
partly on account of the State road, whch is being built 
from Schuylerville and Saratoga, and the Barge canal. 
Schuylerville, N. Y. a. v. 
BUSINESS BITS . 
To make people thoroughly familiar with the good quali¬ 
ties of their 'famous “Buffalo Brand” rubbers, rubber boots 
and overs, the W’m. II. Walker & Company are senfling free 
a handsome souvenir watch fob to all who write for their 
new booklet, “The Boot and the Brand.” The “Buffalo 
Brand” boots are made over aluminum lasts, of pure Para 
rubber. The booklet tells why these boots are better than 
those made over wood lasts. A letter will bring both tlie 
booklet and the souvenir watch fob. if addressed to the 
Wm. II. Walker & Co., Buffalo, New York. 
Every farmer knows just how valuable a tool a hay knife 
is for cutting down hay stacks, hay mows, or cutting sod 
from the edges of ditches or water ways. But there’s a dif¬ 
ference in hay knives. Some are cheaply made, will not do 
the work that’s claimed for them, and wear out in a very 
short time. Ely’s Dandy Hay Knife has many other import¬ 
ant advantages, which are all enumerated in the illustrated 
circulars sent free to those who write to the Theo. J. Ely 
Mfg. Co., Girard, Pa. 'I’hese circulars, besides describing the 
merits of Ely’s Dandy Hay Knife tell how and where to buy 
many other useful articles for the home and farm. 
Horses which have been used steadily at work, on the 
farm or road, have quite likely had some strains whereby 
lameness or enlargements have been caused. Gombault’s 
Caustic Balsam applied as pep directions, just as you are 
turning the horse out, will be of great benefit ; and this is 
the time when it can be used very successfully. One great 
advantage in using this remedy is that after it is applied it 
needs no care or attention, hut does its work well and at a 
time when the horse is having a rest. Of course it can be 
used with equal success while horses are in the stable, but 
many people in turning their horses out would use Caustic 
Balsam if they were reminded of it. 
IIow many R. N.-Y. readers ever heard of “Alundum"? 
All ought to know about it, for it is the name of a material 
which is destined to lie of much value to farmers. It is de¬ 
signed to take the place of the old-fashioned grindstones for 
sharpening all sorts of knives and tools. It is the hardest, 
most durable and fastest cutting abrasive known, and does 
not heat the tool or draw the temper. The Royal Mfg. Co., 
226 E. Walnut St., Lancaster. I’a., use Alundum in the mak¬ 
ing of various kinds of grinding machines, in various sizes, 
from the small 3 Vi inch wheel for kitchen use, up to a foot- 
power outfit for scythes, mower-sickles, axes, etc. It will 
pay you to write to the manufacturers and learn more about 
these little labor savers. 
Some months ago the U. S. Department of Agriculture 
recommended the use of a peculiarly shaped milking tube at¬ 
tached to a metal cylinder and a double bulb. This is for the 
air treatment of milk fever, and has proven so successful 
that the Department has highly recommended its use for 
milk fever. This apparatus is made by George I’. Pilling & 
Son, 2333 Arch street, Philadelphia, Pa. The use of the 
milking tube has been further advanced by a verv ingenious 
pattern termed the double or garget tube. Its principle use 
is for garget or washing out. the udder where there is any 
inflammation. It. Is probably one of the most important in¬ 
ventions recently made for the treatment of udder trouble, 
and is described in a pamphlet which may be obtained free 
from above firm. 
Tiie value of a certain kind of feed depends as much upon 
the proportions in which if is mixed as upon the properties it 
contains. Many are of the opinion that, in order to obtan 
more milk, all they have to do is feed those elements that 
will produce milk. This is entirely wrong, unless the feed 
also contains enough nutritious substance to give the animal 
additional strength and muscle Impoverishment will soon re¬ 
sult and will leave the cow in a worse condition than ever. 
One of the very best feeds on the market to-day is Hammond's 
Dairy Feed. There is the correct amount of fats and pro¬ 
teins in it to enable the cow to use of the milk-producing 
elements. It gives added strength and blood which sustains 
her during the severe strain of the Increased milk flow. The 
difference in cost between Hammond’s Dalrv Feed and the 
home-made stuff is not to be considered when one takes into 
the accounting the difference In the results. The makers 
claim for it “seventy-five per cent pure milk and flesh value.” 
This feed is another famous product of Milwaukee and Is 
manufactured by Western Grain & Products Co, 
