1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
PROGRESS OF THOSE DAWLEY SUITS . 
We have printed the charges and answers in those 
suits brought by Frank E. Dawley, and thus made the 
issues clear. We promised to keep our people posted 
as to the progress of these Dawley suits, but since we 
filed our answers there has been little if any progress 
to report. A motion was made to take the testimony 
of one witness in advance on October 14. We consented 
to this, and were prepared, but at the last moment the 
other side postponed the hearing indefinitely. 
We then noted the case for trial on November 4, but 
Mr. Dawley and his lawyers have failed to serve cross 
notice on our lawyers, as is required by court practice. 
They also failed to file notice of issue for the No¬ 
vember term of court, as the plaintiff was expected to 
do. Thus the case will not come up for trial in No¬ 
vember. We have now instructed our lawyers to file 
the required note of issue themselves, not waiting for 
the other side, so as to make sure that the suit will 
be on the court calendar for December, when we hope 
to bring it to trial._ 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Dr. Walter R. Gillette, who was connected 
with the Mutual Life Insurance Company for 36 years and 
who was vice-president when he retired about a year ago 
after the insurance disclosures, was convicted in New York 
October 24 of perjury or having sworn falsely before the 
Grand Jury and was sentenced to six months’ imprison¬ 
ment. The jury was out an hour and a half. The trial 
lasted about four days. . . . The fishing schooner Clara 
G. Silgia lost nine of her crew October 21 on Georges Banks. 
The men were out in dories when a squall separated 
them from the ship. A storm came up suddenly after the 
squall struck and for several hours the seas ran so heavily 
that it seemed impossible that a dory could keep afloat. 
Four capsized dories were seen afterward. The schooner 
Francis Mesquita picked up two men in time to save them. 
What became of the other nine may never be known. . . . 
The situation with regard to the plague is practically the 
same in San Francisco, according to an announcement made 
at the offices of the Marine Hospital Service October 27. 
The work of eradication, especially with regard to rat ex¬ 
termination. is beginning to show good results. The poi¬ 
sons so far employed are phosphorus paste and a mixture 
consisting of equal parts of plaster of paris and flour. Ad¬ 
vices are to the effect that the authorities in Oakland, 
Alameda and Berkeley are thoroughly alive to the dangers 
to be apprehended from the spread of the plague on their 
side of the bay. The sum of $10,000 has been promised by 
the City Council of Oakland as a monthly expenditure to 
prevent' the spread of the disease. The campaign will con¬ 
sist of a sanitary survey, an inspection of the dead, necrop¬ 
sies of all bodies which are considered suspicious of plague 
and general measures for the destruction of the rat and his 
parasites. . . . Fifty passengers and the crew of a Pitts¬ 
burg Railway electric car had a narrow escape from death 
October 23 at McKeesport, Pa. The car started across the 
Fifth avenue bridge over the Youghioghen.v River, and when 
about the middle of the structure jumped the track. Imme¬ 
diately the passengers became panic stricken and attempted 
to leap from the car, but were prevented by the conductor. 
The bridge floor is being repaired, and bad the passengers 
left the car they would have fallen into the river 50 feet 
below. . . . The President has signed proclamations add¬ 
ing 480,451 acres to the Stanislaus and Lassen Peak national 
forests in California. The addition to the Stanislaus is in 
Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa countic'S and takes in a 
strip of land 55 miles long and covering 348.570 acres. In 
the northern part of the addition is the famous Calaveras 
grove of big trees. This grove is owned privately, but there 
are other smaller groves adjacent to this and there has long 
been talk of the Government purchasing the patented land 
and establishing a National park. . . . The Court of 
Special Sessions in New York had October 20 400 automobile 
cases to be disposed of. The Appellate Division decided 
that offences can be punished under the State law, which 
brings these cases to Special Sessions. It is understood that 
the Justices of Special Sessions have agreed on this scale 
of penalties: First offense, a fine not to exceed $50: second 
offence, a minimum fine of $50 and a maximum of $100; 
third offence, 30 days in prison. . . . For violation of 
the Delaware constitutional canons against bribery, Garrett 
Wharton, a prominent Republican, was convicted at Dover, 
Del.. October 29, and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment 
and $200 fine. It was the first conviction in Delaware of a 
white man for buying votes. The defendant is also dis¬ 
franchised for 10 years. . . . Frank McGee of Worcester, 
Mass., New England business agent for the Iron Moulders’ 
Union, was sentenced October 29 to one year in the New 
Haven county jail on the charge of intimidating workmen 
at the McLagen & Co. manufactory in this city. The sen¬ 
tence was imposed by Judge William Bennett in the Court of 
Common Pleas. McGee had come before the court in an 
appeal from the penalty inflicted in the police court, where 
be was first tried. In the police court Judge Richard H. 
Tyner fined McGee $200 and sentenced him to jail for two 
years. Judge Bennett cut out the money penalty and 
knocked off one vear in jail. ... A little strip of land 
600 feet wide arid many miles in length will be transferred 
from Canada to the United States in Alaska as the result 
of the work done by a joint survey party in that country 
during the past Summer. The line of demarcation between 
the United States and Canada in the Far North is the 141st 
meridian, which starts from the coast at Mount St. Elias 
and crosses the Yukon River at a point ninety miles below 
Dawson. The original work of the location of the line was 
done under the direction of Gov. Ogilvie in 1898, the survey 
being by the culmination of the moon. The body of men 
which carried forward the work during the past Summer 
in the interest of Canada was divided into three groups. 
. . . Gov. Stokes, of New Jersey, signed October 29 a 
dozen bills passed at the closing session of the last legisla¬ 
ture. Important among them were the measures providing 
for the popular choice of United States Senators and for 
the nomination of candidates for office by direct vote of the 
people at the primaries. Both were measures that had been 
vigorously contended for by the New Idea followers in 
politics. Senator Colby introduced on the last day of the 
session the bill signed October 29 providing for a popular ex¬ 
pression in the selection of United States Senators. It 
provides that not less than 1,009 voters of a political party 
may file a petition with the Secretary of State indorsing 
any member of their party as a candidate for United States 
Senator. In filing his acceptance of a nomination for State 
Senator or Assemblyman a candidate may sign and file a 
copy of one of two statements. The first of these pledges 
him. regardless of personal preference, to vote for the 
candidate for United States Senator who receives the largest 
number of votes in his party at the primary election in the 
county, and the second pledges him to vote for the candidate 
receiving the highest number of votes in the party in the 
State. 
ITALIAN EARTHQUAKES.—Earthquake shocks which 
were felt throughout Italy October 23 have caused wide¬ 
spread disaster and great loss of life. The severest shocks 
were experienced in Sicily and Calabria, where the panic- 
stricken people are now camping in the open. Much damage 
was done at Reggio and Messina, where houses were wrecked. 
The misery of the people is increased by torrential rains. 
The Government is sending aid. The center of the earth¬ 
quake appears to have been at Monteleone. It was particularly 
violent at Ferruzzano, which is in ruins. Two hundred 
bodies have been taken from the ruins at Ferruzzano. Many 
Injured persons have also been removed. It is estimated that 
the total number of killed is 500. Members of the Red Cross, 
soldiers and volunteers were searching for the dead and 
rescuing the injured throughout the affected area. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Obadiah Brown Iladwen, presi¬ 
dent of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and widely 
known also as a pomologist, died October 25 at his residence 
in Worcester, Mass., at the age of eighty-three years. He 
had been president of the American Bornological Society, 
New England Historical and Genealogical Society, and 
chairman of the executive board of the Massachusetts Agri¬ 
cultural College. 
EMIGRATION TO THE EASTERN STATES. 
In a recent issue Wallace’s Farm of Des Moines, Iowa, 
has an excellent discussion of the movements of emigration. 
It says: “We think truly we are inclined to believe that 
the next wave of emigration will be eastward. There is 
a great deal of good land in the Eastern States, particularly 
in New York, Maryland, and some of the New England 
States, that can be purchased and is being purchased at 
less than the cost of the buildings. These lands have 
markets at their very door, good roads and electric lines, 
everything, it would seem, that makes farm life desirable. 
This wave of emigration has in fact already begun ; it will 
not assume any great proportions until there is less induce¬ 
ment for farmers to move westward. 
“The reader may ask. Why is it that it has not begun 
long ago? There are various reasons. One is that farming 
is not nearly as popular in the Eastern States as it is 
farther west. Fifteen years ago we spent some days with 
an eminent lawyer in central Ohio. He had entered a large 
amount of land in Nebraska at a dollar and a quarter an 
acre. He sold it for thirty-three dollars per acre and bought 
well improved farms, several of which he showed us, at 
from thirty-five to forty; good land, good orchards, good 
roads, and close to town. He had a son in Nebraska whom 
he urged to come and do likewise, and the son stated the 
objections which applied to farming in the New England 
and Middle States as well: 
“ ‘Father, if I were to move here I would be considered 
only a farmer; whereas in Nebraska I am about as big a 
man as there is in the county. I borrow as much money 
from the bank for my farming operations. I deposit as much, 
and I am regarded as a leading, influential man in the com¬ 
munity. I would lose that standing if I were to move East.’ 
Of course this will change; but lands apparently as good 
as they are in the West will not always remain at half price, 
and we regard a wave of emigration to the East as one of 
the certainties of the future. Just when it will occur no 
man knows, but it is coming.” 
NORTHERN MICHIGAN NOTES. 
■ I raise apples, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, sweet and 
sour cherries, grapes, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, 
blackberries and strawberries making quite a respectable 
collection, and they all grow to perfection, which speaks 
well for the country, does it not? My farm is located on 
Grand Traverse Bay, in Leelanau Co., Mich. Crops of all 
kinds are grown here with equally good success, but apples 
and potatoes are the principal money crops. Apples were 
an excellent crop this year, while 200 bushels of potatoes 
per acre are nothing unusual. The apples on one orchard 
of 10 acres were sold quite early in the season for $2,000 
on the trees. This is the third time I have known of the 
same orchard being sold for $2,000 or over. Most of the 
orchards here are young, yet they commence yielding their 
golden harvest about the fourth or fifth year from planting. 
This is a new country as yet, there being but a small propor¬ 
tion under cultivation. It originally was all hard wood 
land but the commercial part of the timber has been re¬ 
moved. It is admirably located for the raising of 
fruit, being in close proximity to large bodies of 
water. Unimproved lands can be had from $10 to $15 per 
acre, while improved lands can be had from $20 to $40. 
There are few places where people enjoy better health than 
here; chills and fever are unknown. Being so far north 
people are of the impression that the Winters are very 
cold, but it is not so; mercury seldom reaches the zero 
mark, while in Summer people flock here by the thousands 
to enjoy our beautiful weather and to escape that dreaded 
affliction, hay fever. Our advantages in the way of trans¬ 
portation are far beyond the average. Three lines of rail¬ 
roads now enter this region, as well as our advantages in 
water transportation. Several lines of boats connect us with 
Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo. I write 
this feeling sure that if many people in search of 
western homes and cheap lands could only know of this 
beautiful region with all of its advantages they would not 
be induced to go to that far-off western country where trans¬ 
portation takes the lion’s share in getting your product 
to market. Our schools and churches are well established, 
and they are the pride of our country. I should be pleased 
to answer any inquiries about this country; being a resi¬ 
dent here for 39 years I feel that I know the country well. 
Omena, Mich. s. A - K - 
THE SYRACUSE CONVENTION. 
The Agricultural Convention which was called by the 
Syracuse Chamber of Commerce to meet in that city October 
23, 24 and 25, for the announced intention of devising some 
means to rescue the abandoned farms of the State, and 
arrange plans for bettering the farming conditions in the 
East, was a complete success according to the voluminous 
press dispatches published in the daily papers of central 
New York. Invitations had been scattered broadcast to the 
farmers’ organizations of the small towns and villages, and 
to the boards of trade of the larger places, to send delegates 
to the convention. There was a fairly good response on the 
part of the cities, and the convention opened with as large 
an attendance as could reasonably be expected. The writer 
made it a point to mingle as much as possible with those 
in attendance at the various sessions and ascertain as far 
as possible the mind of those present as to the object of the 
convention, and also to learn the present occupation of 
those who made up the audience. As a result of this investi¬ 
gation I came to the conclusion that the farmers of the 
Empire State were too busy with their productive farms to 
give much attention to the so-called non-productive ones, 
and that the convention was not being attended by the 
actual tillers of the soil. A large part of the assemblage 
was made up of “retired farmers” ; men who may have oc¬ 
cupied farms at one time, hut are now holding some political 
office, agricultural appointment or engaged in educational 
work in some agricultural institution. There was a fair 
percentage of aged farmers who had delegated the operation 
of their farms to a younger generation; and were now en¬ 
joying a well-earned rest. A fair-sized delegation of Syra¬ 
cuse lawyers and politicians, with several preachers, were 
scattered through the audience, while business men repre¬ 
senting the various boards of trade of other cities, made up 
a large part of the remainder of the audience. A few actual 
farmers were there, but they were mostly from Onondaga 
County, and while in the city with a load of produce dropped 
into the convention for a few minutes. 
Your correspondent, while seated near a man who appeared 
to be a thrifty farmer, engaged him in conversation. He 
said he knew of but one abandoned farm in his locality, and 
that was a tract of seven acres which had become involved 
in the settling of an estate, and could not be sold until the 
heir had become of age. It turned out that the man was 
no longer a farmer, but was running for office in Onondaga 
County, and had dropped into the convention in hope of 
meeting a few voters. Before the day was over he was 
busily engaged in meeting constituents. Another farmer, 
while conversing on the object of the convention, said : “I 
was in the city on business to-day and thought I would drop 
into the convention to see what was going on. I am sur¬ 
prised to see any farmers here, for I don’t see why it should 
interest them. I know there are farms which are not 
cultivated, but it is because there is plenty of other land 
which will give a better return for the same amount of 
expenditure. It seems funny that the Chamber of Commerce 
should call a convention to help us farmers out just, at the 
time when we are the most prosperous we have ever been, 
and when we need help the least. With the present pcics for 
our products we are abundantly able to take care of our¬ 
831 
selves. If they wanted to help us why didn’t, they do it 
when prices were low and we were having hard times? It 
is then that the farmer appreciates all that can be done 
for him.” 
I believe that the sentiment which this farmer expressed 
is the one which the majority of the farmers of the State 
hold, and that the pessimistic tone which pervaded the 
convention was not a echo from the farmers of New York 
State. Many able men were present at the convention, 
and gave some very interesting figures, but the general 
drift of subjects was altogether too indefinite to be of 
practical benefit to the farmers of the State. Taken alto¬ 
gether the convention may have been fully up to the ex¬ 
pectations of the promoters, but it was of little benefit to 
the farmers, and no practical results can be expected because 
of it. c. J. A. 
Wayne Co., N. Y._ 
N. J. FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 
South Rutherford.Bergen County .Nov. 12. 
Keyport.Monmouth County.. .Nov. 13. 
New Market .Middlesex County... Nov. 14. 
Blackwood.Camden County.Nov. 15. 
Clayton.Gloucester County.. .Nov. 16. 
Red Bank ..’.Monmouth County...Nov. 18. 
Matawan.Monmouth County... Nov. 19. 
Swedesboro.Gloucester County ..Nov. 20, 21. 
Vineland.Cumberland County..Nov. 22, 23. 
Rockaway.Morris County.Nov. 25. 
Newton.Sussex County.Nov. 26, 27. 
Blairstown.Warren County.Nov. 29. 
Delaware.Warren County.Nov. 30. 
Shiloh.....Cumberland County..Dec. 2, 3. 
New Brunswick .Middlesex County.. .Dec. 6. 
Pennington.Mercer County.Dec. 7. 
Wrightstown.Burlington County... Dec. 9. 
Mporestown. ..Burlington County... Dec. 10, 11. 
Wiliamstown.Gloucester County. . .Dec. 12. 
Woodstown.Salem County.Dec. 13, 14. 
Haimnouton. . ..Atlantic County.Dec. 16. 
Berlin.Camden County.Dec. 17. 
Mount Holly .Burlington County.. .Dec. 18. 
Windsor.Mercer County.Dec. 19. 
Locktown.Hunterdon County. .Dec. 20, 21. 
THE TAX ON IMPROVEMENTS. 
Under the heading “The Tax. on Improvements," page 715, 
is an article that interested me much, for it does not hesitate 
to call a spade a spade. It properly characterizes that 
asinine policy, that jumps upon the man with an instinct for 
improving and beautifying his property, just as if he had 
shot a deer out of season or transgressed some city ordinance. 
Practically what is the difference between the fine, the pen¬ 
alty, in one case and the other? Some years since the 
writer purchased nearly an acre of land, well located, in 
an outlying ward of Springfield. Mass. It had run wild 
for years, and like the field of the slothful man it was all 
grown over with weeds and nettles had covered the face 
thereof. In my spare time I cleaned out the white birch and 
scrub pines root and branch ; had plowing, filling and grad¬ 
ing done, and planted quite a portion of it to fruit trees, 
ornamental trees and shrubs; also set out beds of pansies 
and hardy bulbs, and each season planted choice Dahlias 
by the hundred, and Gladiolus by the thousand. What is the 
result of literally making “the desert blossom like the rose?” 
Last year the advance in my taxes was quite a sum ahead of 
the total tax for the land in the rough. If “the man who mak"S 
two blades of grass grow where but one grew before,” is a pub¬ 
lic benefactor what about him who makes roses grow by the 
hundred, where before the thistle reared its ugly head. What 
will the historian of the future have to say about this system 
that “penalizes,” with increasing severity, each addition to “the 
sum total of human happiness”? I engineered a diploma lie 
letter once, and still have a satisfied feeling over the results, 
as it stopped the intolerable nuisance of having my neigh¬ 
bor’s hens forage in my garden the season through, and also 
preserved the friendship and good will of my neighbor. 
That tax bill jarred my feelings a little, and I sat down and 
wrote the assessors a little note. More caustic than diplo¬ 
matic I fear. It drew a reply, the substance of which was 
that they though that I had been too leniently dealt with 
in the past for my misdeeds (i. e., improvements), so they 
made it up in a lump sum. This season I have had a block 
of Dahlias and Gladiolus 75 feet long within six feet of a 
much traveled street, no fence, and no trespass signs. Fre¬ 
quently I see people slowly walking the whole length of the 
outside row, admiring the flowers, but I seldom lose a bloom ; 
the most damage ever done was one evening when a bibulous 
individual, with a topheav.v jag. lost his connection with 
the sidewalk and plunged headlong into my Dahlias. 
Indian Orchard, Mass. c. a. b. 
LIFE INSURANCE FACTS AND FIGURES. 
Result of a Fifteen Year Policy. 
Noticing some discussion of life insurance in your columns, 
I think possibly your readers may be interested in the actual 
results of a ten-thousand dollar tontine policy in the Equit¬ 
able of New York, No. 237193, taken out by me on the fifteen- 
year payment plan. Nov. 17. 1881. The company gave me 
a written “illustration” of the probable results, “based upon 
the actual experience of the society for a number of years,” 
which illustration showed that on Nov. 7. 1896, I could 
probably exchange my policy for a paid-up policy of $20,600: 
or take $8,640 in cash for it; or take $4,083 in cash, and 
continue the policy, which would thereafter draw annual 
dividends beginning at $68 per annum : or use the surplus 
to buy an annuity of $428. When the fifteen years expired, 
Nov. 7, 1896, I was offered a paid-up policy for $14,140; or 
$6,444.80 in cash in full settlement: or $1,887 in cash and 
continue the policy, with annual dividends thereafter; or 
use the surplus to buy an annuity of $143.50. I took the 
third option. In 1901 I. inquired of the company how much 
had been added to the policy, and received a statement in 
writing that the additions came to $418. This Summer, I 
wrote again, and was informed that the total additions are 
now $238. On asking how it happens that they have 
shrunken at such a rate, I am informed that the statement 
sent me in 1901 was “an error.” gilbert m. tucker. 
Albany, N. Y. 
Invest Your Own Money. 
I am much amused at the criticisms the believers in life 
insurance are unearthing in answer to the Hope Farm man's 
articles, page 511 and 591. I would like to know just how 
much, including interest, those page 705 friends’ $2,000 cost 
them : leaving out probable and possible privations. Cannot 
a farmer with average business ability so invest as to bring 
him a better and surer income? I live to-day in the South, 
and have lived among farmers in the North who paid heavy 
premiums on life insurance. Part, of these have lost out by 
non-payment caused by sickness or crop failures, and it 
looked cruel to me to see the hard-earned money frittered 
away, which often had caused privation to the “poor little 
wife and children.” I once read of a certain drug clerk who 
received his wages Saturday evening; it being after banking 
hours he could not deposit his savings, so he used to take 
out enough to pay his last week’s expenses, put the balance 
in an envelope and mail it to himself, when it was delivered 
to him Monday he would at once bank it. When asked why 
he did this he admitted he could not keep his money over 
Sunday. For such life insurance should he a boon. I have 
in the past 22 years owned and lived on five different farms, 
and I think in that period have been approached on an 
average once a year by one of these hot-air merchants. I 
still have the first one to meet who can convince me he can 
invest my cash, be it $50 or $500, better and safer than I 
can. w. w. 
Miami, Florida. _ 
Adams County, Pa., is harvesting one of the finest crops 
of York Imperial apples that ever grew. Trees loaded to 
the ground and apples as pretty as pictures. We have a 
yield of about $1,200 from less than two acres. e. c. t. 
