2909. 
THK RURAL NEW-YORKER 
«f->l 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—-A tank of the Tide Water Oil Company, 
Constable Ilook, Bayonne, N. J., exploded September 22, 
presumably from spontaneous combustion. The top and 
sides of the tank being torn away the blazing oil spread 
to the boiler house and a frame building used as - a 
barrel factory, and both were destroyed. Loss over 
$100,000. ... A hurricane struck the Gulf Coast 
September 20-21. Terrebonne, La., suffered heavily, a ml 
it is believed that 50 lives were lost in the fishing camps. 
Many towns of Louisiana sustained great property loss. 
In and around Baton Rouge the damage will exceed $2,- 
000,000. The State Capitol was unroofed and a considerable 
part of the building was flooded. The Mississippi 
Coast Traction Company’s road of 18 miles, which cost 
$1,000,000, is almost a wreck. It runs between Long 
Beach and Biloxi. Excepting at Gulfport, not a bath 
house or pier has been left from l’ass Christian to Scran¬ 
ton. The loss on these structures is from $500,000 to 
$750,000. Damage to small shipping is almost beyond 
estimate. Judge J. II. Nevill, of Gulfport, woke Septem¬ 
ber 20 to find a large t\wo masted schooner heavily laden 
with oysters' in his front yard. In several instances 
schooners crashed through residences, one home at Gulf¬ 
port being cut in two in this manner. News from Lee, 
La., says that 23 houses, two churches, three stores, the 
school house and the town ball were destroyed by the 
hurricane. A score of persons were seriously hurt. . . 
Commissioner Wihipple, of the New’’ York Starte 
Forest, Fish, and Game Commission, announced Septem¬ 
ber 23 that the State had made seizures of game held' 
out of season in the plant of the Harrison Street Cold 
Storage Company, New York, on which there is a liability 
to fines aggregating $50,000. This is probably the largest 
seizure of its kind ever made by the State. The game 
includes partridges, ducks, pheasants, plover, and other 
wild birds. The game had been put in the storage as 
poultry and meats of various kinds. . . . One hun¬ 
dred destitute men and women, all Americans, marooned 
at Nome, Alaska, will be transported to Seattle at the 
expense of Uncle Sam in accordance with an order issued 
at the Treasury Department. The men and women in 
question have been employed by a development company 
operating in the vicinity of Nome. They were unable 
to collect their wages and accordingly quit work, and 
reports received at the Treasury Department were to 
the effect that they were in a destitute condition. They 
made appeals for relief to the Federal officials in Alas¬ 
ka, with the result that the case was called to the at¬ 
tention of the authorities here. Orders were issued for 
a revenue cutter to proceed to Nome and transport 
the party to Seattle, where it is understood permanent 
measures of relief will be extended. . . . * An appeal 
to women's organizations was sent out September 23 by 
the Cincinnati, (O.) W. C. T. U. to enter a national 
campaign for the passage of Federal laws to hunt and 
punish wife deserters as zealously as cases of army and 
navy desertions are followed. The report of 2,700 cases 
of wife desertion in that city during a period of three 
months and 1,500 similar cases in the same time in one 
part of Chicago prompted the resolutions that were 
adopted by GOO cheering women. . . . Three women 
were killed and three men and a woman seriously in¬ 
jured when an automobile containing eight persons out 
for a “joy ride” jumped oft’ a trestle at Fourth and 
Weller streets, Seattle, Wash., September 23. As soon 
as the car landed on the Tide Flats, 25 feet below the 
trestle, the gasoline tank exploded and flames shot up 
SO feet. A fire engine was called and the firemen dragged 
a woman from under the blazing automobile after they 
had been throwing water on the wreck for several min¬ 
utes. The driver, Henry Hizer, who had been twice ar¬ 
rested for reckless driving, was taken to the city jail. 
He only escaped unhurt.Pinned beneath a 
burning touring automobile which a few seconds before 
had plunged over an eight-foot embankment while driven 
at a terrific rate of speed. John Mcltendon, a young busi¬ 
ness' man and bank official of Americas, Ga., and Viola 
Hermann, a woman companion, were instantly killed Sep¬ 
tember 24. Ethel Hill, another member of the party, 
was severely burned. The dead woman's neck was broken 
and death ‘resulted instantly. McLendon was not killed 
outright, but died in agony beneath the flaming machine. 
The bodies of the two victims were partly consumed by 
the flames. . . . Sophie Beck, the most picturesque 
and daring woman swindler that ever lived, was arrested 
September 24 in Atlantic City, N. J.. after a chase which 
lasted four years and covered 23000 miles. In March, 
1005 Sophie'Beck, or Mrs. Graham, left Philadelphia wit,h 
a sum of money estimated at $1,000,000, the profits of 
the Storey Cotton Company swindle, of which the Bock 
woman and Francis C. Man-in. alias “Judge” Franklin 
Stone, were the backers. The company was supposed to 
buy and sell cotton, and big and quick profits were prom¬ 
ised investors'. The company was doing well for its pro¬ 
moters until March. 1005, when the postal authorities 
went after it and it collapsed. The books of the con¬ 
cern showed that $3,500,000 had been taken in by the 
company in the four years preceding dissolution. M.p- 
rin is now in jail. . . . Earthquake shocks were felt 
throughout Illinois and Indiana September 27. The dam¬ 
age was confined to slight cracks in some brick build¬ 
ings in a few localities. The Norwegian steam¬ 
ship Gere was wrecked off the Winter Quarter lightship, 
50 miles off the Delaware Capes, September 23. Seven 
men escaped, eight of the crew being drowned. Upon 
the sinking of the ship, which was bound for Cuba, car¬ 
rying 930 tons- of coal, the men who were saved clung 
for two and a half hours in the raging seas to one of 
the ship’s lifeboats. Finally Conrad Klndren. the mess 
boy, succeeded in climbing into the boat and bailing it out 
sufficiently to receive the other men who were stiff 
and exhausted from the cold. Then by a miracle of 
chance the crew came upon a floating sail from their 
sunken ship and. rigging it up they finally reached the 
Winter Quarter lightship, ten miles to the south. . 
At least 50 persons were more or less seriously injured 
at Pittsburgh. Pa.. September 27. when there was an ex¬ 
plosion in the offices of the Columbian Film Exchange. 
The walls of the building, an eight-story structure, were 
left bulging by the. explosion, while not an office escaped 
without damage. Windows were blown out and parti¬ 
tions blown down. Several hundred firemen and police- 
nv-n immediately began searching for injured and dead. 
The cause of the explosion is not definitely known. In 
some manner the inflammable films were ignited, and the 
next moment came the explosion. The detonation could 
be heard for blocks’. . . . Charles .Tames Bell, for¬ 
mer Governor of Vermont, died suddenly in New York 
September 25. From 1897 to 1904 be was a member of 
the Vermont Board of Agriculture, during six years of 
which time he was the secretary of the board. In the 
capacity of a cattle commissioner Mr. Bell served for 
s ix years. He was elected Governor of the State in 
19<>4 and served one term. He had been master of the 
State Grange since 1894 and was on the executive com¬ 
mittee of the National Grange. ... A sequel to 
tiie joy ride in a “borrowed” automobile, in which Stan- 
a’y P- Taylor, of Boston, was killed in Shrewsbury, Mass., 
August 8, came in the district court at Worcester, Sep¬ 
tember 28, when his companions. William T. Walsh, John 
J. Barrett, Henry H, Riley and Ernest E. Uane, were 
arraigned before Judge lit Icy on a charge of larceny of 
an automobile, larceny of gasoline and reckless driving. 
Walsh was sent to jail for three months for operating 
an automobile while intoxicated and taking an automo¬ 
bile. He appealed. Riley was fined $25 for taking an 
automobile and Barrett was sent to jail for three months 
for taking an automobile and fined $10 fo>- larceny of live 
gallons of gasoline. Lane was discharged. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—As a result of investigations 
made by the Pennsylvania State Pure Food Commission, 
an extensive illegal traffic in oleomargarine was unearthed 
between Wilmington and Kennett Square, Pa., and vi¬ 
cinity. The imitation-but ter which was shipped generally 
as “canned corn” was bought in large quantities, around 
Kennett Square and sold as "pure butter.” The names 
of 40 persons have been obtained who have been receiving 
the stuff from Wilmington. It is probable the Federal 
authorities in Delaware and in Pennsylvania will also 
take action. 
Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner James S. Whipple 
has established a State farm at Sherburne, Chenango 
county, N. Y., on which to raise game birds. It has been 
fenced with wire fencing and fitted tip for the various 
species of birds which are to be reared. A specialty 
will be made of Hungarian partridge. They are a hardy 
game bird, about half the size of the native partridge, 
and are prolific breeders. Mr. Whipple says (hat the 
department will he able to turn out into game covers 
of the State next year about 10,000 birds and furnish as 
many as 100 dozen eggs to those who desire them for 
settings. The sportsmen of the State, are much inter¬ 
ested in the effort to replenish the depleted covers. 
1 he Burley Tobacco Society, which carried on a suc¬ 
cessful fight against the American Tobacco Company 
last year for better prices and which is making a similar 
light this year, won a big victory at Lexington, Ky„ 
when it succeeded in pooling the crops of James B. Hag- 
gin and J. H. Camden. The former raised between 300 
and 400 acres at Ellendorf farm this year which will 
aggregate more than 500,000 pounds, the largest crop in 
the world, while Camden's crop will run close to 200 000 
pounds. Haggin refused to pool his tobacco last year 
because the night rider troubles looked like a lawless at¬ 
tempt to force growers into joining the pool, and at 
the end of the season he shipped his tobacco to the Cin¬ 
cinnati markets. This year, however, conditions havo 
changed, and with the society having succeeded in pool¬ 
ing tiie two largest crops in the country it is believer' 
by the officials of the pool that the moral effect will 
be such as to result in every grower of hurley not 
already in the pool joining tlie war against the trust. 
NOTES ON STATE FAIR EXHIBITS. 
Considering the off season and the general poor quality 
of iruit this year the fruit exhibit was exceptionally cred¬ 
itable. The Western New York Horticultural Society won 
first on large society collections. Most of their gain over 
tlio Now York State Fruit Growers Association whs mnde 
on number of varieties shown; though the judge allowed 
them one point for proportion and one point for an ar¬ 
rangement at one end of the table of a few plates of 
fruit under dessert and culinary headings. The New 
T oi k State Fruit Browers’ Association won second on a 
larger exhibit that averaged much higher in quality than 
that of its competitor. The commercial value was also 
29 per cent greater according to the dealer who bought 
lM>th exhibits after the fair. Orleans won first and On¬ 
tario second on county exhibits, both making a very tine 
showing. The ornamental work on tiie Ontario exhibit is 
worthy of special mention, and represented a vast amount 
or labor, in the class for Granges, Webster Grange was 
the only exhibitor, and made a very creditable exhibit. 
The name of the Grange was worked in a very attractive 
design in fruit; hut a lack of contrast In colors rendered 
it rather ineffective. The individual collections both in 
professional and amateur classes were very good to fairly 
ordinary. In the single dish exhibits this season the 
loading commercial varieties were given an advantage 
over other varieties. For Baldwin and Greening the 
prizes were first $25. second $10, third $5; 
Spy and King $15, $10, and $5; Jonathan and 
Spitzenberg $10. $5 and $2.50. Bartlett. Bose and Scckel 
were picked for advancement in pears, Bradshaw. Bur- 
hank. Reine Claude and Shropshire Damson in plums; 
Concord. Catawba, Delaware, Niagara and Worden in 
grapes and Elberta in peaches. These prizes in compari¬ 
son with the regular prizes of $1.50, 80 cents and 40 
cents shoujd bring out a very large display of these 
favored varieties which should la’ very fine in quality, but 
the exhibits in these favored classes were no larger than 
in former years and quality was below rather than above 
average. The former can probably be accounted for bv 
the fact that the entry fee is five per cent of first pre¬ 
mium paid which would make tiie fee for entering a 
plate of Baldwins $1.2.*. Some look at this as too much 
lur a shot at $2.*. There is no excuse, however, for the 
lack of quality shown in Baldwins this year. A better 
average lot was shown in the society exhibits. The classes 
tor commercial exhibits brought out some very good fruit 
and this feature of the fair should be encouraged. A new 
class for nursery stock was made this year and seemed 
to he well received by nurserymen, as several entries 
were made and some very fine stock shown. Buyers who 
expect all stock to come ep to these samples will I am 
afraid he disappointed, as trees are not turned out in a 
lathe and nurserymen would naturally pick as good as 
they could find for showing in competition for a prize. 
The Geneva Station made a large showing of fruit, cov¬ 
ering many varieties; and it is to these tables that grow¬ 
ers usually come to get varieties identified, and here 
always find attendants willing to help them, not only in 
identification but with any problems that confront them 
in their work. 
At the State Fair competition is open to the world. 
This places the New York fruit grower at a disadvantage 
at this time of the year, as fruits grown iu lower lati¬ 
tudes are much more mature and show to much greater 
advantage. This was brought very forcibly to mind h.v 
Northern Spy apples shown from Southern Ohio that 
showed as mature at this date as the New York Spv will 
at Christmas time. It would be as just to ask one stock 
breeder to show a three-year-old against the mature cow 
of another breeder. Classes must be so arranged that 
exhibitors start on an equal basis; for an exhibitor who 
lias to overcome an advantage given his competitor by 
the classification or the scale of points used in judging 
will soon see the uselessness of his efforts and will drop 
out. Aside from this there are natural advantages and 
disadvantages that every exhibitor has to contend with 
and he expects to. The grower on cold heavy soil does 
not expect to match in color the same variety grown 
on soil that is warm and light. Y"et some varieties will 
grow nearer perfection on these heavy soils. A Western 
New York grower does not expect to eelinse Fameuse or 
McIntosh grown in the Champlain Valley, or Sutton 
Beauty or Grimes from the Hudson. But is it fair to the 
growers of New York Stale to extend this variation of 
soil, climate and adaptability of varieties’ beyond the 
borders of the State? 
Vegetables made about the usual showing, or perhaps 
a little below the usual quantity, hut there was an in¬ 
crease iu shelled grain. Honey was prominent in its usual 
corner, and the show of flowers covered a wide range of 
varieties, and some of the floral designs' were worthy of 
special mention. 
The poultry had been moved to the old Art and In¬ 
dustrial building and with the increased floor space could 
be shown to much better advantage. In the center of 
the building a large pool had been Installed, and here 
many varieties of water fowl, both domestic and wild, 
enjoyed their favorite element and attracted largo crowds. 
Through ihe center of the building from this pool to the 
western entrance were a row of cages- containing many 
of the wild animals of the State. Raccoons, rabbits, wood¬ 
chucks, squirrels, foxes and opossums were among the 
numbers. The poultry was much ahead of previous ex¬ 
hibits in numbers: the entries including pigeons and pet 
stock running to 339G. The quality averaged high. It 
is hard to estimate the value of a breed by the numbers 
appearing in the show room. Especially is this true 
when figuring the popularity of different broods among 
those who make their dollars and cents from the regular 
market end of the business. 
No one will question the popularity of the White Leg¬ 
horn as the egg farm favorite, hut against 79 birds of 
tiiis variety shown were 175 Golden Seabright Bantams. 
The only popular variety that could down these Seabright 
pets were the It. 1. Reds and these were brought out by 
a long list of silver cups offered on this variety. That 
tiie U. I. Red is becoming popular as a rival to the Ply¬ 
mouth Rock and Wyandotte as a general purpose fowl 
no one will question, but that they lead these varieties 
is no more proven by the large showings made at the 
fairs than tiie large entry of Golden Seahrights proves 
them more popular than the White Leghorn. The rare 
variety classes are tilled by men who make a business of 
filling these classes at all tho Fall fairs, and are in it 
for ilie money they can make in premiums above entry 
fees and expenses. These men are known to the true 
fancier as hucksters, and whether they are an injury or 
a benefit to the poultry show and poultry business is a 
story that has two sides. 
The Liberal Arts building was crowded with exhibits of 
Syracuse merchants and machinery exhibits, with one 
wing devoted to tine arts and culinary exhibits. All the 
available space on the grounds was taken up with ma¬ 
chinery exhibits, and everything a farmer could use was 
shown. The only tiling new I noticed was an onion top¬ 
per and sorter, but to those who never attended this 
fair the machinery exhibit is worth the full cost. The 
cattle exhibit, though considerably below that of last year 
in numbers, was strong in quality. The falling off in 
numbers was mostly in Holsteins, Dutch Belted and 
Jerseys, but there was a considerable gain in Ayrshires 
and the beef breeds. Little can be seen of the cattle 
unless visitors get there while they are in the show 
ring, as most of them are kept blanketed, and the stalls 
are so built that they are effectually hidden unless one 
goes in the stall beside them. It is to he hoped that the 
new cattle building will he so arranged that visitors inn 
see more than just the head and tail. It is also hard 
for the uninitiated to find the prize winning animals in 
many classes. The horses were shown this year in the 
new race horse building inside the paddock, and quite a 
distance from other exhibits. To get to this building 
tiie regular paddock admission of 25 cents had to lie 
paid, and but few farmers saw the horses. Not that it 
amounts to much from the farmers’ standpoint, as the 
horse show has, aside from high steppers and jumpers, 
been pretty much of a farce for years. Is not tills partly 
responsible for the spider-legged bunch of hairspring 
nerves that is expected to do the work on so many New 
York farms today? Horses wholly unsuited for the work 
required of them, hut they can kick up quite a dust in 
the road when they are not lame in more than three legs. 
I trust that a new horse show will lx* built with the new 
horse barns. Sheep were slightly below last year’s ex¬ 
hibit in numbers, but of good quality. It was a proud 
day for New York when a home-bred ram won over an 
imported ram that cost his owner $900 in England. The 
swine exhibit was larger and of better quality than a 
year ago, hut a large proportion of the animals came from 
outside the State. The New York State College of Agri¬ 
culture at Cornel! University was a prominent exhibitor 
in the Cheshire classes. G. R. s. 
BETTER OUTLOOK FOR GINSENG. 
I am prepared to state, for the past three years 
cultivated, ginseng has, as a rule, been a profitable 
investment. The wild-cat claims for this article in most 
eases are more or less without foundation. This crop is 
not unlike any other, as far as profit and loss are con¬ 
cerned ; it has its good and bad results. New York has 
many tine beds or gardens, and many poor ones as well. 
Many think that a gold mine is to lie found beneath the 
tops of growing plants' in a much less period of time than 
can he depended upon. I fear that many who only have 
a limited amount of cash and are inclined to be a little 
short of ambition will see their mistake in putting all 
their eggs in one basket. The Chinese, as has been stated 
frequently, are a peculiar race. When they buy a certain 
quantity of cultivated root then they quit and want wild 
root in its place. This has been the case for the past three 
years. At present the market is good for both culti¬ 
vated and the wild root. The average price is around 
$0.00 per pound for cultivated, well dried ; $0.75 for wild in 
good condition. Cultivated root can be profitably grown 
for $4.50 per pound, in the hands of growers who are 
in the habit of making a success of most all undertakings. 
Personally, I would not hesitate in planting out five acres 
of ginseng. The future is certainly bright for the suc¬ 
cess of the Chinese medical herb. T think that the aver¬ 
age price will not go below five dollars per pound, and 
there will he market demands at spells so long as China 
remains a heathen nation. The Chinese used to claim 
that the medical properties were not in the cultivated 
as in the wild root, but this nonsense has left their minds, 
and they take one as freely as the other when they want 
any at all. Price of silver governs price of the root as 
well as supply and demand, as China is a free silver nation. 
LEMUEL BLACK. 
R. N.-Y.—At tiie New' York State Fair we were told 
that ginseng would pay if it could he grown. The sec¬ 
tion around Syracuse, N. Y., was the headquarters for 
cultivated ginseng. Mr. Geo. Stanton. w r ho started the 
industry, lived nearby. Blight has now destroyed most 
of the gardens and there is but little ginseng left in that 
section. We now see that the great excitement over this 
crop was raised by people who had seeds or young roots 
to sell. The men with marketable ginseng to sell keep 
quiet. _ 
CROP PROSPECTS. 
In answer to the query about chestnut trees dying, 
would say Fliat in our 70 acres of woods, three parts of 
which are chestnut, our trees are not dying from, the 
top quicker than they always have done. The apple 
crop is a failure, worst for years. The oats, wheat and 
corn crops fair; wheat selling at $1. 
Markeysburg, Pa. g. b. 
The Lima bean harvest has begun. The cutters and 
pilers are busy getting them iu piles to haul to the 
thrashers as soon as dry enough. The crop is medium, 
not very heavy : no rain to do much good since February. 
The Winter rains were bountiful, but the Spring rains 
did not come. Hay good, but not a heavy crop, so prices 
are good. Bean thrashing will begin in about two weeks, 
and will he rushed through before the rains - , if possible. 
Walnuts are being gathered and dried. The first picked 
up seem rather smaller than usual, but the prospect may 
improve as tiie season advances. Fruit crop fair: more 
peaches and plums than usual, so prices are low and 
some were allowed to rot on the ground. Potatoes and 
corn medium crops'. Lemons yielding fairly well, and 
prices fill to good. O. N. C. 
Santa Barbara Co., Cal. 
THE TARIFF ON IITDES.—Since reading yonr edi¬ 
torial stating that the presence or absence of the duty 
on hides' in no way affected the cattle grower, I have 
followed with interest the prices of beef and cattle. 
Now that hides are free of duty 1 note from the current 
issue of the “Drovers Journal” that steers, in carload 
lots, sold last week at $7.50 per 100; four weeks ago 
the same grade was sold at $7.10; at the same time in 
1908 the price was $7.10; in 1907 It was $7. and in 1906 
it was $0.25. Choice export steers brought $8.30 last 
week. A friend of mine was talking to some of the 
largest cattlemen in Texas prior to the passage of the 
Payne bill. The universal opinion was that the cat¬ 
tlemen felt unconcerned over the outcome of the agitation 
regarding the removal of the duty on hides, as they felt 
confident it would in no way influence their industry. 
In view of the foregoing, which I understand is quite a 
general opinion in the West, the excitement of the West¬ 
ern Senators would seem to have been in behalf of con¬ 
stituents other than the cattle growers, as they profess. 
HENRY W. HEALY. 
