1060 
THIS RURAL N.’LW-YOKKER 
October 28 , 
NEWS FROM ALBANY, N. Y. 
Politics at the Capital. —Tbe lot of 
the average office bolder is not at all en¬ 
viable just at present. No matter what his 
party affiliations his morning’s mail is pret¬ 
ty sure to contain a pleasantly worded re¬ 
quest for a contribution for the good of "our 
glorious cause,” which, upon second read¬ 
ing, doesn't sound quite so pleasant. There 
is a note of demand with a suggestion of 
a threat somewhere in it which seems to 
say “come across with some money, or look 
out for your job.” To be sure both com¬ 
mittees of the two great parties are most 
careful to comply with the law which pro¬ 
hibits seeking contributions from State em¬ 
ployees. and prominently displayed in every 
department is a placard containing the stat¬ 
ute which forbids assessment, or solicitation, 
of money from public officers. But it is 
the exceptional employee who has the back¬ 
bone to refuse to contribute; many giving 
up to both parties. 
Albany City Investigation. —The Senate 
committee, with $50,000 of the taxpayers’ 
money, to investigate Albany affairs is at 
work, and four days each week is given over 
to an exhibit in public of disgusting sore 
" pots existing on the body politic. Nothing 
l!ius far has been shown that has not been 
l nown for years to have been going on. 
Petty grafting, protection of immorality, 
granting favors to political henchmen, pro¬ 
fiting from city contracts—all these signs of 
a low conception of civic righteousness 
which seem to exist in every large city— 
are set forth daily in the public press, such 
portions as are printable. It does not seem 
that any lasting good can come from this 
investigation unless it may turn the 
thoughts of the better class of citizens to 
the efforts of those cities in the West which 
are experimenting with commission govern¬ 
ment. seeking to find ways to make govern¬ 
ment what it should be—in the interest of 
the people and not merely for the good of 
the professional politician. 
Wingdale Prison.— More than six years 
ago a movement was started looking toward 
the abandonment of Sing Sing prison and 
electing a new prison in place thereof. An 
active propaganda was carried on in which 
existing conditions were pictured so vividly 
vile that the public conscience was stirred 
'•'th the result that the Legislature of 
!bO(l created a commission on new prisons 
authorized to establish a new prison to re¬ 
place that at Sing Sing. The history of 
t h e activities of this commission—that is if 
ell of the secret tales might be told—would 
make a fine subject for a muck-raking maga¬ 
zine article. To date there has been appro¬ 
priated for this single new prison $850,000. 
of which up to April 1 of the present year 
$ J 02.121.41 has been spent, for which the 
State has to show a vacated site at Bear 
Mountain (now part of the Palisade Park 
system) and 550 acres of land in Dutchess 
county, together with a set of plans, which 
latter cost thus far more than one hundred 
thousand dollars. Beside this the State 
stands committed to a further expenditure 
for buildings of more than two million dol¬ 
lars. After all the pother of awakening the 
public conscience and obtaining several ap¬ 
propriations the State began building a 
prison up in Washington countv, and a gen¬ 
eral cleaning up at Sing Sing quickly re¬ 
lieved the worst of conditions there; then 
the supply of prisoners began to fall off and 
now it seems that there is no great neces¬ 
sity for this new prison in Dutchess County 
after all. So Governor Dix, hoping to save 
at least two millions of the people’s money, 
now proposes to give over the work at 
Wingdale ; to stop the work of digging foun¬ 
dations just begun, and letting the present 
prisons, possibly with small additions at 
Comstocks care for the prison population. 
Strange to say there are many persons who 
refuse to see this matter as the Governor 
does, but some of these persons have stone 
and cement and various other supplies to 
sell, and that may account for their objec¬ 
tions. The Governor seems to he in earnest 
about this and it is likely he will have his 
way even if lie has to ask the members of 
tbe. Commission on New Prisons to resign 
their positions. The Governor is being bit¬ 
terly attacked in certain quarters, but he 
<an well afford to withstand these if he can 
00 o° tLe . uanecessa ry expenditure of $ 2 , 000 .- 
Tnspkction of Dams.— Imnelled bv the re¬ 
cent calamities at Austin Pa., and in the 
West, the State Conservation Commission is 
causing an investigation of all dams and 
reservoirs in this Ptate. Alexander Rice Me- 
ICim of New York has been appointed to 
eonduet the inquiry whether we have any 
weak or insecure dams in the State. For¬ 
tunately the commission is elothed with 
1 >ower not only to make such an inquiry, 
but to compel the owners of any dangerous 
dams to make them safe. A penalty of $50<? 
per day for non-compliance with such an 
order gives the law plenty of teeth to make 
it effective. The commission has a census 
of every water power plant in the State, 
and all will be examined as speedily as pos¬ 
sible. 
State Probation System.— Marked prog¬ 
ress in the use of the probation system for 
dealing with offenders is shown in the 
fourth annual report of the State Proba¬ 
tion Commission, now being issued. The 
idea behind the system is not to cast into 
prison first offenders, particularly boys and 
girls, but to give them “another chance.” 
,,n lie system, although only 10 years old in 
this State, was used last year in 37 cities 
and 34 county courts; the total number of 
persons under the care of probationary offi¬ 
cers (luring the year was 11.706. In certain 
courts the probation officers collect several 
thousand dollars from non-supporting hus¬ 
bands and turn the money over to their 
families—a much more sensible course than 
locking the offenders up and permitting the 
families to suffer want. 
State Library School.— The twenty- 
sixth annual session of the New York Li¬ 
brary School began the 4tli inst., with 44 
students in attendance. The pupils come 
from 14 States, and Denmark and Norway 
each, sent one. With the great increase in 
public libraries there is a constant demand 
for trained librarians, and young people, 
fairly educated, seeking careers, might do 
worse than consider the opportunities af¬ 
forded in this direction. 
Vital Statistics.— The State’s vital sta¬ 
tistics for the month of August are but just 
available, and disclose the deaths for that 
month to have been 11,553, which was | 
enough less than the number in July to 
amount to a saving of thirty a day, or near¬ 
ly 1.000 for the entire month. The births 
for tbe month were 19,062.590 more boys 
than girls. Cases of communicable diseases 
reported were 1.337 diphtheria (it is grat¬ 
ifying that this dread disease is generally 
decreasing); 1,019 measles; 480 scarlet 
fever ; 14 smallpox ; 3,023 pulmonary tuber¬ 
culosis; 1,376 typhoid fever, etc. The 
month’s total deaths from violence is given 
as 951. It is shocking to read that the 
suicides were 112; the homjeides 44 and 
accidental drownings 161. Railroad acci¬ 
dents and injuries caused 159 deaths. The 
number of automobile killings is not given. 
“Abandoned Farms.”— The Department of 
Agriculture has in preparation the seventh 
annual farm bulletin containing a list of 
farms occupied and unoccupied which are 
for sale or rent. This list is popularly 
termed the “abandoned farm book,” but 
from the returns already received at the 
department in response to inquiries sent out 
it is anything but that. The chief of the 
bureau of statistics has information showing 
that sales from last year’s bulletin have al¬ 
ready exceeded 150 in number, and that the 
average price paid for these “abandoned” 
farms is about $5,735. These figures would 
scorn to indicate that a higher type or class 
of farm is now being sought than a few 
years ago, when inquiries were all for 
farms valued at about $10 per acre. One 
explanation is that farmers from the West 
and from provinces as far away as Sas¬ 
katchewan are coming into New York State, 
attracted by the climate, the school facili¬ 
ties and closer proximity to markets than 
they had hitherto enjoyed 
Again the Chestnut Tree Blight. —The 
press of the State for several weeks past 
has given free rein to articles concerning 
the chestnut tree blight, doubtless moved 
thereto by the gathering of scientific men 
called by Commissioner Pearson to meet in 
Albany to consider means of checking this 
scourge. The man in tbe street, however, 
says that chestnuts appear to be about as 
plentiful as ever; there are just as many 
Greek or Italian vendors of the hot-roasted 
nut as heretofore; the price is still $6 per 
bushel, just as in past years: so he goes on 
his way, munching contentedly. But if the 
scientific sharps whom Commissioner Pear¬ 
son got together are to be believed the 
grandson of this same man-in-the-street will 
scarce know the flavor of the delightful lit¬ 
tle nut, except it be Imported unless some 
way is devised to stamp out the disease. 
Publisher’s Desk.—A subscriber of The 
Rural New-Yorker residing in Albany, one 
who religiously scans the Publisher’s Desk 
column, recently read therein the tale of the 
Pawling farmer who fell into the hands of 
the “gyp” dealers in New York City, 
and also noted the comment of the publisher 
in which he warned his readers against a 
certain Cable Express Co. engaged in fake 
horse selling. It happened that this man 
that same day noticed in fm; columns of 
his favorite Albany morning paper an ad¬ 
vertisement of the very Cable Express Co. 
of which he had read a warning a few 
hours before. Immediately he called at tne 
office of his favorite morning paper, taking 
The R. N.-Y. with him to show to the editor 
the warning article. The editor was not in. 
so a note was left for him with the article 
clipped out and pasted side bv side with the 
deceptive advertisement from the daily pa¬ 
per. The following morning the gentleman 
was pleased to receive the following: "Dear 
Sir—IVe are indeed very grateful to you for 
your clipping from ‘The Rural New-Yorker.' 
This advertisement was immediately discon¬ 
tinued and we shall see that no further in¬ 
sertions are given.” 
Cuts Hay to Save Deer.— With the 
open hunting season but half over, and with 
a death list up to date of half a dozen men 
mistakenly shot for deer, and with a lively 
remembrance of girdled trees and young ap¬ 
ple orchards destroyed by deer, and with 
never a taste of venison to console him many 
a farmer will smile grimly to learn that 
the Couservation Commission during the 
months of July and August caused the 
swamp grass to be cut in manv sections of 
the Adirondack's and Catskills, and cocked on 
small cribs above the snow level, so that the 
deer may feed upon the marsh hay after his 
natural food is exhausted. By salting the 
grass that has been cut the deer will eat 
it readily. If this year’s experiment proves 
successful, large quantities of the marsh hay 
will be out next year. 
Constitutional Amendments. — Next 
election day the people of this State will be 
called upon to vote on no less than seven 
proposed amendments to the constitution of 
the State. The amendment which comes 
closest to the average voter is that which 
proposes to increase the salaries of the State 
Senators from $1,500 to $3,500 per annum. 
2o™ of the Assemblyman from $1,500 to 
$3,000 per annum, and also allowing both 
classes of representatives increased mileage 
to and from their homes. Many expressions 
of opinion are heard and some harsh criti¬ 
cism of the proposed increase. The last ses¬ 
sion was. of eourse. unusually long, and it 
is no secret that some members were stone 
broke before they finally got away, but as 
the average session is but about 100 davs 
many boBeve that the present salarv of 
about $lo is sufficient for the class sent 
here. A quarter of a century ago the salary 
of a legislator was $3 per day. j. 
There is an error regarding that long 
string of cattle, on page 727. Mr. Cav¬ 
anaugh had only 21 yoke and traveled hut 
10 miles. The longest string at the fair 
was 29 yoke, from the Pcnfiold II 111 dis¬ 
trict. by Wm. Farrell, Geo. Dunham, Frank 
Payne and others. g k p 
Portland, Conn. 
Growing Mangels. —Why don’t farmers 
raise more mangels? I will answer that by 
saying I think it Is on account of the knee 
and hand work in getting- them started I 
do away with most of that by sowing a 
few rows thickly and about the first of 
July transplant eight or 10 inches apart to 
a fresh-plowed piece of land. This does 
away with tbe thinning of plants, and a 
good share of the weeding. I raised last 
year between 400 and 500 bushels on a 
very small piece of land. Two boys and a 
man can transplant quite a number of thou¬ 
sand in a day. In my opinion there is 
nothing like them to keep cows in good 
order through the Winter. J. h b 
Pulaski, N. Y. 
LET US TAN 
YOUR HIDE. 
Cattle or Horse hide. Calf, Dog, Doer, 
or any kind of skin with hair or fur on. 
We make them soft, light, odorless, 
wind, moth and water proof, and make 
them into eoats (for men or women), 
robes, rugs or gloves when so ordered. 
Your fur goods will cost you less than 
to buy them, and be worth more. Send 
three or more cow or horse hides in one 
shipment from anywhere east of Den¬ 
ver and we pay the freight both ways. 
Get our illustrated catalog whieii 
g ives prices of tanning, taxidermy and 
ead mounting. Also prices of fur 
goods, and big mounted game heads 
we sell. 
The Crosby Frisian Fur Company, 
571 Lycll Ave., Rochester, N. Y. 
FUR SHIFTERS! 
What’s the use of guessing at the value of 
your furs during the season of 1911-1012 
when all that’s required to find out their 
real value is to hook on one of my 
LIHLE RED TAGS and say HOLD SEPARATE 
Send me your name and address NOW so 
you will be sure to get reliable informatiou 
when the season opens and get it often. 
"WW* JAS. P. ELLIS 
TRAPPING PAYS BIG 
if you know the inside secrets of the 
business. Fur News Magazine, pub. 
fished monthly, $1 a year, tells all about 
trapping, hunting, raw furs, hunting dogs, gnus, traps, 
camps and all pursuits for profit in the woods and fields 
Good stories, too. Special Offer. Send 25c. for 3 months' 
trial and get free valuable frt-pnge Trappers Guid< 
Fur News Pub. Co., 46 W. 24th St., New York, Room 620 
More than half your poultry troubles are caused 
by not properly protecting their drinking water 
from the contamination of the chickens them¬ 
selves. You can end all your water troubles by 
equipping your poultry yards with 
ivloes lop-riil 
Drinking Fountain 
It always supplies just enough pure water— 
won’t slop over—dead air space keeps water COOL 
IN SUMMER, WARM IN WINTER. Simple in 
construction—just remove cover and till from top- 
water ceases to flow when cover is removed—nc 
valves to get out of order. One gallon capacity. 
If not at your dealers, sent direct on receipt ol 
price, $1.25, Satisfaction guaranteed. 
I OTIS & MOE, 185 W. Madison St., Chicago 
Climax Carrier. 
Feed, Ensilage, Litter. 
A stable help that saves labor. Brings feed from 
silo or bin to manger, carries manure from ail 
stablings to same pile or dumps on wagon. Easy 
lift, light running, positive dump. Made of steel. 
Straight or curved tracks to run anywhere and suit 
any stable plan. Write for descriptive circular. 
Warsaw-Wiikinson Co., 
50 Highland Ave., Warsaw. N. Y. 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
Warranted The Best. 30 Days’ Trial 
Unlike all others. Stationary when open 
Noiseless Simple Sanitary Durable 
The Wasson Stanchion Co., 
Box 60, Cuba, N. Y. 
SKUNK 
Webuy Skunk, Mink,Musk 
rat and all other raw furs at 
highest market prices, ana 
give liberal assortments and 
“A square deal” to everyone. 
_ Price-list free. 
M. J. Jewett «fc Sons, Redwood, hi. Y„ Hept. 29 
AGENTS 
SOMETHING 
NEW 
THOMAS ROPE MAKER 
Makes any length or thickness of rope 
out of binder twine, wool twine or any 
kind of waste twine. Twice as strong 
as factory made rope. Any one can 
do it. Saves 80 to 90 por cent. 
Agents coining big money. Sells 
like wild fire. No argument neces¬ 
sary. Just show ana your sale is 
made. Big profits. We want good 
agents In every county. Write for 
terms and free sample to workers. 
THOMAS MFG. CO. 
2465 Barny St., DAYTON, OHIO 
MINERAL 
HEAVE 
REMEDY 
NEGLECT 
Will Ruin\ 
Your Horse 
Send today for \ M S 3 PACKAGE 
only VJjf will cure any case or 
PERMANEN T VI money "funded. 
P II n r h 51 PACKAGE 
Si II n r I cures ordinary cases. _ UK/\ 
U || L ( 4 Postpaid on receipt of price. 
„ . Ag.nta Wanted 
SAFE Write for descriptive 
CERTAIN * booklet 
Mineral Heave Remedy Co.,461 Fourth Avenue, PittsLurg.Pa. 
El 
S 
3 
INE 
Removes Jtiursal Enlarge 
Thickenod, Swollen Tissues, 
Curbs, Filled Tendons, Soreness 
from any Bruise or Strain; Cures 
Spavin Lameness, Allays Fain. 
Does not Blister, remove the hair 
_ .—i— or lay up the horse. *2.00 a 
After bottle, delivered. Book 1 E free. 
ABSORBINE, JK., liniment for mankind. For 
Synovitis, Strains, Gouty or Rheumatic Deposits, 
Swollen, Painful Varicose Veins. Allays Fain. 
Will tell you more if you write. SI and $2 per bottle 
at dealers or delivered. Manufactured only by 
W.F.YOUNG,P.D.F. 88 rempleSt.,Springfield,Maw. 
rDIIMP'C IMPROVED 
UWUmp O WARRINER 
STANCHION 
Prof. F. G. Helyar of 
Mt. Herman School, Mt. 
Herman, Mass., writes: 
“ We could not get along 
without Warriner Stanch¬ 
ions.” 
Send address for book¬ 
let of information to 
SYALLACE U. CRUMB, BoxMl, Forestvllle, CouSL 
1 
s 
LOUDEN WAY 
14 
Louden Tools put farming on a scientific basi9 j 
and make it a business of certainties. They stop waste— 
j of time, labor and the fertilizing value of stable manure. 
They increase the output of your herds and your acres. 
[Louden’s Sanitary Steel Stanchions are flexi-1 
^ble, chain-hung, tubular steel. All their important features I 
^are patented and can be had on no others—LOUDEN’S/ 
4 are leaders for all time. 
if 
■?> 
They allow the cow perfect^ 
freedom of movement and comfort, either standing or lying down. No corners or crevices; easy to keep clean. | 
May be hung on homemade wooden frames when desired. 
LOUDEN’S SANITARY STEEL STALLS make every part of the dairy barn light. airy| 
and fresh—increase the cows contentment and flow of milk, and decrease the danger of disease. 
Let us tell you all about Louden Feed and Litter Carriers, Bay Tools, Bird Proof Barn Door Bangers and | 
complete barn fittings. Expert advice on fitting up your barn free, together with estimate of cost. Catalog and 
barn management books free. See Louden Tools at your dealer’s or write us direct. 
LOUDEN MACHINERY CO., - - 601 BROADWAY, FAIRFIELD, iOWA. 
