1911. 
THE RUK.A.I> NEW-YORKER 
me 
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. 
On June 18 last I sent to' Ameriean 
Woman's League, University City, St. Louis, 
Mo., certificates for which I paid $9.50 in 
cash, with a request that they send to Casa 
Bianco Poultry Ranch, R. F. D. No. 1, Ber¬ 
lin, N. J., the following publications for one 
year, to begin with July issue in each case: 
Live Stock Journal, West Virginia Farmer, 
Black Cat, Smart Set, American Boy, Met* 
ropolitan and Pearson's Magazine. 
On July 27 my wife sent them $13.50 in 
certificates which she paid cash in full for, 
requesting magazines as follows : Opportun¬ 
ity, Lippincott’s Magazine, American Home 
Journal, Independent Magazine, Review of 
Reviews, Taylor-Trotwood Magazine, Tech¬ 
nical World, all to begin with July num¬ 
ber, sent to Lucy E. Crowell, R. D. No. 1, 
Berlin, N. J. While we have both written 
them repeatedly we can get no reply, nor 
do we get any of the magazines. As they 
are agents for the publishers of these maga¬ 
zines, if they do not forward money sent 
them for subscriptions, are they not just as 
liable for same as an individual who gets a 
subscription and keeps the money? Can 
you assist me in getting the magazines we 
paid for or having the money paid for 
them refunded? w. h. crowell. 
Berlin, N. J. 
Complaints of this kind are numer¬ 
ous. We doubt if anything can be done. 
Money once sent Mr. Lewis for any¬ 
thing is never refunded nor ever has 
been, except in a few forced cases. Of 
course, he is liable in such a case; but 
what good is that when he refuses, and 
there is no way to make him? He has 
been so skillful in mixing up liability 
he is in a position to shift the responsi¬ 
bility, no matter whether you attempt 
to hold him or one of his concerns for 
it, and as a matter of fact you cai^ en¬ 
force a claim against none of them. A 
good many of the women have found 
it out, and acknowledge it. In his tes¬ 
timony before the Congressional com¬ 
mittee in Washington, Mr. Lewis stated 
under oath that the object of creating 
the League was to organize the women 
as subscription agents for his papers. 
This, then, was the purpose of the lofty 
and honorable and inspiring principles 
of American Womanhood, according to 
Mr. Lewis, himself, that we heard so 
much about some time back. 
When the scheme was first started 
The R. N.-Y. told the women that the 
only possible purpose of it was to se¬ 
cure their confidence in making them 
promises that could never be made 
good, and then forming an excuse to 
ask them for other contributions of 
money on some of bis frenzied schemes. 
At the time of the organization he had 
the note swindles under way, but the 
real concentrated onslaught was not 
made on the League until he sprung 
his “Debenture” straw-man scheme on 
them in the Summer of 1910. Since 
then we do not see how he could well 
have done anything more than he has 
done to justify our prediction. Lewis’s 
papers, and alleged university, and art 
academy, and old ladies’ home, and or¬ 
phan asylum, and pawnshop, and what 
not, all had one purpose, as far as we 
can see from his record and his use 
of them. That purpose was to win the 
confidence of country people that he 
might collect their savings and use it in 
St. Louis to aggrandize himself and sat¬ 
isfy his vanity and his cupidity at other 
people’s expense. 
The members of the League who 
were taking correspondence as a privi¬ 
lege and a condition of their $52 mem¬ 
bership, have been denied the service, 
such as it was. now for some months, 
the schools alleging the reason that 
they had not been paid for the lessons 
already given. Now he shamefully 
comes out with a proposition to con¬ 
tinue the lessons, provided the members 
pay an extra stipulated price for each 
lesson. This is more than some of the 
alleged teachers can stand for. Prof. 
John Craig of Cornell University ad¬ 
vises us that he has notified the Home 
Correspondence School, Springfield, 
Mass., that his resignation will be pre¬ 
sented absolutely unless he gets posi¬ 
tive assurance of complete separation 
from the Lewis affiliations. It is hardly 
conceivable that other eminent agricul¬ 
tural teachers will longer permit them¬ 
selves to be affiliated with a concern 
which is described by a United States 
court on the undisputed evidence be¬ 
fore it as “one of the most gigantic 
swindles of recent times.” 
But from it all you see how helpless 
we are in getting back riioney once sent 
to Mr. Lewis or his enterprises. 
Snow and Water Supply.— During the 
last two years the Weather Bureau has 
made systematic measurements of the 
amount of snowfall in the mountain re¬ 
gions of the West for the purpose of de¬ 
termining as accurately as possible the 
amount of water available for agricultural 
and commercial interests during the en¬ 
suing Spring and Summer seasons. In 
connection with the study of snowfall and 
its consequent runoff, a systematic snow 
survey was begun in the watershed of 
Maple Creek, near Springville, Utah. It 
Is thought that within two years sufficient 
observations will have been obtained to 
permit of accurate forecasts of water sup¬ 
ply from the Winter snowfall. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—An Italian kidnapper, Vito 
Micelli, was sentenced in New York General 
Sessions, November 1 to from 25 to 50 
years in State prison. Michele Seimeca, the 
three-year-old son of Dr. Mariano Scimeca, 
was stolen by Micelli June 21, 1910. He 
was returned on September 9, 1910, after 
his father, who had received many threaten¬ 
ing letters, had paid $1,700 to a man with 
whom he had an appointment in a Brooklyn 
park. 
Fire in the business section of London, 
Ont., November 3, caused damage amount¬ 
ing to $870,000. with a total insurance of 
$855,000. Five hundred people were thrown 
out of employment. The fire originated in 
the store of J. II. Chapman & Co. The 
Purdon Hardware Company’s plant was 
among those that were totally destroyed. 
November 3 the New l r ork Court of Ap¬ 
peals affirmed a judgment of the lower 
courts for $30,152 in favor of Charles Mc- 
Michael against the Federal Printing Com¬ 
pany of New York city. While employed in 
the company's printing plant as a paper 
cutter in October, 1908. McMichael lost one 
hand and a part of the other. He alleged 
that the paper cutter he was using was not 
in good condition. , 
The list kept by the United States Biologi¬ 
cal Survey of hunting fatalities in this 
country has already been increased this year 
by 47 names. From this information the 
bureau hopes after a few years to be able 
to deduce general principles which will 
be of value in framing “life-saving” Federal 
and State game laws. “One fact which we 
have learned during the three years we have 
kept this record.” said Dr. T. S. Palmer, 
chief of the bureau, “is that there are prac¬ 
tically no deer-hunting accidents in States 
which prohibit the shooting of does. This 
is because in these States the hunter hesi¬ 
tates a moment before firing to determine 
whether the animal is a doe or a buck. In 
case the animal happens to be of the two- 
legged variety, that brief pause before pull¬ 
ing the trigger is enough to save human 
life.” 
The severe October storm which swept 
Northern waters badly damaged the fishing 
fleet, according to a letter from Dr. Wilfred 
T. Grenfell, the missionary physician, writ¬ 
ten at Red Bay, Labrador. Dr. Grenfell re¬ 
ports that six vessels were wrecked, includ¬ 
ing his own costly auxiliary yacht, the An¬ 
drew McCosh. which was given to the Labra¬ 
dor mission by Princeton University. The 
other vessels lost were schooners. The 
crews escaped. The McCosh was wrecked 
at L’Anse Amour while on her way to take 
off Dr. Harrison Webster, of Boston, who 
is stationed at" Battle Harbor, and who was 
visiting a patient at Porteau Lighthouse. 
Dr. Grenfell was not on board. Laden with 
tons of clothing, medicines and other neces¬ 
saries for the missions at St. Anthony and 
Pilley’s Island. N. F„ and Labrador, Dr. 
W. T. Grenfell’s missionary schooner, the 
George B. Clnett. sailed from Boston, No¬ 
vember 1, for the north. 
That the Austin. Pa., dam was faulty in 
design and construction is the opinion of the 
two engineers who testified before the cor¬ 
oner November 2. Prof. Frank P. McKib- 
bin. teacher of civil engineering in Lehigh 
University, said lie had examined the Austin 
dam after the disaster of September 30. He 
found that it showed a faulty foundation, 
composed in the main of sandstone and 
thin shale, the layers inclining down stream, 
and that many of the shale layers w’ere 
rotten, that th.e base was level and not 
stepped to prevent sliding, that the cross 
sections were not heavy enough, that there 
were large horizontal construction joints 
that admitted water, that large stones of a 
poor nature were embedded in the structure, 
that its condition was such that in his 
opinion it was not safe to fill it more than 
half full of water. Prof. Alfred D. Flinn, 
department engineer of the Board of Water 
Supply of New York, gave testimony which 
substantiated all that Prof. McKibbin had 
said. 
.T. Lewis Armstrong, president of the 
First Realty Corporation; F. Pierce Dono- 
vin, vice-president, and J. W. MacDonald, 
secretary, were held in Philadelphia No¬ 
vember 2, for the Federal Grand Jury, 
charged with using the mails to defraud 
in selling land at Parkside, Southampton, 
L. I. The company had its main offiee in 
Philadelphia, and a branch at 18 West 
Thirty-fourth street. New York. A South¬ 
ampton lumberman, Henry H. Post, testi¬ 
fied before United States Commissioner 
Craig that he sold a small tract of land to 
the company for $25 an acre. The buyers 
divided the tract into small lots which they 
sold for $59.20 a lot, mostly to persons 
in Southern and Western States who be¬ 
lieved what they had read about the prop¬ 
erty in the company’s circulars and what 
they were told by -traveling agents. On 
the maps used by the agents the lots were 
very near a railroad, but it was testified 
that the railroad is a mile away and that 
the attractive home sites depicted in the 
circulars were really waste land. 
C. P. Rodgers finished his transcontinen¬ 
tal flight November 5. when he descended 
at Pasadena, Cal. He started September 
17, and during the trip he covered 4.141 
miles in 4,846 minutes actual flying time. 
Armour & Co. have followed the example 
set by a number of this country’s railroads 
and other big corporations in the last ten 
years, and have started a pension plan for 
the benefit of 55.000 employees. The com¬ 
pany itself has set aside $1,000,000 to start 
the pension fund. The 55,000 employees 
will pay three per cent, of their salaries' an¬ 
nually into the fund, and will receive two 
per cent, of their salaries at the time of 
their retirement for each year they have 
served. Employees, for example, who have 
served the company 25 years will receive an 
annual income equal to 50 per cent, of 
their salary at the time of their retirement. 
Employees who have served the company for 
20 years will receive an annual income of 
40 per cent, of their salary at the time of 
their retirement. 
Early election returns November 8 show 
that Massachusetts re-elected Governor Foss 
(Dem.), and a Republican Lieutenant-Gov¬ 
ernor, Luce, while the Republicans gained 
slightly in the Legislature. An overturn in 
New Jersey makes the Legislature Repub¬ 
lican. New York shows Republican gains, 
while Kentucky has a Democratic land¬ 
slide. Schenectady, N. Y., has elected a 
Socialist Mayor; Toledo, O. elected its In- 
dependent Mayor, Brand Whitlock, for a 
fourth term, while the entire City Council 
is also Independent. San Francisco has 
defeated the Union Labor ticket, electing a 
Board of Supervisors almost solid against 
it. In Cincinnati. O., the Cox machine can¬ 
didate for Mayor was defeated, and the 
whole city seems to have gone Democratic. 
Virginia is Democratic, Rhode Island Re¬ 
publican. Kansas shows Democratic gains. 
In Maryland a Republican Governor was 
elected for the second time in 30 years. 
Philadelphia (looted Rudolph Blankenburg 
Mayor on the Democratic-Keystone party 
ticket, defeating George H. Earle, Jr., the 
candidate of United States Senator Pen¬ 
rose. 
Beginning November 1. South Carolina 
nurseries are required to be inspected by 
the State Entomologist, to whom applica¬ 
tion must be made for inspection. 
The Mississippi Nurserymen's Associa¬ 
tion has been organized, with the following 
officers: President, J. R. Woodham of the 
Newton (Miss.) Nurseries; secretary-treas¬ 
urer, It. W. Harned, entomologist at the 
Mississippi A. and M. College. 
OBITUARY.—Norman J. Colman, first 
Secretary of Agriculture of the United 
States, died November 3. He was born at 
Richfield Springs in 1827 and educated in 
the public schools. In 1847 he removed to 
Kentucky, where he taught school for a 
brief season. Then he took up the study of 
law at the Louisville Law School, from 
which he was graduated in 1851. He be¬ 
gan practice at New Albany, Ind. He 
moved to St. Louis and established “Col- 
man’s Rural World.” which he edited for 
the rest of his life. He was known as the 
dean of agricultural editors in the United 
States. When the Civil War broke out he 
entered as lientenant-colonel of the 85th 
Enrolled Militia of Missouri and served 
through the war. In 1885 he became 
United States Commissioner of Agriculture, 
and when the department was elevated to 
Cabinet rank he became the first Secretary, 
serving under the Cleveland administration 
from February 11 to March 4, 1889. In 
1885 he issued the call and presided over 
the convention of delegates from agricul¬ 
tural colleges in the United States, and 
urged upon Congress the adoption of laws 
creating the present system of experiment 
stations in connection with agricultural col¬ 
leges. Mr. Column's most noted achieve¬ 
ment while Secretary of Agriculture was the 
establishment of government experiment sta¬ 
tions and the stamping out of pleuro-pneu- 
monia, which ravaged the cattle stock of 
the country with many millions of dollars 
of loss. The Department of Agriculture had 
not then attained the wide importance and 
the comprehensive field that it has since de¬ 
veloped. 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ INSTITUTES. 
List of places, dates and local corre¬ 
spondents for Farmers’ Institutes in New 
York State: 
District No. 1, Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., 
conductor, Lawyei’sville. 
Burke, Dec. 4, A. J. Moe, Burke. 
Malone, Dec. 4-5, L. L. Foote, Malone. 
Brushton, Dec. 5-6, Timothy O’Connell, 
Moria. 
Dickinson Center, Dec. 7, N. C. Aiken, Dick¬ 
inson Center. 
Bombay, Dec. 7-8, Geo. Rockwood, Bom¬ 
bay. 
North Bangor, Dec. 8, W. D. Taylor, North 
Bangor. 
Potsdam. Dec. 9, Allen Wheeler, Potsdam. 
Madrid, Dec. 9, Mrs. Alex. Robson, Lisbon. 
Fort Jackson, Dec. 11, A. A. Atwood, IIop- 
kinton. 
Winthrop, Dec. 11-12, Mrs. N. G. Buck, 
Winthrop. 
Waddington, Dec. 13, Morris J. Elliott, 
Madrid. 
Massena, Dec. 14, W. V. Clemons, Mas- 
sena. 
Carthage, Dec. 16, E. G. Lewis, Carthage. 
Philadelphia, Dec. 16, Wm. Plato, Philadel¬ 
phia. 
Ileuvelton, Dec. 18-19, N. S. Hutchinson, 
Heuvelton. 
Lisbon, Dec. 19-20, C. B. Wright, Lisbon. 
Gouverneur. Dec. 20-21-22, Earl Laidlaw, 
Gouverneur. 
District No. 2, Edward Van Alstyne, con¬ 
ductor, Kinderhook. 
Corinth, Nov. 24-25, C. F. Fuller, Corinth. 
Raymertown, Nov. 27, E. L. Button, Mel¬ 
rose. 
Fort Ann, Nov. 28, E. J. Needlier, Hudson 
Falls. 
Clemons, Nov. 29, O. C. Benjamin, Dresden 
Station. 
Putnam, Nov. 30, H. S. Sears, Putnam Sta¬ 
tion. 
Crown Point, Dec. 1-2, W. S. Green, Crown 
Point. 
Westport, Dec. 4, E. O. Frisbee, Westport. 
Willsborough Point, Dec. 5-6, II. R. Dun¬ 
ning, Willsborougli. 
Mooers, Dec. 7, II. E. Gilbert, Mooers. 
West Chazy, Dec. 8-9, W. H. Elderd, West 
Chazy. 
Morrisonville, Dec. 11, W. H. Banker, 
Plattsburgh. 
Saranac, Dec. 12, Mrs. C. H. Crane, Cady- 
ville. 
Lake Placid, Dec. 13, C. A. Goff, Cascade. 
Jay, Dec. 14, Mrs. Anna Kent, Jay. 
Peru, Dec. 15, J. L. Clarke, Peru. 
Keeseville, Dec. 16, W. M. Mussen, Keese- 
ville. 
North Granville, Dec. 18, G. S. Chapin, 
Smith’s Basin. 
Salem, Dec. 19, W. S. Banker, Salem. 
Cambridge, Dec. 20, Geo. M. Foster, Cam¬ 
bridge. 
West Hebron, Dec. 21, W. E. Getty, Gran¬ 
ville. 
4rgyle, Dec. 22-23, Geo. S. Caswell, Argyle, 
R2. 
Glenville, Dec. 26, Jacob Smith, Cranes- 
ville. 
Mariaville, Dec. 27, Harry Tumbell, Pat- 
tersonville. 
Duanesburgh, Dec. 28, Asa J. Gage, Duanes- 
burgh. 
South Schenectady, Dec. 29-30, John 
Weast, Schenectady, R4. 
District No. 3, D. P. Witter, conductor, 
Berkshire. 
Wayne, Nov. 23, D. E. Hover, Keuka. 
Tyrone, Nov. 24, Lewis Beach, Tyrone. 
Hedgesville, Nov. 25, Marion Lewis, Cam- ■ 
eron Mills, R.D2. 
Jasper, Nov. 27, A. L. Whiting, Jasper. 
Troupsburg, Nov. 28, J. W. Bigby, Troups- 
burg. 
Woodhull, Nov. 29, Jas. H. Gurnsey, Wood- 
hull, R.D1. 
Monticello, Dec. 1-2, W. B. McMillan, Mon- 
ticello. 
Liberty, Dec. 4, W. J. D. Wedemeyer, Lib¬ 
erty. 
ItoscOe, Dec. 4-5, L. Wm. Hones, Roscoe. 
Elk Creek, Dec. 6, Theodore Knapp, Elk 
Creek. 
Wcstville, Dec. 7, Geo. Chamberlain, 
Schenevus, R.D. 
Pierstown, Dec. 7-8, G. T. Burnell, Coop- 
erstown, R.D.l. 
Schenevus, Dec. 8-9, M. R. Bulson, Schene¬ 
vus. 
Burlington, Dec. 11, D. S. Ritter, Burling¬ 
ton. 
West Laurens, Dec. 12, Charles Naylor, 
West Laurens. 
Gilbertsville, Dec. 13-14, S. L. Halbert, Gil- 
bertsville. 
Union Center, Dec. 11, G. W. Young, Union, 
Whitneys Point, Dec. 12, F. C. Branday, 
Whitneys Point. 
Conklin, Dec. 13, F. D. Wilmarth. Conklin. 
\ estal, Dec. 14, D. S. Wakeman, Vestal. 
Windsor, Dec. 15-16, F. M. Philley, Wind¬ 
sor. 
Treadwell, Dec. 15, A. O. Potter. Treadwell. 
Sidney, Dec. 16, J. J. Waters, Sidney. 
Walton, Dec. 18, John Q. Barlow, Beers- 
ton. 
Halcottsville, Dec. 18-19, A. R. Sanford, 
Halcottsville. 
Hobart, Dec. 19-20, .T. R. Stevens, Hobart. 
Downsville, Dec. 20, Perry L. Purdy, 
Downsville. 
Delhi, Dec. 21-22-23, F. G. Thompson, 
Delhi. 
Smithville Flats, Dec. 22-23, C. E. Read, 
Smithville Flats. 
Afton, Dec. 26-27, B. A. Bassett, Afton. 
Smyrna, Dec. 28, Albert G. Ladd, Smyrna. 
Oxford, Dec. 29-30, A. D. Harrington, Ox¬ 
ford. 
District No. 4, Fred E. Gott, conductor, 
Spencer port. 
Alden. Nov. 27. E. W. Gillmore, Alden 
Marilla, Nov. 27. 
Williamsville, Nov. 28, W. II. Beach. Forks. 
Clarence, Nov. 28, W. E. Graves, Clarence. 
Eden Center, Nov. 29, Horace Landon, Eden 
Center. 
Collins. Nov. 29, J. W. Taft. Collins Center. 
Holland, Dec. 1, C. J. Paul, Holland. 
Chaffee, Dec. 1, L. D. O’Dell, Chaffee. 
Springville, Dec. 2, W. H. Pingrey, Spring¬ 
ville. 
Arcade, Dec. 2. 
Attica, Dec. 4, Chas. F. Eastman. Attica. 
Darien, Dec. 4, Nelson Harper, Darien Cen¬ 
ter. 
Bliss, Dec. 5. E. J. Foote. Bliss. 
Gainesville, Dec. 5, M. W. Broughton, Sil¬ 
ver Springs. 
Pike, Dec. 6, H. F. Wells, Pike. 
Castile, Dec. 7. D. C. Perkins, Castile. 
Warsaw, Dec. 8, Horace Avery, Warsaw 
Perry, Dec. 8-9, Walter G. Olin, Perry 
Wyoming, Dec. 11, E. C. Hayden, Wyom¬ 
ing. 
Pavilion Center, Dec. 12, John II. Ward 
Pavilion. 
Bethany Center, Dec. 13. 
Linwood, Dec. 14-15. J. E. Noble, Linwood. 
Caledonia, Dec. 16. A. J. McCall, Caledonia. 
Batavia, Dec. 18, M. C. Sails, Batavia. 
Corfu, Dec. 19, C. I). Silliman, Corfu. 
Alabama Center. Dec. 20, Allen Norton, 
Alabama Center. 
Elba, Dec. 21. Joseph Wilford, Elba. 
Bergen, Dec. 22. 
Mumford, Dec. 22-23, S, W. Cox, Scottsville. 
Scottsville, Dec. 26, S. K. Brown, Scotts¬ 
ville. 
Chili, Dec. 27, Sarah McCreedy, Chill Sta¬ 
tion. 
Greece, Dec. 28. F. J. Mitchell, Barnard. 
Hilton, Dec. 29-30, E. H. Anderson, Hilton. 
THE LAND SHOW. 
During the past week Madison Square 
Garden has had an unusual exhibit of the 
agricultural industries of this country and 
Canada. New York occupied a large space, 
giving due prominence to the dairy and 
fruit industries. New York apples, butter 
and cheese are widely known and worth 
talking about. Among unusual things was 
a handful of ripe cotton bolls grown in 
Orange County, N. Y. The New England 
fruit and vegetable display was large and 
excellent. In color many of the apples 
equalled the specimen fruits from the West. 
The farm opportunities in Delaware, the 
Virginias and many sections of the South 
were well shown by exhibits of their spe¬ 
cialties. The railroads, land interests and 
various State and private enterprises of the 
West made good use of their opportunity to 
show the fruits, vegetables, grain. Alfalfa, 
and the possibilties in irrigation and “dry” 
farming in the newer sections of the coun¬ 
try. 
The display from Alaska was worthy of 
special note. There were potatoes, turnips, 
cabbages, kolil-rabi, radishes, and other 
small vegetables, and even cucumbers, that 
would have been a credit to the cream of 
Long Island market gardens. Red-top six 
feet tall, Timothy five feet, oats, barley, 
large and well filled, and native fruits, 
strawberries, raspberries and cranberries, 
were some of the other products shown. 
The statement was made that Geo. Beldin, 
of Chena, Alaska, on three acres, grew 
37,000 pounds of potatoes, which sold there 
at 10 cents per pound. It costs $65 per 
ton to get potatoes there from outside, and 
at present more than 60 per cent of those 
consumed are grown elsewhere, so it would 
seem that potato growing might for a time 
be an active .competitor with gold digging. 
The reason for this luxuriance of vegetable 
growth is the constant sunshine during the 
short season. The temperature ranges from 
70 to 85 and things have to grow 24 hours 
a day, there being nothing approaching 
night for about six weeks, with July as 
the center. One of the men in charge of 
the Alaska exhibit said he raised vege¬ 
tables in Alaska in Summer and has a Win¬ 
ter home in northern Michigan, where he 
has a fruit farm. 
The largest display of potatoes was from 
British Columbia. 100 varieties in half 
bushel lots, all labeled, being shown. 
