1912. 
r \F I-I EJ RURAL NEW-YORKER 
wT«3 
LARGE PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 
| Editor's Notk.— linilor this heading wo Intend to 
have disoiiHfusI question* which particularly Interest 
country people. Wo do not njrroo with all that our 
correspondents say, but wo shall give men and women 
who possess the courage of conviction an opportunity to 
say what they think about certain things which interest 
country peoploj. 
THE MAINE PRIMARY LAW. 
If any progressive member of The R. 
N.-Y. family needs encouragement In this na¬ 
tion-wide struggle for popular government, 
It will do them good to read how the farm¬ 
ers of Somerset County “did things” to the 
politicians tills month by means of our 
new direct primary law. The Maine law 
is the real tiling, initiated by petition, 
enacted by referendum vote, and possessing 
an admirable set of “teeth.” Our llrst 
primary election under it came on Hunker 
Hill Day. The voters turned out In good 
numbers and Justified the faith that the 
progressives have shown. Candidates who 
had been in public life and had established 
good records, almost invariably got the 
preference. The center of interest in Som¬ 
erset County was the fight over sheriff. The 
present incumbent is a Democrat serving his 
second term. In the performance of what 
he conceived to be his duty, he lias had 
occasion to disregard the orders from influ- 
entlal members of his party, with regard 
to his position on the prohibitory law. 
He was marked for slaughter by the poli¬ 
ticians. and no secret made of the fact 
Knowing pretty well how the farmers of 
the county regarded his splendid adminis¬ 
tration. I decided to "butt in,” and demon¬ 
strate the possibilities of the primary. 
Taking a nominating petition, I visited a 
number of privates In the Republican 
ranks, found many of them willing and 
anxious to sign, and so placed the name 
of tlie Democratic sheriff before the 
voters on the Republican primary ballot. 
( oucspondlng steps were taken with regard 
.to tlie Democratic primary ballot. The poli¬ 
ticians started a great hue and cry about 
“straddling,” “regularity,” and all the old 
time party gull, but it didn’t do them any 
good. They did to be sure, keep him from 
getting the Democratic nomination, because 
there were practically no local contests to 
bring out tlie vote, but he carried the Re¬ 
publican primary by a good majority. It was 
distinctly the farmers who turned the trick, 
because in nearly all of the villages, tlie 
vote was hostile to the man who had kept 
his promises and enforced the prohibitory 
law. As lie was the big factor In the Demo¬ 
cratic landslide of 1910, very little doubt 
remains regarding his election in September. 
The Somerset County farmers may be 
trusted to linisli the Job they have begun. 
When they get through, the would-be bosses 
will realize that under tlie new dispensation, 
they count exactly one apiece. 
CHRISTOPHER M. GA1LUP. 
Somerset County, Me. 
WILL THERE BE A NEW PARTY ? 
As we write it is too early to tell. People 
are waiting to study the results of the 
Baltimore convention, and many of them 
are a little dazed by the rapid change of 
events during the past few weeks. There is 
a great mix-up at present. Here is a note 
from a New York farmer: 
“It would please me to see the same sift¬ 
ing take place at Baltimore and after that 
to see tlie progressives of both parties 
unite upon a suitable candidate who would 
then have an overwhelming majority. In 
the meantime a bandanna handkerchief, em¬ 
blem of the ‘Plain People’s Progressive 
Party,' waves from the front veranda, and 
we wonder whether this Fall Is to be the 
time when the government of tile nation 
shall be given back into the hands of those 
who toil.” K. 15. 
On the other hand take tills note from 
a farmer in Ohio : 
“There Is very little sympathy here for 
Roosevelt; most of us feel that lie got what 
he deserved, and hope that he will grace¬ 
fully fade Into oblivion. However, there is 
a real unrest among the people and indif¬ 
ference and even hostility for Taft. The 
Democrats have a great opportunity if they 
but grasp it. ft would be shortsighted for 
them to select a conservative to be elected 
by a split Republican vote, because with¬ 
out inherent merit In the eyes of the vot¬ 
ers their conservative would receive hostility 
during Ids administration and when up for 
re-election. Personally I am not in favor 
of any quick radical change, but do feel 
that our affairs could be in better shape, 
and that changes for the better will conic 
when enough of the people want them and 
will say so by voting. ’ p. 
And now read this frank statement from 
a radical Democrat written during the Bal¬ 
timore convention : 
.“Regarding the political situation we 
have been making history fast; two parties 
out of one in Chicago, and a deadlock at 
Baltimore as 1 write. I attended tlie Bal¬ 
timore convention the session of Thursday 
night, June 27, the longest ami most dra 
matic so far. Mr. Bryan Is certainly the 
muster mind nl that convention. Ills res¬ 
olution against the money trust created a 
storm of hisses and cheers but lie stood Ids 
ground and won the light. The reaction¬ 
aries boat him on the selection of Parker, 
but he lias won every battle since. Ills 
move Saturday put Mr. Clark out of busi¬ 
ness. 
"I did think Clark would see things and 
line up with Bryan Instead of trying not 
to offend Tammany, lie had plenty of 
warning, but failed to heed it. Had lie 
lim’d uj» with Bryan on the start against 
Parker, he would have won, I believe. Now 
tie is a dead one. If Bryan lias his way 
a real progressive will be nominated and 
Roosevelt will withdraw, and the progres¬ 
sives of both parties will unite and elect 
him. They could do it with Wilson or 
Kern i think. They cannot do it with 
< lark or Underwood after what lias hap¬ 
pened, us Roosevelt would run and bent 
them, and Taft would slip In In the melee 
perhaps. The country lias never been so 
aroused against special privilege as now, 
and great good will come out of It. The 
country will have Bryan to thank for it 
too. lie Is a remarkable man, honest to 
Die core. Roosevelt Is a wonderful man, 
too. but he Is only following in Bryan’s 
footsteps In his progressive policies, and 
lias the backing of some of the money In¬ 
ti-rests in his light, and Bryan has not. 
It may be that Bryan will lie nominated, 
but i doubt it, as the Clark men are so 
bitter, some of them. But he is master 
of the situation and will select the nominee 
I believe.” c. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—A verdict for $24,800.00 
was awarded by a Jury in the Supreme 
Court at White Plains, N. V., June 20, Jus¬ 
tice Tompkins presiding, to I’crry Driillth of 
Mt. Vernon against tlie American Bridge 
Company, a subsidiary of the United States 
Steel Company, The plaintiff sued for 
$25,000 damages. It was shown that he 
had accepted $103,00 as temporary relief 
after the accident which led to the bringing 
of the suit. According to the testimony 
Driillth was working on tlie New York, 
Westchester and Boston Railroad at Morris 
l'ark on March 9 and was handling a der¬ 
rick on a car when someone on a bill above 
him turned loose a string of cars. The cars 
ran down the incline and men shouted to 
Driillth to jump. Driillth jumped from the 
car he was on, but was caught iii the 
smashup that followed. 11 is collarbone and 
several ribs were broken, bis right arm was 
paralyzed ami be received nn injury on the 
left side of the head which has resulted, it 
Is claimed, in partial deafness. 
The new seminary of St. Boniface, for 
the education of boys for tlie priesthood at 
Winnipeg, Manitoba, was burned June 2d. 
The loss is $100,000. 
John B. Griffiths, a wealthy contractor 
of Utica, N. Y., was killed, Ids wife and 
their guest, Miss Sarah Eaton, died soon 
after, while the daughter of the dead couple 
was injured In an accident at Poland, N. Y„ 
June 27, when their automobile was struck 
by a passenger train. 
A cable from Nome June 27 stated that 
the United States transport Sheridan with 
four companies of troops and officers bound 
for Fort Davis and St. Michael was caught 
in ice Hoes drifting toward the Arctic 
Ocean 25 miles a day. Unless the vessel 
can manage to break through the fields to 
an open lend there is imminent danger 
that the ship will be carried through the 
Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean. 
The first conviction of a loan shark under 
the law making' it a misdemeanor to obtain 
a larger compensation than the legal rate 
of Interest for a loan under $200 was 
affirmed by the Appellate Division of the 
Supreme Court In New York June 28. Tin- 
ease was that against Emma Blomberg, 
who was fined $250 in Special Sessions for 
taking $00 from George E. Goodeve for a 
loan of $42.50. The defendant was em¬ 
ployed by D. 11. Telman. 
Six well known clergymen In Philadel¬ 
phia serving on a coroner’s Jury June 28 
took Just five minutes to And Frank Me- 
Cum-, a chauffeur, guilty of gross negligence 
in running down and killing with Ids auto¬ 
mobile Mrs. Julia Ryan on June 17 last. 
Coroner Knight now intends to clnfbge the 
entire coroner’s Jury system by having only 
representative business and* professional 
men serve on the juries. After the case 
each of the ministers got tin* customary fee 
of one dollar. They made up a purse and 
gave it to the daughter of the woman who 
was killed. 
A tornado struck tin* southwestern por¬ 
tion of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan 
June 30. It tore its way northeasterly 
through eight; blocks, from Albert street to 
Hamilton street, In the business part of 
the city. Falling walls and flying debris 
Wiled people jis they walked on the Street 
or hurried along in automobiles. The dead 
number 41, so far as known, but it Is be¬ 
lieved others were drowned In the lake. 
The property loss is roughly estimated at 
$1,000,000. Damage Is reported also at 
Qmippellc and other places in the path of 
the storm. Regina is the capital of 
Saskatchewan. It Is :i5<*> miles west of 
Winnipeg, about 10 hours on Hie Canadian 
Pacific Railway. Its population Is now 
about 7,000. It is the center of the new 
wheat growing district of the Canadian 
Northwest, ami the prosperity of tlie' new 
grain country lias reflected itself in the 
size and character of the city. The Gov¬ 
ernment buildings and the residence of the 
provincial Governor are impressive. The 
City lias an interest to travelers because it 
is still the headquarters of the famous 
Canadian Northwest Mounted Police. II is 
also the seat of an Indian Industrial School, 
founded many years ago by Father Da- 
combe, the missionary of the Canadian 
Northwest. Recently Regina has become a 
railroad center. New lines of tlie Canadian 
Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific touch 
the tracks of the Canadian Pacific and tap 
tlie new wheat fiekls. 
Two motorcycle racers were killed and 
two others seriously Injured while riding 
faster than a mile a minute at the San 
Joseph Driving Park June ill) at San Jose, 
Cal. “Bob" Ilunter, known as "Daredevil,” 
was instantly killed the same day In a 
motorcycle race at Luna Park, Cleveland, <>. 
The riders were speeding at 75 miles an 
hour when a collision occurred. 
The waterfront at Portland, Me., the 
scene of several big fires, was seriously 
threatened by llaim-s June 30, when damage 
of more than $100,000 was caused. Two 
Boston vessels, the barkentine Kremlin and 
the three masted schooner Sal lie L’On, were 
burned. The crews bail narrow escapes. 
Beakes’s wharf and the State street wharf, 
both of which are occupied by the Wilson 
Lumber Company, were badly damaged, and 
between $00,000 and $70,000 worth of lum¬ 
ber was destroyed. 
Miss Hm-rlet Quimby of New York, the 
first woman to operate a heavier than air 
machine across the English Channel and 
first to win a pilot’s license under the rules 
of the Aero Club of America, and William 
A. I*. Willard of Boston, manager of the 
third meet on the Harvard Field and father 
Of Charles Foster Willard, the Curtiss flier, 
were burled n thousand feet into Dorchester 
Bay from Miss Qulmby's ltleriot and in¬ 
stantly killed July 1. Both were dead 
when- the bodies were rescued and the 
surgeons believe they were dead before 
they struck the water. There is probably 
no person who will over be aide to tell 
what caused the accident, but some are In¬ 
clined to the belief that the machine sud¬ 
denly ran Into a gust of wind that caused 
the nose to point downward too rapidly 
and that suction pulled Willard out of Id's 
passenger’s seat to the rear, of the operator 
and threw him headforemost down through 
space. The action of Ids weight forced 
Miss Quimby to follow. 
While thousands of people, horrified be¬ 
yond utterance, looked on from the board¬ 
walk and beach nt Atlantic City, N. J„ 
July 2, the dirigible Akron, built by Melvin 
vanlman to attempt the over-Atlantic pas¬ 
sage, burst into mimes and plunged into 
the sea, killing Its crew of live men. The 
dead are Vaniman, his younger brother, Cal¬ 
vin Yardman; Walter Driest, Frederick 
Elmer and Deorge BotirllHon. The big air¬ 
ship was blown to pieces by an explosion, 
probably produced by a too rapid expansion 
ol gas. The body of Calvin Yardman fell 
I rom the Akron as the understructure was 
dropping through the air. and was recovered 
not long after the accldeut, but the other 
men were carried down Into the Kandy 
bottom, caged In the wire framework of the 
craft. It Is probable they wore killed in¬ 
stantly by tlie explosion. Bou rill ion's hotly 
when taken out by a diver, was crushed arid 
torn and most of the clothing had been 
ripped away. The total number of aero¬ 
plane fatalities up to Lids date is 159. 
One of Hie most disastrous fires which 
ever visited North Adams, Mass., destroyed 
a large section of the business district 
July 2, causing an estimated loss of $600,- 
FARM AND GARDEN. A number of the 
lending manufacturers of dairy products in 
Indiana met at Indianapolis June 25 to se¬ 
lect a committee to raise money for further¬ 
ing dairy extension work of Purdue Univer¬ 
sity. The meeting was called by Prof. D. I. 
Christie, head of the dairy extension de¬ 
partment of tin- university. He hopes that 
sufficient money will be raised for the uni¬ 
versity to send out a dairy train for the 
Instruction of the farmers, and for send¬ 
ing out Held men to visit the farms and sug¬ 
gests to thi‘ farmers better rations for cat¬ 
tle. better barns, better rare of the milk- 
ami better utilization of the product. “It 
Is estimated that there are 600.000 eows 
in the State of Indiana," said Professor 
Christie. “It lias been calculated that 
about (10.000 of these cows are not paying 
for their hoard, The milk products of In¬ 
diana are worth $20,000,000 a year. The 
dairymen have- come to realize that any¬ 
thing which will tend toward bettering 
the product will be worth much money to 
them. One dairy firm has promised to 
contribute $100 a mouth to the university 
dairy extension work for a period of two 
years.” 
The annual meeting of the American 
Picony Society was held at Ithaca, N. Y., 
June 10 20. The officers of the Society 
elected for the coming year are: President, 
B. II. Farr; vice-president, E. B. George; 
. . . $ 500.00 . . . 
The Rural New-Yorker Will 
Pay $500.00 in Cash for 
A Suitable Story of Farm Life 
Such a story should contain about 50,000 words. Wc want a 
strong story suitable to go with The Rural New-Yorker into 
the homes of its readers. It must he of 
Vigorous Human Interest 
dealing forcibly with some vital problem of country life. 
We must have the manuscript of this story by September 15th, 
1012. This offer is open to all, and fuller details regarding the 
stoiy will he given by mail. We invite correspondence with 
authors everywhere. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 409 Pearl Street, New York 
treasurer, .T. n. Humphreys; secretary, A. 
P. Saunders; director to serve three years, 
S. G. Harris. 
A preliminary statement complied from 
the thirteenth census, regarding florists 
and nurserymen In the United States, shows 
that in 1901) there were 10,614 florist estab¬ 
lishments reporting products valued at $84,- 
872,1)00, while In 1899 there were 8,797 es¬ 
tablishments with products valued at $18,- 
759,000; an increase of 1,817 establishments 
or 20.7 per cent and $10,118,000, or 85.0 
per cent. Tile total value of nursery prod¬ 
ucts reported from 0,532 establishments in 
1909 was $21,051,000; an Increase of 591 
establishments, or 11.8 per cent, and $10,- 
'927.000, or 107.9 per cent in 10 years. In 
1909 the Middle Atlantic division ranked 
first with products valued at $4,244,000, as 
compared with $2.52.8,000 in 1,899, an in 
crease of $1,832,000, or 72.0 per cent, during 
tlie decade 1899-1900. Although the num¬ 
ber of establishments reporting nursery 
products. 1,159, was greatest in the East 
North Central division, the latter ranked 
fourth, being exceeded in value of products 
by the Middle Atlantic, West North Central 
aud Pacific Divisions. In per cent of In¬ 
crease. the Pacific division ranked first with 
877 per cent, the West South Central divi¬ 
sion second, 179,4 per cent, and the South 
Atlantic division third, 117.4 per cent. In 
1909 New York ranked first in florists’ prod 
ucts, with a total value of products of 
$5,119,000; Pennsylvania was next with 
$3,808,000, and Illinois third with $8,095,- 
OOO. In 1899 the order was the same,- ex¬ 
cept New Jersey was third. However, in 
1899 the value of products for these three 
States amounted to but little more than 
half that of 1909. Increases are shown in 
every State, except the District of Columbia, 
where in 1899 government institutions were 
Included in the census reports while In 1909 
they wen- not enumerated. The three 
ranking States in value of nursery products 
in 1909 were New York $2,781,000, Cali¬ 
fornia $2,218,000, and Texas $1,253,000. 
The standing In 1899 was New York, Iowa 
and Illinois. An increase In the value of 
nursery products was reported from every 
State, except Maine, Vermont, Virginia, 
South Carolina and the District of Columbia. 
The gains In all three States of the Pacific 
division were especially remarkable, more 
particularly in Washington, where the value 
in 1909 was almost 20 times as great as 
that of 1899. 
MAINE FARMERS’ UNION. 
Two hundred potato and apple growers, 
representing 10 local farmers associations 
in the various Important: producing centers 
i)f the State of Maine met at City Hall, 
Baugor, on June 28 and organized the 
Farmers’ Union* of Maine. The officers an¬ 
as follows: President, E. S. Crosby, Bath; 
vice presidents, B. D. Liatchelder, IV. C. 
Stetson; treasurer, \Y. S. Rogers, Cathance; 
directors. W. S. Lyons, Calais, C. it. Mar’ 
tin, Dexter, VV. E. Reynolds, Burnham, 
August Peterson, New Swceden. The meeting 
was called Lo order by J. P. Buckley, Com 
missioner of Agriculture, and the visitors 
wen* welcomed by Clias. W. Mullen, mayor 
of Bangor, Arthur Chapin and Wilfred 
Hcnnessy, president and secretary of the 
Bangor Chamber of Commerce. other 
speakers were Hr. Leon S. Merrill, dean of 
the College of Agriculture of the Univer¬ 
sity of Maine, (10. lOmbrec, formerly sales 
manager of tlie Long Island Potato Ex¬ 
change of Rlverhend, N. Y., W. T. Duptill, 
Dairy Instructor of the State of Maine, \V. 
N. Eaton, president or the Maine Central 
Potato Exchange of Dexter, J. K. iOsta- 
brook. manager of the Maine Central Po¬ 
tato Exchange of Brunswick, L. E. Tuttle, 
president Aroostook Potato Growers’ As¬ 
sociation, of Presque Isle; E. S. Crosby, 
president Maine Central Potato Exchange 
of Brunswick. It was voted to open head 
quarters in Bangor in time to get ready for 
the harvest, and at .the next -ting of 
the directors a State manager will be 
elected and placed in charge of the State 
organization. Each local organization in 
order to become alllliated with the State 
Union must purclui*- five shares of slock, 
and this will entitle the local to a director 
in the State Union. The Farmers’ Union 
of Maine will act as a selling and buying 
agency end will also act in an advisory 
rather than a controlling iuiluence over the 
locals. The manager of the Union will 
establish selling and distributing agencies 
In New York and Boston, placing a selling 
manager at each of those places and these 
selling agents will open up markets for 
the product in other parts of the country. 
The Farmers’ Union of Maine starts out 
with fiatterlng prospects and all Mnine wei 
comes and recognizes it ns a factor that will 
bring more prosperity to the State. The 
farmers from one end of the State to the 
other are enthuslsastic and if sufficiently so 
to go down deep Into their pockets and 
raise the $150,000 capital, then success 
must come. c. e. e. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings. 
Field meeting of the New Jersey State 
Horticultural Society, Woodcltll’ Lake, N. J., 
July 17. 
International Dry Farming Congress, 
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; Congress of 
Farm Women, week beginning October 21. 
Massachusetts Fruit Show, under aus¬ 
pices of State Board of Agriculture and 
Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association, 
Horticultural Hull, Boston, Mass., Novem¬ 
ber 7-10. 
Indiana Apple Show, Lafayette, Novem¬ 
ber 13-19; secretary, U. D. Woodbury, Lu- 
fayette, I ml. _ 
The weather is nice and rather hot, so 
we are plowing corn, June 29. The corn 
Is growing rapidly but is not a very good 
stand, dm- to a number of reasons. Wheat 
harvest next week. w. e. d. 
Hillsboro, O. 
The liny crop In this and nearby sections 
is not a heavy one, as the farmers ex¬ 
pected. Berries are drying badly, on ac¬ 
count of lack of rain. Alfalfa seems to la- 
thriving. and clover is being cut. 
Cayuga Co., N. Y. ,r. w. i*. 
The hay crop is very spotted : some fields 
are very good and some very poor. Corn is 
small, and on many farms a poor stand, 
due to poor seed. The farmers are pretty 
well up in arms over the political outlook. 
It looks as though If the Democrats put 
up the right sort of a candidate, he will 
he elected. None of them seem to have very 
much use for President Taft. k. v 
Kinsman, O. 
