1910. 
THE R U R A. L» NEW-YORKER 
©4£> 
LETTERS FROM PUBLIC MEN. 
Farmers in Central New York have 
not forgotten the famous “John and I” 
telegram. The anti-gambling bill was 
before the New York State Senate with 
a very close vote. Senator Owen Cas¬ 
sidy voted against the bill and defeated 
it. In explaining his vote he showed a 
telegram which read: “John and I 
think you had better not vote for 
the bill.” There was, of course a 
general desire to know who or 
what this vote-impelling combination 
of “John and I” was composed of. 
A great majority of the people of the 
district wanted Mr. Cassidy to vote for 
the bill, but “John and I” were more 
than a majority! 
It turned out that “John” was Con¬ 
gressman John W. Dwight of Dryden, 
while “I” was Congressman J. Sloat 
Fassett of Elmira. These gentlemen 
were pretty much the whole show in the 
lake counties of Central New York. 
Naturally, when it came to a question 
of parcels post, farmers in those counties 
turned to “John and I” for help. “John” 
turned out to be one of the gentlemen 
who will give “careful consideration” 
to the matter. His ideal for wisdom 
and patriotic service seems to be Senator 
Chauncey M. Depew. As for “I,” we 
can hardly do better than print a letter 
which he wrote to one of our readers. 
Here it is: 
Of course, you are aware that we already 
have a parcels post, and that the propo¬ 
sition to establish a parcels post' upon the 
rural free delivery routes is to open a 
line of business that does not affect the 
express companies, for the express com¬ 
panies do almost no business now along 
the rural routes. The most earnest advo¬ 
cates of the parcels post are the great 
mail-order houses in the large cities. I 
think that very likely wo can accomplish 
a move in the right direction by at least 
making our own facilities and our own 
rates equal to those we now enjoy when 
sending things to Europe or receive things 
from Europe. j. s. fassett. 
If the suggested experiment of parcels 
post or rural routes would not hurt the 
express companies it would not help 
the mail-order houses. How could it do 
so? We want Mr. Fassett to explain 
why the public should be careful not to 
do anything which might hurt the ex¬ 
press companies. There is no mail-order 
house in the country any more earnest 
for a parcels post than the farmers in 
Mr. Fassett’s district who are writing 
him. Have they no rights to be con¬ 
sidered ? On the whole it seems to us 
that “John” with his “careful considera¬ 
tion” is wiser than “I” with the above 
statement. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—In a battle April 20 be¬ 
tween car works strikers and township 
constables at McKees Rocks, Pa., seven 
persons were injured, three of whom prob¬ 
ably will die. Constable James M. Daniels 
was shot through the abdomen and chest. 
Joe Biernot, a Hungarian striker, was shot 
several times, as was another striker who 
refuses to give his name. One of the at¬ 
tacking strikex-s was hit by a train as he 
was running from pursuers and was 
knocked over the river bank. lie is 
thought to have fallen in the river. No 
trace of him has been found. 
April 20 41 men were imprisoned by a 
gas explosion in the Ilulga mine at Bir¬ 
mingham, Ala., and all were killed. Flames 
shot up the shafts of the mine for a 
distance of about 400 feet, and the ground 
was covered with charred timbers, which 
were blown up from the bottom of a .'550- 
foot shaft. Every window in the village 
was broken by the explosion. 
The report of the International Har¬ 
vester Company for 1909 shows revenue 
from sales $86,614,009, as compared with 
$72,541,000 in 1908, an increase of $14.- 
075.000. The net earnings of 1909 ex¬ 
ceeded those of 190S by $6,079,000, while 
the net profits were $6,007,000 greater 
than those of 1908. After a dividend of 
$20,000,000 on the common stock a sur¬ 
plus of $7,384,000 remained. 
Mark Twain died at Redding, Conn., 
April 21. Samuel Langhorne Clemens— 
“Mark Twain"—soldier, printer, pilot, re¬ 
porter, miner, lecturer, editor, publisher, 
author, was born on November 30. 1835, 
in the little town of Florida, Monroe 
County, Mo., a hundred miles or so north¬ 
west from St. Louis. He may be regarded 
as the most popular and successful of all 
American authors. Ills career was varied 
and his pictures of Western life have given 
him fame throughout the world. He re¬ 
ceived wide recognition, was given a 
D.C.L. degree by Oxford University, and 
acquired a large fortune. He is survived 
by one daughter, who is married to Ossip 
Cabrilowitcb, the distinguished Russian 
pianist. 
George E. Bedel], who was chief clerk 
under James F. Vail when that individual 
was bead of tho weighing division at the 
New York Custom House and customs 
frauds were rampant, was arrested April 
22 on an indictment returned by the 
Grand Jury charging him, together with 
Charles D. Drew and Charles II. Warden, 
with a conspiracy to defraud the Gov¬ 
ernment in a long series of frauds in the 
importation of sugar, figs, cheese, maca¬ 
roni and other commodities. Each was 
held in $5,000 bail by Judge Hazel in the 
Criminal Branch of the Fniied States Cir¬ 
cuit Court. Bedell has been in the customs 
service for 20 years, first as assistant 
weigher at $4 a day, from 1890 to 1903, 
then as clerk, at salaries of $1.-100, $1,600 
and $1,800 in successive increases, and 
finally as chief clerk, under Vail, at $2,000 
a year. When Collector Loeb came into 
office and the outcry caused by the ex¬ 
posure of the sugar weighing frauds led 
to an investigation of the Custom House 
organization. Bedell was demoted to a job 
that paid him $5 a day. That was on 
August 1, 1909. and on the 20th of last 
November he was discharged. . 
Abraham White, sometimes called the 
“shoestring millionaire” because of his op¬ 
erations as middleman in bond transac¬ 
tions, was discharged April 23 by Magis¬ 
trate Cornell in the Tombs Court, New 
York, where lie was charged with the 
larceny of $575 by Isaac Zane, a former 
elevated railroad engineer. Zane said that 
lie sent $600 to White, whom he believed 
to be a friend and advisor of Russell Sage, 
and got back only $25. White was not 
required to go into liis defence, the Magis¬ 
trate sustaining Lawyer McNish's demurrer 
to the evidence, and saying that tlie matter 
was one for the civil courts. White says 
Zane's money was lost in legitimate specu¬ 
la I ion through Stock Exchange houses in 
the panic of 1907. 
Fire has practically destroyed Lake 
Charles, La., a town of 15,000 inhabitants. 
The property loss is estimated by insurance 
underwriters at $4,000,000. Three thou¬ 
sand persons are homeless. While tem¬ 
porary catnips have been erected beyond the 
fire area, yet there is much- suffering 
among the homeless. The town is burned 
bare of food. The fire started in tiie old 
French Opera House, almost in the center 
of the city's business district. A gale 
fanned the flames into a big blaze, and 
almost before the work of combating it 
was under way the fire was hissing through 
the streets lined with business houses, 
leaving a path of ruin. In an hour’s time 
30 squares had been swept clean. The 
entire business part of the city, made up 
largely of substantial buildings, was de¬ 
stroyed. 
Speaker James W. Wadsworth, Jr., Sen¬ 
ator Cobb and Assemblyman Merritt, the 
Republican leaders of the Senate and As¬ 
sembly; Senator Meade, chairman of the 
direct primaries investigating committee; 
Assemblyman Phillips and Robert C. Fum- 
ming, the legal adviser of the Legislature, 
held a conference at Albany April 26 with 
a view of definitely formulating the pri¬ 
mary reform legislation which is to bo 
passed at this session. It will be ‘decided 
eventually to pass the Ilinman-Green bill 
amended so sis to retain all nominating 
conventions, accepting the Low-Cboate- 
Schurman idea of providing for direct 
nomination as the • primaries of Senators 
and Assemblymen only as a starter, and 
otherwise embracing the primary reform 
amendments embraced in the Meade-Phil- 
lips Dill and in the Low-Choate-Schurman 
memorial to the Legislature. All that will 
remain of the Ilinman-Green bill will be 
the name. None of the advocates of the 
original bill favored by Gov. .Hughes at¬ 
tended the conference, nor was any invited. 
CROP DAMAGE.-—April 22-25 snow, 
sleet and frost extended over a wide area 
of the Middle West. With apple, peach, 
pear, cherry and plum orchards in full 
bloom, the fruit district of Michigan was 
swept April 22 by a h'gh northwest gale 
with snow, followed by freezing tempera¬ 
ture at daybreak. It is almost certain the 
fruit crop will be a total loss. Possibly 
30 per cent of the grapes will produce fruit 
from second bud. Twelve inches of snow 
fell in upper Wisconsin and reports indi¬ 
cate that the entire fruit crop is ruined. 
In the Canadian Northwest temperatures 
as low as IS were reported and snow 
reached from Duluth to St. Louis. From 
all the far Northwest country came reports 
of ruin wrought by the storm. It snowed 
heavily all day throughout northern and 
central Arkansas. Tennessee, Missouri, 
western Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. 
Ten inches of snow fell in the lower Ohio 
Valley. The damage to trees as far south 
as Tennessee was the greatest ever known. 
At Pine Bluff. Ark., there was snow and 
sleet. In many sections wheat suffered 
severely. Temperatures ranging from two 
to three degrees below freezing were re¬ 
ported from all points in Kansas. Mis¬ 
souri and northern Oklahoma April 25. A 
freezing temperature prevailed at Mem¬ 
phis, and killing frosts were reported from 
western Kansas points. Enid, Okla., 33 
degrees was reported. The reports of 
damage to fruit in Ohio have been exag¬ 
gerated, according to State Nursery In¬ 
spector Shaw. Trees wore injured only at 
the top, and the harm done to vineyards is 
not great. 
April 25 the blizzard extended over the 
lower South. The weather was the coldest 
for April by 10 to 15 degrees. It snowed 
and froze as far south as Montgomery. Ala., 
Jackson. Miss., and Alexandria, La/ There 
was frost to the Gulf Coast. At Monroe, 
La., three freezes followed each other in 
rapid succession. In north Louisiana, where 
the bulk of the cottou crop of the State 
is grown, the young cotton and the early 
corn are nearly entirely demoralized and 
will have to be replanted. Similar con¬ 
ditions prevail in Mississippi. In Louis¬ 
iana, Mississippi and Alabama, from 50 to 
75 per cent of the cottou has been de¬ 
stroyed and will have to be replanted if 
the seed can be obtained for it. in 
Louisiana and Mississippi cotton seed oil 
mills have shut down and will crush no 
more seed, selling what they have on 
hand back to the planters at a big ad¬ 
vance, but they are not able to fill all 
orders. In Alabama, the Department of 
Agriculture has ordered inspection of the 
oil mills to see how much seed there is on 
hand and how far it will go for planting 
purposes. Early corn lias suffered almost 
as much, while the fruit and vegetable 
crops are ruined almost to the Gulf. Heavy 
damage was done in north Alabama by the 
cold wave. Snow was general April 25, 
while the mercury ranged from 35 degrees 
at Talladoga to 30 at Huntsville. At 
Montgomery the thermometer registered 36. 
Chief damage has been done to cotton, and 
it is the general opinion that the crop 
must be planted over. Gardens suffered 
heavily, most of early vegetables being 
killed. The extent: of the harm to the 
fruit crop cannot be known until the 
weather moderates when the frozen fruit 
will drop to the ground. Scarcity of cot¬ 
ton seed for replanting is noted in several 
sections. October cotton advanced nearly 
$3 a bale on the New York Exchange oh 
widespread buying based on the news of 
disaster to the young plant throughout 
the cotton Del t. The December option 
moved up in sympathy. These are the 
active months among the new crop options. 
The heavy losses of cotton planters in Ar¬ 
kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama 
and Georgia were verified April 26. There 
was another heavy frost in the South, east 
of the Mississippi River April 25. Al¬ 
though the weather turned warmer April 
26 the estimate of the crop damage in the 
South was increased. The freeze extended 
over more than half of Louisiana and Mis¬ 
sissippi. It is estimated that 75 per cent 
of the cotton in north Louisiana and north 
Mississippi was killed and 50 per cent in 
the Yazoo Delta. A great deal of this will 
he replanted, hut not all, because there is 
not enough seed. Assurances were received 
by the Texas State Department of Agri¬ 
culture April 26 from all parts of Texas 
t lint no damage of great consequence was 
done to fruit and growing crops by the 
cool weather. It is estimated that tlie to¬ 
mato crop was damaged 20 per cent. The 
leach crop, which promised to he a record 
ireakor, was slightly injured, but the trees 
still retain all the fruit they can bear. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—A fruit box 
taken by State inspectors of weights and 
measures from the fruit store of Nicholas 
E. Tsaras, tit 110 Barclay street. New 
York, April 23. was found to he short 18 
cubic inches of strawberry content, and 
Mr. Tsaras was fined $5 by Magistrate 
Cornell in the Tombs Court for short 
weight. Inspector B. M. Blumenthal said 
that the box wasn’t of the standard meas¬ 
ure required h.v the laws passed in 1909. 
Mr. Tsaras replied that lie lmd sold the 
berries as he got them. 
Conferences were held in Syracuse April 
20 for the purpose of starting plans for 
the Dairy and Horse Departments of the 
State Fair of 1910, botli of which depart¬ 
ments are under the management of the 
Commissioner of Agriculture. The Dairy 
Department conference was attended by 
officers who had charge of the interesting 
exhibits in the new dairy building last year. 
The most radical change made was the 
agreement to have all exhibits of butter, 
cheese aud milk received by Tuesday of the 
week preceding the fair week, so as to 
give time for those to be judged before 
the fair opens. In the past the judges 
have been unable to finish their work un¬ 
til the latter part of the fair week, and tip 
to that time exhibits have not been marked, 
which has detracted greatly from their in¬ 
terest. This year it is expected to have 
all exhibits marked when the fair opens 
on Monday morning. The labels will show 
names aud addresses of exhibitors, includ¬ 
ing the county, class numbers and descrip¬ 
tion of class, - aud the score if it is* high 
enough to bring the exhibits into the pro 
rata participation of the prize money. The 
dairy conference was attended by Superin¬ 
tendent Geo. A. Smith. Assistant Superin¬ 
tendents W. E. Griffith, Horace Rees, It. 
It. Kirkland and C. A. l’ublow. Clerk Royal 
Giikey, H. C. Troy, II. A. Harding and 
Harris Moak, besides Secretary Shaver and 
Commissioner Pearson. The conference 
which considered the new horse department 
was attended h.v several prominent horse 
breeders and horse men, including E. A. 
Powell, Syracuse ; John McLennan, Alfred ; 
E. S. Akin, Auburn; Wm. M. Hillman, East 
Bethany; W. P. Schanck. Avon; F. D. 
Ward, Batavia : W. W. Smallwood, War¬ 
saw ; Major William Daniels, Ogdensburg; 
Messrs. Shaver, Harrison, Davis and Com¬ 
missioner Pearson. It is proposed to put 
up a strong premium list for strictly farm 
classes of horses', to have some classes 
limited strictly to farmer exhibitors, and 
it is believed that with the prizes that 
can be offered good exhibits will he forth¬ 
coming. 
Agents of the New York Department of 
Agriculture have recently found in ship¬ 
ments of nursery stock from France and 
certain New England States, nests of 
Brown-tail moths, containing living cater¬ 
pillars. They have also found in ship¬ 
ments of nursery stock from New Eng¬ 
land States at three points in the State, 
egg masses of Gipsy moths, all of which 
have been very carefully inspected and the 
nests and egg masses destroyed. A ship¬ 
ment of White pines was recently received 
from France, in which wore found many 
trees infected with the blister rust (Peri- 
dermium strobi). The fortunate discovery 
was made owing to the provisions of the 
statute requiring the inspection of all nur¬ 
sery stock coming into the State of New 
York from other States or from abroad. 
During the week of May 9 the New York 
Central and Hudson River Railroad will 
send another educational farm train 
through the farming and dairy section of 
northern New York, covering Lewis, Jeffer¬ 
son, St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton 
Counties. The train will start from Utica 
Tuesday, May 10. The trains will be run 
under the auspices of the New York State 
School of Agriculture of Cornel! Univer- 
sity, assisted h.v members of the faculty of 
the State School of Agriculture of St. 
Lawrence University, New York State 
Department of Agriculture, the State For¬ 
ester and the New York State Grange. The 
Department of Animal Husbandry will ex¬ 
hibit the famous cow “Zelina,” the result 
of years of breeding a high milk-producing 
animal within reach of any careful breeder. 
THE MILK INQUIRY.—Drastic legisla¬ 
tion is recommended to regulate the price 
of milk in the report submitted to the New 
York Legislature April 25 by Attorney- 
general Edward R. O'Malley as a result of 
his investigation of the so-called milk trust 
operating in New York City. The report 
reviews the history of the litigation brought 
by the State in 1S91 against the Milk Ex¬ 
change. in which a judgment was entered 
in the County of Broome in 1895 dissolving 
tlie corporation and annulling its charter 
ou the ground that it was a combination 
to limit and lessen the supply of milk in 
(lie State of New York. That six months 
later, after this judgment of dissolution 
had been entered, the Consolidated Milk 
Exchange was organized under the laws of 
the State of New Jersey aud carried on a 
similar business to that conducted bv the 
Milk Exchange formerly, and some of the 
original incorporators of the Milk Exchange 
were also the original incorporators of the 
Consolidated Milk Exchange. That the 
latter company was permitted by the Sec¬ 
retary of State to conduct business in this 
State, which it did at 6 Harrison street, 
the original othee of the Milk Exchange. 
That tiie said Consolidated Milk Exchange 
through its committee on values monthly 
fixed the price or “value” which it would 
pay for the succeeding month; that Bor¬ 
den’s Condensed Milk Company, the largest 
milk dairy in New York City, every six 
months arbitrarily fixed the price to the 
producer for the ensuing six months and 
that tiie Sheffield Farm s-Shuv son-Decker 
Company did tDo same tiling. That these 
prices on an average tiie year around were 
substantially the same and that all the 
dealers in milk in New York City bought 
milk at these prices. That these prices 
paid to the producers were unreasonable 
and unprofitable. The report shows that 
the average price paid to the producer for 
the years 1908 and 1909 was from 5 1-5 
to 3y 2 cents a quart and that the average 
cost of production during the same period 
was 3.513 cents a quart, so tiie producer 
was getting about what it cost him to 
produce. He was obliged to accept these 
prices if he sold his milk in the New York 
market or else take the chance of sending 
his shipments to unknown and oi'ventimes 
irresponsible dealers, running tiie chance 
of losing his whole shipment. As a result 
ot this condition there have been mam- 
dairy farms abandoned in the Suite of 
New York. The report further shows that 
the explanation made by the dealers that 
the raise in the price of milk from eight 
to nine cents a quart was necessary was 
not proven because (a) tiie producers were 
not in a position to demand a raise in the 
price of milk from the dealers and (b) 
only one-quarter of tiie cent increase was 
paid to the farmer, the other three-quar¬ 
ters of the cent raise‘was retained by the 
dealers. 
The report shows that, while individual 
smaller dealers do not make exorbitant 
prices by reason of tiie raise, the evidence 
showed that two of the corporations which 
were tiie largest dealers in New York Citv 
made enormous profits ou the fluid milk 
branch of their business. According to 
Mr. Scudder, the expert accountant, the 
Borden Condensed Milk Company showed 
net profits on fluid milk for the nine months 
ended September 30, 1909, 8779,407 p-> an 
increase of $340,353.12 over tiie preceding 
year. The capital stock of this company 
was $25,000,000, of which $15,000,000 was 
issued for. trade marks, patents and good 
will. A 6 per cent dividend on the com¬ 
mon stock of tills company has been paid 
nearly every year for 10 years, and at 
the same time a surplus created of about 
$8,000,000. The Sheffield Farms-Slawson- 
Deekcr Company was organized about eight 
years ago with a capital stock of 8500,000 
of which $200,000 was issued for tangible 
assets and $300,000 for good will. This 
company’s net earnings for the year ended 
February 28, 1909. were $221,694.63. The 
net earnings for eight months, ended Octo¬ 
ber 51, 1909, were $257,923,47. This com¬ 
pany lias paid 12 per cent dividends each 
year on its capital stock and 22 per cent 
dividends for the year ended December 5 1, 
1909, with a surplus now of $962,627.02. 
OBITUARY".—Henry G. Mci’ike, tin' 
noted horticulturist, died at his Inane in 
Alton, 111., April is. He was horn July 
6 , 1825, at Lawrencevillc, Ind.. and was 
known as the. “Illinois Burbank’* when lie 
gained fame in horticultural circles after 
originating the now well-known "Mcl’ike 
grape.” lie was twice Mayor of the city 
and was a great lover of flowers. His 
burial was in a grove of fruit trees planted 
and cultivated by his own hands. This 
was his last wish. 
NEW COMMISSION MERCHANT BILL. 
AN ACT to amend the Agricultural Law, 
in relation to the selling of poultry, 
orchard, garden, dairy and other farm 
products by commission merchants. 
The People of the State of New York, 
represented in Senate aud Assembly, do 
enact as follows: 
Section 1. Article two of chapter nine of 
the laws of 1909, entitled “An act in rela¬ 
tion to agriculture, constituting chapter 
one of the consolidated laws,” is hereby 
amended by adding thereto four new sec¬ 
tions, _to he numbered sections 14, 15, Hi 
and 17, to read as follows : 
14. The Commissioner of Agriculture is 
hereby authorized aud directed to establish 
a bureau in the Department of Agriculture 
for the purpose ot aud to have certain 
supervision over sales, reports and returns 
made relative to poultry, orchard, garden, 
dairy and other farm products consigned 
to commission merchants to be sold. 
15. The Commissioner of Agriculture 
shall distribute daily, .Sundays and holidays 
excepted, as herein provided, information 
regarding the market values of products 
herein provided for, which information 
shall be distributed by means of a bulletin 
containing the prices current of such com¬ 
modities and such other information and 
suggestions as he may deem useful and 
helpful to producers and consignors in the 
State of New York. The bulletin published 
as provided herein shall be mailed to any 
person in this State upon the payment to 
the said Commissioner of a price fixed by 
him, which price shall he approximately 
the cost price of production plus the 
postage. 
16. The Commissioner of Agriculture 
shall issue to commission merchants in 
cities of the first and second class who are 
selling or handling poultry, orchard, gar¬ 
den. dairy and other farm products re¬ 
ceived by consignment for sale, a license 
upon proper application therefor and upon 
receipt of the license fee of five dollars 
and upon the filing with such Commissioner 
of a bond in tiie penal sum of five thou¬ 
sand dollars, with sureties to be approved 
by such Commissioner, which lieoi\ e shall 
entitle the holder thereof to carry on such 
business in such products and "shall au¬ 
thorize the conducting ot' such business 
from the date of issuance to the 51st day 
of December next succeeding. No mer¬ 
chant shall conduct such business i i cities 
of the first and second class without pro¬ 
curing such a license. 
17. The surety bond provided for herein 
shall he conditioned upon the faithful dis¬ 
charge of the duties and obligations of the 
licensee and upon his making a full, just 
and true account and correct returns to 
his consignor of and for all produce or 
other commodities received and sold by 
him. as provided herein, and upon his 
remitting to his consignor full net returns 
from the sale of all such produce or com¬ 
modities within ten days after such sale. 
• 2. This act shall take effect July i, 1910. 
Following the earliest, warmest and 
driest Spring known for many years, we 
are now having Hie reverse. Following a 
week of rain, we have had two snowstorms 
in the last eight days. April 23 tiie ther¬ 
mometer was near the freezing point all 
day, and tiie snow fell for 24 hours, and 
to-day, April 24. the thermometer is at 
30 degrees, and all my [ueonies and earlv 
Gladioli are ruined, and it looks as though 
the fruit is all destroyed in their neigh¬ 
borhood. k. t. V. 
Belleville, Ill. 
