1010. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
©40 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Charging them with using 
the United States mails in the fui theranee 
of a scheme to commit fraud, Marshal Hen¬ 
kel arrested a woman and two men in New 
York September 20. The prisoners were 
Lena Cantu. John Bauer and John E. 
Forster. Inspector Crowell's complaint 
against Forster, president of the Lyceum 
Realty Company; Bauer, the secretary, and 
Miss Cantu, the manager, was based on a 
letter mailed on April 25 last to George 
Demeter, box 140. Aurora, Ill., regarding 
lots for sale at Manorville, Long Island. In 
the circulars the plot of land, about 100 
acres, Inspector Crowell said, was described 
as being laid out in streets and avenues 
and having a schoolkou.se, church and ly- 
eeum, and a hospital in the course of con¬ 
struction. Crowell said there was only a 
single structure standing on the land, which 
was G2 miles from the city and covered 
with scrub oak and weeds. He also said 
that in connection with the sale of lots the 
Lyceum Realty Company advertised a puz¬ 
zle which entitled those successful in solv¬ 
ing it to a certificate for $100, which would 
be accepted as part payment for the lots. 
The prisonex-s were hold under $1,500 bail 
each. 
Thirty-nine persons were killed and twen¬ 
ty or more injured September 21 when a 
southbound limited and a northbound local 
car on the Wabash Valley tractiou line col¬ 
lided Dear Kingsland, Iud. The accident oc¬ 
curred on a short curve and many of the 
bodies were so mangled that identification 
was long impossible. Hardly a passenger 
in the two cars escaped injury. The north¬ 
bound car was loaded with people going to 
the county fair at Fort Wayne, and among 
them were many women and children. What 
led to the accident is not known, but it 
is supposed that there was a misunderstand¬ 
ing of orders. The car carrying the people 
to tiie fair was an extra, and it is believed 
that its position on the road was not defi¬ 
nitely known and that the limited, running 
on its own time, was not apprised of its 
approach. 
After eighteen years of service in the 
House of Representatives, James A. Tawney 
has been decisively beaten for renouiination. 
Sidney Andei-son, the young Lanesboro at¬ 
torney. who entered the fight at the last 
moment, has beaten the veteran by 2,500. 
Tawney lias conceded his defeat, and blames 
it on the Democrats, who, he says, not only 
worked against him in seven of the ten 
counties, but also voted against him. Un¬ 
der the primary laws of Minnesota this is 
possible. As chairman of the Committee 
on Appropriations of the House Tawney 
has had charge of the Republican "pork 
barrel" for many years. His administra¬ 
tion of this important duty has met with 
the approval of the regulars, and this and 
his strong friendship for Speaker Cannon 
were great factors in the light that the 
insurgent forces waged against him. 
Sixteen persons lost their lives at Clay¬ 
ton, Ivan.. September 23, and thirteen 
others suffered injuries in a wreck of a 
westbound Rock Island passenger train, 
running to Denver from Kansas city. The 
accident occurred at a fill. 1,000 feet of 
which had been washed out by a cloud¬ 
burst and turned what is normally almost 
a dry bed into a torrent many yards wide. 
The "water washed out nearly a thousand 
feet of track also. The train was running 
on time over a straight track. Evidently 
the first intimation that the engineer had 
of any danger came when he realized that 
the forward portion of the train was run¬ 
ning in water, which had spread out over 
the tracks near the fill. The engineer 
checked the speed of the train, but could 
not prevent the locomotive, the baggage 
car, and the smoking car from going into 
the deep pool. The rear end of the smok¬ 
ing car remained tilted on the earth bank 
of the washout, and the chair car ripped 
its way into the smoking car, smashing it 
to pieces and killing or injuring many pas¬ 
sengers. 
An automobile containing six pei-sons 
who had been joy riding all night plunged 
over the embankment of the new basin 
canal about half way between New Orleans, 
La„ and West End. a pleasure rcsoit. Sep¬ 
tember 24, went down about fifteen feet 
to the bottom of the canal, pinning all the 
occupants of the machine under the heavy 
car and drowning all of them. A force of 
workmen was at once put to work trying 
to remove the car, but succeeded in recov¬ 
ering only four of the bodies, one was 
that of Thomas Boettler, owner and driver 
of the machine. Another was John Free¬ 
man, salesman for the perfumery house of 
Lazelle, Dailey & Co., of New York. The 
third body is that of a young woman of 
about twenty-two years. Another body 
found was that of a young woman. The 
workmen were obliged to abandon the at¬ 
tempt to raise the big car and a lai-ge 
dredge boat was ordered to the scene to 
try to get it up and i-ecover the other 
bodies. 
The most significant council of railroad 
employees ever held in this country met 
at the Amsterdam Opera House, New York, 
September 25, and instructed the chiefs 
of the four great organizations of railroad 
workmen to go to Wasnington and appeal 
to the government of the United States 
for a square deal , to their employee,; mean¬ 
ing in this case liberty to raise fi-eight 
rates. The meeting was cliai-aciei ized by 
the brotherhoods themselves as che most 
momentous since the first spike was driven 
into the first railroad for these reasons: 
It was their first out and out pronounce¬ 
ment that the interests of employees and 
employers are identical and it was the 
first time the powerful unions nave ever 
united to back up the railroad companies 
by going directly to the government. It 
marked, as the leaders of the brotherhoods 
agreed, the growth of a spirit of fairness 
and mutuality. It served notice Luat while 
the brotherhoods are not minded to be tags 
for any political party they intend to scru¬ 
tinize the attitude of candidates tor office 
(particularly for federal office) as to how 
employers, as well as employee*, shall be 
treated by the lawmakers and law en¬ 
forcers. 
An automobile ran into an electric train 
on the West Jei-sey and Sea Shore Rail¬ 
road at a crossing on the outskirts of 
Gloucester city, three miles south of Cam¬ 
den, N. .1.. September 23. Three of the 
five persons in the automobile weie killed. 
There is a considerable grade at tiie point 
whei'e the accident occurred and tii e re 
have been accidents there before with a 
number of fatalities. The crossing is re¬ 
garded as dangerous. In addition to the 
incline of the road at the point whei’e it 
crosses the tracks there is a sharp bend 
just before the crossing is reached. 
When the steamboat Richard Peck tried 
to make her way into the harbor at New 
Ilaveu, Conn.. September 26, she nearly 
lost her bearings. The light at the end 
of Long Wharf was unlit, but tne steam¬ 
boat found her way to the do-k without 
going ashore. An investigation was started 
and John Wilson, son of the lighthouse 
keeper, immediately rowed out to the light. 
Young Wilson groped his way along to the 
lighthouse and entering it stumbled over 
the body of his father, Thomas Wilson, 
lying among the machinery near the ladder. 
It was clear that he had- started Lo climb 
the lighthouse belfry and had been stricken 
with heart disease. Efforts to revive the 
light keeper failed, and be was taken to a 
hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 
He was 58 years old. and had been in the 
employ of the government for twenty years. 
It was found that he had wound the bell 
machinery and had replaced the key when 
he fell unconscious. The lighthouse is 
fifty feet in height, and its red glow is a 
beacon that guides mariners entering the 
harbor. As the channel is at its narrow¬ 
est near this spot, only a skilled navigator 
could dock witnout the aid of the light as 
a guide. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Charbon. which 
has caused the death of hundreds of cattle 
in southwestern Louisiana, has been 
stamped out, according to an announce¬ 
ment made September 24 by the Louisiana 
Sanitary Livestock Board. Quarantine 
against the movement of cattle fiom that 
section was lifted on September 2b. 
Prof. E. Dwight Sanderson has become 
dean of the West Virginia College of Agri¬ 
culture. Prof. T. C. Atkeson, who resigned 
that office in July, retains his professorship 
as before. 
There will be a meeting of the Commit¬ 
tee on Agricultural Education, appointed 
by Commissioner of Agriculture It. A. Pear¬ 
son at the last meeting of the New York 
State Agricultural Society, at the capitol 
in Albany, at 2.30 P. M. on Wednesday, 
November 2, 1910. Many of tiie leading 
educators have been invited, and the com¬ 
mittee desires that any persons intox-ested 
in this subject consider themselves invited 
and they will be given an opportunity to 
present their views briefly to Chairman 
Wing R. Smith. 
The novel contest competition for spray¬ 
ing machines will be held at Council Bluffs, 
Iowa, November 10 to 19 of this year. This 
contest occurs in connection with the expo¬ 
sition of tiie National Horticultural Con¬ 
gress. For the first time an effort will be 
made to organize a real scientific competi¬ 
tion. so that some fair basis for comparing 
the different spraying machines may be 
had. The power, whether horses or motor, 
the capacity and weight; the character of 
the spray, the rapidity of spraying and the 
ease of operation will all be considered, as 
well as the selling price and other points. 
There will also be a competition between 
the manufacturers of spray nozzles, with 
different rules to determine if possible which 
nozzle is best for the different spray mix¬ 
tures. There has never been such a con¬ 
test before, and we hope this one will set¬ 
tle some of the questions which are fre¬ 
quently asked about spraying. 
The Agricultural Extension Department 
of West Virginia University held the Mon¬ 
ongalia County rural progress conference 
at Cassville, September 22-23. 
The New York State School of Agri¬ 
culture at Morrisville. N. Y., will open for 
its first year’s work October 26, 1910. A 
faculty of well-trained teachers has been 
chosen and at the present time equipment 
is being secured and courses of study ar¬ 
ranged. The farm of 200 acres is being 
stocked with first-class stock and che build¬ 
ings acquired with tiie farm put into re¬ 
pair. New farm buildings are being 
planned so that the equipment will be up 
to date in this respect. Great interest is 
being shown in the work of the school and 
many inquiries are received from not only 
nearby and distant points in the State, but 
from other States as well. Apolications 
are being received nearly every day, and 
it seems an assured fact that the school 
will open with a good enrollment. 
STATE GRAFT INVESTIGATION.— 
Legislators who took hundreds and thou¬ 
sands of dollars from the “yellow dog” 
fund made up by the railway inteiests in 
this State and placed in the hands of G. 
Tracy Rogers, as president of the State 
Railway Association, for management and 
distribution where it would do the most 
good, received a clean bill of health from 
Rogers, September 22 at the session of the 
Legislative Investigating Committee in 
City Hall. Rogers was on the witness 
stand and had admitted to M. Linn Bruce, 
counsel to the committee, that the .$82,475 
of “yellow dog” money that had been 
traced by the committee was a mere drop 
in the bucket, and that many times that 
amount had been paid to legislators and 
politicians. 
“But why did you contribute this vast 
amount of money to a very few legisla¬ 
tors?” Bruce inquired. “Tell me, what did 
you expect to get for the money?” 
“We contributed that money to elect 
good, square, honest men, who could not 
be bribed,” Rogers said. 
Jotham I’. Allds, who resigned from the 
New' York Senate half an hour bxfore that 
body voted that he had been guilty of 
bribe-taking, and Representative George R. 
Malby took tiie stand at the legislative 
graft investigation in the City liail Sep¬ 
tember 23. They were asked to explain 
certain entries oh tiie books of Ililingwood 
& Cunningham. Both witnesses were calm 
and collected. The Congressman explained 
the payments to him bv Ellingw od & Cun¬ 
ningham as recompense tor overcharges in 
interest which had been made by the firm 
in his account. Mr. Allds explained that 
he bought New York Transportation stock 
through the firm because he believed that 
“it was a good thing” and that he sold 
because he did not care to pay assessments 
on it. He did not know and had never in¬ 
quired into the details of the transaction. 
Both Allds and Malby frankly admitted 
their acquaintance with G. Tracy Rogers, 
the Albany lobbyist and former president of 
the Street Railway Association. 
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. 
The New York State Republican Conven¬ 
tion was held at Saratoga, September 27- 
28, resulting in victory for the progressive 
element, the plans of the Barnes-Woodruff 
combination being defeated. Col. Roose¬ 
velt was elected temporary chairman and 
Senator Root permanent chairman. The 
platform adopted endorses the administra¬ 
tions of President Taft and Governor 
Hughes; recommends consideration of tar¬ 
iff problems by single schedules, the proper 
conseivation of our natural resoul"es, the 
betterment of conditions in corn.try life, 
and promises direct primary legislation on 
the lines worked for by Gov. Hugh s. The 
following nominations "for State offices were 
made: 
Governor, Henry L. Stimson, of New 
York. 
Lieutenant-Governor, Edward Sciioeneck, 
of Syracuse. 
Secretary of State, Samuel S. Koenig, of 
Now York (renominated). 
Controller, James Thompson, of Valley 
Falls. Rensselaer County. 
State Treasurer, Thomas Fennell, of 
Elmira. 
Attorney-General, Edward II. O'Malley, 
of Buffalo (renominated). 
...St.nt' 1 Engineer and Surveyor, Frank M. 
Williams, of Oneida (renominated). 
Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, 
Irving G. Vann, of Syracuse. 
ECHOES OF OGDENSBURG FAIR. 
Perhaps the most remarkable fair ever 
held in a rural town has lust closed at 
Ogdensburg, N. Y. This town does not 
regard a fair as a business propos tion, and 
the fair is not required to be self-sustaining. 
In addition to the regular State appropri¬ 
ation there is always a guarantee fund 
put up by business men and recently a 
special town meeting was held which re¬ 
sulted in the erection of model cattle 
barns and general improvements which cost 
•$13,500, and it was rather >. novel sight 
to see old farmers milking cows by the 
light of electricity. The show was good. 
The local breeders found it hard to com¬ 
pete with herds that have a national 
reputation, though some classes as Devons, 
Dutch Belted and Red Polled of only me¬ 
dium quality, having no opposition, per¬ 
haps, got more prizes then they really de¬ 
served. The shew of sheep and swine was 
bewildering, and it was difficult to form a 
judgment. The exhibits of Canton and 
Cornell universities were from an educa¬ 
tional standpoint and not particularly at¬ 
tractive. The young attendant remarked : 
"From our experiments we must conclude 
there is a relation between the physical 
character and constitutional vigor/' This 
I imagine has long been assumed without 
much experiment, and helps us to produce 
a strain in which physical strength and 
increased size will be pioininent features, 
but what that relation is we are entirely 
ignorant. It is certainly not iu vitality 
as shown by tenacity of life, for oiten when 
the physical existence seems the most per¬ 
fect in its development it is easily pros¬ 
trated by suffering and diseases" where 
physical exertion cannot be used. For two 
days the attendance at this fair was said 
to average a little over 10,000. The promi¬ 
nence given to a horse show "similar to 
Madison Square Garden" had something to 
do with this. No doubt, to see beautiful 
animals driven by experts in tandems, four- 
in-hands. taliy-ho, etc., with jurupeis that 
will easily clear a six-foot bar, is attrac¬ 
tive. yet it only illustrates the restlessness 
of our common humanity, and cannot be¬ 
come a permanent or valuable asset to the 
development of our agricultural fairs if 
carried to an extreme. The heavier ani¬ 
mals, if stallions are types of a useful, 
all-round business horse, apart from their 
aristocracy, which amounts to nothing, 
from our economic standpoint, and on the 
whole is too expensive a luxury tor coun¬ 
try fairs. There wei-e ro dairy tests this 
year, and the comparative results of differ¬ 
ent breeds was not shown. One of our 
best breeders of Jerseys lost his barns by 
lightning and was not able to come. Per¬ 
haps the best St. Lawrence Co"nt,v herd 
was the Guernseys, closely followed by tiie 
Ayrsbires. Ir. our local herds Mr. Charles 
Loomis showed a good all-round herd of 
TTolsteins, witli an exceptionally good bull 
at its head. Mr. Ross and Mr. Bromling 
showed small herds direct from tlieir pas¬ 
tures, containing animals of superior merit 
with records larger than the average of 
any ten records of herds with a national 
reputation. What the uve.rage farm herd 
lacks is not so much the development of 
milking capacity as a lack of conformation 
and of breeding true to some fixed type, so 
that the eye takes in tiie head of the fam¬ 
ily and all his relations at a glauee. This 
can be remedied by getting ix good bull 
and keeping him until he is aged and then 
securing another that may he expected to 
reproduce his good traits. J. e. dcbois. 
COW AND CROP NOTES. 
I might say that we are almost suffering 
from a cow famine. I know that is put¬ 
ting it rather strongly, but really I never 
saw such a scarcity of cows in the mar¬ 
ket. They are not to be had. Thete have 
been three sales at auction lately, and 
they were simply “gobbled up,” heifers 
with their first calves bringing $70 lo .$80, 
and unregistered cows over $100, in one 
case $124. The average price of one lot. 
mostly heifers, just in or coming in. was 
$73. Another dairy averaged $91, and a 
third (sold after Borden’s contract) $86. 
The law prohibiting the bringing of cat¬ 
tle across the line from Connecticut, with¬ 
out inspection, has its effect witu us. We 
are right on the border, and many of our 
good cows come from Connecticut, Massa¬ 
chusetts and Vermont. They will stray 
across the line occasionally, however. Farm¬ 
ers in this section are well stocked with 
forage for the Winter, and Fail pasture 
is unusually abundant. This witn the ad¬ 
vanced price of milk creates an unusual 
demand. Another reason is that farmers 
are looking for only the best cows, and 
have discarded the poorer ones. The sup¬ 
ply of Winter milk is likely to be liberal. 
Amenia Union, N. Y. H. v. d. it. 
Tn this section there is no surplus of 
dairy cows. We had an abundant hay 
crop and plenty of silage and corn stover 
to feed more stock. Personally i would 
buy about. 10 more good cows if they 
could be got at a fair price. 
Columbia Co., N. Y. eknest pick. 
There have been buyers here picking up 
all the cattle they could for Detroit mar¬ 
ket at $40 to $50 for dairy cons. There 
has been a big advanea in cows the last 
year. All Fall crops are good line. We 
shall have the best crop of corn this year 
that we have had in years past, and a 
large acreage for a new country. 
Thomosonville, Mich. i. w. b. 
I am sorry to say that cows are going 
out of style hereabouts, and where five 
years ago herds of 10 to 15 head were 
common, to-day it is th ? exception to find 
more than two. Cows are very scarce, 
good ones being worth as high as $75 or 
more, and it is almost impossibh- to get 
one at that. c. j. b. 
Vassalboro, Me. 
As far as I know about this immediate 
part of the Ohio Valley the dairy business 
is restricted to the l’cw who supply milk 
to the towns and villages. The average 
farmer seldom lias more than two or three 
cows that supply his own needs, and some¬ 
times a small surplus of butter. Butter Is 
not of high quality. Cows and Iced are 
both scarce. u. h. g. 
Newport, O. 
August milk four per cent, paid at cream¬ 
eries from $1.28 to $1.40 per hundred 
pounds. September milk at ship.iiug sta¬ 
tion, $1.70. Cows arc very high, from $50 
to $70; dressed pork. 10 to cents. 
A large crop of fine apples. Buyers are 
offering $2.50 for No. 1 fruit: most grow¬ 
ers are not willing to sell at tiiat price. 
Potatoes a fair crop of good quality. 
Charlotte, Vt. g. m. h. 
Good cows arc scarce, and lning any¬ 
where from $60 to $100 for fresh.-is. The 
popular demand is for black and white. 
Six new silos have been put up within a 
radius of a half a mile of here this Fall. 
Most of the cows here arc bought from 
New York State. Good heifer calves are 
raised and poor ones and bulls fatt< ued fox- 
local market. c. n. w. 
Connecticut. 
The milk supply is rather better than 
last year, but not what it ought to be. I 
hardly know what the reason is, unless the 
extreme drought and grasshoppers of tiie 
last two years have killed the better grasses 
in the pastures. While the pastures look 
good there does not seem to be much milk 
in them. Most up-to-date farmers nave fed 
heavily since about August 1. A very large 
hay crop was harvested this year, a,so grain 
and corn, so there is a lai-ge amount of 
fodder in sight. 
Except for a short period—about July 
1—the rainfall in this locality has been 
sufficient for the needs of the various crops. 
The milk supply has shrunk a good deal, 
but not so much as in other yea is, owing 
to the fine condition of the pastures at 
this season. The hay crop is away above 
the average of former years, in some in¬ 
stances being double that of 18)9. How¬ 
ever, this is not a fair comparison, as 
the hay crops have boon light in this Vi¬ 
cinity for tne past three years. Oats 
made a good grow-th of straw and are 
yielding heavily. The grain is more or 
less damaged by wet weather at harvest 
time. The backward Spring delayed the 
corn, much of which was replan trd, and 
while there are some good fvlds here¬ 
abouts, comparatively speaking, i.ie crops 
of both State and silo corn, as a whole, 
is below the average of recent years. The 
amount of hay ami other fodder for win¬ 
tering stock is fully up to th - average. 
Everything considered, 1 think tin farm¬ 
ers hei-e feel that this has been a pretty 
good vear with them. F. h. 
Black River, N. Y. 
The drought of August following the 
severe drought of 1909 so depleted our 
pastures that the milk supply of tne herds 
in this section shrunk ironi 30 to 50 per 
cent. However, the abundant rains of 
September, in connection with the warm 
weather, have very materially freshened 
up th° pastures. This, in connection with 
the feeding of sweet corn fodder and grain, 
is holding the milk supply from a fur¬ 
ther shrinkage, and the fresh mil tiers are 
doing well. The amounts of hay and other 
fodders harvested for next W 1 iters use 
are sufficient for the amount of stock on 
hand. The favorable weather is matur¬ 
ing the corn crop very nicely, both for 
silage corn and for fodder. T xe demand 
for all kinds of dairy stock, both young 
and mature, is very brisk, and pliers are 
long, as also are the prices for milk and 
butter. The year will be one of the best 
in the dairy "work of our section. Those 
of our farmers who were longheaded 
enough to supplement the short pasture 
with grain and other feeds are reaping 
good returns for their investment. The 
most serious drawback to the dairy situ¬ 
ation here is the lack on the pail of so 
many of our dairy farmers in applying 
good business principles to their dairy 
work. Only a very few of them axe keep¬ 
ing any tab upon the individual animals 
in their herds. Some throe or four be¬ 
gan this work for the first time this year, 
and arc- very much pleased witli their re¬ 
sults. They find that the scales and test 
are much more reliable guides to the pro¬ 
duction of their animals than was their 
off-hand judgment. Another very serious 
drawback to the expanding of the dairy 
business, with us, is the scarcity of re- 
liable farm help who are good milkers. It 
is to be hoped that the milking machine 
will be perfected to such an extent that it 
may bo installed upon every daiiy farm, 
warren Go., Pa, i ,"j. w. 
I have a good crop of Baldwin apples this 
season. Other varieties are sea re. Hay 
crop was good. Rain is needed badly. 
Connecticut. c. n. w. 
There are but few apples in this part 
of the State. I have had inquiries from 
farmers living 10 and 12 miles away for 
apples for their own use. Most of them say 
they have not enough to make a pie. A 
few sprayed orchards will have a light crop. 
Buyers arc offering 75 cents per bushel for 
Fail fruit, but so far I have beard of no 
offers for Winter fruit. A. if. B. 
Lapeer, Mich. 
Silo filling has commenced; corn ex-op 
promises to be fair. (Tost holding off giving 
the late corn a chance: early potatoes a 
fair crop; the late potato crop very un¬ 
even, some fields promise a good crop, while 
others promise less than 25 per cent of a 
crop. Prices at Buffalo are 45 to 65 cents 
a bushel. Butter is bringing 33 cents, eggs 
28 to 30 cents. Extra milk for the Winter 
is being sold for 16 x-ents per gallon; some 
shortage on account of rigid inspection by 
citv health department. G. s. 
Erie Co., N. Y. 
