1010 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 14, 191a. 
Amending the Constitution 
There have been 707 proposed amend¬ 
ments introduced in the constitutional 
convention up to July 31. Of these 11 
were reported favorably by standing com¬ 
mittees and five adversely. At this writ¬ 
ing, August 4, no amendments have been 
passed by the convention and two have 
been defeated. Few of the proposed 
amendments will ever get out of the com¬ 
mittees. They will either be disapproved 
or they will be consolidated by the com¬ 
mittees into a new proposition. The mode 
of procedure is this: When a proposi¬ 
tion is favorably reported by a committee 
it goes automatically to the committee of 
the whole convention. When it is report¬ 
ed favorably by the committee of the 
whole it is automatically advanced to the 
order of third reading, and then a vote 
must be taken immediately so that those 
amendments that have reached a third 
reading have reached the final stage of 
consideration. The following four amend¬ 
ments have reached that stage: 
Providing for the succession to the 
office of Lieut.-Governor of the tempo¬ 
rary President of the Senate; abolishing 
the Governor’s emergency message, pro¬ 
viding that no extra compensation shall 
be granted any public officer by the State 
or any of its civil divisions; providing 
that the Legislature may convene of its 
own motion to take action on the re¬ 
moval of a judge of the court of appeals 
or a justice of the Supreme Court; and 
that the Assembly may so convene for 
the purpose of impeachment. 
One of the most important propositions 
before the convention is the reorganiza¬ 
tion of the State departmens. This 
amendment provides that there shall be an 
executive department, an executive coun¬ 
cil. a central bureau of administration, 
and eleven divisions. These divisions are 
Treasury, Public Works, Agriculture and 
Industry, Public Health and Safety. Pub¬ 
lic Education, Industrial Relations, Pub¬ 
lic Charities and Corrections, Public Util¬ 
ities. Insurance and Banking, Civil Ser¬ 
vice and State Militia. The 11 heads of 
the divisions shall constitute the execu¬ 
tive council. The members of the coun¬ 
cil may be removed by the Governor as 
also he may appoint them. He may also 
remove the director of the Central Bu¬ 
reau, and the Secretary of State. The 
Governor must submit to the Legislature 
a budget containing a financial plan for 
the following fiscal year, not later than 
60 days after the opening of the Legisla¬ 
ture. 
The committee on conservation has re¬ 
ported to the convention in favor of a 
department of conservation to consist of 
nine members to serve without pay, and 
for nine year terms, except the first ap- 
po'ntees. The short ballot, so called, will 
provoke much discussion in the conven¬ 
tion. In its original form this proposi¬ 
tion gave the Governor the power to ap- 
1 - Lit the Secretary of State, Treasurer, 
Attorney General, Comptroller, and State 
Engineer and Surveyor, which officers are 
now elected. The appointments would 
not have to be confirmed by the Senate. 
Three modifications of the original have 
been proposed. The first provides that the 
Comptroller be retained as an elective 
officer. The second would have the At¬ 
torney General also elective. The third 
provides that all appointees of the Gov¬ 
ernor must be confirmed by the Senate. 
A wide variety of changes in the basic 
law are proposed by the amendments to 
the judiciary article, in which changes 
have been suggested in all of its 23 sec¬ 
tions. These changes are so lengthy and 
detailed that they cannot be even out¬ 
lined here. 
On Municipal Home Rule there is a 
great variety of opinions. The latest in¬ 
formation is that a tentative agreement 
lias been reached by the committee on 
cities on the following points. That cities 
shall have exclusive power to regulate 
the salaries of their officials; that power 
to amend charters be vested in cities, 
subject to suspensory veto by the Legis¬ 
lature; that the Legislature, by a 
two-thirds vote may enact special city 
laws which do not affect salaries. That 
city charters be drafted by local commis¬ 
sions and ratified by the voters of cities 
before submission to the Legislature. 
On the following matters the com¬ 
mittees have recommended favorable ac¬ 
tion by the convention. Increasing from 
30 to 45 days the time within which the 
Governor may approve bills after ad¬ 
journment of the Legislature; increasing 
the salaries of legislators from $1,500 to 
$2,500 and actual expenses for trips home 
once a week during the session ; prohibit¬ 
ing the allowance of private claims 
against any politic.l subdivision of the 
State; that no person shall acquire the 
right to vote, after January 1, 1018, who 
cannot read or write the English lang¬ 
uage ; that every city shall have a board 
of education which shall have full power 
to determine the amount and direct the 
expenditure of all funds used for public 
education within its jurisdiction; that 
education shall be a State function ; that 
the power of taxation shall never be sur¬ 
rendered, and that exemptions from tax¬ 
ation shall not be granted except by gen¬ 
eral laws, and upon a two-thirds vote 
in each house of the Legislature; em¬ 
powers the State to contract debts in an¬ 
ticipation of the receipt of taxes and 
revenues and also authorizes the substi- 
tntVm of short term or serial bonds for 
50-year bonds, and prohibits the issuance 
of bonds for a public improvement for a 
longer term than the life of such im¬ 
provement, increasing the terms of office 
of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor 
from two years to four years, makes the 
Governor ineligible to succeed himself and 
increases his salary from $10,000 to $20,- 
000: prohibiting the Legislature from 
passing any bill granting a special privi¬ 
lege to any person or class of persons; 
making the public service commissions 
constitutional bodies; abolishing all In¬ 
dian courts. J. w. D. 
Events of the Week. 
DOMESTIC.—July 30 two American 
marines were killed at Port-au-I’rince, 
Ilayti, where Admiral Caperton had land¬ 
ed a force to restore order during a politi¬ 
cal revolution. 
July 31 a Raritan River train bound for 
large powder mills nearby was ditched at 
Parlin, N. .!., injuring several men. It 
was believed that some one had willfully 
and maliciously placed an obstruction on 
the rails at a very dangerous point of the 
road with the idea of wrecking the train, 
which carried many powder mill employ¬ 
ees. The engine and one car left the 
rails and crashed into a stone bridge 
abutment. 
August 1 fire destroyed a large hay 
warehouse at New Durnam, N. J., with 
a loss of $100,000. It was believed to 
be due to sponta ieous combustion caused 
by excessive heat. 
Three companies of State Militia from 
Malone and Ogdensburg arrived at Mas- 
sena, N. Y., August 1, and took charge 
of the strike s'tuation at the plant of the 
Aluminum Company of America after a 
riot in which one workman, who refused 
to walk out, was thrown into a canal 
and drowned. Thirteen alleged ringlead¬ 
ers of the 1,000 strikers were arrested. 
Charges that the officers of the East- 
land which capsized with great loss of 
life at Chicago, violated positive orders 
of the government inspectors on the day 
of the tragedy, July 24, were made by 
Capt. Ira B. Mansfield, for many years 
inspector of hulls in Chicago, at‘the in¬ 
quiry conducted by Secretary Redfield, 
August 2. He said that the Eastland 
was under orders from his bureau to keep 
its water ballast tanks full at all times 
when passengers were aboard. This or¬ 
der, he said, was given as a result of a 
panic on board the vessel when it nearly 
capsized while leaving the harbor of 
South Haven, Mich., in 1904. Up to 
August 2 the hulk still lay in the Chica¬ 
go River, and some bodies were known to 
be still unremoved. 
Three workmen were killed and eight 
injured, one of whom may die, when the 
Power plant of the Knickerbocker Cement 
Company at Greenport, N. Y., was sub¬ 
merged in a quicksand August 2. Just 
before six o’clock, as the night gang was 
about to be relieved, the plant, together 
with three acres of land, sank 30 feet. 
Officials of the company, which employs 
between 600 and 700 men. said it would 
be seven months before the plant could 
resume operations. 
Three Americans are known to be dead 
and several wounded as a result of the 
fighting with a large band of Mexican 
bandits in tlie cactus country near 
Brownsville Tex., Aug. 2. The fight¬ 
ing began some 15 miles from the border, 
when the bandits were unexpectedly ap¬ 
proached by the cavalrymen and a small 
posse. The Mexicans attempted to reach 
the border, but were cut off. During the 
day the posse was swe’L.d to more than 
200 persons, all heavily armed and de¬ 
termined to wipe out this gang, which has 
been committ all kinds of depredations 
for the past six weeks. There are other 
gangs of Mexicans operating along the 
border country, which is sparsely settled. 
They rob residents, drive their cattle away 
and in some instances commit murder. An 
appeal has been sent for more troops. 
The first definite announcement of ac¬ 
tual discontinuance of trans-Pacific ser¬ 
vice was made by the Pacific Mail Steam¬ 
ship Company at San Francisco, August 
3. The Company will withdraw its five 
liners from the Pacific on November 2 
next. Its last vessel to leave San Francis¬ 
co for the Orient will be the Mongolia, 
sailing on that date. The reason given 
for this is that the La Follette seamen's 
law goes into effect on November 4, mak¬ 
ing it impossible financially for the ships 
to operate. This gives the Japanese lines 
a monoply to trans-Pacific business out 
of San Francisco. 
August 3 a cloudburst at Eiue, Pa. 
caused the death of 70 persons, and re¬ 
sulted in heavy property damage. Many 
people were trapped by floods in their 
homes, and several hundred sufferers were 
cared for in armories and hospitals. The 
storm was widespread, extending along 
the Atlantic coast, damage being estima¬ 
ted at $5,000,000. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Inter¬ 
national Wheat Show will be held in con¬ 
junction with the fifth annual Wichita 
Fair and Exposition at Wichita, Kan., 
October 4-14 
The second annual Bergen County Fair 
will be held at Ilohokus, N. J., Septem¬ 
ber 14-18. 
It has been definitely decided to hold 
the New Jersey Berkshire Breeders’ As¬ 
sociation Sale on August 31, at the Fair 
Grounds at Far Hills, N. J. 
^ The annual meeting of the Northern 
Nut Growers’ Asociation will be held at 
the Powers Hotel, Rochester, N. Y., Sept¬ 
ember 1-2. The Association offers a prize 
of 50 for a hazelnut of unquestioned 
American origin that can compete with 
the imported filbert: $10. for a better 
northern pecan, and $20 to be divided as 
prizes for other nuts. 
The Federal Reserve Board announced 
August 2 the new policy for the demand 
for money with which to move the crops. 
Heretofore the situation has been met by 
deposits of public funds in depository 
banks and through the emergency curren¬ 
cy authorized under the Aldrich-Vreeland 
act. It is proposed that the situation shall 
be met this year by the rediscount privi¬ 
leges extended by the Federal Reserve 
banks to member banks, by which 
notes may be issued on rediscounts 
of “notes, drafts and bills of exchange 
secured by staple agricultural products.” 
It was explained at the offices of the Fed¬ 
eral Reserve Board that the relief thus 
made possible was not necessarily limited 
to the cotton States, but was available to 
growers of wheat and other staples such 
as come out of the West and Northwest. 
Announcement was made July 31 at 
New York University that the New York- 
American Veterinary College, also known 
as the New York State Veterinary College, 
would undergo changes in both plan and 
location in order that it may more effici¬ 
ently serve the State and the profess¬ 
ion of veterinary medicine. The school 
will be moved at once from West Fifty- 
fourth Street to the quarters of the Uni¬ 
versity and Bellevue Hospital Medical 
College at Twenty-sixth Street and First 
Avenue. The work there can be more 
closely correlated than in the past with 
the work of the medical college. A piece 
of land adjacent to the medical college 
and belonging to the university has been 
set aside for the new veterinary build¬ 
ing. A portion of the funds necessary for 
construction is promised. Another change 
contemplated is the extension of the 
course of instruction from three to four 
years. At the same time, the require¬ 
ments will probably be raised in order 
to make the college as efficient as any 
other veterinary college, and eventually 
attract the interest of the State Govern¬ 
ment 
The Department of Agriculture an¬ 
nounces that the Calosoma beetle, which 
was introduced into New England to com¬ 
bat the gypsy-moth, is now firmly estab¬ 
lished in its new environment and is be¬ 
ginning to busy itself with its work. The 
first of these green beetles was brought 
from Europe in 1905. Between then 
and 1910 a little more than 4,000 of the 
insects were shipped to this country. They 
have multiplied and spread with extra¬ 
ordinary rapidity and are now so abun¬ 
dant that many persons in New England 
are familar with their appearance and 
habits. These insects, both as beetles 
and as larvae, consume enormous quan¬ 
tities of the gypsy-moth larvae. They are 
able to climb the trees upon which their 
prey is feeding and are most active dur¬ 
ing the periods when the gypsy-moths 
are abundant. 
A verdict for the Sanitary Can Com¬ 
pany was returned in the Federal Court 
at New York August 3 in a suit for $300,- 
000 damages, brought, by the Boston 
Dairy Company, of Bellows Falls, Vt. 
The dairy company contended that solder¬ 
ing fluid in a consignment of tin cans 
made by the sanitary company, a sub¬ 
sidiary of the American Can Company, 
contaminated a quantity of condensed 
milk and that a large amount of busi¬ 
ness was lost thereby. 
OBITUARY.—Col. G. B. Brackett, 
who for the last 18 years had been chief 
pomologist of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, died August 3 in Washington, D. 
C. Colonel Brackett was born in Unity, 
Me., March 24. 1S27, and was educated in 
the public schools of Cincinnati and at 
an academy in Denmark, la. He served 
three years in the Civil War as captain 
of engineers, and after the war was a 
lieutenant-colonel in the Iowa militia. 
Colonel Brackett was commissioner in 
charge of the Iowa exhibits at the Cen¬ 
tennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 
1876, was United States Commissioner 
to the Paris Exposition in 1S78, delegate- 
at-large from Iowa to the National Cot¬ 
ton Exposition in New Orleans in 1885, 
and represented the pomological division 
of the Department of Agriculture at the 
Chicago Exposition in 1S93. He was on 
the jury of awards of the Horticultural 
Department, and was a practical nursery¬ 
man and horticulturist. For two years 
Colonel Brackett was secretary of the 
Iowa State Horticultural Society, and 
for four years was president. He was 
also the horticultural expert of the United 
States Commission to the Paris Exposi¬ 
tion in 1900. For two years Colonel 
Brackett was secretary of the American 
Pomological Society. 
He had just passed twenty. In 11 
months he would be a voter. He listened 
owl-like to the discussion about giving 
votes to women. Finally, he swelled out 
his chest and pompously asked, “How 
do we know what they are going to do 
with it if we give it to them?”—Woman’s 
Journal. 
The smart traveling man stood on a 
corner in the little country village at 
dusk. He was looking for amusement, 
and the first object that attracted his 
attention was an overgrown boy, per¬ 
haps 15 years of age, riding a horse that 
might have come out of the ark. “Hello, 
sonny!” shouted the salesman. “How 
long has that horse been dead?” Quick 
as a flash the boy replied, “Three days, 
but you’re the first buzzard that has no¬ 
ticed it.”—Toronto Sun. 
When you ■write advertisers mention The 
Kural New-Yorker and you’ll pet a quick 
reply and a “square deal.” See guarantee 
editorial page. :::::: 
BARGAINS 
ENSILAGE CUTTERS 
WITH 
EXCELSIOR ENGINES 
SILO filling time will soon be here. We have 
a special proposition on an Excelsior engine and 
cutter with blower. We have only a few cutters 
that we are going to offer at this special price, 
and the lucky man who acts quickly is going to 
have one of these on a money saving proposi¬ 
tion. You know about the Excelsior engines. 
They are the big mone-maker and labor-saver on 
a farm. Get a catalog of both the cutter and 
engine. Tell us the size farm you have. Tell 
us when you are ready to buy and receive by 
return mail our proposition to you, but do not 
delay. Act quickly. 
R. CONSOLIDATED GASOLINE ENGINE CO., 
202 Fulton Street, New York City. 
CROWN 
The Efficient 
GRAIN DRILL 
is the pick of the up-to- 
date farmer who realizes 
that the best drill is need¬ 
ed to Insure maximum 
results, It embodies more 
valuable, individual 
features than any other 
grain drill made. Thirty 
years of improvement in 
devices, along the lines 
of Honest Construction, 
by Drill experts has 
resulted In this great Seeding Machine. 
The Grain Orill that Knows No Equal. Our machines are made 
in plain or combined stylet, H<*e or Disc, Steel or Wood frame, 
Steel or Wood Wheels, built to last a lifetime. 
FREE Oescriptive Catalog and Folders giving reasons with 
proofs why the Crown is the leader in the grain drill field of to¬ 
day, showing why Crown machines are the efficient machines. 
Get in right on this Drill question by writing us today. 
CROWN MANUFACTURING CO.. 5 Wayne St., Phelps, N Y 
imperial 
Pulverizer 
Does the work of Clod Crusher, Pulverizer, Sell 
Packer, Leveler, and Land Roller—all In one trip 
over the plowed field. Saves time, labor, and cost 
of two extra machines. 
Send for circulars and prices. 
The Peterson Mfg. Co., 148 River St., Kent, O. 
WILLIAMS ORCHARDS 
191.66 acres at Barry, 111. 
WILL BE SOLD AT AUCTION 
on Sept. 8, 1915 
In three parcels and as a whole 
Illustrated descriptive pamphlet on request. 
JN0. R. WILLIAMS, 409 Globe Democrat Bldg., St. Louis, Mo 
Books Worth Buying 
SIX EXCELLENT FARM BOOKS. 
Productive Swine Husbandry, Day..$1.50 
Productive Poultry Husbandry, Lewis 2.00 
Productive Horse Husbandry, Gay.. 1.60 
Productive Feeding of Farm Animals, 
Woll . 1.50 
Productive Orcharding, Sears. 1,50 
Productive Vegetable Growing, Lloyd 1.50 
BOOKS ON INSECTS AND PLANT DIS¬ 
EASES. 
Injurious Insects, O’Kane .$2.00 
Manual of Insects, Slingerland. 2.00 
Diseases of Economic Plants, Stev¬ 
ens and Hall . 2.00 
Fungous Diseases of Plants, Duggar 2.00 
STANDARD FRUIT BOOKS. 
Successful Fruit Culture, Maynard.. $1.00 
Productive Orcharding, Sears . 1.50 
The Nursery Book, Bailey . 1.50 
The Pruning Book, Bailey . 1.50 
Dwarf Fruit Trees, Waugh.50 
PRACTICAL POULTRY BOOKS. 
Progressive Poultry Culture, Brig¬ 
ham . $1.50 
Productive Poultry Husbandry, Lewis 2.00 
Principles and Practice of Poultry 
Culture, Robinson . 2.50 
Hens for Profit, Valentine . 1.50 
Diseases of Poultry, Salmon.50 
The above books, written by 
practical experts, will be 
found valuable for reference 
or study. For sale by 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 West 30th Street, New York 
