1264 
•Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Chemical Closets 
I have been thinking of getting one of 
those chemical closets. Do you know 
whether they are really odorless? A. 9. 
Sullivan Co., N. Y. 
The chemical indoor closets are coming 
into popular use where water closets are 
not to be had and, so far as the writer 
knows, are generally satisfactory. They^ 
should be installed with a pipe connection 
to some used chimney to carry off the 
odor from them, and where they will not 
ordinarily freeze. Such closets, of course, 
have the disadvantage, as compared with 
water closets, that they have to be fre¬ 
quently emptied and are a source of ex¬ 
pense for the chemical used in them, but 
it is not practicable to Install water clos¬ 
ets in very many homes, and these closets 
offer a substitute that is far superior to 
an outdoor privy, that is neither comfort¬ 
able nor sanitary. m. b. d. 
Water in Cellar 
I have a large cellar, the walls and 
floor being cemented. In one corner is 
a spring also cemented, while in the other 
is an open outlet that leads through a 
blind drain into a culvert. Whenever it 
rains there is from two to 18 inches of 
water in the cellar, and it takes about 
two weeks before it empties down to 
about one-fourth of an inch. If I ce¬ 
mented the floor again would the water 
come through the cement or between the 
cement and the wall? j. b. 
Phillipsport, N. Y. 
It is pretty difficult to say what the re- 
Bult of reconcreting this cellar floor might 
be. If, however, a drain can be made 
from the level of the floor to an outside 
and lower outlet, I know of no reason 
why the cellar floor cannot be kept dry. 
From the fact that you already have an 
outlet for the spring, one would conclude 
that it would be perfectly practicable to 
construct drain, either outside or inside 
the cellar walls, that would carry off the 
ground water before it rose above the 
level of the cellar floor. As for making 
a concrete floor watertight, this is 
largely a matter of carefulness in con¬ 
struction. Cement manufacturers state 
that porous concrete floors are the result 
of poor construction, one of the chief 
faults being that too much water is used 
in the concrete as it is placed. This 
makes a porous concrete that is defective 
from the standpoint of being waterproof. 
Care should be taken to secure materials 
of proper character, to mix them in the 
correct proportions, and then to use only 
sufficient water to make the mass of a 
“quaky” consistency if it is desired that 
the floor or wall shall be waterproof. It 
is more difficult, of course, to place con¬ 
crete of this consistency properly than if 
It were slushy in character, but the re¬ 
sult is a better floor or wall. M. B. D. 
Oil in Well Water 
Two years ago I bought a place, 13 
acres and house, in Pike Co., Pennsyl¬ 
vania. I have a driven well, water piped 
to house. If the water stands a few 
hours, or over night, it seems thick on 
top with oil. Is that oil on the water 
any indication that there is oil on the 
place? We are only 20 or ,30 miles from 
the coal mines; two miles from Delaware 
River; district hilly. Can I get any in¬ 
strument that determines the presence of 
oil ? E. A. w. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
The presence of small quantities of oil 
in surface or well water is no indication 
that paying quantities of it may be found 
underground; such contamination of wa¬ 
ter by oil is a common occurrence in re¬ 
gions far from oil wells. There is no in¬ 
strument, except drills, that will deter¬ 
mine the presence of petroleum in quan¬ 
tity beneath the surface, and the test by 
drill is necessarily an expensive one. It 
would seem doubtful if any possible oil- 
producing district in Pennsylvania could 
have escaped observation in these years, 
but no one knows, of course, where it 
may yet be found. There are certain 
rock formations in which oil is likely to 
occur and others where it is never found. 
It is these rock formations, rather than 
surface indications, that should guide 
one in the search. Many thousands of 
dollars have been vainly spent in drilling 
for oil simply because small quantities of 
it have been found upon the surface in 
regions where the hills resemble those of 
the oil regions. The search for hidden 
treasure beneath the ground possesses a 
fascination for the credulous and those 
of well-developed gambling instincts that 
will doubtless continue to absorb many a 
hard-earned dollar and lead to fanciful 
talcs of mysteriously lost drills and men 
bribed to conceal discoveries that might 
injure existing fields. m. b. d. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC—Oct. 2r, McIIic Stimcr, 
an 18-year-old Russian anarchist, received 
a sentence of 15 years in a Federal prison, 
while three men with her, Samuel lap- 
man, .Jacob Abrams and Hyman Dachow- 
sky, e.ach received 20-year sentences. The 
prisoners were members of the New York 
Bolsheviki, convicted under the espionage 
law. 
Oct. 25 the Canadian Pacific steamer 
Princess Sophia was wrecked during a 
storm in Lynn Canal, near Skagway, 
Alaska, with heavy loss of life. No sur¬ 
vivors have been located. There were 
more than 300 persons on board. , 
Victor L. Berger and four others prom¬ 
inent in the Socialist party were included 
in more than fifty indictments returned 
by the Federal Grand .Jury at Milwaukee, 
Wis., Oct. 28. Besides Berger others*in¬ 
dicted are E. T. Melms, Oscar Ameringer, 
Louis A. Arnold and Miss Elizabeth 
Thomas. Berger, Melms and Ameringer 
are candidates for Congre.ss, Arnold is a 
member of the State Legislature, and 
Miss Thomas is an official of the Socialist 
organization. Berger was relea.sed in 
$10,000 bonds and the others in $5,000 
each, after pleading not guilty before 
Judge Geiger. The indictments charged 
that they conspired to aid men subject to 
the .selective draft to avoid service ; that 
they conspired to send matter through the 
mail in violation of the espionage act; 
that they conspired to publish articles in 
foreign languages without filing transla¬ 
tions with the T'ostmaster; that they con¬ 
spired to publish and distribute matter 
unmailable under the espionage act, and 
that they conspired by eolicitation, let¬ 
ters, political platforms, speeches and the 
publication known as the Voice of the 
People to urge persons liable to military 
.service to fail to respond. Another sim¬ 
ilar indictment against Berger is pending 
in Chicago. 
Carefully made arrangements to pro¬ 
mote trade between this country and 
Austria-Hungary after the war, plans 
which were outlined, at least, before war 
was declared on that country by the 
United States, are shown in letters and 
papers seized Oct. .30 when John Madrasz 
of Gll West 177th Street, New York, 
was arrested after indictment. Madrasz, 
an Austrian, obtained his final citizenship 
papers in July, 1917, a few weeks after 
he had been in correspondence with Aus¬ 
trian officials with a view to promoting 
this post-war trade alliance. He was 
able to do his work through his connec¬ 
tion with the Transatlantic Trust Com¬ 
pany, the Austrian bank through which 
Bolo Basha wms paid the money with 
which he tried to corrupt French news¬ 
papers, and he is now held on a technical 
charge of retaining papers that are the 
property of the bank. 
_ A cargo of German toys recently ar¬ 
rived at New York on a Dutch steam- 
.ship. Strong feeling has been arou.sed, 
and the more patriotic among the con¬ 
signees are refusing the goods, while 
others are disseminating them. The toys 
were ordered in 1914, but as the German 
government refused to release them for 
shipment before, it is regarded as an at¬ 
tempt to test public sentiment as to Ger¬ 
man trade relations. The American De¬ 
fence Society is urging consignees not to 
November 9, 1918 
take the toys, or some German crockery 
that came over on the same ship. 
farm AND GARDEN.—County units 
of the Woman’s Committee of the Council 
of National Defence are making surveys 
preparatory to helping country girls get 
a high school education. The principal 
object is to enable the girls to become 
teachers. The movement is called the 
“Go to School Campaign.” According to 
recent reports of the Bureau of Education 
there are more than 30,000 additional 
school teachers needed in the United 
States today. The largest number of va¬ 
cancies are in the country schools. In 
Union County, Mississippi, a plan has 
already been worked out whereby ,30 
girls from the country will go to town 
and enter the high school this Winter. 
They will have rooms in private homes, 
and groups of eight will eat at one place, 
doing light housekeeping. The “Go to 
School Campaign” is being worked out 
with much the same result in other parts 
of the country. 
WASHINGTON.—The Senate Judi¬ 
ciary Committee by a resolution adopted 
Oct. 24 by the Senate is authorized to 
subpoena persons and demand papers in 
the investigation of activities of brewers, 
including the lending of money to Arthur 
Brisbane for the purchase of the Wash¬ 
ington Times. A number of persons have 
been requested to appear, while others have 
been asked to furnish certain papers for 
consideration when the investigation is 
resumed after the November elections. 
Congress completed Oct. 28 the $6,345,- 
000,OOt) war deficiency bill and sent it 
to the President. The Senate accepted, 
without discus-sion, a conference report 
previously approve<l by the House. 
Buy Your Moline Tractor Now 
You may not be able to get a Moline- 
Universal if you delay ordering. 
You will help relieve spring congestion 
of shipping by buying now. 
You will have plenty of time to become 
familiar with its construction and 
operation before the spring rush and 
will be able to work your tractor in 
on belt work and other light jobs. 
It is the only tractor which does cJl farm 
work including cultivating. 
One man operates both tractor and im¬ 
plement from the seat of the imple¬ 
ment where you must sit in order to 
do the best work. 
Tractor and implement form one unit- 
backs as easily as it goes forward- 
turns in a 16 -ft. circle. 
It has plenty of power for your heaviest 
work, yet light in weight to operate 
economically on light jobs. All the 
weight on two big drive wheels—no 
dead weight—no extra expense. 
Substantially constructed'for many years 
of service. 
Ellectric lights for night work and self 
starter for non-robust labor. 
You can practically double your efficiency 
—you can produce more food with 
less help. You will need it, order now. 
Write today for full information and name of your 
neeurest Moline Dealer. Address Dept. 19 
Moline Plow Co., Moline, Illinois 
MOLINE 
UMVERSAL TRAen^ 
