1412 
Tht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
‘ Uncle Ed's Philosophy” 
I was interested in Uncle lid's phil¬ 
osophy in the Hope Farm Notes on page 
1300. and when I came to the dosing 
-question. “What do you think?” 1 ac¬ 
cepted it as an invitation to speak up. 
Personally I agree with Uncle Ed, hut 
it all depends on the point of view, not 
on the thing looked at. I am sure many 
of us work much harder than there is any 
necessity for, and all to acquire much 
that is not worth having. To provide 
for one's family and also to he ready for 
the “rainy day” are certainly desirable 
things The real question is, what do 
we need for the rainy day? A broad- 
brimmed hat and a grain bag come pretty 
handy sometimes, an oilskin coat and hat 
are better, or a mackintosh and an um¬ 
brella. or a limousine. Which do you 
want for your rainy day? 
To provide for those who come after 
you is also a laudable desire, but the 
question arises at once, what do they 
need? Money? How much? Is it not 
this very effort to pile up a fortune for 
those who come after us that is re¬ 
sponsible for the very struggles we are 
witnessing now? What man is there who 
feels sure that he has really provided 
amply for his heirs? Have not inherited 
fortunes ruined more people than they 
have ever helped? I can 1 a dly imagine 
a case where a young person would not 
be better off to have at least one or two 
hard battles for a start in life. 
What do we really need? Our real 
needs can be quite easily supplied, and 
it is the struggle for the unnecessary 
things that makes us forget our soul 
needs. We all need to go fishing with 
Fnele Ed. I imagine we should catch 
some very valuable fish. 
Notv I do not advocate life in a log 
cabin in the wilderness, but I do urge 
that we let up a little in our struggle for 
the meat that perisheth and give a little 
more time to soul nourishment. We 
wrrri-y too much, even if we don’t work 
t< hard. Leaving war out of the ques¬ 
tion. how many people you know have 
ever starved to death? “I have been 
young and now I am old. yet have I never 
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed 
begging bread." The whole thing resolves 
itself into the question of what we are 
here for. The Scotch's lad's answer to 
the .question. “What is the chief end of 
mail?" was “to male siller.” “What doth 
the Lord require of thee but to do justly, 
to love mercy and to walk humbly with 
thy 'God." To hustle is not in itself 
wrong, and no more is fishing, but it is 
the motive that prompts the deed that 
spoils it or sanctifies it. n. A. 
We All Should Work 
What do 7 think? Well, I cannot 
adopt Uncle Ed's philosophy. Perhaps 
we need to hear some of it, at times, to 
make us lead a less strenuous life. Just 
suppose all men had been like Uncle Ed— 
what would our country be like, and how 
soon would we have won the war? 
I believe in preparing for the rainy 
day. and it is pretty sure to keep it away. 
If everybody had a row to hoe and would 
hoe it to the end. how much better this 
old world would beBut the poor and 
shiftless are ever with us. and somebody 
must work extra hard to make up for 
what they do not do Then they bawl and 
growl because some people have more. 
We get pretty much what is coming 
to us in this life. It is not so much luck 
as some people think. I do not wonder 
Uncle Ed is dead His philosophy of 
life was one that was too willing to sit 
down on the job. He probably was not 
strong on resistance. They say six feet 
of earth make all men equal—but it does 
not equalize their resurrection in other 
people's minds. The man who has worked 
and done right as God gave him to see 
the right, who has spoken kind words 
apd enjoyed lending a helping hnd, will 
have much better things said of him than 
will he said of the selfish soul who goes 
off fishing and enjoys life at the expense 
of someone else later on. Money is not 
everything, but honestly-earned dollars 
are an expression of ability along some 
lines. Some of the .shiftless people, like 
Uficle Ed. have a pretty flimsy philosophy. 
To my mind they invite their own mis¬ 
fortunes and then think it is just hard 
luck. c . J. s. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC’.— The convention of the 
United Mine Workers of America went 
on record at Cleveland. < •.. Sept. 11. against 
the “one big union,” I. W. W.. and kind¬ 
red movements, indorsing President Lewis’ 
sharp condemnation of these radical ten¬ 
dencies. 
The special session of the New Hamp¬ 
shire Legislature was adjourned Sept. 11 
after passage of a bill providing fine and 
imprisonment for hoarding or overcharg¬ 
ing in the sale of foodstuffs. 
Twenty-nine lumber dealers and eight 
ice cream dealers and manufacturers were 
charged in indictments returned Sept. 12 
by the Montgomery County (O.) grand 
jury with violation of the Valentine Anti¬ 
trust act in operating in restraint of trade 
and fixing prices. 
German shells captured by the Ameri¬ 
can army went up in an explosion Sept. 
12 at the Government arsenal at Bonham- 
town, X. J., on the Raritan River, killing 
the man responsible for the accident and 
injuring seven others. The explosion was 
caused, according to the statement of 
Lieut.-Col. .T. II. M. Andrews, by the 
carelessness of George Coslenie, who 
dropped a case of shell fuses while trans¬ 
ferring it from a barge to a freight car. 
Sept. 13 fire was started by an explo¬ 
sion at the Stone & Fleming Oil Works, 
Greenpoint, N. Y. It was 18 hours before 
the fire was under control, and it con¬ 
tinued to burn for several days. The loss 
was about $1,500,000, about 50 persons 
were injured, and about 200 firemen suf¬ 
fered from blistered feet, the result of the 
burning oil soaking through their boots. 
Six thousand dollars in gold was paid 
to Mexicans Sept. 13 for the release of 
Hr. ,T. W. Smith, an American, and E. 
Monson. believed to be a subject of Swed¬ 
en. who were taken from a train near 
Santa Eulalia. Chihuahua. Paul Steger, 
a Swiss citizen, superintendent of the 
Minerals and Metals Company properties 
near Santa Eulalia, and William Dwelly, 
a British subject, were also captured from 
the train, but were released after the pay¬ 
roll of the Buena Tier fa Mine, of which 
Dwelly was foreman, had been seized by 
the bandits. 
Seventeen enemy alien prisoners es¬ 
caped from the war prison barracks at 
Fort Douglass, Utah. Sept. 13. Escape 
was made through a tunnel which had evi¬ 
dently taken months to construct. Four 
were arrested at Ogden later. 
The steamship Barnstable went down 
in a gale off the Georgia coast Sept. 13. 
The captain and 11 men are missing; 15 
members of the crew succeeded in reaching 
St. Catherine's Island in.a small boat. 
Corpus Christi. Tex., was devastated by 
a hurricane and tidal wave Sept. 14-15; 
25 persons are dead.-about 4.000 home¬ 
less, and the property loss is estimated at 
$4,000,000. Sept. 15 the city was short of 
food, and'without light or drinking water. 
Port Aransas, the home of 000, and 25 
miles from Corpus Christi, was completely 
demolished by the hurricane. The custom 
officers and all records were lost. Later 
reports indicate a very heavy loss of life 
along the Gulf Coast, estimates varying 
from 200 to 1.000, and the property loss 
is enormous. Information received from 
the surrounding country tells a uniform 
story of heavy damage to the cotton crop. 
Hundreds of cattle and other live stock, 
as well as thousands of birds and other 
game, were drowned or killed by the 
storm. ’The storm struck the Gulf Coast 
with such force that buildings and wreck¬ 
age was carried 20 miles inland. Near 
Corpus Christi, where the railroad tracks 
were washed away, they were twisted into 
the shape of a corkscrew from one-half 
to two miles in length. Huge bridge tim¬ 
bers weighing thousands of pounds, bales 
of cotton, parts of 4 houses and their fur¬ 
nishings. cattle, horses, rabbits, etc., were 
thrown into the tops of the trees by the 
waves and left there as the water re¬ 
ceded. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The govern¬ 
ment of Costa Rica has announced its in¬ 
tention to issue bonds for 15;000,000 co- 
lones ($3,000,000) for the development of 
scientific agriculture. It is planned by the 
government that these funds shall be 
loaned to the farmers at a low rate of 
interest and it is expected that in this 
way the cultivation of lands now desolate 
will be stimulated. 
It was predicted at the annual conven¬ 
tion of the Institute of American Meat 
Packers at Atlantic City. N. .1.. Sept.. 16, 
that there would be a further “very ma¬ 
terial reduction” in the price of all kinds 
of meat to the consumer. Delegates said 
the packers had been hard bit through the 
turning to Argentina for beef by Euro¬ 
pean nations because of the holding back 
of exports by American houses. Resolu¬ 
tions were adopted by the convention de¬ 
claring the indictment of the packing 
trade by the Federal Trade Commission 
to be “wholly inaccurate, grossly unfair 
and filled with misrepresentations.” The 
services of the industry were “unreser¬ 
vedly in-offered” to the Department of Jus¬ 
tice in its efforts to probe the charge of 
the Federal Trade Commission that it was 
ruled by a trust. 
WASHINGTON.—The House took the 
first step Sept. 11 in the proposed inves¬ 
tigation of the many complaints against 
the official acts of Postmaster General 
Burleson with the purpose of determining 
whether impeachment proceedings should 
be brought agains him. Democrats joined 
with Republicans in passing by a vote of 
247 to 22 a resolution of Representative 
Lehlbach (N. J.). which orders an in¬ 
quiry into the charges that the Postmas¬ 
ter General has violated the presidential 
order of March 31. 1017. providing that 
all postmaster appointments shall be made 
on the highest ratings of the Civil Service 
Commission, if the character of the high¬ 
est eligible is good. 
President Wilson’s request for an ap¬ 
propriation of $825,000 to pay outstand¬ 
ing bills and expenses of the American 
Peace Mission up to Dec. 31, 1010. was 
September 27, 1910 
refused by (lie House Appropriations Com¬ 
mittee Sept. 11. Original plans of the 
committee were to include as much of the 
request as thought necessary in the first, 
deficiency bill of tin* present fiscal year, 
but Chairman Good (Iowa) said inability 
to_ obtain detailed information from the 
White House or the State Department as 
to how the appropriation would be spent 
caused the estimate to be eliminated from 
the bill. 
The House Sept. 15 passed and sent to 
the Senate a bill making transportation 
of a stolen automobile from one State to 
another subject to five years’ imprison¬ 
ment and $5,000 fine. 
The principal Senate amendment liber¬ 
alizing the prohibition enforcement bill, 
to permit home manufacture for individ¬ 
ual consumption of “non-intoxicating” 
cider and light wines, was accepted Sept. 
16 by the House eonferrees and placed 
finally in the bill, subject to action on the 
conference report. In adopting the Sen¬ 
ate amendment authorizing the making of 
light wines and cider for domestic use. the 
eonferrees added a further liberalizing 
provision, permitting transportation of 
“non-intoxicating ciders and wines for the 
purpose of conversion into vinegar.” 
Secretary of War Baker has disposed of 
motor vehicles valued at. $13,494,600 in 
violation of law, the sub-committee on 
quartermaster supplies of the House War 
Department Expenditures Committee 
charged in a statement Sept. 14. The 
charges are based on statements of Brig. 
Gen. C. B. Drake, chief of the Motor 
Transport Service, that the Secretary of 
War transferred these vehicles without 
compensation to other Government de¬ 
partments after Congress had strictly pro¬ 
hibited such action in the sundrv civil 
bill. 
Old oats, per bu.. 90c; old corn, per ton, 
$65; pure butter, per lb., 65c; potatoes, 
per bu.. $2; eggs, per doz.. 54c; milk, per 
ewt.. $3.21: veal, per lb.. 21c. As we had 
a nine-day rain and showers every other 
day our rye. oats and wheat had begun 
to sprout, therefore we only received $1.40 
for rye. and from $1.90 to $2.20 for wheat. 
The only crop left. corn, looks fairly well, 
and we hope that this will anyway be 
good and make up for our “hard luck 
year.” R. S. 
Hunterdon Co., N. J. 
Oats poor crop, 80c bu. Corn poor, 
was too dry. Hay. new meadows, good; 
old very poor. $25 to $28 per ton. Winter 
wheat fair crop. $2.25; rye, good: po¬ 
tatoes. $3 per bn.: butter, 60c and 61c, to 
customer; eggs. 56c to 61c. We sell only 
to customers. Spring wheat was not 
worth cutting. Barley poor crop. F. w. 
Erie Co.. N. Y. 
Only an acre a day 
' f// 
is the modern way 
Which side of the fence 
are you on? 
Are you a one acre laborer —or a ten acre farmer? 
Do you cling to old, slow, out-of-date animal labor— 
or are you farming the modern way with the Cletrac? 
The Cletrac Tank-Type Tractor enables you to do 
more work and better work more days in the year— 
with fewer men, shorter hours and less expense. 
It produces larger and better crops at a lower cost 
thus materially increasing your profits. 
It plows,harrows,plants, 
reaps, binds, threshes, cul¬ 
tivates, hauls, saws—does 
practically all the things 
that your horses, mules 
and stationary engine used 
to do—and does them 
better, cheaper and faster 
—requiring considerable 
less man labor to accom- 
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Largest producers of tank-type tractors in the world 
Cletrac 
TANK-TYPE TRACTOR 
(Formerly known as the “Cleveland Tractor") 
plish the same amount of worl j. You—or your wife 
—or your boy, can operate the Cletrac and do as 
much work with it as was formerly done by three men 
and three teams. 
The Cletrac runs on metal tracks like a locomotive. 
It goes over the top of the ground,—doesn’t sink in, 
doesn’t pack down the earth even when it is freshly 
plowed. No power is wasted in moving the machine 
itself through the soil. 
The Cletrac is the an¬ 
swer to the acute farm 
labor question. Call on 
the nearest Cletrac dealer 
and look it over carefully. 
Send for our booklet 
‘ ‘Selecting Your T ractor. ’ ’ 
It is full of good, sound, 
practical information that 
every farmer should have. 
