1488 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK 
DOMESTIC.—Five men broke into 
the bank of Mulliken. Mich.. Sept. 24, 
obtaining at least .$10,000 in cash and 
between $50,000 and $00,000 in Liberty 
bonds. 
The Ordnance Department loaded 32,- 
000.000 grenade and cannon primers on 
a steamboat at Bridgeport. Conn.. Sept. 
24. and carried them out into Long Island 
Sound to be dumped overboard. They 
were made by the Winchester Repeating 
Arms Company before the armistice was 
signed and are now legarded as useless. 
After a hard legal light for a year and 
a half to escape imprisonment Morton 
Atwater, son of a rich Poughkeepsie, N. 
Y., banker, was sentenced Sept 20 to 
serve 10 months in Putnam County’s jail 
in Carmel. Atwater, who is 37 years old. 
was a member of tbe Poughkeepsie bro¬ 
kerage firm of Atwater. Foote & Sherrill, 
which failed in April. 1918, for $900,000. 
He was convicted of hypothecating cus¬ 
tomers’ securities. His older partners. 
Gilbert Foote and Harold Sherrill, fared 
worse. They got terms in Sing Sing. 
Anti-suffragists, who sought to place a 
question favorable to reversing the action 
of the Massachusetts Legislature in rati¬ 
fying the Federal suffrage amendment, 
upon the ballot on election day. failed to 
obtain a sufficient number of signatures 
to their petition. The Secretary of State’s 
office announced that, only 13.000 of the 
15.000 signatures required under the ini¬ 
tiative and referendum amendment to the 
State constitution were obtained. 
A squadron of 13 De Haviland biplanes 
are to be stationed permanently at Mitchel 
Field, Mineola. N. Y. The planes will 
be used to patrol the coast from Fisher’s 
Island. N. Y.. to Nantucket. Mass. The 
new ships, which are complete in every 
detail, including machine guns and wire¬ 
less telephones, will also have a base on 
Staten Island. Other airplane squadrons, 
including the Fourth and Fifth, will be 
sent there for preliminary work prior to 
being sent to the Canal Zone, Hawaii and 
the Philippines. Squadrons which have 
been on the Mexican border will be 
among those which will be ordered to 
Mineola. 
September 28 serious riots occurred in 
Omaha. Neb , a* a result of attempts to 
lynch a negro prisoner. The jail and 
courthouse was set on fire, and an at¬ 
tempt made to hang the mayor, who was 
seriously hurt. Three men were killed 
and others injured during the rioting. 
The city was policed by regular troops, 
who prevented further riots. 
Investigation showed Sept. 29 that the 
forest fires which raged along the line of 
Cm Pacific Great Eastern Railway above 
Squamish. B. C.. were so intense that rails 
were incited and twisted, ,a wooden rail¬ 
way bridge was destroyed and giant 
boulders, released by burned timber and 
1 rush, crashed from the mountains down 
upon the right of way. Thousands ol 
huge trees fell. A train with 45 pas¬ 
sengers was held up for two days by 
the fire which, driven by a heavy wind, 
swept through the Uneakamus Valley. 
The passengers crossed the river on a 
temporary footbridge at the bottom of 
the canyon, while tile flames raged on the 
mountains high above them. 
Four men were burned to death Sept. 
29 on the farm of Cassius Morris, in 
Spring township, near Conneautviile, Pa., 
when a spark from a stationary engine 
sot fire to the barn and communicated to 
the silo in which the men were working, 
The residence .was also destroyed. The 
four were working inside the silo, filling 
it. and were about eight feet from the 
top when a spark from the engine that 
was cutting the silage set fire to the 
barn. The first the men in the silo knew 
of the fire was when a sheet of flame 
swept over its top. There was no chance 
of escape. The fire quickly communicated 
to the house, which, with its entire con¬ 
tents. was destroyed The property loss 
is estimated aV $6,000. 
Calumet and Ilecla and 10 subsidiary 
corporations at Houghton, Mich. have 
announced a blanket life insurance policy 
covering the life of every one of its em¬ 
ployees in sums ranging from a minimum 
of $1,000 to a maximum of $1,500. with¬ 
out cost to any employee. It is one- of 
the largest life insurance contracts ever 
made and is for $10.000.000. 
Capt. Pedersen of the barkentiue Puaka 
was sentenced Sept. 29 by Judge Jack in 
the Federal District Court at New York 
to 18 months at Atlanta penitentiary. 
His sons. Adolph Eric and Leonard Roy, 
were sentenced to six months each. The 
three were convicted of cruelty to mem¬ 
bers of their crew during a voyage around 
Cape Horn in the Summer of 1918. The 
story of that four months’ trip, as told 
in court by the crew on one side and the 
Pedersens on the other, was a story of 
mutiny, murder, inhuman abuse and con¬ 
stant danger. The Captain, 40 of whose 
54 years have been passed at sea. and 
Eric were acquitted in June of the mur¬ 
der of Axel Hansen, a- .seaman, who, so 
the testimony ran, was driven to jump 
overboard to escape the fury of the skip- 
per. 
The State Supreme Court of Ohio 
Sept. 30 affirmed the lower State courts 
in holding valid a proposal referendum 
on action of the State Legislature in 
ratifying the Federal prohibition amend¬ 
ment. Petitions calling for the referen¬ 
dum already have been filed with the 
Secretary of State for a vote at the 
November election. 
Fourteen specifications are in the com¬ 
plaint which resulted in the appearance 
Th t RURAL NEW-YORKER 
before a court martial, at the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard Sept. 30. of Lieutenant-Com¬ 
mander Christopher Marsdou, of the 
Naval Reserve Force. Commander Mars- 
den is charged with having accepted 
money and presents to put men in ‘‘bomb 
proof” naval berths in New York City. 
Commander Marsden denied the charges, 
lie declared he was the victim of a con¬ 
spiracy. Seven men are alleged to have 
been enrolled in the Naval Reserve Force, 
by Marsden. in direct violation of Secre¬ 
tary Daniels’ special order. 
Sentence of 25 years imprisonment im¬ 
posed by military court martial on Capt. 
David A. Henkes of the Sixteenth In¬ 
fantry. who attempted to resign from the 
army during the war to escape “making 
war on my kindred upon their soil,” has 
been reduced to five years by President 
Wilson. Henkes was tried at. Governors 
Island. N. V.. in February, 1918, and 
the reduction of the sentence was an¬ 
nounced Sept. 29 in special army orders. 
He was brought back from France and 
convicted of “attempting to avoid service, 
demonstrating disloyalty to tin' Govern¬ 
ment of the United States and sympathy 
with its enemies.” Henkes is now serving 
his sentence at the Disciplinary Barracks 
at Fort Leavenworth. Kan. The severity 
of his sentence, according to officers of the 
Adjutant General’s department, was due 
to evidence that he was in touch with Von 
Bernstorff’e agents and that he contrib¬ 
uted funds for German propaganda here 
and worked for peace at any price up to 
the time (he United States entered the 
war. 
FARM AND GARDEN—The Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture and the Department 
of Justice are not in agreement, on the 
availability of the cider presses of the 
country in pressing out grape juice for 
home use. Judge Frierson. Assistant At¬ 
torney General, in a recent informal opin¬ 
ion. held that county or community cider 
presses under the prohibition law could 
not press out grape juice for persons who 
wanted to take it home and make home 
wines. The Department of Agriculture 
has just issued a circular to the public 
and a bulletin urging the use of such cider 
presses for pressing grape juice by all 
grape growers who do not produce it in 
commercial quantities. It. is suggested 
that the juice should be bottled uufer- 
mented and detailed instructions on the 
method of preparation are given. 
A joint annual convention of the Na¬ 
tional Nut Growers’ Association and 
Northern Nut Growers’ Association will 
be held at Albany. Ga.. Oct. 15-17. 
WASHINGTON.—A strong protective 
tariff wall, backed up by a licensing sys¬ 
tem to prevent German dye interests from 
flooding the country with their products 
to the destruction of the American dye in¬ 
dustry built up during the war. was voted 
by the House Sept. 26. The bill provides 
a tariff of more than double the amount 
of the Underwood act. But believing the 
tariff alone was not a sufficient wall 
against the German dye trust, which in¬ 
formation placed before the House showed 
has at least $30,000,000 worth of dyes 
ready to send to the United States, the 
House, by a vote,of 206 to 62, sustained 
the license system for dye imports against 
the protest, of some Republicans, includ¬ 
ing Representative Fordney (Mich.), 
chairman of the Ways and Means Com¬ 
mittee. and J. Hampton Moore (Pa.), 
ranking member. 
A concerted drive for a large additional 
bonus for the service men was started in 
Congress Sept. 29. Nearly a dozen Rep¬ 
resentatives appeared before the House 
Ways and Means Committee with plans 
for additional compensation for the men 
who served during (lie war. all urging 
bond issues of from $1,000,000,000 to 
$2,000,000,000 to supply the necessary 
funds. In general a bonus for each month 
after the first two months of service was 
advocated, the money to be paid in Gov¬ 
ernment bonds. 
Additional legislation recommended by 
President Wilson as a means of reducing 
living costs was passed Sept. 30 by the 
House and sent, to the Senate. It would 
limit the time of holding foodstuffs in 
cold storage to 12 months and require 
that when released such food be plainly 
marked with the date it was placed in 
storage. The vote on the measure was 
264 to 4. The regulatory features of (he 
bill will become effective immediately on 
it passage, but 90 days for an adjust¬ 
ment of the business affected is allowed 
before penalties will be applicable. Vast 
quantities of food now in storage are ex¬ 
pected to be released as soon as (he meas¬ 
ure becomes ii law. Cheese is the only 
commodity exempted, the time limit for 
storage to perfect aging being extended 
for a longer period than one year. Per¬ 
sons convicted of violating the law would 
be fined $1,000 or imprisoned for one 
year. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings 
National Dairy Show, Chicago. Ill., 
Oct. 6-12. W. F. Skinner, manager, 910 
Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 
National Poultry, Butter and Egg As¬ 
sociation. Cleveland. <).. Oct. 13-14. W. 
T. Seibels. manage]', 208 N. Wells St.. 
Chicago, Ill. 
National Nut Growers’ Association, 
and Northern Nut Growers’ Association, 
joint annual convention, Albany, Ga., 
Oct. 15-17. 
October 11, 1919 
Minnesota Creamery Operators’ and 
Managers’ Association, Ryan Hotel, St. 
Paul, Minn.. Oct. 2S-30. Henry Sand- 
holt. secretary, St. Paul, Minn. 
Iowa Buttermakers’ Association. Du¬ 
buque, la., Nov. 5-6. A. W. Rudniek, sec¬ 
retary, Ames. Ia. 
New England Fruit Show, with Rhode 
Island Fruit Growers’ Association, Elks 
Auditorium, Providence, R. I.. Nov. 10-13. 
National Grange. annual meeting. 
Grand Rapids, Mich.. Nov. 12. 
Greater Arizona State Fair Phoenix, 
Ariz., Dec. 3-8. 
New Jersey State Horticultural Society, 
annual meeting, Atlantic City, Dec. 1-3. 
Virginia State Horticultural Society, 
annual meeting. Roanoke, Dec. 2-4. 
Virginia State Corn Growers, annual 
convention and exhibit, Roanoke, Va., 
Dec. 2-4. 
National Farmers’ Exposition and Ohio 
Apple Show, Terminal Auditorium, To¬ 
ledo, O., Dec. 4-12. 
Peninsula Horticultural Society, thirty- 
fourth annual meeting, Chestertown. Md., 
.Tan. 6-8. 1920. 
Comments from Maryland 
Burning Sawdust, —I would say to 
F. J. C.. page 1098, that sawdust is very 
commonly burned here, both in mills and 
private houses. We have a number of 
large mills using lumber in the manu¬ 
facture of all kinds of woodwork, from 
church and office furniture down to the 
bundles made of the scraps which the 
cities use to kindle the coal fires, and 
they make ai great deal of sawdust. Great 
sawdust carts, with sideboards as high 
as the driver’s head, are seen continually 
on the streets delivering sawdust to con¬ 
sumers. Much of the steam that pumps 
our water, runs our electric power and 
make our gas is made by burning saw¬ 
dust. and there are private houses here 
which for many years have been heated 
by sawdust used for heating the hot water 
boilers. Sawdust is a constaut article 
of daily traffic. Personally I prefer and 
use coal, but with apparatus adapted to 
sawdust it is perfectly feasible to heat a 
dwelling and drive a factory with saw¬ 
dust fuel. 
Lime on Strawberries. —The editor is 
perfectly right in regard to the damage 
done by liming strawberry land. East of 
us here is the lower edge of the great 
cypress swamp that covers the southern 
end of Delaware. The black peaty soil 
has been ditched and drained, and it 
grows more and better berries than the 
upland here, especially where the soil 
has been limed. The strawberry plant 
loves moisture, and delights in an acid 
soil. W. F. MASSEY. 
The Tracks Save Power 
T HE Cletrac Tank-Type Tractor runs on metal 
tracks like a locomotive. Six wheels, three 
on each side, carry the entire weight of the 
machine and run on the endless tracks which 
are laid down and picked up as the Cletrac 
goes along. 
This distinctive and efficient type of construc¬ 
tion enables the Cletrac to go practically any¬ 
where. No matter 
what the soil condi¬ 
tions, it runs on its 
traces —nothing stops 
it 
It doesn’t have to 
expend extra energy 
to push itself along. 
This saves power, 
saves fuel, saves time. 
The power isn’t wasted propelling the tractor. 
It goes into the “pull” on the implement. 
And the tracks being broad, distribute the weight 
of the Cletrac as snow shoes distribute a man’s 
weight. Think what that means in the prepara¬ 
tion of your seed bed. Think what a tremendous 
advantage it gives you on hilly ground. Think 
of the extra power and the lower upkeep under 
hard conditions. 
Think of the greater 
speed and the easier 
handling. 
See your Cletrac 
dealer today. Early 
ordering is important. 
Write for the illustrated 
booklet “Selecting Your 
Tractor ”. 
TH* Cleveland Tractor Co. 
19009 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 
Largest manufacturers of tank-type tractors in the world 
Cletrac 
TANK-TYPE TRACTOR 
(Formerly known as the * 1 Cleveland Tractor ) 
