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•» BREEDERS SHOULD ACT. Editor The Ranch: My case re garding duty deposited upon ten reg istered Percheron horses at Sumas, Wash., last October, had a hearing this afternoon before Judge DeVries, one of the board of appraisers from New York. 1 gave evidence and for the first time was officially told that the duty was withheld upon the groundl of a question of law, viz: that it is not permissable under the act to be allowed free entry upon breeding stock when entered with the intent of sale. Now I think this reaches a stage where it interests many of the breeders of the United States and Canada, as many of the importers are not breeders, and the stock is imported with the intent to sell both by United States and Can adian importers. I understand that this is the first time this question has been raised, and if the decision of Col lector Heustis is upheld by the board of appraisers it must seriously affect the business of many importers. I am informed that a final decision will not be reached before August. It is well for all importers of pure-bred stock to know what may occur. By publishing the above you may confer a favor upon a number of breeders and importers. Yours truly, H. F. PAGE. MODERN RURAL LIFE. John Gould. Some one has said that the four most important of the twentieth cen tury influences upon the farm and ru ral life—influences tending to win back for the country its rightful own —were the trolley the telephone, rural delivery and the centralized school. In a late Tribune Farmer E. P. Powell has briefly—and too briefly—alluded to one or two of these, and I wish to endorse all that he has said, and to put it even stronger; that these four influences will level up the apparent disparaging comparison of the coun try with the city. The tide will turn rountryward in a measure, and the country will be quite as desirable place of residence as the city, with a thousand and one of the latter's "plague spots" eliminated. The Wes tern Reserve of Ohio may be said to embody more of these four new influ ences than any other like area of the United States. Not taking in any track o! 1 the fifteen cities and villages of the Reserve —eleven counties — there are over 425 miles of rural trol ley lines, and they traverse the coun try in all directions, largely through territory remote from the steam roads. This creates a new life in and of it self. Rural delivery is common in all sections, and new routes are being fast added. The telephone threads the country districts, and some of the rural tele phone companies are in efficiency and perfection of service the equal of the great city concerns. In Geauga coun ty there is a telephone association giving itw subscribers for the nominal rental of $12 annually the use of 1,600 telephones scattered over six hundred square miles, and the best of it is that twelve hundred of these tele phones are in the homes of farmers. Connection is made with half dozen of the great telephone conmanies, like the Federal. Lake Shore and Central, and the farmer in his own home may talk to his heart's content with his neighbors and tradesmen, and for the commissionary rate may call up for two hundred miles in any direction. This influence alone has put a new pulse beat into rural life, and cannot be overestimated to the farm dweller away from the village and remote from daily contact with the great and fast moving world. Then rural de livery helps a great many others, but I doubt if the free distribution of the mails will ever accomplish for the ru ral community what the telephone can and does, especially where there are from 75 to 100 telephones in a town ship, which is not infrequent in some of the North Ohio townships, which, by the way, are each five miles square. This is what I would say: The rural telephone line had best be a company affair. The mutual lines, each one building and maintaining his own tele phone and line, are very unsatisfac tory. Better pay the $10 or $12 annu ally, and have the line kept in the best of order. It is a matter of per petual wonder how much business is daily transacted by the farmers over a rural telephone in twenty-four hours. It is safe to say that fully one-half of all the transactions of the farm, mar keting and the live, is carried on over the lines, and taking less time than would be required to "hitch a horse." One now sees grocery wagons in the country delivering the telephone or ders, and the great cheese factory owners practically manage their great concerns over the telephone. One man here, who controls nearly twenty creameries, in fact, manages them in this way, when, a few years ago, he had to have one and two traveling overseers. This extends all through not only the business life, but the so cial life as well, so far as it relates to the rural dweller, and makes life one of contact hourly with the great out side world. The Western Reserve is now the great example of "centralizing" the rural schools, and giving the boy and girl on the farm the best English edu catic v possible, and that at home, with itl beneficial influences. There are now some twenty townships that have centralized their ten district schools, including the high schools, and now have the modern, classified, and graded schools. Many other towns have consolidated certain dis tricts, an.l ultimately will centralize all. In some towns the plan is enthu siastically endorsed, in others there are some who have doubts, and so all grades of opinion are met. But this is prominent—no township that has completely centralized has ever "vot ed back" to the old plan. In some townships the new plan costs far less; in others, owing to physical difficul ties, the cost of centralization is more. In one township, where the cost of the centralized plan was about $300 more, 1 found that the average attend ance was 20 per cent more than for mely and had now nine months of school instead of seven, so that the per capita cost per pupil was in reali ty less, for by the district plan the cott was $24 per pupil and by the new plan it was just $20, and with six weeks longer school year. Another town, where the cost of the old plan was $4,000, including the high school, by the new is $3,400, and with one month's additional school year and about 25 per cent better average at tendance. The transportation prob lem is not quite solved for everyone, but it is being rapidly adjusted. Smal the racnh Poor lime zpF^fiodd time has its if** -js^ik MS its ending \^^^beginninj in an ELGIN WATCH Every Elgin watch baa the word "Elgin" engraved on the works, and 18 guaranteed against original defect of every character. A booklet about watches will bcmailed to you for the asking. i .<>,; j;-.-,.;,,.{ ELGIN NATIONAL WATCH COMPANY, Elgin, Illinois. ler routes and direct lines of haul are the better way, and the "lions" which once so numerously beset the path of the school wagonette are fast dying for lack of food. It is not a wild flight of imagination to picture the rural scholar of the near future an attend ant of a centralized school, and the population in general applauding without dissent the glory and efficien cy of the rural centralized school. MUTUAL TELEPHONE COMPANY. If you are thinking of organizing a telephone company in your section, the following constitution and by-laws will be a good pattern to follow: Art. 1. This company shall be known as Art. 2. Any person receiving a two thirds vote of the stockholders, upon paying fees as prescribed in the by laws and building to the line, may be come a member. Art. 3. The officers shall be a pres ident, a vice president, a secretary, and a treasurer; also a board of man agers, the latter to consist of the offi cers named and three directors. Art. 4. The president, the vice president, secretary and treasurer, shall be elected annually. At the first election three directors shall be elect ed, one for one year, one for two and one for three years. At each subse quent election one director shall be elected for three years. All elections shall be by ballot. The board of managers may fill vacancies to hold office until the annual meeting or a successor is elected. Eight members shall conatituce a quorum. Art. 5. The annual meeting shall be held on of each year at such place as the president shall name, notice of which meeting shall be given to the members by the sec retary seven days in advance. Art. 6. The board of managers shall manage the affairs of the com pany not otherwise prescribed in the constitution. Art. 7. This constitution may be al tered or amended by a two-thirds vote ot all the members at any annual meeting. By-laws, Sec. 1. The president may call a meeting of the company at such time as he may deem necessary, shall preside over all meetings, and have general supervision of the company. He shall call a meeting of the board of managers art the request of three members and in case the line needs repair or inspection he shall engage some member to attend to same and just compensation for such repair shall be allowed. Sec. 2. In the absence of the presi dent or his inability to act, the vice president shall perform the duties of the office. Sections 3 and 4 tell the duties of the other officers which are the same as any like organization. Sec. 5. Each member shall furnish his own instrument, keep it in repair, and attach same to main line. Sec. (5. Similar companies may use this line by switchboard attachment at the terminus, provided they grant this company the same privilege. Sec. 7. Membership fee shall be dollars. Sec. 8. These by-laws may be alter ed or amended by a two-thirds vote of all members present at any annual meeting. Sec. 9. In all meetings Rules ol order shall govern in all cases ex cept where they conflict with the con stitution and by-laws. Do you want to raise a fine band of sheep? If so see John B. Pound, of Auburn. King county. Pine thorough ured registered buck $25 (Shropshire), ewes $5 each, lambs $5 bucks $10, in first-class condition. Shropshire and Southdowns. Mark Harrington, at one time pres ident of the University of Washing ton, is stopping at a cheap Chicago hotel. Since he lost his position here he has worked as a common laborer. This charming morsel is respectfully referred to the present head of the state university with power to act, — Argus. There are always two political par ties; not so much because there are two sides to every public question as because there are two sides to every office, viz.: the inside and the outside. —Life. He whose actions speak need never speak of his actions.--L.ife. "Where are you going my pretty maid?" "I'm going milking, sir," she said. "May I come too," he asked of her. "There's one calf there already, sir." There's many a firm who would pay a good price to have twenty visible words painted on the surface of the moon—on certain nights with some people they would get double circula tion—C. V. White.