The St. Charles herald. [volume], July 28, 1917, Image 4

About The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993

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It3 THE. ITALIAN TYROL
I T IS now nearly two years sine
Italy took her place beside the
allies in the life and death strug
gle that is holding the world in its
grip, and yet tlie calm and quiet to be
met with hero in North Italy and dost
up to the firing line cannot fail t<
strike even (lie most casi^fi observer
writes a correspondent of Country
Life. You hear the roar of the can
in>n, some days almost continuously
jest over the mountains that divide the
"Veneto" from Austria; day by day
I he hospital train passes along the val
ley carrying its load of sick and
wounded down from the front; day by
day.motors and Rod Cross cars dash
f'-'-'.ng the high road at breakneck
speed,-giving the impression that mat
ters of life and death hang on the pace
at which they can reach their desti
nation; and yet the peasants work on
In steady adherence to their tasks
barely looking up to notice ail this un
wonted movement, absorbed more than
usual at this moment in the land.
This, however, is not from indiffer
ence as to the war; far from It, for the
subject is one that all alike are keenly
Interested In, and every family has sent
one and often two or more members
to fight for their king and country.
Hut the Italian peasant also loves
the soil on which he and his fathers
before him have worked ; his heart is
in the land, and the success or failure
of the crops is to him a matter of
well-being or starvation.
Hard Life, but Healthful.
In these times, too, the work re
quires au unwonted degree of attention
and labor, for every acre must be fully
cultivated. All the men from the age i
a
7
**-"**m
C'
m
A MARKET PLACE
of twenty-one to forty are, with few
exceptions, away at the front, and
those who remain must make good the
deficiency. In this they have, however,
willing helpmates in the women. At
all times the women work in propor
tion as hard as their men-folk in the
fields, and when to these duties are
added those of mothers and house
wives it is small wonder that they
age before their time, and that a pret
ty fresh girl of eighteen is an old wom
an at forty. Their life, though hard
In some ways, is on the other hand ex
tremely healthful ; their habits are sim
ple and frugal, and they slide into old
age with constitutions untouched by
sharp vicissitudes of climate—the win
ters being excessively severe and the
summers very hot—Interested and
busy up to the last In all that relates
to the land, the cattle, and their chil
dren.
Family life is on patriarchial lines ;
sons, daughters-ln-law and their chil
dren (of which there is never any
lack) all live with the parents under
the same roof ; all share the same food
—composed chiefly of beans, Indian
corn and cheese—and all share one
purse, kept, often pretty tightly too,
l>y the "head of the family" (il capo
di famlglia), who receives any extrane
ous sums that any of his children may
earn on his or her own account, and
doles out the money required for
clothes, food, or any small expenses
that the event of a wedding, a baptism
or a funeral may call forth.
The food question is, perhaps, the
simplest of the lot. The peasant in
this part of Italy shares with the own
er of the land ail that the land pro
(luces, lie puts into it his labor, he
draws from it the half that that la
bor brings as his portion ; and this ar
rangement of the "mezzadria," or half
and-half system as we might call it,
is, if honestly adhered to, fairer and
mure advantageous to all concerned
than any other. By it the peasant lias
as keen, if not a keener interest than
his landlord in the tilling of the soil,
in keeping under the Weeds, pruning
and spraying the vines, hoeing the In
dian corn, tending the cattle, and as
from all these sources one-half goes
to him, it concerns him closely to make
the profits as abundant as possible.
His day's work is generally a long
one, especially in the summer when he
will be up and alrtmt at 4 a. m., but
as he can divide his hours entirely to
suit his own convenience the hardship
is not really a great one. In the hot
months he will knock off work for a
long spell in the middle of the day and
after a good siesta he will begin again
with a leisure that betokens much lib
erty of action and a total absence of
any hint of being "driven." If it be
true that "it is the pace that kills,"
your Italian peasant will certainly not
be exposed to that kind of death!
Women Doing Men's Work.
The war, though, has altered all this
easy, calm-going state of things. The
women, as in France, are acting in the
place of the men, and are doing it, too,
in a very thorough and admirable man
ner. Many of them handle the scythe
masterly fashion ; others, when j
necessary, see to the management of
the farm ; they pile up the high loads j
>f hay on to the ox-drawn wagons with
will and energy, and when once the ;
difficulty (and it is a serious one just
now in Italy) of obtaining wool can be
got over they devote their spare mo
ments to knitting socks for the men
on the heights.
The markets all through the country
are the gainers by their industry, as
well in picturesque effects as in useful
and profitable supplies. Who that has
ever been at Verona, in late summer,
say, but will recall the scene in the
"Piazza delle Erbe," with its sea of
wide white umbrellas pitched all down
that lovely market pluce, with the bas
kets stacked with apples, white and
black grapes, pears, peaches, medlars
and quinces, while on every spare inch
of ground are piled vegetables, bean«,
carrots, potatoes, cabbages, cardoons,
with any number of pumpkins, huge in
size, and in Deautifui tones of color
varying from dark green to bronze,
orange and yellow?
The sites chosen for these fruit and
vegetable markets are, when possible,
beside some fountain, or occasionally
at the corner of some great palace, as
for instance, at Florence at the Stroz
zl and Riccardl palaces, where the
wide projecting roofs make a welcome
shade for the flowers which are ar
ranged so tastefully upon their cool
stones; more often, indeed, a small
"piazza" or square Is chosen that
boasts a supply of water In its midst,
around which "the neighbors come and
laugh and gossip," relating the suc
cess or failure of their bargains, and
more often than not indulging in lan
guage—often used quite unconsciously
—for which their parish priest will
reprimand them one of these days
from the altar.
j FINDS TWO SONS;
SOUGHT ONLY ONE
__
Peculiar Experience of Hartford
Woman While Sear ching
for Offspring.
Denver. Co!o.—To seek an only son
Jind to learn she is the mother of two
"sons," at least one of whom she did
not know existed. Is the somewhat pe
euliar experience of Mrs. Martha Con
press of Mast Hartford. Conn.
Another strange circumstance in
connection with the quest of her lost
heir is that Louis Congress, the miss- j
ing son, was prosperous and robust j
when he disappeared several months j
ago. r J he two new "sons" of Mrs. Con
gress are in precarious health and
without funds.
.Mrs. Congress asked a local paper
to iind her lost son, believed to be in
Colorado. Her ad got results. One of
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A
va
The Other "Son" Wrote From the Im
perial Hotel.
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the letters in reply was dated at La
Junta, Colo.. I\ <). Box x4C.'5. It said:
"Dearest Mother: I thought I would
rite You a Few Lines to let you
know I am not Very Well this is
Why I am writing for Money, in an
other letter you send me send $1- Be
cause I Need it am in Hard Luck I will
tell you the Results When I Get Home.
From Yours Truly & Sincerely,
"LOUIS CONGRESS."
"B. S. La Junta, Colo. Send it in j
Next Letter. Send it in Bills and Send j
it Mother."
The other son wrote from the Im
perial hotel in Denver, and this is the
touching appeal lie inscribed:
"Mamma : Saw your ad in the Post
today; am a little sick. Will explain
all when I get back to you. I have not
; ÎT" ah ' e 1° set "'" rk for a ,on ~ tinie *
Please send money to me care Impe
rial hotel, 318 Fourteenth street, Den
ver, Colo. I owe month's room rent
at this hotel. Will leave town without
their knowing it.
"Your loving son, LOUIE. '
Mrs. Congress is still looking for her
sou.
STEAL DEAD MAN'S HEART
Ghouls Dig Up Grave of Wealthiest
and Most Popular Man in
Southern Ohio.
Bethel, O.—Ghouls dug up the grave
of Daniel Hill, eighty-four years old,
of this town, and cut out the dead
man's heart. They then covered the
coffin again and made their escape. A
box of burnt matches and spots on the
tombstone were the only clews left.
Hill, one of the wealthiest and most
popular men in southern Ohio had (lied
of natural causes, according to his phy
sician. A few days after the burial
the sexton became suspicious and hud
the grave dug up. He found that the •
coffin had been sawed open.
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I DRUNKS TO RAISE CROP. |
IS MAYOR'S ORDER %
Lockhnven, Pa.—The mayor of
this city has solved, partially at
least, the problem of the threat
ened food shortage. Recently,
when a stranger was arrested
for drunkenness and could not
pay the city fine "Ills Honor"
sentenced the man to dig the plot
. of ground in the rear of the Ross
J library, which will ho cultivated,
t The mayor feels sure lie will get
J enough of this class of labor In
♦ the next few months to take ex
% cellent care of the crop.
+ 4 »+ ++ 4 * •> v •> *+-s- •> *;• •:< ^ •>
Lays Seven Eggs in Four Days.
Luverne, Minn.—C. II. Mareaux of
this city is the owner of a hen that is
unusually ambitious. Not satisfied
with laying steadily, she occasionally
produces two eggs a day. Recently
she laid two eggs a day for three con
secutive days, laying seven eggs in
four days. The eggs are normal In
size and well formed.
Pair Separated Eleven Times.
Fresno, Cal.—After his wife had de
serted him 11 times in fear months,
Clifton W. Cllnger obtained a divorce,
dinger took his wife back after the
first «parution, before deciding on di
vorce. He obtained custody of their
three children.
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italian Thieves Become Spies
and Win Redemption From
Government.
GET VALUABLE PAPERS
Deliver to Their Government All the
Documents of the Austro-Hun
garian Espionage Bureau
at Zurich.
Geneva. — A French-Swiss paper
gives the following version of a sensa
tional incident which has been told In
several forms:
Recently, two elegantly dressed men,
carrying u heavy satchel, appeared at
the office of the Italian general staiT
in Rome and demanded an audience
with the chief ..f the Intelligence de
partment. When they were received
by tIlls official they made sensational
disclosures and delivered all the doc
uments of the Austro-Hungarian es
pionage bureau in Zurich.
The men were two notorious Italian
burglars, who were known and feared
from one end of the kingdom to the
other. When the war broke out they
were called to the colors and detailed
t" tlie same regiment. Life in the
trenches did not suit them and they
decided to desert. They escaped to
Switzerland and settled in Zurich,
where they plied their old trade with,
considerable success.
Turn Abilities to Use.
Regretting ttieir desertion, the bur
glars decided to ns,- their abilities in
the interest of their country by "clean
ing out" the Austro-Hungarian espion
age bureau in the Zurich consulate of
the dual monarchy. Accidentally they
made the acquaintance of a former of
ficer of the Italian navy, who had been
cashiered many years before, and after
tin adventurous life in many countries,
had entered tin* service of Austria as a
spy.
From this man the two men ob
tained detailed plans of the offices of
the consulate, and after a thorough
preparation they carried out their raid
on the espionage bureau. They bought
the most modern tools and with their
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They Worked Nearly Two Hours.
aid they were able to open the safes
in the consulate quickly and without
much difficulty.
The safes, which contained the most
important documents, had compart
ments filled with poisonous gases
meant to kill any..burglar who might
• ,Iare t0 tamper with them.
Made Their Escape.
The burglars had learned this from
the former Italian naval «filter, who j
had turned against his Austrian em
ployers and aided the burglars on the
promise of a liberal reward. Procur
ijig masks like those worn by soldiers j
to
at
at
in the trendies they were able to open
the compartments containing the dead
ly gases without danger to themselves.
Although they worked nearly two
hours, they were not disturbed. They
made their escape safely, but had dif
ficulty in getting out of Switzerland,
and were compelled to wait many
weeks before they were able to smug
gle the stolen documents across the
Italian frontier.
In February a cable dispatch from
Berne reported that a burglary had
been committed for political refusons in
the Austro-Hungarian consulate general
in Zurich, and that the perpetrators
had not only ignored a large sum of
money which was in one of the safes,
but also left burglars' tools valued at
more than $1,000 behind.
Spent Fortune for Booze.
Chicago. — When Mrs. Margaret
Naughton told Judge Thomson that her
husband, David A. Naughton, had
spent more than $21,000 on liquor in
less than two years, the judge granted
her a divorce immediately.
Boy Throws Dynamite Into Furnace.
Shelbyville, Ind. — Paul McCain,
eighteen, barely escaped death when
he threw a box containing dynamite
into the furnace at his home. The
heater was torn to pieces and the boy
knocked unconscious.
to
j DEHORNiNG FEEDER CATTLE IS GOOD PLAN
Dehorning is a good plan with stock
• and feeder cattle or calves to tie
"pt for feeders, according to L. B.
Mann, fellow in animal husbandry in
the Kansas State Agricultural college.
"The chief advantages of dehorn
ing," says Mr. Mann, "are convenience
und economy in tlie feed lot and in
shipping, and possibly a slight increase
1 b market value.
''Animals being fitted for baby beef
should not be dehorned, as with
horned breeds the age cun be told ap
proximately by the size of the horn,
and when the horns are removed the
buyer may suspect an animal of being
over the age limit and may cut down
somewhat on the price.
May Dehorn Calves Early.
"If the feeder is raising his mvn
calves, the best method of dehorning
will be found to be an application of
caustic soda or caustic potash when
the calf is a few days old, or when the
button can lie felt through the skin.,
Wet the stick of caustic slightly and
rub It well on the skin over the horn
after first clipping the hair off the re
gion. Do not get the stick too wet or
it will be apt to run down over the
s iÖSS»
CRISSEY STEER, SPLENDID TYPE FOR BEEF.
of
TO HARVEST PEANUTS
Not Considered Wise Policy tp Be
in Great Hurry.
Plow Them Out With Potato Digger,
Allow Nuts »nd Vines to Dry Out
and Then Place Them in Ven
tilcted Stacks.
(By FLETCHER DAVIS. Texas Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
Do not bo In too great a hurry to
harvest peanuts. When the vines begin
to ripen, or turji yellow and the nuts
do not rattle in the shell after being
dried a few days, plow them out with
a potato digger, or turning plow from
which the mold board lias been re
moved. being careful to plow as shal
low as possible, without leaving any
of the nuts in the ground. The nitro
gen-bearing nodules are on the roots
of the plant and the roots, for that rea
son, are more valuable left in the
ground than harvested with the crop.
Allow the plowed-out nuts and vines
to dry an hour or two and then stuck
or rain and watch stacks to see that
they do not heat or mold. The aver
age yield per acre the country over is
34 bushels and from one-half to two
tons of hay, but a smaller yield should
bring a reasonable profit to the grower.
If grown only for feed, they can be
stored in the barn or stacked in a
larger stack when thoroughly cured;
but if the nuts are to be crushed at the
mills—and many cottonseed oil mills
ure now prepared to crush them—or
sold to buyers, they must be picked
j from the vines. This can be done
either by hand or by machinery, but it
is best, if possible, to employ the lat
ter as being more economical and
j faster. There are two kinds of thresh
ers—the rotary thresher nnd the pick
er. The rotary thresher can be bought
for from $400 to $Ti 00 , and there is a
peanut attachment for the ordinary
grain threshers that can be had at $90
to $100. Some object to the rotary
thresher on account of the large per
cent of the nuts that it damages and
prefer the peanut picker, a machine
that works on a different principle
from the rotary thrasher. If a com
munity grows a sufficient acreage of
sound, clean peanuts, threshers will
seek out those communities to cater
to the custom of the growers.
The peanut market opened last fall
at 70 cents per bushel and advanced
rapidly until some crushers paid $1.30
per bushel at the loading points. Plant
ing-seed Is now much higher and that
fact will go further than any one other
thing to hold down the acreage this
year. The state department of agricul
ture will furnish interested parties
with the names of mills that will buy
your peanuts, and it will furnish you
with the names of dealers from whom
seeds for present planting can be pur
chased. The vines have sold for hay
at from $12 to $20 per ton. Taking the
average yield and the minimum price
in small well-ventilated stacks—pro
ferably around a small pole nnd off the
ground a few Inches— und let them
cure thoroughly for five or six weeks.
Do not handle when damp from dew
for nuts and hfty. they ure a profitable I
commercial crop. It is scarcely prob
able that the price will fall below the
minimum of last fall for some years !
to come, If ever. And should thoy, by j
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side of the head, burning off the hair
and causing needless pain.
"If dehorning is not done at this
time, wait until the horn has made it
fair growth and then use either the
saw or the clippers, which must be
used in any case if feeders are pur
chased."
Clippers are quicker and less pain
ful than the saw, in the opinion of
Mr. Maun. They make a cleaner cut.
however, which bleeds longer than that
made with a saw. in either case, one
should cut a little below the union of
the horn and skin or the horn will start
growing out again.
In this part of the country the best
time for dehorning by the last two
methods Is in October or the latter
part of March; that is, neither in real
ly cold weather nor in fly time. In lly
time the animal is somewhat run down
and flies cause great suffering, pre
vent the wound front healing, and are
a source of infection.
For a few days after the operation
avoid giving the cattle (lusty hay or
other feeds in which there is much
dust, ns the wounds are liable to
come infected and cause trouble.
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any untoward circumstances, fall to an
unprofitable price, they are the best
single crop that can be grown for
stock feed. Their use ns human food
on our tables Is becoming quite exten
sive and it Is destined to become of
far more general u.^g. In short, there
are so many ways in which the plant
can be profitably utilized that there is
no risk involved in their production
along this line.
FEED FOR SKIM MILK CALVES
Grain Mixture of Cracked Corn and
Wheat Bran Is Recommended by
Missouri Expert.
Whole milk is nature's balanced ra
tion for the calf, and it should be fed
during the first two weeks of the calf's
life. Whole milk, however, is Ph> ex
pensive for prolonged calf-feeding, be
cause the fat it contains is worth ap
proximately 40 cents n pound.
In view of this price, it is ndvisahl«
to sell the fat and feed skim milk with
a substitute for butter fat. The chief
office of fat in the calf ration is to sup
I*y heat to the body. When the fat is
removed and skim milk is fed the en
ergy can be supplied more ecouomical
; ly in the form of grain,
! Protein is also expensive, but nbso
lutely essential to development of the
: calf's body. None of the growth-pro
dueing proteins is removed by skim
I t*ing the milk.
I When a calf is about two weeks old
j It may be taught to eat grain. If It Is
! with older olives it will take grain
! without any special attention. Other
wise It may be started to eating by
rubbing a small 'amount of corn meal
or bran on its nose. In licking its
muzzle the calf will develop an nppe
tlte for the grain. The grain may bo
kept constantly before the calf for'a
few days. \V. W. Swctt of the Missou
ri College of Agriculture offers the
following grain mixture for calves:
Three parts cracked corn or cornmoal
nnd one part wheat bran. To this one
part outs may be added if desired.
Linseed meal or blood meal may also
be added in small quantities, but
neither is necessary.
The grain should be given in the dry
form after the skim milk has been fed.
After the calf Is old enough to (-at
grain freely, it should be fed at regular
intervals. During the first two months
the grain taken will be less than one
pound a day. This should be gradu
ally increased so that at the age of six
months, when the calf is weaned,
about two pounds will lie taken daily!
When only a few days of age the
calves will begin to nibble hay, if It la
within reach. It is preferable to feed
timothy for the first two or three
months, after which alfalfa or clover
hay will give better satisfaction.
ATTENTION TO BROOD SOWS
Special Care Must Be Exercised In
Feeding for Two or Three Weeks
After Farrowing.
The first two or three weeks after
farrowing special care must be exer
cised in feeding. Avoid too generous
feeding at this period. As the pigs
become a greater drain on the sow.
her feed should gradually be Increased
and at this period (when the pigs nr«
ubont three weeks old) if skim milk
is available It will be a great help in
promoting growth of the pigs by
ing it liberally to the sow.