Republican news item. [volume], December 01, 1898, Image 3

About Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??

Image provided by: Penn State University Libraries; University Park, PA

                
q QOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO3OOO
§ M RESOURCES OF |
§ BIITAIH AND FRANCE. |
|j A Struggle Between Them Would Q
§lte a Titanic Aflalr. O
O
OOCOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOCOOC3
It looks very much as if the war
cloud which has huug over Europe for
years is about to burst.
Frauce and England are old enemies.
And while the English affect to be
lieve that the French are afraid of
them, there is nothing in the French
chaiacter or in history to substantiate
the delusion.
The truth is few Englishmen under
stand the French.
The French have great vanity. They
think that they can whip anybody,and
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR HENRY F. STEPHEN
SON, K. C. C., COMMANDER OF BRITISH
CHANNEL SQUADRON.
(On this fleet, the most powerful ever
organized under one command, will
devolve the duty of bearing the
brunt of any fighting.)
their record shows that they havo
nevor been afraid to try it.
This idea that France is afraid of
England or any other nation is tommy
rot.
In the many conflicts between
France and England history shows
that success has not always rested with
the British army. True, Marlborough
and Wellington were successful, but
on many occasions the British lion
has gone down before the eagles of
France.
England had her Wellington, but
France produced a Napoleon. Welling
ton had all Europe at his back, while
Napoleon had only the French. Still
history does not record that Welling
ton had a very easy time.
Tho fighting force of the two nations
is of prime interest just now.
They are not so unevenly matched,
after all.
France has the stronger army—Eng
land the stronger navy. One month
ago the English Weekly said, "The
army of France is to-day imong the
most magnificent the worlif has ever
known," and the Weekly added, "The
nation that underrates her in time of
war will as certainly rue it, for when
ever her strength has had occasion to
go forth, nothing appeared that might
tend to show a shadow weaker than
her fellow Powers."
These remarks were made by the
British paper before there was a prob
ability of war between the two nations.
On a peace footing the army of
France is more than twice as great as
that of Great Britain.
On a war footing France would have
just 7i times as many soldiers as Eng
land.
Now, on a war footing France would
have the advantage, because practi
cally all of her citizens are soldiers.
England has nothing of this and would
/-> 111 ■» Reon/LAI?
I AHMV OP
ST fRANCB
ReauLAfT ARMY 1
©* GRBAT fjftlTAIN /f77« TcTbv a
fiH&fA r(I I 4|;\ |
L I Jjfl \ 1
iNciuoefc) I "jonr I |
225.000 MeN 569 550 men
/jgrBRITAIMS \
•fly NAVY J
112 franceV
* J<fj v\ navy
'Oo.ooo 4-5.000
have togo to work to make soldiers
out of raw recruits.
On the sea, however, Great Britain
shows to much better advantage.
The United Kingdom is the first
naval Power of the world.
But France is the second.
And a good second at that.
They are not BO wide apart on the
water as people might imagine. Great
Britain has 587 ships and France has
437.
But the Frenoh do not fight as well
ou tne sea as the English. England
has always defeated France on the
ocean, and the victories of Nelson were
not exceptional. Even Napoleon could
do nothing with his navy. True, thei e
are no Napoleons these days, but the
superiority of the Anglo-Saxon has
been shown on the sea. Great Britain
has always won her naval wars—ex
cept when tackling the United States.
After all this has been said it re
mains to be noted that England's navy
is needed to protect her extensive
coast line and her vast commerce.
The French ships would destroy
whole heoatombs of English property
and capture a large number of prizes.
They would ruin, for the time, Eng
land's immense carrying trade.
Now as for the sinews of war. Both
nations are enormously wealthy. Mul
hall gives estimates of the wealth of
the nations for 1895. He puts the
wealth of Great Britain at $59,030,-
000,000 and that of France at $48,-
450,000,000, the former nation being
about twenty-five per cent, richer.
In all his statistical comparisons
Mulhall makes much of what he calls
energy—which means the horse, steam,
and man power of nations. In this great
Britain leads with 61,410,000,000 of
foot tons daily, against 32,460,000,000
foot tons for France.
An important point in a war between
the two countries would bo the ques
tion of food supply. In this Frauce is
at a great advautage. Great Britain
produces 51,215,000,000 worth of food
a year and consumes $1,905,000,000.
France produces $1,590,000,000 worth
of food and consumes $1,700,000,000.
From this it is evident that France is
able to feed itself, while more than
one-third of the food eaten by the
British must come from abroad. The
question of food supply in England
would bo important in time of war.
It is one that has caused much worri
ment to British statesmen who have
not solved tho problem. In a war with
a nation with such a navy as France
has it would be difficult to import food.
The prices would advance enormously,
and there would be much suffering
among those at home.
These discussions are problematical.
Yet in the tables Great Britain is shown
to better prepared for war, and no
American cau doubt that ultimately
Great Britain would win. The friend
ly neutrality of Great Britain during
our war with Spain might be followed
by some such policy on our part, while
France's unfriendliness would prevent
sympathy with her. Yet it is certain
that the fear of war would not in-
EriCLANO 1
✓4M "" £?-''°'" *
SHIPJ ACTUALLY BUILT tACLUSIvt OF TORPEDO QOAT3 pRANCE-
*» ErNCLAND 15<- •» to FRANCE 1 80 ' xooptoo boats a» ~
- fcNCLAHQ-ata U.TQ. F^«ce.2sß
COMPARATIVE NAVAL STRENGTH OF GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE.
fluence France much except as it
might give Germany « chance. And
if war should come, it would be long
and bloody, and it might be years be
fore the issue will be decided. France
and England fought one war that lasted
more than one hundred years.
Here's a New Slang Word.
Only the native Kanaka speaks
Hawaiian, and from the little I heard
of it it is remarkably sweet, but there
is no doubt that it will add one word
to our slang vocabulury. Every sol
dier who leaves the port carries it
away, and somehow it sticks to one's
mind. It is "welakahoa" (pronounced
willy-ka-how-a).
It means, in Hawaiian, "Strike
while the iron is hot." It took the
fanoy of the people who came to Hon
olulu long ago to grow up with the
country, and is now a regular term,
meaning "That's all right," or, if in
speaking of some work being accom
plished, "That's done," until now it
has become the expression among the
people for anything they enjoy.
The nearest thing in American slang
that I can thing of is: "That's out of
sight," or "That's bully." Anyhow,
whenever we want to express delight
or appreciation of anything we simply
nay, "welakahoa." 1 predict for it a
▼ogue in America. Captain P. B.
Strong, in Leslie's Weekly.
Cliineae Ethic*.
A Chinese phrase, for which we
shall hardly find an exact equivalent
in the English language, will help us
to separate truth from error—or at
least the probable from the unlikely—
when we read such despatches as
those recently published in regard to
the flight, assassination, or. suicide
of the Chinese Emperor. The phrase
may be literally translated, "to save
his face." Any high official of the
Empire may apply it to himself in
certain contingencies, and may think
that he defends his personal credit
and that of his office by committing
suicide when threatened with removal.
In the case of the Emperor his sense
of propriety and the rule of etiquette
would leave him no choice. If his
successor has been chosen, or it be
ooines quite certain that a successor
is to be appointed immediately, he
must "save his imperial face." It
will not be necessary to murder him.
—Haroer's Weekly.
|K*sieKsio{e{efeKs«si©»eie{ei©ieie(ejeiefe)e!'o)^^
1 JAMESTOWN'S J
J HISTORIC TOWER, 112
§ A Shrine For Churchmen. $
On a lonely little island in one of
the broad stretches of water where the
James Kiver, sweeping through the
tidewater region of Virginia reaches
I lii a r
RUINS OF THE FIRST ENGLISH CHURCH IN AMERICA, JAMESTOWN, VA.
out for the sea, a crumbling towor of
brick stands as a monument to the
establishment of the Protestant re
ligion in America. It marks the tpot
also where the first English settle
ment was located and where thousands
of men, women and children, pioneers
in the cause of religion and humanity,
found untimely deaths from famine,
disease and massacre.
The tower is all that is left of the
first English church, erected in 1610
by Lord Delaware, "wherein should
be conducted Christian worship in ac
cordance with the rites of the Church
of England." To-day tlie Episcopal
Church of the United States, once the
humble offshoot, but now the august
sister of that powerful ecclesiastical
body, holds the ivy clad ruin in affec
tionate regard as the cradle of its in
fancy, and during the recent triennial
convention of that body in Washing
ton three hundred dignitaries of the
church made a pilgrimage of two hun
dred miles to visit it.
Almost as desolate as wheu the first
Englishmen set foot upon it is the
little island to-day and its surround
ings. Its surface is grown up in
trees and underbrush, with only a
cleared field in the centre, while one
little cottage nestling behind an an
cient earthwork is the only habitation
of man upon it. Shoreward, in every
direction, it is girt with forests, for
civilization retreated from that neigh
borhood years ago, and the rank vege
tation of the alluvial soil has made
haste to cover the retreat.
Those who have takeu the trouble
to investigate the records of the early
days find a great deal of material deal
ing with the Jamestown colony and
the religious feature of its establish
ment. There is even a description of
the church, of which this tower now
alone remains intact.
The first Protestant divine to preach
on American soil was the Rev. Robert
Hunt. He accompanied Captain
Newport on a voyage of the colonists
in the three ships, the Susan Con
stant, the Godspeed, and the Dis
covery. They landed at Jamestown
about the middle of May, 1607, and
their first act upon going ashore was
to hold religious services. They hung
an old sail from the branches, and
with a pulpit formed of a bar of wood
nailed to two trees the services pro
ceeded. Dr. Hunt was described by
John Smith as a wise man in council,
of great courage and high character,
and Smith gave him credit for many
benefits of harmony enjoyed by the
colonists during his life.
In the church erected upon the isl
and Pocahontas, the Indian maiden
who saved John Smith's life, was bap
tized, and there she was married to
! Bolfe, the Englishman. Their dc
cendants are found in Virginia to this
day. The first legislative body of
Englishmen which ever met in Amer
ica assembled in the church to legis
late for the little colony, and this was
a year and a half before the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth.
Jamestown settlement has long ago
disappeared, and nothing else there
abouts shows the hand of man except
the cottage, the field of the tower's
keeper and the wave-washed steam-
boat wharf putting out into the James.
On a table by the tower the recent
pilgrims from Washington spread the
ancient silver cup anil plate from
which the first communion service
was served in America according to
Protestant rites. Bishop Randolph
of Southern Virginia lead the service,
and Dr. McKim of Washington, D.
C., made the historical address.
"This spot ought to be to every
American holy ground," said Dr.
McKim, "for here, '2Ol years ago, was
planted by the right hand of the Lord
our God a vine of civilization, liberty
and religion which has spread over
this whole land.
"If you seek the beginnings of An
glo-Saxon dominion on this Western
continent they are here. If you would
seek the seed plot of representative
free government in America it is here.
If you would discover the earliest
spring and source of American Chris
tianity it is here."
I'yraiulil Unlit by u 1111 ml Man.
A great curiosity and something of
great interest to veterans is the histor
ical pyramid owned and built by W.
H. Sallada, of Los Angeles, Cal., who
lost both eyes in the late war. The
pyramid is about seven feet high and
two feet wide at the base. Each side
of the exterior is completely covered
with relics of all kinds, such as swords,
pistols, cannon balls, pieces of famous
war vessels, Hags, and oach relic has
a history of its own, which is willingly
told to you by Mr. Sallada, who,
though unable to see, knows instantly
by touch which article you desire in
formation about. The interior is com
posed of six revolving shelves contain
ing miniature ships, forts and soldiers.
—San Francisco Chronicle.
A Novelty in Folnr Exploration.
One of the most striking innova
tions that have been made by Walter
Wellman in preparing for his trip to
the North Pole is his unique dog
sleigh. Dogs are the motive power
always used in arctic expeditions.
When eight or ten dogs were hitohed
to one sledge some of the dogs would
shirk their work. Wellman has built
a number of small sledges. Each is
of tube-like construction of tinned
copper, with runners on its two sides,
and so shapped that if it turns over it
always comes down on one or tho
WELLMAS's ARCTIC SLEDGE. j
other pair of runners. Mr. WellmanJ
will hove fifty of these sledges to each'
of which a dog will be attached. He
will take advautage of that trait of
dog nature which makes him reluctant
to be left behind. He wants to keep!
up with the procession, but to do so}
he must work hard. When the food
stored in one of the sledges is needed 1
it is ripped open like a tin cau aud
thrown away. The dog which haa(
drawn it, being no longer needed, ia
at once converted into food for hia
fellows. i
CAAAAAAAA'AAAA
t FARM AMD GARDEN.]
Two-Story poultry Honieiu
The volume of plans for poultry
houses usually contains several plans
for two-story houses. The novice at
poultry raising is pretty sure to stum
ble at this point, for he reasons, and
truly, that he will get twice as much
space with only a little added expense.
He thinks, too, that the upper room
will be so k., rely free from that dreaded
dampness. It is only with experience
that he learns that the second-story
room is too cold in winter and too hot
in summer; that it is unhandy for
feeding of the stock, unhandy for the
removal of refuse, in short, generally
worthless except as a storage house,
and as unhandy for this as for other
purposes. "Cheap" is not cheap
here.
Live Gr««i> Fei th ir*.
There are many people who object
to picking feathers alive on the score
of cruelty. But if the picking is clone
only at the time the feathers loosen,
there is no cruelty in it, though it is a
•lirty and disagreeable job. About
one-quarter of a pound of feathers is
usually secured from each goose picked
alive. The feathers are loose, or, as
they are technically called "ripe"
every six weeks. If not picked then
the loose feathers gradually fall out
ami are scattered about the goose run.
The first picking generally comes
about the time the birds are making
their nest and preparing to lay
aggs. It is quite possibly the habit
of geese in picking out tluir breast
Feathers for nests that led farmers'
wives to pickiug them for their feath
3i's. The price of feathers is now
much lower than it used to be, as
other material is now generally con
sidered more healthful for bed mak
ing. —American Cultivator.
Snviiiß ii I'encli Tree.
Last year the peach trees in our
little orchard were overloaded and one
nf them, a tine, early variety, bore
such an abundance of fruit that half
of the tree split down and nearly off.
After lightening the branches by pick
ing much of the fruit, we lifted them
by means of props until the opening
was, as nearly as possible, closed.
Then taking strong wire, wo bound
the tree together, placing several
thicknesses of folded newspapers be
tween the wire and the bark,and then
tilled cottolene into and around the
crack. Over this was wound a wrap
ping of cloth as a jtfotection against
insects. The props were left in place
until the lastof the fruit was gathered,
and then removed. An examination
revealed the opening entirely closed,
and the bark along its edges fresh and
green, not yet grown together. In
the spring the broken half matured a
large proportion of its blossoms, the
fruit being larger than a teacup, and
the admiration of all who saw it.—
Lalia Mitchell in New England Home-
Btead.
Marketing Dairy Product*.
After five years' experience I find
.hat this is a most important problem.
If the yield from the creamery is poor
especially in quality, the manager
should investigate and if the fault lies
with the butter maker, he should se
cure another one, as good men can be
secured if reasonable salaries are paid.
If the fault is with the patrons, it will
be more difficult to remedy, but firm
ness at the weigh can will usually
bring about the desired change.
Packages should be neat and clean
and put up in accordance with the de
mands of the market. The safest
package for our Minnesota creameries
is the 56-pound ash tub. The bulk of
the goods goes to New York. By
combining and shipping in carloads a
saving of 10 cents per hundredweight
can be effected. If you have a good
commission house do not leave it. In
vestigate new firms carefully,even be
fore shipping a trial lot. I do not
like the idea of having one man to
handle the butter on a salary. I would
divide shipments several times and
make careful comparisons of returns,
considering not only the price, but the
weight. It would be well for cream
eries to send their secretary or man
ager to study the market to which they
ship. Baware of tempting offers from
outside houses or wholesale grocers
and never ship to them without in
vestigating references carefully.—M.
Halverson of Minnesota in American
Cultivator.
Windbreak* Are Valuable.
The value of a windbreak has never
beeu definitely determined. In order
to secure a consensus of opinion from
farmers and fruit-growers, Professor
F. W. Card of the Nebraska experi
ment station, sent inquiries to resi
dents in Nebraska and adjoining states,
and also to a number of localities in
New York, the idea being to deter
mine the comparative importance of
windbreaks on the western prairies
and the more hilly lands of the east.
The great majority of the replies
favored windbreaks, and the reasous
given are noteworthy. The most gen
erally accepted idea of their benefit is
their protection against cold, but so
far as the plains country is concerned
this feature is of minor importance.
In sheltering stock and dwellings
they have an important office to fulfil
against cold, but for the residents of
the prairie the cold is not sufficient to
< a-ise much loss. The greatest prob
lem of the plains is conserving to
the utmost extent the available supply
of moisture during the growing sea
son, where winds are high and con
tinuous evaporation is most rapid and
drouth damage first felt. Occasionally
hot winds also sweep over the western
prariea, doing untold damage to the
farm and fruit crop. While wind
breaks cannot prevent much of the in.
jury which is due to the rapid evap
oration of moisture.
Another important item is that
where orchards are exposed to the
full force of the wind during the fruit
ing season a good part of the crop is
blown off. That there are objections
to windbreaks cannot be denied. If
close and compact they prevent free
circulation of air, and thus make pos
sible injury from frost, where it would
not occur were there nothing to pre
vent the free movement of air. Fun
gous diseases and insects are given a
home. Where birds are liable to dam
age fruit it affords an opportunity for
building nests and raising young. In
the east tLie windbreaks should be
placed to the north and west for the
same reason. A windbreak on one
side of an orchard is of little value.
As to the kinds of trees used, the
Russian mulberry seems to be the
western favorite. Ash, box elder,
willow,red cedar,soft maple and Lom
bardy poplar have beeu used with sat
isfactory results. Norway spruce is
most commonly used in the eastern
states. American Agriculturist.
Manuring I'uHttireH.
Apply manure to pastures by spread
ing it on the surface and it greatly
stimulates the growth of the grass. The
casual observer may conclude that the
extra grazing thus furnished is the
sole gain. Such a conclusion is a
great mislake, says Thomas Shaw in
the Ohio Farmer. Root production in
the grass is increased pro) oitionatelj
with top production. This means
that there is a great increase in fertil
izing matter in the soil in the readily
available form of vegetable plant
food.
The benefit, from the manure comes
back in the form of a duplicate or at
least a two-fold harvest. The first
benefit is in the form of increased
grass production, and the second
benelit is in the form of increased grain
production. Should the pasture bo
plowed up and sown to grain. Of
course if the pasture is a permanent
one, the second benefit will not be
forthcoming otherwise than in the
form of increased productivity in the
pasture for a longer term of years.
Applying farmyard manure thus is
certainly one of the most profitable
ways in which it can be applied, and,
for several reasons, it is, all things
considered, the most convenient way
of applying it.it can be drawn at
any season of the year that may be
desired. The time when it would be
least advantageous to apply such a
fertilizer is the season when it cannot
usually be drawn, that is wlien the
grass is growing vigorously in the
spring. The much labor that is then
on hand forbids the drawing of man
ure. it may be applied with great
advantage in the late autumn and dur
ing the winter when the surface of
the land is sufficiently frozen to sus
tain a loaded wagon or sled. There
aie no seasons of the year when the
farmers have so much leisure for
drawing it, and they can then apply
it in the fresh form.
It is greatly advantageous to be able
to apply manure'in the fresh form,
not only because it is convenient but
because it is also economical. It is
economical because it precludes the
necessity for handling the manure
twice as when it is composted in the
field or piled and turned in the yard.
It is economical since it precludes the
necessity of having manure sheds,and
it is economical because it prevents
nearly all waste of fertility.
It may be objected that manure will
waste by leaching wheu applied upon
a frozen surface and when the snow is
on the ground. The objection is not
well takeii except when it is applied
011 hilly surfaces or on land subject to*
overflow in the spring. All experience
on this question points to the conclu
sion that there will be but little waste
from leaching wheu manure is
applied. The great growth of the
grass the'following season points to
the direction which the leaching has
taken. To be able thus to apply man
ure is a great matter. There is 110 loss
from leaching in the yard. There is
110 waste of nitrogen from decomposi
tion unduly rapid and excessive, and
there is no waste from lire fang.
Farm Nolrs.
Never keep laying hens more thar
two or three laying seasons.
Uy the free use of air-slacked lime
the chicks will escape the gapes, and
the hens will be less subject to the
roup.
Rats will eat poison hidden in the
flesh of a newly killed little chick aftet
persistently avoiding all other methods
of poisoning or traps. The bird must
bo newly killed.
Wheu thumps appear in pigs give
raw linseed oil in quantities large
euongli to move the bowels. Give
direct to the patient, not to the sow,
unless more than oue is attacked.
Give fowls an abundance of room;
a yard 50 by 100 feet, or about one
eighth of an acre, is not too much foi
25 fowls, while a house for that num
ber should be at least 15 feet square.
Feed the sow liberally on grain
which is not too heating. Keep e
trough of wheat bran where she can
get it at all times. Do not feed too
much corn and she will be ready to
farrow a good, healthy litter of pigs.
Ground manured during the winter
direct from the stable for corn and
another piece just before plowing in
the spring gave higher yields of oats
for the earlier application, and lower
yields of wheat the following years.
These results were obtained in Ohio.
ClroomlnK Horse* by Klectricity.
The electric current is now applied
to operating horse-grooming machin
ery, less than three minutes being
sufficient forgoing over an animal.
Horse-clippers can also be operated by
electric power at high speed.