The Leon reporter., March 07, 1901, Image 8

About The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
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TA IMAGE'S SERMON.
SUBJECT THE GOSPEL AND
THE NEWSPAPERS.
From the Text: "xhe Children of This
World Are, In Their Generation, Wiser
fliAn the Children of Luke
8—The Church and Pr«ss*
(Copyright, 1901, by Louis Klopsch.)
Washington, March 3.—In this dis
course Dr. Talmage calls for a warm
friendship between those who preach
the gospel and those who make news
papers, the spoken word and the print
ed word to go side by side text, Luke
xvi., 8, "The children of tills world are
in their generation wiser than the
children of light."
Sacred stupidity and solemn Incom
petency and sanctified laziness are here
rebuked by Christ. He says worldlings
are wider awake for opportunities than
are Christians. Men of the world grab
occasions, while Christian people let
the most valuable occasions drift by
unimproved. That is the meaning of
our Lord when he says, "The children
of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light."
The Plain Truth.
A marked illustration of the truth of
that maxim is in the slowness of the
Christian religion to take possession of
the secular printing press. The oppor
tunity is open and has been for some
time open, but the ecclesiastical courts
and the churches and the ministers of
religion are for the most part allowing
the golden opportunity to pass unim
proved. That the opportunity is open
I declare from the fact that all the sec
ular newspapers are glad of any re
ligious facts or statistics that you pre
sent them. Any animated and stirring
article relating to religious themes
they would gladly print. They thank
you for any information in regard to
churches. If a wrong has been done
to any Christian church or Christian
institution you could go into any news
paper office of the land and have the
'real truth stated. Dedication services,
ministerial ordinations and pastoral
installations, cornerstone lc/ing of a
church, anniversary of a charitable so
ciety, will have reasonable space in any
secular journal if it have previous no
tice given. If I had some great injus
tice done me. there is not an editorial
or a reportorial room in the United
States into which I could not go and
get myself set right, and that is true
o-f any well-known Christian man.
Why, then,does not our glorious Chris
tianity embrace these magnificent op
portunities? I have before me a sub
ject of first and last importance: How
shall we secure the secular press as a
mighty reinforcement to religion and
the pulpit?
Indiscriminate Hostility.
The first thing toward this result is
cessation of indiscriminate hostility
against newspaperdom. You might as
well denounce the legal profession bo
cause of the shysters, or the medical
profession because of the quacks, or
merchandise because of the swindling
bargain makers, as to slambang news
papers because there are recreant edi
tors and unfair reporters and unclean
columns. Gutenberg, the inventor of
jtheart^^Mjml'a g~' was- to de
stroy hi^ypesand extinguishprfflT'art -ci»
because it was suggested to him that
printing might be suborned -Into the
service of the devil, but afterward he
bethought himself that the right use
of the art might more than overcome
the ggffittse of It, and so he' spared the
nd the intelligence of all fol
ing ages. But there are many to
day in the depressed mood of Guten
berg, with uplifted hammer, wanting
to pound to pieces the type, who have
not reached his better mood, in which
he saw the art of printing to bo the
rising sun of the world's illumination.
If, instead of fighting newspapers, we
spend the same length of time and the
same vehemence in marshaling their
help in religious directions we would
be as much wiser as the man who gets
consent of tie railroad superintendent
to fasten a car to the end of a rail
train, shows better sense than he who
runs his wheelbarrow up the track to
meet and drive back the Chicago lim
ited express. The silliest thing that a
man ever .does is to fight a newspaper,
for you may have the floor for utter
ance perhaps for one day in the week,
while the newspaper has the floor
every day in the week. Napoleon,
though a mighty man, had many weak
nesses, and one of the weakest things
he ever did was to threaten that if the
English newspapers did not stop their
{adverse criticism of himself he would,
with 400,000 bayonets, cross the chan
nel for their chastisement. Don't fight
newspapers. Attack provokes attack.
Better wait until the excitement blows
over and then go in and get justice,
for get it you will if you have patience
and common sense and equipoise of
lisposition. It ought to be a mighty
'sedative that there is an enormous
amount of common sense in the world,
and you will eventually be taken for
what you are really worth, and you
cannot be puffed up, and you cannot
be written down, and if you are the
enetny Of good society, that fact will
'come 6ut, and if you are the friend of
good society, that fact will be estab
lished.
Re-enforcement of Religion.
Again, if you would secure the secu
lar press as a mightier reinforcement
of religion and the pulpit, extend wid
est and highest Christian courtesies
to the representatives of Journalism.
Give them'easy chairs and plenty of
room when they come to report occa
sions. For the most part they are gen
tlemen of education and refinement,
graduates of colleges, with families to
support by their literary craft, many
of them weary with the push of a busi
ness that is precarious and fluctuating,
each one of them the avenue oLinfor
mation to thousands of.
impression of the
impression
They areJ
aermoE
great
fctheir
[the
|es.
a
(his
and
year
Eomfort
Oh, the
'people in
churches.'
preached to
^reporters,
^prayers
thou
tliere
will not be three preached to journal
ists and probably not one. Of all the
prayers offered for classes of men in
numerable the prayers offered for the
most potential class will be so few and
rare that they will be thought a
preacher's idiosyncrasy. There are
many journalists in our church mem
berships, but this world will never be
brought to God until some revival of
religion sweeps over the land and takes
into the kingdom of God all editors,
reporters, compositors, pressmen and
newsboys. And if you have not faith
enough to pray for that and toll for
that you had better get out of our
ranks and join the other side, for you
are the unbelievers who make the
wheels of the Lord's chariot drag heav
ily. The great final battle between
truth and error, the Armageddon, I
think, will not be fought with swords
and shells and guns, but with pens
quill pens, steel pens, gold pens, foun
tain pens, and before that the pens
must be converted. The most divinely
honored weapon of the past has been
the pen, and the most divinely honored
weapon of the future will be the pen
prophet's pen and evangelist's pen and
apostle's pen, followed by editor's pen
and author's pen and reporter's pen.
God save the pen! The wings of the
Apocalyptic angel will be the printed
page. The printing press will roll
ahead of Christ's chariot to clear the
way.
3nil anil (lie Printing Trem.
All things are possible with God, and
my faith is up until nothing in the way
of religious victory would surprise me.
All the newspaper printing presses of
the earth are going to be the Lord's,
and telegraph and telephone and type
will yet announce nations born in a
day. 1 he first book ever printed was
the Bible, by Faust and his son-in-law,
Schoeffer, in 1460, and that consecra
tion of type to the Holy Scriptures was
a prophecy of the great mission of
printing for the evangelization of all
the nations. The father of the Amer
ican printing press was a clergyman,
Rev. Jesse Glover, and that was a
prophecy of the religious use that the
gospel ministry in this country were to
make of the types.
Again, we shall see the secular press
as a mightier reinforcement of religion
and the pulpit by making our religious
utterances more interesting and spir
ited, and then the press will reproduce
them. On the way to church some 30
years ago a journalist said a thing that
has kept me ever since thinking. "Are
you going to give us any points to
day?" "What do you mean?" I asked.
He said, "I mean by that anything that
will be striking enough to be remem
bered." Then I said to myself, "What
right have we in the pulpits and Sun
day schools to take the time of the peo
ple if we have nothing to say that is
memorable!" David did not have any
difficulty in remembering Nathan's
thrust, "Thou art the man," nor Felix
in remembering Paul's point blank ut
terance on righteousness, temperance
and judgment to come, nor the English
king any difficulty in remembering
what the court preacher said when,
during the sermon against sin, the
preacher threw his handkerchief into
the king's pew to indicate whom he
meant.
The Church and the Press.
Now, as you all have something to
with the newspaper press, either in
issuing„a paper or in reading it, either
as produroes patrons, either as sell
ers or purchasers of the printed sheet,
I propose on the Lord's day a treaty to
be signed between the church and the
printing press, a treaty to be ratified
by millions of good people if we right
ly fashion it, a treaty promising.that:
we will help each other in our work of
trying to illumine and felicitate the
world, we by voice, you by pen, we by
speaking only that which is worth
printing, you by printing only that
which Is fit to speak. You help us,
and we will help you. Side by side be
these two potent agencies until the
judgment day, when we must both be
scrutinized for our work, healthful or
blasting. The two worst off men In
that day will be the minister of relig
ion and the editor if they wasted their
opportunity. Both of us are the en
gineers of long express trains of in
fluence, and we will run them into a
depot of light or tumble them off the
embankments.
The Disciples as Reporters.
That Providence intends the profes
sion of reporters to have a mighty
share in the world's redemption is
suggested by the fact that Paul and
Christ took a reporter along with them
and he reported their addresses and
their acts. Luke was a reporter, and
he wrote not only the book of Luke,
but the Acts of the Apostles, and with
out that reporter's work we would
have known nothing of the Pentecost
and nothing of Stephen's martyrdom,
and nothing of Tabitha's resurrection,
and nothing of the jailing and unjail
ing of Paul and Silas, and nothing of
the shipwreck at Melita. Strike out
the reporter's work from the Bible and
you kill a large part of the New Testa
ment. It makes me think that in the
future of the kingdom of God the
reporters are to bear a mighty part
About 25 years ago a representative
of an important New York newspaper
took his seat in my Brooklyn church
one Sunday night about five pews from
the front of the pulpit He took out
pencil and reporter's pad, resolved to
caricature the whole scene. When the
music began he began, and with his
pencil he derided that and then derided
the prayer and then derided the read
ing of the Scriptures and then began
to deride the sermon. But, he says,
for some reason his hand began to'
tremble, anc^ he, rallying himself,
sharpened hiinjencil and started again,
and broke down again and then put
pencil and paper in his pocket and his
head down on the front of the pew and
began to pray. At the close of the
service he came up and asked for the
prayers of others and gave his heart to
God, and, though still engaged in news
paper work, he is an evangelist and
hires a hall at his own expense and
every Sunday afternoon preaches Jesus
Christ to the people.
Words of Encouragement.
O men of the pencil and pen, amid
your unappreciated work you need en
couragement and you can have it
Printers of all Christendom, editors,
reporters, compositors, pressmen, pub
lishers and readers of that which is
printed, resolve that you will not write,
set up, edit, issue or read anything
that debases body, mind or soul. In
the name of God, by the laying on of
the hands of faith and prayer, ordain
the printing press for righteousness
and liberty and salvation. All of us
with some influence that will help in
the right direction, let us put our
hands to the-work, imploring God to
hasten the consummation. In a ship
with hundreds of passengers approach
ing the South American coast the man
on the lookout neglected his work, and
in a few minutes the ship would have
been dashed to ruin on the rocks. But
a cricket on board the vessel, that had
made no sound all the voyage, set up
a shrill call at the smell of land, and.
the captain knowing that habit of the
insect, the vessel was stopped in time
to avoid an awful wreck. And so in
significant means now may do wonders
and the scratch of a pen may save tha
shipwreck of a soul.
Are you all ready for the signing of
the contract, the league, the solemn
treaty proposed between journalism
and evangelism? Let it be a Christian
marriage of the pulpit and the printing
press. The ordination of the former on
my head, the pen of the latter in my
hand, it is appropriate that I publish
the banns of such a marriage. Le(
th-em from this day be one of the mag
nificent work of the world's redemp
tion.
LAKE DISAPPEARS.
Xgainl, a Groat r.ake of Fontli Africa.
No Longer on tlie Map.
A great lake has vanished in South
Africa. Ngami is its name and a map
drawn in 150S shows that it was then
one of the most conspicuous features
of the country. When Livingston,
however, visited it on July 28, 1S49, he
found that its water was slowly disap
pearing and that its banks were be
ing covered with rank vegetation. To
day there is no water in the lake, its
place being occupied by a sp.icious mo
rass, which quickly swallows any one
who is so adventurous as to set foot
on it. Beneath this morass is still
some water, but in order to bring it to
the surface, the ground must be bored
to a considerable depth. River Tauch:
formerly flowed into this lake, but no
the tributaries that led to the lake are
dry, and the river itself is also' choked
up thirty-two kilometers north of
Ngami. During the last ten or twelve
years the water has disappeared very
rapidly, and the reason apparently is
because the mouth of the river was
gradually filled with the thousands of
small floats or rafts on which the na
tives were wont to take their early
tribute of corn to Denokans. These
rafts were left year after year and
travelers maintain that the river
found itself powerless against an ob
stacle like this, the result being that
the river and lake have become dry
and that what was once fertile agricul
tural region is now bleak and barren.
Formerly there were several villages
near the lake, but now these, too, have
vanished, and only a few cattle kraals
are to be seen. "And it will be impos
sible to restore the lake," says S. Par
rarge, who visited the place recently,
"sisce in its present condition it would
require more water than the river
could give it. Lake Ngami is gone
forever."
i.atest Is Tent-Heat Cure.
Now it is proposed to cure consump
tion by baking the patient. Exposed to
the blasts of icy wind that blow and
whirl from every point of the compass,
in the most exposed part of the city of
Boston, stand two tents, which are the
abiding-place of two Baltimore men.
These tents are heated by the German
army method. A trench is dug around
the back tent with a branch to the oth
er. This is covered with sheet iron,
with an ordinary stovepipe for a smoke
outlet Under this a fire is built and
very shortly the place becomes delight
fully warm, despite the howling storm
outside. The purpose of the tents is to
demonstrate the value of the new
theory of baking for the cure of tuber
culosis. When the interior of the tents
is completed they will show only
chairs tables, and the heated trench.
In the latter the tubercular patient will
be placed. It will be heated to a tem
perature of over 200 degrees and the
patient will be literally baked. It is
thought the intense heat will kill the
tubercular bacilli which are the con
sumption germs. The instigator of the
idea is a southern physician, whose
name is widely known among medical
men as a daring scientist and original
investigator.
Frnit
at
Friendship.
A principal fruit of friendship is the
ease and discharge of the fullness and
swellings of the heart, which passions
of all kinds do cause and induce. We
know diseases of stoppings and suffo
cations are the most dangerous in the
body and it is not much otherwise in
the mind. You may take sarsa to
open the liver, steel to open the spleen,
flower of sulphur for the lungs, casto
reum for the brain but no receipt
openeth the heart but a true friend, to
whom you may impart griefs, joys,
fears, hopes, suspicions, counsels, and
whatsoever lieth upon the heart to op
press it, in a kind of civil shrift or
confession.—Francis Bacon.
How He Earned His Title.
The dean of Christ church, in the
'30s, was known as "Presence of Mind"
Smith. A well-known tradition ex
plained the same. Going down to
Nuneham with a friend in his under
graduate days, he returned alone.
'•Where is T-—-?" "Well, we had an
accident The boat leaked, and while
we were bailing it T-— fell over into
the water. He caught hold of the skiff
and pulled it down to the water's edge.
(Neither
of us could swim, and if I had
not with great presence of mind hit
him on the head with the boat hook
both would have been drowned."—
From "Reminiscences of Oxford," by
the Rev. W. Tuckwell.
State Officials Deceived.
Investigation seems to show that
South Dakota has paid somewhere near
$11,000 bounty for the scalps of prairie
dogs and young coyotes, the state of
ficials being under the impression that
they were paying for wolf scalps. Even
experienced men find difficulty in dis
tinguishing between thfe scalp of a
young coyote and that/of, a gray wolf
-4li I
FARM AND -GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST
AGRICULTURISTS.
'5
TO
Fome ^'p-to-Date Hints Aboat Oultlvs*
Hon of the Soil and Yields Thereof—
Horticulture, Viticulture and Floricul
ture.
'ftS
American Cattle rowers' Convention,
Denver, Colo., Jan. 31, 1901.
The first annual convention of the
American 'Cattle Growers' Association
is hereby called to meet at Denver,
Colo., at the Tabor Grand opera house,
at 10 o'clock a. m., Tuesday, March
5th, 1901, for the purpose of effecting
permanent organization, adopting a
constitution and by-laws and for such
general business as may properly come
before the convention. The present
basis of representation of this asso
ciation is individual membership, and
any citizen, a cattle grower and owner,
is eligible for membership upon pay
ncnt of initiation fee of five dollars,
aid will be entitled to one vote in.
his convention. This convention is
ho result of a meeting of a large
lumber of prominent growers of cat
tle from many states and territories,
held in Salt Lake City on the evening
of January 17th, 1901. The American
Cattle Growers' Association was
formed in full accord with the main
object of the National Live Stock As
sociation, the in session at Salt Lake
City. The present idea is for indi
vidual membership lo form the basis
of this association, which will give a
small cattle grower as much voice on
ihe floor of the convention hall as a
large owner, but this will be finally
settled at the first convention. The
only qualification necessary for mem
bership is to be a cattle grower and
owner. At present membership may
be securcd by sending your name and
address to the Secretary, Union Stock
Yards, Denver, Colorado, together with
ve dollars, the initiation fee that was
accepted at the meeting at which this
association formed its temporary or
ganization. It is expected that the
railways will make a greatly reduced
rate for the round trip to Denver.
This association is to protect and
advance the interests of all cattle
growers, large or small, equally, and
we want them all on the membership
roll. It is especially desired that a
largo attendance be had at the coming
convention at Denver, and any cattle
grower who can possibly come is urged
to do so. They may be assured that
the proceedings of the convention will
be highly beneficial, and their stay in
Denver exceedingly pleasant.—A. E.
de Ricqles, Secretary.
Origin and Development of the Apple
Blossom.
E. 8. Goff, Professor of Horticulture, Oulrer
sity of \Vltscou8lu.
Forecasting the apple crop. To
what extent may we anticipate the ap
ple crop? Without a microscopic ex
amination we can only give an opinion
as to the yield of fruit we may expect
next year. The buds are a guide to
some extent, but not an accurate one.
Round, plump buds on the fruit spurs
generally indicate embyro flowers, but
the hower-buds in some varieties are
so much smaller than they are in oth
ers that they are almost certain to de
ceive one who has not made a care
ful study of the subject. A sharp razor
and a high-power pocket lens, with a
little experience will enable one to
say positively whether a given bud
does or does not contain flowers, but
without these helps little positive in
formation can be gained.
The development of the flowers. Ow
ing to a lack of definite information,
I shall say little on the second division
of my subject The embyro flowers in
the apple appear to be nearly or quite
as hardy as the leaf-buds, hence the
flower-buds rarely winter-kill. When
the weather becomes sufficiently warm
in spring the buds swell and all of the
parts enlarge. The forming flowers in
autumn are overtaken by cold weather
in all stages of development from these
nearly ready to expand to those just
beginning to form, hence the flowers
on the same tree commonly vary two
weeks or more in their time of bloom
ing. The abundant water with which
the wood is stocked in spring stimu
lates an exuberant growth and puts a
stop to flower formation in buds in
which it has not commenced in
autumn. Very rarely this rapid growth
appears to cause a flower-bud to re
vert to leaf-bud, but this certainly
does not often happen in our orchard
trees.
After the flowers have expanded the
subject of pollination assumes Im
portance. Prof. Waite's experiments
have shown that the varieties of apple
are very often sterile, or nearly so, to
their own pollen that is, they will
not bear fruit unless they receive pol
len from another variety. This fact is
of great importance in the planting
and top-grafting of orchards. Experi
ments seem to show also that pro
longed rain during the blooming sea
son may injure the virility of pollen, as
well as prevent insects from distribut
ing it A very light frost while the
flowers are open is almost certain de
struction to the pistils, but there are
doubtless causesthat affect the virility
of the flowers that lie deeper than any
I have mentioned, and that are very
lltti'd understood. We know that the
fruit on all trees does not always "set"
well, even when weather conditions
seem favorable, and that the fruit
often drops badly shortly after set
ting. It is not enough that the sta
mens shall yield pollen, and that this
pollen shall be deposited, on ..the stig
ma. The pollen, the stigma and the
embyro must all be in a healthy con
dition, or fecundation does not result
'inese subjects call for much further
investigation.
Practical deductions. Let us now
consider some of the practical deduc
tions from the foregoing statements. I
have often alluded to favorable condi
tions for flower formation. What are
these conditions? They Involve the
whole environment of the apple tree.
Though largely climatic, they are to a
considerable extent susceptible to
treatment We must have, first, fav
orable growth conditions to produce
plenty of healthy leaves and buds, and
we should remember that all leaves
and buds are formed on new growth.
This means a moderate temperature,
plenty of moisture early in the season,
and Especially during late autumn and
winter, wise pruning and fertilizing,
andlfreedom from injuriot parasites.
We can promote a moderate tempera
ture. by planting on north or north
east slopes, if our country is rolling.
By early plowing wo prepare the land
to catch an hold the spring rains. If
these are scanty, we can keefc the sur
face fine and level to check evapora
tion if they are excessive we may
keep it rough to prevent washing, and
to favor evaporation. Wise pruning
promotes normal growth and admits
light to the fruit spurs. Normal
growth requires that the pruning rhall
be moderate and regular, that is, per
formed every year. It does not re
move large limbs unless they are dis
eased, nor does It head back sufficient
to start the fruit spurs. It
thins out the outer, smaller branches
and saves the older wood with
its fruit spurs. It is preferably
performed early in spring. Wise fer
tilizing means sufficient nitrogen to
promote normal growth In a season of
average rainfall, and sufficient phos
phoric acid and potash to develop and
mature a good crop of apples with its
seeds. The problems of fertility must
in the nature of the case be largely
studied out by the orchardist for him
self, for no two farms are alike. They
call for constant and persistent ob
servation, study and experiment. A
few general hints may, however, be
given. Unless the soil is known to be
very poor, manures should not be ap
plied in large quantities at once. Since
growth is desired early in the season
stable manures applied early should
be well decomposed. As a rule, nitro
gen is best given in the form of the so
called cover crops, of which 1 shall
speak later. Wood ashes, where these
can be had, will furnish the potash and
phosphoric acid.
Heavy SOI'R.
The novice in farming avoids heavy
soils. He think,- of them as soils hard
to work and as possessing little plant
food. Perhaps his bad opinion has
been strengthened by early experiences
in trying to cultivate undrained clay
land. Rightly handled, however, there
are no better soils than the heavy ones.
The first thing to be done in the way
of amelioration is to give good drain
age. This lets in both the air and the
frost and conduces to friability. A
heavy soil filled with water is a dis
couraging basis on which to attempt
to grow crops. Even the cold is unable
to do its work. Where the soil is
saturated to near the surface, the first
cold freezes it. Ice is formed and the
whole thing becomes, for the time be
ing, adamant. There is no breaking
up of soil cohesion as is the case where
the soil is well drained. In that case
the freezing is not of a solid body of
water, but of thin films of water
around the soil particles. The freez
ing of the water films forces the par
ticles out of the positions they previ
ously occupied and results in a general
breaking up of the texture of the soil.
This takes place in all ciay soils as
well as in all sandy soils where the
drainage is good. It is thus that heavy
soils, formerly unworkable, have been
brought under cultivation.
Heavy soils are frequently very rich
in the elements of plant food, both
soluble and insoluble. Fortunate is
the man who, having such land, studies
it and learns how to bring out the
wealth that is locked up in it
The Water Table.
.The water table is always an im
portant factor in farming. Its height
,ln the soil must always determine to
a considerable extent the value of the
land. Every farmer must take it into
consideration in his farming opera
tions. The water table is the solid
sheet of water in the soil. It rises and
falls' according to the prevalence of
rains. When weather conditions are
normal its position in the soil must
be several feet below the surface, if
the land is to produce a good crop of
almost anything. For most crops the
soil below the water table cannot be
of use, the roots finding the continuous
water surface an impassable barrier.
When the harvest fails on such fields
we merely say that the soil is too wet.
It sometimes happens that the water
table is relatively high in a field with
out that fact being shown by surface
indications. The upper few inches of
soil may be dry enough fol- the plant to
get a good start, but the water may be
so high that the plant never reaches
the size it should. Year after year
some farmers try to grow tame grasses
on land of this description, and com
plain because it will give a large yield
only of grasses that are semi-aquatic.
If .the water table cannot be lowered,
then it is just as well to settle down
to the conviction that only the grasses
and plants can be grown whose nature
it is to live partly in the water. The
scientific farmer, however, will in
vestigate and find out the actual state
of the water in his land.
V-.V'S- Killing Time.
"When I was a boy in a printer's
office," says Robert Bonner, "and it
came along about 3 o'clock in the aft
ernoon, I would say to myself, 'Sup
pose the proprietor should come up
where we were at work and say, "Rob
ert, what have you been doing to
day?" what would I answer?'
"He never did such a thing, but I
used to reason to myself, 'Suppose he
were to do it?" If I could not. with
pride and pleasure, point to what I had
been doing, I would pack up at 6
o'clock and leave the place. I consider
that kind of spirit is an element of
success, and there is always room for
men who show that kind of disposi
tion. The indolent man, who shiftless
ly goes through his day's work, will
never reach the goal of success. The
man who is constantly watching the
clock, waiting until it shall strike 6,
and trying to 'kill time'—well, it will
not be long before time will kill him.
so far as business is concerned."
V%
The volume of hog receipts at Chi
cago keeps up, 170,400 being the total
recorded for the week that ended Jan
uary 26th. Prices averaged about the
same as for the week previous, being
about 60 cents higher than the aver
age last year at this time.
The Punjab government's scheme for
the improvement of the breed of don
keys in the Punjab has been accepted
by the government of India, and the
purchase, during the current official
year, is sanctioned of fifty donkey
sires.
Feeding in sheep husbandry is like
any other problem in live stock. Good
care and feeding are necessary or the
flock will degenerate.
Th« World** Corn Crop,
The United gtates department of
agriculture has just issued a statement
of the world's corn crop for 1899. By
continents it is as follows: North
America, 2,210,500,000 South America,
90,000,000 Europe, $389,332,000 Af
rica, 33,158,000 Australia, 10,025,000
total, 2,733,015,000. In details the
yields follow: United States 2,078,
144,000 Canada (Ontario), 22,356,000
Mexico, 110,000,000 Chile. 9,000,000
Argentina, 75,000,000 Uruguay, 6,000,
000 France, 30,000,000 Spain, 24,667,
000 Portugal, 16,000,000 Italy, 88,536,
000 Austria, 14,583,000 Hungary, 113,
807,000 Croatia Slavonica, 14,106,000
Roumariia, 27,721,000 Bulgaria, 14,
000,000 Servla, 15,000,000 Russia, 30,
912,000 Algeria, 300,000 Egypt, 30,
000,000 Cape Colony, 2,858,000 Aus
tralasia, 10,025,000.
The statistics are Incomplete, as a
good many countries raise maize that
are not reported in the above. For
instance, the figures from Canada com
prise only the statistics of corn raised
in Ontario. Central America is omit
ted altogether. Some corn is being
raised in Asia, but none is reported.
The government report further says:
Useful ofHcial figures from the prin
cipal corn-producing countries are now
for the first time available for mak
ing an estimate of' the quantity of
corn produced in the world lu the cal
endar year, 1S99. From a compara
tive statement giving the world's crop
from 1895 to 1899, it is apparent that
the aggregate for the last-named year
was 2,723,015,000 bushels, an increase
of 07,522,000 bushels over the crop of
1898 and of 150,421,000 bushels over
that of 1897, but a decrease of 231,420,
000 bushels from the crop of 1896 and
101,330,000 bushels from that of 1895.
The strikingly characteristic feature
of the corn crop of the western hemis
phere, and to an almost equal extent
of the corn crop of the world, Is the
large proportion of the crop produced
in the United States. The average
production of this republic during the
five years—1895 to 1S99—has consti
tuted about 90 per cent of the average
product of the 'western hemisphere and
almost exactly 75 per cent of the av
erage crop of the world. The corn
crop of the United States has within
the last quarter of a century attained
a magnitude which makes it naore
than double In quantity any other
single cereal crop of this or any other
nation of the world.
The average annual production ot
corn in the world for the five years
enumerated in the tabulated statement
was 2,756,057,000 bushels and the pre
eminence of the western hemisphere
as a corn producer is excellently Il
lustrated by the fact that its average
production for the same period waj
over 82 per cent of the world's average
production or, stated in full, 2,269,380,
000 bushels.
Second In importance as a corn pro
ducer, but rather in an absolute than
in a relative sense, is the continent
of Europe. Confined by climatic lim
itations to the southern part of the
continent, principally to countries and
portions of countries lying between
the forty-eighth parallel of north lati
tuue and the coastal boundary on the
south, the crop has within these lim
its become of notable importance. In
Austria-Hungary, the second corn
producing country of the world, 'and
in Roumania, it is the principal cereal
crop. In portions of southern France,
in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Servla, Bul
garia, and in the southern part of
Russia, it has become an integral part
of agriculture. The average annual
crop of the European continent for
the five years ending with 1899 was
441,426,000 bushels, about 10 per cent
of the average crop of the world.
There is an obvious lack of abso
lute completeness in corn statistics ot
the western hemisphere, due to an In
ability to obtain either official or com
mercial figures from Central America,
and from some countries of South
America, in which countries corn is
known to be the chief article in the
dietary of the masses but, the omis
sion is unavoidable.
Remounts for the British Army.
Mr. J. Maclachlan Young, M. R. C. V.
S., who has acted as veterinary lieu
tenant with the Fife and Forfar Yeo
manry since March in last year, re
turned home last week, says the North
British Agriculturist. In the course of
an Interview with a representative of
the press, Mr. Maclachlan Young gave
an interesting account of his adven
tures, and some very pronounced views
on the subject of remounts. He holds
that the best animals for work of the
kind are the Basuto and Burmese po
nies. Australian and other colonial
breeds are also excellent, but the Hun
garian horses, though very good look
ing, are too soft, while the Argentines
are absolutely useless, and the ordi
nary British cavalry horse is too
heavy. There is no reason why a
moderate sized horse, with a little
blood" should not be bred in England
or Scotland, and such an animal would
be ideal for remount purposes. The
Boers, he says, must have a great re
serve of horses to begin with, but there
is no doubt they are now using
mares which in the earlier part of the
year were in foal,..and this has to some
extent increased their supply, but this
source must also soon be exhausted.
Coaohen of High Quality In Demand
There is said to be at the present
time a very good demand for high
priced coachers both for home and
foreign markets. In fact this demand
has been quite brisk for a year :past
-There are a large number- 'of good
sized cities in the United States and
in each city are people that can afford
to have a team of high quality coach
ers. This makes the volume of home
demand considerable. There is an es
pecially strong demand fOr well-match
ed teams, and men that have such to
sell can get a good deal more than
the going market price lor them. Not
being able to get this the buyers will
take the cross-matched teams at a
pretty fair price, if the quality be good.
Here comes in the value of color. It
shows that a prepotent stallion In a
locality is of even greater value than
ordinarily if he can throw the same
color in his colts. This fact should
discourage hap-hazard breeding.
Wild gobblers mate later in the sea
son, and tfce wild bens lay later th«^
domestic turkeys. The flesh of the
wild birds is of a better flavor and is
more delicate and tender.
REBUKE TO IDLERS.
Charles the Great Finds Poor Pupil*
Most' Prottclent.
More than 1,100 years ago there lived
in France a man who did much for
schools and learning. He was no leS3
a personage than king Of his country,
and was known as Charles the Great,
or Charlemagne. He was no mean
scholar himself, for he could speak and
read Latin and had some knowledge of
Greek. He spoke with great ease and
fluency, but, try as he might, he could
not learn to write. He even took his
tablets to bed with him, that he.might
practice when he could not sleep, but,
though no one could surpass him In
handling the sword, he could never
learn to manage the pen. However, he'
saw that his children were early taught
this very necessary accomplishment,
and invited scholars from all over the
country to come to his court. Here a
scholar of the name of Alcuin estab
lished a school known as the Palace
school, which Charlemagne attended
with his family and many members ot
his court. He enjoyed this school so
much that he wished every one to share
in the pleasures of learning, so he es
tablished schools in many bishop
rics and monastaries. In one of them
in Gaul he placed Clement, a Scotch
man, In charge of a number of child
ren. Some time after the school had
been opened Charlemagne, who was
traveling in Gaul, visited Clement and
made a little examination of the pu
pils. Now the school was made up of
children from different classes in so
ciety. There were children of nobles,
children of the middle classes and
children of the poor. What was Char
lemagne's surprise to learn that the
children of the poorer classes far sur
passed the others in the excellence ot
their work. He placed them on his
right hand and the little id!e nobles on
his left. Tiien addressing those on his
right he said: "I praise you, dear
children, for your excellent efforts, and
desire you to continue, so that you may
attain unto perfection then I intend
to give you rich bishoprics, or splendid
abbeys, and shall ever regard you as
persons of merit." But to ths others
he said, angrily: "By tho king ot
heaven, let others admire you as much
as they please as for me, I set little
score by your birth or beauty under
stand ye, and remember it well that
unless you give heed speedily to amend
your past negligence by diligent study
you will never obtain anything from
Charles." You can imagine what
dreadful consternation fell upon the
little nobles when they heard this
threat of their sovereign, and I fancy,
that the next time King Charle3 passed
that way he found that all the learn
ing was not confined to the children of
the poor. r- usff1
F!NE a laugh.
A ferlous Thins to Giggle la Church ID
1800.
Mrs. Beda Button of New Haven,
who lived beyond the century mark,
used to tell many amusing old-time an
ecdotes to her friends. One of them
seems to prove that a hundred years
ago a laugh might have been a serious
affair. In 1800, when she was a young
girl, she attended church one Sunday
with a friend of her own age. Now,
of course, it is not proper to giggle in
church or to whisper unnecessarily
but girls will be girls. During the
singing of a hymn she- observed some
thing funny going on in another pew,
where there was a number of lively
children whose sense of the import
ance of outward decorum could not
prevent them from indulging in pranks
on the sly. She called her friend's
attention to it in a whisper which was
in itself comically Worded and the
friend, taken by surprise, laughed out
loud, and then, overcome by confusion,
sat down, blushing violently. In her
embarrassment she did not notice a
ripe peach which lay on the seat she
sat on it, and a general titter ran
from pew to pew at her expense. The
next morning Mrs. Button was sum
moned before a magistrate, formally
and seriously reprimanded for creating
an unseemly, disturbance in church and
fined ten shillings. She was a merry
lady, even at a hundred years of age.
"But," she would say, "since that day I
have always been solemn as the min
ister himself in church, you may b*'
sure!" ,,
Tronblo with Bis Tonga
Patsy's difficulty with his tongue
again revealed the wisdom of the old
tashioned mother who has brought her
family through the various ills that
attacks childhood. Patsy McChreln,
10 years old, son of John McChrein,
started out for a walk last evening,
says the Cincinnati Enquirer. After
visiting sereral downtown stores he
started across South Washington stree^
bridge. The night was clear and col,
and frosty. Patsy stopped on
bridge and looked up and down
canal. Then he cautiously pushed
end of his tongue out of his
and against the polished iron
rail of the bridge. The tongue
fast and Patsy shouted and screamed.
James -Conley, who has a stove and
hardware store at the south end of
the bridge, heard Patsy's screams and
ran to his assistance, but did not know
what to do. He was.followed by ai
motherly old lady, who looked at PatsyJ
and exclaimed: "Bless the dear child
bring some cold water, pour it on
tongue and iron, and the frost
let go." Conley got the water, pq
it on, and in an instant Patsy was
But Dr. Warfield, who was sum]
by Patsy's father, says that si
be grafted on Patsy's„tqi „.
lost part of it during hl$
free himself.
•"•is
3
mm
1BJ
Plant Blows Away
A singular plant is
bean," known to bot
Etada tusslens. It is,
warm and moist tropical
cannot and will not st
dust settles upon the br^
in the leaves of this plantj
them a gas accumulates
leaves and when it gai^J
strength forcibly "blows
the pores of dust and md
exactly like coughing. At^
time the leaves tremble and1
actually'"gets red in the face,'*
the sinking of the green ch]
grains and the appearance of rcl
cles on the leaves. This plant ia
times used as a house plant,]
sweeping the rooms sets it cou
to the intense astonishment of p|
not familiar with its peculiaritii