FINE RECIPE FOR COLDS.
Any druggist can supply these la
gredienU or will get them from hie
wholesale house. .
"Mix half pint of good whisker, two
ounces of glycerine; half ounce of
Concentrated pine compound. Shake
the bottle well each time and use in
doses of a tcaspoonful to a tablespoon
ful four times a day.?. This prescrip
tion is said to work wonders.
The Concentrated pine is a special
pine product and comes only In halt
ounce bottles, each enclosed in an air
tight case, but be sure It Is labeled
"Concentrated."
REAL NEED.
XL. Jjr
"i say, oiu cnap, will you lend a
friend a dollar."
"Is he really in need of it!"
"Rather. lie wants to pay me with
It."
RASH ALL OVER BOY'S BODY.
Awful, Crusted, Weeping Eczema on
Little Sufferer a Score of Treat
menu Prove Dismal Failures.
Cure Achieved by Cutlcura.
"My little boy had an awful rash all
over his body and tbo doctor Bald It
was eczema. It was terrible, and used
to water awfully. Any place the water
went it would form another sore and It
would become crusted. A score or
more physicians failed utterly and dis
mally in their efforts to remove the
trouble. Then I was told to use the
Cutlcura Remedies. I got a cake ot
Cutlcura Soap, a box of Cutlcura Oint
ment and a bottle of Cutlcura Re
solvent, and before we had used half
the Resolvent I could see a change In
him. In about two months be was en
tircly well. George P. Lambert, 13
West Centre St., Mahanoy City, Pa
Sept. 26 and Not. 4, 1907."
PaUar Drag Cham. Corp., Sola Props, Boitoa .
Typographical Union Led.
The first tuberculosis sanitarium to
be erected for the benefit of the labor
ing men was built by the Interna
tional Typographical union in con
fection with its home at Colorado
Springs. The International Printing
Pressmen and Assistants' union have
recently decided to erect a similar
sanitarium, and steps are now being
taken to open such an institution. The
International Photo-Engravers' union,
while not conducting a sanitarium of
Its onn, pays for the treatment of its
tuberculous members In Institutions in
various parts of the country. The
International Boot Workers' union are
recommending to their members that
they ally themselves with the various
organizations united In the fight
against tuberculosis.
The Rare Gift of Courtesy.
Courtesy includes not merely social
kindness, graces of speech, absence of
tudeness, but honorable treatment ol
business associates and of all the fel
low citizens with whom a man of af
fairs may have business to transact
It i not American to keep one cltl
ten waiting all day at the door be
cause he Is poor, and to grant an
other citizen an Interview because it
is believed ho is rich. Wisdom is not
confined In a purse, and frequently
much wisdom may be learned from a
poor man.
A Long-Panter.
Mary, aged 14, was found one day
by an older sister sobbing and crying.
"What is the matter?" she asked,
with great concern.
"Three boys have asked me to go
to the dance to-night," was the unex
pected reply.
"Well, my dear child, certainly that
is not such a terrible misfortune."
"Yes; but I told the first one I
would go with him, and the last ont
was a long panter" Harper's.
THE DIFFERENCE
Coffee Usually Means Sickness, But
Postum Always Meant Health.
Those who have never tried the ex
periment of leaving off coffee and
drinking Postum in its place and in
this way regaining health and happi
ness can learn much from the experi
ence of others who have made the
trial.
One who knows says: "I drank cof
fee for breakfast every morning until
I had terrible attacks of indigestion
producing days of discomfort and
nights of sleeplessness. I tried to give
up the use of coffee entirely, but found
it hard to go from hot coffee to a
glass of water. Then I tried Postum.
"It was good and the effect was so
pleasant that I soon learned to love
It and have used it for several years.
I Improved immediately after I left
off coffee and took on Postum and
am now entirely cured ot my indiges
tion and other troubles all of which
were due to coffee. I am now well
and contented and all because I
changed from coffee to Postum.
"Postum is much easier to make
right every time than coffee, for it is
so even and always reliable. We
never use coffee now in our family.
We use Postum, and are always well."
"There's a reason" and it is proved
by trial.
Look in pkgs for a copy of the famous
little book. "The Road to Wellville."
Evr trad iht above UUett A
appara from tlma to tlm. They
era KeauUa, traa, ud fall af fcaaaaa
latataab
i Z, . ' . .
fctrsy rSTC iA- -sv .vtf?:?
ijjf
TbTh
r w mm a w m a. ' wm m m a ma - - mm m m m m a m a mm m a : r m v a ar a w .
V J IsmL w
Lrf tSam to
U ' I HILLED 3Y A
I I
AMAGK by field mice
attracted the attention
of the ranchmen in
the lower part of Hum
boldt valley, Nevada,
early in the spring of
1906, and became se
vere during the fol
lowing summer. In the
fall and winter of 1906,
and became severe
during the following
summer. In the fall
and winter of 1906-'07
damage had increased
until fields here and
there in the valley were seriously in
jured. By October, 1907, a large part of the
cultivated lands in this district had
been overrun by vast numbers of
mice. The yield of hay had been re
duced by one-third; potatoes and root
crops were largely destroyed; many
alfalfa fields were ruined by the mice
eating the roots of the plants, and the
complete destruction of this, the chief
crop in the valley, was threatened.
The height of the plague was
reached in November, when it was es
timated that on many large ranches
there were from 8,000 to 12,000 mice
to each acre. The fields were riddled
by their holes, scarcely a step apart,
averaged 150 to 175 to the square rod.
Ditch embankments were honey
combed, and the scene was one of
devastation. SeriouB losses In hay and
root crops during the summer proved
but a slight forerunner ot the damage
which began in the fall with the dis
appearance of green food. Burrowing
I r
DSTMB(jrtiG fOQQtl TO HILL MICE
down about the plants, and extending their underground
runs from root to root, they either killed or seriously In
jured the alfalfa. By November they had destroyed so
large a percentage of the plants that many, fields were
plowed up as hopelessly ruined. They attacked also the
roots of trees, seriously Injuring or quite destroying or
chards. They killed most of the young shade trees planted
along ditches, and so completely girdled large Lombardy
and sliver poplars that In some cases they caused the
death of even such hardy trees.
The great majority of ranchmen knew neither what to
expect from such great numbers of mice nor how to check
them. Such plagues had usually been allowed
to run their course until brought to an end by :
natural agencies. Hence it is not surprising
that in Humboldt valley no concerted or sys
tematic effects to suppress the plague In its
earlier stages were undertaken, but after the
mice swarmed in thousands over the fields
many attempts were made to destroy them by
distributing wheat poisoned with phosphorus.
These, however, were spasmodic and generally
proved futile, as the fields experimented on
were quickly relnvaded from adjoining lands.
While a few fields favorably located were
saved by early poisoning, the results of such
unsystematic efforts amounted to practically
nothing in overcoming or even materially
checking the plague.
The preparation in general use by ranch
men consisted ot wheat treated with a strong
solution of yellow phosphorus in carbon bi
sulphide, a cheap and effective poison for field
mice, but inflammable, explosive, and danger
ous to birds. As a result ot its extensive em
ployment in the valley, California quail, an in
troduced species, were decimated, and mag
pies, crows, meadow larks, and smaller seed
eating birds suffered extremely. On one occa
sion 67 horned larks were found dead on about
four acres a few hours after the poisoned
grain had been distributed. Fortunately hawks,
owls, gulls, and ravens were not affected, but
many skunks and domestic cats were killed as
the result of eating mice dying or dead of phos
phorus. Several accidents occurred in han
dling the solution, and cases of fatal poisoning
of live stock were frequent.
Several attempts by ranchmen to Induce con
tagious diseases among the mice by means ot
advertised bacterial preparations failed.
Chiefly through the co-operation ot Mr.
George S. Webb, manager of the large Rodgera
ranch, systematic experiments to destroy the
pests, undertaken early in January, 1908, by
the biological survey, demonstrated that such
mouse plagues can be controlled and the great
er part ot the losses prevented. The experi
ments of the survey proved that mice can be
effectively destroyed In winter by alfalfa hay
poisoned with strychnia sulphate, and this
preparation was generally recommended in the
valley. On the Rodgers and Anker ranches a
force of 7 to 15 men was employed to distrib
ute the poison In the fields, with most satisfac
tory results, and without the dangers Incident
to the use of phosphorus and grain.
By March 15
poisoning, sup
plemented by
natural agen
cies, had de
stroyed the
mice on sever
al thousands ot
acres where
they were most
Mice WHICH PRODUCED PLAQUE
abundant, and the plague was broken before
the remaining alfalfa fields had been overrun.
In scattered centers mice continued in de
structive numbers until May, but without re
gaining to any considerable extent by repro
duction they steadily decreased. Later in the
summer they had almost disappeared from the
valley.
The scourge of mice had swept over about
four-fifths of the cultivated area in the lower
part of Humboldt valley. Of 20,000 acres in
alfalfa, about 15,000 were so seriously injured
as to require plowing and replanting. Over
most of this area the alfalfa was replaced by
graln'crops for tho season of 1908 at great ex
pense and loss, since good alfalfa lands pay
gross returns of from $60 to $70 per acre,
while good grain crops return only $35 or $40
per acre.
Tho shortago of hay on the Rodgers ranch,
where 2,200 acres were in alfalfa, was estimat
ed at 2,000 tons. On Anker's ranch of 650 acres
it was estimated at 600 tons. Other ranches
suffered in proportion, and the loss of hay in
the valley amounted to not less than $50,000.
W. C. Pitt, who farms 1.400 acres of alfalfa,
estimates his complete loss at $20 per acre,'
or $28,000. John Font estimates his damage
on 1,000 acres at $20,000, and Mr. Anker con
siders his loss on 650 acres to be $8,000. Mr.
Webb, on the Rodgers ranch figures the com
plete loss on 2,200 acres, part ot which pays
considerably short of the best returns, at
$30,500.
A careful consideration of the losses in hay,
pasturage, root crops, and trees, the expense
of restoring alfalfa fields to their former con
dition, and deducting the value of a grain
crop for 1908 shows the average loss to be
about $20 per acre. On this basis the damage
to the valley amounted to $300,000.
Simultaneously with the plague in the lower
part of Humboldt valley mice appeared in
enormous numbers farther up the Humboldt
river and its tributaries about Wlnnemucca,
Battle Mountain, and in Paradise and Little
Humboldt valleys. As the lands Infested in
those districts were chiefly great natural hay
meadows of red top and wild clover, the dam
age was loss severe. However, gardens and
isolated alfalfa fields were seriously injured.
Later, reports of mice in alarming abundance
I PLDNT
HILLED BY
were received from King river, Quinn river,
and Carson and Smith valleys, Nevada; from
Weber river valley and from Sanpete and
Vtah counties, Utah, and from Honey Lake
valley, California. In none of these localities
was the damage so extensive as in Humboldt
valley, though plagues of like severity were
plainly threatened.
On learning of severe damage by mice in
Carson valley, a hundred miles southwest of
Lovelocks, in April, 1908,
the United States biolog
ical survey sent several
assistants to the valley to
check the threatened
plague. Carson arid Hum
boldt valleys are alike in
having large areas in al
falfa bordered by desert
lands, on which field mice
do not live. On a tract of
about 2,500 acres near
MIndcn mice were found
to be excessively abun
dant, and in some fields
10 to 25 per cent, of the
alfalfa plants had already
been destroyed. Several
smaller centers werO similarly affected, while
over the valley generally the mice were some-
what in excess Of normal numbers. This was
a condition similar to that presented in Hum
boldt valley during the spring of 1907, and
young of all sizes were abundant. Examina
tion of many females, a large percentage of
which were pregnant, showed an average of
from six to seven young, while in a number as
many as ten were found. Although alfalfa was
already well grown, lurnlshlng the mice abun
dant food, by systematic poisoning, under the
direction of th biological survey men, they
were so effectively reduced in the infested
areas as not to be dangerous again during the
season In other words, a plague was averted.
The results actually obtained here prove
that mouse plagues can be checked. It takes
several seasons to produce a general plague of
mice, and damage is noticeable for at least a
season before a serious outbreak occurs.
Though natural agencies may be depended
upon to overcome such abnormal numbers
finally, yet, unless active repressive measures
are taken, enormous damage to crops will re
sult. Control, easy at first, becomes more and
more difficult as the mice Increase in numbers,
and, after a plague is well established, is very
expensive.
In Humboldt valley, in the beginning, a lit
tle poisoning with green alfalfa or crushed
wheat would have sufficed to prevent the
plague. During the fall and winter ot 1906-'07,
when the mice seriously injured fields here
and there, they could have been destroyed
with poisoned alfalfa bay. Even during the
summer of 1907 concerted and vigorous poison
ing would have destroyed them at a cost small
indeed In comparison with the damage they
inflicted later.
Of the many remarkable features of the
mouse plague In Humboldt valley, none is of
greater significance, than the large numbers of
birds and mammals which gathered to feed
on the mice. Under rows of trees, about the
bases ot fence posts, and scattered every
where in the fields were regurgitated pellets
of mouse fur and bones, affording abundant
proof of the services rendered by birds, while
many holes and destroyed nests in the fields
showed the work done by skunks and coyotes.
So apparent was the assistance rendered by
man.
these creatures that It attracted the
attention and secured the protection
of the farmers, many even sparing the
coyote, whose services as a mouse de
stroyer deserve to be more widely
recognized. In Nevada coyotes were
frequently seen catching mice in the
daytime, and their droppings were
composed entirely of mouse fur and
bones.
It is deplorable that, even when
their usefulness is as apparent as
here, some persons continue to de
stroy valuable birds and mammals.
During the investigations in Humboldt
valley no less than 29 large hawks
were found hanging on wire fences,
their useful lives ended by thought
less gunners.
The striking evidence of the valu
able services of the natural enemies
of mice seen during this plague is but
an example of their constant value.
Hawks, owls, gulls, crows, ravens, her
ons and shrikes among birds, and
skunks, coyotes, foxes, weasels, bad
gers, and wildcats among mammals,
habitually prey upon field mice, and
are most valuable in preventing undue
increase of these pests.
Thorough studies have shown
hawks to be most beneficial allies of
the farmer, orchardist and nursery
Most species rarely, and many of them
never, attack poultry. In the Nevada valleys
all species of hawks and owls are distinctly
beneficial, and here rigorous protection cannot
be too strongly advocated.
Among mammals the weasel and the skunk
are especially worthy of protection. They are
most persistent enemies of mice, and are less
likely to be driven out by civilization than are
other mammals. When particular individuals
raid poultry houses it may be necessary to
destroy them, though usually it is easy to
make such houses proof against their attacks.
Far from being a menace, they are generally
most beneficial mammals, and, living, are
worth many times the value of their pelts.
It is gratifying to note that in many locali
ties the people are learning to appreciate these
natural enemies of rodent pests, for even more
important than legislation for the protection of
valuable birds and animals is the recognition
of their services by the farmers.
In Nevada it was noticed that hawks and
owls hunted chiefly In fields near the few plan
tations of large trees to be found in the val
leys. Beneath these trees the ground was
fairly carpeted by disgorged pellets of fur and
bones, repressing thousands of mice. While
certain species of hawks seldom frequent
trees, others habitually perch in them, notably
the large rough-leg, Swalnson, and red-tall,
which were the most abundant and persistent
mousers.
It was estimated that during the height of
the outbreak birds and mammals destroyed
some 45,000 mice daily. Although their com
bined assaults unaided did not suffice to abate
the plague, yet when the number of mice was
reduced by poison, and long before it ap
proached the normal, they were able not only
to prevent Increase, but to cause a rapid de
cline, which continued until the mice became
so scarce that the predatory birds and mam
mals were forced to scatter and look else
where for food. It Is fair to infer that had
these friends of the farmer been protected In
the beginning they would have been able from
the first to hold the mice in check, preventing
the abnormal Increase so that there would
have been no plague.
The mouse which produced the plague in Ne
vada, locally known as "black mouse" is the
Carson field mouse (mlcrotus montanus), one
of the numerous species of short-tailed field
mice or meadow mice, a group which has
caused widespread destruction in various parts
of the world. This field mouse is rather wide
ly distributed in the valleys of Utah, Nevada,
northeastern California and eastern Oregon
In nearly all parts of the United States short
tailed field mice are among the most abun
dant of mammals, and a number of species in
widely separated localities have occasionally
exhibited the same tendency to excessive In
crease, indicating that favoring conditions may
produce mouso plagues wherever the mice ex
ist. Even when in small numbers they de
stroy considerable clover and alfalfa and in
Jure orchards, nurseries and root crops.
This is the first recorded instance of an irrup
tion of field mice in North America attaining
the proportions of a plague. The experience
indicates the probability ot future and even v
more disastrous outbreaks. In the extensive
reclaimed areas of the west the abundant food
and luxurious cover furnished by alfalfa fields
and the miles of Irrigation ditches, which af
ford these mice suitable homes along their
banks, greatly favor their increase, while sur
rounding desert conditions limit tho spread of
mice beyond the cultivated areas.
