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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1909)
Two of a Kind. Mrs. Boggs—I hate to have a man always complaining about some little thing. Now, my husband is continual ly harping on the lace curtains. Mrs. Woggs—Yes, and my husband has keen kicking on our front door every morning at three o'clock for the last 20 years.—Puck. Why He Won. Abou Ben Adhem set forth his claim. “I never lied about what a good time I had on my vacation,” he cried. And, lo, etc. Nebraska r If you wish to be Cured of Constipation Use Uncle Sam Breakfast Food A delightful food made from wheat and flax—na ture’s own remedy. Ask your grocer He Certainly Knows It is not a surrey with a rattling air-cooled power plant. It is a reg ular Automobile, made in Jackson. Moderately high wheels, 2-inch solid rubber tires. Detachable rear tonneau seat. A really handsome as well as strong car. It is not a racing car, but it climbs the big hills, handles the muddy roads and with top (storm front always in cluded) it is a perfect winter car. PIONEER IMPLEMENT CO. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA Send *his add to us and we will send you a circular with full in formation. 1A/Cri IBUfS'autogenous Uy ft Cb bi I IH vl this process all broken parts*of machinery made good as new. Welds cast iron, cast steel, alum iuum, copper, brass or any other metal. Expert automobile repairing. BERTSCHY MOTOR CO.. Council Bluffs. JDo you want the Best Corn Sbeller made? If so, insist on having a MARSEILLES CORN SHELLER Write for catalog or see your local dealer. JOHN DEERE PLOW CO., OMAHA TYPEWRITERS MAKES MtoH Mfr * price. Cash or time pay ments. Rented, rent applies. We ship anywhere for free examination. No da» P"*ll. W rite for big bargain list and offer B.F Swansea lo .427 Woodman Bldg .Omaha. KODAK FINISHING a ttention. All supplies for the Amateur strictly fresh. Send for catalogue and finishing prices. THE ROBERT DEMPSTER CO., Box 1197. Omaha. Neb. THE PAXTON g ;,X! Rooms from $1.00 up single, 75 cents up double. CAFE PRICES REASONABLE ti/rita for full informa* TVlIIC tion on VICTOR MACHINES AND RECORDS. Indestru ctable Cylinder Records, Piano Players Cicilian 1* lano Play era. Player and Piano Musk*. Easy Payments. Wholesale »uu Ketall. PIANO PLAYER GO. ——Candies Bold by the Beet Dealers. We will send to pupils ?,*•* teachers on receipt of 15cts. In stamps, a 15-1 neh hard maple, trass edged rule. JOHN G. WOODWARD &CO.“The Candy Men”Councit Bluffs, la. 5CARF. MUFK^fl W HAT BALTIC BLACK! I LYNX $ll&2 I SEND FOR BOOKLET- ALL, laiRS GUARANTEED. BOV i Aoirect from THE factory A ^Lg.n.aulabaugh J IM3 FARMAKI5T. MILLARD HOTEL Oouglas Sts. American«-92.00 per day and upwards. European ••91.00 par day and upwarda. flHAUA Take Dodge Street Car UMAnA at Union Depot. ROME MILLER OR. McGREW CO. SPECIALISTS I Pa, Fee When tar MEN & WOMEN | Cured Established In Omaha 27 Years Investigate our success, reliability, hon est and honorable dealing and office where the sick are treated and cured. All ailments, no matter how acquired. Write for FREE Symptom Blank, Exam ination and Consultation. 215 S, 14th St., Omaha, Neb. D|pt* POSITIVELY CURES J|LG0H0LIG INEBRIETY OPIUM MORPHINE AND OTHER DRUG ADDICTIONS. THIRTY YEARS of continuous success. Printed matter sent in plain envelope upon request. All cor respondence strictly confidential. THE tfEELET INSTITUTE Cor. Twenty-Fifth and Cas* Streets, OMAHA, NEBRASKA AMAGE 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 rombed, and the scene was one of devastation. Serious losses in hay and root crops during the summer proved but a slight forerunner of the damage which began in the fall with the dis appearance of green food. Burrowing BW^LORaRRDYl POPLAR KILLED| %3YFIELD MICE V £>/STf?!BUTJtiG PQ/30H TO HILL MICE down about the plants, and extending their underground runs from rodt 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 silver 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 reinvaded 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 of 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 of 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 of Mr. George S. Webb, manager of the large Rodgers 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 of 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. .. 1 'J..' MICE WHICH PRODUCED PLAGUE Ry March 15 poisoning, sup plemented by natural agen cies, had de stroyed the mice on sever al thousands of acres where they were most were received from King river, Quinn river, and Carson and Smith valleys, Nevada; from Weber river valley and from Sanpete and Utah 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, tne i niteu states rnoiog ical survey sent several assistants to the valley to check the threatened plague. Carson and 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 Minden mice were found I to be excessively abun dant, and in some fields 10 to 25 per cent, of the alfalfa plants had already been destroyed. Several 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 grain crops for the 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. The shortage of hay on the Rodgers ranch, where 2,200 acres were in alfalfa, was estimat ed at 2,000 tons. On Ankpr’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 of 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 Winnemucca, 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 less severe. However, gardens and isolated alfalfa fields were seriously Injured. Later, reports of mice in alarming abundance smaller centers were 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 wras already well grown, furnishing the mice abun dant food, by systematic poisoning, under the direction of the 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 of 1906-’07, when the mice seriously injured fields here and there, they could have been destroyed with poisoned alfalfa hay. 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 of 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 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 man. 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, represnting thousands of mice. While certain species of hawks seldom frequent trees, others habitually perch in them, notably the large rough-leg, Swainson, and red-tail, 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 (microtus 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 mouse 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 of future and even more disastrous outbreaks. In the extensive reclaimed areas of the west the abundant food and luxurious cover furnished by alfalfa field; and the miles of Irrigation ditches, which af ford these mice suitable homes along theii banks, greatly favor their increase, while sur rounding desert conditions limit the spread o. mice beyond the cultivated areas All Who Would Enjoy good health, with its blessings, must un derstand, quite clearly, that it involves the question of right living with all the term implies. With proper knowledge of what is best, each hour of recreation, of enjoy ment, of contemplation and of effort may be made to contribute to living aright. Then the use of medicines may be dis pensed with to advantage, but under or dinary conditions in many instances a simple, wholesome remedy may l>e invalu able if taken at the proper time and the California Fig Syrup Co. holds that it is alike important to present the subject truthfully and to supply the one perfect laxative to those desiring it. Consequently, the Company’s Syrup of Figs and Elixir of Senna gives general satisfaction. To get its beneficial effects buy the genuine, manufactured by the California Fig Syrup Co. only, and for sala by all leading druggists. AS UNDERSTOOD IN BOSTON | The Traditional Episode of “Little Miss Muffet” Brought Into Every-Day Cognizance. A diminutive specimen of juvenile femininity yclept Miss Muffet had placed herself in a sitting posture upon an article of household furniture ordinarily termed an ottoman or has sock— Ministering to the gratification of her gustatory organs by ingurgitating fhe coagulated portion of bovine lac teal fluid mingled with the watery serum of the same which remains after the coagulated portion has been segregated and withdrawn. Happening to glance downward she observed that a specimen of the genus Aranea, class Arachnida, remarkable for its ability to produce filaments of extraordinary tenuity from its own in terior, had taken a position upon the ottoman or hassock in immediate prox imity. Which totally unexpected incident aroused her apprehension to such an extent that she immediately, not to say precipitately, arose from her sit* ting posture and departed from the lo cality leaving the intruder in undis puted possession of the apartment. SUFFERED TERRIBLY. _ How Relief from Distressing Kidney Trouble Was Found. Mrs. Elizabeth Wolf, 388 W. Morgan St., Tipton, Mo„ says: “Inflammation oi me o i a a a e r reached its climax last spring and 1 suf fered terribly. My back ached and pained so I could hardly get around and the secretions were scanty, fre quent of passage and painful. I was urea all the time and very nervous. 1 beg" using Doan’s Kidney Pills, and after taking a few boxes was cured and have been well ever since.” Remember the name—Doan's. Sold by all dealers. 50 cents a box. Foster Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. WHAT DIFFERENCE? “Half a pound of tea, please?” "Green or black?” “Doesn’t matter which. It’s for a blind person.” As you grow for it, somewhere or other you will find what is needful for you in a book or a friend. — George Macdonald. SAVED FROM AN OPERATION By Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound Louisville, Ky. — “ Lydia E. Pink bam*3 Vegetable Compound has cer *1 uuniy none me a (3 world of good and III cannot praise it 1 enough. I suffered fromlrregularities, dizziness, nervous ness, and a severe female trouble. I.ydiaE.Pinkham’s Vegetable Com pound has restored I me to perfect health and kept me from the operating [■aDie. 1 win never De witnout mis medicine in the house.”—Mrs. Ham’e Lee, 3523 Fourth St, Louisville, Ky. Another Operation Avoided. Adrian, Ga. — “I suffered untold misery from female troubles, and my doctor said an operation was my only chance, and I dreaded it almost as much as death. Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound completely cured me without an operation.’'—Lena V. Henry, B. E. D. 8. Thirty years of unparalleled suc cess confirms the power of Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound to cure female diseases. The great vol ume of unsolicited testimony constant ly pouring in proves conclusively that Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Com pound is a remarkable remedy for those distressing feminine ills from which Bo many women suffer. _ MODERN SCIENCE DREAM BOOK __ rV._.__ One Being Prepared to Take the Piace of Unauthorized Manual Among Superstitious. Modern science is writing a dream book of its own to take the place of the unauthorized and mischievous manual in vogue among the supersti tious. When completed it will be a remarkable production, wonderfully in teresting and thoroughly practical and helpful, so states H. Addington Hruce in an article in Success Magazine. Science, of course, does not assert that all dreams are significant. A good many dreams—and especially the com , moner dreams of falling, flying, and the various forms of nightmare— merely testify to some trifling dis turbance of t^ie physical organism of the dreamer. This has long been rec ognized, and the text-books are full of anecdotes showing how dreams may be made to order, so to speak. One experimenter, by tickling a sleeper’s nose, caused him to dream that tar was being plastered over his face and then violently pulled off, causing agonizing pain; uncovering his knees gave him a dream of travel ing in a stage-coach in the dead of winter and suffering frightfully from the cold; putting a hot-water bottle to his feet made him dream that he was walking over the lava of an active volcano. But while appreciating the inconse quential character of dreams induced by such means, as also by indulgence in late suppers, the cramping of a muscle through lying too long in one position, or the slipping off of the bed clothes, science insists that there are times when even the most trivial of dreams may be profoundly portentous. Toy. Making City's Chief Trade. Nuremberg is the center of the toy trade of the world. More than half , the employes in the toy factories are women and girls. The wages of the fe male toy-makers are about 5 cents per hour. Of the estimated German toy output of $25,000,000 a year, about $19,000,000 is exported, more than half going to Great Britain and the United States. United States’ Gold Production. Fully one-fourth of the $13,000,000, 000 worth of gold produced in the world since the discovery of America has come from the mines of the Unit ed States.