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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1911)
--- ■ ---——-— -—- - ■ - ■■ - ----- ■ ' " ADAMS t F yue dm not rat three dozen *■—«■«« ust year, you did not hare your share- Over 40,006. n»s benches, or more than X0b6.66B.s06 **—■»»« were lm •* The immensity of this j| [ o<< nt can be more readily (rasped by it» ■ statement that !' * :.„id over an area 10 feet % . i • . • 4 from Xi * York to Han Fran. ;• o. or. placed end to mi sot!Id extend thirteen tta f around the each at the .cm-tor The “clip" in the peels would launch the ships of the world The wholesale value of the !>’a mp:.ttuw. at >ati at export, was tnrr »!i; »■ t«. wbll* tn all probability the con •um.BC pal-!:, of the fnHsd S';.!es expended over | eo# for tl •* delectable fruit f»crUi*r tfc-- pus: teu years the number of bateaus euexttned ,t the failed States has stare than tcrabled. and the increased tropical •m j. under cultivation assures even more star: : c ? cutes for the next decade. Many Eurvoeaa :-aur*nes are .mportin* Xn;e quanti ties of tis^aajk; !.« year Gnat Britain con sult do- r • - ■ worth. Germany. ov«-r fl te »S6. _ud Fnx.ee. fS66.C4Hi. ■■i'iih the- world.- d remain* food supply, and tl,. - Ldxt crop at. a statuijtt.il. the b-t-ix- «rcmes f.*wxrd as an Important iurtur la snvitu; the <L oar acre with lit.ie labor will annnally •-.if IT.uSu pouz-t of b_L .t«. or r -re than - -ad isati trd urnes as mu .-h food substance t n x tr tf ears. two and c rc-thirC timro as t _» Us.!' almost three l.m»i as mu. h per a-.e as tpr. and potlatte*. and four times as me a. as r-e The i tiMUtsl composition of ba sxto and potatoes is slnsoe* identical. X1** - r-jety *»if- 1 (*, * it e were very few people tn ' .i «•- .*'» «U . 4 : ui of having *cen a lad of fcassas*. The frai: was p nut ally un ktmrm. Now. :a eves the moat remote country • 'la . af the m/ji.-w" is a familiar «4i.t ’•«- : • ’i # f t n .t ra.;v <a* cf bunch** ara oumtf they belong a'raost wucliy to one r-'SAe of the family, the common yellow Cm aw. .* -aiiat* ta*e ref-ognsited and classified .-* r-s. >« did■ rent specie*, rangtng from the oremm si croup* ’ha’ do not develop fruit, -o tit . ..j' betu-oa*. 't- Hi' ita of the £;ianiard* lb rid l-r>t.* i* sot tjTiEos in the Araeri eaa aunwta la the I'ni’td State* If I* n*rd me!;- ta * 4t*t*" fancy basket* of fruit, but in the tropieaJ caws’rr* it •* quite a favorite. The i*d**-duxl btaau* .» large, bu' the stalk doe* not carry a* many hand*" a* the yellow varie ties. so •* it d»»* am bnng as lar.-e a price to the tnurf cad a 1 cileaaler. its extensive cultiva tion »« not enoowreged. kaaam culture is awe of the eldest of Indus try it Las h«*w known nar* the origin of the tia*l race. Long before the dawn of Lis IMJ is vie- d *-irid. perhaps long before the aid a arid rasa tram the .graters, man l.ved on the trust of the Jltmaa Tha henana sas gen erally on* id wed a aat.ve of aoutbem Asia, taf to hate been carried tato America hr Kwrufeaau. until Humboldt threw do-alt upon «* purely Aatattc gngia. quoting early authors whs asserted that the luxtsa aas cultivated ta Ameftan ion* Maw the ooequev’ It ia ■bunt that at the lime af tha taras in Peru, harass* farmed one of tee staple foods cf the to'itw of the asm and temperate regions of the Moa’»*» ia spite of the uncertainty as la yam which country may claim the fruit as indigenous, all tropical lands assert their right «* m. The bat import at to* of haaanxs to the (tailed duties c* urred ia 1144. shea the arhaewer Bernard, on a voyag* from Cuba, brought tats New York, as a commercial ven ture. a coasts**r*t d 3* bunches, but the real beginning of the tr.d* dnt«* hack to IMS. * he* Mr Charles Prank undertook the >tn pcets as af fruit from Colas to New York. I'resteaa ta that venture »m*ll cargoes con * tc.ng mainly of 'is red baaaaa had been re »e ed at trreguiar .ntertals from Cuba. In 1*' < aptaia Baker, as strser of a Cape Cod «-i raiT took a charier ta carry gold miners and machmrry J*d mile* up the Orinoco river 3n Venezuela After d-schargiag hi* cargo. Captain B*k« r ran into Jamaica ta secure aasae town*** as ballast to New York, carry ing a few truer be* of haaanas on the deck as aa experiment Tie result promised a great (Stare for the tadsstry aa that island, which has b«t !*’ bd. the experts last year reach ing HBMM ■p% the Amcftcaa continent. baaaeaa are sue ■vt.inly grv» a through 3* degree* of latitude. Ins TtBfk*. Mruc*. 33 degress north, to Amarus Mi Paraguay, la the Tropic of Capri cor*. t» degree* south—g hell over 3.008 m l*-* I* atdth. C JtuvlM* of the fruit is practical A&wvzs Csie&zvz* < f^^res&str *r j lamt+uraoty Vs I Hi •-> ■ m ? * Sm *. m <; ... s I ^Pj&iwe&SjZ _3v ^a*vzve^ 1 tZ’&m If restricted to the eastern coast line, for the banana is one of the thirstiest of plants, and cannot be expected to produce its maximum amount of fruit in districts where there are less than 100 inches of annual rainfall. Un fortunately for humanity, great areas of the Land lying within this belt are high, dry and sienie. while others are sandy or rocky, so only a small fraction is so located that banana growing can be made pro.itabie. The altitude must not invite danger of frost, and high tem perature is necessary for the growth. The s- uthern coast of the Mexican guif, the Puerto Barrios secrion of Guatemala, the Puerto Cortes distri't of Honduras, the Puerto Limon district of Costa Rica, the Biueilelds district of Nicaragua, the Bocas del Torro region of Pan ama. the Colombian province of Santa Marta, and certain portions of Cuba, Jamaica, the Do minican Republic. Haiti and Dutch Guiana, all combine the favored elements of soil and cli mate. The plant has two natural enemies—the gopher and the wind storm—but against al most ail other tropical conditions its hardi hood Is remarkable. It is a matter of common observation that the banana is absolutely seedless, cultivation through innumerable generations having led to a vegetable method cf propagation. Some of the primitive seed-bearing varieties are sti'i said to exist in isolated regions of the far east The first step to'vr.rd cultivation is the clear ing of ’it- land. Into t’ie tangle of shrubs and vines and the thi i; snarl of tropical vegeta tion the laborer comes with an ax and "machete" and cuts low everything but the giant trees. When all of the small timber and brush has been felled planting Is commenced. Young shoots are obtained from a planta tion already in bearing and these are placed in rows about 12 feet apart. When the planting is finished, the only labor necessary is to keep down the weeds and care fully clean the ground about the the root of each stalk. The banana plant will grow with wonderful rap idity under favorable cir cumstances. In fact, the development from a new ly planted sucker to the plant in full bearing is simply short of marvel ous. Within a space of six or seven weeks the two or three foot plant has more than doubled in size, and a month or so later the leaves-cease to unfold and a spike ap pears out of the center of the crown. This is the fu ture stalk of the bunch and carries a huge red blossom at the end. It develops rapidly, continually Denning more until in a short time it has turned com pletely upon itself, so that the bananas sro* end up or in a position the reverse of which they are usually hung. From seven to twelve mouths after the blossom appears the fruit is ready%for the gatherer. At irregular inter vals along the entire stalk, and only extending part of the way round at any one place, the bracts break forth tiny ridges of flowers— which arc almost immediately replaced by nine to twelve embryo bananas. These are the future "hands” of the bunch, so called on account of their resemblance to those mem bers when held in a certain position. The banana has a curious and prodigal meth od of propagation, for before the parent stalk and fruit have matured new ones spring up. These are offshoots that grow frem the root of the original planting, resembling sprouts from the “eyes” of a potato, and each in turn be comes a parent stalk with its fruit. It follows that unless most of the continually appearing new plants are cut out (which is the practice) the first stalk in a few years will become the center of a miniature jungle. The plants grow to a height of from fifteen to thirty-five feet, spreading in all directions, until the soil is overburdened with an enormous mass of stalk and leaf growth, and stunted fruit is produced. In planting for the market about 200 hills are allowed to the acre. Sometimes the number can be safely increased to 225, In which case there will be 500 stalks. However, after one year all of these stalks do not produce a mar ketable bunch of bananas, and the average yield is not over 300 full bunches to the acre per annum. Perry, the well-known authority om bananas, estimates that a grower can produce a bunch for from ten to fifteen cents, which will have a market value of 30 cents. The cost of pro ducing after the first crop is confined to culti vating and harvesting, which may be done for Cts-rrrTjV-^ ^LYsiiVrt^ >&v~ <5fcw?t* j&r&rt from $10 to $20 per acre yearly. The net profit, however, averages about $50 per acre in the various banana producing sections. The banana often grows in combination with other products. In some cases it is used as a shade for young coffee plants. A great many people are of the opinion that the banana would be much better if it was al lowed to ripen on the plant, but this is not the case. Such fruit is strong in flavor, does not mature to perfection, and the skin breaks, at tracting numerous insects, while the weight cf the bunch itself becomes too great for the plant, either one or both coming to the ground. The bunches are cut when the fruit is one-half to three-quarters matured, though still green and as hard as nails. It continues to feed from the cut stalk, which contains a great amount of sap, until fully ripe. Should the cutting occur too soon, however, the fruit, although turning yellow, will never attain the perfect flavor. With the cutting of the bunch ends the life of the plant, for it bears but once and is usual ly cut down to obtain the fruit, or succumbs a few days later to the cleaning process, which is merely the bringing of a spent piece to the ground. Cutting the fruit itself involves the only careful labor on the banhna plantation, as the bunches weigh from fifty to sixty pounds, and even slight knocks are followed by bruised | spots, under which the fruit quickly ripens and decays. However, by the liberal use of dried <£5° &sSAr<5 banana leaver the fruit is safely brought to the railroads. Bananas grown for the market are planted, as a rule, on the border of navigable waters Plantations are divided into sections or zones of about ten to twenty miles in length, and the zones are "cut" in rotation, thereby cleaning up the available supply of fruit in one or several sections while it is maturing in others. In Costa Rica the system which has been evolved for handling the fruit from the time it is cut from the plant until it is placed on the dealer’s little stand in the far interior cities ol the United States is indeed marvelous. When a steamer starts from a United States port to secure its cargo a cable is sent advising of the departure, so that preparations can be made for cutting the crop. The carrying ca pacity of the vessel is known almost to a bunch. Each plantation manager furnishes at the be •ginning of the week an estimate of the amount of fruit he can cut. and one, two, or three sec tions may be called upon, according to the size of the ship and the quantity of fruit available in each section. About thirty-six hours previ ous to the expected arrival of the steamship or I ders are sent to the plantations, notifying them to cut fruit for delivery on a specific date The day before the steamer is due trains are; made up and sent out to pick up the fruit, these , trains being so timed that steamers will not be delayed waiting for cargo. On the morning of the cutting, the plantation ■ is all astir. First out are the “cutters," whc go up and down the long avenues of banana plants, closely inspecting each hanging bunch j In cutting the fruit long lances are used, palm poles armed with broad steel blades. The stalfc of the tall plant is half severed at a point about eight feet above the ground. The weight of the fruit causes the top of the plant to bend slowly to the earth, where the bunch is cut from the stem by a stroke of the machete. Following the cutters come the picking-up gangs, who de liver the fruit at the receiving platforms along the railroad track. An inspector watches the fruit as it is passed into the cars. He counts. and grades each bunch, rejecting those thal j show signs of ripening and those that are un | dersized or bruised. After cargoes are discharged in the United j States, solid trains of banana cars run as "spe cials" every day in the week from New York, i Baltimore and New Orleans to all of the large cities of the country. Carloads are even shipped to Calgary. Canada, over 2.000 miles from New Orleans. . The front ventilators of the forward cars ol these trains, and the rear ventilators of the i last cars, are connected by means of canvas tubes run into a main trunk chute. A powerful j exhaust draws off the heat thrown out by the fruit in its ripening process, and the fans cir j culate cold air through every car in the train During the winter months the operation is re i versed, and fruit in transit during very cold weather is wanned while proceeding to its i destination. Sunday Observed in China Pitri W tlkt F>a»«ry Kiftjfo* Will Kc«f M«ty Uw First Day sf IDs WMK. n,u« u stevtac ii|M of esrscdiag of western rivllizatioc.and Is hastening to make up for lost time. Its latest, move Is embodied in an official de termination to observe Sunday as a day of rest While the considerations prompting this step, may not be re ligious. the result is sure to be bene ficial. Sis days of work to one of rent constitute proportions justifiable on scientific grounds, and furthermore will help to put China in accord with the rest of the civilized world. The importance of the reforms that are following one another in China and the extent to which they are radical may be appreciated when it is con sidered that until the present genera tion outsiders, in practically every part of China, were “foreign devils." There were no railroads, and no dis position to permit the construction of any or to encourage anything not already tested by centuries of prac tice. china not only has railways now, but is building more and has in prospect a network of lines to grid iron the empire. It has a parliament, a constitution and a cabinet, all the acquisitions of a decade. China seems destined in a very short while to take a much more important position that is now occupies in world affairs. Volunteer Cooks. On a camping trip of young persons two of the girlB volunteered to get breakfast the first morning while the rest of the party went off to find a spring. When the searchers returned with the water, they found nothing ready but the coffee, which, being in temperature-retaining bottles, re quired no preparation. “Where’s the bacon?” asked cne ot the men. “Didn't the fire burn well enough?” “The fire's all right,” said the wrould-be cook, “but we'd like to know bow you expected us to fry bacon without any lard?”—Lipplncott’s Mag azine. VIRGINIA IN THE CITY By PHILIP KEAN (Copyright, tart, by Associated Literary Press.) For hours the girl had walked through the city streets, hot, dusty, tired, hungry. She sought work, but could not find it. Everywhere she was turned away. They wanted only those who had held similar positions, and Virginia, fresh from the country, could claim no knowledge which would be of use to her in town. It seemed to her that the tall build ings on each side of the street frowned ominously. As evening came on she grew afraid. She hated to go back to the tall tenement where she had paid a week's rent for a room. Din ner was out of the question, and she had had no breakfast or lunch. It was with a gasp of relief, there fore, that she spoke to a boy who stood on the corner under a street Samp. “Why, Billy Locke,” she said, “Is It really you?” “It sure Is,” he said heartily and grasped her hands. “But what on earth are you doing in town. Virginia?” She told him her little story. The aunt with whom she had lived had died, and Virginia was unwilling to be a burden in the homes of outsiders. “But I can’t find work. Billy," she said. He was only twenty-one but he had a man's discernment of a woman's need of protection. “You oughtn't to be running around these streets alone,” he said gravely: “you’d better let me take you back to your boarding house right now.” “It is not a boarding house,” she in formed him. “I just have a room there and take my meals out." "Have you had your dinner?” he de manded. She Gushed. “No—o,” she stam mered. “You come right In and have some thing to eat.” he commanded. She would let Billy order nothin? for her but a glass of milk and some crusty rolls. He urged upon her a more elaborate feast, but her inde 1 l waitress"! ! WANTED I — "You Wouldn't Take a Fosition Here. Would You?” pendence made it impossible for her to accept too much of the bey who had been only a casual acquaintance in her home town. "What are you doing?” she asked him. He had a fairly good position in the packing department of a big store. "Some day. I want to go back homo and have a store of my own,” he said. “I don’t care much about living in the city.” "It would be lovely here If I only had money,” Virginia said, but Billy shook his head. “It ain't any place for people like us. We are better off in small places." Virginia did not dare tell him how homesick she had been. “I have just got to find work,” she said desperately. Then her eyes bright ened. “I believe you have brought me luck,” she exclaimed. “How?” Billy demanded. She pointed to a sign on the wall, ‘‘Waitress 'wanted.” Billy, remembering her refined home surroundings, expostulated. “Oh, you wouldn't take a position here, would you?” But she did take it. There was a head waiter, a young man of some what sporty appearance, who passed her on, when she questioned him, to the woman at the desk. Arrangements were made for Virginia to come the next morning, so Billy took her home promising to see her soon. Every day alter that he sat at the table where she earved, and every day he begged her to let him write to his people and make arrangements for her to go home. ‘It makes me sick to see you working here," he said. "It needn’t,” she told him. “We get good things to eat, and I have a com fortable room, and tomorrow I am going to buy myself a new dress and a hat." She hoped when she told him that that he would ask her to go out with him to the theater or to some of the restaurants where some of the other girls went. But he did not do anything so daz zling. He blushed and whispered, “Will you walk In the park with me on Sunday?” She consented, wondering If he were stingy. He surely made as much money as the head-waiter, who Invited, her to go with him on Saturday night to see a play at a near-by theater. This was the kind of invitation she craved, and she accepted gladly. On their way to the theater they passed Billy Locke. He bowed, antf Virginia saw the astonishment in his eyes. "Serves him right for not tak* ing me himself,” was her thought as she tossed her head, but all the even ing his miserable face haunted her. The head-waiter proved to be poor company. He was not in Virginia’s class and his conversation was limited. Virginia, however, made another engagement with him for the follow ing Saturday, and the next uay when ! she went with Billy Locke to the par ; she told him of it. ; "He's awfully nice, he 13 -n gener : ous,” was her statement. “Perhaps he's generous • poor Billy said, “because he hasn't anything ahead of him to save for.’ I “I should think a m.--u who cared for a girl would wan' to give her a l good time,” said Virgi-’a. For a moment Blily was silent. Then | he faced her. “Lock here, Virginia.'' he said, "I want to take you back home and put you in a little house 0$ your own. and care for you for the rest of your life. And I can’t do it if I spend money on you now. I cannot 1 bear to see you in a place that you don't belong, like that lunchroom. It ■ is not the place for a lady, like you. 1 and that head waiter Is not a gentle ' man. I don't like to see you with him i and I don’t think you ought to go with him. Virginia.” He spoke with a vehemence that as tonished Virginia. She had not dream ed that Biilv had it in him. “Why; Billy Locke,” she gas. ;d, “I didn't sup pose you thought about me that way.” “Well I do,” said Billy, earnestly, “I love you. and I w: ut to marry you. Virginia, and by fall I shall have enough to take us both back where we want to be. Will you wait till then. Virginia?” She hesitated. "Oh, I can’t say what I will do right now, Billy.” She thought it over and the vision of the little home among the lilacs came to her when, on the hot days, she served luncheons to a ravenous popu lace. In vain did the head-waiter whisper in her ears dreams of future delights. What had he to offer her that could compare with the dreams Billy had put into her head? Trips down the river, and to amusement resorts— these were things of the moment. But Billy’s promises were for a lifetime. The next Sunday in the park she told the results of her decision to Billy Locke. “It Is becacsa you are so good, Billy,” she said. “Somehow from th<^ very moment I saw you standing on the corner, I knew that I could trust you.” "You tet you can,” said Billy, fer vently. The Power of Pantomime. Henry E. Dixey. the comedian, was praising the pantomime powers of Nijinsky, the Russian dancer. “Nijinsky's pantomime skill is won derful,” he said. “Without saying a word he makes you laugh or weep or shudder or rage—all by means of pan tomime. Once, indeed, on a bet of 50 rubles, Nijinsky, all by pantomime, expressed to a large audience the fact that his younger brother. Plotr. though born in Moscow, was at present stay ing at a small boarding house near Warsaw.” Vaudeville in Ancient Rome. Arbuckle, the coffee man, told Spreckels, Jr., that Havemeyer was a much misunderstood patriot “You misunderstand Havemeyer just like I did," said the coffee magnate. “He is a fine, cultivated man—why, he plays the violin.” “So did Nero play the violin,” was Spreckels’ retort It shows how careful a man should be to avoid blundering. If Nero ever actu ally played the violin it was nearly * 2,000 years ago, and the world has never been permitted to forget it “Pop, is the world round?" “That, my son. depends on who gives the answer. The extreme opti mists say it is sometimes square, and the majority of pleasure seekers de clare it is very flat” Let Fortune Escape Him “Old Man Cheney” Sold Land for a Song, but Does Not Seem to Regret IL One of the reasons that the old New England farmers were forced to aban don their homesteads is that they did not conserve their resources. Through lack of foresight, they sold for small sums property which was afterward immensely valuable. But we have one citizen whose un fortunate lack of foresight even we can appreciate. He is close to ninety years old now, and last Fourth of July we got out the great ugly yel low landau in which General Grant was hauled by eight pairs of horses from Franconia to the Prolific house co his famous tour of the country, we decorated it with streamers, and we rode “Old Man Cheney" through the town, as a tribute to one whose luck was so colosaally bad. Old Man Cheney once owned the Profile notch, and he sold It all for $100! Today, of course. It Is one ot the most valuable tracts of land In summer-resort America. It must be admitted, however, that some of us pity the old gentleman more than seems necessary. His life has not been perceptibly shortened by depression. He allows he had a very good time with that $100!—American Magazine. — A Commercial Failure. "Is that astronomer successful?” "Not very.” replied the popular sci entist. He Insists on spending his time staring through a telescope when he ought to be at a typewriter plunk ing out articles for the magazines.” A Preference. "I'd rather be a live rabbit than a dead lion, he said, after they had been sitting for a long time when *** “’most oppressive, wish." ’ *h# rupU*“- 'yau your,