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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1916)
courtyard or ouatltalan Plantation THIS is written in what would } he called in Virginia a “manor house." But since It is in Guatemala it is of the Spanish colonial rather thau the English colo nial type, says Wingrove Bathon in the I'tica Saturday Globe. The residence is the office and home i of the largest sugar plantation in Gen- ] tral America, and to visit it has been a privilege which has fallen to the lot of very few residents of the I'nited States, or of Europe, either, for that matter, as the records of visitors here show. The great Humboldt came down ] through these fertile valleys of black i mud years ago and recorded that he j had found at last the celebrated “gar- | den of Eden,” and he predicted that : what was then a wilderness beneath ! the tropic sun would some day blossom : and bear fruit—the sweetest dreams of | the agriculturist. But lie never dreamed that here would one day be found, as anyone who comes here may, a sugar mill in which it was necessary to invest, as is done in tlic United States and in Ctfba, $500, 000 before a pound of sugar could be obtained. Nor did he dream tiiat visit ors of today would find, as they do. an American chemist making sugar with a polariscope. assisted by thousands of Indians of the west coast of Central America, descendants of the ancient Toltecs mixed with Mayas. The approach to Pantaleon for the j writer and the circumstances of the in spection were exceptional. It may he as well to set down here that in Guate mala and In many other Central Amer ican countries, a plantation, or a series of plantations, is known as a “fiuca." Magnificent Scenery. The start was made from Guatemala City, the capital, in the morning. Down ;«'ude through magnificent views of the mountains and volcanoes which make a setting for the capital the train trav eled over the west coast branch of the International Railways of Central America, which was built by the late C. P. Huntington despite almost insur mountable obstacles of an engineering character, and among waterfalls and water powers from which some day will be developed vast electrical en ergy. j.tri mg uuu>t* mt* iritui a:? il tvuilUil down through canyons, umid the hazy, fleecy clouds were the peaks of the twin volcanoes, Agua (water) and Fuego (fire), no longer active, which have sent down into these valleys in years gone by showers of rich black mud that contains all the chemical ele ments of the best fertilizers, and in which three crops of corn each year are raised, A third volcanoe. Santa Maria, blew out in 1904, destroying mil lions of dollars’ worth of property. The train skirted the shores of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, ns interesting and as beautiful as anything Switzerland has ever of fered any traveler—I.ake Amatitlan— where some of the well-known resi dents of the capital maintain bunga lows for recreation; not for “summer resort’’ purposes, as there is neither winter nor summer in Guatemala. The train passed through miles and miles of tender, green, young sugar cane, as well as cane in full growth, being cut by the Indian laborers, or oc casionally by Jamaican negroes, whose villages of thatched cottages lined the tracks and were visible in the valleys down which the train sped. Some cot tages were thatched with banana leaves, some roofed with red, native tiles of beautiful tints. Indian Fruit Sellers. Indians came to the train with pine apples in size and flavor far superior to anything one obtains In the United States, and with coconuts, grapes, al ligator pears, rich, juicy, fruity man goes of fresli pink and red and pale green tints, as different from the dark, pickled mango of United States con sumption as can well be imagined. Everywhere, from Guatemala City to San Jose, on the Pacific, there was. in truth, a very “garden of Eden," with immense tracts of land not yet taken up, Ready for the enterprising citizen of the United States, whom the government of Guatemala is ready at every turn to encourage and to assist. At Esquintia, a modern city of brick and stone and cement, there are me morials of the Spanish domination, anil of the times when the aristocracy of Guatemala went there each January and February for diversion. It is a city filled with palms, and there are many beautiful baths. There are other memorials, too. and some of these attracted immediate at tention upon arrival at Pantaleon. These are of the Indians who are mak ing that great estate, the greatest in Central America, still greater. In the patio behind the “manor house" was a great group of stone idols, visible through the open doors of the resi dence, with a fountain for a foreground which was surrounded by four im mense coconut paints, studded a few feci up with that parasite of the trop ics—orchids. No otic knew when or how the idols had come there. It is said that all along the west const once extended the Tribes of Clto lula. who founded many “lordships.' Sculptured stone idols were first found in this neighborhood in ISfiO. Excava tions brought to light pillars, statues stone obelisks, etc. Bas-reliefs wers • found whicli contained tlie representa tions of the horns of cows. Oxen were ne>t known in tlie new world before the arrival of the Spaniards. Some archeologists and historians therefore, believe that these bas-reliefs represent the goddess Isis e>f tlie Egyp tians. Bur this has to do with ancient history and the mystery of the civili zation and settlement of Central Amer ica. a theme for the scientists. As we turned away from the sculptured stont idols and monuments at I’antaleoc plantation we found, ready waiting, a most up-to-date steam locomotive and private car. to transport us through tho miles and miles of sugar cane to San Vincente, a coffee heneficio (cleaning factory), and another heneficio, named San Gregario, also belonging to Her rarra Brothers, the owners of Panta leon sugar plantation and mill. Coffee and sweetening. The coffee trees had just come into flower and their fruit was not yet ready to wash and put through the various processes, but we were in luck on the sugar plantations, for it was cutting and grinding season, and aftei we had watched the .1,000 cattle grazing knee deep in the great pastures and the Indians cutting the cane we came back to the mill and the manor house. In the mill we saw 1,000 bags of 100 pounds each of refined white sugar being turned out each day. Sugar cane was fed in and refined sugar in sucks, 1,000 of them a day, taken out. The mill worked night and day, 24 hours on a stretch. Grinding season began at Christmas and continued until the mid dle of May. There are 60,000 tons of cane in a crop. The white granulated sugar goes tc the United States aud white Demnrra crystal sugar Is made for export tc London. Every Indian on the place has been taught there. There is a splendid laboratory equipment, with perfect chemical and scientific control of the product. Nobility of Labor. It is the mission of the United States to ennoble toil and honor the toiler. In other lands to labor has been con sidered the lot of serfs and peasants; to gather the fruits and consume them in luxury stud war, the business of the great. Since the medieval times Eu ropean society has been organized on the basis of a nobility and a people. . . . Thus has been set on human industry and stigma of perpetual dis grace. Something of this has been transmitted to the new civilization in the West—a certain disposition to re new the old order of lord and laborer. Let the odious distinction perish; the true lord is the laborer and the true laborer the lord.—John Clark Ridpath. No Joy in Invalidism. Larry had caught u severe chill which necessitated medical attend ance. A milk diet was ordered— “nothing but light food for a few dayp.” At the end of the second day ;Lafry refused “to be stharved to deuth liny iongir wid thim sups o’ milky tliet's fur the pood o’ yer hllth.” “Ach, bad scran to him fur a naygur!” cried poor Larry. “What's the use o' bein’ an invalid if Oi can’t git something extry, let alone feedin’ me loike a chile? Oi 11 git up and go to wurrk in the roarnin. and thin Oi’Il hev to be fed loike a man !”■—Exchange. " ' -- Bloodhound Not Fierce. No real reason exists for the com mon belief that the bloodhound is a fierce animal, ready to tear the per son whom it may be tracking to pieces. It Is, on the contrary, rather noted for its gentleness, even seeming timid, un less specially trained to attack. The origin of the breed, according to Count Le Coutepilx de Canteleu, an au thority on the subject, is from St. Hubert of St. Hubert’s abbey in the Ardennes. It dates from the earliest ages, and the breed certainly existed In the tlnu of the Gauls. More Practical. “Are ,you ever moved by a subli mated altruism?” “No; as a rule, we Young Man Must Fit Himself For Life Work If He Is to Advance T _ By CHARLES S. BOHART A man of twenty-six years, in seeking for a position, was asked to name the trade or profession for which he had fitted himself. He could give no satisfactory answer. He had never thought of nor fitted himself for a life work, but after leaving high school had taken the first job in sight and then floated from job to job. When asked whether he thought that method would ever get him anywhere, he indicated that he had been taught to believe that a worthy young man with a high-school education would eventually reach a creditable goal if he patiently followed a path of careful, conscientious and concentrated effort in any position—but still he had arrived nowhere and was willing to work for $15 a week. What's the trouble? Who's to blame? What is wrong with his logic? Can anyone get far in this world without a well-laid plan and a firm will to follow it? Who should have instructed and counseled this man at the beginning of his career? Would classroom talks and counsel by a trained and experienced voca tional instructor during certain school years help? Should the state take the responsibility (in order to alleviate unem ployment) of instructing those who graduate from our grammar and high schools regarding vocations and choice of life work ? If the man in question had wisely chosen a fitting life work and secured a position at the beginning, which might have been a stepping stone toward his thus developed life ambition, would he not have today been nearer a larger place in life? Passing of Virginia City Recalls Its Old Glories Despairing of n revival of Virginia City, New, the Enterprise, a newspaper on which Mark Twain once worked, has given up the ghost. In dying it recalls attention to a city once as fa miliar on men’s tongues as Verdun is today, but for reasons quite other. The city of fnbulous riches, the city where millions came and went in an hour, the city whose earth yielded the coveted metal as in geyser floods, the city that had a life and a luxury which today amid its sagebrush seem mythical, is now a collection of shacks, no longer able to support a newspaper. Only yes terday, it seems, Virginia City was the most populous in Nevada, though Car son City, as we all learned in our geographies, was the capital. Few things in American history are more romantic than the rise and fall of Vir ginia City. The state of Nevada sur vives—a sovereign state is indestructi ble. In area it equals all of New York and New England combined; Staten Island is more populous. Nevada has had its lteno and its Goldfields, for one thing or another famed, as it has the husk of the once dazzling raining camp, now bereft of its newspaper. But Ne vada. with all its vast extent, has not yet learned to graft cactus with cab bages, and until it does its Bedouin cities will fold their tents like the Arabs.—New York Globe. What Women Are Doing. Dr. Katherine Bement Davis, head of the department of corrections in New York city, lias charge of over o,500 pris oners. Mrs. Fred A. Busse, wife of the late mayor of Chicago, is now working for that city as a collector at a salary of $30 per week. (nmnnm axairaTfBimmra'B'B' b b-b Star of Filmdom mnmnr Mary Fuller. Young actress who has risen high in the movie world. Sergt. .T. P. Coughlin of the United States marine corps has been on shore duty for 18 years at the League Island navy yard, where he acts as orderly to the commandant. QettKerecl Smites Took It Coolly. “You proposed to Miss Gadder in a canoe?” “Yes.” “That’s danger ous." “Why so?” “Well—er — an embrace or a kiss under such cir cumstances is apt to upset the boat.” “There was no t danger in this case. She didn’t J even do me the honor to stop humming a little tune while I was proposing to her.” A Matter of Pride. “Motoring is enjoyable, but It isn’t the best form of exercise," said the health expert. “What do you consider the best ex trcise?” “Walking." - “The chief objection some people have to walking is that they have no way of indicating to strangers as they hike alo..g that they could ride if they wanted to.” Convincing. “Do you believe that domestic argu ments are convincing?” queried the roung man who had recently begun to play the part of husband to a leap tear girl. “Sure thing.” answered the man who had been up against the matri monial game long enough to render hair-cuts unnecessary. “Each of the parties to the argument is fully con vinced that the other is wrong.” Political Strategy. “I have just discovered that our can didate plays the pipe organ during his leisure moments.” “It would never do for the other side to get hold of that.” “What 3teps must we take?” “Well. If the truth leaks out, we’ll stjruiTt i’.'lm with the voters by saying It isn't a pipe organ he plays, but a mouth organ." A Shirker. “Hasn't Bliggins a motor car?” “Yes.” “But you always see him walki A Close Shave. "uou t tell me you c a n ”t find work," said the hard-faced house keeper. “Well, mum,” re plied the tramp at the door, “it’s true a man offered me a job only las' week, but I could not take it” “And why not?” “I wuz para- ■ lyzed.” - “You seem all right now.” lessum. Ye see, I wuz paralyzed wid fright.” Feminine Diplomacy. “I spoke a few words with Mrs. Dub waite this morning,” said Mrs. Gad der. “And what did you say?” asked Mr. Gadder. Oh, I raved about her gown, and told her how well she was looking ” “My!" “If I am not invited to the old frump’s next reception it won’t be my fault.” Experience. “So you want to enlist, young man’” “Yes, sir.” Ever have any experience at fight ing?” “Yes, sir.” “Where?” “In a bakery, sir." “What sort of experience in fighting could you get in a bakery?” “Fighting flies, sir.” Going Too Far. “A man should try to have a good opinion of himself.” “Perhaps.” “I mean a certain amount of self respect.” “Oh, that’s all right, but some people don't seem able to distinguish between self-respect and self-admira tion.” Those Panama Slides. Bacon—The worlds present potato crop is approximately large enough to fill two-thirds of the Panama canal. Mother’s Cook Book. “We pension a soldier who loses a leg in battle against a man-foe. Hut do we pension a mother who wears out her eyesight mending half the night, keeping the wolf from the door, fighting off that elemental foe of the race—Hunger Fright?” Oatmeal Scones. Take a cupful of oatmeal, one-third of a cupful of wheat flour, one tea spoonful of baking powder and one half teaspoonful of suit. Mis togethei thoroughly. Cut into this one table spoonful of butter and hot milk tc make a stiff dough. Roll out to a half inch in thickness. Cut in rounds with a biscuit cutter and bake on a griddle until brown, then turn on the other side. Tear apart and butter generous ly. Serve at once. Broiled Lamb’s Kidney. Split as many kidneys as are needed and remove tlie fat and sinew, then soak in acidulated water. Drain and wipe dry. Immerse in olive oil and broil. Serve on toast, garnished with parsley and lemon. Curried Chicken With Coconut. Parboil a chicken cut in pieces, then roll in flour in which a teaspoonful of curry lias, been mixed, fry In butter and drippings until brown. Have a fresh grated coconut with two cupfuls of water and a dash of lemon and the coconut milk added to the chicken,, thicken and serve with rieed potatoes. Scotch Fancies. Take one egg. well beaten, add a half cupful of sugar, one-third of a cupful of coconut, a dash of salt and a half teaspoonful of vanilla, a two thirds of a cupful of rolled oats, mis and drop on a baking sheet. Let stand a few minutes when taken from the oven to make them firm. Rice. Cook unpolished rice until tender in plenty of boiling water, season with i salt and serve with cream and sugar. ] This rice is much more nourishing I thau the polished rice commonly on ! the market. Mixed Fruit Ice Cream. Take the juice of three oranges, three lemons, three bananas, and a cupful of cooked apricots, three cup fuls of sugar and three cupfuls of rich milk, put the apricots and bananas through a sieve and mix the other in gredients until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze as usual. To Curl Feathers. Try this method of curling your feathers. Take a round stick and hold the feathers close to it lengthwise and fold the down carefully around the wood. Next slip over it a closely fit ting bag of any material; this , bag should be a trifle larger than the curling stick. Hold this bag in the steam of a kettle until | thoroughly dampened, after which place in a warm spot to dry. When the hag is removed it will be found that the feather is nicely curled. Around the World, The Russian senate has been in ex istence since 1711. Farming and pig rearing are the staple industries of Serbia. In China a father cannot leave more property to one son than to another. Methodist ministers in the United States number over 30,000. In Serbia every grown man can claim five acres of land from the government, which is exempt from all claims of i debt. British vital statistics show that j there has been more marriages and less births since the war has been in prog- I ress. In Russia the people are divided into ! three “stocks,” Great Russians, White i Russians and Little Russians. It will cost Australia about $25,000,- I OOtUto open the Murray river to navi- i gation and to construct an Irrigation ! system that will develop 1,500,000 acres of land. For the swifest photography an elec- ] trical device has been Invented that ! ignites flash light powder and snaps a camera shutter when the light is most brilliant. Gold mining companies in South Af rica. are experimenting with blasting by electricity with a view to minimiz ing the fine dust, which is regarded as the chief cause of miners’ phthisis, i For automobile tourists there has been invented a complete bed thal weighs but 14 pounds and, with the exception of the blankets, can be fold ed and carried in the tool box of s car. By reason of the lack of fast col ors, gray has become very fashionable in England and the large quantity oi dark brown colors on hand before the war are responsible for the present vogue of browns there. Scarlets, pinks and blues are very scarce. Unusual methods were employed at Vandalia, Mo., in effecting the rescut of a valuable mare that fell into a well 22 feet deep. The owner, assist ed by neighbors, began throwing haj in the well, the mare climbing on the hay as fast as she could and at last reaching the top safely. A first-aid package is hereafter to be included in the equipment of every aeroplane belonging to the Germar army. It 'will be placed behind the seat of the pilot, and marked with a conspicuous red cross, so as to be read ily found by the first person to reach the scene of an accident Death decreased the government’s civil war pension roll nearly 1C per cent during the last fiscal year. A total of 396,370 Union veterans re mained on the roll July 1, or 33,255 less than a year ago. Payments to WISCONSIN TEACHER IS FARMING 40-ACRE PLOT WITH MUCH SUCCESS To Succeed Farmer Must Enjoy His Work So That It Becomes Pleasure Instead of Task—Study Each Field and Know Its Weaknesses and Possibilities — Secure Good Returns From Alfalfa—Try to Make Each Cow Comfortable. (By G. H. ALFORD. State Demonstration Agent, Maryland.) In Walworth county. Wisconsin, a man who taught school for 23 years, is farming a 40-acre farm with won derful success. F. F. Showers is this money-making teacher-farmer. He ha& a herd of cows that made him a net proSt of $72 a head in a year. Read his suggestions and story: “If you are thinking of joining the union so you will hare but an eight or ten-hour working day, dc not think of trying to operate a small Tarm. Tc suc ceed in farming you must so enjoy your work that it becomes a pleasure instead of a task. “In fact, success in farming depends upon the man who runs the farm. For if he thinks enough of his problem he Will succeed no matter what lines of farming he may pursue. Love and en joy your work. Study each of your fields to know its weaknesses ar.d its possibilities. Harvest your crops so that you will receive the largest re turn from them. Give your herd a chance. Produce, care for, and raise only the best. Study Each Field. “I study each field so that I know what crop it will produce to best ad vantage. A farmer can do this on the small fields. The farmer on the small farm must utilize all the corners of the farm. The returns from some fields on a small farm will be equal to the wastes upon many large farms. and 25 pounds of barley to the acre. Because of the thorough preparation of the seed bed the barley yielded 40 bushels to the acre. “Upon this field last year eight tons of alfalfa hay were cut from every acre. My profit was $98.40 an acre, after deducting the interest on the land at $200 an acre, the taxes, the cost of plowing, disking, planting, fertilizing, and liming besides the expense of cut ting. tedding, raking, cocking, capping, shaking out, and hauling the hay. “In curing alfalfa to get the larg est return I cut the hay as soon as the dew is ofT in the morning and start tedding so that I can cock and cap the hay in the afternoon. About three o'clock t.:e alfalfa is raked into wind rows, carefully cocked (not tumbled) and then capped. I leave the hay in the cocks from eight to ten days, de pending on the weather. (If neces sary to leave the hay in cock for sev eral days the cocks should be moved about so as not to kill or weaken the plants under them.) Then the cocks are opened up, but not scattered out, and the hay placed in layers so that the leaves do not become brittle and rattle off. An hour cr two later I be gin putting the hay in the mow. It is surprising how the alfalfa retains its color until it is thrown out of the mow in the following summer. Business Principles. “I try to run my farm as the best business men run their businesses. Grace Waterloo, Prize Cow on Showers' Farm, “If my soil is acid, I use lime. If my field is wet or poorly drained, I j tile it. A farmer can fertilize the field, plow it. prepare the seed bed as it should be prepared and get the s:ll in the best condition for plant food and the maintenance ot the moisture. "The farmer cn a small farm must raise crops which are best adapted for his soil and from which the best returns in milk, pork, beef, cr what ever you have to market, can be se cured. Often the surplus roughage or hay can be sold and feeds bought which will produce more milk cr meat than this hay or roughage would have done. "I found that 1 could grow alfalfa on my farm and get good returns. I made a study of the plant, found that it needed a well-drained soil, and that it required a well-prepared seedbed. I knew that I had a well-drained soil and that it was necessary for me to supply the seed bed. The farmers who drove past, stared at me when I har rowed and harrowed the field I was preparing for alfalfa. I went over the ground eleven times until it was as mellow as a well-worked garden. Inoculated Alfalfa Field. "Sweet clover was growing three or tour feet high along the roadside, so I Most business men would not feed their cows hay just because it hap pened to be on hand if he cculd sell that hay and buy other feed which would produce more milk. Last year I sold $300 worth of alfalfa and pur chased feed valued at $296.95. I did this so I could have a balanced ration, and I know my cows like a change in feed. “I try to make each cow as comfort able as possible. I give her soft bed ding, curry her, and speak tc her kind ly. I find that these increase the divi dend from my milk pails. “I make a difference in the amount of feed I give to a cow weighing 1,000 pounds and one weighing 1,200 pounds. Reason shows me that although the larger cow may not produce the larg est amount of butterfat, more feed is required for her maintenance. This food, of course, will vary frcm the kind of feed fed for butterfat. I think that the secret of success or failure In the dairy business lies in the worth of the individual cow. “I know it is possible and profit able to have one^ head of stock on each acre. My silo and alfalfa fields have helped me to unlock the secret of money-making on the small farm." A few acres well tilled often yield . . 111 v Feeding Time Among Poultry Flock. inoculated my alfalfa field with the soil in which the clover had been grow ing. The stand did not satisfy me, so that when I planted my second field I fertilized the field before plowing It in the fall, disking and harrowing in the spring. “My first field yielded five tons to the acre, but it did not satisfy me. I bought a lime sower and ground lime stone, and inoculated the soil from the old field at the rate of 500 pounds of soil to 2,000 pounds of ground lime stone. 1 sowed 20 pounds of alfalfa vastly more pleasure and profit than do larger but less carefully managed farms. A silo is one of the most essential things on the farm. You may think you can't afford a silo, but you can’t afford to be without one. A silo should be a part of the permanent Improve ments on every farm. There is no doubt as to Its advantages. It Is ab solutely essential for the economical feeding of live stock, and especially for the profitable production of milk and beef. PREPARATION TO AVOID RUST Camphor Dissolved in Lard Is Recom mended for Bright Parts of Farm Machinery. An ounce of camphor dissolved in a pound of lard is a good antirust preparation that farmers may use to cover the bright parts of their ma chines. Thd scum that forms in mak ing thiB mixture should be taken oft. remain about 20 hours. Any excess may be rubbed off. The mixture forms a coating that will take a good polish when rubbed with a soft cloth. Axle grease is also excellent for keeping plow bottoms from rusting and may be used for the bright parts. Paint ia a good rust preventive, but hard to get off. Stand of Alfalfa. "fhe more solid the seedbed the