' I
I"
I
6
k I' T ', - '
Ishod by Mrs. LIzzlo Hoffman, of Anthony, N. J.
She has worked on It day and night for ten years,
and' hop handiwork has brought to completion a
covorlld of silicon patches In which there are 14,G0O
pioc'os, no two of them aliko In texture or shape.
Thoro havo boon patchwork quilts made In all
parts of tho country for years, and some havo
taken just ns much time to put together as Mrs.
Hoffman's and havo contained just as many p.ieces
nnd perhaps more, but what makes her quilt dis
tinctive abovo all othors, Is that every one of
tho 14,000 patches has been taken from the hat
of a bride, and tho collection has come from all
parts of the United States, so that tho bed cover
ing roprosonts just 14,000 weddings. It Is a beau
tiful picco of work and tho arrangement of tho
shades Is not tho least attractive part of tho
spread without considering tho novel character
of tho pieces that mako up the whole."
WRITING on "Our Enormous Pension Bill"
In tho World's Work, Robert Lincoln O'Brien
relates some interesting stories. Tills writer sa)
that a case is well authenticated of a man draw
ing a ponion for deafness incurred In tho service
when his playmates remembered that this in
firmity was so pronounced in boyhood that he al
ways sat in tho front scat at school, and was
ovon called by them "Deafle." or courso, no ono
can say that this infirmity may not have been
groatly accentuated by war service. Tho story
of a man who applied for a pension for injuries
recolvod by "taking fright at a false alarm" has
become classical. In tho old Gulf States, where
colored 'veterans and a few Northern people are
about tho only Federal pensioners, tho desire to
got at tho Federal Treasury Is no less strong. "I
had a man como to mo," relates an Alabaman, "to
say that ho wanted to get a general law pension
for injuries really received from being thrown
out of a buggy at Racine, Wis., ten years after
tho war. Ho acknowledged that the procedure
was not qulto regular, but ho justified his courso
by saying that it was only a question of time when
ovory Union BOldlor would got a pension, and as
ho might not livo to see that day himself, ho
wanted to tako time by tho forelock by getting
his sliaro now."
IT IS further related by this same writer that
r thoro is a true story of a man who drew a
ponslon for total deafness on tho certificate of an
examining board and was subsequently discovered
in charge of a telephone instnimont. Ono man
who was a pensioner on tho score of total bllnd
noss was found reading newspapers and doing
cabinet work; another man, officially certified
blind by tho United States Government, was en
countered in a jowolry shop engaged in delicate
mechanical tasks with a magnifying glass stuck
In his oyo. A man drawing $72 a month because
"ho required tho regular aid and attendance of
another person" on account of his disabilities,
was seon industriously painting tho side of a
four-story warehouse, having arawn himself up
on a twenty-foot ladder, handling both the ropes
without assistance. While these cases are, of
course, exceptional, their existence even in rare
instances Is proof of defects in the medical exam
ination system,
THE trust issue was discussed in tho Senate
April 25th. Senator Bacon of Georgia made
an interesting reply to a spoech delivered by Sen
ator Dolliver of Iowa. Tho Washington corre
spondent for tho Now York Horald says: "A let
tor written to Mr. Frlck by Mr. Schwab while tho
Stool Trust was boing formed was read by Sen
ator Bacon to boar out his contontion that under
tho oporatlon of tho Dingley schedules tho manu
facturers of stool in this country are Belling their
product abroad at a far lower figure than they aro
soiling similar products to tho homo consumer.
This letter showod that wlion steel rails were
bringing $28 a ton in the homo market Mr. Schwab
explained to his associates in the steel business
that tho American manufacturers were able to
meet tho English manufacturers in their own
market at tho cost of production there $16 a ton
and yet havo a profit of $4 a ton. American
manufacturers could turn out their product at
$12 a ton and soil to tho American purchaser at
$28 a ton, which was being done. This was de
clared to mean that tho extra cost of production
tho cost of transportation, and the tariff of $7 80
?to?0t only Protected the American producers
from tho possibility of competition at the hands
of foreign manufacturers, but enabled them to
The Commoner,
charge an oxecssive and extortionate price, which
tho homo ..consumer was compelled to pay."
LOVERS of goobers are face to face with a
peanut famine. A writer in the Chicago
Chronicle saja that the South has furnished the
peanut supply; but adds: "Tho spirit of latter
day commercialism has seized upon the South and
threatens to sever the bond through which that
section has contributed so greatly to tho gustatory
delight of the Nation. It appears that cotton and
goobers thrive best in the same kind of soil, and
the high price of cotton has caused Southern
planters to devote almost their entire acreage to
that staple. As the demand for cotton is increas
ing more rapidly even than the demand for pea
nuts, it is most probable that they will continue
to discriminate in favor of the former staple
despite its fluctuating value, and against the latter,
notwithstanding the fact that the prico always
remains the same, five cents a bag, the country
over. The effect that failure to cultivate the pea
nut will have upon the social relations of the
masses, especially the juvenile element, can only
be surmised, and any surmise will be fraught with
dark forebodings. Necessarily the decline of tho
peanut will have a tendency to restrict the pleas
ures of recreation, foreshadowing as it does the
doom of the gallery god and the degeneration of
tho circus into a hollow mockery."
A PROJECT is under consideration for tho
creation of a" clinic in New York City where
diseases may be treated by hypnotic suggestion.
A writer in tho New York World, referring to
this plan says: "Such a clinic might serve a good
purpose in cases of chronic alcoholism, this form
of disease having shown itself readily amenable
to hypnotic treatment. Dr. Lloyd Tuckey s statis
tics from various sources show its successful use.
His own practice gives the number of cases treated
as 93, with 75 cures. Milne Bromwell shows 76
cases with 28 cures (17 men and 11 women). Both
observers record instances of "benefit" in addi
tion to those registered as "cured." Tokarsky,
of Moscow, states that he has treated more than
700 patients, including representatives from all
classes of the community, and claims to have
cured 80 per cent of those who wished to be cured
and submitted themselves voluntarily to his treat
ment. Ho finds 15 to 20 hypnotic suggestions to
bo genorally sufficient, but keeps the patient under
observation for a year and does not reckon the
caso a "cure" until at least twelve months have
passed without relapse. De Jong, of The Hague,
has treated 41 drunkards in thirteen years, and
reports 19 of them as cured; in some instances
tho euro has been illustrated by ten years' absti
nence. Dr. Tuckey urges that alcoholic subjects
ought to bo given the chance of hypnotic treatment
and points out tho advantage this method pos
sesses over confinement in a retreat. He finds
most alcoholics are good hypnotic subjects."
AN INTERESTING senate document re
cently issuod reproduces an article written
by J. Arthur Hutton, vice-president of the British
Cotton Growing Association. Mr. Hutton says
"The one solid fact which stares us in the face
is that tho present supply of cotton is insufficient
to keep the spindles of the worm fully employed
and tho cotton trade has developed into a scram
ble for the available supplies. Such a position is
the opportunity of the speculator, and so long as
there is no material increase in the growth of cdt
ton so long will the user bo at tho mercy of the
gambler. It is perhaps, hardly necessary now
to draw the attention of mill owners or of the
operatives to the danger of tho position. Thov
recognized this fully last year if they had not done
so before but I think it is only within the last
few months that tho merchants and distributees
have begun to realize that they too are to suffer
Nor do I suppose that even today it is fully real zed
by those who aro engaged in tho many au5 iarv
insufficient a7mustnt aLTS
aro wo to look for an increasA ? ' n2 where
afraid not to tho Umted sSS PhPPly? l am
of that great count ? , ?he Ption
and is inSslngUrnSdly an'thoi 80'000'000'
ments of cotton roods ?Wn rcauire-
.VOLUME , NUMBER i7f
America there is land enough to produce far mnr&
cotton than is pown today, there is not sufficient
labor to 'effectively cultivate tho ' 28,000,000 S
now supposed to bo under cotton. Five veara Z
23,000,000 acres provided ll,25a,O00" bales of mf
ton; today it is doubtful whether1 ! we shall l
10,500,000 bales from a largely ihdreaseTacreaJo
I have been Informed that many1 of the labornrt
have drifted to the towns, and 'however good im
weather may be on many fares' cbtdn has to ri
main on the trees-until it is spoiled by the weather
for want of labor to gather it.4" weamer
t T IS pointed out by this same authority that
1 the consumption of. co.tton in the United
States ten years ago was about 2,600,000 bales t
the following. five years it increased to 3,000 000
bales. During the last five years it has incrcaZi
to 4,000,000. The. consumption in UieVorthS
been practically stationery, and the whole of tho
increase has been practically in the South Mr
Hutton concludes: "I do not think this increase
will continue quite so rapidly in the next few
years, partly because much of the surplus chean
labor has been absorbed and partly because the
present high price of cotton can not fail seriously
to check consumption; but I think that we can
.make up our minds that the United States will
use more of their own cotton every year, with
the natural consequence that if other supplies
are not forthcoming Europe and the rest of tho
world will have to go short. The problem today
before the world is where those supplies are to
coirie from, and the solution of this problem is
the raison d'etre of the British Cotton Growing
Association; and it can be said, without fear of
contradiction, that the movement now started is
one of the most important in the world's history.
Similar associations are at work in Germany'
France and Italy, while Russia is also endeavoring
to supplement her supplies by cotton cultivation
in her Asiatic possessions. The British movement
however, is much more important, for the field
to be covered is so much larger. Let us fully
realize that on the success or failure of this move
ment the future of our great ncotton trade de
pends." THOUSANDS have read-the little book en
titled "Mrs. Wiggs of the C&bDage Patch."
It is claimed that the original Mrs. Wiggs is Mary
Bass, living at Louisville. Ky. The Courier
Journal says that the original "Mrs. Wiggs" was
brought before the Louisville police judge re
cently on the charge that "she had emptied a jar
of dish-water and potato parings on the head of
Mrs. Emily Smith of Hazelwood; Ky." The Courier-Journal
says: "The battle of the cabbago
patch was fought at the rear of the Bass domi
cile, whither Mrs. Smith had gone after repeated
but ineffectual efforts, to gain admission at tho
front door. The explanation offered by Mrs.
Smith was simple. Having read "Mrs. Wiggs of
the Cabbago Patch," her tender heart was moved
by 'the simple story of the brave fight against
poverty, going, on so close to her door, and
straightway she left her home in the placid en
virons of Louisville, and hastened to the rescue.
Her sympathies were sadly ruffled by the inhos
pitable welcome which she had received, and tho
spirit of charity was transformed into a spirit of
revenge."
THE unappreciative woman who, by unkind
fate, has been brought into unsought no
tor ety under the cognomen of Mrs; Wiggs, ex
plained her strenuosity in this way: "Sure an'
yer honor, I won't stand for it no longer, that
I won't. It's Mrs. Wiggs here and Mrs. Wiggs
tnere, until an honest body don't havo no time
to rest. There's not a day goes by, sor, but somo
meddlesome body comes a'putterin' iroumi to see
the cabbage patch Hiven save' the mark. Do
J "ok like a Mrs. Wiggs, yer honor, and sure
there ain't no cabbage patch inside of two blocks
from where I live. An' now here comes along this
prying qreature, with her swishln' petticoats awl
her shiny shoes, and nothing will do but she will
see 'Mrs. Wiggs.'" Here the Irate inhabitant
of the cabbage patch designated thy Mrs. Smith
by a contemptuous gesture of her strong right
arm. "Mrs. Wiggs, indade, sor. It ain't no won
der that I let her have my diry dishwater. It's
good enough fer tho likes of hor. I was happy,
onct, yer honor," continued Miss Bass. 'My little
home it wasn't very big but it was good enough
fer me, but here comes along somebody and puts
jne in a book, and now its all different, bine
tins bein'. famous ain't what its' cracked up to bo.
they re just making my life wretched, yer honor v
A
jvt)jm4
IkJx
