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The Commoner.
OCTOBER 28, 104
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HCGURKeNT topics Wi
WHEAT conditions were unfavorable during
the last season throughout the eastern end
oi iho northern belt of states extending from the
friissfppi river to r'uget Sound, but according to
the estimates of the agricultural department in
the western end, the crop was bettor and larger
than last year. The Washin -ton correspondent
for the New York Commercial says: "This strip
On territory annualy produces app ximateiy one
third of the entire wheat crop of the United States.
Despite the fact tnat there was much damage
from rust and from drought in the near northwest
it seems probable that the ilnal estimate of tho
Agricultural Department will show the falling off
in the crop of 1904 to have been smaller in tho
northern belt of states than in cue rest of tho
cc.ntry. as a whole."
A'CCORDING to this same authority, In tho
states of Minnesota, Nortn Dakota, South
bu.vOta, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon
v ch is the territory under consideration the
indications are tnat the 1904 crop will amount to
194,780,112 bushels. This includes both winter
and spring wheat. No winter wheat is raised in
Minnesota, eltner of the Dakotas or in niontana,
but both spring, and winter whr t ore raised in
Idaho, Washington and -Oregon. The combined
crop last year, for these states was 213,483,607
bushels, so the falling off in this year.'s crop for
this northern tier of great wheat-producing states
was 18,697,555 bushels. There was a loss of '2u,
339,100 bushels In Minnesota and the two Da
kotas alone; and there was, therefore, a Slight in
crease in .the combined crop of nontana, Idaho,
"Washington and Oregon.
.
THE -est wheat cond. ons anywhere In 'tho
country, accoruoig to the agrtcu'tural 'de
partment's, estimate, were In Idaho and Washing
ton. The production of wheat in Idaho is rela
tively small, but Washington has become one of
tte principal wheat producing states. Both states
are remarkable lor tueir larg" acrie yield, Idaho
holding the record last year for the yield per aero
of winter wheat. Montana's wheat crop is never
large 2,500.000 bushels being about the average
but the state heads the list in her remarkable
acreage yield. In 1903 the yield of spring wheat
per acre in Montana was 28.2 bushels', but this was
reduced this year to 23.9 bushels, according to
the October estimafp 'e agriu.cural uc....
ment T?HE estimated acreage crop and yieio por acre
in each of the spring wheat states in the
northern belt are given In the following table, the
hgurss -eing. based on the October estimate of the
agricultural department: .
Spring- "Wheat, 1904 Yield
Crop. bu. Acre -.go per acre.
Minnesota 08.344.25G 5,339.395 12.8,
k rtlr Dakota- ..53;S92ri81 4;567,134 11.8
South-Dakota- ..30,1.0.634 3,287,165 .' 9:3
Montana 2.595,731 108,608' 23.9
Idaho G.075,380 244.975 24 8
Washington, ..'..11,610,912 614.334 18.9
Oregon 9,994,957 657,563- 15. U
Spring Wheat,. 1903 Yield
Crop. bu. Acreage per acre.
Minnesota 70,052,597 5,393,328 13.1
Nor.th Dakota ..55.240.58U 4,349,652 12.7
South Dakota ..47.252,994 3,424.130 -13.8
Montana 2,784,327 98.735 28.2
Idaho '..' 2,445.048 114,791 21.3
"Washington ....12,469.166 608.252 20.5
Oregon- . 5.48U546 316.835, 17.3
The. winter wheat crop in Idaho, Washington
and Oregon this year, and 'ist year, aco..ug
to tho agricultural department's estimates, was,as
follows: 1903, bu. 1--, bu.
Idaho 2.682,939 4.058,b8
Washington 7,517.179 ll.426.0Ul
Oregon .. 6.957.581 7,828,034 '
The CorcmercIal-'scoiTesppndent-'addsr ""In
view of the geatdamage to the wheat crop in the
Northwest on accou" " dur-- the" ,2' sea
son, it would not bo surprising if the cultivation
of durum or macaroni wheats were pursued more
generally within the next few years. It htfs
been shown that durum wheat is not susceptible to
rust, and it is not adversely affected by drought."
FORMER Mayor S. F. Smith of Davenport, la.,
was recently sontenced to ten years' impris
onment in the penitentiary. Smith was convicted
of embezzling $120,000 which ho held as trustoo lor
several largo estates. Ho Is a son of S'amuel Fran
cis Smith, tho author of "America."
DR. W. T. BELFIELD of Chicago recently de
livered on address to tho members of tho
L...icago Woman's Aid In Sinai Templo and this
address will bo Interesting to men and women
everywhere and will undoubtedly bo with many of,
tho so-called stronger sex. "In tho lower organ
isms," said tho lecturer, "tho foraalo cats tho
male. A little higher up in tho scale of ovolu
tion tho female discovers that tho malo can work
and supply her wlih food, while she reproduces
the species. As a worker the malo developed cer
tain qualities unknown to the femalo qualities
that are especially developed In tho very highest
animals, the human race. But the tcmalo re
mains, even In tho human species, as the con
sorvor of tho race and the depositor of all tho
vlrtuos that render society possible and that per
petuate human culture."
WOMAN is superior mentally and physically to
men, according to Dr. Belfleld. The doctor
auued: "She endures more and Is less suojoct to
tho diseases caused by the ravages of microbes in
tho human system. For evory 105 boys born there
are 100 girls, yet when the period " infancy has
elapsed, with all tho losses due to infanti.o dis
eases, the number of females equals that of tho
males. Tho longevity of women is greater than
that of men. To prove tho superiority of women
mentally consider tho matter of color-blindness.
Perception of color Is tho last attainment of tho
human optic; it is the most subtle finally of numan
evolution. Out of every 100 women one Is af
flicted with color-blindness. Out of every 100 men
sixteen are afflicted with color-blindness. Boys
born of a color-blind father and a normal mother
will be color-blind, but girls born of the same
union will have a perfect perception of colors.
Tho ratio, 16 to 1, expresses about the physical
and mental superiority of women to men. If men
are silver women are golden. The color perception
of women does not proceed from their constant
inspection of ribbons and fabrics, -ut from im
memorial superiority of sex."
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NO OTHER superstition is more general than
that relating to horseshoe luck. A writer
in the Duluth Herald says: "Ever since horses
began to wear shoes those crescents of iron have
been accounted lucky emblems of all peoples, races
and nations mat have been acquainted with their
use, says tho Chicago chronicle. The Chinese, for
instance, say they nail them up over their doors
as a charm against evil spirits, because of tho
close resemblance in- shape between tnem and
tne -sacred snake, Nagandrav oner f their princi
pal deities. Ask a Turkish Mohammedan for inv
formation on the subject and he will teh you that
it is because they are in form like a crescent, tho
sacred emblem of islam. A Polish Jew will ex
plain that at the passover the blood sprlnuied upon
the lintel and doorposts, in the manner directed by
their ritual, forms the chief points of an arch;
hence, obviously, the valuo of arch-shaped talis
mans, such as horseshoes are. The stolid and un
imaginative Russian peasant, on tho other band,
maintains that the luck associated with tho horse
shoes is due chiefly to the metal, Irrespective of Its
shape, iron being traditionally a charm wherewith
to nullify the malevolent designs of evil spirits
and goblins."
VERY different Is the story by which the Irish
man seeks to account for his liking for tho
same symbol. The Herald writer says: "Tho
name 'Ironclad' or 'Ireland,' he will tell you, origi
nated as follows: The whole Island was once
. submerged In the sea, out of which If only rose
once in seven years, and then only for a short
time. Many attempts had been id to breaic
the spell and induce the country to remain -permanently
above the water, but all were vain, until
one day a daring adv- irer threw a horseshoo
from a boat on the topmost peak of Wickiow
mountains just as tney wero disappearing ueneath
tho waves. Then, lit Inat, was tho ban removed.
Tho Lmernid islo .. n forwlt o r.so n-.n.
from tho ocean depths into which It had sunk.
And it has Loon dry land more or teas ever
since, in Englund, up to comparative!; recent
times, horseshoes wero extensively used almost
every whero as niu.-wiu armn, and tho cus.in
Is not oven yet an extinct one. No witch, It used
to bo said, could enor n building ovor tho door
of which a horseshoo hnd boon affixed, prongs
downward. 'Iho origin of this paiticulor -vi.ef la
rofcrablo to the old legend of St. Dunstnn. Till
versatile English ecclesiastic was a skilled farrier,
and one day while at work In his forge, mo evil
one entered in disguiso and requested Dunstan to
shoo his 'single hoof.' Tho saint, although he at
once recognized his malign customer, needed, but
caused him so much pain during tho operation that
Satan bogged him to desist. Thl- Dunstan did,
but only after ha had mado the ovll one promtso
that neither he nor any of tho lessor spirits, his
servants, would ever molest tho Intratcs cf a uous
whoro a horseshoo was displayed."
THE annual report of tho Western Union Tele
graph company gives total rovenucs of $29,
Ji.,290, an increase of $81,703; total expenses,
$21,361,591, an Increase of $408,708; net rovenuo,
$1,887,475, a decrease of $2,320,997. Tho surplus for
tho year, after charges, was $1,861,704, a decrcauo
of $407,018. Honry A. Bishop, son of the late
W. D. Bishop, wns elected to his father's place
in the dliectorate. A. R. Brewer, secretary of the
company, was elected a director In the placo of
tho lato John K. Cowan. Tho remainder of the
board wero re-elected. During tho year 6,lta
miles of wire havobcon added, making tho total
wire mileage of the company 1,155,405.
THE question "why does tho cog nato tho cat?"
has been solved by a writer In tho Washing
ton Post. This writer says: "Scientists have
been investigating the enmity between these ani
mals, and they bellevo that tho instinctive hatred
which certain beasts feel for each other is duo to
inheritance from ancient times, when tho animals
met In a wild state and preyed on each other.
Now this enmity is not to be explained by any
thing that happens between dogs and cats In do
mesticity, or anything thatyevor happencu between
them as long ago as human history goes. In all
these thousands of years dogs and cats have been
kept as pets, and of all animals they are the two
which should be tho most friendly. But the re
verse is tho case. One naturalist, Dr. Zell, seeks
it In tho fact that the common cat not only looks
like, but smells like, tho great cats of prey. And
of those cats of prey, there Is one, much like a
domestic cat In many ways, which hunts doss of
preference. This dig cat Is the leopard. The do
mestic cat and her larger relative, tho wild cat,
have never harmed the race of dogs; but t.hoir
great speckled -cousln"israndalway8 has bees; tar
moat ferocious of dog-murderers? and theycafr'niut -pay
for it. Authorities agree there Is no animal
that the leopard would rather eat than ae dog;
as a result, there aro many villages in the districts
in which leopards are plentiful where nobody can
keep a dog. The great cats will not hesitate to
break into the houses to seize their favorite disb.
But says the doubter, the modorr dog certainly
could not havo known leopards In many thousands
of years. io has been 'a domestic pet In regions
where there have been no leopards since man first
appeared. That is true, says Dr. Zell. -tJut ho
points to the fact that dogs have a habit of turning
around several times before they Ho down. This,
ho says, Is due to the fact that when they wore
in a wild state they had to do this to pres3 down
leaves and twigs in order to prepare a bed for
themselves; and as they have not overcome this
habit In all their years of domesticity, it is quite
natural tnat they should still inherit fierce hatred
of any creature that smells like a leopard."
THE lesson in campaign manners taught to re
publicans by Judge Parker when he sent hit
letter to the compiler of the democratic campaign
textbook saying that there should bo "no word
that reflected upon, the personal honor anu integ
rity of President Roosevelt," has been generally
and favorably commented upon. The Now York
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