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CUTTING DOWN WAGES
Thoso -who are on the ground take a
condemnatory view of the wage re
duction in New England No doubt
business for the cotton mills is bad no
doubt the protection which fails to pro
tect is being practically condemned
but must the wageworkers be forced
to bear all the burdens
This is a question which is attracting
the attention of intelligent men in the
East It has been asked by the opera
tives and it is repeated by the press
at least that part of the press which
Js not the mere echo of plutocratic sen
timents In discussing this matter the
Boston Post says
If there ever was a case in which a
cutdown from 10 per cent in the wages
of labor was unjustifiable it is the case
of those cotton mills in New Bedford
which have paid large dividends for
many years up to and including the
year 1S97 just dosed Profits which
permit the payment of dividends of G
0 12 and oven 10 per cent do not call
for a reduction of the labor cost of pro
duction
But those profits had been cover
ed into the treasury of the mills The
managers see before them a dull pe
riod of business Superintendents must
have salaries of 10000 to 20000 a
year How are they to get them if the
wage of the operatives is not reduced
However the Post fails to see it in
that light and says with much empha
sis The managers of these great and
prosperous New Bedford mill corpora
tions are this time clearly in the wrong
whatever may be said about the situa
tion elsewhere They have the support
neither of the business community of
New Bedford nor of the public at
- V
scheme comes to Mark llanna in the
middle of the night all he needs to do
is to run into the Presidents room
wake him up and impress it on his at
tention Talk about the kitchen cab
inets of other administrations Com
pared with nmia and Ilannaisin en
sconced in the executive mansion they
are naught Boston Globe
Farmers Injured as Usual
According to F W Clark a shoo
manufacturer of Boston the tariff tax
on hides is already well at work on
the shoe wearers Prices of cattle are
the same to day as they were a year
ago but the price of hides has risen 2
cents a pound which gain is absorbed
by the dressed beef monopoly The
farmer gets nothing out of the tax
Taking the other side however and
estimating the extra cost to the farm
er of shoes that lie buys on account of
the higher price of hides we find a
direct injury resulting from the present
tariff Springfield Mass Republican
Paying Us in Our Own Medicine
Germany is doing only what France
Canada Mexico and half a dozen other
nations have done but ina more direct
way Anjone with an ounce of com
mon sense should have realized when
the Dingley blunder was in process of
hatching declaring commercial war
on the whole world on the pretense of
protecting American interests that we
were taking the first step to impair or
destroy their interests When we get
blows in return at least in self respect
we should hold our peace and not
whine Pittsburg Post
Shaky in His Natural History
In opposing the Teller resolution Mr
Dingley said that the sting and dis
honor of the pending resolution like
IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHOSE OX IS GORED
J X sioS1 P Si iff l
New York WorlJ
large nor as appears more clearly
from day to day of many of their own
stockholders and even directors
In the meantime however tl e work
mens wages have been cut and a strike
is on
Dank Circulation
With unblushing effrontery the gold
advocating press has asserted that the
banks offer a better security on note
circulation than the Government
In discussing this grotesque assump
tion attention has been called in these
columns to the failure of the Chestnut
street bank of Philadelphia This in
stitution was insolvent in 1S90 and it
was known to be insolvent by those
whose official duty it was to look after
such matters But the people did not
know this fact and this insolvent bank
continued to accept deposits and to do
a general banking business for a year
Tafter it was financially rotten
Would the notes of the Chestnut
street bank secured by its official fur
niture have been as safe as Govern
ment notes
But recently another startling case
of bank security has come to light
What bank has a wider reputation for
Kolidity and good management than the
old Chemical of New York But its
cashier who hasnt taken a vacation
lor twenty years loaned Promoter
Grable 39000 on securities the most
valuable part of which was hypno
tism
By all means let the Government go
out of the banking business By all
means destroy the greenbacks By all
means place the issuing and control of
currency in the hands of the banks
These private institutions are so much
safer than the Government Their as
sets are so much more valuable
It is to be hoped that the gold press
will quote frequently the history of the
financial management of the Chestnut
Street Bank of Philadelphia and the
Chemical Bank of New York It will
greatly strengthen their arguments for
a bank circulation
Hanna in the White House
No longer is there any semblance of
doubt as to the proper answer of the
oft put question Who is the biggest
man in the McKinley administration
Mark Hanna is closer to the President
and has a stronger pull with him than
all the members of the McKinley Cabi
net taken together He not only sleeps
in the White House but sleeps nor
jhe Executive When an idea or a
I he sting of the deadly snake is in its
tail That statement is too direct to
1 be explained away or denied It con-
victs the able and learned Congress
man of gross ignorance regarding the
location of a snakes weapons of of
fense He evidently has the business
end of the creature in the wrong place
Cleveland Leader
One Good Turn Deserves Another
The Republican papers are sportive
over he idea that the Ohio bribery in
vesti itiou has caught Pierpont Mor
gan instead of Mark Hanna But aro
they iot unied Siamese twin fashion
by a bond ligament Hanna helps
Morgan in the Senate and in common
gratitude Morgan should come to Mark
Hannas aid and purchase that one
vote by which Hanna was elected
Pittsburg Post
PoHtrcat Small Shot
Secretary Cage is about as pictur
esque in his position as a collection of
drift deposited in the willows by a
stream at flood tide Cedar Rapids Ga
zette
Possibly those Ohio legislators in re
fusing to answer certain interrogato
ries dont want to commit themselves
on the money question Philadelphia
Times
The Dingley tariff will do an incident
al and unintended good in compelling
the Republican party to accept a policy
of retrenchment Let us be thankful
even for blundering which puts a check
upon extravagance Philadelphia Rec
ord
The most extraordinary thing about
the distribution of patronage by pol
iticians outside the operation of the
hated civil service is the ease with
which the most worthless fellows get
the strongest indorsement New York
j Evening Post
Now Mr McKinley finds that Mr
Hanna promised everything to every
body in the recent Ohio campaign and
the Prfefnt nnot keep the con
tracts made by the Cleveland boss un
less a few score of offices are created
right away St Paul Globe
Secretary Gage appears to be doing
the administrations currency orating
but brave old Nelse Dingley still does
the tariff prevaricating and does it pret
ty well considciing It takes a heart
of oak to go on daily contradicting the
official deficit figures of the treasury
Kansas City Times
MISSIONARIES TO ALASKA
Two Pioneers Who Invaded the Frozen
North to Spread the Gospel
Christianity invaded Alaska before
gold seekers made tiiat the
Mecca The Presbyterian
Church sent a missionary and his wife
to that frigid land to cai e for the souls
of the grimy natives long before the
yellow metal became the motive of pil
grimage Rev Y C Gambell and his
wife went north as missionaries for the
Presbyterian Church and as govern
ment teachers of the natives It was
quite a while ago when few persons
but the totem pole Indians lived In the
acquired territory that Mr and Mrs
Gambell departed for their unpromis
ing field of labor It will be seen that
they speedily adopted the cumbrous
and uncouth bnt comfortable garb of
the Indians Nothing less would make
life there possible even to those born
in that land They believed before go
ing that gold was not the only thing to
be found in Alaska Gold is nothing to
these earnest faithful laborers in com
parison to human souls Thw have
lived among the natives long enough to
have become contented with their lot
and to love the people to whom they
have devoted their lives In the course
of their ministrations they have trav
eled all through the portion of the ter
ritory where the gold finds have been
most prolific of wealth They know as
much or more of the customs and hab
its of the natives than any persons who
-a
REV GAMBELL AND WIFE
have visited Alaska They have in
their work lived among the Indians un
til they are thoroughly familiar with
the domestic lives of the natives
SITTING DHURNA IN INDIA
The Mahratta Method of Settling
Debts
Many queer stories are told of the
persistence and clever devices of the
collectors of bad debts but eAen a pro
fessional humorist would find it hard
to invent anything more absurd than
the method actually in use among the
Mahrartas at least it traAelers tales
are to be trusted
In that country so they say when
a creditor cannot get his money and
begins to regard the debt as desper
ate he proceeds to sit dhurna upon
his debtor that is he squats down at
the door of his victims tent and there
by in some mysterious Avay becomes
master of the situation No one can
go in or out except by his sanction He
neither himself eats nor allows his
debtor to eat and this extraordinary
starvation contest is kept up until
either the debt is paid or the creditor
gives up the siege and in the latter
case the debt is held to be canceled
HoAve er strange it may appear to
Europeans this method of enforcing a
demand is an established and almost
universal usage among the Mahrattas
and seems to them a mere matter of
course Even their Scindiah or
chieftain is not exempt from it
The laAvs by Avhich the dhurna is
regulated are as Avell defined as those
of any other custom whrtevr When
it is meant to be Aery strlc lie claim
ant takes AA ith him a number of his
followers who surround the tewt and
sometimes even the bed of his adver
sary to make sure that he obtains no
morsel of food The code hoAvever
prescribes the same abstinence for the
man who imposes the ordeal and of
course the strongest stomach wins
the day After ail we have little right
to ridicule this absurdity for our own
laws provide nominally at least for
starving a jury into a verdict
A similar custom Avas once so preA
alent in the province and city of Be
nares that Brahmins Avere sometimes
systematically put through a course
of training to enable them to endure a
long time without food They were
then sent to the door of some rich per
son Avhere they publicly made a vow
to remain fasting until a certain sum
of money Avas paid or until they per
ished from starvation To cause the
death of a Brahmin was considered so
heinous an offense that the cash was
generally forthcoming but never with
out a resolute struggle to determine
whether the man was likely to prove
stanch for the average Oriental will al
most as soon give up his life as his
money
Pruning Lilac Wiejrela
Both lilac and Aviegela bear their
flowers on their young or green shoots
and if pruned in autumn or winter the
bloom Avill be much reduced These
plants need Aery little pruning as a
rule beyond cutting away any dead
wood or unnecessary branches but if
at any time it should be thought
able to shorten or head back the j
branches the proper time for doing it is
immediately after the plants have fin-
Ished their blooming Ticks Maga
zine
Even Worse Uioa Death
Why are the Dashleigh girls in
mourning
An uncle of theirs was accepted as
a juror last week
TOPICS FOR FARMEES
A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR
OUR RURAL FRIENDS
How a Dairy Parmer Can Have an
Ice House at Small Cost Directions
for Making a Good Barometer Cheap
Fertilizers Often Kxpenbivc
The Poor Mans Icehouse
Many come to the conclusion that
they are unable to keep ice on account
of having to build a house to hold and
preserve it Yet it is absolutely neces
sary to the dairy farmer who wishes
to make the most of his cows espe
cially if he has no cold spring at hand
We have kei ice for years in a build
ing as far removed from the suns rays
as possible Sometimes Ave have used
a log sometimes a frame building and
it always had a good iloor but have
found none of them fully satisfactory
We have packed according to best meth
ods as advocated by men of experi
ence But last winter not having a
suitable building Ave concluded to
make the experiment of packing the
ice Avhere it would be most convenient
The place Ave selected nearest our milk
cans happened to be covered Avith chip
dirt over hard clay The ground be
ing frozen hard we scraped it as level
as possible and then began to pack on
the hard frozen chip dirt Every layer
of blocks would be covered Avith snow
also between the blocks throwing over
it several pails of water Our blocks
were cut very uneven as the work Avas
done by inexperienced hands Then
after a sufficient quantity Avas packed
Ave built three piles of green Avood one
on each of the three sides the wood
within eight inches of the blocks This
Avas covered with boards sufficient to
keep off the sun and shed the rain and
about one foot from top of ice The
Avind could circulate freely as the ice
house was entirely exposed We pack
ed green sawdust very firmly around
and over the ice not more thau eight
inches deep in any place The front of
the icehouse Avas shaded by the wood
shed and on the side by woodpiles
Avhich projected in front of the open
ing It may seem incredible but we
never had ice keep so well some of it
lasting a year Late in the fall the
snow that had been used in packing
last winter could be seen almost as
frosh as ever
The Barometer
One of the most serviceable and use
ful articles about the farm is a good
barometer Avhich will foretell nearly
all the changes in the weather There
is no reason Avhy we should be with
out such a useful instrument Avhen Ave
can produce a first class one at a cost
of about 30 cents Many of the so
called barometers are of little use on
account of the poor quality of the
chemicals used If Ave buy the chemi
cals oursehes Ave Avill be more apt to
get a better instrument Buy the fol
lowing from a good chemist One ounce
of camphor one ounce of saltpeter one
ounce of ammonia salts and dissolve
them in fifteen drams of alcohol Shake
the mixture Avell and pour in a long
slender bottle and cork up tightly Be
sure to have the bottle full so there
Avill le little or no air inside Hang
your barometer on the north ide ot a
buildini or some place not exposed to
the sun and the following Avill be your
weather indications Absolute clnar
ness of the liquid means fair Aveather
Threadlike objects at the top of the
bottle indicate high Avind If the iiqui 1
become roily it is a sign of rain Little
stars in the liquid mean a hard storm
If downy masses form in the bottom of
the bottle it Avill be cold the more
these masses rise to the top the colder
it Avill become Farmers Advorute
Buyinjr Cheap Fertilizers
It is the natural tendency of farmers
Avhen confronted Avith low prices of
products to sav themselves by the
purchase of cheaper fertilizers or by
dispensing Avith any boughten fertili
zer But this is nearly ahvays a mis
take The cost of the fertilizer is only
a small part of the cost of making a
crop Labor is a much more expensive
item and if the soil be not rich enough
much of this labor will be ineffective
As for using poorer grades of fertil
izers they cost as much to apply them
as the best In fact the more expen
sive grades of fertilizers are usually in
finer condition and can be easily made
to cover a larger surface and do more
good to the first crop
Fattening Cattle in Barns
The rough feed should be hay or
corn fodder cut and shredded My
ration for two or three-year-old steers
is four quarts of Indian meal or eight
quarts of corn and cob meal night and
morning with a heaping bushel basket
ful of cut and shredded fodder given
each steer as soon as he is done eating
his grain feed After the fodder is
eaten given three gallons of water
night and morning
Keep the stalls perfectly clean Use
plenty of straw for bedding and hire
a man with a good temper to care for
the stock one who can take an occa
sional kick without resenting it If he
treats the cattle kindly he Avill get but
feAV kicks They will do very much
better under the care of a man who is
gentle Avith them than with one who
treats them roughly Feed and water
regularly My animals usually gain
sixty to seventy pounds per month per
steer If at the start I have a 1000
pound steer and feed him five months
he usually Aveighs 1250 to 1300 at the
end of that period At the present
price of corn thirty cents it pays much
better to feed corn to cattle than to
bell it The manure from fattening cat
tle is of the very best quality and is
better than any other fertilizer in the
production of crops Agriculturist
Feeding the Herd
The first advice is not to feed the herd
as a herd Cows dilCer in their tastes
and in their requirements In the Avay
of food just as human beings do al
though perhaps not to the same ex
tent To feed all the cows in a herd
alike day after day and month after
month as is so often done is an ab
surd and Avasteful practice Some arG
sure not to get enough for greatest
profit and others are likely to get more
than they will use to advantage This
as to quantity only but differences in
kind of feed may be equally desirable
In thorough study and comprehension
of the question of feeding lies the great
est opportunity for the exercise of real
economy in the management of the
daily herd
Scientific feeding means simply ra
tional feeding a common sense appli
cation of a good understanding of the
objects of feeding the character of
food materials their proper relations
combinations and effects and the
needs and characteristics of the ani
mals in hand United States Depart
ment of Agriculture
Cottonseed Meal
We are living in a Aicinity Avhere
cotton seed meal has been widely used
by dairymen and have used it our
selves till Aery recently ever since it
Avas first introduced as a stock food
and neither in our own experience or
in that of others have ever known or
heard of the Avidely Aarying and dam
aging effects referred to in the bulletin
Proportionate to its feeding value as
compared Avith other meals its cost is
now too high and as a consequence
much less of it is now being fed than
formerly
The new law now in force Avill give
the comparative food contents of the
different samples of this product This
however is not a guaranty of health
fulness If cotton seed meal Avorks the
mischief indicated in the bulletin it
should be known We are confident
the results indicated from its use are
not the experience of the many dairy
men of the State who have had long
experienced in feeding it Maine
Farmer
Care of Horses
Dont attempt to train the colt at all
until he is in good condition and full
of life if you want him to develop style
and action and be fit to put on the
market for a good price Avhen edu
cated
The young colts should be kept on a
ground lloor It must be dry and level
Dont neglect to give every horse
on the farm workers and drivers a
bran mash once every Aveek
Every now and then give them some
potatoes apples or carrots A Aariety
is ATery acceptable and your horse Avill
be in enough better condition to pay
you to fuss a little
The foolish try to economize about
this time by driving smooth shod hors
es
Because Dobbin bolts a part of his
oats Avhole does not prove him to be be
yond usefulness A young horse often
does this See if his teeth have not
made his cheeks sore by becoming
sharp If so file them smooth
Dirty dusty bedding is not suitable
for a horse whose coat is desired clean
and lustrous
Waste Land on the Farm
On almor every Eastern farm there
is some land that either by nature or
because its fertility has been exhausted
must go to AAaste If this land is in
fertile or rocky naturally it may not
pay to reclaim it But if its fertility
has been exhausted it can almost al
Avay be cheaply restored It is more
likely to be deficient in mineral plant
food than in nitrogenous Supplies of
phosphate and potash and often pot
ash alone Avill make cloved grow and
when there is once a good clover seed
ing nature Avill do whatever else is
needed to restore fertility American
Cultivator
Asiinj Too Iuch
A writer on sheep says that it is ask
ing too much for a ewe to make her
growth nd shear the heaviest or next
heaA iest fieece of her life and raise a
lamb in one year It cannot be done
without checking the growth of the
sneep rtnd producing a lamb lacking in
constitution Continuing in that line
foi several years the Hock master Avill
have a very uneven flock and constitu
tion Avill be bred out of them
Packing Errs in Salt
The following is a commonly used re
cipe for packing eggs in salt Cover the
bottom of the keg or small barrel with
a layer of salt two inches deep Pack
a layer of eggs upon it small end down
and far enough apart not to touch each
other and not resting against the
sides of the barrel Add another thick
layer of salt and then of eggs and so
on until the barrel is full Massachu
setts Ploughman
Poultry Notes
The dried blood sold for fertilizer is
dangerous to use for poultry
Split the carrots in halves and allow
the hens to peck at them at will
Cull your flocks and sell off all but
the best keeping them for breeders
Have the feed troughs sufficiently
large so that all the fowls can find
room
Beef blood mixed with ground grain
is excellent for both old and young
stock
Popcorn contains more nitrogen and
phosphates than the regular Indian
corn
Refuse crackers and stale bread
make an excellent addition to the morn
ing mash
Buckwheat is an egg producing food
but a steady diet of it is apt to be over
fattening
When you hear of a flock of hens that
averages ten dozen eggs each a year
you hear of a good one
Pullets begin laying at from four to
six and a half months of age if they
are hatched early and kept growing
Westerin Plowman
Typewriters in School
This is the age of accuracy and labor
saving devices Mind Is king and ma
chinery Is the kings prime minister
says the orator Certainly no machino
has had a Avider effect upon the rela
tions of men than the typewriter It
has remoA cd every excuse for illegibil
ity and bad spelling and mistakes It
has brought the age to a plain simple
invaluable record of all its doings
The time is coming Aery rapidly
when the typeAvriter Avill be In every
home Avhen handwriting will be used
almost exclusivelj for signatures
when everything from the sighs of
love to the bills for groceries -will be
typewritten Already the person avIio
does not use the typewriter is old-fashioned
and people avIio get letters are
apt to sigh if they are Avritteu out with
a pen
Our schools should adapt themselves
to the new condition of things Type
Avriters ought to be as familiar In the
schoolroom as blackboards and globes
And the children should be taught to
use them for it can be set down as a
very important fact that they Avill
learn to spell and to punctuate much
more quickly on the machine than In
any other Avay American
Starved Students
President narper of Chicago
sity made the startling statinent in a
public address a few days ago that of
the Ave deaths which have occurred
In live years at the universityj
three were directly traceable to star-
Aation These deaths Dr narper said
Avere due to Insufficient nutrition and
that in turn was the result of poor
food supplied in the district surround-
ing the university He advocated an
addition to the university of a com i
mons in AAliich the students may bej
supplied with nutritious food and com i
fortable lodgings Educators should
look after the physical needs of the
students as Avell as the mental for
man of them restless ambitious self-
sacrificing and away from home dontl
realize that they have any bodies to-
care for
Overproduction of Teachers
State Superintendent Black makes
the statement that there are over 1200
certificated teachers in California avIio
are unable to secure positions In view
of this fact it is somewhat difficult to
justify the action of the last Legisla
ture in establishing another State nor
mal school for it is Avell known that
the State superintendent has not over
estimated the number of unemployed
teachers In fact the professional
standing of teachers throughout Cali
fornia has been seriously impaired in
recent years by the fierce competition
for schools Instances are by no means
rare in which from o0 to 100 teachers
have been applicants for a single posi
tion Avitli comparatively small salary
attached Educational News
Do You or Dont You
Allow your pupils to sit on the desks
To chew gum in school
To Avrite notes in school
To snoAvball teams and pupils not
caring to snowball
To play and be boisterous in the
schoolroom
To call you teacher
To wear their hats in the school
room
To run about the room wita food in
their haste swallowing it before being
half masticated
Allow your little folcs to sit a large
part of the time tl is coid weather Avith
nothing to do but study
Call on certain pupils for recitation
oftener than you should in justice to
the others
Indian School Report
The report of Captain Pratt super
intendent of the Indian Industrial
School at Carlisle Pa was sent a few
weeks ago to the Commissioner of In
lian Affairs at Washington There ara
it present in the institution 720 pupils
epresenting sixty eight different
iribes Most of these are self-sustaining
During the past year their
vages have amounted to 2048839
md their savings to 971424 Many
f the Indians who attended the school
aave taken up special branches of
jtudy in the higher schools and col
leges
Educational Notes
The Teachers College of New York
Dity has been formally incorporated
tvith Columbia University
A committee from the Trenton N J
Boarrd of Education has been visiting
the high schools of Now Jersey with
the object of getting ideas to be used
tn the construction of their new 150
000 high schooL
John D Rockefeller has built for
Vassar College a recitation hall costing
100000 He also recently added 10-
000 to the 40000 previously given to
Mount Holyoke College to complete
Rockefeller Hall
Bellevue College Nebraska has now
four buildings namely the college
proper Clarke Hall Rankin Hall
Philadelphia HalL Finlay Hall Finlay
and Philadelphia halls for students
homes the one for twenty four ladies
the other for thirty six gentlemen be
sides room in eah building for a pro
fessor and his family
The private normal schools of Ne
braska Avhich are possessed of property
valued at 100000 have now the
of granting life certificates to
teach by a bill that was pushed through
the last LegislatureVithout attracting
attention The educational lead
ers of the State were cauz napping
but Avill of course see that ae Xuw isi
1 repealed at the nexX session