> ' > ;
Conservative.
INDIANA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION.
EDITOU CONSERVATIVE :
Dear Sir : Some three miles coat of
Anderson , lud. , nro some pro-historic
mounds , which I visited during the pnst
week. One of these , the largest of
seven , has a diameter of about 400 feet ,
having been thrown up in an embank
ment some twenty feet in height. In
the center is a single mound , while be
tween the inner mound and outer em
bankment is a deep ditch. Upon one
side has been left a narrow passageway
connecting the two elevations , where
the ditch has not been excavated.
This earthwork is on the low bluffs of
White river and in close proximity to an
immense spring of pure water. A cav
ern near this spring is said to have been
constructed to enable the mound-build
ers to reach this water by a covered
passage.
Covering the mounds are very large
white oak and other forest trees.
Many years ago a walnut tree stood
upon the embankment directly in the
entrance way , and from its growth was
estimated to have been 225 years old ,
showing the work to have been ancient.
The owner of the laud , Mr. Brownin-
burg , now past 80 years old , has owned
this place for sixty years , and while a boy
saw the Indians here who said they
knew nothing of its origin.
Mr. Browuinburg has preserved the
surrounding forest of magnificent oaks ,
which is one of the finest bodies of tim
ber in Indiana , and has made it a for
est reservation under the now forestry
laws of our state.
I believe this is the first entry of for
est land under the Indiana law , and it
will thus preserve this beautiful wood
land , and also secure the preservation of
the historic mounds which mark a fav
orite resort of our recent Indian popu
lation as well as the home of those who
passed away long years before the In
dians. Very respectfully ,
JOHN P. BROWN.
ConnersvilleInd. , June 21 , 1899.
HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE
ST. JOSEPH , Mo. , June 10 , 1899.
EDITOR THE CONSERVATIVE :
Nebraska City , Neb.
Dear Sir : As you take an interest in
all that pertains to farming I enclose
you the pamphlet of the Neff system of
the storage , drainage and irrigation ot
the run-off and surplus water , to pre
vent the washing away of the soil , grade
and drainage of roads , stop the wash
ing of gullies on our public roads. We
do without tiles and among best ditch
material is vegetable matter. Our
ditches are level , not less than three fee
under ground. With distributing wells
we automatically store , drain and irri
gate by some ditches. Our dams are
made by the washed soil and hold 40
per cent water and CO per cent of drif
soil , which raises the water GO per cen
o a higher level than an open pond and
reduces evaporation to the minimum.
The surface of pond may be used as an
rrigated garden , the flood waters are
leld back , lessens the damage from high
vaters in our large rivers. To fully
understand the merits , simplicity and
cheapness of this plan the plants now in
operation should be examined ( see Mis-
ouri Horticulture report , 1898 , page 289
> y Neff ) . Four hundred rods of ditches ,
one dam and distributing well cost $108
( see system No. 1 in pamphlet ) . En
closed find report on plant on our county
'arm. that now furnishes 100 barrels per
day from less than 15 acres of water
shed and we have 1,000,000 gallons of
surplus water. No soil has washed
away since 1857 , from the Neff 80 acres.
The gullies made by the flood-rains
washing away the soil are now ponds ,
ovel and irrigated gardens. The laud
lad a fall of eight inches to the rod.
Sxamine and be so kind and give me
your opinion. Respectfully ,
JOHN O. BENDER ,
Corresponding Secretary Horticultural
and Agricultural Society , St. Joseph ,
Missouri.
Travelers among
WHY THIS
Indians or semi-
DIFFERENCE ?
civilized people
would see them making an effort to
clean the streets of their villages , using
a cluster of brush , tied together and
used in the form of a broom. They
would also see them adopting numerous
means of transportation , none better
than the horse.
Coming to the highly-civilized cities
and towns of the Middle and New Eng
land states this traveler would not be
surprised to note the wonderful con
trast in the means of transportation of
persons and goods. Imagine , if you
can , his surprise , upon arriving in New
York city , to find the streets there being
cleaned by a method but little more in
advance of that used in the Indian vil
lage , viz : sweeping the dirt together
with hand-brushes ana gathering it up
into carts by the shovelful.
The contrast in methods of transpor
tation is due to the use of steam , elec
tricity , air and other improved motors ,
brought about by the efforts of a few
far-seeing men , who have been and will
continue to be rewarded by handsome
returns.
If the efforts of Whitney & Von Kus-
serow , 100 Broadway , New York city ,
who are engaged in bringing out a ma
chine patented by Charles Gurney , sec
retary and treasurer of The Railway
World , meet with the success the sub
ject warrants , we shall soon see the
streets being cleaned by a machine that
will gather the dirt and bale it at one
time , operated by one of the new mot
ors , thug saving immense amounts of
money to the taxpayers of our cities and
towns , to say nothing of the improved
sanitary conditions.
THE CIVIL SERVICE ORDER.
A truer conception of the merit sys
tem would extend the rules to cover col
lectors themselves , rather than exempt
their deputies. Under the ideal system
any young man entering the internal
revenue service should have the pros
pect before him of being able by honest
and efficient service , without reference
to politics , to work up to the highest
positions in the department. It is
merely a tax-gathering service , and the
less politics there is about gathering
taxes the greater the assurance of hon
est and economical work. Buffalo Ex
press ( rep. )
The triumph of the spoilsmen in this
matter is not remarkable. What is
remarkable is that the president should
have thought a formal order of this
kind at all necessary. Ho must be sup
posed informed as to the shameless and
flagrant violation of the civil service
law in Oregon , as elsewhere , all over
the country. Deputies of marshals and
collectors have been turned out promis
cuously and political appointees put in.
If this has been done in defiance of law ,
why has the administration condoned
it ? If it has been done in accordance
with the law as it now stands , why is
there necessity for an order exempting
these places from the classified list ?
Portland Oregouiau ( rep. )
Mr. Cleveland's extension of the clas
sified service just before he went out of
office was unquestionably prompted by
partisan considerations , but this fact
does not in itself justify the modifica
tion. That can be justified only on the
ground that the offices excepted under the
new order should not be in the classified
service. As to some of them this view
can be successfully maintained , but it is
doubtful whether it can be as to all of
them. At all events , it is something of
a concession to the opponents of the
merit system for which the president
must expect to be vigorously criticised.
Omaha Bee ( rep. )
What will be severely criticised and
what civil service commissioners will
regard as a backward step is the exemp
tion of Indian laud examiners and fi
nancial clerks , of pension-agency clerks
and of cashiers and financial clerks at
the various post-offices enumerated in
the order. The Indian office is notor
iously weak and inefficient , to use mild
terms , and it will not be improved by
the infusion of spoils principles. The
postal service has been well admin
istered , and the public is cognizant of
no facts which would justify in its eyes
the change in the direction of increas
ing the patronage of local postmasters.
Chicago Evening Post ( Rep. )
The greatest danger to be apprehended
from the concessions made is that they
will stimulate demand for others , and
render resistance less easy. Portland
( Me. ) Press.rep. ( )
