Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, September 30, 1905, Page 3

a dd MILLS NOTABLE ADDRESS He Discusses Agriculture, National and World Affairs at a County Fair. James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern railroad, delivered an address at the Fillmore county fair at Preston, Minn., on Sept. 20, which is perhaps the most notable public utterance of the many he has made, It is of national, even world-wide scope, and is attracting great attention. He began by expressing his pleasure at meeting a strictly agri- cultural community and then made this contrast between Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa: F In your state here, and you will pardon ‘ me for making some Sonipaeraona: that may seem, as comparisons often are, a little odious, comparing Southern Minne- sota with Northern Towa: the tier of counties on the line of each state, with | nothing but the conventional boundary between them, they have advanced a lit- ‘ tle beyond you. ‘Curious enough your farms average exactly the same in acre- age. You have about 180,000 acres more than they have and they have the ad- vantage in the one item of live stock. Now, they have no advantage in soil or climate over you. But they probably gave up the raising of wheat a little earlier than you did. They probably took up the care of live stock, of cattle and hogs earlier than you did, and for that reason their yield per acre, and I am speaking from the United States census, the records show that they are $1 an acre ahead of you. Comparing Southern Iowa with North- ern Minnesota he said the Southern farms zealized $2 an acre more than the north-~ d ern and added: ‘There is no calling in the world where ® man can be more independent or hap- pier than he who cultivates the soil—a ‘ man on a farm is an independent prince a and he ovfght to succeed. Your future will depend more upon the cultivation of the land in an intelligent way and the restoration of the qualities of the soil that give good returns. Live stuck on the farm is worth more than the price you can get for the live stock because the manure as a fertilizer is worth one- third of the market value of the feed you give the animal. Following along this line, Mr. Hill pro ceeded to say that if they could sell thetr " grain, hay or roots, feed them to their te AH live stock and they would get one-third more than the market price of the feed. I want to say to you, cultivate your land. Take good care of it. Nothing will J pay you as well. Stock raising means & more to you and to the country. Keep the Farm. 4. Keep your farms. Cultivate them; cul- tivate them well. Stand by your state agricultural farm. To-day I want to call your attention to this. I have taken > ever since it was started the greatest in- terest in the state farm. There is but one change that I would make if I could, and I would make that in the interest of the school. I would separate it from the state university, because to-day it is only , an attachment.’ It is strong enough and 1 it is of more importance that the boys and girls of the State of Minnesota shall be educated to take Sovantage of and to q intelligently cultivate the soil Everything that is of value in the world 7 comes from four sources. The sea,—we have not got it. The forest,—our trees are counted, and in a very few years Minnesota will have no forests that are of any value. Theoretically we have twelve years of standing timber. Of course they won't cut it all in twelve years, but that will be because they re- @uce ‘the rate at which it is cut each year. 7 Proceeding, he said the mines were next to the forest, but the farm in Minnesota produces more value, more gold every year than the mines of any state in the Union. When mines are dug out they cannot be reproduced, but crops can be reproduced indefinitely. The mines will not grow again, but the crops will. He urged them not to sell their farms, but keep them for their boys and girls. He then related. the circumstances of the great drouth in the northern part of the state in 1883, and how to encourage , diversified farming he bought between ; 800 and 900 thoroughbred bulls and bée- tween 6,000 and 7,000 Berkshire pigs and scattered them throughout the northern part of the state and Dakota, Speaking of his recent visit to the North Dakota state fair, he said: Practical Example. I saw as fine cattle there as I ever saw in my life and I brought them over from Great Britain and had paid as much as J $5,000 for a cow. I had more pride in ‘ seeing these cattle, because among the i lot there was one animal that took the sweepstakes last year in the Dominion { + of Canada; in July he took the sweep- stakes in Winnipeg in the province. of Manitoba; in Grand Forks he took sec- ond prize, was beaten to a standstill by a North Dakota bull. I had a little feel- ing of pride creeping up my throat when the owner told me that he was a descend- { ant Of one of the animals I sent up there. They will get along prosperously to- ; gether or will be poor together. | Mr. Hill continued at some length to expatiate upon the importance, advan tages and independence of the farm life, {4 and then took up general matters which might be termed national, Along this ~ line he said in part: § Government Policies. There are two main essentials to all successful and happy effort; industry and ' character in the man as a private indi- vidual, and honesty and intelligence in his acts and in the acts of those who are chosen to represent him in the life of the state, You cannot get along without either the one or the other. You are all affected, directly and permanently, by the quality and the acts and the policies of the government under which you live. If that is low or dishonest it will react upon you eventually just as surely as if you received into the intimacy of your family life some man of bad’ conversé tion and corrupt example. If that is w intelligent, mistaken or wilfully misdi- rected, it will affect you just as certainly as if you continue to use a plough that merely scratches the surface of the soil instead of turning it over, or carry your roducts to the lowest instead of to the Righest market. It is your place to keep just as sharp a guard set upon these pub- lic issues and the way in which they are met as you do upon your own personal expenses and the actions of those who work under your personal orders. , ae, Are your representatives—I speak in the proadest and most general way, for your representatives will compare well with 3 those of other states—of the highest mor- + al quality and fiber, and are they doing those things which are most clearly con- ceived to benefit you, the people, and not . some interest aside from and antagonis- tic to your own? It will profit us all to think Seriously about these matters, for the responsibility for them cannot be evaded or shufficd off. War on Graft, And first as_to honesty, which fs the main thing. You all read the papers; and it is a chief stay and hope of this country that the diffusion of intelligence and an intimate acquaintance with what is happening elsewhere has become so neral. For that reason the extension of the rural mail service is to be classed as one of the real achievements of our time; one fit to rank with the spread or education in our schools. As thus fa- miliar with events, it is scarcely neces- sary that I should remind you that the effort of triotic men almost every- where is to establish and maintain a standard of honesty and decency in yub- lic life. There is no word more familiar, as there is none more ominous in Amer- ica to-day, than the word “graft. It shoots from the mouth like the spit of a rifle ball, and ft is Going as deadly work ‘as that weapon in the hands of a mur- Great commonvepalths arp taney paratively in the hands o! 32n- Stan oe ‘a captive in the power of brig- “wosuvi Joy wyYy Suipjoy SpUe Real Men in Office. can ¥ haps, no higher duty t than that of stamping But every tendency toward this evil. Have you always t= cory dng te public, support? for Meer sive! your aid to a man because he was supposed to be ‘‘smart’” as a candidate for a place whom you would not for a moment trust to repre- sent you in a business transaction? Have you never sent to office a man whose rec- ord was not what it should be? And have you never given your representatives, in state or nation, to understand that they would win your approval and a continu- ance of the honors they covet by getting the most numerous and the largest appro- priations for unnecessary undertakings in tae city or town or district? If you ave, then remember that reform must begin at the fountain head, the people. | And as a state or a city or a nation has no revenue, has no. money except that which is taken out of the pockets of in- dividuals through taxation, if you have winked at or tacitly rewarded this prac- ‘tice, then you have encouraged and pro- moted graft. No man and no nation ever was or ever will be rich enough to with- stand the continuous attack of unrebuked peculation; and no’ national or individual character can be pure enough to remain unsullied by a toleration of a low stand- ard of honesty. Now we come to another particular in which it becomes you to test these gen- tlernen who serve you and to ask every politician for his credentials. Let us see what they have done for you. You, b your unaided efforts, by unremitting toil and saving and the brave venture to wrest a living from nature, have accu- mulated certain resources of which alf these varied forms of wealth that we see about us to-day are typical. To what extent, if any, have you been hindered by the various measures that will be quoted, as they have been quoted, in evidence of the care that has been taken of your interests? Two Main Needs. Your main needs are two: an adequate market in which your products may be sold at a fair price, and an opportunity to purchase those things that you need which the farm does not supply. To what extent have these been furnished to you, and in what condition do you stand with reference to them? As far as your grain is concerned, you must sell in the markets of the world. There is no escape from that. The wheat of Southern Minnesota and the wheat of every other country on the face of the earth will bring to the farmer the price that is fixed in the world’s markets. The great consuming nations, with Great Brit- ain at their head, must have bread. They purchase it where they can, seeking all who have wheat and flour to sell. And by the competition of all these sellers, India and Russia and the Argentine and Aus- tralia as well as the United States, the price is settled, Have you been helped there? Of a truth it is impossible to helj you in any way but one, to which we will come presently. The average politician, who does not give you credit for the in- telligence that you possess, will tell you that you have been helped, have been “protected,” as he will call it, by placing a tariff on wheat and other products of the farm. But you know better. You know that a tariff on imports of an article which you do not wish to import, but which you have for sale in vast quanti- ties, is as useless as a steam_heating plant in August. In the year ended June , 1904, there were imported into the United States just 6,852 bushels of wheat in all. How did the protective tariff pro- tect this? This last year there were im- ported 3,102,585 bushels. Either figure is totally insignificant in a country whose own wheat crop runs from 600,000,000 to 800.000,000 bushels. But the fluctuation itself shows, since the tariff remained un- altered, that the latter has nothing what- ever to do with the matter. Your grain and your dairy products and your live stock are beyond the reach of all such assistance, The market in which your grain, cattle and hogs are sold is not af- fected by them at all. And consequent- ly, whatever you may think or may say to the gentlemen who tell you that a tariff has been enacted for your benefit, you may reply with great confidence that, as far as sales of your products are concerned, it profits you no more than an edict against immigration from the moon. There is one way, however, in which you may be helped, and that is by lessen- ing the cost of transportation. What you get for the yield of your farms is the price where'the consumer lives, less the cost of carrying the article from you to him. That cost you have to bear, Any- thing that diminishes it is money in your pocket; and when any one advises you that you are vitally interested in decreas- ing the cost of transportation he is tell- ing you the truth. But how is this to be brought about? No one can arbitrarily send out a proc- lamation that such a service shall be performed at such and such a charge. The business of transportation is like all other business in this: it must be con- ducted on a business basis. The cost of it can be lessened only by economies growing out of increased volume. So he does most for you in this respect who opens new markets, secures new custom- ers and helps to swell the volume of prod- nets and of purchases. This is the way in which the diminution of the cost of carriage has been effected, and the change is greater than has occurred in the price of almost any other commodity. The average receipts per ton per one hundred miles of all the railroads in the United States were $1.99 in 1870, $1.17. in 1880, 91 cents in 1890, 74 cents in 1903, while in Great Britain it is $2,835 and on _the continent of Europe from $2.10 to $1.70. The Great Northern railroad has been reducing its rates progressively for the last twenty-five years. The records of the company and of the state railway commission show that, if its freight tar- iffs had not been altered in that time, if it had charged throughout until to-day the rates that were then in force, it would have recefved more than $676,- 000,000 more than it has received during the twenty-five years, an average of over $27,000,000, and this a reduction on’ one road, and I am as proud of that as!I am of being here with you. That is a meas- ure of what has taken place as rapidly as the growth of the business permitted and made prudent. And I need not tell any of you who read the papers and keep in touch with the events of the day that this work is stiJl going on, and that the EH ge raised this year in the Northwest will be sent to market on the lowest freight rate ever made in the whole his- tory of the Northwest. Railroad Rates. How has this been accomplished? By seeking to build up the country, by study- ing how to develop its resources and its prosperity, by inducing settlers to come and till the vacant land and by taking care of those already here. By careful business management and by recognizing the essential partnership between the man on the soil and the railway which serves him. And I want to ask you as you study these figures to say whether these results, so beneficial to yourselves, could ever have been reached through a policy of antagonism and force. Some of the politicians will tell you that railroad rates must be fixed by order of the government, and that this is the reason why they must be kept in public life. It is an easy prophecy, because it is an obvious fact, that railroad rates in this country would decline more slowly under government control than if fixed by those who have intelligently managed the railways. No public body -would dare to make reduc- tions so sweeping as those that have been made voluntarily by the railways. Unless the people on its lines are prosperous the railway must be poor, They suffer to- ether or prosper together, and this con- Sition will always remain. Those who make the rates with full knowledge of all the facts entering into them will make them as low as possible because that means more people, fseois) acres under cul- tivation, more busi! for the rail company to carry, more earnings and more profits. It is the right and the duty of the government to seeure fair treat- ment and to prevent discriminations; but when any man says that he is anxious to have political place in order that he may help place the rate-making power in the hands of the government, and subject the fortunes of thirteen billions of capital, of millions of employes and tens of millions of customers to the caprice or the self- interest of politicians, then the history of railroad rates in this country as com= aaa with those char; anywhere else in the world, and the history of rate re- duxtions down to the present time, con- stitute a sufficient contradiction, Mileage rift. The government cannot_ discriminate between ports or places. with &n absolutely equal and hand with all. ‘Therefore, it obliged, sooner or later, to ordain a strict distance tariff; that is, the charge for carrying commodities would have to be apportioned to the number of miles in the haul. The low charge for the long haul would disappear, and freight would pay a mileage tariff. ' Now to some that would make. little difference; but you here in, Minnesota, in the center of, the continent, distant’ from 1,500 to _2¥ miles from all the great markets, about whom a big circle might be described and have its circumference sweep along the coasts of the Atlantic and the Pacific and the gulf of Mexico—you would be the most heavily tariffed people in the world, When men ask for your support or demand your praise on any such grounds as these, it will be well for you to bring them to the challenge of the facts and of common sense. Then, as to the markets in which you buy. How are you situated there, and what advantage do you owe to those who have settled your conditions? It would seem evident to most people that a sys- tem which permits the same article that you must have for your household or your farm to be carried abroad over thousands of miles of ocean and sold in distant markets at a price anywhere frm 5 to 50 per cent less than the price that is charged to you is not in your in- terest. It is because of that system that we pay annually an unknown amount of unearned Ree ‘on a total of some twen- ty-five billions of dollars which is the estimated volume of our domestic trade; that is, the buying and selling that goes on among ourselves. It is because of that and in order that it may not be changed by the fraction of a hair that the treasury deficit grows and promises now to reach $50,000, annually, and to require the imposition of other taxes, such as you have never heretofore con- sented to pay save in time of war and as a part of the sacrifices that it im- poses. Is this to your satisfaction, and is this the form of service that will call forth your gratitude and receive your continuing indorsement? Panama Canal. Mr. Hill took up the subject of the Pan- ama canal, treating it at considerable length. He argued that it could not be relied on to supply new markets. He cited the opinion of an expert, Mr. Harold Boice of the treasury department, who had written an elaborate article taking the same view. His argument was forti- fied by statistics showing how small an amount of our products the South Ameri- can states could poseply, use. He quoted Mr. Boice as saying that if we could se- cure one-half the imports of Asia, that traffic in one year would pay the cost of the canal and leave a balance of $300,- 000,000. He expected the canal would b poner but it would not bring market re- sults, Searcity of Lands and Irrigation. He considered the growing scaacity of agricultural lands and the defects in our land laws which allowed speculators and great combinations to secure millions of acres, to the exclusion of farmers. He highly commended the national irrigation movement, saying the work now under way would redeem 60,000,000 acres, and he had no doubt in the end many times that amount. Markets. The final question of all was securing markets for our products, he said. Our exports of commodities the product of agriculture for the year 1904 were valued at $853,643,073, and were 59.48 per cent of all our exports. Our exports of manufactured articles were valued at $452,415,921, or 31.52 per cent of the whole. The ratio is very nearly two to one, More- over, the tendency is for the former to increase while the latter decreases. In the commercial war upon us which has al- ready heard the firing of the first guff, it is the manufactured article that will be banned by the severest prohibition. But upon all that we have to sell the disad- vantage will fall. Our statesmen assum- ed that we alone could use a protective tariff to advantage, overlooking the very simple process of other nations meeting one tariff with another. The rest of the world has been wonderfully patient. It has taken no notice until we began to be thought of not exactly as a dangerous competitor in manufactured commodities, for we are not yet, but as a possible one. Then it took counsel, and the new German tariff is the first step in a league where we shall find all Europe commer- cially banded against us. What are we going to do about it? Where are we go- ing to find our markets; and especially the market for the immense product of our soil that will continue to be our main resource and dependence There are enough people within direct reach of us in Asia to require our entire annual wheat crop if each person con- sumed only the trifling amount of two bushels per annum. We have_ studied that trade and prepared for it. We have helped to build it up, and put millions of money into the greatest steamships that ever Sailed the seas to serve it. We did these things in order that we might he able to make a rate under which this Oriental trade could live. For these peo- ple cannot pay high transportation charges; they will buy in some ather market; and you cannot send wheat from the interior of the United States across half the continent and the whole breadth of the Pacific ocean if you have a big or even a reasonable mileage charge. Well, we have met with obstacles at every step; not the obstacles that busy men have a right to expect and know how to meet, such as the shrewdness of competitors or the difficulty of conquerin; material things, but interference wit! plans and regulations and rules and or- ders that can serve no purpose except to make impossible the maintenance of this new market. These customers are out- raged by a policy that insults their na- tional dignity and their personal self- respect until they determine to buy no more of us. These ships, instead of meet- ing with reasonable encouragement, are hampered and tied down by regulations which make it as costly as possible to operate them. These rates, which are the essential po of the whole affair, are destroyed by laws that put us at the mercy of every foreign tramp that floats the seas. And this, mind you, not in be- half of any home interest that might suf- fer, for these ocean rates do not concern the domestic producer more than they must be low enough to admit him to out- side markets, but only to the annoyance and detriment and discouragement of American foreign trade in the great staples that you help to produce and that must continue to enter increasingly into our dealings with other peoples. The to- tal foreign commerce of Japan and China amounts to $750,000,000 a year in round numbers. It is destined to increase and multiply at a rate that will astonish the world, and we might have the lion’s share of it if we only exercised common sense aoe ae prudence and patriotic fore~ Open Market, This problem of the market is your problem. This fallacy that the Uaited States ie getting control of the markets ot the worid needs to be studied into and hqnestly answered. Because our highly protected manufacturers are able, by reason of the big prices. they -cl e you, to send a certain portion of their output abroad and sell it tor half what you pay, We are not conquering the commercial world. The market belongs to the man who makes the lowest price; and in the United States, where it is a matter of botn pride and principle to pay labor well, the high wage rate stands like a wall across the way of ultimately suc- cessful competition with countries where hours are long and wages low, and prices correspondingly reduced. With the new adjustments and policies now in favor among the nations, we shall present]: see this market severely restricted. It is for you to take care that you do not lose, at the same time, your markets abroad for the breadstu! and provi- sions, the raw cotton, the. great. products of the, soil out of which your wealth must come. It is for you to see that on ter: feet nteg by gjenee i ede opened for e _enterp: of yourselves and children. hid °Mr. Hill concluded with another ge; to stand by the agricultural school and not continue it as an annex to the state university in order to secure appro} of as ap Satie for who are y Grain From the West to Go Through Duluth. The abandonment of Superior as a shipping point for Minnesota wheat, and shipping all the wheat from Du- luth is the possible outcome of the agitation started by the Wisconsin au- thorities against the inspection of wheat at Superior by the Minnesota grain inspection department. The matter was brought to a focus when Gov. Johnson received a letter from Gov. La Follette of Wisconsin, rminding him of the provision in the Wisconsin law that any person found assuming to act as a grain inspector without the appointment from the warehouse commission of that state would be liable to a fine of $100 for each attempt, and hinting broadly that if any more inspectors were found at Superior the law would be enforced, The letter cites several instances when inspectors of the Minnesota commission were found inspecting wheat into or on steamers at Superior. The instances cited are dates Aug. 23, Sept. 7, 13 and 14, and Gov. La Fol- lette states in the letter that he is in- formed that the violation of the law is not made in ignorance of law, as the Minnesota railroad and warehouse commission was given a copy of the Wisconsin law before it took effect. Goy. Johnson sent word to Gov. La Follette that he would take up the matter with the railroad and ware- house commission and would let him know as soon as a conclusion is ar- rived at. It is not probable that the inspectors will stop the inspection at Superior, and the report that they had stopped the inspection when the first com- plaint was made and that the inspect- ors are now employed by the Duluth board of trade is a mistake, as_ the Minnesota inspectors continue to in- spect the wheat in the steamers at Superior the same now as before the agitation, was started. The commissioners think that they have authority to do this by the act of congress tn 1875 authorizing the state government in Minnesota. This act says in section 2 that the state “shall have concurrent jurisdiction on the Mississippi and all ‘other rivers and waters bordering on the State of Min- nesota so far as the same shall form a common boundary to the said state and any state or states now or here- after to be formed or bounded by the same; and the same river or waters shall be common highways, and for- ever free, as well to the inhabitants of said state as to all other citizens of the United States.” It is most likely that Gov. Johnson will reply to the governor of Wiscon- sin that Minnesota cannot see where she errs in inspecting wheat at Su- perior. The inspectors will then go on and if the Wisconsin governor persists and has the Minnesota inspectors fined, a test case will be brought to the United States courts. SUPERIOR TO BE LEFT OUT. WANT REAL SETTLERS. Counties Will Help in Promoting Sales of State Lands. i Word has been received at. the state auditor’s office that mass meet- ings are being held in all the counties in which the state will offer lands for sale next month. Much of the labor of the state emigration bureau has been assumed by the commercial clubs of The State the state, and county associations are being formed all over the northern part of the state to secure settlers for the 500,000 acres which will be offered for. sale next month. Clearwater coun- ty especially is making an effort to have its land sale well attended. More than ten letters of inquiry are received each day by the state audi- tor as to the amount of land to be sold, terms, etc. Many of the counties interested in the sale are sending out circulars on their own behalf to all parts of the country. Never before in the history of land sales has so much interest been shown. “It is to the individual counties that the successs of the sale will be due,” said Supt. Warner of the state immi- gration bureau. “In nearly every county in which there is land to be sold, agencies have been formed which are hard at work to promote the inter- ests of the state and to secure settlers for the thousands of acres of excellent agricultural land which still remains vacant. % The first sale will be held at Hallock Oct. 23, when 44,000 acres will be of- fered. The sales will continue until April 17, 1906. These lands will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. Fifteen per cent of the purchase price must be paid at the time of sale. The balance may run forty years at 4 per cent an- nual interest if desired. The title to all state land is perfect. cane The Preston Broom company has ‘been organized by the following: Da- vid Hutton, ©. M. Morgan, Henry Ol- son, EB. R. Place, L. F. Gossman, S. A. Langum and C. R. Houston. A factory has been erected, broomcorn contract- ed for and machinery bought. The Todd county fair and a four days’ street carnival opened under auspicious circumstances. The asso- ciation offers between $3,000 and $4,000 in premiums and prizes. Some splendid. horse races have been ar- DAY BY « DAY « TIMBER BOARD IS INQUIRING. Alleged Trespass Cases Considered at Secret Meeting. The state timber board, consisting of the governor, the state auditor and the attorney ,Beneral, at an executive meeting in the governor’s rooms, dis- cussed the matter of taking action against trespassers. The meeting was called to decide upon the land which will be put up at the sale Oct. 17, but it is understood that some of the al- leged timber trespasses were dis- cussed, and that this was why the ses- sion was executive. It is understood that the officials have secured considerable information recently. Assistant Attorney General Cc. S. Jelley has found a logging con- tractor who told of the purchase of a tract of land for $50, on the represen- tation that it contained 15,000 feet of timber. The contractor says he cut the timber for the firm and it was found to contain more than 600,000 feet of pine besides some other timber. He has also told of other depredations by other lumber firms. The board considered the reports of the cruisers and designated the tim- ber to be offered for sale. The cruis- ers or state land examiners are Thom- as Fitzgerald, D, E. Elliott and Lafay- ette Shaw. The sale will be held at the state capitol Oct. 17, and 70,000,000 feet of pine timber will be offered for sale. “This is not quite so much as is usually offered,” said the state auditor, “put it shows that the pine timber be- longing to the state is continually growing less. We are expecting a successful sale, as there appears to be quite a demand for pine timber, and the prices should be accordingly.” The timber will be sold at public auction at the state capitol and will be sold to the highest bidder. It will be sold in tracts of 100,000 feet or more, to be scaled by the surveyor general. The purchasers will be required to pay 25 per cent at the time of sale. The timber is located in St. Louis, Lake, Itasca, Beltrami and Hubbard coun- ties, Some permits for extensions were considered and allowed by the board. FINDS BOX CAR MERCHANT SLY. Food Commissioner Discovers Ingeni- ous Ruse. An ingenious attempt to evade the effects of the Lauritzen box car mer- chant bill has been discovered by the state dairy and food commissioner. The bill provides that the inspectors of the department shal] have power to go into any railway car, station or storage house where goods shipped into the state from without are being sold or stored, and have authority to take samples of food contained in them. The law then provides that the railroad must give the commissioner the names of the consignor and the consignee, and the department shall notify each consignor and each con- signee whether each package is legal er illegal. The department recently examined a shipment of goods sent to Buffalo, and sent notices to all the thirty con- signees. The commissioner was sur- prised a few days later to see every one of the thirty letters returned with the information that there were no such parties at that postoffice. The box car merchant had found that it was a poor advertisement for his busi- ness to have the commission send each of his customers an analysis of the food he was shipping them, and he hit upon the plan of consigning the goods to fictitious names. The ship- per would see that the buyer got the goods but not the letter with the fic- titious name and the information of the character of the wares. CHOLERA KILLS HOGS. The state live stock and sanitary commission is contending with an outbreak of hog cholera in the town- ships of Lynd, Island Lake, Grand View and Nordland, in Lyon county. The disease broke out on a farm sit- uated on a creek, and the infection was carried with the water down the stream to other farms. The spread of the disease was further augmented by the hog buyers, who visit, the farms with a view to buying for shipment, and in going from far mto farm have carried the infection on their boots. The officers of the department have made several visits to the district and interviewed the owners of the hogs, in- structing them what to do and what precautions are necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. Dogs, it is thought, by running from farm to’farm, have helped to spread the diesase. Hunting with dogs has been prohibited, and dogs in the in- fected townships are required to be tied up. Norwegians Want Instructions. Karlstad, Sept. 22. — The Swedish and Norwegian commissioners were in joint session for some hours yesterday and again adjourned. The Norwegians are awaiting instructions from their government on certain points. Dixon Out In Second. Philadelphia, Sept. 22. — George Dixon, the former featherweight cham- pion, was last night knocked out in the second round of what was to have been a six-round bout, by Tommy Murphy of New York. LIGHTING LORE. ACETYLENE EXCELS AS AN ILLU- MINANT. Gas for Lighting Formerly Confined to Cities and Large Towns, now in General Use in the Country. ° The satisfactory lighting of subur- ban and country homes requires that the means used shall be convenient, safe, economical and furnish a beil- liant, penetrating, effulgent light. Everybody admits that these are not the characteristics of the candle or kerosene lamp, which, formerly, were the only feasible means of pro ducing light for domestic usé in the rural districts. For generations there was a crying need, a yearning for something better, which was not satisfied. A few years ago deliverance came in the shape of the chemical compound, Calcium Car- bide, from which, by the simple ap- plication of water, the gas Acetylere is derived. Acetylene meets all the requirements fully and admirably and is being generally used. Common lime and carbon in the form of coke or coal are the raw ma- terials which, fused in an intensely heated furnace, make Calcium Car- bide, and there is no difficulty in ob- taining it in any part of the country. The machine into which the Cal- cium Carbide is fed and from which the Acetylene is distributed through the building to be lighted, is but little larger than a thirty-gallon milk can, and of the same general form. It is easily and cheaply installed, either in the cellar or in an out-building. The light from burning Acetylene is exquisite, and lighting experts agree that it surpasses al] other known illu- minants. It does not taint the air nor strain the eyes and is not objection- able in any respect. Every up-to-date rural residence should be equipred with Acetylene light. PROOF POSITIVE HE LIED. Husband Had Money, So Couldn’t Have Been at Races. Hon. David Gensberger, who sways the gavel with such skill and ability as chairman of the lower board of the city council, says the average husband never knows when nor where to ex- pect trouble. “My friend, for instance,” continued the chairman, “telephoned his, wife that he was going to the races. After- wards, some business matters arising, he was compelled to forego his pleas- ure trip. That night he reached home after supper. He was tired and worn out and when to sleep without indulg- ing in much family conversation, Next morning he was awakened early by hearing his wife sobbing out her heart in the next room. Hastening to the weeping woman, my friend asked what the trouble was. “Trouble!” exclaimed the tearful wife, “trouble! oh, you wretch! You have deceived me. You telephoned me that you were going to the races, and look, sir, look! I found all this money in your pocket.”—Memphis Commercial Appeal. Six Doctors Failed. South Bend, Ind., Sept. 25th (Spe- cial)—After suffering from Kidney Disease for three years; after taking treatment from six different doctors without getting relief, Mr. J. O. Lau- deman of this place found not only relief but a speedy and complete cure in Dodd's Kidney Pills. Speaking of his cure Mr. Laudeman says: “Yes, I suffered from Kidney Trou- ble for three years and tried six doc- tors to no good. Then I took just two boxes of Dodd’s Kidney Pills and they not only cured my kidneys, but gave me better health in general. Of course I recommended Dodd’s Kidney Pills to others and I know a number now who are using them with good re- sults.” Mr. Laudeman’s case is not an ex- ception. Thousands give similar ex- periences. For there never yet was a ease of Kidney Trouble from Back- ache to Bright’s Disease that Dodd's Kidney Pills could not cure. They are the only remedy that ever cured Bright’s disease. Food for Welsh Rabbits. He was a recent recruit from Ire- lJand’s green turf and had secured his first position in a grocery store. One day a customer approached the new clerk and inquired for some crumbled store cheese for a Welsh rabbit. After supplying the customer with the desired cheese, Pat inquired, »And, sure, is that Phawt yer feed them on?’—Lippincott’s Magazine. RESTORED HIS HAIR. Scalp Humor Cured by Cuticura Soap and Ointment—After All Else Had Failed. “I was troubled with a severe scalp humor and loss of hair that gave me a great deal of annoyance and inconven- ience. After unsuccessful efforts with many remedies and so-called hair tonics, a friend induced me to try Cuticura Soap and Ointment. The humor was cured in a short time, my hair was restored as healthy as ever, and I can gladly say I have since bey entirely free from any further annoy- ance. I shall always use Cuticura Soap, and I keep the Ointment on hand to use as a dressing for the hair and scalp. (Signed) Fred’k Busche, 213 East 57th St., New York City.” Give Him Ten. Teacher (to smallest boy in class)— What well known animal supplies you wit food and clothing? Smallest Boy (after some thought) —My father:—Judge. LEAR MPR LTE {