Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, January 15, 1910, Page 11

} i LANDS THEME FOR TAFT President Sends Important Message to Congress— Traffic o’n Inland Waters—Points Qut that a Heap of Talking Has Been Going on Over “Certain Questions,” But FEe Has Failad to Get Any Practical Suggestions Up to Date. Washington. Jan. 14.—President Taft sent the following message to con- gress: To the Senate and House of Repre- sentativ 1o my annual message 1 reserved the subject of the conservation of our mational resources for discussion in a special message. as follows: “In several departments there is presented the necessity for legisiation looking to the further conservation of our national resources, and the sub- ject is ome of such importance as to require a more detalled and extended | discussion than can be entered upon | in this commuaication. For that rea- son | shall take an early opportunity to send a special message to congress | on the subject of the improvement of our waterways; upon the reclamation and trrigation of arid, semtarid and swamp lands; upon the preservation of our forests and the reforesting of | suitable areas; upon the reclassifica- | tion of the public domain with a view | of separating from agricultural set- | phqitum, natural gas and phosphate | contained therein. This may be best | lished by separating the right | ernment bordering on streams suitable | {0 mine from the title to the surface, | giving the necessary use of so much | tlement mineral, coal und phosphate | iands and sites belonging to the gov- | for the utllization of water power.” | In 1860 we had a public demain of | 1055911288 acres. We have now | 731354081 acres confined largely to | the mountain ranges and the arid and semiarid plains. We have in addition 368,035,975 acres of land In Alaska. The public lands were during the eariiest administrations treated asa | sions requiring a certain amount of | naticnal asset for the liquidation of | gevelopment each year, and in order the public debt and as a source of re- | ward for our soidiers and saflors. made by the secretary of the interior and the president and to authorize the secretary of the interior temporarily to withdraw lands pending submission to congress of recommendations as to legislation to meet conditions or emer- Eencies as they arise. Should Classify Lands. One of the most pressing nceds In the matter of public land reform is that lards should be classified accord- ing to their principal value or use. ‘This ought to be done by that depart- ment whose force is best adapted to that work. It should be done by the interior department through the geo- logical survey. Much of the confu- sion, fraud and contention which has existed in the past bas arisen from the lack of an official and determinative classification of the public lands and their contents. 2 It is now proposed to dispose of ag- ricuitural lands as such and at the | same time to reserve for other dis- position the treasure of coal, oil, as- accompl of the latter as may be required for the extraction of the deposits. The surface might be disposed of as agri- cultural land under the generzl agri- cultural statutes, while the coal or lease on a royalty basis. with provi- to prevent the use and cession of such lands with others of similar charac- | other mineral could be disposed of by | Later on they were donated in large | ter so as to constitute a monopoly for- | amounts in aid of the construction of wagon rosds and railways In order to open up regions in the west then al- most inaccessible. All the principal land statutes were enacted more than & guarter of a century ago. The home- | stead act. the pre-emption afd timber bidden by law the lease sbould con-| tain suitable provision subjecting to | ture the interest of persons par- | forfe ticipating in such monopoly. Such law should apply to Alaska as well as to the United States. It is exceedingly difficult to frame a culture act, the coal land and the min- | statute to retain government_control ing acts were among these. The rapid | over a property to be developed by disposition of the public lands under private capital in such a manner as to the early statutes and the lax meth- | secure the governmental purpose and ods of distribution prevailing, due, [ think, to the belief that these lands should rapidiy pass into private own- | tal. ership, gave rise to the impression | | at the same time not frighten away the investment of the necessary capi- | Hence it may be necessary by aws that are really only experimental drain wet soils, ditch swamp solls, levee river overflow soils. grow trees on thin soils, pasture hillside soils, ro- tate crops on all soils, discover meth- ods for cropping dry land soils, find grasses and .egumes for all sofls, feed | gralns and nill feeds on the farms | where they originate that the soils from which they come may be en- riched. Department of Agricuiture’s Good Work inform and instruet the public on thls chief branch of the conservation of our resourceg Is belng carried on success- fully in the department of agriculture, bat it ought not to escape public at- ention that state action in addition to that of the department of agriculture— as, for instance, in the drainage of swamp lapnds—Iis essential to the best treatment of the soils in the manner | above indieated. | The act by which in semiarid parts ’of the public dou n the area of the | homestead has been enlarged from 160 | to 820 acres has resulted most benefl- clally in the extension of “dry farm- ing” and I the demonstration which has been made of the possibility through a variation In the character and mode of calture of raising sub- stantfal crops without the presence of such » supply of water as has been | heretofore thought to be necessary for | agricuitre. But there are milllons of acres of completely arid land in the publlec do- main which by the establishment of Teservoirs for the storing of water and the irrigation of the lands may be made much more fruittul and produc- tive than the best lands in a climate where the moisture comes from the clouds. Congress recognized the im- portance of this method of artificlal distribution of water on the arid lands by, the passage of the reclamation act. | The proceeds of the public lands cre- that the public domain was legitimate | to determine from their practical oper- | prey for the unscrupulous and that 1t was not contrary to good morals to | curing the result aimed at. circumvent the land laws. 'This prod- | igal manner of disposition resulted In the passing of large areaseof valuable | land and many of our national | feit little or no respousibllity for pro- moting the national welfare through | their development. The truth is that | titles to millions of acres of public | lands were fraudulently obtained and that the right to recover a large part ©f such lands for the government long | ¢ since ceased by reason of statutes of lmitation. Great Public Concern. The extent of the value of phos- phate is hardly realized, and with the need that. there will be for it as the re- | vears roll on and the necessity for fer- | sources into the hands of persons who | tiljzing the land shall become acute this will be a product which will | probably attract the greed of monopo- | lists. ‘more With respect to the public land which ransmissible electriclty, another im- portant phase of the public land ques- | | tion is presented. There are valuable water power sites through all the pub- There has developed in recent years lic land states. The opinion is held & deep concern in the public mind re- | specting the preservation and proper | t use of our natural resources. This has | ri been particularly directed toward the | hat the transfer of sovereignty from he federal government to the territo- ial governments as they become states included the water power in the rivers conservation of the resonrces of the | except so far as that owned by ripari- public domain. The problem is how to save and how to utilize, how conserve and still develop, #ane person can contend that It is for the common good that nature's bless- | t ings are only for unborn generations. Among the most noteworthy reforms an proprietors. to | essary to go into a discussion of this | for no somewhat mooted question of law. 1 do not think it nee- It seems to me sufficient to say that the man who owns and controls the | 1and along the stream from which the power is to be converted and trans- initiated by my distinguished prede- | mitted owns land which is indispen- cegsor were the vigorous prosecution of Jand frauds and the bringing to public | t attention of the necessity for preserv- iog the remaining public domain from | I further spoliation, for the maintenance sable to the conversion and use of hat power. I cannot conceive how the fc lands can be made available at all i except by using the land itself as the #nd extension of onr forest resources | site for the construction of the plant | #nd for the ecactment of laws amend- by which the power is generated and ing the obsolete statutes so as to retain governmental control over that part of | converted and securing a right of way hereover for transmission lines. ©n- the public domain In which there are der these conditions, if the government valuable deposits of coal, of oil and of phosphate and, in addition thereto, to | i preserve control i vorable to the public of the lands along | p the streams n which the fall of water €28 be made to generate power to be transmitted in the form of electricity many miles to the point of its use, | known as “water power” sites. 1 The investigations Into violations of the public land laws and the prosecu- tion of land frauds have been vigor- eusly continued under my administra- tion, as has been the withdrawal of ®val lands for classification and valua- tion and the temporary withholding of | | Power sites. Since March 4, 1909, temporary withdrawals of power sites have been made on 102 streams, and these with- drawals therefore cover 220 per cent more streams than were covered by the withdrawals made prior to that | aate. P It owns under conditions fa- | it m the adjaclent land, he government is the riparian owner, y coutrol the use of the water power by imposing proper conditions on the disposition of the land neces- sary in the creation and utilization of the water power. Water Power Important. The development in “electrical appli- ances for the conversion of the. water power ioto electricity to be transmit- indeed if | ation what is the best method of se- | | the conservation of our natural | lies along the streams offering oppor- | tunity to convert water power into power in streams flowing through pub- | ed long distances bas progressed so | | far that it is no longer problematical, | but it is a certain Inference that in the | future the power of the water falling n the streams to a large extent will take the place of natural fuels. In the disposition of the domain al- ready granted many water power sites bave come urder absolute ownership and u that all the water power under private ownership shall however, the water power sites now ay drift into ome ownership, so be a monopoly. If, The present statutes, except so .far | owned by the government—and there as they dispose of the precious metals and the purely agricultural lands, are mot adapted to carry out the modern view of the best disposition of publie lands to private ownership under cou- ditions offering on the one hand suffi- clent inducement to private capital to | take them over for proper develop- ment. with restrictive conditions on | the other which shall secure to the public that character of control which | will prevent a monopoly or misuse of the lands or their products. The power of the secretary of the “fnterior to withdraw from the opera- tion of existing statutes tracts of land. the disposition of which under such statutes would be detrimental to the public interest. Is mot clear or satis- factory. This power has been exer- cised in the interest of the public, are enough of them—shall be disposed of to private persons for the invest- mwent of thelr capital in such a way as to prevent their union for purposes of monopoly with other water power sites and under conditions that shall limit the right of use to not exceeding fifty years with proper means for de- termining a reasonable graduated reut- ) al and with some equitable provision for fixing terms of renewal, it would seem entirely possible to prevent the absorption of these most useful lands by a power monopoly. As long as the government retains control and can prevent other plants competition must be main- tained and prices kept reasonable. their improper union with In considering the conservation of the natural resources of the country the feature that transcends all others, with the hope that congress might af- | including woods. waters, minerals, is frm the action of the executive by laws adapted to the new conditions. Unfortunately, congress has not thus far fully acted on the recommenda- tions of the esecutive, and the ques- tion as to what the executive is to do is, under the circumstances, full of difficulty. It seems to me that It is the duty of congress now, by a statute. to vall- @ate the withdrawals which have been the soil of the country. bent upon the government to foster by all available means the resources of the country that produce the food of the people. tion of the soils of the country should be cared for with all means at the gov- ernment’s disposal. powers shopld. have the attention of our sclentists that we may conserve the new soils, improve the old solls, 1t is incum- To this end the conserva- Their productive ate fhe fund to bulld the works need- ed to store and furnish the necessary water, and it was left to the secretary of the Interiox to determine what proj- ects should be selected among those suggested and to direct the reclama- tion service, with the funds at hand and through the engineers in its em- ploy, to construct the works. No one can visit the far west and the country of arid and semiarid lands without being conviiced that this is oue of the most important methods of re- sources that the government has enter- ed upon. It would nppear that over thirty projects have been undertaken and that a few of these are likely to be unsuccessful because of lack of water or for other reasons, but gen- erally the work which has been done hzs been well done, and many jmpor- ant engineering problems have been met and solved. Government Should Help Settlers. Oue of the dificuities which have arisen is that too many projects in view of the available funds have been set on foot. The funds available under the reclaimation statute are inadequate to complete these projects within a reasonable time. And yet the projects have been begun. Settlers have been invited to take up and in many in- stances .ave taken up the public land within the projects, relying upon their prompt completion. The failure to complete the projects for their bene- fit is, In effect, a breach of faith and leaves them in a most distressed con- dition. 1 urge that the nation ought to afford the means to lift them out of the very Cesperate condition in which they tow are. This condition does not indicate any excessive waste or any corruption on the part of the reclamation service. It only indicates an overzealous de- sire to extend the benefit of reclama- tion to as many acres and as many states as possible. I recommend, there- fore, that authority be given to issue not exceeding $20.000.000 of bonds from time to time, as the secretary of the interior shall find it necessary, the procecds to be applied to the comple- tion of the projects already begun and their proper extension and the bonds running ten years or more, to be taken up by the proceeds of returns to the reclamation fund, which returns as the years go on will increase rapidly in amount. There is no doubt at all that if these bonds were to be allowed to run ten years the proceeds from the public lands. together with the rentais for water furnished through the complet- ed enterprises, would quickly create a sinking fund large enough to retire the bonds within the time specified. 1 hope that, while the statute shall pro- vide that these bonds are to be paid out of the reclamation fund. it will be drawn In such a way as to secure In- terest at the lowest rate and that the credit of the United States will be pledged for their redemption. 1 'urge consideration of the recom- mendations of the secretary of the in- terior In his annual report for amend- ments of the reclamation act, propos- ing other relief for settlers on tlese projects. Respecting the comparatively small timbered areas on the public domain not included in national gorests be- cause of their isolation or their spe- cial value for agricultural or mineral purposes it is apparent from the evils resulting by virtue of the lmperfec- tions of existing laws for the disposi- tion of timber lands that the acts of June 3, 1878, should be repealed and a law enacted for the disposition of the timber at public sale. the lands after the removal of the timber to be sub- ject to appropriation under the ag- ricultural or mineral land laws. _ What 1 bave sald is really an epit- ome of the recommendations of the sccretary of the Interior In respect to the future conservation of the public domain in his present annual report. He has given close attention to the problem of disposition of these lands under such couditions as to invite the private capital necessary to thelr de- velopment on the oue hand and the waintenance of tlie restrictio; A work of the utmost importance to | them where new legislation is needed shall be made completed and unques- | tioned. Must Maintain Forests. ‘The forest reserves of the United States, some 190.000,000 acres fn ex- | tent, are under the control of the de- | partment of agriculture, with author-| ity adequate to preserve them and to extend their growth so far as that! may be practicable. The importance of the maintenance of our forests can- | not be exaggerated. The possibility of a scientific treatment of forests so that they shall be made to yield a arge return in timber without really reducing the supply has been demon- strated in other countries, and wé | should work toward the standard set by them as far as their methods are applicable to our conditions. Upward of 400,000,000 acres of for-| est land in this country are in private ownership, but ouly 8 per cent of it is being treated sclentifically and with a view to the maintenance of the for- ests. The part played by the forests in the equalization of the supply of water on watersheds is a matter of discussion and dispute, but the general benefit to be' derived by the public from the extension of forest lands on watersheds and the promotion of the growtb of trees in places that are now | denuded and that once had great, flourishing forésts goes without saying. The control to be exercised over pri-| vate owners in their treatment of the forests which they own is a matter for state and not national regulation, because there is nothing in the con-| stitution that authorizes the federal| government to exercise any control over forests within a state unless the | forests are owned in a proprietary way by the federal government. It bas been proposed, and a bill for the purpose passed the lower house in the last congress, that the national | government appropriate a certain amount each year out of the recelpts | from the forestry business of the gov- ernment to institute reforestation at the sources of certain pavigable. streams to be selected by the geologie- al survey, with a view to determining | the practicability of thus improving and protecting the streams for fed- eral purposes. 1 think a moderate ex- penditure for each year for this purpose for a period of five or ten years would be of the utmost benefit in the devel- opment of our forestry system. Improving inland Waterways. I come BOW to the improvement of the iuland waterways. He would be blind. indeed, who did not realize that the people of the entire west, and espe- clally those of the Mississippl valley, bave been aroused to the need there is for the Improvement of our inland waterways. The Mississippl river, with the Missouri on the one hand and the Obio on the other, would seem to offer a great natural means of inter- state transportation and trafic. How far, if properly improved, they would relleve the raiiroads or supplement them in respect to the buikier wnd cheaper commodities s a matter of conjecture. N® enterprise ought to be undertaken the cost of which is not definitely ascertained and the benefit | and advantage of which are not known | and assured by competent engineers and other authority. When, however, a project of a definite character for the improvement of a waterway has been developed so that plans have been drawn, the cost definitely esti- ' mated and the traffic which will be ac- | commodated is reasonably probable, I | think it is the duty of congress to un- | dertake the project and make provision therefor in the proper appropriation bill. One of the projects which answer | the description I have given is that of introducing dams into the Qhio river from Pittsburg to Cairo, o as to wain- | tain at all seasons of the year by slack water a depth of nine feet. Up- ward of seven of these dams bave ak- ready been constructed, and six are | under construction, while the total re- | quired Is fifty-four. The remaining | cost is known to be $63,000,000.. | It seems to we that in the develop- | nent of our inland waterways it | would be wise to begin with this par- | ti-ular project and carry it through as | rapidly as may be. I assume from re- | liable information that It can be con- | structed economically in ten years. I| recommend, therefore, that the present | congress in the river and harbor bill | make provisios for continuing con-| tracts to complete this improvement, | and 1 shall recommend in the future, it it be necessary, that bonds be lssued to carry it through. 51 What has been said of the Ohio rives | is true in a less complete way of the improvement of the upper Mississippi | from St. Paul to St. Louis to a con- stant depth of six feet, and of the Mis- souri from Kansas City to St. Louis to a constant depth of six feet, and from | St. Louls to Cairo of a depth of eight feet. These projects have been pro- nounced practical by competent boards of army engineers, their cost has been estimated. and there is business which will follow the improvement. Traffic Is Increasing. As these improvements are being made and the traffic encouraged by them shows itself of sufficient impor- tance the improvement of the Missis- &ippi beyond Cairo down to the guif, which is now going on with the main- tenance of a depth of nine feet every- where, may be changed to another and greater depth if the necessity for it shall appear to arise out of the traffic which can be delivered on the river at Catro. I am informed that the investigation by the waterways commission in Eu- rope shows that the existence of a wa- lerway by no weans assures trafic unless there Is trafic adapted to water | carriage at cheap rates st oue end or the other of the stream. It also ap- pears In Europe that the depth of the | non-tidal streams is rarely more tham i | 8x up something tasty to @l up the | got a wule and a horse and want two tion which 1 bave recommended in re- spect to the public lands and in respect to reclamation. 1 earnestly urge that the measures recommended be taken up and disposed of promptly without awaiting the Investklfl{n which has been determined upon. - WILLIAM H. TAFT. The White House, Jan. 14, 1910. A Matter of Diction. ’ In all its phases of development lan- guage has its Dicetics, and the fine shadings in the meaning of words cur- reut in different communities, between which at first glance there might seem to be little choice, are sometimes well worth consideration. No ope gifted with even a modicum of sympathetic | imagination could fafl to be touched by this point from a bardworking | motherly woman, born and bred on a farm in oue part of Missouri and now | summoued by destiny to prepare the meals for a houseful of miners in au- ottier section of the same state. “Here 1 stand the whole day through,” she said sadly. “boiling and sweating over the hot stove, trying to stomachs of a lot of men folks, and then they up and call my good grub chuck.”—Youth’s Companion. The Lurton-Speke Controversy. Out of the discovery of the sources of the Nile grew the famous dispute between Speke and Burton. Speke virtually discovered the source of the Nile in Lake Victoria Nyanza in his 18579 expedition. He bad. gone on to the lake alone, leaving Burton behind, sick. Few people believed Speke, and Burton was not ome of them. In 1863 Speke, accompanied by Grant, discovered the source beyond dispute. But still Burton denled the possibility. It was arranged that Speke and Burton should hold a public dis- putation on the subject at the British associution at Bath in 1864 On the morning of the mecting Speke was found dead, with his gun lying beéside bim. Some say it was an accident; some say it was not—London Specta- tor. Avoiding the Risk. here was joy in the bome of a fam- ily in the poorer guarters of London, for they had received from the baker's a ple of far greater size than the meun little ple they bad sent to be cooked. But when Gus served it out his wife exclaimed: “Well, Gus, we have been married now nearly thirty years, and this Is the tirst time you have served me tirs “Hush, hush, Lizg!” replied Gus. “I know very well that the man who owns this ple will be saying. ‘I hope the first bite chokes the one who eats it” Get on with your dinner, like a good woman.”—London Telegraph. Straightened Out. “It looks confused now, but in due course it will all be cleared up,” said a lawyer, speaking of a case in which he was interested. He resumed: “It | looks confused now, but in the end it will straighten itself out, like the rural advertisement that sald: ‘Notice— Wanted to trade horse for mule of mule for borse. It makes no differ ence which. The idea is this— have of a kind."” MUSIC AND DRAMA Little Marguerite Clark, who s about half as big as a pint of peanuts, appeared for the first time as a star in New York, this week, in The King of Cadon! Robert Edeson opened his tour In A Man’s a Man, at the Wieting opera house, Syracuse, N. ¥ Helen Macbeth, who plays Jean Christy in support of Robert Edeson in A Man's a Man, made her debut Mrs. on ‘the stage fn Chicago with Fiske in “Tess.” The New York eritics pronounce the new “Old Town” Montgomery and Stone’s vehicle for the opening of the Globe theater, a fizzle, save the acrobatics of Fred Stone. Georze Ade and Gustave Luders made it. Frederick Perry, who plays John Ricaby in The Next of Kin, achieved 1is greatest success on the siage pli: - ng character old men, although Mi. Perry has just entered the thirties Alice Wilson, who plays Mrs. Ja Marsh in Charles Klein’s new -lay. The Next of Kin, obtained her fivst professional engagement on the c through Sir Henry Irving, who, by the way, was a distant relative of Miss Macbeth. The Metropolitan Opera company New York is to be re-enforced b: number of new singers, who arri this week. Among them is Maric Del- na, a French contralto, who will prob- ably make her debut as Orfeo, the lat- ter part of this month, of The Barrier, Eugene W. Presbrey’s dramatization of Rex Beach’s novel of that name, was presented Monday evening at the New Amsterdam thea- ter, New York. It tells a story of life in ‘the gold flelds of Alaska, and it is therefore mostly melodrama. % What She Wanted. This is a true telephone story: Hav- ing called up what she thought was the. right number, a woman asked: “Are you at lelsure this afternoon?” “Mrs. Nicely recommended you, and I suppose you will make the same price for me that you did for her.” “Of course—what's wanted “Well, §t's only & few hairs on my chin, and { want them off before I go down south. Surely—won't it hurt?”’ “Say, what are you giving us? This is a garage!” Bang country show a valuation of $5,000, 000.000- The twelve principal crops of mul Farm Restrictions and Farm (Written Specially for The Bulletin.) “There are more ways than.one to skin a cat” 1 used to hear wo, when 1 was a boy, way. 1 don’t know that it imp: me very pleasantly at the time, for | was, even as u kid, fond of cats and didn't want to skin ‘em. But 1 used to hear it often and from all sorts and conditions of men, and I came to remember It. AS veara passed and | had to take increasing work and enlarging responsibilities I began to see the real meaning which is borne by the figurative saying. We farmers have to do a whole lot of work with restricted means. We aren't always nor often abie to have the costly fools and machinery which are best fitted for doing the exact sort of work we happen to have on hand. Our incomes don't warrant us in pur- chasing them. We have to get along with such appliances, often with such makeshifts, as we ‘have. It isn't so much the question as to what tool or what machine is the best, but whet] we can make such as we have se the purpose. Many a farmer uses a plain cut-off saw bonrds with, because it will “do.” work and time, and he doe spending hard-earned money. for a rip- saw which he may use but Lwice & year. For years and years my old father dug postholes with a spade and crowbar, because they would “do” and he needed the money a posthole digger would have cost for other things. For some years I did the rough blacksmith- ing work which a farmer on a back farm must do for himself, using an old globe coal stove for a forge. It wasn't handy; it wasn't always effec- tive; it was wasteful of coal and of iron, too. But it would “do” on a pinch and the. money even a cheap portable forge would have cost was wanted elsewhere. We all know how it is. We must get along with what we Nfive, not with what we would like. We have to do the best we can with unsuitable tools. We. huve to work | with what is at hand. Just that, | take it, is the underiying g of the old saying ubout skin- ning the cat. Of course. there is, there must be, a right way to skin & cat. There is'a right way for almost evers- thing; a way that produces hest resuits at least cost and labor. But—if we can't do them in that best way—there are other ways in which they can be done, after a fashion. Right there come In one of the practical jessons in farm management, “How to Make the Eest Use of Whai We Have:" there's a title for @ book which might have a good deal of value for a good many of us mudsills. There isnt a Man Juck of us all but is practicing that sort of thing every season. I'm inclined to think that one reason for the greater success. of some farmers is that they are quicker and shrewder at discover- ing such methods than the most of us, They get some use and profit out of tools and machines and animals that others lack gumption to utilize. Is this a little ‘bit “foggy” sort of talk? Well, perhaps an illustration or two will make my meaning clearer, While the slow ox-team is not yet wholly out of use on_some farms, how many farmers and dairymen who are compelled to keep a bull or two ever think of using a bull-team? Most farmers who own these ill-reputed an- imals are more or less afrgid of them and have as little to do with them as posaible. Yet I've just been looking at a picture which some: friand sent me the other day of “"Importer, Tom and Hawkeye” three registered Swiss bulls, hitched up as a “spike team’ to a two-wheeled cart and worked on the Barnes Hill stock farm at Collinsville, just as three oxen or three horses ure sometimes worked. Photographs gen- erally tell the truth of what the cameéra sees, and this photograph rep- resents the three animajs hitched to & cart, standing fetlock ‘deep in thick meadow grass. ‘against s background of trees, all three as calm, contented- looking, apparently as docile and man- ifestly as well “broken” as any ex- team you ever saw. And they certain— ly look more intelligent than most oxen. As a rule bulls are supposed to be treacherous, ill-tempered rather dangerous animals. Similarly, the mule has an evil repute as to his hind legs. Yet an old driver who had been used to horses and mules all his life once told me that this was a libel. “There's ugly mules” said he, “just as there' balky horses. But you {reat a mul well as vou'd treat a horse, handle him s kindly, feed him anything like as well, keep him as clean and trust him as fully, and youw'll find that he'll be just as safe and zentle.” Perhaps the same thing may be true of bulls. Cer- tainly, if they can be made to do any- thing 'more useful than eating their heads off in boxstalls and occasionally chasing a farmer out of his own barn- yard, the work they do is o much clear gain! Once, many years ago, a dairyin: neighbor, who ised the old-tashioned stone dagher-churn to make butter, had RICHMOND Death of Mrs. Eric I. Lindlo—W. C. T. U. Convention. ng of the k' Mills tian Tewperance unfon Woman's ( was held day ovening with Mrs John Jordan at Shannock. The death of Mrs. Bvelyn €. Lin wife of Rev. F I. Lindlo. oceurre Saturday n Pawtucket. My, Lindlo had been suffering from pneumonia. She had many acquaintances throug out Hope Valley, where she preyiously lived. The funeial wus held at Smiths field Avenue Congregational church, of which her Lusband i pastor, Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 2 o'clock Mr. and Mre Henry D. Balley, for- merly of Carolitia, huve moved (0 Hope Valléy, to the house recently vacated by Mr. and Mrs, Edward N. Whitford. e Fourth district convention, W. C. T. U., will be held at Woo er Junetior. Congregational chu Tuésday, Jan, 18. B. R. Moore made a business trip to Hope Valley Wednesday. Edward K. James, who s ill, is im- proving. Miss Louise Browne of East Green- wich spent_Sunday at Cliftmore. WEEKAPAUG. Old-Fashioned Furniture Sold at Auc- tion—Local Jottings. R. Riv hoon The auction of the late Gideon T, Col- lins was held ’ruemug with a large number present, everything selling at a go0d price, especially the old fon- «d furniture and dishes, many argicles being 160 or_200 years old. Mrs. E. B. Langworthy and Mids Doris Coliins of Westerly’ spent Wed- nesday #fternoon at Rocky Crest, Mrs. John B. Dunn, who has been mnending the holidays with her par- Acccmplished in One Way May be in Another—A Swiss kull Team—Dog and Euck Fower for Churning —-A Buck that t rotected a Chestnut Grove. LETTERS FROM TWO STATES. . | Tuesday afternoon for ‘o \is Resources—What Cannot be ‘ e dog power to run it. A big, heavy Newfoundland had been trained to the work and saved a good) MADY Weary hours to the housewlife In the course OLD SEA CHEST ' Now Used as Shirtwaist Box wag Twice Shipwrecked in the Same Places In the home of Revyand Mra, Fonryf Clarke on Church street, Bristol, is art old chest whicli ne’ of the many antique things of interest in the homen of Bristol people. If it could speak 10 would ‘tell of two wrecks at wea. Tha first known owner was Willlam Batoh- elder, born In Boston in 1768, He was the Won of one of the famous “Bostors tea party” and was the great-grand | father of Mrw, Henry Clarke, wife of the pastor of the Bristol Baptisg ehur About 1785 Mr. Baichelder started on a trip to the West Indles. The ship on which he suiled was wr d. M Batchelder and hiy chest were on upon an island and found refuge with of a year. Something happened (o Nero—I've forgotten just what, now-— and the dairyman had to return o hand-power. “He had a heavy buck sheep in his flock, and the Jdea struck bbm - that sometiing might he done with oldAries. At least it wis worth trying. I don’t remember how he broke §Mr. Buck fn, but he did I, and from that time on'for a geries of years, this buck and his successors churned the cream regularly. Undoubtedly eleotric power would-huve been handier, prob- ably a small steam engine would have béen better, ut electric power badn't ecn harnessed those days, and my clghbor didn’t know how to run steam enging.even if he had owned on. S0 he utilized the waste power in h big sheep. It might not have heen the best form of power in the universe, but —it did the work | Some years ago | had a peculiarly intelligent and powerful huck at th head of my little flock. We called him “Baby” because he was such a tiny, weak little thing when he came ut (i cxpense of his mothers lite, He had to be brought up by hand, “on the Lot- tle)” and thix process wonted him to hunan companionship and seemed to give him an insight into some huma ways of looking. at thingw. e grew to be as big and dangerous looking an snimal as 1 ever saw, of nis kind, and it used to seem a ridieulous misnomer to call the big. bullying chap “Baby.” | But that was his name, and he held it to the last. He i 1 were great chums. He was always the first to see me ani o Loundin e, follow- ing, like a dog s would permit. He a head and guardian of the flock, the first when he was put among them, | and woe betide the over-playful calf | which undertook to take Jocose liber- | ties with any uber of his charge, And if a stranger entered the pasture | he would watch that fellow mighty close. Generally, he would walk up to him, sniff o littie at him, sirike that forefoot two or three times the ground—and then actually seem to grin sw the visitor ook a bee-line for the nearest fence. | had no use for him running & churn, but I have a small grove of chestnut treex which for years the bovs of the village had pillazed every fall. It oc curred to me one autumn day as the burts | werc beginning to open, (hat discourager by might serve as chestnut stealing. So 1 threw down the bars into the lot which had the trees, and from that t had 1o e In my grove. no invasion and repuise, that there must have been a few en- gagements between “Baby” and the Doys, Onée, when I was walting at the village postoffice for the mall to oper a certain small boy i ally around to thé subject of sheep bucks. “Say, have you got a buck?” he finals Iy asked. | I thought T began to see light, and anewered that T had, “and a mighty ugly one, too. "Tisn't safe to get near him,” J went on, “unless you know just how to ger awiy If he starts foryou, or are big enough to cateh him ‘and hold him.” “Golly,” sald the small boy, “I guess it would take a grown man to do that.” “Yes,” 1 “it's & man's job.” Whereupon the small boy edged awa 1 dow't know, but 1 suspicion that had had experience with by,” and was anxious for inside information as answered, to just how far it was safe to negoti- ate with him. Now, this might not have been eape- olally money making work for a buck 10 do—keeping boys away from one’ chestnuts—but it was something pri tical, and something a little out of the ordinary use of bucks. I felt quite elated over my ability to get this sort of mervice out of the beast. And T actually had some of my own chestnuts to roast that season. d of some farmer who had omobile, jack- ing it up in his barnyard and using it to saw his wintars wood. Also, In a recent farm paper, was a cut of gome- actually plowing with one, -When they get real cheap so | can afford ay about two doilars and a haif tpriment along these or 1r you're woing to bave an automobile, or & big buck, or a triple of registered bulls, why not ge all the use out of 'em thut you can From the most unlikely quarters wo that can sometimes secure esrvice counts for eccnomy. And, even If some of our city friends do think us farmer “stingly old hunks” we must bear the charge ocalmly, remembering that our incomes are seldom great enough to prevent the necessily of conatant econ- omizing In even the smallest details, Most of us can hope to thrive not sp much through enlarging our incomes as through reducing our outgoes. Fv- ery little thing which does that helps, THE FARMER. [ ents in Portland, Me., has returned to her home here. | Miss Florence R. Dunn was a caller at Mrs. L. W. Bliven's Wednesday. Jerome Robinson is the guest of friends in New York for a few days. |~ Oliver Gavitt is filling his fcehouses with efght-inch ice of good quality ' HOPKINTON A. Ryer's Death. Miss Hatt Mrs, Harriet C. Kenyon and her daughter, Miss Fssle I Kenyon, are occupying their renovated home in this village. | _'Ernest A. Barber and his brother | Samuel O Barber of Hope Valley, here on business Tuesday Mrs. Lewls O. Chapmun and of Versailles, urrivtd at the b ber father, Thowas F. Champli infant, of on Donna il many 1 | Mrs, “G. Arthur Mills, Miss Mills and Mrs, Jesse J Miss Hattie A, Ryer, | years was houseke: ‘Augnstus L, Wells in this villug in South Kingstown last Monday morning | 'ARCADIA Mrs. Willard Kenyon continues i1l The foflls_resumed operations Mon- day after a holiday vacation. | Elmer Browning Is working In Bar- !’l:fil & Reynolds” sawmill ar Woody David 1100d harvested his crop of ice last week, It twelve inches thick Ar. and Mrs, Isasc Andrews moved |t Woody Hill last Saturday. | Descon James Clark Reynolds died Jan, 8. The funeral sarvices were Leld with me which he led diplomatic- | a planter. This planter hefriended the man i wieh a manner thet a stay of some time wan made. Then M Batchelder returned (0 Vwanachusetts and became a Baptist ministor, There In u tablet to hig memory in the Firsk Baptist church of Haverhill, Mess he wa stor _u number of When rick Willlam Bateh- won of Rev. William Batahelder, was about the age (hat when he undertool i« Indies, e, idea. 1l ea chest 150 was wr made 1he wame | friended by the same plunter The box Is made of pine Jean ainted a durl t wide, and white on thé inside, as near 1w fathe H each the Iy an powsible as It wis ovlg shown by the traces of palnt that wers #till left upon It It has o cently sirippe pholster or three generatio It property of Mine Loulxe ( “ student In Vaswar, duught oy Henry Clarke and’ great-great-grand daughter of Willlam datchel 1r Clarke Jx using it as o ’x Hartford Couran POWER HOUSE SITE Purch. d by New Haven Road—Five Acres at Stratford A good deal haw me to time of (he cont ¢ o the electrification of the k New Haven & Hartford Btamford to New Have it W » duy the rallrond compin about five acres of luu for the location of u po there, showing that the pla i have heen perfected, T o a 1x bounded samt by the 11ousnt er, on the south by the and on the —their north by (h own property, a dimance This is considered n the location of n po Jouse better than any section the road has, on ae count of the dock privil that it may enjoy. The Houn r tar superior in ever to n tion than the inlet at Con ( the other station Ix located. At t now station there will . o dlg ok 10 the coal barges power plant have but those on the inside » haye w.greater capacity thun the ¢ at Cos Cob, and will b for the lund plans 1, land The furnish power as far north us iiart ford it necessur HODGKIN'S DISEASE Rare Ailment Causes Death of Mra. | Ella Bennett Hodgkin's disease, an allment, was the caiise o Mrw, Bila B fdow of Charlos W, Bennett, which agcurred on Thurs duy night her liom of » George street. Hodgkin's ease 18 charncterized principally | largement of the lymphatie glands, and in this case the glands In Mrw. 5 net’s neck were wwollen to gre and becoming hard actu ] strangled her to deat) greatly during the last iness. Mrw, Bennett had weveral years and had tives. She had been i1 #0 that she was unable to was @ hat trimmer by trade band died about elght was o member of 8 churc id was abot Danbury News Swallowed a Toothpick Thomas McDonald, u ploye of Wehrie's ment ot Thomaston, 'was brought (o | hospital in" Waterb: iy | operatea upon for 1 toothpick which \ July, Mr. McDonald rallle om operation a hospital in o Whether the | or not the ho fused 10 #i bury An the babit of M through dining to e o Y the parlor and take a nap. Last J he took his customar i) swakening dlscovered pick he had In h » ad dls peared. e kne Allows it, but as it gave him nothing more of v howweyer, he felt il sila mpo clan's examination It wa the toothpick was ca Mr McDonald wus troubled a eating molld food, and upon the ad vice of hiy physician, Dr. J. H of Thomaston, ha was br ity last night and taken hokpital ican. Tt His Alarm Clock Phe new boarder's firat reqie for w bracket to be placed on against the tolephone. O just after being provided the b installed thereon o clock of tone, One mornix Just clock 1 str 10 to the tel: versation the clock sti afternoon of the mame da boarder being again at i p that whimsical Clock struck 4 abol minutes after e landindy observe that the boarder’s clock must be Y, dear, 10, suid the bosrder, "t | turned the ‘hand | 1t ix the only tiresome acqusi talk about no shut them off, But w wtrikes right up wgeins they see o light “Was that a clocl ank Y omay It W ad made It str way 1 can ge | nees. The " und 1 just ca striking " the tme will by tike know.' Then t ring off, Really, conpidering all t telephone borcs, I know, 1 don't how 1 could inanage without that | The Girl's Day Out It was the girls day out and w nelghbor had dropped in for lunch. In rummaging through the kitchen cu boards the housekeeper found wrappers “That ix one month's gleanings,” sh replied—“the result of the cou tem. These girls waste all sonp ay & plece that to wet the wrap for them. TV t such me they can and throw a s half used, simply Pers and the premit ought to be a law a 008 of encouraging petty Aishonesty You ought to live In Gormeny,* returned her friend. “There tio shops Kkeepers give coupons on everything and the girl gex them il and 1f you don’t let her do the marketing whe will leave you. You should be thankful that it I8 nothing but soap I this country.” The United States annually exporis at Wood River church Friday, Jan, | Rev. L. F, Randolph ofciate urial was In Wood River cemetery, Demcon ! Reynolds was 50 years old. more apirits of turpentina than sl th other countries of the world—16,000,608 out of 24,000,000 gatlons,