Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, September 29, 1895, Page 13

! Some Results Attained by Using Artesian Wells in South Dakota, HAS CEASED TO BE AN EXPERIMENT Cost 1x Comparatively Small and the Returns, ns Compared with Non- Irrigated Farms, Demons steate Its Utility, CHAMBERLAIN, 8. D., Sept. 28. ~The question considered of the most vital interest to South Da- kota Is the frrigation question. While, perhaps, not a judiclous statement to make, It is nevertheless true that in a con- siderable portion of the state rellance in the future must be placed largely, it not solely, in irrigation. Otherwise, with the comparatively few favorable crop seasons by reason of sufficient natural molsture, the state, outside of a few conntles, cannot support Its present population. The time has arrived when this fact must be looked squarely in the face, and mere {dle sentiment must be cast aside. It Is admitted with truth that the soll of South Dakota cannot be surpassed for productive- ness anywhere in the United States. All it lacks and has lacked to make this section one of the most prosperous in tne union Is suf- ficlent moisture—certainly a serious question, were it not for the vast artesian basin und lying the state. But with the unlimited supply of water within reach of the farmer of even ordinary means there Is nothing to prevent this state becoming as prosperous as any in the union, and easily supporting five or six times its present population. South Dakota has an area greater than that of all New England, and its population in round numbers |s placed at 330,000. With & thorough system of irrigation there ls ample room and no good reason why the state should not support a population of 1,600,000 or 2,000,000 happy and prosperous people. And the writer maintains that the solution of any problem looking to this end is of deep concern to the business interests of Chicago, the Twin Cities, Omaba and Sioux City, for the reason that' the prosperity of South Da- kota will add in a substantial manoer to the prosperity of the cities named by enlarging the field for their products and manufactures, and that encouragement should be given to the present earnest agitation of the irrigation question, PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION. During the past few weeks the writer has made a careful investigation of the irrigation question, and during this investigation it was natural that the famous Hunter farm, near the town of Mellette, Spink county, should be visited. This is at present the only practi- cal illustration fn the state of what system- atio irrigation will do. The resulls have been more than gratifying. As this farm is a model of its kind it will be carefully pat- terned after by others who are sinking wells for irrigation purposes, and for this reason a brief description of it and what was ac complished this season may be of interest and contain valuable information for those fnterested in frrigation. At this juncture it might also be added that Mr. Hunter is so well satisfled with what has been and can be accomplished that his farm is positively not for sale. “Neither am I a candidate for any office,”” sald he to the writer, “but am trying to demonstrate what South Dakota can do. I would be ungrateful d7d I not say that the railroad company has In every way done everything possible to ald the experiment The farm is composed of 800 acres of slightly roiling prairle, and Is about the average of South Dakota land. The artesian well, which supplies sufficient water for ir- rigating a tract of 1,200 acres, has a very heavy elght-inch pipe down to sand rock. There the diameter was reduced, and a six- inch pipe reaches the remainder of the dis- tance down (o the artesian basin, 1,065 feet below dhe surface. The normal flow of the well is 1,200 gallons per minute, but it is not permitted to flow its full capacity—only from 630 to 780 gallons per minute. The weil was put down four years ago and cost §3,500. The same well could now be sunk for $3,000. STORING THE SURPLUS WATER. Adjacent to the well is a circular reservoir covering five acres of ground. It is con- structed on the highest point of the farm, at an elevation of two and one-half feet, Three feet to the mile Is a good fall for irrigating Tho banks of the reservoir are formed by earth, thrown to a Teight of five and one- half feet, and twenty-two feet thick at the bottom and five feet at the top. The inside of the wall thus formed hus a slope of two feot to cne. This season a breakwater con- structed of lumber prevented the water from washing the banks, but workmen are at present engaged in rip-rapping the inside of the reservoir with stone. This will reach to a height of four feet from the bottom of the reservolr. The stone wall will add greatly to the appearance and permanency of the reservolr, and make it sufficlently substantial to last a iifetime. The original cost of the reservoir all work hired by the day, was $650. The cost of rip-rapping the interior with stone will be about $600 additional, as the stone had to be shipped in. Where the stone can be obtained on the farm or on adjoining land an expenditure of $300 would suffic The openings from the reservoir into the ditcheo are large enough to permit a volume of water two feet squar2 to flow forth when a full head of water is on. Each of the ditches follow ridges or slight elevations, and the fields on elther hand can be flooded without difficulty. The ditches are about six and one-halt feet wide and two feet deep. It has been stated in newspaper ar- ticles that the ditches should be kept full of water, but this is incorrect. While the land on either side is b ing irrigated is the only time the ditches should be well filled Otherwise the water would soak through the earthen banks of the ditches and crops would, as a result, b drowned out. After the adjoining land 'is irrigated the water in the difches must be kept below the level of the fleld. The mode of Irrigating which experience has demonstrated to be the best is to divide off a field designed to be irrigated by throw- ing up lateral ridges—not ditches, as some writers assert—and then making a break in the ditch opposite the land to be flooded, permitting sufficient water to run over the fleld to thoroughly soak it. Then the break in the ditch 1s repaired and another made opposiie the land embraced within the next lateral ridges, and so on until the entire fleld or farm is carefully irrigated. These ridges are so low that they do not Interfere In the least with the proper cultiva‘ion of the land ADVANTAGES OF THE RESERVOIR. The principal thing is volume of water, and this is the advantage of the reservoip system. When the reservoir is full of water, and the gato, two feet square, which leads to the ditch is opened, a volume of water two feet square, of course, bursts forth into the ditch. The opening in the ditch should be about four feet long, and as the ditches are about two feet deep, a solid volume of water four feet wide and two feet decp rolls out, and the foree of the water behind it will push it clear across an ordinary sized field The well on the Hunter farm will fill the five-acre reservoir in elght days, while this amount of water can be used in thirty-six hours. Still the well would easily irrigate 1,200 acres of land, for when the ground is once thoroughly soaked it takes very little water to keep it in a mofst condition, The ditches, when all work is hired done, cost about 35 cents a rod, but when once con- structed are easily kept in good condition for years. Mr. Hunter has learned from ex- perience that there should be four of these ditches to a quarter section of land. The cost, therofore, of the ditches would ba $224 for & quarter scction, or $896 for a section of (Special) land. The cost where the farmer did the work himself would be very slight. Small ditehes are only used when an odd-shaped plece Is to be irrigated, or when the tract is detached or cut up by draws or lake-beds. The small ditches are easily made, being only a matter of plowing a couple of straight furrows. It was natural that Russian thistles should grow luxuriantly this season along the ditches, but grass has been sown along them and 1s already crowding out the thistles By another season the thistles will be en- tirely crowded out, and the banks of the ditches will be a sea of waving grass. SATISFIED WITH RESULTS, During the past three seasons Mr. Hunter bas experimented with irrigation, but with- out the knowledge necessary for succoss untll this season, He has been an object of ridicule for the surrounding farmers, who jeered at the Idea of successtul irrigation. But Mr. Hunter, although many other men would long ago have become discouraged, as more determined than ever that he was on the right track, and that he would even- toally succeed. How well his faith h been rewarded can be seen by the returns this season from his land. He was al fortunate in securing the services of H. V Meserve, an rrigation expert from Call- fortia. When he came to the state, only a few months ago, he had little faith in successtul irrigation here, but this season's experience has proved to him that there were prospects and possibilities here of which he had never dreamed in California. o now expresses the opinion that where in California it costs $10 an acre to frrl- ate, here it costs only from $1 to $2 an acre, and that he had never seen a country where irrigation was so complete and cheap as here, or witnessed better results, He had | intended returning to California this fall, but has snow decided to remain in the state another season, and will have charge of several new irrigated farms, which have been decided on. Mr. Meserve believes that by the close of Lwo or three more seasons that still better results can be expected, as it will take that length of time, in his opinion, to learn exactly how to handle the various flelds and make them yleld to thelr utmost, This season was an unusual one, frosts having been experienced nearly every month, but nevertheless the oats on this farm averaged seventy-cight and one-half bushels to the acre and weighed forty-three pounds to the bushel; early corn that was not in- jured by frost averaged forty bushels; late corn was caught by frost and will average about twenty bushels, Had frost held oft as late as usual this fall the Towa corn on the farm would have averaged at least fifty bushels per acre. This, it must be remem- bered, was in a section far removed from the famous corn belt, and where very little g00d corn is ever raiszd Two hundred acres of potatoes will average 200 bushels per acre. These, at the contract price of 28 cents per bushel, brings Hunter a revenue of $28 per acre. Four thousand dollars, cleared this season, Is a good return as profit upon an investment of $16,000, the total cost of the farm, well, reservcir, ditches and other improvements. EXPECT BETTER RETURNS. But this Is much less than is expected another year after the experience of this season, Irrigation experts anticipate that the judiclous use of water will result in fifty bushels of wheat per acre, 125 bushels of ‘onts, 100 bushels of barley, 350 bushels of potatoes, and other products adapted to this climate in like proportion. One of the interesting features on the Hunter farm was the exeprimental grounds Here all sorts of things were grown for the purpose of determining those best adapted to this climate. Among the things tested were eighte:n kinds of trees, eighteen of clover, six of barley, three of rye, five of peas, thirty-nine of grasses, seven of wheat, thirteen of oats, fourteen of vetches, twenty- one of onions, fifty of lettuce, fifty-three of beans, nineteen varletles of beets, twenty- nine of turnips, seventy-two of oorn and cane, twenty-two of carrots, twenty-seven of cabbage; also all kinds of vegetables in ad- dition to those mentioned, vines of various kinds, forage plants, etc. The result of the experiment shows in a practical manner the kinds adapted to this section, and the in- formation gained will be very valuable when putting in next season’s crop. The tests show that with sufficient moisture South Dakota can grow anything that an Tllinols or lowa farm can. A farmer owning land adjoining the Hun- ter farm early in last June, when much moisture had fallen, said he would certainly beat the yield of wheat on the Hunter place. In the middle of June, the weather having continued dry for ten days or so, the farmer said he would at least equal the yield of wheat on the irrigated farm. ~ The de- structive hot winds of July 4 and & practi- cally ruined his crop as well as that of many other South Dakota farmers, while those two days were the making of the wheat crop on the Hunter farm. Result: Wheat on the Hunter farm with irrigation ylelded thirty- four bushels per acre, while on the adjoining farm without irrigation it ylelded but twelve bushels per acre. OTHERS FOLLOWING THE LEAD. It is estimated that during the past sum- mer 1,000 practical farmers alone visited the Hunter farm, and all of them returned home with new ideas of the possibilities of irriga- tion. The visits have borne good fruit, as it is known that fully 100 farmers on one line of railroad alone have decided to sink arteslan wells of their own and depend in the future on irrigation. Hundreds of letters are also being received by Mr. Hunter asking for in- formation, This is certainly an ideal farm. The well can develop thirty-five-horse power, and the time will come when practically all the work on the farm will be done by electricity, gene- rated by power from the well. The water can, of course, be used for irrigating after being used for power, and thus serve two purposes. As a preliminary to plans looking to this end the owner of the land is pre- paring to put in a dynamo, which will be used to furnish electricity for heatiug and lighting the buildings now on the place. A telephone line is also to be put in at once botween the farm and the town of Mellette, two and one-half miles distant. Teams are now at work building a grade across one end of a natural lake bed, intend- ing to make a fine fish pond of about six acres, which will contain five and six feet of water. The farm s also Dbeing fenced with wire. The posts are of steel. As fast as Russian thistles lodge against the fences they will be burned without injury to the fence, instead of being permitted to blow through the country and scatter their sceds broadcast. Mr. Hunter states that a total of ninety- two carloads of products will be shipped from the farm this fall. During the winter 100 head of young cattle will range over the land. The above is an outline of what can be accomplished by scientific irrigation by the reservoir system. Now let us conslder the crude method by which considerable irriga- tion has been done by individuals who have not vet, for various reasons, adopted the reservoir, or flooding system. These have depended upon ditches to carry the water direct from the well to their fields. WELL PAID FOR IN ONE SEASON. A very successful sample of what this sort of irrigation can do is to be seen on the farm of O. Turgeon, located south of this city on the Missourl river bottom. Rarly in the present year Mr. Turgeon sank an eight-inch artesian well. It is 686 feet deep with a nineteen-inch flow. The well cost exactly $2,000. The owner never previously had any experience in irrigating. He put in ninety acres of corn on a field which has a gradual slope from the point where the well is located. Two ditches, four feet wid were constructed along one end and one side of the fleld. When Turgeon was ready to apply the water to his growing corn, or thought the corn needed it, he tapped’ the ditches, letting the water run in small fur- rows between every other row. It took but five days for him, working alone, to irrigate the entire ninety acres. Of course, the ground near the ditches became so saturated with water that it was feared the corn there would be drowned out, but the reverse Is the case, and the corn there is the best of all Two or three weks ago the corn stalks aver- aged over ten feet high and were as thick as a man's arm. Conservative estimates place the yield at 100 bushels per acre, Alkali hay on irrigated land stands over five feet high, and some blue point and red top has been cut that ylelded over four tons per acre. Mr. Turgeon says that from his crop this season he will be able to pay for his well. Another farm that has attracted a great deal of attention locally is the Hassell & Myers' irrigated farm in the northern part of the state. The well is a six-inch one and furnishes power to run the electric light plant for a nearby town, a sixty-bushel feed mill, and water to irrigate the farm. Men had their doubts of irrigating being a success, but no one can see this farm and the other farms mentioned without being couvinced. The binders were crowded to their utmost capacity. An oat field irrigated a year ago_and again last May yielded from eighty to 100 bushels per acre. The cost of irrigating was from $12 to $15 for forty acres. There are thirty-six acres of po- tatoes that are worth from $50 to $100 per acre, besides millet, timothy, eabbage, ontons, flax, or in all about 225 acres under Irriga- tion. By a proper rotation of crops it is believed ‘this well will successfully irrigate 640 acres. MANY WILL TRY IT. In some parts of central South Dakota which is a fair indication of the irrigation feeling in nearly the whole of the state, the derricks of artesian well machines are visible 1o all directious, and every farmer | gating s sither has a well dug, is digging one, or is rumng ready to dig one. 1In most localities n that section artesian water fs found at a dopth of 360 to 400 feet, and there the contractors are putting down two-Inch wells for 36 cents per foot, the farmer furnishing his own casing. Well drillers have just struck a strong flow In a well being sunk on the farm of Lee Eicher, in Hutchinson county, at a depth of 150 feet. This is probably the cheapest arteslan well in the state, having cost the owner only $75. Guy W. Crawford is going to harvest from his irrigated fivevacre patch in Sanborn county more stuff than many farmers will get from 160 acres. He will have over 200 | bushels of potatoes to the acre; 300 or 400 bushels of onions to the acre, and more corn on twenty short rows than many farm- ers without irrigation will have on 100 acres, In_the number southern part of instances the water for frri- supplied by drive wells, from which wind mills pump the water into small tanks. But even In some of these cases large reservoirs will be constructed on the highest points of land, to take the places of the tanks. The reservolr system will in the future be more generally used, as it appears to be gaining in favor among those who own arte- sian wells and propose to do systematic irri- gating. On a tract of more than 320 acres a ten-acre reservoir is much better than a five-acre reservolr, as the greater the volume the better, Where a large tract Is to be irrigated, In various portions of the state townships have sunk artesian wells, but these are not designed to be used for Irrigating. They, however, serve their purpose of supplying the farmers with an abundant supply of water for stock purposes. An Instance is known where 2,100 head of cattle are sup- plied with water from one of the ditches that lead from one of these township wells. By reason of this stock interests are Increasing in the viclnity of the wells. One farmer and ranchman in Charles Mix county has an eight-inch artestan well and proposes next year to irrigate 200 acres of land. He is but one of scores who will de- pend on irrigation next season LESSENING THE EXPENSE. There are various easy methods for farmers with limited means to sccure artesian wells, The plan that will probably meet with the most general approval is for four farmers owning land which corners, to sink a well at the point where thelr quarter-sections Join, place the reservoir an equal point on each man’s land, then ditches could be run from the reservoir through each of their farms, so that each would receive an equal amount of water. Where the farmers are on good terms there would be no oppor- tunity for petty bickering over the water. This plan is certainly feasible and would lessen the burden upon each of the farmers and they would still secure ample water for Irrigating and other purposes. Each of them could be fully protected in their rights by of the state in a legally drawn and binding contracts or agreements, In several neighborhoods a number of farmers have clubbed together and pur- chased artesian well drilling machines, which are belng used first by one of the farmers and then by another, the intention belng to keep on with the work until every farmer owning an interest in the drilling machine has a well. This plan is found to be con- siderably cheaper than to hire the work done, and places a good artesian well within reach of all Interested fa the machine, at moderate cost. 3 There are, of course, as in all things, dis- advantages ‘to be considered by those’ con- templating engaging in irrigation. Eope- cially in the northern part of the state there are some fow artesian wells which have be- come choked up by sand settling around the bottom of the pipe, causing the water to cease flowing. These weils can be cleared and the water again caused to flow, but to do this requires an expenditure of several hundred dollars. All these things must be taken into consideration by those Intending to sink wells, but to parties having the means or whera they club together and pay an equal proportion of the cost, a better investment could not be made. With the facts gained by the experfence of the past few years there is at present smaller = chance of the wells becoming clogged, as the proper sinking of tho well casing will materially lessen the chance of such a contingency. It s found that a well should be permitted to flow only so much as it will flow clearly. When a well carries sand or sediment it Is working itself out at the bottom, and then it Is only a question of time until the well Is ruined. In view of this the flow of u well can usually be controlled sufficiently to prevent the possibility of clogging up at the bottom. COST OF THE WELLS: In the southern part of the state there are numerous two and three-inch wells which can be procured there at rominal cost. The usual cost of a three-inch well Is $1.25 per foot, four-inch, $1.50 per foot; five-inch, .25, six-inch, $2.85; elght-inch, from $4 to $4.50 per foot. These are the maximum prices and can be lowered considerably where @ farmer s prepared to pay cash for his well or do some of the work himself. Land that is thoroughly soaked in the fall needs very little w during the growing season. When the soil is once saturated down to the blue clay it will come to the surface fast enough to furnish plant life with all necessary moisture. Too much water is fully as disastrous as none, and extreme care must be taken not to injure the land by wetting it too much. By the reservoir system one man can, after he has become familiar with the topography of his flelds, irrigate say twenty acres in flve or six hours. Any sort of land can be irri- gated, whether it is level, slanting or a hill- side. If the ditches have to cross hollows the low places ean be graded up similar to rallroad grades, and the water can be carried along the top. The planting of willows along the banks will be found to be a cheap method of strengthening the sides of a reservoir by means of the roots, besides acting to a cer- tain degree as a wind break. A very simple device for damming a ditch beyond the point where water fs to be taken out on a field is a semi-circular shaped piece of iron or stecl plate, with a wooden bar bolted across the widest part and projecting sufficiently on each end to serve as handles. If a ditch is six and one-half feet wide and two feet deep the plate should be somewhat larger, and when it is driven into the soft earth across a diteh It makes an effectual dam. Such an instrument can be ae easily removed and placed without delay at the next point,where it is desired to dam the ditch. This saves considerable time compared with the old- fashioned method of damming a ditch by throwing earth into it, which must after- ward be removed at the expanse of much time and labor. ERE I Subject to Attacks of Cholern Morbus. While staying in the D:lta (Mis:issipp} Bottoms) last summer, E. T. Moss, repre senting Ludlow, Saylor Wire Co. of St. Louls, suftered from malaria and became subject to attacks of cholera morbus. In every instance when attacked he was re'ieved 2s if by magic, by using Chamberlain's Co'ie, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy. He says: *I regard it as the ‘ne plus ultra’ of medi " M2k A Queer O tion, The German emperor recently paid a visit to King Oscar of Sweden, and in accordince with royal etiquette on such occasions both monarchs conferred a number of kn'ghtly orders upon the members of each other's sultes, says the New York World. Among the lower grade of the emperor's retinue K'ng Oscar distributed the insignia of the Order of the Wasa, without knighthood. Among those thus honored, the Royal Ga- zetto mentions a certain functionary whose mysterious office in the imper.al retinue was describsd as “Buchsenspanner,” for which no translation could be found in Swedish. Much curiosity was felt, which gradually gave plica to indignation when it was noized sbroad that the mysterious “Buchsenspanner’ was none other than the emp:ror's ‘' A report rapidly gained ground th peror had brought 108 uniforms w'th him, so that a ‘“‘pants stretcher was an important id to his personil appearance. But the Swedish Knights of the Wasa were much an- noyed at what they regarded as a descration of their order, and If the unhappy ‘Buch- senspanner” had presented himself for brotherly recognition his reception would not have been characterized by any undue warmth Fortunately for the peace of mnd of the Swedish knights, ‘“Buchsenspanner” was found to be the official who attends to the loading and cocking of the emperor's gun when his majesty is out hunting, no sinecure considering the emperor's disabled arm. A West Virginia man is so pecullarly affecte 1 by riding on a train that he has to chain himself to a seat to prevent Lis jumping out of the car window, THE_OMAMA DATLY BER: The local theatérs have made two notable offerings since the last Sunday review In these columns. Onhe, a dramatization of a novel which, evell biéfore its publication in book form, had attfacted such attention and attained such pophlitity with all classes of American readers s hiave been bestowed upon no other new werk bf fiction In the last twenty years; the othet a revamping of an oid drama, which, in its day and in hands now inactive, was perhaps the most widely known and fondly loved play presented upon the American stage. “Trilby,” at the Crelghton, having for its central motive that yet half- understood and mysterious force the mani- festations of which are thrusting themselves more and more Importunately upon the atten- tion of scientists, but which has rarely been successfully handied in a play; “Trilby,” pre sented by a company of arlists the genecral excellence of which was only accentuated by the remarkable achievement of two or three of its members; “Trilby," played to standing room throughout its engagement here, repeat- ing Its experience in the halt-dozen other cities where it has shown, and at the mati- nee crowds were turned away. Those disap- pointed scores could have found good accom- modation in the gallery, which was scarcely occupled at all; but they were dressed all in thelr best, as bicomes patrons of the mati- nee, and by no means willing to waste their sweetness on the air of any gal Without attempting to account for the prac- tically universal and quite inexplicable popu- larity of Du Maurier's book, it must be ad mitted that that popularity Is a It is more; it is a fad, and it pervades all strata of society, being carried to lengths surprising, in ways nauseating and unmentionab! This condition, in its turn, goes far to explain the great success of Mr. Potter's play. Intrinsic- ally clever and interesting, it may be doubted it it Is strong enough to hold the boards for long after the present craze shall have died away and the delightful story assumed its rightful place among those viands which are fare to the general.” The play, however, is sure of a hearty reception o long as the book is cherished by the masscs, and for like reasons; it may be a little longer, for the play affects the Philistine mind, as the book, In the nature of things, cannot. All the foregoing is of the play “Trilby" as it comes from Mr. Potter's hand; a bold man, Mr. Potter, who rushed in where angels might have feared to treggd, but who has fared vastly better than they commonly fare who fire Ephesian domes. Much more might be mid in commendation of the pla wright's work If time and space were avail- able. The last scene of all, the passing of Trilby, has been the subject of adverse criticism from certain theater-goers who must have their plays end happily, with a wedding or at least a propitious betrothal; and from certain others more progressive, who accept the sad finale but find fault with the technicai means of its representation. It is conceived that the dramatist meant to symbolize, by the pathetic isolation of Trilby at the supreme moment of her life, that loneliness which, in consequence of her gradual ylelding up of her separate exist- ence, was Svengall's legacy; her solitary death being the epitome of a life which, however full of companionship of the ordi- nary kind, was forever denied the consola- tlon of satisfying love. If you grant the hypnotism at all, yoy must not stagger at any strange phenbmenon which may be at- tributed to it. Just why the photograph should have been sent to Zouzou, of all others, is not quite apparent. He is too good a fellow to have' been made even indirsctly responsible for Trilbyls death. Perhaps Mr. Potter made it come to him because of the dead musiclan’s undying hatred for ‘les trois Angliches,” ‘and ‘for all their race; but then, Svengali hated all mankind and ioved nothing, except his art. Herein may, per- haps, be found the only human attribute of this portentous Jew: it quite escaped one at the first_ylew of the_performance, although it was there of course. Svengali spared neither himself (mor others, employing all means of good and evil for the advancement of his art. Such devdtion to an fdeal is not without {its claim “upon' respect and even sympathy, though the paths it treads toward the attainment lead through squalor and brutality. Mr. Lackaye's Svengali leaves a profou fmpression. The excellence of the perform- ance on its ethical side has already beer hinted at. There is not space even for poor attempt at doing full justice to it, no to the technical beauty of its presentation It is not alone th> make-up, striking a that is, nor the obscene outside of the man, nor the masterly “‘business” with the hands, which speak the same noxious language as falls from his lips, which give this achieve- ment its most valid claim to greatness, It is all these and other attributes combined and infused with the soul of a true artist which can build of even mean and sorbid things a structure which endures. M. Lackaye's dialect was perhaps the best pre- sented. It is a question whether it is not too like that of the ordinary German speak- ing French, and whether he coald not have made it more truthful if less intelligible, by studying the strange tongues spoken in some of the swarming districts of the East Side of New York. He could have found there a patols congruous with Svengali's origin, wherever “out of the mysterious east” that unlovely character is conceived to have come. Dialect is not the strongest point of the Palmer company. Mr. Canficld especially gave a notable exhibition of how the Scotch brogue should not be spoken. As for French, there were as many shies at it as there were speakers, and, outside of Martinetti and Simmons ard Jennie Relf- ferth, none of them were conspicuously suc- cessful. The name Gecko was pronounced by Svengali with an indication of the soft g; all the others spoke it hard. ~Du Maurier makes Svengali call the little violinist “Checko,” which would seem to vindicate Mr. Lack Some of the characters dropped the final d in speaking the name of Mme. Vinard; others, including Mme. Vinard her- self, retained it. And the word monsieur was a stumbling-block to almost everybody. So generally agreeable a performance as theso people give should not be marred by faults like these, in themselves small, but of a nature to grate upon sensitive ears. An entirely pleasant feature of the “Trilby" performances was the appearance of Ignacio Martinetti as Zouzou. This am- bitious young artist, the name of whose friends, gained by years of conscientious and ever-improving work on the variety stage, 3 legion, is winning fame of a more permanent \aracter by his more recent ventures in the higher walks of the mimic art. It is al- ways good to sec a man put away childish things, and although Mr. Martinetti dances bitter than most ‘men, he gives promise in his later endeavars of doing things which will appeal to the understanding as foreibly as his agile legs formerly impressed them- selves upon the eye. In “Trilby"” he is equaily felicitous 'in his indication of the character of the tadcap zouave and of the due de la Rochemartel, with the weight upon him of centuries qf ancestry. One looks for even better things than these from Mr. Mar- tinetti, who has qualifications of a very Ligh order for certain egeantric roles. Another gem, which ‘only missed its purest dtalect, ray by recson of oertain lapses in was the performanca of Mr. Morrison as Gecko. Many put it next after that of Lackaye, whose shpfemacy no one contests. Mr. Morrison is another who will be heard from, unless one mistakes. 1f he overacts Gecko a trifie at' present, especially in the speechless, head-Nenking melancholy of the carlier sceaes, his: work is consclentious throughout and he,shows a fine reserve power in his outburst of fhe pent-up emotions of years. Likewise the Trilby of Miss Crane seems altogether admirable. She looks the part, being beautiful of face and figure, and having about the stature of Miss Ellen Terry, which Du Maurfer thinks is the ideal height for woman. This Trilby has as well & speaking volce of exceeding sweetness, such as her prototype may have had, which yet takes on & note as of one lost when she breaks out into Svengali's laugh in the foyer of the concert hall. She is lovely, lovable and intensely pathetic, as she should be. The ;rtain, in its final fall, shuts out the dead | - 1” of one who is better o, but who, hav- 3 sinned mueh, shall be much forgiven. And 80, good night “Fanchon,” at the Boyd, which divided patronage with Mr. Potier's play and got much the worst of it, although it did not suffer in artistic excellence thereby, de- pended partly for its attractiveness upon still active memorles of Maggle Mitchell, | curtain MBER 29, 1893, p-ruK upon the strong company of playe which presented it in fits recreated fo and mostly upon the winning personality of the star. No artist has appeared in & long time botter fitted to win and adorn the stellar position to which Miss Wallls aspires than this latest Fanchon. She will always be restricted by her slight figure to roles to which her abilities would by no means confine her, but in that considerable field once occcupled by Lotta, Pattl Rosa and Mitchell, and for a long time vacant of any who conspicuously adorned it, Miss Wallis 1s sure, barring accidents, of holding a place of the highest honor. Dellcious s her per- formance of Fanchon is—and one confesses to feeling more varied and delightful em tions at the sight and sound of it than ever visited one's breast in the days when good old Mitchell shook her ancient limbs in_the shadow dance—she has that fn her which will bring her to far higher planes, ambition and the divine spark of genius, without which ambition is cheated of its best attain- ments, Mr. Paulding, who played Landry to Miss Wallis’ Fanchon, has many friends In Omaha among the older settlers by reason of his residence hero during the '70's, when his father, the late General Dodge, was in com- mand at Fort Omaha, and he has made many others among the thousands wlho have seen him more recently in various roles when he has appeared here professionally. His Captain Absolute in the Jefferson-Florence representation of ““The Rivais' 1a still re membered with pleasure, and those who saw him two years ago in a repertory at Boyd's when he was starring Jjointly with Miss Maida Craigen, will not soon forget tho satis- faction afforded them by his finished work He is a man of fine intellectual endowments and of many gifts. He has a baritons voice of unusual compass and flexibility, the natural excellence of which he has’ im- proved by persistent training. He is a play wright of no mean ability, one of the most thorough stage managers alive and an actor of wide experfence and great versatility. To those who complain that the role of Landry is unworthy of him, he replies that the man makes the role, not the role the man, and that he finds his present surroundings quite congenial and happy. To hark back a moment to “Trilby,” was ever a more artistic “fake” achieved than the duet of Svengali and Gecko in the first act? Probably the bulk of the audience never doubted that Messrs. Lackaye and Morrison were producing that concourse of sweet sounds on the Instruments which were in sight, but the fact remains that neither of them played a note, The duct was performed by other fingers off the stage, while the two ostensible players went through the motions in almost perfect accord with the music. That “almost” is the saving word. 1t they had been in perfect time the illusion would have been perfect. It was not far short of it anyway. be a gay vision of idealized Spanish life at Boyd's theater tonight, when Sam T. Jack's Extravaganza company, just returned from its successful tour of Spanish America, takes possession of the stage. The There will burlesque is styled “The Bull Fighter,” and deals with the life and adventures of one Don Pedro Escamillo, a Spanish matador, who vanquishes numerous rivals, and finally slays a huge bull single handed as the cli- max of the play. Don Pedro is represented by a girl, the picadores and other assistants by women, and the heavy villain is the rag- ing taurus himself. The living pictures are said to be marvels of beauty, and the spe- cialty bill comprises every variety of enter- tainment. At the Creighton theater, a matinee today, and continuing for four nights, Willlam A. Brady's much-talked-of production, “The Cotton King," will be pre- sented with the same cast and scenic environ- ments which were seen during its run of 100 nights at McVicker's theater, Chicago, last summer. It was also successfully pro- duced at the Academy of Music, New York City, and remained in Boston for four months, receiving excellent patronage, and equaling the success of ““The Silver King.” ‘“The Cot- ton King" is said to be a revelation in stage effects and realism, showing the workings of an extensive cotton mill in Manchester, Eug., a practical elevator, and otier effect ive scenes. The play is by Sutton Vane, who has written a number of successes, and con- tains a story of human interest. Mr. Brady aw ““The Cotton King" in London, and his udgment dictated that it was a good thing (or the American play-goers. Its success has proved he was right. Although an English play, it was written for Americans as well, and the hero Is a “Yankee,” who went to Ongland with American ideas, and made a fortune in cotton fabrics, commencing with The ba will Thur:- stage oceupled of on Boyd's theater Wednesday and day evenings of the present week for the first time by a farcical comedy, entitled “To Much Johnson,” which has en- Joyed marvelous success both in New York and San Francisco. The play is an adapta- tion by William Gillette of a French play, called “Le Plantaticn Thomassin.” Mr. Gillette will play the role of Gus Bil- lings, a married man with a home and a wife and_mother-in-law in Yonkers and an office in New York City. In some way or the other, which no married man will be able to find out, he has fallen into a fiirtation with a pretty little French woman. Flirtations take time as well as ready money, and Billings has to lie a little at home to explain his fre- quent absence. He tells Mrs. Billings and her mother that he has purchased a planta- tion in Cuba which he must visit. Wife and mother-in-law believe the story, and he is supposed to go to Cuba. At the final moment Mrs. Billings and her mother decide to ac- company him, and just as the vessel is about to start they appear at the gangplank and he is compelled to go. Worst of all, the French woman's husband, who has learned of the flirtation, follows lim on board and Billings® holiday begins. The first act is on shiphoard. Billings owns 1o plantation and knows noth- ing whatever about a plantation, but when he reaches Cuba he borrows one. The first man he meets on the dock mis- takes him for his intended father-in-law and greets him as such. This man is John- son, who owns an immense plantation. He is delighted to see Mrs. Billings, also—John- son is. Mrs. Billings is his flancee. Billings tells his folks that Johnson is his overseer. Johnson is engaged to Miss Faddish and he has been expecting her and her father. The Faddishes do arrive latter, but that does not disconcert Billings. He introduces them to Johnson as poor relations, and Johnson, draw- ing the line at poor relations, insists that they shall work for their keep, which Bill- ings says is only falr. Everything is mc ing along smoothly for this Ananias until the Frenchman crosses his path again. The Gaul demands satisfaction and a duel en- sues. This forms a mass of complications which never arc untangled until the dis- closure of the true state of affairs, which does not occur until a minute before the final fall. Following the ““Cotton King" at the Creigh- ton theater comes Charles Callahan's big scenic production, “‘Coon Hollow.” Among the many unique features of the production is the realistic boat race between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee, which is a part of Miseissippi river history. The list of aitractions for Boyd's theater in October is a brilliant one, and comprises some of the very best companies on the road Following Charles Froman’s company in “Too Much Johnson,” comes Fitzgerald Mur- phy's new drama, ‘“The Silver Lining," with an able company, under the management of Mr. Tom Miner of the Fifth Avenue theater, New York City. “The Globe Trotter,” with “Old Hoss” Bill Hoey, Aubrey Boucicault, and a fine company. A new “Black Crook' company, with an entire new outfit of scenery and costumes; DeWoltf Hopper, in a new comic opera; “The Old Homestead,” with sub- tantially the same excellent cast that ap- peared in it here last s2ason; David Hender- son's American Extravaganza company, in “Ali Baba;" Pin Murphy in “A Texas Steer; Steve Brodie, In the up-to-date melodrama *‘On the Bowery,” one of the greatest of last season’s money makers; the rattling farce comedy, “Rush City,” with Mathews and Bulger 'in the cast; Charles H. Hoyt's new comedy, “A Contented Woman,” with his wife, Caroline Miskel-Hoyt, one of the most beautiful of American actresses, in the cast “Burt" Dasher, the popular representative of Hoyt's new comedy, “A Contented Woman,” who has been assoclated with Mr. Hoyt for & number of years, was taken sud- dennly {1l almost three weeks ago, just atter the new pleoe had been produced in Duffalo, with brain fever, and has been at his home at_Indlanapolls ever since, but is now con- valescing. It is quite doubtful if he will be able to be here, however, to attend to the preliminary work for tha engagement of “A Contented Woman,"” which comes to the Boyd next week. Mr with the company, and may possibly come in advance himself, Fitagerald Murphy, the bright young play- wright and orator, who recently wrote the drama, “The Sllver Lining," was for siven Atnlns of Hot Refresh years 'private secretary to John Boyle and the We O'Reilly, the noted Irish poet and patriot Mr. Murphy will be seen in the cast of ““The Silver Lining,” when it comes to Boyd's next week. Tim Murphy's tour in Hoyt's Steer” began September 9 at Kingston, N Amy Bushy will play in Service” the role originated by ton. “A Texas Y lette's Mary Hamp Of course Henty Irving will not “Sir" in this_country. In point of fact there fs no Sir Henry Irving, He was knighted Sir Henry Broadrib, as that is his real name. use the It is worth noting that “The Widow Jones," the title of McNally's play for May Irwin is the name of an imaginary character in “The Love Chase,” of whom the heroine, Constance, is made jealous. Marie Wainwright has decided to continue Lier revival of “The Love Chase In the period of Charles 11, which is more plcturesque and less familiar than the later fashions in which the comedy has been dressed, “The Great Diamond Robbe down to a run at the American theater, New York. Katherine Grey, as the heroine, and Mme. Janauschek as a “‘fence,” have the be: parts in the piece. " has sottled Nalette Reed, a young woman who recently gave an effective performance in al fresco performances, says she will never wear or lose a diamond. = There is a career for this actress. Modjeska will begin her farewell Ameri can tour at the Garrick theater, New York, on October 7. She will open probably in “‘Measure for Measure''—not in Clyde Fitch's “Mistress Betty,” as had been announced. Mrs. Lily Langtry is suing her husband for a divorce. The fair, frivolous and fairy, to say nothing about forty, Jersey bud has had everything else in this world except a divorce, ~ There is at least one thing to add to her already very full calendar. It may interest those who are charmed by Mary Hampton's impersonation of the role of R mond in “Sowing the Wind" to learn that the actress never saw the part played before she essayed it. Her conception and interpretation of it are entirely original. It is now announced that Charles M. Skin- ner, an editorial writer on the Brooklyn Bagle, and a brother of Otis Skinner, is the author of “*Villon, the Vagabond,” with which Otis Skinner has opened his second scason with marked success at the Grand opera house, Chicago. The fllness of Richard Mansfleld is more serfous than was originally believed. What was supposed to be malaria is typhoid fever, and his opening at his Garrick theater, New York, has been still further postponed until some time in November. Modjeska has taken his time at the Garrick, and will begin ler engagement there on October 7, immedi- ately following the Hollands. Charles Frohman, who has often been called the “‘Young Napoleon' of managers, resembles his famous prototype in at least one important particular—his quickness to take advantage of a success and his equal promptitude in recognizing a failure and taking steps to avert its consequences. When one of his plays makes a hit all possible means, new and old, are taken to exploit it, and when the re- verse fs the case he doesn't waste good “time’* and valuable efforts in the endeavor to force it. Before “The City of Pleasure” was many days old, managers of combination houses were informed that it would not be sent on the road. BABIES IN JAPAN. Never Get Cross and Never Cry. Every woman in Japan above the age of 15 years seems to own a baby, and usually arries it around on her back. Japanese babies nmever cry—they never get impatient or discontented, but they stay where they are put and enjoy it, writes @ Yokohama cor- respondent of the Chicago Record. You can see hundreds of women at work in the tea- firing houses, where the temperature is al- ways very high, and the work is very hard, oing through their twelve hours of labor with bables three or four weeks old strapped upon their backs, and the babies never whimper, no matter how much the mothers shake them up when they are stirring the hot tea leaves up to their shoulders in the pans Then, after three hours, when the regular resting time comes and everybody stops for refreshments, baby gets his. He is un- strapped and nursed while the mother Is ipping into her little rice can with a couple of chop sticks, and then, when the whistle three hours, without opening his lips except to yawn or say “goo’ or make some other Infanty That this wonderful world excite his attention. When he gets a little older his mother puts him in a tea box with some little play- thing, and he will stay there all day, safe from harm, and grow and enjoy himself. He can exercise his arms by pulling himself by the sides of the box, and his legs by treading around in that limited space, and can assist in the development of his dental apparatus by chewing the edges of the boards, but he never scems to get tired or hungry or dis- satisficl, although any live American baby that ever existed would be howling like a drove of blue devils in five minutes after his mother had gone to her work. Toward noonday, when the sun gets hot and the little ones feel sleepy, they lie down on the floor like & cat or a dog. It may be a pavement of brick or stone, it may be a board floor, but they need no cradle, or blanket, or' pillow, only a sheltered corner out of the sun where they won't be stepped upen, and they do not have to be rocked or sung to sleep. They take care of themselves, Their mothers are busy earning 8, 10 or 15 cents a day by twelve or thirteen hours of hard labor in a warehouse where the temper- ature is often up to 100 degrees all day long, and the odor of tea is 8o strong that it al- most strangles you; so that they do not wish to bother them or add to their cares, and have the good sense and self-control to find their own amusement and look after their own comfort, just like a puppy or a kitten That is the kind of baby they raise in Japan. e He Bough me. OMAHA, Neb., Aug. 8, 1895.—Mr. George W. Ames, City: Dear Sir—I have been all over Orchard Jomes and must confess 1 was agreeably surprised at the beauty of your land and its pleasant surroundings. We visited a number of peach orchards in the vicinity of Orchard Homes and found all the early varieties had been shipped and sold at good figures. Of later varieties, the trees were loaded down. A 20-acre truck or fruit farm, with the splendid shipping facilities at Orchard Homes, Is the best purchase a man with a little money caa make. He not only buys a home, but gets a lasting job and good pay for his work. The Illinols Central railroad runs fas fruit and vegetable trains to Chi- cago on about passenger schedule time, get- ting Homes region stuff’ into market 6 to 20 hours ahead of any other locality. A man raised at Orchard Homes a crop of early Irish potatoes and got 200 bushels to the acre, which sold in Chicago at $1.25 to $1.75 per bushel. A crop of corn is now growing on this same ground that will g0 from 50 to 80 bushels to the acre. Have been all over this country, but think your Orchard Homes lands, taking climate and soil together, the finest place I ever saw where a man with %o little capital and labor can make so much money. 1 bought 20 acres in Orchard Homes for myself and 40 acres more for friends of mine. Yours truly, A. B. COLLINS, 36th and Curtis Avenue, Omaha, A Minnesota girl of 156 can distinguish no and to wear dark glassos to color, everything belng white she is compelled protect her eyes from the glare, to her, selected | 1, BY HINDMAN'S HOARY HEAD Scenio Wondors Roundabout the “TAm" of Idaho, TAPPING NATURE'S MEDICINAL STORES Gread Hoyt, the author, iv Sett g n—J oy fu the Rejuy KETCHUM, Idaho, Sept. 22, 1895 —(Special Correspondence of The Bee.)—Just beyond the broad open in front of the modest hotel at Guyer Hot Springs, but a fow miles as it looks In this deceptive atmosphere, stands Hindman's peak, the highest point in this mountain-crowned state. ly 15,000 feet in clevation, snowcapped the whole year through, it presents a magnificent pleture from this viewpoint. It is the columnar figure represented by an exclamation mark or the still more uggressive 1 that most prop- erly pictures peak makes the position this well outlined on the eastern tourist looking for the first time upon the glorious beauties of this intermountain country. From this ideal summer resort, located on a branch of the Union Pacific and the ters minus of the road, a panorama stretches away to the horizon's rim not excelled in all the world. The Guyer Springs, famous for thelr medicinal properties and the great warmth of the waters, could have no more plcturesque setting, holding out to the weary worker from the city's heat an_irresistibla invitation to spend the summer here in the midst of Nature's art gallery. ach year thousands of tourlsts avail themselves of money made through pork corners, wheat gouges, stock speculations and other questionable transactions to tour Europe. They go Into spasms of rapture, after consultation of guide books, over Italian skics, frog ponds, mole hills' and other “show" places while the own country remain to them a sealed book. It was Byron who, mesting a typical Amerie can tourlst in_Florence, eagerly exclaimed: “Tell me of Niagara Falls! Doscribe your great cataract to me.” The American repre sentative of a large class of people who an- nually make pilgrimages to the shrines of the old world shamefacedly confessed he had never seen the falls. Hyron could hardly believe his ears. Turning abruptly on his heel he was heard denouncing as ‘“‘a d—n fool” any man who without having seen Niagara would come from America to Europe to sham ecstacy over pigmy mountains, lakes and rivers, A COUNTRY WITHOUT A PEER. Earth has no other land like ours. Hers s halt a_hemisphere with sofls and climates as varied as the tastes of men and with capacities for production as boundless as the needs of men. It is the brondest land ever given to any peopls, the grandest, the most beautiful and the ‘most unlimited in its capabilities and its future. Other lands sur- pass it only in age and ruins and Time, it we wait long enough, will remedy these des ficiencies. While in camp one night on the banks of the Big Wood river near where the Malad adds its waters to_the swiftly flowing river, Attorney General Parsons sang the song of “Idaho,” a song full of the beauty of this wonderful young state and descriptive of the chivalry of its men and comeliness of its women. The chorus was supplied by men's voices In which a justice of the supreme court, a_member of the state leglslature, a former delegate in congress from the terri- tory, two or three Oberlin students, a United States senator and a big hearted miner, figured most prominently, There was a swing and dash about the rendition of the song which set the wild echoes flying, sung with the enthusiasm of brave hearts, with only the vaters, the battlemented rocks and the treer as an audience to listen to the praise of Idaho. But this is another story. In fine contrast are Halley Hot Springs and Guyer Springs as summer resorts. At the former a large, well appointed hotel affords luxurious living, the grounds around the hotel being lald out on generous lines, Guyer Springs, on the other hand Is thors oughly a~ family resort surrounded by great forests of spruce and cedar, with pretty mountain lakes not far away from the hotel and In_the midst of royal hunting and fishing. Fashion rules at Hailey while at Guyer Springs there Is little pretension to dress upon the part of the women. Both these resorts are supplied from the same sublerrancan streams, the water coming out of the earth at & temperature of about 196 degrees, containing soda, iron, magnesia and other desirable in- gredients, while alongside these streams of hot water are many almost ice-cold founts, which, uniting with the hot waters, afford un- surpassed bathing facilities. To the people west of Wyoming both these resorts are favorably looked upon, but they are destined to have a much wider coastituency as their merits become known. But these are not the only resorts—not alone the healing waters. From the strange Delty-wrought alchemies of the mountain sides all over tho state burst forth magical fountains potent in their health= glving. NATURE'S MEDICINE FOR THE WEARY. Within the past few years Soda Springs has become one of the great resorts of the west on account of the remarkable medicinal property of the waters. The Spanlards knew of thesd springs long ago and looked upon them with speclal favor, making pilgrimages to them often in search of increased health, and even going so far as to belleve that within their depths was the fountain of youth. The Indians, on the other hand, look upon the waters with the utmost veneration, regarding these bubbling miracles as “big medicine,” refusing to drink from them ex- cept in cases of scrious illness. The springs occupy a valley in a depression of the Wah- satch range at an altitude of about 6,000 feet, The region is full of interest, not only to the geologist, but to the ordinary sightseer, the number and variety of wild flowers, the conformations which nature has on display making this a wonder spot for the tourlst. Next year a new resort will be added to these and others equally well known, it being I. B. Perrine’s intention to bulld a hotel at Blue Lakes, spoken of in a previous letter, upon the plan of the Idaho state building at the World's fair. It will ba lighted by electricity from power furnished by the Snake river. This should be a m delightful resting place, the surroundings bes ing of the most picturesque nature imagle nable. RAILROAD AND THE PEOPLE. The Union Pacific Is a power in this sece tion of the footstool znd the people as a ruie are loyal to the company which, in the midst of troublous times, has maintained ity reputation for enterprise, During the fight over the application for a sejarate receiver on the part of the American Loan and Trust company for the Oregon Short Line, the newspapers and public were almost a unit in outspoken hostility to the divorcement of the road. We who live in the east surs rounded by many rallroads can know little of the helplessness felt by people who have but one road to depend upon; for the whim or caprico of a general manager may make vital differences to those living along the line, an advancement of frelght rates, the decrease in the number of passenger trains being easy of accomplishment when desired to whip a peorle into line. In this case, however, the Union Pacific is looked upon with eminent fairness. Shoshone has suf fered on mccount of the transfer of the shops to Pocatello, but it is generally understood that the employes and many of the people of the place are to blame for the smokele chimneys end deserted shops. The manage- ment of the Union Pacific has enthusiastio support here, the attempted elevation of Mr, Egan to the receivership being looked upon with great disfavor. Under favorable condi- Uons Idaho must take its place among the great states of the union. It has all the advantages of soll and climate, and with the touch of water upon this maguificent ex- panse of land Isalah's millennial rhapsody of prediction will find literal fulfillment, ‘“The wilderness #nd the solitary place will be made glad and the de:ert places blossom as the rose.” E. C. SNYDER, e Troubled wit erlodical Dywentery, Henry P, Silvera of Lucea, Jamalcs, West ia (sland, says: “‘Since my re-overy from an attack of dys ntery some len years ¢go, it comes on sudde:ly at times ani makes me very weak. A teaspoosful of Chamb rlain Colle, Cholera and Darrhora Remedy taken in a little water gives me relief. I cou'd gt « dozen testimon'als from peosls here whe have been cured by this remedy.” wonders of thelr |