The Douglas breeze. (Douglas, Coffee County, Ga.) 18??-190?, December 15, 1900, Image 2

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HX FARM KIN IT.’STS . Bases now the sub. SCI HNT i( 1C STUDY. ! ;> • * ’' 1 * ' 1 1 1 1 mmmmm ‘ - i The wholesale among their kind and effect extermination thereof is an ingenious scheme lately devised hy Uncle Sam’s scientists. -. The idea of enlisting; the dread dis ease germ into useful service Is, in deed, a novel one. Our medico-legal authorities have considered Its dan- S&as a factor iu deliberately plotting But who has ‘Jfrnrnt'd or i Its possible value as an agency of in- ] secticide? al s*yiai;trnent lately learned how to oUlicqct several deadly and malignant hug diseases, how to lmlllo them for shipment, how to spread them among the vast insect fraternity and how to make infected bugs carry the scourge to their unsuspecting kind. The pecu liar diseases in question are not com municable to man; otherwise they would not lie employed, of course. The discovery <*f malarial germs In the mosquito, has directed scientific at tention to hugs as a means of trans mitting contagion. It is heiug discov ered that these minute disturbers of the. farmer's itml householder's peace and happiness have their character istic distempers, some of them highly contagious. To artificially propagate their baneful germs In incubators, where the latter are fed and multi plied. Is found to lie an easy matter. GRASSHOPPER DISEASE IN HOTTL.ES, Mr. Grasshopper Is one of the chief victims proscribed by the conspiring bugologlst. lie has been cutting unbe coming capers In our farm lands since 10, these many years, annually filching thousands of dollars from the indus trious tiller of the soil. l)Id wily Mr. Grasshopper hut guess the ghastly fate awaiting him he would hasten his IdnsinNtiio pack up, bag and baggage, and to seek asylums where hugs en joy their natural rights and privileges. The American grasshopper lias always been a healthy bug. In Australia and South Africa, however, have been dis covered cousin species which suffer a hideous disease compared to which hu man leprosy Is a means toward pleas ure and adornment. The unsparing Inigologists are Importing from the bacteriological Institute of Cape Town phials tilled with the pestilence, and eighteen such vessels have lately been shipped to flourishing grasshopper colonies in Mississippi, Nebraska and Minnesota. And this Is how the new grasshopper disease Is prepared; Grasshoppers killed by the disease are collected in large quantities, dried and ground into a meal. This meal is mixed with a gelatinous substance and put up in the glass phials for ship ment In these Vessels (lie disease ele ments multiply until capable of kill ing manifoldly more grasshoppers than originally used In the preparation of the deadly concoction. On receiv ing the phials the Yankee farmer Is Instructed to thoroughly mix the con tents of each with two teaspoonfuls of sugar, lie adds this dose to three fourths of a tumbler of water, previ ously boiled and allowed to cool. Into the tumbler he places several pieces of cork. SCATTERING TOIK GERMS. After allowing the mixture to stand a day, during which time the disease lias attacked the cork and thoroughly contaminated the fluid, lie dips various and sundry grasshoppers, alive and kicking, into the liquid, the more thus doused heiug the merrier for I lie prom ised result. After being vigorously ducked and thereby terrified the pro testing victims tire imprisoned iu a box and fed on green plants well moistened with the same fatal liquid. Having been fed on this poisonous diet for twenty-four hours, the prisoners are liberated, generally in the evening hours. Then they hop gleefully away to mingle once more with their anxious JiJcnt.te; Keturuhig to their haunts they innocently disii'iuT:'.aTe"Thr-& con tagion far and wide, among all of their kind which approach to rejoice at their safe escape and marvel at the accounts of tlielr terrible experiences. And as a result of repeated hoppings and gnl llvnntings here and there, from one green Hold to another, the scourge is spread. Then other grasshoppers, big and little, soon begin to feel indis posed and as each surveys himself he t horrified to discover that lie is lx>- eomlng covered with a furry, mouse colored crust. This increases until eating Into his very vitals. Then lie gives up liis ghost to the realm where the dead grasshoppers go. Mr. Fanrtner soon appears on the scene, ln-ars away the corpse together with all others lie can find, dries them all into state of imiinniiflciMiou. grinds them into powder and eoucocts many more tunilw-rsful of the liquid pes tilence. The contagion is thus sown to multiply over and over again, a greater harvest of death in-big reaped each time until extermination is com plete. Ground fairly covered with dead grasshoppers thus killed was seen in Beehuaualand. South Africa, after an experimental distribution of the dis ease there. Hut the black natives of this territory, who eat grasshoppers, objected to such wholesale contamina tion of their diet. fatal, to cntNcunros. Mr. Chiueblntg is "it" iu a very sim ilar game devised by tlie enterprising bugologlsts. This tarenous insect yearly costs the American farmer miliious. The most deadly ill to which its flesh 's heir Is discovered to be tlie •'white fungus." It attacks him in much the same manner as the afore mentioned furry growth infeßts Mr. Grasshopper, save that a white rather than a mouse-colored crust covers his body and eats out his life. The dis ease is highly contagious among his kind. The seed with which the pestil ence is sown is prepared iu this man ner: A bottle of raw cornnieal, mixed with beef broth, is sprinkled with the white particles of the moldy growth previously separated from tlie dried insects dying of the scourge. The mold rapidly multiplies after taking root in the new media and soon con taminates the contents of tlie bottle. Live and healthy chinch hugs, caught in the wheat and corn fields, are con fined in “contagion boxes" wherein quantitics of iily Ipfeetod mixture of Llpfll and baUM’ liaVe been left ex posed. The insects thus brought in contact witii the pestilence saturate their systems with it. They are then liberated in the fields where originally found. Mingling witii their healthy kinsmen they effect just such a widesweeping pestilence as noted in the above case of tin; grasshopper. Deatii ensues a few days after exposure to the disease. After death tlie white mold increases iu numerous spores. The mold is then collected, placed hack in the cold broth and batter and left to multiply. THE DISTRIBUTING CENTER. Uncle Sam’s agricultural experiment station at Urbaua, 111., is being utilized as a distributing center for chinch hugs thus artificially infected. This Institution lias been corresponding with farmers in various parts of tlie country requesting them to box up and ship by express as many of tbo live insects as they can collect. After exposure to the disease-laden broth and batter at the experiment station the contaminated tings are shipped back to tlie farmers. The latter are instructed to ki-cp tDo bffgs confined uni 11 dead from tlie disease. The farmers (lien capture as many live in fants as can lie caught and confine them with the carcasses of their rela tives until they show symptoms of tlie disease. Then they are let loose in tlie fields in time to create a wholesale pestilence. Some farmers not only dis tribute tlie live lings thus, but scatter tlie dead ones left in their contagion boxes, attaching them to vegetable growths threatened. Other farmers have applied the broth and batter mix tures directly in plants preyed upon by large colonies of (lie ravenous in sects. Gnterpillarf!, seventeen-year locusts and various other insect pests have been experimented with, tlie object be ing to determine some Infectious dis ease capable of tlielr eradication. But iu these eases difficulty is as yet met. Insect diseases are 111 tie understood. Man was ignorant of the ailments of domesticated animals until compara tively recent times. Now the Govern ment annually spends thousands of dollars a year for studying diseases of such beasts. Spell studies were orig inally devised by man with tfie direct motive of self protection against pois onous bacilli and parasites. Doubtless iu the future wise government* will be instituting laboratories for research in diseases of the Insect kingdom with the selfish motive of sowing seeds of such diseases among ill-behaved bugs. And perhaps in those progressive days there will have sprung up anti-vivi sectiouist societies for the protection of such unfortunate insects or for the dictation of the mode of slaughter to ho meted out to them. STUDYING- DISEASES. Insects no doubt suffer from as many characteristic disorders as do men and beijsts. It must be a terrible ordeal for one of the many throe-stomached species of bugs to suffer indigestion pains in all of his dinner receptacles at once. And imagine what a poor butterfly would suffer if all of his 2ri,000 eyes were sore and running as a result of bay fever. Then pity the centipede attacked with “rhenniiittz” In all of his legs. And think of the ravages of a hereditary disease which might he bequeathed by our persistent friend too housefly to the 746,4110 off springs v hich she produces iu the three months of summer. • A fortune of uncountable millions is certainly in store for tlie practical bacteriologist mho can successfully concoct and patent a brand of deadly uiosqulto smallpox, housefly plague, caterpillar yellow fever, cockroach diphtheria or some pestilential means of erasing any of the famous insect names now upon the black list of the farmer and housekeeper. And per haps science will some day brew mal ignant diseases fatal to such larger pests as rats, mice and snakes.—Jolm Eifretli Watkins, Jr., in the Washing ton Star. Edurati'il Mon in Domainl. Never before was the call for trained men so loud as now. They are in de mand everywhere. Not only iu the pro fessions, but also in business houses, manufacturing establishments and even on the farm, they are iu great de mand. The farmer who understands chemistry, who is able to analyze the forces of nature, to mix brains with his soil, will be the great farmer of the future. There is an increased de mand everywhere for college-educated men. We find them occupying the best positions in our insurance, banking, manufacturing and transportation in stitutions. Never before was the call for liberally educated men and women so great us to-day.—Success. KnJ of Hi# Career. A m;ui drifted into town to-day pon uiless, and with holes in his shoes, and his friends are recalling that when lie left Atchison four years ago, giving up a good position, they comp'.iuieuted him upon his ambition to "get out of the old rut."—Atchison Globe. IIP "SHOWING WESTWARD HQTEMHNf OF THE POPULATION’S CENTRE.' IT / \ IXH.fAte/ l “1 I 2 ohjo. n p y jv . <2 .COLOMBO* I ___ /YTY. \ 'cY -* .lUOIAMAPOLIS \ •~~T~ r T < /tLAPKsacRC J f f BIOS\ \\/ hj C 5 o’ & iß2olfr|^a^Hi MS rqi4 o ( K o leirF* 1860 i ' e 2P • J k. i. J<*\ L -O 167 U f\J MU* A. wo9i/57-ocn ( V\\V \ <. 1/ 0 / "V' e30 ° P .r VWLI O ; p* y ■ fSf / I ,L/'| Y/ - =' fhe [jew Centre of Population in the UnitEii States The census bureau has declared Col umbus, Did., the centre of popula tion of the United States. Columbus is in Bartholomew County, on the east ; fork of White River, in the finest farming land in Indiana. The city has 8130 Inhabitants, an increase of 1369 since 1890. Since IS9O the centre of popula tion of the United States lias shifted a little to the north and a little to the west. It is still iu the State of In diana, not far from Columbus, the capital of Bartholomew County, iu the southern central part of the State. On the old pivotal point arises a monolith monument erected there May 10, 1891, by tlie Chicago Herald. On one of the sides of the column is the follow ing inscription; ; CENTRE OF POrULA- : : TION : ; OF THE : : UNITED STATES. : : 85 deg. 32 m. 53 s. W. Long : : 39 deg. 11 m. 56 sec. N. Eat : : ERECTED BY : : THE CHICAGO HERALD. : Tills monument was dedicated with elaborate ceremonies by the people of Columbus aud the contiguous country. Eloquent addresses wc>t delivered hy notable Indiana orators and lively in terest lira - felt iu the event hy the en tire Hoosier State. The centre was then about twenty miles east of Col umbus. It is now about seven miles north of the same city. Hence it is moving north and west. In time, with the great increase in population which is coming for the Northwest, it may shift to Chicago. It is by no means impossible that changes In the growth of the population will bring the centre, even If it is carried west of the west shore of Lake Michi gan, hack to Chicago, where it will remain fixed indefinitely. The centre of population is the cen tre of gravity of the population of the coitptry.each individual being assumed to lmve the same weight. The method of determining that centre is as fol- [Jilll jf| A H 35 31*5l'WlONG. M\\\/.'y> fJVU'sC N.LAT. Am'Vj • Wctto It IWCHKMt HUW munii MONUMENT AT THE CENTRE OF POPULA TION. lows; Tbe population of the country is first distributed by “square degrees." as the area included between consecu tive parallels and meridians is desig nated. A point is then assumed ten tatively as the centre, and the cor rections in latitude and longitude to this tentative position are computed. Iu 1890 the centre was assumed to lie at tlie intersection of the parallel of 39 degrees, with the meridian of 86 degrees west of Greenwich. This would have made tin* centre of pop illation of th- United States just two miles due uortii of Seymour, in Jack son County, lnd. Front tills assumed base the verifications were made and the true centre was located. The movement of the centre has been s cadily westward. On the ae companying map its unwavering march toward the west, with occasional dtps to the south and north is shown. In 1790 it was east of Baltimore twenty miles. In ten years it had moved forty miles westward. The anexation of Louisiana brought it south and west, and in 1820 it was sixteen miles north of Woodstock, Va. In 18-10 the pioneers of the West brought it north, and iu 1850 it had moved south again. Texas had come into tlie Union. The growth of the great West had switched it back to the North in 1860, and It was near Chillicothe, Ohio. War reduced the population of tlie South in the de cade between 1860 and 1870, and the centre moved north near to Cincin nati. In another decade it had cleared Cincinnati in its westward progress, and in 1870 it had settled in central southern Indiana. The past ten years has carried the centre westward about twenty miles and northward about seven miles. There is no reason to b lieve that it GAKDEN WHERE FLAMMARTON CONDUCTED him BXPBBEUENTS IK ÜBOWIKO PLANTS.UNDER DIFFERENT COLORED GLASS. will not continue on its course with the sun and shift to the north until it settles near Chicago, there to remain. im BLOW WAKES PLANTS BROW jt J Flammarion’s Investigation of the Influ ence of Various Kinds of Light % on Vegetation. The experiments iu regard to tlie influence of tlie different parts of tlie sunlight upon the growth of plants have been carried on for sever al years, especially by the famous bot anist Sachs, who proved that red Tays of the sunlight especially favored the growth of plants and flowers. Such investigations have now been again taken up by M. Camille Flammarion, a celebrated French astronomer. Flam marion established, iu connection with the Observatory at Juvtsy, near Paris, an experiment station iu tbe form of a smalt garden, as represented in one of the cuts, where he studied the mat ter and conducted his experiments. A report recently published contains some interesting points. Flammarion used the double-sides bell-shades,' which were filled with colored solu tions, anci at the same time lie pro vided bods, covered with colored glass. The best results, however, were at tained in four little hot houses, one of which is covered with ordinary win dow glass, aud the other three with blue, green, and red glass. The gkr-* used for these houses was carefully ex amined, aud only those pieces taken whose intensity admitted only mon aehromatic light. Heat and all other conditions are the same in the four houses. The sereen-like device shown iu the other cut represents a number of thermometers made of colored glass whtle in the extreme right is a radiometer for the observation of the intensity of tbe light. Flammarion first selected for his first experiments a plant from which, through its pe culiar forms of growth, we can judge, at any time, of its healthy condition. hf 1 DEMONSTRATING THE INFLUENCE OF LIGHT ON VEGETATION. This was the Mimosa pudieg. the well kjown smsitive plant whose leaves • act only upon exterior irritations when ! tbe plant is in a perfectly normal coa- dition. Young plants of a trifle over an inch in height were planted on the same day and in the same manner in all of the four houses, and were care fully attended to. After three months a notable difference was tp be seen. Under the bine glass the plants did not die off, but neither did they show any signs of growth. In the white house they were -well developed and had grown to an average height of four inches. In the green’ house the plants were a little etiolated—that is to say, they showed ’instead of the normal green color a yellow-white color, but their development had been magnificent, their height averaging six inches. The greatest development, how ever, had taken place in the red house, where the plants not only showed their usual normal color, but had reached a height of seventeen inches—that is to say, fifteen times the original size, and were blooming splendidly. Flam rnarion then took two other plants and attained almost the same, or, at least, very similar results. Experiments carried on with strawberries showed also tbe same results; under the red light they developed marvelously. It Will readily be -understood that these experiments, especially with regard to valuable, rare plants, are of the high est value.—Philadelphia Record. Gas by the Can. Gas by the can is a Parisian novelty, according to Sterling Heilig’s letter in the New Y'ork Press. These gas fountains—using the word in the French sense—are long, narrow metal boxes, standing upright, of solid construction, to bold compressed illu minating gas, that by means of robber tubes are led to incandescent burners by way of movable lamps like those that stand oh centre tables in America. OPENING A CAN OF GAS. The gas boxes, sold to the consumer at ?5 each, require only to be taken home and set up on shelves. Three form the regulation “battery” for a moderate-sized bouse, lighting tlie three rooms which the French light brilliantly, the dining room, the ante chamber and the kitchen. One of those bidons, or gas boxes, represents a provision of about 1000 candle hours, which means ten can dles during 100 hours, or twenty can dles during fifty hours, and so on. When the first bidons are empty the company exchanges them for full ones at a dollar apiece. Where to Bp Good. It was a Payne avenue ear, rather crowded, too, on last Sunday night. In one corner sat two little urchins, taking up as little room as possible. Indeed, they occupied about as much room as one adult. The boys were evidently of the class which run about the street on weekdays iu bare feet. They could not, however, be included in the "bad boy” class. They were evidently not used to sitting quietly and orderly, and fidgeted about in real distress. Their eyes roamed from the floor to the people, aud back to the fioot again. Finally one said to the other, in a confiding whisper: “Golly, but ye have to be good in a car, don’t ye:”—Cleveland Clam-Dealer. Unnecessary Advice. She —John, dear, that recipe for lem on pie in my new cook book says to sit on a hot stove and stir constantly. He —Well, Penelope, ir you do sit on a hot stove I think you will find that you have to stir constantly.—lndiana Weekly. Prosperity For lOOi. Indications everywiieM point to great prosperity for the .This is a sign of a healthy natuncTu* -’tieecss of a country, as weil ns of an ijKlividjjai, de pends upon health. There caj be no.health if the stomach is weak. If jLf have any stomach trouble try bitters which < urc-s dyspeps^^w^Mtetion ■ for lt'Ul e. It I'. A Halloween Risk. "If I walk bnckwtril down the cellar stairs^ 1 the dark I’ll so > in - luiure hu-.bind.” IT "Nonsense, you'll be more likely to see yootV family surgeon.” The best Prescription for Chills end Fever Is a l.o!tie of Giiote’s Tastki.kss Chim.Tonic, it Is simply iron nn.l quinine In h tameless lot in. No cure—uopa.v. Cnee .Vie. With Vl.mev In Hir- Pocket. "I made n dreadful mist ike last night." "It nat was it?" “I went to buy my wife a diamond ring. but. the jewelry shop had moved, and 1 stumbled into a church brzz Ir,' Wanted. .A traveling salesman in each southern state; sob to iSSO per nnmtu and traveling expenses: e-xpeticucß not absolutely necessary. Address “©nicks Tobacco Works Cos., Tenlcks, Va. Of Course. "It seems to ho an a tual fact, that an Indian, never laugh-:.’' "Nonsense! Didn’t. Longfellow make Minne haha?" —l’hlladelphi i l’. css. WHY MRS. PINKHAM Is Able to Help Sick Women When Doctors Fail. How gladly would men fly to wo man's aid did they but understa® a woman’s feelings, trials, sensibilities, and peculiar organic disturbances. Those things are known only to women, and the aid a man would give is not at his command. To treat a ease properly it is neces sary to know all about it, and full information, many times, cannot be given by a woman to her family phy- Mrs. G. H. Ciiappell. sician. She cannot bring herself to tell everything, and the physician is at a constant disadvantage. This is why, for the past twenty-five years, thousands of women have been con fiding their troubles to Mrs. Pinkham, and whose advice has brought happi ness and health to countless women in the United States. Mrs. Chappell, of Grant Park, 111., whose portrait we publish, advises all suffering women to seek Mrs. Fiqlc ham's advice and use Lydia E. Pink ham’s Vegetable Compound, as they cured her of inflammation of the ovaries and womb ; she, therefore, speaks from knowledge, and her experience ought to give others confidence. Mrs. Pink ham’s address is Lynn, Mass., and her advice is absolutely free. DrTßull’f Cough Cures cough or cold at ©nee. Conquers croup, bronchitis, grippe and consumption. 25c. J Wr To produce the best results in fruit, vegetable or grain, the fertilizer used must contain enough Potash. For partic ulars see our pamphlets. We send them free. GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 Nassau S:., New York. BOILER FLUEC Pipe i> Fittings Six Car Loads in Stock. Cut and Ship Quick. IaOMBARD Foundry, Machine and Boiler Works and Supply Store, * • Augusta, 6a. B O DCV NEW DISCOVERY; * v f £2* H quick relief and etim wor-. book ot tostiraoniaN and 1(1 days* i.reamjeut Dr. E. H. GEEtlH's SOPS. Bex S. Atlanta. Ga UseCERTAINiSk ? CURE.H Mention this Paper'' 1 IS CUKES V**Rt All ELSE FAILS. fST M Best Coajfh Syrnp. Tastes Good. Lse in linn*. bv enugrists. wj