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THE TWICE-A- \V EEK TELEGRAPH
■& ‘
SOME QUEER FARMS ARE
FOUND IN UNITED STATES
F
By BRIDGES SMITH.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19.—There r
queer and freak occupations engag
In by people of th*r** United Stai
and among them may be classed fan
«rs who have given up corn and cotton )
and entered the freak ranks. j
Skurfk Farm.
A few years aqo the fellow who j
boldly announced that he was gflng I
to start a skunk farm in 5. Innesot i
was laught-il at and derjdi but wheu
he proved that he was i; •' ::ur e . ..re
load of money out of hi.- odorous ven
ture others foil -wd in h:s footsteps,
and now there are a number Of skunk
farms In different sert!
country. At first pub ’<
facts about the skunk f>
cultural Drprrtrr.ent war
letters asking ab >ut this
farming. Th" d< partrr>
the dark abot
the
Igri-
with
r In
rm th:
Jo
but
in
that the
of any t
partment was
i undertaking
nations along
line. However, matters
Art tiltiira: !'» part-
i somc-
ut Loud-
itfentlon
joke.
the matter
continued
begged th'
to nnnount
In ignorant
and hod in
the skunk
Changed and th
Trent realized that ther
thing In it. and the beaul
smelting cnimal has rree
nr the hands of the exper
retary. Fhunk farming 1
‘I but a money making enterprise, even
If it is not pie.', -nt to the olfactory
or nans of the farmers.
Snail Form.
Near Los Angeles. Cal., a French
man n:n nd Vernot Is engineering a
su .ces.-iful snail farm, and so far this
Is the only'snail-railing farm in the
KBhttad States. -About two years ago
HpTeniOt Imported a number of snails
p-ffoin France, and so rapidly did they
MBmurea »ti during the breeding season
that he found it necessary to‘employ
additional help on his farm,- He has
succeeded in producing the slimy, re
pulsive looking creature at a rate en-
tir. iv gratifying to himself and 'be b?”
11,-v. s d, u | <■ will i. i,. no d:f -
fl. ulty in finding a market for ail that
he enn raise. In the event, of the de-
Bnand not being sufficiently large in
this country, he says he can ship them
v to Paris, at which place more than
nine tens of snails are consumed an
nually as an article of food Vernot
says the proper management of a snail
farm does not require very laborious
work, and all that Is needed is an en
closure In a moist place, so protected
that the crawling gnsteropods cannot
crawl away, but they are given to
breaking away like a herd of Texas
ponies and scampering away to parts
unknown.
Frog Farms.
Although the national lawmakers
kicked vigorously on an appropriation
for continuing iho governmental ex
periments in frog farming, the work
will go along just the same. States
and individuals have demonstrated
that there is l>ig money In raising for
market the low-browed songster of
the marsh, and even without the
“scientific” assistance which the Gov
ernment might be able to giv • In frog
farming there is not llkelv to be a
scarcity of frog legs. I> nnsvlvania
maintains a large frog farm, perhaps
the most extensive of any State, hut
the largest inilividn i! fro« -ry is owned
and run by Miss Edith Htege. at Stege.
Cal. This farm co'vers nearly ten
acres, and last year the young lady
marketed more than 3.500 dozen frogs'
legs, from which she netted something
mere than 52.000. A fairly good busi
ness for a freak farm.
Terrapin Farm.
Down In Maryland, on the Chesa
peake. near Crisfleld, Mr. Levalette
owns a terrapin farm which covers
several acres and on which he has
more than 5100,000 worth of diamond
backs. rnnging.In size from that of a
ten-rent silver piece to the "bust -r"
tcrraplfi, which are worth as much as
SI00 a dozen. Nothing has been of
fered to good feeders which can take
the place of terrapin and champagne,
and Mr. Levalette has never expe
rienced any trouble in selling the out
put of his farm. These toothsome
birds are getting scarcer every year,
until now large ones are worth their
weight in silver. Less than seventy-
five years ago Maryland had to enact
n law prohibiting slave owners front
feeding slaves terrapin meat oftencr
than twice a week, ns the food was
too rich and produced disease. At
that time terrapin sold for ns low as
50 cents a wagon load. Washington
and Lafayette entered a protest at
being fed terrapin at Vorktown. There
are other terrapin firms on the Chesa
peake. but Mr. Levalettc's is teh
largest in the United States.
Crab Farms.
Tn the tamo section, too, there are
ur.tr>' there are maintained in
every city ar.d State wht
baby farms, places
ace
i who care nothing
for the innoi ent little things save the
money they receive for their care. Not
Infrequently the stipend ceases to be
paid and then the bAby becomes a. bur
den to the farmer and as newspaper re-
parts show, they arc often murdered
to get them out of the way. There Is
no farm which causes more sorrow and
misery than baby farms, yet they thive
In every section of the country.
Snake Farm.
Down In Watkinsville. Ga„ there is a
man who conducts a regular snake
farm and who has made a good living
by raising them for sale. He has a
large number always on hand and says
hecan handle without fear any kind
| of snake Including the rattler. Over
I these reptiles he seems to have some
mysterious, soothing power, and but
I for the fact that
people object to his snake farm, his life
I would be pleasant and his occupation
more profitable.
Gourd Farm.
Npt an uncommon sight In some of
the Southern States is the gourd farm,
and it is nn investment which pays
well. Recently Representative Adam
son. of Georgia, brought to a friend In
animal world. Wasps made paper from (United States "the Philippines. Porto
j I was reading the other night how
j Judge Pollard, of the St. Louis police
I court, deals with drunkards, or ratjier
i with that class of men who drink to
the hurt of their families. To a man,
[ for instance, who spends all his week’s
; earnings for liquor, is lined In the
police court, ar.d not having the money
to pay the fine must remain in prison
a given length of time, and during that
time his family suffers, Judge Pollard
oilers a printed form of pledge. No
swearing Is required, only his word of
wood long before man did. The fold
ing scissors and folding pocket com
pass are only copies of the folding
lower jaw of the dragon fly. The dy
ing squid, a specie- of cuttlefish, has a
way of projecting itself as high as 12
feet above the surface of the water by
forcibly expelling water from its body.
Man saw this and invented the sky
rocket. The ropemaking machine used
in the United States navy yards fol
lows' almost the precise lines that a
And then there is Judge Pollard’s plan.
Certainly fining and imprisonment > c _ b] -
nsssi- - —• “ d
Rico, and ether islands in the West
Indies.” The treaty provided for t.he
independence of Cuba. The only "other
island." save Porto Rico, was the Isle
of Pines.
While the commissioners were nego
tiating the treaty, one of the Ameri
cans demurred at paying $20 000,000 for
the Philippines. To this one of the
commissioners on the part of Spain
replied that the $20.0 n n,p00 was not
being paid for the Philippines alone,
•spider does when making his own frail ; but also for Porto Rico and the Isle of
Pines.
It would seem that there could be
not the slightest doubt that President
McKinley and his advisers believed
that the sovereignty of the Isle of
T’-e wh'nrin- iwst is barbarous The i ,nventea b >‘ v'omen about DO per cent j Pines was ceded to the United States.
aw devoted to the home. the kitchen When the War Department ascertained
and to dress. The first patent given j that the Isle of Pines was United
a woman in. the nineteenth century | States territory, the Secretary of War
toner.
posting of photographs adds disgrace
to the misery of the family. Judge
Pollard's plan is merely a mild remedy.
Fines and imprisonment fail. What
else? Somebody will say prohibition.
year. Sentence is suspended in such
cases, and if the man gets crunk after
ward he is made to serve the sentence
without any further trial,
» » »
My experience with the police court
covers many years from reporting
>me of the towns- cases for- a newspaper, as clerk of the
j court.-to sitting'as judge. In these po-
| sivjons. and in that length or time, I
j have seen a great deal of the drunken
| man and of the distress he causes. I
j have seen the man with hi3 first drunk,
and the man with his one hundredth
drunk. All sorts of men and all sorts
of drunks have come within my ken,
and I believe I am qualified to say
Washington a gourd with a handle | something about Judge Pollard's plan,
ore than four feet in length and with
tain from drinking for one 1 Somebody else replies that there is no
a beautifully Shaped bowl not larger
than a large cocoanut. This species of
gourd is raised to be sold and used as
a dipper. It Is claimed that a drink
of water from a clean, well-seasoned
Filed away and out of sight, save for
my own use, I have perhaps more than
a hundred pledges, some for six
months, some for one year, some for
ten years, and some for life. There are
gourd is betteer and sweeter than from some of them that have been broken
tin or glass. Another gourd raised for so many times that I feel ashamed to
market Is a very small egg-shaped one look at them. Some of them are re-
w'nich is used by ind’J'trlous- hou
wives ns a darning egg. Thera are
large, round gourds which sell readily
and can easily be converted into salt,
coffee and bins for other purposes.
These large gourds are frequently used
newals, and some have never-been
broken, even though they are getting
yellow with age.
*, • *
Each one of them, however, has a
story. It may be the simple story of a
as peck measures in the rural districts, man who was willing to swear to any-
Mint Farm
The Virginian who conceived the idea
of a mint farm evidently was not fa
miliar with the refreshing qualities of
a julep. He has found a ready and
good market for ol^ the mint his farm
has produced. The farm has been run
for three years and its owner has accu
mulated a pleasing bank account while
hundreds have accumulated jags sip
ping juleps made from his mint.
Ginseng Farm.
Among the rank freaks were placed
ginseng farms a decade ago, but for
tunes have been made by ginseng
farmers. Formerly nearly all the gin
seng produced In this country was ex
ported to China, where It is used for
almost every aliment, but the physi
cians of this country are now using it
very largely in their practice, and im
mense quantities are sold in the United
States. Perhaps none of the queer
farms .are paying larger profits than
that of ginseng.
Prickly Pear Farm.
Tn some portions of Texas the prickly
pear has long been regarded as an un
mitigated nuisance, hut now that It
has been demonstrated that good
denatured alcohol can be made from
the stems, which have heretofore been
thrown away when the pear was used
for horse fo'hd, the despised thing has
become valuable and the people of
Texas are getting In their prickly pear
farms in the cactus region. The prick
ly pear farms promise to yield immense
profits.
Camphor Farm.
Uncle Sam is going to establish an
other camphor farm in Texas, and it is
believed that the new Industry will
prove a success. The crop requires no
attention except the sowing and har
vesting, and at present prices an acre
of ground should not produce less than
i $-150 worth of camnhor. At present
the Japanese Government controls the
world's supply of camphor, but it is
now conceded that the United States
can raise just as good an article. It
has been suggested to the Secretary of
Agriculture that In establishing these
camphor farms it might add to the
comfort of a number of persons to
place them in close proximity to the
skunk farms.
ABOUT ARGENTINA.
Argentina Is considered the acme of
South American civilization, and to the
mildly critical observer she seems to
have produced the finest city on the
western continent, an arlstocrary of
rich absentee landlords and a prole
tariat agitating for State socialism,
writes Albert Hale In the Reader for
February.
It is necessary to glance at both her
history and geography before we ca’n
a m,mi,or of crab farms, and the crab god idead about our active riva
farmers can match dollars with any 1
class of small farm
in the country.
The rrab season is short, and it is easy
money far hundreds of persons on the
eastern she'. The fivst shipment of
any ^importance from the Chesapeake
crab farms was in 1SS7, when the oul-
rput was valued at $$4.npo. but it will
f now reach $650,000, with S.000 farmers
Tmnd 4,000 boms.
'Possum Farm*.
Along with the good eating freak
farms must be placed the 'possum
farms, of which there are a number
in the Southern States. These farms
for the luscious 'possum are simply
tracts of land with
in South America. Argentina has an
area of one million one hundred and
thirty-five thousand square miles, and
equals that part of our own country
east of the Mississippi with the Dako
tas. Minnesota and Iowa thrown in.
From north to south the country
measures two thousand three hundred
miles and Us widest part, only eight
hundred miles, is not maintained over
the entire length. The interior, ex
cepting in the extreme north, is all
} within the temperate zone, and forms
! an Immense plain with its eastern edge
| against the Parana river. Its western
( edge ascends to the summit of the An-
abundance of | des, 20.000 feet.
Everything that the United States
can grow Argentina can grow, and
cheaper; yet today, although she ex-
portf; wheat to the Eastern world the
price of bread is higher than when
wheat was imported. Argentina has
astonished and will continue to aston-
e.ars on j ish the world by her fertility, for her
i hunter 1 wheat, cattle, sheep and alfalfa multi
ply from one year’s end to the other
without taking any rest because there
no winter's cold to check their
thing to escape confinement in prison,
still it is a story. To tell some of
these would be a breach of confidence,
did I not suppress names. Therefore,
I shall take them up as A., B., C. and D.
• • *
Some ten years ago, A., who is a
good mechanic, industrious, hard
working. and who always had work,
came to me to get him out of a bad
scrape a drunken spell had gotten him
into. He had a family and several
children, and they got along well. Now
and then he would “let his foot slip,”
as be expressed it. and instead of going
home with his week’s pay he slept his
drunken sleep in prison, while his wife
sat up that Saturday night waiting for
him. the children crying themselves to
sleep wondering why papa didn’t come
home. When he came to me. as he had
often done before. I told him there was
•no more help unless he would sign a
pledge for one year. He was then out
of work and out of money. There was
nothing to eat at home and bread he
must have. He signed the pledge at
10:30 o’clock. For one year, to the
minute, he did not drink a drop, and
his family never suffered. At 10 30
one year later, he was free, and he cel
ebrated the occasion, but for two or
three months he kept out of the offi
cers’ way. In that time his children
wore ragged, dirty clothes, his wife
spent many miserable, sleepless nights,
and he went to the dogs. Finally, he
borrowed enough money for a big
spree, and through the bars he asked
me to frame him another pledge. He
signed it, and both of us quietly noted
the hour. For several years these
things occurred. Finally, some four
years ago. I refu-ed to help him unless
he would make the pledge for life. At
first he kicked. One year had seemed
an eternity, and for life! It was hard.
I gave him time to think over it. And
he did think. He was eool, sober, and
his thoughts were of his home. Then he
signed It. That was four years ago,
and he has never broken that pledge.
* * *
I give this one experience because
Judge Pollard puts his men on their
honor. He bel-ieves that the honest,
hardworking man. as a general thing,
will keep his word, whether he drinks
or not. In the qase I mention, the
man is keeping his word.
* * *
B. Is a young man. with a wife and
child. Twenty times he has faced
the charge of drunkenness, and each
time he has escaped full sentences by
such thing as prohibition. It is not the
condition of things, but the punish
ment of the man who wllj deliberately
was granted to Mary Kier in 1S09 for ! and preparted and disseminated a pam-
"straw weaving with silk or thread”— ' phlet setting forth the fact that the
the probable forerunner of American ■ Isle of Pines now belonged to the
mattixg. One of the most recent in- 1 United States, and the advantages
ventions by woman is a shoestring that ( which the island offered in the way of
won’t come untied. | climate and fertile soil were dwelt upon
The records of the Patent Office ; for the purpose of inducing Americans
to settle on the island.
Several hundred Americans went to
I trie ideas. An invention called the ; the island and bought land. They had
who will n »ri..r» Vimxow Ti.it r «"i'r.’.’ I “®ntl-snoring device,” is something j never a fear that the question of
h 'T'. j- ...ilu 1 similar to a telephone. No sooner does j sovereignty would be raised. It was
the sleeper begin to snore • than the j not raised during the American occu
pation of Cuba, so far as I can aseer-
depflve his family of the necessity of show how
some neople have invaded j '
‘ , bi' wi.es heart, the field of invention with most eccen-
who will rob h.s home of us happiness. | tri( , «,i G o S . A n invention o.nlieu the t
ard’wbo will violate his word uf honor
■ ‘II perjure
TVhat will you do with him?
MORAL OF “BEST SELLERS.”
From the New York Mall.
Why do the suffragettes rage and
the imprisoned sisterhood Imagine
vain thin go? Why vote when they
can write? The real rulers, it. is true,
are HOt any longer those who write
the songs of a people. The writers sf
a people’s fiction hold sway. For not
sound is transmitted to his own ear
causing him to awake at once. An
other ambitious inventor has brought
ont a machine which will automatic
ally tip a man’-s hat when he passes a
woman acquaintance on the street.
A woman is responsible for a patent
crimping pin that can be used as a
paper cutter, a skirt supporter, a paper
.„„„ . . . - (file, a bouquet holder, a safety pin, a
Itinn^n? 64 an ? Rlc , har(JS0 P the ! shawl fastener and a bookmark. There
at least reflate i hv ^novei^aT^ is a pat ® nt ch ’ Jrn that rocks the-baby-s
re n ?: e s as , U cradle; a pocketbook that combines a
Certainly this is true in p!stol> eo that when the highwayman
ATTer Pfl. (IMP r>r*it* hnnlra mm- nor . - *
America. Our new books may not be
big books’. But they deal with big
economic, political and social themes,
and the'average opinion Is created
more by its holder's magazine and
.novel reading than he admits or
knows.
We must judge others by ourselves,
though the old saw forbids. And by
our standard the women who wish to
rule England u'aste time in storming
the House of Common's, because they
rule already, in a list of twelve Eng
lish “best sellers” not a single man Is
represented. The books are: “Fen
wick’s Career,” by Mrs. Humphrey
Ward: “The Far Horizon.” by Lucas
Malet (Mr3. Harrison); “The Treas
urer of Heaven,” by Marie Corelli;
“The Gambler,” bj- Mrs. Cecil Thurs
ton: “Prisoners,” by Mary Cholmonde-
ley; "The Dream and the Business,”
by John Oliver Hobbes (Mrs. Cr.aigie).
“The Viper of Milan,” by Marjorie
Bowen; "The White House,” by Miss
Braddon; "Tn Subjection,” by Ellen
Thorneycroft Fowler; “A Sovereign
Remedy.” by Mrs. Steel; “The Incom
plete Amorist.” by E. Nesbit (Mrs.
I-Iuhert Bland), and "A Queen of
Rushes.” by Allen Raine (Mrs. Beyn-
on Puddfcombe).
The American list, on the other
hand, gives a new and interesting
answer to the old query: “Who reads
an American book?” Americans do.
We doubt If any year prior to 1966
showed not a single one of England’s
favored books among the six “best
sellers’ in the United States. By the
lists of the “Bookman” we were less
gallant than the trans-Atlantic read
ers. Men wrote five of our six
most popular novels. And thereby
hangs a very pretty quarrel.
Why this abolition of; the Sals law
in English literature and; the substitu
tion of Amazonian rule?; Why the
male writer’s dominance by contrast
in America? Is the old country fem
inized. or have its women writers
grown masculine? Is the literary taste
of America virile, or does the sex of
our favorite story-tellers serve only
to mask feminine mentalities? Here
is too wide a field for debate for us to
close to our novel-reading readers
with anv off-hand confclusion.
tain. But when the Americans turnc v d
over the government of Cuba to Presi
dent Palma and his associates in 1902,
to the surprise and horror of the Ameri
cans on the Isle of Pines. Gonca-.al
Wood also turned over to the Cubans
the sovereignty of the Island, and
Cuban soldiers and officials came over
and assumed control.
Regiments fresh from Spain would
be rushed to the Isle of Pines from
Havana as soon as yellow fever made
its appearance in the ranks, and in
a week or two the disease would dis
appear.
The maximum sumer temperature
is about ninety degrees Fabre'nheit.
Occasionally the mercury rises to 95.
demand? your money or your life you
can send him to kingdom come while
in the seeming' act of handing him
your valuables.
The story is .told of an Iowa man
who patented an india rubber sidewalk, but rarely. ’ One man told me that 59
After much lobbying with his friends 1 was as low as anybody had ever
among the town council lie was allowed j known the temperature in the winter,
to put down several yards of it as an I As a matter of fact, from what I can
experiment. As a noise absorber U j learn, there is little difference be- w v , uuil , a coun[rv wllI
proved most effective, and the early tween winter and summer on the Isle ) eminent of its own, territory.
thing in his power to hinder and ham
per business men if they chance to be
industrious. For Instance, an importer
had sent him from Mobile three buck
ets of candy of ten pounds each in
voice. It was found that instead of the
thirty pounds of candy being packed
in three buckets of ten pounds each it
had been packed in two buckets of fif
teen pounds each. The thirty pounds
were confiscated.
Almost numberless instances of the
reckless manner in which Americans
were fined and otherwise annoyed
might be cited. Conditions have im
proved within a year. Mr Pearcy, al
most the discoverer of the Isle of
Pines, haa led the fight against Cuban
authority with such energy and per
sistence that they have tired fighting
him. President Palma, some time be
fore he resigned his office, directed
the alcalde to cease arresting Pearcy.
saying that it was making votes
against the pending treaty to cede the
island to Cuba.
No Respect for Cubans.
Mr. Pearcy has been on the island for
five years. Prior to that time be spent
three years in business in Havana. He
married the daughter of an American,
who was for many years dentist to the
royal family of Spain. Mr. Pearcy to a
Tennesseean, who built the Nashville
Electric Railway, and has built railroads
all over the country.
lie spent considerable time In Spain
with his wife and family, and he knows
Soanish character and Cuban character
as few men know them. He seldom speaks
°f a Spaniard of his acquaintance other
than with respect. He rarely speaks thus
of a Cuban.
Mr. Pearcy went to the Isle of Pines
soon after the close of the Spanish 5Y.tr
and secured options on n large tract of
land. He had little difficulty in obtaining
the capital in Now York and the land
was purchased. Other companies fol
lowed. and the result Is that t’>». feland
is now owned by Americans, and prom
ises to reach a point of development hard
ly equalled in this part of the world. But
Mr. Ptarcy’s company, of which he is
the general manager, has not tried to sell
much land. Ho has devoted his energies
almost entirely to the struggle for annex
ation to the United States, or, rather, to
prevent the United States ceding the
Island to Cuba.
He has been successful thus far. Tha
treaty providing for the cession of the
Island has been held up in the SAiate
until the present time.
It is hardly to be presumed that tilts
Amreican Government will seek to turn
over to Cuba, a country without n Gov-
title
demonstrations seemed to he living of Pines. i which is at least in doubt! to put lt'itTthe
down all skepticism in regard to it 'so I Flowers bloom all the year. "Water- ! strong manner possible. When it
rapf ‘ mm ' ~ 1 J
persimmon trees. No one Is permitted
to hunt on the land rxeep those who
pay for privilige, and with the per
mit goes a guarantee that large ripe
’possums will be found in abundant
plenty. One old negro near the Van
derbilt estate in North Carolina clear
ed good money for several
his ‘possum farm, but to e;
he said it was mighty hard to see
"dem ’possums gwine er way, ’case ef
dere am anything I do love hit am
’possum and "taters.”
Ostrich Farm.
The ostrich cannot come under the
classification of flood eating, but there
art! a number of successful farms where j e L ei \ if 1116 United States were, wiped
these birds of beautiful plumage are ”
raised, and the female portion of our
population is more interested in fine
plumes than for something for sat
isfying the appetite. While our women
folks can forego terrapin and cham
pagne and ’possum and 'taters. there
would be forty million conniption fits
thrown if the men folks balked on con
tributing thousands annually
su port of tlies
farms. The flesh of
about as palatable as a brass fire dog
and about as juicy, and as a toothsome
bird he is a rank failure, but as a dig-
down-and-produce the-coln plume-pro
ducer he is the star performer in all
birddom.
Cat Farm.
Another farm in which the ladies
take a very pronounced interest is that
devoted to raising cats, of which there
are hundreds in the United States,
and for which the "choice of the pick"
always fetches the farmer a good price.
Onco or twice within the past two years
men have been freakish enough to
start eat farms for the purpose of rais
ing them for furs. A fellow down near
Augusta Ga„ bought up an army of
black cats and announced that he
was going to supDly furriers with black
cat furs. The felines proved a nisance
end he was forced to abandon his farm.
There is a colony of tailless eat* at
Rnrnegat Light, on the upper Jer-
sev coast, end an attempt to establish
a farm proved futile, as the eats with
out caudal appendages refused to be
tamed and w it’d fight p'ke tigers.
Baby Farms.
To the shame and disgrace of our
for him. At last the court grew tired
of his coming so often and the conse
quent pleading of his family, and the
sentences were made severer and se
verer. Finally, he signed his first
pledge, but only for six months, and
was released. He broke it within six
days. In business transactions they
tell me he Is a man of his word. In
the way of keeping from drinking—he
cannot keep his word.
* * *
Looking over this package of pledges
I find plenty of stories, hut they are
really very much alike. They are the
old, old stories of broken hearts, dirty,
ragged children, the unpleasant, the
uncomfortable, the unhappy, wretched
and miserable home. It is not my pur
pose .to lay them bare. This is not in
tended as a temperance screed, but to
show that while Judge Pollard’s plan
may do some good, there are many
who would only use it for a temporary
relief. A man recovering from a
drunken spree, with a bursting head,
a parched throat, and thoughts of the
sorrow at home, is willing to sign any
pledge or to do almost anything to get
out. For days, and perhaps weeks,
and possibly for months he may feel as
though that pledge is sacred, but one
drink, and he forgets.
* * a
Of course this is not so with all men,
^ w but there are plenty of men who are
growth. She could feed twenty million i wea ^ enough to •drink, knowing that
persons on wheat alone, and with her ? ne meaj i s a \* they can get'. It
animal food there would be nearly ' I s ? 0 A.* k ^, se 'f 0n !i third nor tenth drink,
enough for the whole "Western world. ■ P, the first Ru t you couldn't make
him believe It. Some men can take
off the map.
estates of thousands upon thousands of I rne ^j 1IKe - men d an ’t. Some m
acres where sheep and cattle and wheat I n r e r sometning more serious than
From the New York Sun.
Whenever a new patent comes out,
especially some little thing that any
body might, have made, you will al
ways hear the remark: “Why coudn’t
I have thought of that?" fFortunes are
his mother paying the fine -or pleading | made fro-m even the most trivial con-
ill ill DOS
as Mb
To show now ^ouu rtiiu slums *<■ wan | viyi "mvmcu ivun coia, unless wnen majority or the inhabitants are Amerl-
he beo-.an jumping up and down on It I several degrees further north. The eans. it is well-nigh inconceivable that
With his whole weight. The walk could ! island is between the 20th and 21st tbe Senate will proceed to tarn the island
not forget that it was -still rubber, and degree, north latitude. j 5'ST to . 'yp.? have so richly
when the ambitious inventor. pianke tj The Isle of Pines is about the size selves' 8 ratc<5 thcir inability to rule them-
his heels into he was promptly pitched and somewhat the shape of the State j Splendid Forests
over the fence into a briar patch. The of Rhode Island. About the centre I I spoke a little way back of the devel-
episode proved such a joke that the of the island, running east and west, j opment now in progress on the Islw of
' is a mountain range, and mountains I Plats. I believe that n much more ranid
come down to the coast in several i ISi of '‘tvelopment is in the future, and
Places There are nn foothills ‘ hla wYhout reference to whether the
mftf' , no footh.HS. Cuban Ting or«ihc Stars and Stripes tiy
The mountains spring up from the I over the island. y
plane, without resulting from a grad- i The section south of the salt mnr=h
ual slope from the level country, j which cuts the island in twain is covered
Some of the mountains are almost with dense forerts of mahogany, ebony,
solid marble, whose whiteness and ^re* other vaVi , i«2« n of V h^wi^S?a= 50 mi ld
other desirable qualities are said to j development of these is about to be un
equal those of the quarries of Carrara, j dertaken on an extensive scale, and when
A great deal of the marble used in j these schemes are well under way the
building Havana was quarried on the : is^nd will he prosperous to n degree hith-
Isle of Pines, but the Spanish Govern- ! er J y V” kn °wn to Latin America,
ment laid such a heavy tax on Pinero ( eiSlt^llS fmm P Nueva t Geiin2 na «r2 b thi
marble that the quarries had to shut | San Rosarh/ hot springs. 0 ThS'curative
down: this in the interest of thrj mar- | value of these waters In cases of stomach
ble quarries of Spain—a species of j troubles and rheumatism have lieen known
high protective tariff more worthy of
a decadant monarchy than is the
American system worthy of the gov
ernment of “the most enlightened na
tion on earth,” as we delight to term
ourselves.
A marsh, running east and west,
cuts the island practically in two. j \
since the swamp is impossible. Be
ing salt, it is not miasmatic. North
of the swamps the country is open,
and well adapted to agriculture. I
have not seen any heavy pine forests,
although a great deal of the coun
try is more or less sparseely covered
with pine. Almost everywhere, are
the magnificent palms, so well-deserv
ing to be called “royal.” Cocoanut
trees, mangoes and guava hushes are
growing everywhere, chiefly in the
lower-lying sections.
At this point it is proper to state
that' no satisfactory explanation of
General Wood’s action has been made.
It has. not been established that a su
perior officer directed him to surrvi-
der the island to' the Cubans. It is : .... ,
charged in the most open manner I with the
budding popularity of the new idea
began to wane, and there are still no
ruber .sidewalks in Iowa.
Another hapnv idea thtat came to
grief was the adjustable pulpit brought
out by a Texas inventor. An observing
member of a certain congregation in
the Lone Star State noticed that some
of the preachers were tall and some
were short, to he conceived the idea of
making an adjustable pulpit which
would accommodate itself to al!
heights. The first preacher to use the
automatic -device was a short man.
and the inventor was on hand and took
■his measure to a nicety. Later when a
six-foot pastor came on the inventor
had the grip and could not go to
church.
The pulpit was set for his short
predecessor and nobody could do a
thing with It. The inventor had in
sisted that his device was easy enough
to manipulate but it proved most stub
born and would not submit to a re-ad •
justment. The tall man started in with
it, but it was so low that in reading his
text he had to stooy over almost as
much as if hi« book were placed on a
chair. When he began to preach he
was getting along well enough until
he suddenly stamped his foot to em
phasize a point. His action released
the spring in the floor and the nulnit
shot upward until it completely hid the
preacher from the view of his hearers.
The remainder of his sermon sounded
about the same as if he had been in a
well.
Thomas Jefferson may be termed the
"father of the Patent Office." for it was
he who saw to the passing of the act
creating the office and the copyright
system. For many years he was one
of the committee which passed on the
merits of all designs submitted to the
office.
cannot be estimated, but whole estates
are owned by one man. and the labor
ers are South Europeans, who have no
•ambitions beyond earning their daily
bread, whose standard of living is sat
isfied by a mud hut and the hope of
,,,, ^ i accumulating enough to pay their pas-
plume-producing I ?ape ba( ' k to s . r,ain or There are
’ an ostrich is - 12,500 miles of as good railways as any
in the world, with splendid trains, lux
urious cars fine rock-ballasted beds
and every modern comfort: yet apart
from the railways most of the high
ways are only tracks beaten across the
plains by the Indians or by the later
pledge.
a • •
One of my queerest experiences hap
pened not a great while ago. A young
man whom I knew well, and yet never
knew that he ever touched a drop,
walked Into my office and said he
wanted to take the pledge for a year.
I was surprised, but he was serious
and after he -had signed he said he was
goin out to do some missionary work.
In ten minutes he returned with an
other young man who gave me the
second surprise. After he had signed
h!s pledge, both said they would go out
trivances. . A man walked from Phila
delphia to "Washington to patent the
gimlet- pointed screw, and the simple
idea eventually earned -him more than
a million dallars. The rubber tip on
the end of lead pencils made its in
ventor rich. The metal point on the
end of your shoestring earned a for
tune for the woman who thought of it,
and the copper cap that so long adorn
ed the toes of children’s shoes earned
$2,000,000 for the lucky person who
patented it.
Many valuable inventions were hit
upon in a most accidental way. The
art of making sugar white was dis
covered by a harmless old speckled
hen. This feathered matron one day
went for a walk through a field of clay
and later without taking the precau
tion to wipe her feet walked through
a sugar mill on the same plantation,
scattering clay over the loose
mounds of sugar as she passed. After
ward it was discovered that wherever
1 her tracks had fallen on the moist su-
| gar the clay had whitened it. Scient
ists took up the matter and from this
incident introduced the method of ,
bleaching sugar by the clay process.
A dog gave us the art of dyeing i
cloth. One afternoon so many years
ago that the date is of small conse
quence. a. noted man and his sweet
heart went for a walk along the sands
of the seashore in a far-off country.
A little dog trailed along at their heels
and becoming weary of much love-
making finally ran ahead and went
fishing among the rocks. One partic
ular shellfish which he captured and
devoured exuded a fluid which dyed
the hair about his mouth a pretty pur
ple. Investigation of this Incident
founded the science of dyeing cloth.
A man from Michigan vrae told by
the doctors to take his wife South for
her health. He purchased a big wagon
and team for the trip, and thought to
make some profit by carrying a stock
for over 200 years. The springs them
selves are situated in a countrv ideally
beautiful, but suseeotible to being im
proved by the hand of man until it will
rival in beauty the narks surrounding the
celebrated resorts of Europe and America.
A company Is now being formed for the
purpose of establishing a health and
pleasure resort at the springs, with .golf
links nearly two milea in extent as an at
tractive feature. Golfing the year round
should prove a popular attraction.
T have not said much about the possi
bilities of coffee culture, and the cultu-e
of rubber On-the island. Coffee orchards
for sufficient of the hern- for private use
are common, and it Is claimed that tha
aroma and flavor of the Isle of Fines cof
fee are superior to the Brazilian or l-'ss
known Porto Ri-an product. T might dis
cuss parrots, whlcn throng the tree tops
by the hundreds, making the air sh!”-»r
The Isle of Fines is a pioneer coun
try. Although Columbus discovered it
and landed here, probably on his sec
ond voyage, it presents today, terri
tory almost as virgin as was the
Isorthwest in the earlier days of Sit
ting Bull and Kit Carson. Americans
own aljout 9S per cent, of the land of
the island. They will have It all some
day.
A great portion of the island is ex
tremely fertile. All of it is pronounced
especially well adapted to oranges,
lemons and grape fruits.
Americans are doing all the work
that is being done on the Island. Prob
ably they do not number a thousand,
although three times that number own
land here. These are coming In by
every steamer for the purpose of lo
cating on their property and proceed
ing to its development. While the
steamer is still miles away from the
island, one sees smolte rising from
that he did so without orders. General
Leonard Wood is not nearly so pop
ular in Cuba and on the Isle of Pines
as ho Is at the White House.
He left Havana without the re
spect Of a very large section of the
American colony, tot put it with ex
treme mildness. His connection with
the Jat Alai, the great gambling
game of Cuba, created a scandal in
the United States and was much dis
cussed in the States about the time
the President promoted him to the
Ith their screams One man on tbe ls£
land recently filled a contract with .an
American to supply 1.900 of the bird*.
He receives less than a dollar apiece for
them. After heing taught to talk and
brought to America a . ready sale is found
for the birds at many times a dollar. '
Without reference to the possibilities in
the way of money-making afford'd by t’-e
Islo_ of Pines. I may conclude this artle’o
confident declaration that every
body who comes to the Isle of Pines on a
visit must go away with regret, and plan
ning to return so soon as fate may muko
an opportunity.
GENERAL DEFICIENCY
BILL PASSED THE SENATE
WASHINGTON. March 2—The Sen
ate today passed the general deficien
cy bill. The bill carries slightly less
than $10,740,000. The Senate agreed
. to an amendment authorizing the pay-
rank of major-general. Generol Wood j gent of $15,000 to Senator Smoot for
admitted granting a concession to the i remuneration on account of expense?
company which, runs the gjatne, ard
admitted also receiving a ten-thous-
and-doll.ar silver service from the con
cessionaries.
Tobacco Trust. •
The tobacco trust owns nearly all
the fine tobacco lands of Cuba. These
lands were purchased soon after the
cessation of hostilities between Spain
and America, for the most part, al
though the trust had owned lands
there under Spanish rule.
About the time the trust rot con
trol of the better part of th> Cuban
tobacco producing lands it v.Vs dis
covered that Americans had purchas
ed all the 'tobacco lands on the Isle
of Pines, and that this land was as
well adapted to the culture of the
finest cigar tobacco as were the lands
of the Vuelta Abajo district, in Cuba.
Were the Isle of Pines to remain
many parts of the country.. each rep- i American territory, tobacco from the
island could be admitted free of
resenting an American citizen at work
clearing his land for an orchard of
citrus fruits.
The Pineros are a quiet. Inoffensive,
but by no means energetic, people,
who watch the encroaching American
with not the slightest alarm, and en
tirely without jealousy, so far as I can
ascertain.
The Isle »f Pines Is the only piece
of territory in the Western Hemis
phere the ownership of which is in
dispute. Every American on the Island
believes there is not the shadow of a
doubt that It belongs absolutely to the
United States.
President McKinley told many of
them so when they were considering
emigrating thither. Otherwise they
, would probably have remained in the
of feather dusters to sell along the j Northwest, whence most of them came,
way. One day he went to the factory | jj u t President Roosevelt'and Secre-
where 'ht? dusters were being made and tary Root say the Isle of Pines belongs
while standing in the yard talking to | to the republic of Cuba. The Presl-
one of the employes picked up from : dent has not said so with as much em-
the ground one of the "strutters” or 1 phasis as was emploved bv his Secre-
tail feathers from a turkey—the refuse i tarv of State in declaring for Cuban
from the duster factory. He began idly j sovereignty. When the Americans go
, ^ _ twisting a thread back and forth the Isle of Pines met, over a year ago,
cowboys.' These tenders of cattle and and do more mIsslonar .y work. I began | through its broken edges, and the idea : and formed a territorial government in
growers of wheat are about the only
inhabitants of the primitive towns and
villages scattered throughout the land,
so that from one estate forty miles
may be traveled before one sees more
than a hut which gives merely shelter
from the wind and rain: but on the
next estate—estancia—is a palace filled
with the products of European arL
FRYE'S DAM BILL
WAS PASSED IN SENATE
WASHINGTON. March 3—Senator
Frye, of Maine, startled the Senate todav
He was On his feet making a report from
the committee on commerce on several
minor bills a duty he preformed fre-
ouently. and which, as a rule, attracts llt-
t!» interest or attention Suddenly raising
his voice. Mr. Frye exclaimed: “If I can
get immediate consideration fo r that dam
bill I will promise the gr-r.ate not to
report another dam bill this session "
,5nild a general laughter, the hi!! was
Dn--.>r:l and a dam will be built across cer
tain shoals on the Savannah River.
to feel as if the world was growing
: better suddenly. In ten minutes they
returned with another young man. It
looked like a land-office business. The
third young man read the pledge over.
Then he balked. A year was too long,
he said, and he didn’t believe the oth
ers would hold out. Possibly from force
| of habit, one of the young men ex
claimed. "I'll bet drinks that I hold
! out.” For a man who had just signed
the pledge for a year this sounded
queer. They failed to persuade the
third young man, and as all three
walked out slowly, as if greatly disap
pointed. the though: struck me: AW 111 i ented
the two convert the third, or will the
third unconvert the two?
duty, while Cuban tobacco, grown by
the trust, would have to pay the enor
mous duty which is now exacted.
It is asserted that Secretary Root
owns a magnificent tobacco planta
tion in the Cuban. tobacco-growing
district.
It is not the purpose of this artice
to thresh over this Isle of Pines con
troversy. The Americans on the island
are not being harassed so greatly now
as they were a year or two ago. when
some of them were In jail almost con
stantly. Arrests were made by the
Cuban officials without any save th
most rediculous pretexts.
The American papers have been full
of stories of the arrest, conviction and
sixteen-day incarceration of Mi.
Miliy Brown, daughter of one of the
most prominent Americans on the isl
and, together with two young men.
because they rigged up a toy telegraph
line a few hundred feet in length.
Another American was arrested be
cause he took his spade one morning
and undertook to repair the road that
runs in front of his house.
Another was arrested because he
burled a kinsman in a cemetery which
had been laid off by the Americans for
the burial of their dead.
The soldiers took up this body and
, incurred by him in the contest for his
j seat.
| The Smoot amendment was the only
one in the bill which occasioned dis-
1 cushion. Senator McLaurin offered an
i additional amendment which provided
: that the protestants against Senator
Smoot should receive an equal amount.
I When this was laid on the table he
I proposed that half the amount should
! go to the protestants. It was explain
ed that Senator Smoot had paid his
attorneys $20,000 and the amount in
the bill would only reimburse him
partially for his expenditure.
It was also stated in opposition of
the additional amendment of Senator
McLaurin that the Government had
paid all the expenses attending wit
nesses. making a total of more than
$2S,000.
Mr. Dubois said the women who had
protested against Senator Smoot had
raised the funds for their attorneys
through collections. He had no doubt
that if reimbursed the organization
represented would use the funds for ,
good purposes. The ' second McLati-
rin amendment was also defeated.
of the featherbone came to him. The : order to be ready when American sov-
featherbone is the successor of whale- ; ereignty should be asserted, Secretary
bone, and Is indispensable to the at- , Root made himself rather ridiculous
tire cf the modern woman. He patented : by reason of his heat in reDlying to a
the idea and received so much money | letter sent hm by the Americans no- I hauled it for miles and buried It in an
from it that he will never have to tifying him of their action. Secretary j other cemetery, and the man who had
travel overland in a wagon again un- Root declares that if there was armed j dared to exhume the body of his kins-
less he wants to. I resistance to Cuban authority an j man had to spend some weeks in Jail,
A man standing in front of the post- American warship would be sent to i a part of the time In the carcel in Ha-
offlce in Washington bent a small piece | aid in % the subjugation of the revolu-
of tin in his fir.- rs until it took the tionists. To this the Americans re
shape of a T. "This would make a ! plied than a man-of-war flying th»
good paper fastener.” he remarked to I American flag would be hailed with
the man with whom he was talking, delight and that American soldiers
and he straightway had the idea nat- i would be welcomed with open arms.
Another man made money from
vana.
1 A son of Mr. S. H. Pearcy was ar-
i rested and fined, after being locked up.
because he spoke of the Cuba revenue
cutter in the harbor at Nueva Corona,
as a “boat.” instead of a “vessel.”
ARIZONA AND REFORM.
From the Denver Republican.
For the first time in 30 years there is
no open gambling in Arizona.—Press Dis
patch.
There’s somethin’ sorter missin’ In our
winelike atmosphere;
The breeze is jest as coolin’ and the sun
shines jest as clear.
But when the boys iog town war.] they're
sorter ionesomelike.
Sencc the ball has quie a-rolin’ and the
gamblers had to hike.
They dirve up. sorter listless, and they
jest say: "Howdy, pard?"
And their ponies' heads is droopin' like
they, too. took it hard.
And it seems alle hushed, like that day
we planted Mesa Mike,
Sence the ball has quit a-ro!!in’ and the
gamblers had to hike.
I ain’t a-sayln’ pardner. that it ain’t all
fer the best.
Though some of us ain't natchel with
out cards clutched to the vest.
But for life this town ain't in it with
the graveyard up the pike.
Sence the ball has quit a-rollln’ and the
gamblers had to hike.
We're a-Iearnin' simple pastimes, like
Old Maid and House Crokay.
And the cowboys of the ilar-C are
a-lenrnlr:' to croshay;
And we toddle to our blankets when we
hear the curfew strike.
Sence the ball hns quit a-rollin' and the
gamblers had to hike.
“We would infinitely prefer American j The alcalde, or governor, is a Cu-
the device of an imbedded string in I mlitary rule to the rule of Cuban car- ‘itn. and he is one of the most offen-
the end of an envelope to cut the paper ] petbaggers," said Samuel H. Pearcy, sive type of the office-seeking class,
ns it is drawn out. Still another man ' one of the leading Americans on the j The captain of the port is even moro
One of the suggested corrective added to this idea by tying a knot in ; island, and the representative of the 1 objectionable to American business
. methods of such men is the whipping the end of the string to keep it from I Isle of Pines Americans at Washing- j men on the island. Cubans hate with
• post. In Atlanta the suggestion is ! being drawn through. | ton. . j ft deadly hatred im> thing like energy,
. made that they he oh rtigraphed and I It is irtcr -s'.ing to r:to how man has Ours By Treaty. | industry, enterprises or progress. This
i their pictures be ported in the saloons, ’borrowed many of his ideas from the ‘ The Treaty of Paris ceded to the port captain, for instance, does every-
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
Examine label on your p.*-
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the books. Due from date on
the label. Send in due3 and
also renew for the year 1907.