Newspaper Page Text
Insists the Galveston News: If you
are killing time, quit It.
Man born of woman is of few days
and full of pathogenic germs, lanients
the Courier-Journal.
Of course, admits the Milwaukee Sen¬
tinel, the boat rocker might plead that
he acquired the habit while he was in j
the cradle.
If we could Insure honest elections
ut home with the same brilliant suc¬
cess as In Panama and Cuba, suggests
the St. Paul Dispatch, we would be
better satisfied with ourselves.
“Apoplexy” seems to be a suspicious
cause of death in Turkey, when its
victim is a minister whose “removal”
cannot be deemed incompatible with
the interests of other influential per¬
sonages. The suspicions are probably
not unreasonable, admits the New
York Tribune. Many men in Con¬
stantinople have died of apoplexy of a
bowstring.
Writing about progress, Robert
Louis Stevenson protests: To hold
the same view at forty as we held at
twenty Is to have been stupefied for
a score of years, and take rank, not
as a prophet, but as an unteachable
brat, well birched and none the wiser.
It is as if a ship captain should sail to
India from the port of London; and
having brought a chart of the Thames
on deck at his first setting out, should
obstinately use no other for the whole
voyage.
The overshadowing evil in the edu¬
cational system of America, proclaims
the Rochester Post-Express, Is this:
That a great majority of our children
fall to complete the eight grades in
our primary schools. In Rochester less
than one-third of the children com¬
plete this simple course, which ought j
to train boys and girls in the studies
whieh are the means of self-develop
ment. and Intelligent citizenship; and
this percentage is not much lower I
than the average. Such a result means I
the practical failure of the system.
Wlth a smaller Chinese population
than in 1878 our importations of opium
have Increased 250 percent—157,000 |
pounds was the figure last year, ex¬
plains the Boston Transcript. The
physicians say that the strenuous life
professional men Is largely respon¬
sible for the increase. If the nerve
worn would only comprehend the sim- |
pie rule of drug poisoning, whether of
nicotine, alcohol or opium, that stim¬ ;
ulation always is followed by reaction
—which is than the original ;
worse ;
condition—perhaps a lot of depravity
would be avoided.
Croquet has some advantages over
golf, contends the Hartford Courant.
You can play it all through with one
mallet, you do not have to talk Scotch
and when a fellow is In your way you
don’t cry “Fore,” you juqj say in plain
English “Get!” and me tiling can be |
done in ordinary clothes and within i
i
reach of home. The man who plays
golf wants to sleep after the game, !
but the man who plays croquet can !
sleep while he plays and get along '
“ |
about as well. It excites to slumber, ,
but otherwise it is not exciting. The j
real rival of croquet is mumble-the-peg,
although there are those who prefer
jackstraws. With a free and happy
people sport cannot die.
Humor as viewed by a German sci¬
'
entific critic is expounded in "Heine
und sein Witz,” a desiccated book of j
200 pages by Erich Eekertz. The in- j
troduction seeks to define the joke as
Heine felt it, says the New York Eve¬
ning Post, and one of the chapters
points out that a thousand and more
jokes of the ancient Jews, Teutons,
and Gauls flowed in the blood of
Heine’s ancestors until they united In |
a common joke that thrilled the au- j i
thor of the "Reisebilder.” Another i
chapter treats of Heine's own jokes
and those he stole from others, and
points out the close or distant rela¬
tionship of Heine's humor to that of
such distinguished predecessors and
contemporaries as Aristophanes, Cer
vautes, Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe,
j.essing, and Jean Paul. There is also
a catalogue of Heine’s rhyming jokes,
another of his jokes in prose, still an
other of his thrusts at himself, and j
finally a formidable list of Heine’s j
puns.
PRACTICAL ADVICE ABOUT
DIVERSIFIED FARMING
4f4 4 ff t If f f j f i
Hitter Rot.
The apple disease known as bitter
rot occurs in very destructive form
throughout the Piedmont and eastern
sections of North Carolina, though it
is possibly less destructive further
west. In a recent trip through the
middle of the State, the writer saw
dozens of orchards ruined by this rot
which, but for the presence of the
rot, would have yielded largely. In
many of the orchards visited, the
trees were in fine condition, showing
suitability of soil and climate, and
they bore an abundance of fruit, but
closer examination showed that the
ground under the trees was com¬
pletely covered with rotten apples
and that the apples still on the trees
had numerous specks of soft, brown
rot. In many villages and towns all
apples offered for sale id stores were
affected with this rot.
This rot has been known in de¬
structive form in the United States
since 1867. It Is estimated to have
done $1,500,000 of damage in four
counties in Illinois in 1900. In the
Middle States the losses are estimated
to be from one-half to three-fourths
of the entire crop. The president of
the National Apple Shippers’ Associa¬
tion estimated the damage in the
United States in 1900 at $10,000,000.
There are many different types of
apple rot; some are hard, some are
soft, some wet, some dry, some of one
color and some another, etc. The bit¬
ter rot of the apple, sometimes called
the ripe rot, is a soft, wet, yellow rot,
occurring usually as circular spots on
the fruit. These spots, of which there
may be from one to twenty or more
on each apple, enlarge rapidly, run
together, and the whole fruit becomes
a soft, rotten mass. The disease us¬
ually begins while the fruit is still
hanging on the tree, and as the dis¬
ease progresses, many of the apples
fall to the ground below.
This rot is caused by a fungus,
known as Gloeosporium, the spores of
which fall upon the apple, grow, pene¬
trate it, and cause the decay. The
spores are produced in immense quan
titles in small pustules, which appear
upon the rotted surface. In many in
stances the fungus passes the winter
in cankered spots on the twigs and
bark.
There are two forms of treatment,
both of which should be followed.
First, inasmuch as the fungus is
known to winter in the canker on the
branches, it is very important, when
the leaves are off the trees, to care¬
fully inspect the orchard, hunt out
these cankers, cut them out and burn
them, and thus remove the most dan
gerous source of spring infection.
Second, the trees should be sprayed
with Bordeaux mixture in order to
a jj spores which fall upon the
fruit or twigs. Sprayings should be
applied before the buds begin to swell
in the spring, just after the blossoms
fall, and every ten or fourteen days
thereafter until the fruit is almost
ripe.
These two treatments combined
will, to a very large extent, serve to
control this very serious disease.—F.
L. Stevens, Biologist, North Carolina
Experiment Station.
Spnrs For Fopltrymen.
Use milk freely to develop chicks
and to make hens lay, hut use care
to keep the vessels clean. Milk left
In the vessels, day after day, even if
in only small quantities, begins to
rot and cause bowel trouble.
The open front poultry house is
always good in the South; and during
the hot weather it is almost a neces
sity. Do not force the chickens to
steam their strength away by sitting
on roosts summer nights in houses
that have insuMcient ventilation.
Removing and burning the old hay
or straw In the nests a number of
times during the summer is one of the
best means to keep down vermin,
Before the new material Is put in,
give whatever treatment is preferred
for combating vermin; but do the
work thoroughly.
After the drink vessels have been
scalded and well washed, put them
out awhile where the bright sun will
shine into them well. Sunshine is an
excellent germ killer. Vessels con
taining disease germs are responsible
for many deaths, the cause of which
is undreamed of.
Very fat hens are likely to die of
apoplexy in hot weather. Preventa
tive measures are better than cures,
w r hich are not often accomplished,
To keep them from being too fat, cut
down their ration, especially that part
of it that tends to make fat;-and
force them to hunt more for their
feed. Over-fatness is not good for
any end.
if you belong to the class who keep
their house lawns looking like a vel
vety carpet by the frequent use of a
lawn mower, the lawn will look all
the better if the clippings are caught
in au attachment put on the mower
for that purpose; and if the clippings
are stored in a dry .place to cure, they
wi!1 be convenient next winter for
throwing down for the poultry to
work over. Some of the dippings,
which will be hay at that time, may
be eaten: and what is not eaten mfty
be used for burying grain in for the
poultry to scratch out. However, the
clippings will be rather short and
pack down too close for good scratch¬
ing material unless used with longer
stuff.
There are two extremes In caring
for poultry. One is not giving enough
attention to the work to keep the
quarters in a sanitary condition. The
other is in doing a lot of unnecessary
work, in fooling around in attempt
to keep the quarters as clean as a
well-regulated kitchen. This is im¬
practical. As long as piles of drop¬
pings are not allowed to accumulate
and lice and mites are kept under
control, the quarters will be sanitary
if kept dry and well aired. When
that has been accomplished, all has
been done about the quarters that
will yield a profit—and profit is what
poultry are kept for. Carefulness in
feeding and watering is, of course,
necessary; but even in that work a
lot of time should not be wasted. A
lack of a sanitary condition is the
more common extreme, but the oppo¬
site may be almost as foolish.—Pro¬
gressive Farmer.
Rotation of Crops a Good Thing.
One correspondent wishes me to
tell why rotation of crops is a good
thing. I will give four reasons:
(1) Because no plants thrive long
if compelled to feed on their own
decay.
(2) Different crops take plant
food in different proportions, and the
u^whE^EEvaiffiblEin^r up what is available in the LiEof son ot
that which it particularly prefers. At
Rothamsted, England, they grew po
tatoes year after year on the same
laud until it utterly failed to make
potatoes. But when they then put it
in barlev it made seventy-five bush
els ner acre matters The potatoes needed the
mffieral minerai matters, nhosnhoric pnospnoric acid aciu and in
potash, and had drawn them down ill
there was not a sufficient amount of
these to make potatoes, but still an
abundance for barley.
(3) Constant clean cultivation and
exposure to the sun burn up the
i humus or decayed vegetation in the
! i soil, the home of the soil bacteria that
work for the farmer, and the bacteria
perish, so .that the soil becomes lit¬
erally a dead soil. Exposure to sun¬
shine is death to the microscopic
forms of plants that we call bacteria.
Even those forms that are the causes
of disease cannot endure the sun
shine, and one of the very best means
for sterilizing waste matters like sew
age is to expose it to sunlight.
(4) We introduce the legume crop
in our rotations because they furnish
forage for stock and enable us to keep
up the humus, making material in tlie
soil, and in their growth get us the
nitrogen we need, which we would
otherwise have to buy. The vital
point in any rotation is the main¬
tenance and increase of the organic
decay, the living soil, for, as has been
well said, “sard and clay are only the
dead skeleton of a soil, humus is its
life^” and in no way can we keep up
this life in .the soil hut by a rotation
of crops that will be restoring what
is wasted in the sale crops.
. Your rotation would be improved
{ b y sowing crimson clover among your
corn to prevent winter waste and
i make a feed crop in the spring that
'
will com e off before sowing the peas
j for hay. Then wheat and clover one
yea r, and then manure the sod and
j back to corn, In this way your land
j will always be protected in winter
an d will gain humus.—W. F. Massey,
A Land of Milk and Money.
And while you are making the
. South a land of milk and money you
. can make all the more cotton on a
smaller area of land because of feed
j ing the cows or beeves,
Study that record from the A. and
1 M. College herd. When a man makes
j months, $8SO worth what of manure of In he nine
| a crop corn can
: make with that manure spread broad
cast, and what a crop of small grain
following it to be followed by peas
and then to cotton, with cash in his
j pocket to dictate prices to the fer
‘ tilizer men and no fertilizer to buy
except acid phosphate and potash for
the peas,
What an area of laud you would
have to cultivate in cotton that makes
150 to 200 pounds of lint per acre,
to equal the amount of money that
was made from these cows? I believe
that you would never get there. But
with the cows and the manure it
would not be long before you would
be talking about 1000 pounds of lint
per acre on only one-fifth the land
that now makes the 200 pounds, and
crops of corn and small grain that
would soon be something more than
“supplies, but would be putting
money in your purse. But the men
who imagine that it does not pay to
grow anything but cotton will prob¬
ably kee^ on with the 150 to 200
pounds per acre and keep poor and
keep their land poor,-—W. F, Massey.
8 Good i voads. fX
5. "Ssl'-S*'
Trains on Highways.
Consul General Robert P. Skinner,
Marseilles, furnishes the following
information concerning the running
of passenger and freight trains on
the highways of France:
“There recently passed this consul
ate a ‘Train Renard,’ composed of a
locomotor, two passenger cars and
one baggage car, which had just ar
rived from Paris under its own power
and over the ordinary roads, thus sup¬
plying to the public a demonstration
of its own efficiency, The trains
mentioned are composed of elements,
each receiving the energy of a vehi
cle called a locomotor, which being
placed at the head of the train dis
tributes the necessary power to the
following elements by means of a
transmission x . . shall , .. extending „ ,___,. „ horn
one end ol the train to the other,
thus enabling each car to utilize its
own adhesion to the road surface as
a means of advancement.
“The locomotor—that is to say, the
creator of the energy—is therefore
lighter- f than any of the cars. Trains
°f thls ... type . completely , . , loaded , , , are „„„
able to maintain a speed of twenty
one kilometers (13.05 miles) per
hour in case of passenger trains on
levels-and from fifteen to sixteen kil
ometers (9.32 to 9.94 miles) per hour
in the case of freight trains. It is
said that the freight trains of this
type are able to maintain an aveiage
of from ten to twelve kilometers
te.21 to 7.45 miles), fully loaded,
in any kind of country.
“It would be useless to enter into
further details regarding these high
road trains, as far as the United
I gtateg ig concern ed, inasmuch as we
are without a road system sufficient
! ly advanced to make their application
possible _ 0n tbe otber hand the
| ad0 p t j on 0 f passenger and freight
j bra j lls over railless roads in France
- nag become not on ]y a possibility but
j a f t Already hundreds of inacces
Sible ham1pt ba .™ le „ s ’ bjtbf>rto buneito sprved se ed bv by slow s
: goins dlllgences ’ are kept m coa f\ nt
ContaCt with tlie outside world by
, means 0 f i arge auto-omnibuses, „ mov
j at an average rate of fifteen miles
bour; transporting both passen
] gers and express parcels; and now,
! following this development, comes
' the explosive engine motor, drawing
full trains of cars, which it is claimed
j can be operated on level or mount
ainous roads at an exceedingly mod
erate expense. In other words, if all
that is claimed for these trains is re
alized, it will be possible to give 2 5,
000‘communes in France, which do
not at present enjoy railroad facili
ties, approximately the same advan
tages with respect to transportation
as the most populous and highly fav
j j ored centres.
I “This illustrates how much the
creation of a better highway system
would ,, benefit , tne ,, rural , populations , ,.
of the United States, wi.o are at a
great disadvantage in regard to trans
portation as compared with foreign
communities, and deprived of the
various kinds of satisfaction result¬
ing from the existence of modern
highways.”
A Great State Road.
In his address before the Pennsyl¬
vania Bar Association Governor Stu
art , led , , up to , eulogy , of the plan to
construct a great highway across this
State from end to end. This project
has been frequently discussed during
recent years, but never with a better
grasp of the principle involved than
by Governor Stuart, First, there
should be the great trunk line from
Pittsburg to Philadelphia, offering its
accommodation alike to the farmer
on his way to market and to the tour
ist seeking pleasure amid the pic
turesque scenes of the Keystone
State. Next, there should be lateral
branches, making this great highway
accessible from all sections cf the
Commonwealth.
This is a project on which the State
of Pennsylvania may well expend
sums for the benefit of its people. It
is a rich State and great—in all
things save its public roads. For
reasons clearly set forth by Governor
Stuart Pennsylvania has not such
highways as it should have. But it is
never too late to mend. The great
road is by no means to be considered
an end. It is only a means—a prac->
tical example to encourage counties
and townships \ to build and maintain
good , public ... highways. . , T It , will serve
the purpose of showing the smaller
civil divisions how to do the work,
and it will exemplify the advantages
of having good roads in every dis
trict. It is in this aspect that it is
given the sanction of tj>e Governor
and his encouragement.
flie time ,. , has rived • j • this State ,
ai in
when good roads are essential to its
highest development. Though its in¬
dustries have thriven amazingly and
its farms have prospered, with indif
ferent roads, its further development
demands that which has heretofore
been neglected. Jts great industrial
population must be put in closer
touch with its rural population,
vv hie Iris destined to grow in numbers
and usefulness. Good roads are a
necessity.—Pittsburg Disputed.'
- ^T»
iht
Sunbati-feclWf
*=-~T 3
i
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR NOVEMBER l.
:
Subject: Absalom Rebels Against
| David, 2 Sain. 15—Golden Text,
Ex. 20:12—Commit Verses 5, e
—Read 2 Sam. Chs. 13, 10.
j TIME.—102G-1022 B. C. PLACE,
—Jerusalem.
j EXPOSITION. I. Absalom’s in¬
triguing, t-fi. An appropriate Golden
Text for this lesson would be Gal.
6:7. David was simply reaping what
he had sown. Though God had fully
forgiven David s sin, David did not
on that account escape the natural
consequences of his sin. God had told
b ; m at ^ be tj rae that the sword should
never depart from his house, and that
He would raise up evil for him out of
his own house (2 Sam. 12:9-12).
Seven years had elapsed since David’s
sin. David’s daughter had been dis
honored, one son had been murdered,
and another was the murderer. Ab
KaIom had only been embittered by
, b j s banishment from the king’s pres
| j e not nce, helped and his matters restoration in the to favor had
least. He
j j was helped one by' of those neither incorrigibles severity that by is
nor
kindness, a thoroughly self-centered
™* n ’ a fa ' r ^ dangTrouTand^dS:
pj ca bi e man than the ordinary des
; p erado . Absalom’s first step in an¬
nouncing himself as a candidate to
the throne was by riding in a state
that. David himself did not affect (cf.
J and 1:5 ). It was expressly
forbidden bv God (De. 17:16; 1 Sam.
| ff pl ^ sed by
Ether. X- .
0 f his Absalom
j p i a yed diligence in seeking to steal
his father’s throne. So did Christ’s
I enemies in their plots against Him
1 (Matt. 2 7:1). There is no one more
: diligent than the devil. The Hebrew
i ? f v ’ 2 indicates that Absalom “was
! would m the be habit of rising early, It
well if Christians were as
j diligent God offers in to seeking them. the Absalom throne sought that
! | the favor the
of discontented, the
: usual practice of politicians. Indeed,
ai l the methods of Absalom are much
in vogue to-day. He utterly misrep¬
resented the facts about his father’s
administration (cf. ch. 8:15). He
! was guilty of three sins, of (1) Not
honoring his father (Ex. 20:12). (2)
Speaking evil of the ruler of his peo
j pie (Acts 23:5: Ex. 22:28). (3)
; Bearing false witness (Ex. 20:16).
j These are all common sins to-day.
Absalom d eftly suggested that if only
he in % everything would
were power
be all right. In earlier days David
had been a man of genial spirit, but
j n later days he seems to have drawn
into his shell. Perhaps the memory
of his sin and its consequences was
responsible for this. Absalom prae
I ticed * his fo art on “all that came to the
l ng L Judgment.. He succeeded
* for the *. time, he stole the hearts of
the men of Israel.” But it was David
himself who had undermined the
, power of law and loyalty in the king
J dom. He had opened the way for
the people to transfer their affections
to another by himself stealing the
heart of another man's wife. Any
man that commits the sin that David
did is sure to lose men’s esteem.
II. Absalom’s Conspiracy, 7-12.
It may be that the forty years of v. 7
refers to the years of David’s reign,
but it is more likely that it should
read “four” (‘see R. V. Mars.) and re¬
. f ers to tbe years 0 j Absalom’s in¬
triguing. If Absalom had made such
a vow as he pretended (vs. 7. 8) he
had been at least six years indifferent
to it. Quite strange that he should
wab:e up to it so suddenly. Many men
wake up to their religious obligations
when they have some end to gain by
doing so. David seems to have lost
his grip, or he would have suspected
something in the light of what was
j going on. Nothing so soon robs a
man of his grasp of practical affairs
as tbe entrance of sin into his life. It
* s likely that Absalom bad ever
made such a vow. If he had he had
not kept it, and he was not keeping it
now. Absalom next hired some
sliouters and trumpeters. This, too,
is a favorite method of modern poli
; ticians. The mass of men are quite
easily carried by a hurrah. Even
j Biblical critics sometimes adopt the
1 same methods. He chose Hebron as
: the + centre of operations [ because of its
sacred memor es (cb 2 :1, 11; 3:2,
I 3; 5:5). Absalom tried to make it
appear that all the best men were oa
his side, by taking with him 200 who
had no knowledge of what was going
on - It is always wise when one gets
invitations from such men as Absa om
.? ook into them befoie act '‘T
them. Many a foolish one is caugnr
In this wav _ Abit hophel was Absa
i 0 m’s chief adviser. The woman
whom David had wronged was his
grand-daughter (ch. 11:3; cf. ch.
23:34). David felt no other defec
tion so keenly as his (Ps. 41:9;
i 55:12-14). But again he was reap
ing only what he had sowed. Absa
lorn, like many another unmitigated outward
scoundrel, observed carefully
religious rites (v. 12).’ 1; ef. Nu. 23:1,
30, 1 K. 21:9, “The conspiracy
was strong” Absalom's followers were
continually increasing, The people
were saying of David, “There is 150
help for him in God” (Ps. 3:1, 2 ).
But David was not forsaken of Goa
even in this darkest hour (Ps.
Absalom hacl left God out in all
calculations: so utter failure cam oi
all his matchless cunning and -
ing promise, Absalom hir If was
to blame for own ruin, But vas
not David to b’r.me, too?