, Pa., March 16, 1917.
THE CACKLE OF THE
HEN.
1 love to hear the Robin,
The harbinger of Spring,
As he sits upon the apple tree
And gleefully doth sing;
I love to see him flitting
And hear him, too, but then,
There's no song so expressive
As the cackle of the Hen.
The canary in his gilded cage
A singer is of note, .
His trills and runs amaze me
From such a tiny throat:
But when it comes to music,
No matter where or when,
There's nothing that's so cheering
As the cackle of the Hen.
You've heard about the Mocking bird
The Southern warbler sweet,
And the Nightingales some singer,
Tis said he can’t be beat;
But e'en the sweetest songster,
In forest, field or glen,
Wakes no responsive heart-throb
Like the cackle of the Hen.
Wilkes-Barre “Record.
Overland by Automobile From Phila-
delphia to Rushville, Nebraska.
(Continued from last week.)
August 12th we broke camp at 2:15
p. m., after having mended tires,
washed, bathed and cleaned ‘up in
general. We stopped a short time
at Clyde for oil and again at Napol-
eon for provisions. It was getting
late so we determined to camp at the
first available place. About two miles
out we saw a nice looking grove and
went in and asked some grown boys
if we could camp there. They said,
“certainly,” and opened a couple of
gates for us to go through, We made
camp and were just ready to eat. I
went up to the house to get some
water, and I thought I would see if
they had any eggs or butter to sell.
I saw a small boy and asked him. He
disappeared into the house and I went
ahead and got my water then waited
for some time but he did not come
back, so I went up to the back door
to see if he was coming. I rapped but
no one appeared, and I could see no
one about. At last I started back to
camp and when I got about half way
there I was met by a man who imme-
diately started in to lecture me for
camping there. He wanted to know
if I did not know that I was on his
ranch? What did I mean by coming
in there without permission and start-
ing a fire? Was I trying to burn his
place down, ete. I explained that we
had asked his son. He said, “Oh that
boy is too easy! He don’t know any-
thing.” He had more to say about it,
but I told him to shut up and we
would get out. He was very much
under the influence of alcohol. I told
Mr. Beck, the farmer, that he was
the only person who had not shown
us the greatest courtesy, and that,
rather than be near such an uncivil
person, we would go at once. So we
went out and ate our supper, which
was all ready, and then, although it
was dark, we packed up our stuff and
left Fairview farm. We proceeded
on down the road about five miles
through Midville and asked another
farmer to let us camp in one of his
fields, and at the same time told him
about the other case. He said of
course we could and at the same time
told us that Mr. Beck was the
only man he knew of who would act
like that. He did not seem to be very
highly thought of about there. So
we camped under a large tree and the
place was really better than where
we had camped at Fairview farm.
The next morning I fixed the speed-
ometer and reset it at 691.2, the dis-
tance we had traveled so far. It was
10:45 when we got under way, but we
made good progress, stopping at Bry-
an for gas and oil and at noon stop-
ped 13 miles inside of Indiana, for
lunch. While we were preparing
lunch Helen was running around the
place enjoying herself and when we
were ready to sit down she was no-
where to be found. A few minutes
before we had heard the farmer call
her and she had gone to him. When
we started to look for her the farmer
told us she was in the house eating
her dinner. There she was sitting in
a high-chair, as big as you please,
eating her dinner. The farmer’s wife
begged us to let her there as she was
enjoying herself. That is the way
most of the people treated us. They
seemed glad to have us about and to
talk to us and it made us feel very
good after the experience of the night
before. After lunch we continued on
and camped at a very nice school-
house, about five miles east of Gosh-
en. The roads were paved along here
and the farms were well kept up.
That night a farmer came up to our
camp to talk to us. During the con-
versation I asked him why it was
that the farms looked so much better
along the paved roads. He said that
it made the hauling better and that
more people passed and saw the
places so the farmers fixed up the
places and took more pride in them
and did more fertilizing and there-
fore raised better crops and made
more money. It certainly was so;
the places were all well kept up, the
school houses looked as good as in
the city, although smaller; the fences
were in repair, and the farmers were
driving about in autos. Good roads
do make a difference.
August 14th, we broke camp at
9:30 and ran into Goshen, where I
decided to have new bushings placed
in the steering connections, as the
front wheels were getting very loose.
This took until almost noon during
which time we got our daily provis-
ions and had grease placed in the
differential. We then started on our
way again, the machine steering very
hard, due to the new bushings. We
made good time but had a bad blow-
out just as we were entering South
Bend. I had a spare tire on the rim so it
did not take us long to change and
we reached the city at 8 p. m. There
we got “Dad’s” letter, telling us
where we would find Jim Wilson. We
looked him up and they invited us to
stay all night which we did. Here
we had a chance to clean up and sleep
in a good bed. No one who has not
been in a similar condition can ap-
preciate how thankful we were for
that great kindness.
August 15th, we left at 9:50 a. m.,
after having had a lovely time. They
were making new road out of South
Bend and we had been given very ex-
plicit directions how to get around
the blocked road but we missed the
‘mark somewhere and got into a pep-
permint swamp. When we had final-
ly returned to the road we found that
we had traveled twenty-five miles to
make fifteen. Soon after getting
back on the cement road we stopped
at a farm house to eat our lunch. I
went in after water and although I
saw a, savage looking bull dog I
thought that I was avoiding him. I
had just turned away to ask permis-
sion to get water when suddenly I
heard a growl right at my feet. Nat-
urally I lost no time in getting away
from the dog, but then I saw that he
was tied by a short leash to a wire
which permitted him to run between
the house and the barn. I got my
water but you can bet that I went well
around that dog when returning to
our camp. That night we pitched
camp on a sand dune covered with
trees. This was 23 miles from Chi-
cago, and right back of a saloon, but
on account of the swamps around
Chicago this was the only available
place. This was the worst place we
found on the whole journey to camp,
although the people treated us very
nice.
August 16th, meter reading 932.3,
we broke camp at 10 a. m. and reach-
ed the city at 11.50. There we had to
wait some time to get the muffler,
which I had blown off, fixed, as well
as to get two tires adjusted. These
were American tires, and I swore
never again to buy any of that make
as I had not only had trouble all along
with them but when I asked them to
change them for me they were surly
about it and then in putting them on,
their so-called mechanic, pinched a
new tube for me and then put on a
cold patch. I was thoroughly dis-
gusted and told them if they ever sold
tires on account of my recommenda-
tion it would be a great surprise to
me. We also got route bocks here as
well as provisions and left ithe city at
3:55, meter reading 957.4. We stop-
ped at Downes Grove for some addi-
tional provisions and then pitched
camp at 7 p. m. at a lovely school-
house, surrounded with trees. There
was a pump there and the yard was
covered with trees. It was a fine
place except that we had to leave the
car outside and go back and forth
through a gate, made by winding back
and forth through a number of posts
set upright in the ground.
August 17th, meter reading 995.1,
we broke camp at 9:15 and reached
Aurora at 9:50, leaving at 10:50. We
wanted to stop at Sulphur Lick
Spring, but the people seemed so in-
hospitable and attempted to put so
many restrictions on us that we went
on about a mile. Here the people were
very nice to us. We stopped at Wya-
net Station for provisions and pitch-
ed camp two miles east of Sheffield
at 6:30, in a lovely country school-
yard up on a hill overlooking the
country all around. We were able to
drive in the yard and pitched our tent
under the trees. These yards are the
best prace to camp through Iowa, be-
cause they have all one needs and no
one to bother you.
August 18th, meter reading 1105.3,
broke camp at 9:05 and started for
Sheffield. We found a fair dirt road
from Sheffield almost to Rock River,
but we made good time over it until
we got to the river, there our coils
gave us so much trouble that we were
compelled to stop in the midst of a
very dusty road and repair them. We
then crossed over the river and stop-
ped from 12:30 to 2:50 for lunch. The
farmers came out and talked to us
and wanted to know why we did not
come in and make ourselves at home
on their lawn. They also gave Helen
a cake which pleased her very much.
We reached Moline at 3 p. m., and
Davenport at 4 p. m. There we stop-
ped for some time to have that coil
repaired and also to get a check cash-
ed. Although the garage men work-
ed for some time on the coil they did
not seem to have very much luck
with it. Then, when we went to get
the check cashed we again had trou-
ble, although it was a traveler’s check.
We finally went to one of the hotels
where they cashed it. We then filled
up with gas and oil and secured som=
pennants, and left the city at 5:30.
We next stopped at Durant for pro-
visions and pitched camp at 8 p. m,,
about three miles out from Wilton in
a shady grove. The farmer took the
trouble to walk about two blocks
across the road, in his stocking feet,
to show us the best place to camo.
This was the best camp we found on
the entire road. The grass was short
and the trees on all sides of us fur-
nished plenty of shade. We stayed
there all morning, washing and tun-
ing up the car, We had bent the ra-
dius rod and I took the trouble to
turn it over which made it steer very
much better. During the morning a
little girl came over and played with
Helen. She brought her dog along
and that pleased Helen very much.
Then some chickens and geese came
over to see her and shz had a great
time trying to catch ther.
August 19th at 1:10 p. m., we final-
ly were ready to start and had to
leave this delightful spot. We stopped
at Marengo for provisions and finally
pitched camp off the road a short dis-
tance at a school house next to a field
of timothy seed, which interested Eve
very much. The next morning she
got up at 4:30 to care for the baby
and stayed up till 5:30 to see sun
come up, not having seen that sight
lg than three or four times in her
ife.
August 20th we broke camp at 8:50,
the earliest we had gotten away so
far. We stopped at Victor and had
some wires soldered on the spark
coils. We then started on but not far
when our radiator ran dry and the
pistons stuck. We wasted some time
there getting them loosened up again.
We reached Des Moines in the early
afternoon, but on account of its bein
Sunday we could not get a new Sol
coil, which I was very much in need
of, but finally found a master vibra-
tor, which we thought at the time was
a compromise, but it proved to be the
best thing we have done as other coils
were almost gone. It was late when
we got this fixed however so we start-
the club house and got permission to!
——
ed out looking for the nearest plac?
to camp. We got on a dirt road and |
finally to the top of a steep hill. Wg |
were disgusted so I got out to lcJk |
around and found that we were right |
alongside of a golf course. We pitch- |
ed camp right there and I went up to
% i
camp and also water. We found that
we were on the public golf course, and !
were told that we could camp. It!
was a long tramp for water but the |
care taker came back with me and!
showed me where we could get water
much nearer. If we had known about |
it we could have had a dandy place !
they had fixed up for picnickers right |
at the well. We did not pitch the tent |
this night but slept in the open. i
(Concluded next week.)
ee —— i
Trophies of War.
|
In the auditorium of the academic
building at the United States Naval
Academy at Annapolis are 15,000
square yards of flags, most of them
trophy flags.
The capture of these tattered ban- |
ners helped to make the stars and
stripes respected by the nations of
the earth and reflect undying glory
on the men of the United States Na-
vy. They are living proofs of the he-
roism and courage of the soldiers and
sailors who fought to maintain the
flag when the nation was struggling
for independence and later when it
was fighting to establish firmly the
foundations of the greatest republic
of the world.
From 1847 to 1901 this collection nf
flags which should be one of Ameri-
ca’s most highly prized treasures, was
kept at the Naval Academy and ex-
hibited in the old naval institute hall.
In 1901, when it was decided to tear
down this building, the flags were
packed in iron boxes and stored away.
Being in a dilapidated condition when
they were taken down to be packed
grave fears were entertained that
they would be further damaged by
moths.
During the ten years they remain-
ed in storage repeated efforts were
made to have the government take
some steps to put them in a perma-
nent state of preservation, but with~
out success. In 1912 Congress appro-
priated $30,000 for the work of pres-
ervation.
About three months later Mrs.
Amelia Fowler, an expert on flag
preservation obtained the services of
forty needlewomen, who began the
arduous task of sewing over by hand
every inch of the 15,000 square yards
in the flags, as the natural decay of
age as well as the almost hopeless
ravages of moths made any ordinary
method of preservation seem impos-
sible.
A special process was originated
by Mrs. Fowler, which is described as
“spreading the tattered remnants of
each flag upon a backing of heavy
Irish linen of neutral color.”
The delicate work was guided by
the original measurement of the flag,
by a knowledge of its design and by
placing in vertical and horizontal line
the warp and woof threads in the
fragments of bunting.
What remained of the original flag
was then sewed firmly to the linen
backing by needlewomen under Mrs.
Fowler’s instruction and guidance.
Less than a year after the labor of
repairing was begun, on May 16th,
1913, the flags were completed and
put on exhibition at the Naval Acad-
emy.
In the ceiling of the academic build-
ing is one of the most interesting of
the trophy flags. It is a British roy-
al standard taken from the parlia-
ment house at New York, now Toron-
to, then the capital of upper Canada,
when the place was taken by the
squadron under Commodore Isaac
Chauncy and a land force under Gen-
eral Zebulon Montgomery Pike, April
27, 1813.
The squadron, with about 1,700 sol-
diers aboard effected a landing at
York under cover of a fire of grape
from the ships, cleared a way through
the Indians and sharpshooters that the
English had formed to oppose them
and stormed the batteries.
The capture of York resulted in the
acquisition of the royal standard, the
only British royal standard captured
and held by any nation.
The flags captured by Admiral
Dewey at Manila Bay are in this au-
ditorium and some of them are ex-
quisite. The one flown at the main
of the Spanish cruiser Don Antonio
de Ulloa is a reminder of the plucky
captain of that cruiser, Enrique Re-
biou, who refused to surrender -at the
battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898,
so the Ulloa sank with its guns blaz-
ing defiance and all flags flying.—
Boston Globe.
Different Kind of Spring.
Jaynes—“Do you remember Jinks,
who used to spend all his time writ-
ing poems about spring ?”
Baynes—“Yes and he nearly starv-
ed to death doing it.”
Jaynes—“Well, I met him today
and he’s looking well fed and prosper-
ous.
Baynes—“What is he doing now?”
Jaynes—“He’s still in the same
business, only now his poems are
about motor car springs, and he gets
a good price for all he can turn out.”
Where He Belonged.
The recrnit was not very robust,
and during a trying route march had
to fall out no fewer than five times.
The sergeant, an Irishman, got exas-
perated.
“You are in the wrong regiment,”
he shouted. “It’s mot this one you
should be in at all.”
The recruit looked puzzled.
“It’s in the flying corps you should
be,” continued the sergeant, “an’
then yer would only fall out once.”
Implied Disaster.
A lady who refused to give alms to
a man heard him mutter:
“There! I must resort to my first
resolution.” :
Judging that he contemplated sui-
cide, she called him back and gave
him some money, and at the same
time asked him what he meant by his
remark. :
“Oh, ma’am,” said he, “you are very
| cakes about three or four inches long,
a —
SWEETS AND FAVORS.
Little Things With a St. Patrick’s
Day Flavor.
FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN.
DAILY THOUGHT
|
A is . | of the sun, it has the fixity of the stars.—
Entertaining is a pleasant and easy | pornan Caballero.
task these days when the “bakers and |
candlestick makers” and the rest of
o 1 Pennsylvania suffragists ave jubi-
hie sh ok FEDS keep tabs on nie cal: { lant over victories recorded for their
y | cause in the last few days. Successes
the elaborateness and variety of their | 7/1 q0 the granting of primary elec- |
holiday offerings. a :
. os | tion franchise for the wonien of Ar-
There are numbers of such delicious | kansas and the enfranchisement of
looking little cakes this year that will | | 2 ce . :
be of special help to the hostess. Lit- ie women Wn hi Plovise oud
tle sponge cakes are cut in the shape | g Sanda, d i I a
of shamrocks and. iced a delicate | suffrage bill vas passed by the House
} . tl : iz -
green, or plain white. If they are | of Representatives by a vote of 51 to
1: Hho | 27, and has been signed by Governor
Mite they are decorated with a touch | Brough. The Lill empowers wonen
no remind us of the “Harp that | t° vote at party primaries. Fropon-
ate Halle? | ents of the bill say this is virtually
once through Tara's Halls” are small | ¢;;" oy grrage, as nominations in Ar-
| kansas at the primaries always mean
| election.
The enfranc<hising of the women of
Ontario leaves practically only one
cut harp shape, with icing strings
and decorations and the whole cake
covered with green. :
Potatoes of cake are very Bef | large province, (zuebec, in Canada
tle round balls—not always i
round, either, covered with cinnamon, wv do oot oe and of the
If common sense has met the prillizney |
good. I had almost resolved to go to
work,” .
that will taste very good when eaten | \,4;onq] Suffrage organization also
with a green ice or an ice-cream Son
of Erin.
Yes, the ice cream makers will help
you, too—you may have your ices in
the shape of miniature Irishmen.
The candies will help carry out the
color scheme beautifully. Of course,
there are chocolate straws—nice shiny
green sticks with delicious chocolate
tucked under their crisp green covers.
‘White and green bonbons, too, you
may have with frilly green paper
cases to set them off.
And pipes also—chocolate and
white ones, that you may use for fa-
vors and your guests may afterward
consume. .
To help make the table attractive
and unique there are all sorts of lit-
tle contrivances. Green paper pedes-
tals with bust of a roguish Irishman
on too are hollow and will hold candy.
Little earthen flower pots show
sprouts of both pipes and shamrocks
and they may be grouped about the
board in unique fashion.
Harp and heart-shaped boxes are
covered with green paper and many
shamrocks and will hold sweets. Then
there is a book that looks like a “best
seller” with a green paper cover and
a suggestive title. But it won't bore
the recipient one bit, for when she
lifts the cover she’ll probably find her
own particular kind of bonbons.
You probably never saw such green
pigs with long hair such as the ones
the sweet shops are showing, but that
doesn’t matter! They never grew
that color, but if you want to add the
right emerald hue to your feast they
will be just the necessary bit of green-
ness.
And snakes—we almost forgot
them! Green, glistening, wiggling,
affairs that aren’t specially pleasing,
but have a connection with the day.
Saint Patrick and the Shamrock.
The 17th of March, 465, is general-
ly given as the date of Saint Patrick’s
death, his burial place Downpatrick,
where the remains of Saint Columb
aR Saint Bridget were laid beside
im.
The authentic records of Saint Pat-
rick’s life are fairly numerous and of
great age.
ings attributed to him, and which
have been handed down in the Book
of Armagh, written in 812 by the
scribe Ferdomach. This. famous
manuscript book contains the “Con-
fessions of Saint Patrick,” written by
him in his old age.
The miracles attributed to Saint
Patrick are many and varied. How
the Saint drove all the snakes out of
Ireland is told in many stories, both
serious and humorous. It is said
that he made a wondrous drum, the
sound of which caused the serpents
to plunge themselves into the ocean.
On Saint Patrick’s day the sham-
rock is the universally worn emblem.
The Saint, in expounding Christiani-
ty to the followers of the Druidcal
priests, is said to have used the sham-
rock in symbolizing the Blessed Trin-
y.
And for fifteen centuries the mem-
ory of the brave and faithful Saint
who planted the Christian deligion in
the Emerald Island has remained as
green as “the dear little, sweet little
shamrock of Erin.” The glory of Ire-
land’s past clusters about him.—Se-
lected.
The First-Class Man is Wanted.
The first step on the ladder that
leads to success is the firm determin-
ation to succeed; the next is the
possession of that moral and physical
courage which will enable one to
mount, rung after rung, until the top
is reached.
One can hardly imagine a boy say-
ings: “I am going to be a second-
class man,” says a writer in “Suc-
cess.” “I don’t want to be a first-
class, and get the good jobs, the high
pay. :Second-class jobs. are good
enough for me.” Such a boy would
be regarded as lacking in good sense,
if not in sanity. You can get to be a
second-class man, however, by not
trying to be a first-class one. Thous-
ands do that all the time, so that
second-class men are a drug on the
market.
Second-class things are wanted
only when first-class cannot be had.
You wear first-class clothes if you
can pay for them, eat first-class but-
ter, first-class meat, aad first-class
bread; or if you do not, you wish yeu
could. Second-class men are no more
wanted than any other second-class
commodity. They are taken and used
when the better article is scarcz or
too high-priced for the occasion. For
work that really amounts to anything,
first-class men are wanted.
Many things make second-class
men.
whose understanding is dull and slow,
whose growth has been stunted, is a
second-class man. A man who,
through his amusements in his hours
of leisure, exhausts his strength and
vitality, vitiates his blood, wears his
nerves till his limbs tremble like
leaves in the wind, is only half a man,
and in no sense could be called first-
class.
Lively Agent—Well, sir, can I sell
you an encyclopedia ?
Native—No, I guess not. I'm get-
ting purty old to ride around much.
They include the writ- |
‘A man menaced by dissipation,
|
i
are elated by the telegram of Presi-
dent Wilson to Speaker W. R. Crab-
tree, of the Tennessee State Senate,
expressing his hope that that bedy
will reconsider its action in rejecting
legislation extended to women. In
‘reply to a message from Speaker
Crabtree asking for an expression on
the situation in Tennessee, President
Wilson in his answer stated ‘that
since the measure is one of the party
pledges, the moral obligation is com-
plete.” President Wilson’s telegram
follows:
’ White House
Hon. W. R. Crabtree, Speaker
of the State Senate, Nashville,—
May I express my earnest hope
that the Senate of Tennessee will
reconsider the vote by which it
rejected the legislation extending
the suffrage to women. Our par-
ty is so distinctly pledged to its
passage that it seems to me the
moral obligation is complete.
WOODROW WILSON.
County chairman of suffrage organ-
izations throughout the State have
received from their headquarters in
Harrisburg a detailed report of the
plan adopted by the executive coun-
| ¢il of the National American Woman
Suffrage Association, which met re-
cently in Washington, D. C., to devise
methods of assisting the various
States and the Federal Government
if the United States engages in actual
hostilities.
Prefacing their offer of service to
the President and Government of the
United States, the National Suffrage
leaders expressed the following senti-
ment: :
“We devoutly hope and pray that
our country’s crisis may be passed
without recourse to war.”
“If, however,” the suffragists de-
| clare, “our nation is drawn in the
| maelstrom, we stand ready to serve
with the zeal and consecration which
should ever characterize those who
cherish high ideals on the attitude
and obligation of citizenship.”
It was also made plain that there
was no intention of laying aside their
constructive, forward work to secure
the vote for women.
Specifically, the offer of service con-
tained the suggestion that a national
central committee be formed at once
to be composed of a representative
from each national organization of
women willing to aid in war work if
the need arises as a clearing house
between the government and women’s
organizations.
It was suggested that the central
committee undertake to establish a
department consisting of employment
bureaus for women, another to in-
crease the food supply by training
women for agricultural work and the
elimination of waste, a third to direct
co-operation with the Red Cross so-
ciety, and another having as its ob-
ject the Americanization of foreign-
ers.
If the need arises a council of coun-
ty chairmen will be called to discuss
the details of State-wide plans.
If the Pennsylvania Legislature
fails to pass the woman suffrage
amendment now in the Committee on
Constitutional Reform of the lower
branch it will be in a minority among
the States where similar bills ‘have
been introduced.
Already, in 1917, the North Dakota
Legislature has passed a bill granting
the women of that State the right of
Presidential and Municipal franchise.
The bill has been signed by Governor
Frazer.
In Ohio, too, both the House and
Senate have passed a bill granting
the women of the Buckeye State the
right to vote at Presidential elections.
In other Legislatures from Maine
to Texas, where bills have been intro-
duced, they, for the most part, have
been advanced steadily toward the
point of granting a referendum or
Presidential or Municipal suffrage.
The Democrats are preparing to
strengthen themselves for the next
national campaign. To this end plans
are under way for the establishment
of permanent headquarters in Califor-
nia. The leaders said it was necessa-
ry to consider the West and the wom-
en voters. A special committee was
appointed to consider headquarters
and the formation of a permanent
women’s headquarters.
Women attired in overalls, employ-
ed as machinists and working side by
side with members of the male sex,
have become such a common thing in
the great factories of the East that
the International Association of Ma-
chinists has submitted to a referen-
dum vote of its affiliated locals a res-
olution making women eligible to
membership in the Union and enti-
tling them to all the privileges and
benefits of that organization.
Over 900,000 women are now doing
men’s work in Great Britain.
Compulsory national service
Great Britain will include women.
Each of the divisions of the Ger-
man army has a woman attached to it
as directress of the division for wom-
en's service.
in
The Prussian Minister of Education
announces that 10,950 public school
teachers have been killed during the
war and that their places have becn
taken by women.
oi sso
Government Crop Report.
Washington, D. C.,—A summary of
the March crop report for the State
| of Pennsylvania and for the United
| States, as compiled by the Bureau of
{Crop Estimates (and transmitted
, through the Weather Bureau,) U. S.
, Department of Agriculture, is as fol-
i lows:
| WHEAT ON FARMS.
i State—Estimated stocks on farms
March 1 this year 4,700,000 bushels
compared with 8,612,000 a year ago
and 5,462,000 two years ago. Price
on March 1 to producers, 31.76 per
bushel, compared with $1.13 a year
ago and $1.42 two years ago.
United States—Estimated stocks on
farms March 1 this year 101,000,000
bushels, compared with 244,448,000
bushels a year ago and 152,903,000
two years ago. Price on March i to
producers, $1.64 per bushel, compared
with $1.03 a year ago and $1.34 two
years ago.
CORN ON FARMS.
State—Estimated stock on favins
March 1 this year 17,000,000 bushels,
compared with 21,652,000 a year ago
and 21,762,000 two years ago. Price
March 1 to producers, 112 cents per
bushel, compared with 79 cents a year
ago and 83 cents two years ago.
United States—Estimated stocks on
farms March 1 this year 789,000.000
bushels, compared with 1,116,559,000
a year ago and 910,894,000 two years
ago. Price March 1 to producers, 101
cents per bushel, compared with 63.2
cents a year ago and 75.1 cents two
years ago.
CORN OF MERCHANTABLE QUALITY.
State—The percentage of the 1916
crop which was of merchantable qual-
ity is estimated at 81 per cent., com-
pared with 80 per cent. of the 1915
crop and 88 per cent. of the 1914 crop.
United States—The percentage of
the 1916 crop which was of merchant-
able quality is estimated at 84.0 per
cent., compared with 71.1 per cent. of
the 1915 crop and 84.5 per cent of the
1914 crop. :
OATS ON FARMS.
State—Estimated stocks on farms
March 1 this year 18,628,000 bushels
compared with 12,300,000 a year ago
and 12,554,000 two years ago. Price
March 1 to producers 65 cents per
bushel, compared with 50 cents a year
ago and 59 cents two years ago.
United States—Estimated stocks on
farms March 1 this year, 394,000,000
bushels, compared with 598,148,000 a
year ago and 379,369,000 two years
ago. Price March 1 to producers, 56.9
cents per bushel, compared with 42.7
cents a year ago and 52.1 cents two
years ago.
BARLEY ON FARMS.
State—Estimated stocks on farms
March 1 this year 47,000 bushels, com-
pared with 45,000 a year ago and 45.
000 two years ago. Price March 1 to
producers, 76 cents per bushel, com-
pared with 65 cents a year ago and 30
cents two years ago.
United States—Estimated stocks on
farms March 1 this year 32,800,000
bushels, compared with 58,301,000 a
year ago and 42,889,000 two years
ago. Price March 1 to producers, 96.9
cents per bushel, compared with 59.6
cents a year ago and 67.7 two years
ago.
*
Coaling Ports for World’s Ships.
There are about one hundred and
forty coaling-ports scattered over the
seven seas, from Panama, lying in
strategic position at the Canal of
Apia, but there arc none so essential
to shipping, and none so celebrated
on all the water-fronts of the world,
as Gibraltar, Port Said, Colombo,
Singapore, and Negasaki, on the main
trade route to the Orient. For ships
London bound on the long, eleven-
thousand mile voyage from the far
East, necessary stops are regularly
made at these ports by both cross-sea
liners and plodding cargo carriers.
Pert Said was unheard of, and Ne-
gasaki was unvisited by the seafaring
men of the full rigger age, for trade
routes and ships have changed since
the tea-clipper left Whampoa and
made London without calling it a
port. The present-day mail-steamer,
making cighteen knots an hour, is
unable to carry sufficient coal for an
eleven thousand-mile passage without
renewing the supply in way port; and
the modern tramp steamer, built to
carry as much cargo as can be stow-
ed, and barely enough coal to drive
the engines from one coaling-port to
the next, is in the same predicament.
Huge supplies of coal are kept in all
these ports for the needs of arriving
shipping. At Port Said for instance,
a million tons of coal are landed each
year from colliers which daily arrive
from England to supply the shipping
which passes through the Suez Canal.
Wherever there is a coaling-port,
there the trade routes gather. On
the “Tract Chart for Full Powered
Steam Vessels,” published by the Hy-
drographic Office, Washington, the
trade routes which cross the great ex-
panse of the Pacific radiate in all di-
rections, like the spokes of a gigan-
tic wheel, from each of the island
ports of Honolulu, of Asia, and of
Tahiti. Shoreward they are directed
to San Francisco, to Panama, and Val-
ariso, and on the Asiatic side of the
acific all routes lead to Nagasaki in
the north, and to Sidney in the south.
Similarly, in the south Atlantic Ocean
there are established for the use of
steamers plying the routes of those
waters, coaling-stations of large im-
portance to the otherwise remote ports
of Santa Cruz De Teneriffe, at the
Cape Verde Islands, at Ascension
Island, and at St. Helena, all of them
island ports lying well from the Af-
rican coast. Teneriffe, is a regular
coaling port on the route to all Afri-
can ports from the Ivory Coast to
Cape Town; and the Cape Verde Is-
lands—where 'four thousand steamers
call for coal in a single year—are on
the main route from the English
Channel to the ports of South Amer-
ica. These ports are on the cross-sea
highways of the world’s commerce;
from them stretch the by-paths and
to them come the coast wise routes.—
zine.
Wealthy Japanese capitalists
among whom are some of the most
prominent business men in Japan,
have organized a company for the
manufacture of egg products in
Tsingtau, China.
George Harding, in Harper's Maga-
wd