“1 Te Bellefonte, Pa., February 9, 1923. DECREASE IN TYPHOID FEVER AND OTHER COMMUNICABLE DISEASES SHOWN BY REPORT FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 2809 cases of typhoid fever in Penn- sylvania during 1922, and 380 deaths from the disease, are the lowest fig- ures on record since the organization of the State Health Department. In 1906 24,471 cases and 3,917 deaths from the disease were reported. In 1910 there were 13,835 cases and 1892 deaths. 1470 died of the disease in 1913 and in 1917 there were 5150 cas- es and 986 deaths. “As a factor in Pennsylvania's death rate, typhoid fever can be re- duced to the place now held by that one time dreaded plague, yellow fever —meaning, it can be eliminated,” said Dr. J. Moore Campbell, chief of the Division of Communicable Diseases, State Department of Health. “21,662 less cases of typhoid fever in 1922 than in 1906—2a period of 12 years—proves that with continued ef- fort it may eventually be counted among the extinet plagues of man- kind,” he continued. “Progress in the elimination of typhoid is largely due to an improvement in public wa- ter supplies, sewage disposal meth- ods, safe milk, and sanitation in gen- eral. The earlier rapid decline in the number of cases and deaths from the disease may be accounted for by the application of the above methods to those millions of people who are grouped in our largest communities. Much, in the same direction, has been done for the smaller communities, but the eradication of typhoid fever can only be expected when rural sanitation has approached, or equaled that of the cities and towns. “At times it has been necessary to force the individual to protect himself and others; rigid quarantine had to be maintained, and it took some commu- nities a long while to recognize the importance of a pure water supply. The same ground is now being covered to secure standard milk protection. No community, no individual, is safe from typhoid fever while there exists breed- ing spots and carrying facilities for the typhoid bacillus.” The 1922 report of the State Health Department shows a lessened inci- dence of other contagious diseases, es- pecially the so-called children’s dis- Sosen 5s shown by the following ta- e: . 1921 1922 decrease Chicken pox ......21850 19112 2738 Diphtheria. .....:.. 20794 106617 4177 Mumps ............ 20042 7235 13707 Nearlet fever .......24065 16397 T1168 Wiicoping cough ..15921 10757 0164 948 less cases of tuberculosis were reported in 1922 than in 1921, the to- tal number for 1922 being 6035. ACCIDENT PREVENTION BETTER LIGHTING. Lighting engineers are said to have reduced illumination to an exact sci- ence, to be able to provide artificial light suitable for all our needs when daylight illumination is denied us. This is a bold statement, deserving of challenge by every possible means, for if it is true, the layman is indeed culpable for not taking greater ad- vantage of the achievement of these technical men. Statisticians tell us that nearly a quarter of all the accidents which oc- cur in our natural work-a-day life are directly or indirectly chargeable to poor illumination. Figures show that annually 100,000 men are incapacitated for an average period of a year because of accidents atributable to defective lighting, and some seventy-five fatal accidents oc- cur daily from the same cause. Our production capacity in all lines is said to be reduced by 15 to 20 per cent, by the fact that our mill and factory hands are forced to work an hour or two daily under inadequate ii- lumination and millions of dollar’s worth of material, labor and power are thrown away annually because work is carried on under such unfa- AND vorable conditions. Af this is all preventable, or suscep- tible of marked improvement, the lay- man is guilty of a neglect, more rep- rehensible than any specific offense against civilization the world has ever seen, for not taking full advantage of the means provided of avoiding such waste. It costs so little to find out that it -will be a sad commentary on the pres- ent generation if the engineers’ claim “is permitted to go unchallenged much longer. To challenge is to demon- strate its fallacy or truth by actual trial. —— aa METHODIST OLDER BOYS’ CON- FERENCE. | Bishop William F. McDowell has called an older boys’ conference for Methodist boys of Central Pennsylva- nia, from 16 to 20 years of age. It ‘will be held on Morch 16-18, in Harris- ‘burg, Pa., in connection with the ses- sions of the annual conference to be held in Grace church, Dr. Robert Bag- nell, pastor, with Bishop McDoweil presiding. The general plans for the boys’ caon- ference are to give these young men a vision of the whole program of the church; show them their relation to it, and train them to take hold of defi- nite tasks. There are 258 charges in the conference. Every charge may send one boy. This boy is selected by the fellows of his age and becomes their delegate. The special features of the confer- ence will be a joint session with the preachers, Laymen’s Associations, and the boys; the visit to the State capi- tol; the father and son banquet and the Sunday service. The conference is promoted by the conference board of the Sunday schools, 211 Dauphin building, Harris- burg, Pa. FARM NOTES. —Corn grows best on a heavy sod, | or on soil rich in organic matter. | Fileds which produced a good crop last | year, may, with proper fertilization, be put in corn again this year. Old sods may be plowed up and any sod areas not needed for hay or pasture can be used for corn. : i Idle fields grown to weeds, but oth- erwise fertile and tillable, as well as land taken from tillage and lying idle for real estate purposes, may be used. Corn will do well on almost any soil . that is well-drained and moderately | fertile. It is not so well adapted to either a light sandy soil or a heavy sticky clay, though when plenty of or- | ganic matter is present it can be! grown on such soils. The best time for planing corn var- | ies with different localities, from the ! first to the end of May. The depth of | planting should be from one to three ! inches, depending upen the soil type | and condition of the seed bed. Fields | with loam and clay loam soils, in good tilth, and with sufficient moisture to! start germination, need be planted but | one to two inches. Fields with light | sandy soils, inclined to be droughty or | in poor tilth, should be planted two to | three inches deep. Corn is sown in rows or in hills. The rows should be about three feet apart with the kernels planted at in- | tervals of from nine to fifteen inches. Hills are marked about four feet apart each way, with three to four kernels ' to the hill. The greater the fertility the thicker the rate of planting. Three to five timely cultivations are usually needed to control weeds, conserve moisture and promote nitrifaction. In the small garden it is better to figure on three or four short rows of corn rather than a single long row, be- cause in the latter plan the wind is likely to blow the pollen from the tas- sels away from the stalks in a single row, in which case the ears will not be properly fertilized and the corn will be small and poorly filled out. —~Cherry trees are especially suited to backyard gardening, because they need little pruning or spraying and are surprisingly hardy. The sour cher- ry, of which the Early Richmond and Montmorency are the two best sorts, | will flourish even on a city lot under . the most adverse conditions. Some desirable sweet cherries are the Lam- bert, Napoleon and Black Tartarian. ' Birds and small boys are the worst enemies of the cherry. | —Planning the garden, laying it out to scale on a sheet of pager, is a big help, especially for small gardens, where there is some uncertainty as to the space available for this or that va- riety. I Make the plan fairly large, using a sheet of tough wrapping paper, which will stand much handling and outdoor reference, and keep all your notes on the plan. A record of planting dates, fertilizers, crop yields and other data will make a valuable guide for next season’s work. } One of the most gratifying develop- ments in the home garden is to have things sprout in nice straight rows. There is no excuse for zigzag plant- ings, and rows with unequal distances between them. The use of a line stretched between stakes will insure accuracy. Without such a guide it is virtually impossible to make straight furrows. : | The shape and slope of the garden plot will influence the direction of the rows, but whenever possible it is best to run the rows the long way of the garden. Cultivation is made easier, particularly if a wheel-hoe is employ- ed, as there are fewer turnings to be made. Strong, rapid germination depends largely on the manner in which the. seeds are embedded in the soil. They must be thoroughly embedded—sur- rounded and covered with soil, without being compacted, though a slight com- paction is better than loose sowing. | which leaves the seeds partly exposed | to the air by means of cracks and open For this reason soil that is well- ! pulverized—broken up into fine parti- | cles, free from clods and lumps—- make the best seedbed. Furrows in such soils are easily opened and as easily closed with the seeds well cov- ered. Avoid as much as possible raising the same vegetables in the same places year after year. Shift them about, if only from one side of the garden to the other. Rotations fool the insect pests, avoid diseases, equal- ize the consumption of plant food, and improve the soil generally by vary- ing its mechanical condition. It is sometimes argued that vege- tables can be bought just as cheaply as they can be raised. If a garden has been only half productive, due to neglect, poor soil or other causes, this is true, of course. Remember, how- ever, there is a certain quality about home-grown vegetables that can nev- er be purchased from your grocer, re- gardless of price. He can never sup- ply you with peas, corn, beans and such like which have the crisp, fresh flavor of your own vegetables, picked a few hours before meal time. Then again, if last year’s garden was a first effort and proved disap- pointing, it does not follow that anoth- er effort will prove equally disappoint- ing. It may have been that your soil was not right last year, as few soils are when planted for the first time, and that it has been much improved by last season’s cultivation and will bear nicely this year. —In addition to using manure on the garden this spring, it would be well to broadcast acid sulphate on the garden after plowing or spading and work it into the soil by harrowing or raking. Use one pound to fifty square feet. Also keep on hand a little ni- trate of soda or sulphate of ammonia to help stimulate growth during the summer by using it as a top dressing to the plant or row. —The number of hogs for market next fall depends upon the number of pigs saved during the farrowing season of March and April. A high percentage may be saved if careful feeding is practiced before and after the sow farrows and if clean, warm, well-ventilated quarters are provided for the young pigs. spaces. i SOUND THEIR DANGER SIGNAL | Ail Beavers Understand Woezraing Which Is Conveyed to Them by Their Fellows. Although sometimes found in pairs beavers are essentially gregarious an imals, and, like many inoffensive crea qqres of that habit, they have a dan ver signal understood by all the mem bers of the colony and a peculiar odor tor keeping them in touch with eaclt other, writes R. I. Bocock, F. RR. 8S, ir Conquest. A suddenly startled beaver prompt ly dives. and, as it goes under, it gives the water a resounding slap with its tail, which warns other beavers with ing earshot that danger is atoot. Dowr they all go into the depths, leaving no sign of their presence apart from the ripples on the surface of the lake or stream. The odor which keeps the community together comes from ar oily fluid discharged from a couple oi large glands beneath the root of the tail. This substance, known to the areeks as ‘“castorium,” was at one time in demand as a perfume foi man's delight and as a panacea for his ailments. for bait, knowing that a beaver fearlessly enter any trap that smells of it. SIRDS FLY ACROSS ATLANTIC Number of Recorded Instances Feathered Folk Being Seen and Shot in Great Britain. of The Londen Zoological society has 8 record of all birds observed in Great Britain and the British ccasts that ave not indigenous to the British isles, bul have flown thither from the Continent In England it is said that natural ornithologists, lighthouse Keep ers. masters of vessels, coast guards men, farmers and country gentlemen report strange birds that they observe and always give the date and circum- stances of their observations. This list, it is said, reveals many strange happenings. Birds native to Eastern Siberia and China, North Af rica and the Arctic regions have been observed in Great Britain, but, of course, this is quite rare. There are, however, a number of recorded In stances of American birds crossing the Atlantic and being seen and shot ir ¥ngland. Now and then birds that are not strictly migratory gather in enormous flocks and sweep over several hundred miles of country. The cause of this action is a mystery to the students of bird life, ists, Dancing Egg of a Bug. Shasta county, California, is the lend of wonders, according to the Los Angeles Times. The latest is the dancing egg. It is laid by an as yet undertermined insect on the leaves oi oak trees. Masses of these eggs cling to the under side of the leaf and as they advance toward maturity they drop to the ground and dance about. By holding an oak twig containing any number of eggs to one's ear a cracking sound may be heard like the splitting of electric sparks. The shell contains a, tiny grub, working for re- lease, When laid on a table these eggs beund about and spring into the air, sometimes to a height of sixteen in- ches. They are particularly active in the early morning. ! This latest insect novelty takes rank with the sulphur bug, which is at home in the red-hot roster piles. Early Days in the Caribbean. Usually one thinks of the battle for naval control of the Caribbean as an Anglo-Spanish battle, but the French also took a hand in it. Francis Russell Hart, in his “Ad- mirals of the Caribbean,” gives a chapter to Admirals de Pointis and Du Casse, who took a fleet to the West Indies in 1697 and made war upon both the Spanish and English. They actually took and sacked Car- tagena, displaying a creditable mod- eration in their looting. Mr. Hart insists that except for the fighting done by Morgan, Vernon and Rodney, the Potomae would now be the northern boundary of Latin Amer: ica instead of the Rio Grande. Queer African Idols. Very odd in appearance is a group of African idols recently brought tg the United States by a missionary They were carved by natives of Ni. geria. One of the group, “Ifa,” a queer-looking image with a high. crowned hat, was the principal deity of Nigeria when the missionaries be gan their work there. Besides “Ifa,” the collection includes an odd-shaped club, feared by the natives as the god of thunder and lightning. Another is a brass image, “Oshubgo,” a mystical feminine deity who rules over a so- ciety of fanatics. In contrast to these, the missionary secured several cruci- fixes carved from ivory by Christian- ized natives. India’s Beautiful Tower. Among the wealth of beauty and magnificence in and about Delhi, one of the most wonderful sights is the Kutub Minar, said to be the most nearly prefect tower in the world. It stands ten miles outside the city in the midst of a vast pile of ruins which tell of Delhi's greatness when it was the largest city of India. The Minar soars 238 feet above the plain. Its sandstone sides are deeply fluted, and shade from purplish reds through pink to orange in the topmost of its five balconied stories, To this day hunters use it! will | WILL BE LARGEST TELESCOF. Canada Soon to Have Record inctru. ment for the Investigation of the Heavens. Canada is to possess the largest of all telescopes. 1t will have a mirror 120 inches in diameter. It has alrea