Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1896 — Page 6

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE AND HER WORK. J)ays of the Greatest Wont* an Writer Ajnerica H a a Ever Pro-ducei-i4rS# the Famons Fiction Came to Be Written. -’V. ?S Woman’s Great Work. Whatever may be the purpose of the aged and obscure negro of Lexington, Kj. In setting up the claim that he is the original from which Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe drew the character of Unde Tom in the well-known story of “Unde Tom’s Cabin.” it will scarcely

FIRST PAGE OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT OF “UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." From the New York Journal.

be regretted that it has called public attention once more to the first and greatest woman writer America has ever produced. In this era of charity and good fellowship may we not hope that the venerable negro is not a veritable impostor?

HARRIET BEECHES STOWE AT 42.

May It not be that in the puerility of bin oW age Jtis childish fancy conceived this vagary and it is to hitn a reality?* , f The public will accept at once, and .without a dissenting voice, the statement of the distinguished author that Unde Torn had no living prototype, but the character was her own creation, j She needed no "living prototype.” The j genius with which she was endowed, I and the education she received gave her the creative power, and the times in ' which she lived called it forth. To my mind the question of how she came to write this wonderful story is easily answered. She was born at Litchfield, Conn., and was one of a family of six, all of whom became distinguished in the particular fields of labor they had chosen, and she, perhaps, the most distinguished of them all. She was carefully educated and gave early promise of the intellectual powers that afterwards characterized her works. She imbibed from association and training the Puritanical ideas of right and justice characteristic of the New England people, and was taught to believe that all men should have political and religious freedom. Her father removed to Cincinnati to accept the presidency of a theological school when she was a young woman, and she and her sister Intended to found a school for young women, but she married Prof. Stowe before their plans were, matured. Cincinnati was on the borderland of slavery where

“UNCLE TOM’S CABIN.” From the New York Journal.

she came in-contact with fugitive slaves and heard their stories of wrongs and cruelty. She visited the Southern plantations and tution” In all its phases. She witnessed the scenes at block and whipping posts, Heretofore she had known nothing of slavery, except what she had read. Now she witnessed It in all Its hideous derails. She came in contact mostly with those who were feeing from the cruel lash. She saw the slava tenders and overseers whose

long association with the cruei system had hardened them to every appeal of humanity when made in behalf of the inferior race. This all came about at a time when a large class of intelligent people at the North were clamoring for the emandpation of the slaves. It was an opportune time for Mrs. Stowe to express her disapprobation of an institution that had be*n miscalled “divine.” Among her first efforts was the “Death of Uncle,” which appeared in the Washington Era. As this article met with great favor she began the serial of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which appeared from week to week in the Era. It was soon published in book form and sold and read everywhere. Some efforts were made to interdict its sale in the South, but this only served to increase th» demand. Mrs. Stowe

was now famous. She bad “buildcd better than she knew." Looking back through the mist of years at the changes this simple story contributed so much to bring about, may we not believe it was an inspiration? The fact that she continued to write for many years, and that no one of her interesting works ever approached “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” either in popularity or power of creative genius, goes far to strengthen this assumption. However tills may be. if may fairly be presumed that the results of her work

MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE AT 60.

went far beyond any conceptions she may have had of its results. It was perhaps overdrawn and did injustice to a large class of slave owners who were humane and just, but it was, nevertheless, a faithful portrayal of the wrongs that had grown out of a system that at best was unworthy of a people who had said and done so much for human liberty. It can never be known how far-reach-ing in its influence this patriotic story was, or just what part it played in the great civil struggle, whose painful

memories have come down to us through the vista of over thirty years, but it i# jeertain that the “divinity”, with which the of slavery had been Invested was drawn aside by the perusal of. (Ms b90.1t, .and thousands of young ufepin tfee'Sohtliern and border StatefL,were le’d by ft to battle for freedom wbp would otherwise have cast wlthjthe Confederacy. But perhaps its and most Important mission was to educate and arouse the great Northern M i ■ .VI, '.>!**

heart to an appreciation of the inlqul. ties of slavery, and to rally around tha banner of freedom the wealth, intelligence and patriotism of the people. It seemed fitting that after the great struggle had ended with results as Important and helpful to the vanquished as to the victors, that Mrs. Stowe.

THE BOGUS “UNCLE TOM.”

crowned with honor and the blessings of two races of people, should make her home for a time on the banks of the St Johns river amidst the evergreen glades and perennial flowers of Florida. One can but wish that she might have found there “the fountain of perpetual youth,” so diligently sought by Ponce De Leon, but which unfortunately existed only in the visionary mind of that noted Spanish adventurer. She now resides with her daughter In Hartford, Conn., during the winter, and with the family alternately visits the South and Sag Harbor summers. Her mental faculties have waned considerably during the past year, but her physical health is good, and she is surrounded with peace and comfort. It is reported as she grows older that of all the characters she created those existing in her masterpiece till her mind powerfully, and she talks, dreams and thinks of them for days at a time. Her children have preserved numerous momentoes of her literary past, among them being the first page of the original manuscript of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin'.” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” itseslf, as repre-

sented in the average stage production, bears little similarity to the one which Mrs. Stowe idealized. It was at Washington. the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, during a visit to friends, that the gifted authoress first conceived the great work of her life. Here she studied their characteristics and environment, and became familiar with the inside workings of the plantation system: At the local court house, which has recently been demolished in part, she witnessed a sale of slaves, a common event in 1833, and this formed the basis lor one of her most stirring scenes, the escape of Eliza on the ice, the steamboat and underground railway episodes also having the basis of actual identity and location. Louis George Clark, who claims to be the original George Harris, from whom Mrs. Howe took her idea of “Uncle Tom,” is living at Lexington, Ivy., and is 84 years old. He was born a slave in Madison County, that State, in 1811. He claims that he related the story of his experience with an inhuman overseer, who whipped one of his slaves to death, to Mrs. Stowe personally, and that this incident and many episodes in his own life'later appeared in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It is a pleasure to the thousands of .Mrs. Stowe’s admirers, whose memories back\to ante-bellum days; to realize tjjfit she has beefa permitted to see the full fjuitlon of her labors, and prayers, and to rejoice, over a country now iridfeed free and united, and now, f fis thesi# 1 many friend? read this brief her, after her long retiracy 'lfom public view, I am sure ali will lie that in her old age she is tranquil and lovable and grand as the most prominent figure in our literary history, and will join me in sending greetings to her in her New England home. ■ .j, S. W. SCOTT.

Good Old Town.

Clarence, Erie County, N. Y. (population* t 200), has a score of residents wlipse age Is over seventy-five years. Teacher—Olga, translate the following, sentence intp French: “My cousin Arthur is greatly attached to me.” Olgft (quickly)—His name is Max.— FUepende Blaetter.

PLEA OF HYPOCRITES.

SPECIOUS LYING OF PROTECTIONISTS. They Want Iligh Tariff for Private Gain, and Never Voluntarily Increase Wastes—Wool Industry Shows Very Marked Increased Activity. Do They Want High Wages? Manufacturers who always hire the cheapest labor pretend that protection makes labor dear. For nearly four years after each presidential election the Republican manufacturers use every means in their power to reduce the wages of their employes, or to prevent an advance through a combination of the workers. That the employers as a class are opposed to Increasing wages is shown by the strikes against wage reductions, or for higher pay, which annually disturb the industrial world. The American workingmen know that their efforts to better their condition through increased wages are in all cases strongly resisted l»y the men to whom they sell their labor, and expect concessions to their demands only when their employers are unable to get cheaper workers to fill their places. While the manufacturers carry on their business on the principle that they should pay the lowest possible wages, they have an entirely different story to tell when they are trying to elect a President who will represent their selfish interests. All at once they forget that they have been cutting down wages or refusing to increase them, and appeal to the country to vote for their candidate because they want to pay higher wages. The same men wild in private lose no opportunity to hire the cheapest workers, in public pose as the champions of well paid labor. Thus the National Association of Manufacturers, composed of meu who never raise wages unless compelled to do so by trades-unions, through a threatened or actual strike, recently adopted resolutions declaring that Congress should give them more protection against foreign competition, so that they could increase the pay of their employes! What they really meant was that they wanted bigger profits. The higher-wages pretense was simply the bait with which they hoped to catch votes of gullible workingmen. Protection does and can do nothing to increase the prices paid for laltor. Wages arg fixed' by the competition of all workers seeking employment. There is no tariff on imported labor and manufacturers can litre the newly arrived immigrant as freely as the native-born citizen. The McKinley tariff did not prevent a general wage reduction in 1893, when at least a million workers had their pay cut down, nor the thousands of instances in 3890, 1891, and 1892, when even such professional friends of labor ns Andrew Carnegie and George M. Pullman reduced the wages of their employes. Instead of raising wages, higli protection decreased them. Intelligent workingmen will not be deceived by the hypocrisy of the men who have grown rich through liightariff laws. They know that if the Republican manufacturers were sincere many of them could now well afford to pay higher wages. They also know that the same men who promise that if the McKinley traiff is restored wages will advance, will lose no opportunity to employ cheaper labor or cut down their employes’ wages. For these reasons the humbug election cry, “Protection and Better Wages,” will not make Republican votes in the coming campaign.

What Was Done with the Wool? The New York Press thinks it has found an argument against the Wilson tariff in the statement of imports of wool for the last two years. The official returns show that in 1804 we imported 115,736,820 pounds of wool, and in 1805, 248,280,217 pounds. The Press considers this increase a great calamity, and weeps over the alleged loss to American tvool growers and woolen manufacturers. It claims that under free wool our woolen mills have shut down or run on short time, and denies that any one has been benefited by the increased imports of wool. If the Press is correct in saying that the woolen industry is doing less business than in 1894, when wool was heavily taxed, there must be a lot of stupid wool merchants in this country. For if two hundred and fortyeight million pounds of foreign wool has been brought here merely to be stored in warehouses, somebody must have lost a great deal of money. But the Press is wrong, as usual. The weekly Wool market reports show that the immense quantities of wool have practically all been bought for consumption by the woolen manufactuers, and that there is no more than the nver-. age stocks on hand. So that the mills which the Press falsely says were idle during the past year, were really busily engaged in converting much more wool mto cloth and other finished products than in 1894.

Protectionists have to swallow some pretty big yarns from their tariff organ?. But they surely cannot be expected to believe that an industry Width thus increases the amount of raw material used in One year, is in a worse condition because of such increase. Two hundred and forty-eight million pounds of (vool cannot get itself manufactured without giving employment to labor. And the thousands' of skilled woolen operatives who have had their wages increased during the past year are decklejdly of the opinion that more wool means more work, and, that more work means prosperity for both employers and.jemployed. The Greedy. Nail Ring:. The close combination of manufacturers of nails (both'wire and cut) has raised its prices again, this time adding 15 cents per keg. The wholesale price of wire nails at Pittsburg will be ?2,40 on and after March 1; nine months ago It was only 85 dents. The wholesale juried of cut uails on March 1 will be $2.15; nine months ago it was only 70 cents. Here is an incre'ase of 182 per cent. In one case and of 307 percent in the other. The price of the fundamental raw material, Bessemer pig iron, is now only 30 jjer cent higher than it was when, the nail ring began to put up its prices from the low level of 85 and 70 cents. But the combination absolutely controls the industry, hnd all those wh®

buy or use nails must pay its price. The nail manufacturers export nails at the rate of 23,000.000 pounds a year. The enormous increase of the prices exacted by the combination from consumers in the United States lias not checked its export trade or reduced tha quantity shipped abroad. We notice that in November last, the high prices now demanded here having then been exacted in the home market for two months, the exports were 2,311,065 pounds, or a quantity considerably exceeding the average monthly shipments. These facts show, of course, that the industry does not need a particle of tariff protection and ought not to have any. The Republican party insists, in the Dingley-McKinley bill, upon increasing the present duty on nails of 15 per cent, partly ui>on the plea that the manufacture of nails is a “stricken and prostrate industry.” It also promises to restore in 1898 the McKinley duty, which was equivalent to from $2.50 to $4 per keg.—New York Times, February S, 1800.

Dingier Bill Taxes. The Republican papers which are clamoring for the passage of the Dingley bill, and demanding what Hiey call a free trade policy should be replaced by high protection, are careful not to tell their readers what the result of a 15 per cent, increase of duties would be. There are doubtless many persons who believe that the Wilson law reduced duties so low that with a trifling addition of 15 per cent, it would be only a moderate revenue tariff. Republicans who never read Democratic pr independent papers might naturally suppose that we are now living under free trade, and that the Dingley bill is wliat it pretends to be, a measure for increasing custom revenues. A brief statement of the present duties on some important articles, and their comparison with the duties which would be imposed by the bill passed by the Republican House, will show how utterly mistaken is such a belief. Prominent among the industries which hre claimed to be suffering from the Democratic low tariff is that of making window glass. Y’et the duty on most sizes of imported glass is now from 71 to 89 per cent. Under that duty the Imports of foreign glass has greatly fallen off, showing that the domestic producer can supply the market without further protection. An increase of 15 per cent, in duties would raise the price of glass to American consumers at least to the amount of the duty, and probably more, for taxes of 81 to 102 per cent, would totally prohibit foreign competition and enable the glass trust to entirely control prices. Do the people who buy glass want to enrich a powerful trust by giving them a close monopoly. Iron and steel beams, girders and all other forms of building material are protected by duties of 50 per cent. This tax is practically prohibitory, and a combination of steel manufacturers charges extortionate prices for tlxe immense quantities of their products which are used every year. With 15 per cent, more protection the combination would increase prices accordingly. Is it a wise policy which would make houses, factories and stores cost more to their builders? Are the interests of a few steel makers of more importance than those of the millions who would be compelled to pay higher rents on account of dear building materials? On cotton and woolen knitted goods, such as are used by every household in the country, there are now imposed duties of 50 per cent. This means that many poor people have to buy less of these goods than they would if the price was not made high enough through heavy custom taxes, and are. therefore, poorly clothed aud protected against the cold. Do the fairmimled American voters want the cost of these necessities of the masses increased by a 57 per cent, tariff duty? These are examples of the way in which Republican legislation is designed to help a few protected interests at the expense o the whole country. Do the people really want higher duties and dearer rods? If not, their only re-i.edy N 10 support the Democratic p,.ny and work for still lower prices aud taxes.

A Whopper. The Atlanta Constitution, which is ever on the lookout for anything that commands a protective tariff finds consolation in a long letter from a well known Republican correspondent in which it is contended that the prosperity of the South depends upon a high tariff. In this letter the following assertion is made: “Labor in the South at the looms approaches in cheapness that of Japan.” The Constitution ought to know that this is a great big falsehood, a libel on thOiSouth. It should have exposed its fallacy, but because the statement is made the basis of a plea for protection the Constitution adopts it and puts it forth. As a matter of fact the average wages of “labor at the looms” in the Soutli are at least five times as great as the average of labor at the looms in Japan. But if the wages were the same in botli countries how would protection increase the wages of the cotton factory operative in the South? Wages are. on an average, better under the Wilson low tariff than they were under the McKinley high tariff, and there are more employes in our industries. Wages are not increased by protective tariffs. There is free trade in labor all the while and no manufacturer pays for it more than the market rule. The Constitution is not much when it comes to argument, but even it might produce a better plea for a protective tariff than it presents in Townsend's letter this morning, and if we remember correctly, not long ago the Constitution pretended to be frightened at the prospect that we were about to be ruined by the competition of Japan because labor was so much cheaper there. Now it lugs in a fellow to tell us that the wages “at the loom” are about ;the same in both countries. What, then, do we want protection against? Does the Constitution believe that the Japanese are so superior to our people in industry and ingenuity that at the same wages our labor cannot compete with theirs? i The fellow who argues for protection weaves a tangled web from the moment he begins his game of deception.—Atlanta Journal. People are happy when yesterday seems twice as far away as to-morrow.

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS FOR THE AGRICULTURISTS. Sluggard Firmera Raise Indifferent Cattle and Make No Money—Convenient Poultry House Door—Power of the Wind- Monger for Hor sea. A Well-Kept Farm. An observant daily man writes that In his part of the country well-kept farms and well-bred cattle are always found together, while run-down places and scrub cattle go hand in hand. These conditions prevail everywhere where men stop long enough to investigate. They also extend further than our friend has’ mentioned. All animals found on the well-kept farm are of higher grade than those kept at the run-down place. Poultry, hogs, sheep, horses and cattle are all of better stock at the former place than at the latter. The difference rests largely with the men. The owner of the wellkept farm is a farmer and demonstrates it, while the owner of the run-down establishment thinks he is such, yet the testimony of his labors contradicts him. The man wise enough to keep his farm in the best possible shape is always prudent enough to stock it with animals that reflect good judgment in their selection. The man in control of a run-down place never exhibits characteristics that leave him open to suspicion that he knows anything about prudence in farm matter or is of good judgment In-such affairs. He* is usually a sluggard mentally, and physically he is in a state ofrohronic weariness. This union is adverse to the man’s advancement, and makes him the mere creature of his environment. The result is present in dilapidated dwelling and farm buildings, fences out of repall* and stock unworthy of their keep. The quality of a farmer is always revealed by the care bestowed on .■bis farm. Our friend is right in his conclusion that well-bred cattle and well-kept farms go hand in hand The man with brains enough to be a farmer will unt j’Aste effort or time with inferior sf&St

Poultry House Door. Our sketch shows a divided door for a poultry house, that is a combination for both summer and winter nse. The lower half has laths nailed to the Inside and covering the space filled by the upper half of the door. The latter may be opened in summer for ventilation. When shut and secured by the button on the lower half, the whole becomes a solid door. The same arrangement will also be found useful in ventilating the poultry quarters upon warm days in winter. Such ventilation, with plenty of sunlight to keep the place dry, and litter in which the fowls must scratch for food so as to get exercise, are prime requisites to success with poultry in winter. The

CONVENIENT DOOR.

house must be kept free from vermin, and poultry with frequently renewed and plenty of dry earth or ashes for a dust bath. The Cheapest and Best Meat. Young animals always gain most from feed, and their meat is also generally the best and highest In price. An old farmer who used to buy cattle to feed every fall once remarked that he never lost anything by feeding a young animal and never made anything by Teeding an old one. Up to three years old, part of the feed goes to make growth, and this gain Is always greater In proportion than the gain of mature animals while they are being fattened. So far as different kinds of animals are concerned, meat is much the most cheaply made In the form of pork. The hog has less proportion of waste than any other domestic animal. It is fed mainly on concentrated food. Therefore its stomach is small. Its legs are shorter than those of other animals, and even to its feet they make good eating when cooked.

Proven Facta About Ensilage. We have before alluded to the prac- , tieal experiments at the Wisconsin Ex--1 perimental Station in regard to the 1 economy of ensilage over dry corn fodder. The statement is as follows: At the Wisconsin Station a daily ration of four pounds of hay and seven pounds of grain with corn silage, or field-cured corn fodder was fed to twenty cows for sixteen weeks. During the silage feeding 19.513 pounds of milk were produced, and 19,801 during the com fodder-feeding. Taking into account thei' tttfeas of land from which the fodder and silage com were produced, it is shown that the silage would have produced 243 pounds more milk per acre than the dry fodder or the equivalent of twelve pounds of butter, a gain of slightly over three per cent, in favor of the silage. Shavings for Bedding. We do not believe the use of shavings for bedding for farm animals is anywhere justified. Almost everywhere straw can be had cheaper than the and it has some value for feeding which the shavings have not The great difficulty where shavings are mixed with manure is to rot them down, and ; if tjiey are plowed under when not rotted thpy remain at the bottom of the furrow, and keep the soil so open that it suffers much worse In time of drought. The manure mixed with shavings will do as a mulch for some plaqe around trees where it Is difficult or impossible to turn it under with the plow’. A Poultry Stock for the Family. Leaving out the matter of profit and of selling eggs, there is much pleasure In keeping a small flwji of fowls for family use. A few hens can be kept

at less cost, proportionately, according to the Poultry Keeper, than can a large number, owing to the fact that the scraps from the table are valuable. No labor of consequence is necessary, and when an account for the year is kept, the small flocks will be found to have given quite a profit in the conversion of the waste material Into eggs. There is no way to procure eggs as fresh and nice as those procured by your own hens. If they are a choice breed, the pleasure will be the greater, as well from pride in endeavoring to excel as from the management Economical Manser. Wherever the room for the horse stable Is small, as is where the stalls are arranged across one end of the barn in a twelve or fourteen foot space, and where the horses are to face the barn floor, this manger will be found exceedingly convenient In place of the usual wide and deep manger, construct a trough (a) not over one foot wide or deep. Place rods (b) the full width of the manger just far enough apart so that the horse can get his nose between them to eat his hay or fodder, which is placed upon the slat support (m). This Is hinged at the bottom and supported at the top by a wire or rope (w). The advantages of this manger are a saving of space, no feed can be wasted, and there is no place in which the refuse parts of the feed may collect. The seed and chaff fall through the slat support

A HANDY MANGER.

to the barn floor. When feeding fodder drop this support from the top and the stalks roll out upon the floor, from whence they may easily be carried wherever desired; they thus never become an annoyance in the manure. When hauling hay Into the barn this support (m) may be dropped so as to be entirely out of the way. Withal it is cheap In construction. The rods in front of the trough may be of wood or iron. The support (m) may be made of half-inch boards four inches wide. Use common four-inch strap hinge. Why Well-Fed Stock Kat Straw. It is usually a surprise to those who feed highly concentrated and especially nitrogenous foods, to find how great a liking stock have for grain straw. The reason Is obvious. The grain is concentrated food, and excepting corn, has more of the nitrogenous and less of the carbonaceous nutrition than if should have. This is one of the advantages which those who grow wheat or rye for sale have. They can purchase linseed oil meal, and with this feed a considerable portion of their wheat straw. Where hay and cornstalks are fed, some straw will be eaten by animals as a change, but It has Itself too little nutrition to be fed largely with anything but grain or oif meal. Feeding: Value of Straw and Chaff. At the Gottingen Station numerous experiments have recently betn made on the digestibility of oat straw and chaff, and wheat straw and chaff. The results show a wider difference in the feeding value of these substances than has generally been supposed to exist. ■Wheat straw proved to be more digestible than wheat chaff, oat straw more digestible than wheat straw, and oat chaff more digestible than oat straw. These experiments, therefore, show oat chaff to have a very much higher value than wheat chaff. A further investigation of the matter is promised.—Farming.

For Clnbroot in Turnips. The New Jersey Experimental Station says that In its experiments airslacked stone lime gave sufficient evidence of its usefulness as a preventive of clubroot of turnips to wmrrant it being recommended for that purpose. But no less than seventy-five bushels should be applied per acre, and at least three months previous to the time of planting. The soil on which these experiments were made was probably a light, sandy loam. Undoubtedly, even a small quantity of lime would answer for some other soils. Essentials in Potato Culture. Good soil, good seed and- good sense. Have a land adapted to the crop* well cultivated, with plenty of potash, for plant food. Have good-sized, clean seed, and not over two good eyes in a hill, as a general thing. Have a good, live, wide-awake farmer, who attends to' 1 business instead of watching, hard cider, or going to camp meeting: when he ought to be at home. Cows Profitable at 5 to 8 Tears of Age. It seems evident that the maximum annual product and the greatest profits obtained from a cow will, as a rule, come at from five to eight years, and that young animals give richer &Hk than older ones. How long to keep a cow is another Keep her as long as she pays for her boa ref, and some more, says Professor Woll in Hoard’s Dairyman. Trimming Grapevines. For trimming grape vines in the winter, they may be cut rapidly and well, with no splitting, by using a large and very sharp knife in quick blows* without handling the vines at all. The several will fall as neatly as if qut off more sjowly by the best m-un-ning shears. «i f v ~ -a 'V' * rytffiSMilrr <? Fence, Posts. TbO Simplest ami cheapest iafcHhoAyf making sure yf ,a good fence post is to while in lull deaf in the slimmer, and left it seaiftp'wfffi leaves and branches on until the fall, and then cut up and use. Made in this way posts will greatly outlast those made from tvlnter-felled trees. Be a Gocd Farmer. The only way to be as good a farmer as your father is to try and be a better one than he was. A good farmer forty years ago would be a back number In these progressive days. Sore Teain Cows. Don’t leave cows with cracked or sore teats day after jlay, says the Journal of Agriculture, and then beat them because they kick while being milked.