Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 204, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1910 — Page 3

PEANUT TRADE VAST

INDUSTRY THAT NOW REACHES SUM OF $36,000,000. Largest Part of the Crop Is Consumed From the Street Stand—Most Nutritous of All Nut Foods. The person who buys a nickel’s worth of peanuts to munch at the ball game, to feed to the squirrels in the park, or to gladden the hearts of the kiddies at home, scarcely realizes that he has contributed to an industry that test year farmed a $1,000,000 crop, and which placed on the market in various forms reached the enormous sum of $36,000,000. But it is a fact! This little seductive nut —a resolution to “eat just one” is soon forgotten whose birthplace is America, wds, until comparatively recently, unappreciated either as to the “money In them,” or as a really nutritious product. Today the peanut plays an important part in pleasure, from the swell dinner party to the ever-present democracy of the circus, ball game, or picnic. After all, what is a ball game, a picnic, or a circus without the peanut accompaniment? By far the largest part of the crop is consumed from the peanut stand, the little whistle-sign of the roaster being the signal for the average youngster to suggest to dad or ma that some of them would be very acceptable, and the paternal or matefnal parent’s willingness—nine times out of ten —to invest. Yet there are millions of bushels that go to the fattening of hogs throughout the south, the feeding of poultry, while the vines often cured as hay, feed thousands of head of cattle, and even old Mother Earth is nourished by the roots of the plant, which furnishes nitrogen to it from the air. The result of all this is that scientists claim that the peanut, which in the past was not very highly regarded, is the only food staple that will at once nourish man, beast, bird and fields. It is the most nutritious of the entire hut family, rich in tissue building properties, containing glucose and carbohydrates—and is the cheapest. Beyond the shadow of a doubt it is first from both a dietary and economic standpoint. The fact of the matter is the peanut in about every way is in a class by itself as regards price, average number in pound, edible part, waste, and fat. They average about 350 to a .pound at a cost of 10 cents, the edible portion is 73.6, waste 26.4, and the amount of fat is placed at 80 per cent. These are remarkable figures when one stops to consider them, and brought out more clearly when compared with the small Texas pecan, its nearest competitor, which sells for over a third more, averages but 216 to a pound, has a waste of 61.8 per cent., edible part but 38.2, and contains 68 per cent, of fat. * The farming of peanuts during the past five years—not longer than this — has become an established industry of this country. At present about flveBixths of the crop comes from Virgina and most of the balance from Tennessee, Georgia, West Virginia and the Carolinas, although most of the southern states contribute some. As the peanut industry has increased so has the use of all nuts grown mightily as an article of food during the last decade, and. the entire family now forms a most important part of the diet of the physical culturist and vegetarian.

Bird’s Barbed Wire Fences.

There may be seen along the roadsides in Central America a brown wren about the size of a canary which builds a nest out of all proportion to its apparent needs. It selects a small tree with horizontal branches growing close together. Across two of its branches it lays sticks fastened together with -tough fiber, until a platform about six feet long by two feet wide has been constructed. On the end of this platform nearest the tree trunk it then builds a huge domeshaped rest a foot or so high with thick sides of interwoven thorns. A covered passageway is then made from the nest to the end of the platform in as crooked a manner as possible. Across the outer end, as well as at short Intervals along the Inside of this tunnel, are placed cunning little fences of thorns with Just space enough for the owners to pass through. On going out this opening is closed by the owner by placing thorns across the gateway and thus the safety of the eggs or young is assured. 4

Selfishness Prevailed.

Sweet little Frances andfeier mother long have had an understanding that, father being the completing member of the loving trio, he shall never be left alone upon the comparatively few and rare occasions when business permits him to share the delights of thte pretty suburban home. Not long since, however, a neighbor invited mother and child to go motoring with her; father was not included In the invitation for lack of room. The choice of motoring or staying behind with father was offered Frances, who pondered in silence for some time. "Course, father’s too dear for anything,” she said, at last, “and we never do leave him alone on Saturday evenings. But,” with a wistful glance at the snorting car, “he wouldn’t want us to miss such a pleasure, and," tossing all thoughts of self-denial lightly to the winds, "everything has to have a flfst time!”

SHIFTING OF THE CAPITAL

List of Cities Where the Seat e i Povemnjent of the United States Haa Been Located Is Long. At a dinner given by ode of the prominent men of the town the other night the talk turned to the recent visit of President Taft to Chicago and the fact that it was announced that during his stay there his hotel was to be regarded as the executive mansion. > The president beamed complacently and during a temporary pause sprung this: “I wonder if any of the gentlemen present can state, off hand, in what city or cities other than Washington the capital of the United States has been located.” “Well, now, it seems to me that I’ve heard my grandfather say something about New York and —and—wasn’t it Trenton?” came from the benevolent old gentleman at the right side of the host. Several of the dinner guests hazarded opinions, the president shaking his head at each utterance. Finally the young college man who had taken little part in the talk of market reports and real estate transactions broke with was becoming an embarrassing silence: “Wasn’t it in Philadelphia from September 5, 1774, until December, 1776?” he modestly began. “Right you are, young man, right you are, but Philadelphia isn’t the only town to claim that honor,” was the response given paternally. “No, but it’s been soma little time Bince that came up in our history class and I’m afraid I have forgotten,” said the young man, deprecatingly. “But here is the list as I remember It: From Philadelphia to Baltimore, Where it remained from December 20, 1776, to March, 1777; at Philadelphia from March 4, 1777, to September, 1777; at Lancaster, Pa., r from September, 1777, to September 20, 1777; at York, Pa., from September 30, 1777, to July, 1778; at Philadelphia from July 2, 1778 to J.une 30, 1783; at Princeton, N. J., from July 30, 1783, to November 20, 1783; at Annapolis, Md., from November 26, 1783, to November 30, 1784; at New York from January 11, to 1790. And I think from there it went to Philadelphia, where It remained ten years. Anyway, from Philadelphia the seat of government was removed in 1800 to Washington, where it has been ever since.” “And there isn’t one in a thousand of our citizens who knows all that,” broke in the host. "Say, I guess a college education isn’t so bad, after all, eh?”

Travesty of the Almshouse.

James Openheim, writing in the June American Magazine about the terrible condition of the almshouses in the state of New York, says: “What is an almshouse? One would naturally suppose it to be the last refuge of the -old—men and women too weak to work, alone in the world," homeless, friendless, penniless. One would expect to find the almshouse full of gentle old people, near death. Such people are in the almshouse. They have crept there to die. There they wind up their obscure lives, their humble destinies. These are the lonely and lowly tragedies of our packed world. But they are not alone with one another. I jotted down the following list from the Oneida county almshouse register: “Old, Blind, Feeble-minded, Intemperate, Sick, Cripple, Epileptic, Vagrant, Lame, Pregnant. “They are mixed in with one another. The decent old, whose only crime is old age and misfortune, are herded in with unspeakable creatures. Imagine sleeping in a dormitory with babbling idiots, with jerky epileptics, with hardened, vicious criminals, and with consumptives. Imagine spending the day and eating one’s meals with this strange company. Such conditions, to an outsider, are Inhuman, indecent and intolerable.”

Just a Natural Development

The woman aviator is developing In France. We read of her progress from time to time with a sense of confidence restQred as regards the eternal fitness of things. Where else, indeed, could she develop, she and her costume? We wonder how many of the Parisian fraternity have begun working this new sartorial lead. But why wonder? If there is one thing the Worth-Redfern-Paquin combine have never lacked it Is foresight. And’, after all, from barnyard denizens to the real fowls of the air requires no very tremendous flight of the imagination. The transition can be worked gradually, too. After chanticleer, turkey buzzard, say, would suggest itself, and then along the scale ascending until the final Inevitable bird of paradise be reached. To go back to the question of eternal fitness, who can discover without a thrill of satisfaction that at least one of these lady flyers answers in public to the name of Bird? As yet statistics do not tell us how many of the rest may, privately, respond to "Birdie.”

How He Felt.

A young lady who taught a class of small boys in the Sunday school desired to impress on them the meaning of returning thanks before a meal. Turplqg to one of the class, whose father was a deacon in the church, she asked him: “William, what is the first thnig your father says when he sits down to the table?” s “He says, ‘Go slow with the butter, kids; it’s 40 cents a pound,”’ replied the youngster.—Everybody’s.

Railroad Building in Brazil

IF YOU follow up the cotr.-ae of the Amazon and Madeira rivers on the map two-thirds across South America you will finally come to San Antonio, from which a black line marked “R. R. und,er construction” stretches southwest for 210 miles. Thirty years ago that black line was put on the map at the price of the lives, of more than two hundred United States citizens and of millions of dollars. The commercial life of a nation hangs on the building of this railroad, but three times the fevers of the district have killed or dispersed expeditions which have tried to build it For fifty years this 210 miles of tropical forest has stood off mankind. But at last the railroad builders are about to conquer it, and it is fitting that these men who are succeeding are from the United States, forfrom first to last the United States has played a prominent part in the attack on this stubborn district. Ii 1852 Lieutenant Gardner Gibbon, U. S. N., advocated the building of this railroad for commercial and diplomatic reasons. After much correspondence, in 1878 an expedition under Col. George Church Earl set sail from New York. The main contributors to the work were P. and T. Collins, and it was known as the Collins expedition. The construction gang was 600 strong when it embarked. Fiftysix are in the graveyard there now. War is child’s play to what these men encountered. They went in ships fifteen hundred miles out of sight of the sea and landed in the fever-ridden town of San Antonio, on the upper Madeira in Brazil. Insects and reptiles plagued them by day and night. They pushed .their grading into the forests, &nd men began to die. Reinforcements sent from New York were wrecked off .Hatteras and nearly all drowned. Others followed, the scum of the cities, 115 strong. When they reached San Antonio they struck, stole, and murdered, adding only trouble to those already there. Then the fight for the mastery of the country failed. Men left their tools and engines in the forests; left unburied dead where the construction camps had worked; left fifty-six of their number in the little graveyard of San Antonio; and even this was not all, for of those who tried to escape into Bolivia seventy-five died on the trail. Twice after this, Brazil and Bolivia tried to build the railroad, and now another force from the United States is pushing steel rails into this deadly forest. The reason for this persistence is that this railroad will open up the trade of a nation. The northeastern half of Bolivia is by far the most productive part of the country, yet it is out of reach. North and east is the unsettled, impassable Brazilian hinterland. To the west the sea is not far, but the Andes lie between. T 1& way south is open, but there is no railroads and no navigable river for hundreds of miles. Except for the little trade which trickles over the mountains on muleback, Bolivia is cut off from the world. But there is one possible outlet. From Para the Amazon stretches across the map 800 miles to the mouth of the Madeira, and the black line of the Madeira reaches the northeast corner of Bolivia. This is the thread which is to connect Bolivia with the world, for there is enough water for a 4,000-ton steamer all the way frotn Para to San Antonio. From San Antonio south for 200 miles are rapids. Once the railroad rounds the rapids, the products of this land-locked cduntry can flow uninterruptedly to the sea and across to Europe. The products of a great and fertile Country lie blocked up behind these 200 miles of stubborn swamp and forest This is why, after the awful defeat in the seventies, and after the two later attempts had failed, workers are again at work south of San Antonio, building the Madeira-Mamore ■‘hllroad. In the treaty of Petropolis between Bolivia and Brazil, in 1903, the latter agreed to build the railroad. The contract was given to a New York firm. So far this attempt follows the Collins effort, but no further. The preliminary party sent by the contractor was made up of doctors and engineers. They studied the health conditions with the same care that was bestowed upon the topography. Next, a preparatory force of workers went to Porto Velho, a point on the Madeira about seven hundred miles from the Amazon and six miles from San Antonio, which had been chosen as'the base of operations. The

land about Porto Velho is covered with dense forests and rank undergrowth and the “bottoms” of the adjacent river breed fever-bearing mosquitoes by the millions. The "ground was cleared and drained; swampy spots were filled in, and the riverside vegetation that sheltered the mosquitoes was destroyed for more than a mile. The site of the little town was sewered, a filtered running-water supply was established, and an electric light plant installed and furnished illumination for streets and structures. Houses for the men and the executive staff were built, and club quarters also. The structures were designed with special reference to the climate, and in this connection advantage was taken of architectural hints furnished by the native dwellings. A hospital of a commodious sort was also erected ; like the staff quarters, it has broad piazzas inclosed by mosquito-proof wire netting. There are also outdoor and in-door bathing accommodations. In the cook’s quarters the boiling, baking and broiling are to a very great extent done by electricity. The clubhouse has, among other things, a library, some billiard and pool tables, a “game room”—wherein are to be found chess, checkers and so forth —a hall for dances and theatricals, and a self-playing piano which helps to minister to the amusement of the men. The working white force of the new undertaking consists of about five hun dred laborers, artificers and mechanics. Many of these men had already been in the employ of the contractors ill connection with other railroad construction in the tropics. The “green hands,” prior to being sent south, werl given a course of lectures in regard to conditions, conduct and the hygiene necessary in the tropics. Both the recruits and the veterans had to pass A rigorous physical examination before their services were accepted. The moral character of each man was also subjected to scrutiny. While there is a percentage of son eign-born citizens in the force, yet the bulk of it consists of native Americans, it being the experience of the contractors, so it is said, that Americans exhibit a grit and stamina which are not always found in the case of foreigners. The present engineering corps consists of about sixty persons, who also have been selected on the score of their ability and experience. The medical staff includes eight physicians and twelve male nurses. Special at tention has been paid to the food supply. Porto Velho, moreover, is practically a “dry” town. The hours of labor are, so far as possible, of a kind whose brevity offsets the drain on the vitality of white men laboring in the tropics. The wisdom of all this preparation and foresight was made manifest almost from the first. The fact that the work of the expedition is being done under the most trying conditions does not seem to interfere with the general good health of the men. Clearing virgin tropical forests, laboring In teeming swamps or by the side of malarial river bottoms, or encountering swarms of pestiferous insects and reptiles, are tasks of a trying and even dangerous nature. Nevertheless, the total casualties of the force during the two years that it has been in the field amounts to only seven, three of which were from accidents. The percentage of cases of sickness is equally low, and recovery from attacks of fever have been almost invariable. Out of all the white force engaged, only twenty-three cases of fever have been reported; this, taking all things into consideration, is a marvelous record. As indicative of the developments that wait upon the completion of the enterprise are the changes being made at the port of Para, situated on the only navigable mouth of the Amazon. Just at present the low-tide depth of water Is only 19.7 feet But In view of the neoessity for accommodating the increase of shipping which will come by reason of opening up these territories by the Madeira-Mamore railroad, contracts have been entered into by the city by which the depth of water at the port will be made thirty feet. And all this is because 1,200 miles away, a little 210-mile railroad will be opened in 1911. A great port on one side of a continent and a nation on the other are awaiting the labors of 600 Americans, who are running steel rails through a tropical forest ten or twelve thousand miles 'from home.

J. FILLMORE BROWNLEY.

CHEER UP

Did anybody ever get any nutriment eat of repining? “Grin and bear it”—but have your ready the next time! It takes a good horse to win after being left at the post. But the thing has been done time and again. “Hail to the vanquished!” is nice, sympathetic verse —but the victors get the goodies! All hands join the winners! Wrought upon by anxiety? Well, let’s go fishin’ and think it over, encompassed by the placid, wimpling waters! _____ The late Senator Wolcott of Colorado once won a $60,000 jackpot with a pair of sevens. Play ’em as if you had ’em! A week ago today -a glass of water and a toothpick—today filet’mignon and peche Melba —it’s a blithe comedy, fellow-players! Many a man who-has “carried the banner” and sat on a park bench is riding home this afternoon with the Joy of living pulsing through him! “Morning hearts and morning faces” —and the man who wrote these fine, cheery words was a “lunger,” who knew that his doom was upon him! The man who always has had an easy thing of it looks mighty lonesome at a session of regular fellows telling their personally-conducted hardluck stories of the flown years!— Clarence L. Cullen.

THINK LETS

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth —examine him all over. You can’t teach an old dog tricks, but you can buy a new dog. The flavor of wine depends on the nature of the soil in which the vines have been grown. Catgut for voilins is never made Put of the intestines of Pats, but of the Intestines of lambs. A man never knows how much he can do till he tries—now how badly he can do it, either. God tools never made a mechanic skillful; a college education never made a man talented. The more business a man has to do the more he is able to accomplish, for he learns to economize his time. Hats for men were invented in Paris by a Swiss in 1404. Before that time they wore close-knit woolen caps. There are forests of leafless trees in some parts of Australia. They reBpire, so to say, through a -little stem, apparently answering the purpose of a leaf.

LIBRARY LORE

Good books need no gush. A best seller gathers no dust. Circumstances alter bookcases. Every dog-eared tome had its day. It is an ill book that hath no index. The genealogist Js the thief of time. Many rare books aTe not well done. A five-foot shelf to the wise is sufficient The longest Congressional Record hath its end. A book in the hand is worth two in the card catalogue. You may lead a -reader to a book, but you cannot make him think.—Life.

SNAPSHOTS FROM CHINESE

A narrow-minded man resembles a frog in the well. It’s not the wine that makes a man drunk; it’s the man himself. To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish. A man with a purple nose may be very temperate in drink; only no one will believe it. Do not pull up your stockings in a melon patch or straighten your hat in a peach orchard; any one seeing you inay think you are stealing.—Life.

FLASH LIGHTS

In life as well as baseball It is a mighty good policy to run out everything. Yo\i can always tell If a young girl Is hairing time in bathing by the way sfie screeches. ■ VNo man should ride his hobby into society when there’s so much good company outside with you. • V One good thing about runlnng an aeroplane is that there is nobody i« the rear seat selling you to be careful* —Detroit Free P^esa.

MUST FORGET YOURSELF AND WORK FOR THE TEAM

“KITTY” BRANSFIELD, PHILLIES' FIRST BASEMAN, BAYS INDIVIDUAL PLAYING AND BRILLIANCY * DON'T BRING VICTORIES. By “KITTY” BRANSFIELD. (Copyright, 1910, by Joseph B. Bowles.> I used to think that baseball consisted mainly of individual playing, brilliancy and ability to hit and run and field. It took a long time for me to learn that there is little more to the game than working hard, studying hard and putting forth one’s best effort to win games. Forgetting oneself and working for the team, making as many errors as it is possible to make if there is a chance to get one’s hands on the ball, giving up base hits to get runs for the team, are what count. Also I think that a player who joins a club should first of all think how. he can help his maanger. No matter what he thinks of the team, the manager or the orders, the players should obey. I think learning to obey, without questioning and then keeping one’s mouth shut no matter how it turns out is the hardest thing a ball player has to learn. Some of us never learn it. Failure to learn this thing spoils many players. I would urge a young player just breaking la to do two things; first to think and’ study, and second, but even more Important, to keep gyiet, no matter what he thinks. A player should save all' his conversation for the other team. As for playing first base; there are those who would consider me presumptuous to try to tell anyone how, to play first, but also one may know a lot more about playing the position than he is able to show or even prove. I think I know a lot more that I can deliver, and I think, also, if I had known 4 as much when I started as I do now I would have been a lot better ball player, so there Is no conceit in trying to tell how I think it should be

"Kitty” Bransfield.

played. First, stick to that base as long as there is a chance for a play coming there. More games are lost by deserting the base than in any other way. Second, watch the batters all the time, and study your own pitchers. A first baseman can work much freer with some pitchers than with others. A study of the angles off first is essential and also the skill of men in sliding or driving back to the base. One must know how men come back to the base. The first baseman should avoid troubling the pitchers by calling for throws to catch runners. He should use his own judgment and call only for the Ball when he thinks there is a chance to get the ball. He must watch the pitcher’s every move, to see if he is going to. throw to keep runners from starting, and keep an eye always on the catcher to see the signals. One break is likely to cost a game, and the baseman must keep thinking all the time. There is little use trying to tell any player how to execute the mechanical part of the game. He must do the best he can in the mechanical line —for each man has his limitations. The style of playing first base is changing rapidly and I think that Inside of ten years every first baseman will be left handed, providing the managers can find left handers enough to fill the jobs.

Connie Mack Saves Strunk.

Strunk, the young outfielder Connie Mack Is keeping on the bench, and who is leading the league with a batting average of .406 for ten games, is sure to cause a sensation when he Is turned loose. Connie Mack Is holding the youngster in reserve until one of his veterans gives ouL —V- " %