Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 98, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1916 — Page 2

AGRICULTURE THE MAINSTAY

Indiana Soil Peculiarly Adapted to the Raising of Great Variety of Crops—Of the State's Total Area of 23,068,800 Acres, 21,542,963 Acres Are in Farms, MOST IMPORTANT INDUSTRY OF STATE

In the celebration of its one hundredth birthday in 1916, the state of Indiana will show to the world that it Is one of the leading agricultural states of the Union. In fact, agriculture has always been the mainstay of Indiana, and it is quite likely that it will forever remain the most important industry of the state. Indiana .soil is peculiarly adapted to the raising of a variety of crops. Nearly everything is grown in Indiana that can be produced anywhere in the northern half of the United States. It ranks high in its yield and quality of wheat, corn and other standard crops. It produces a vast amount of fruit. Tobacco is a staple crop in the southern counties. Vegetables of all kinds are produced in the state, which is dotted with canning factories that put the products on the market Although Indiana was not admitted into the Union until 1816, the Centennial History and Handbook of Indiana, published by Max R. Hyman, Indianapolis, says that as far back as 1809, when agriculture was in a primitive stage, crops few and farms rude, with farming the hope of the state, the first agricultural society, “The Vincennes Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and the Useful Arts,” was formed. It was the forerunner of the state board of agriculture. In its first year this society distributed S4OO in premiums for agricultural products. By 1840 the number of persons engaged in agriculture was 148,806. Agricultural methods were still crude. The wooden mold-board plow and the wooden tooth harrow were in use. Grain was reaped with a sickle. Threshing was done with a flail or by tramping of horses. Hay was cut with a scythe. Some Crop Statistics. In 1839 the total crop of corn was 28,155,887 bushels. Oats followed with 5,981,605 bushels,' and wheat came next with 4,049,375 bushels, Laporte county being the heaviest wheat producing county. Compare these figures with those for the year 1914, the latest available figures, and one can begin to realize how agriculture has grown and developed in Indiana. In 1914 the acreage and total yield of the more important crops were as follows: ,

Crop. Acres. Bushels. Wheat . 2,292.735 38,460,121 Corn 4,661,021 154,191,465 Oats 1,671,983 43,113,793 Potatoes ...» 52,749 4,489,961 Fruit (all kinds) 24,845 1,046,495 In the same year 11,209 acres produced 11,197,466 pounds of tobacco. A total acreage of 1,957,665 produced 1,883,356 tons of hay. The approximate total area of Indiana is 23,068,800 acres, and 21,542,963 acres are in farms. This makes

the average farm a little below 100 acres. In the average value of farm lands, according to the Centennial History Handbook of Indiana, Illinois comes first with an average of $95.02 per acre, lowa follows with $82.58 and Indiana comes third with $62.36. The total valuation of farm lands with all Improvements, implements and live stock, was approximately $1,350,000,000. Not only in agriculture but also in live stock is the state of Indiana great. Figures compiled for 1914 Show the number of head and the selling value of live stock to be as follows:

Number Selling Kind. of Head. Value. Horses and colts sold.. 99,094 $11,567,557 Horses and colts on „ hand 716,638 72,270,288 Mules 501d’29,297 3,223.213 Mules on hand. 90,889 9,904,234 Cattle on hand 1,295,300 „ 41,880,373 Cattle sold Cattle died of disease.. 23,017 606,446 Hogs on hand 2.435,613 18,065,940 Hogs sold 3,247,328 41,334,610 Hogs died of disease... 852,084 tr 2.377,344 Sheep on hand 423,705 1,969,881 Sheep sold 413,656 2,051,708 Sheep died of disease.. 22,205 96.536 pounds, valued at $569,575. A total of 671,001 dozen of all kinds of poultry was sold in the state In 1914, valued at $3,614,204. There were 888,755 dozen laying hens, and they laid the enormous total of 73,-

By ELLIS SEARLES

881,964 dozen eggs, valued at $14,809,886. A total of 593,113 milch cows, worth $27,870,357, gave 256,020,859 gallons of milk, worth $29,488,405. This does not include 28,380,996 pounds of cream, worth $7,387,993. There was produced in the same year 36,875,247 pounds of butter, worth $8,531,952. County Fairs Started. With the growth and development, of agriculture in Indiana county fairs were organized all over the state, and the present state board of agriculture was organized in 1852, and has been holding state fairs ever since. The state and county fairs offer many thousands of dollars in prizes and premiums and they have been a very great factor in the encouragement of better agriculture and better live stock.

The legislature of 1889 enacted a law— providing for the holding of farmers’ institutes in all of the counties to give farmers and others interested in agriculture instructions in agriculture, horticulture, agricultural chemistry and economic, entomology. These institutes continue to be a valuable educating and organizing influence among the farmers. In recent years, however, there has been a shrinkage in the rural population. From 1900 to 1910 there was a sheer loss of 96,732. Much of this was due to drifting from farms to the cities, and to moving to other localities in search of cheaper land. However, more recently there has been a decided “back to the farm” movement in Indiana, due largely to the advent of interurbans and the coming of the automobile as a means of rapid transit.

"Within the easy memory of middleaged men there has been a marked change in the status of the average, representative farmer," says the Centennial History and Handbook of Indiana. “Not only is the uncouth backwoodsman of whom Eggleston wrote extinct, but the rustic Hoosier whom Riley pictures in his earlier days is, to say the least, vastly modified. Various educational influeifces- a universal free school system, the übiquitous newspaper and farm paper and other cheap periodicals, farmers institutes, granges, clubs and other organizations—in fact, influences too numerous to easily trace, have done their work to a degree that is very noticeable to any first-hand observer. The literary copyist who today goes nosing in obscure places in search of the time-honored ‘Hoosier characters’ is somewhat amusing as a man behind the times who does not yet realize that the present type, while retaining all the old-time shrewdness, humor, raciness and fellowship, has developed new qualities that present

White River at Gosport.

a new field for the character delineator. The typical farmer of today is well informed and in intelligent touch with the wider affairs of the world. He is coming to be a conscious part of the great social movement. Financially, he thrives better than he once did, and he lives better. The ‘modern’ house in the country is not uncommon; the rural telephone service is all but universal; more automobiles, it is said, are sold to farmers than to any other class. The spread of the interurban service has also been a great modifying factor in rural life in promoting a freer touch with urban life, and the social differences between city and country people are becoming obliterated.”• Coal in Indiana. Coal is the most valuable of the natural resources of Indiana. Coal was first mentioned in this territory in 1763. The first surveyors in 1804 discovered and made note of it. Robert Fulton, who brought his steamboat, the Orleans, down the Ohio river in 1812, found and dug coal at Cannelton. The American Cannel Coal company was chartered in 1837, the first coal company in Indiana. Jt was located at Cannelton. The first shaft was sunk by John Hutchinson east of Newburg, on the Ohio river, in 1850. Coal was discovered in Clay county in 1851. The total Indiana coal area is estimated at $7,500 square mile's in the west and southwest por-

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

tions. It is estimated to contain 40,000,000,000 tons of coal, enough to last 300 years. The annual output is about 18,000,000 tons and 21,000 persons are employed in the coal industry, Cannel, bituminous and block coal are the kinds mined in Indiana. Natural gas was discovered in 1886 at Portland, and later it was found in great quantities in various parts of the state. The Introduction of natural gas for fuel brought an industrial boom to Indiana that continued for several years, until, through criminal waste, the people deliberately destroyed the supply. Ten million feet a day was wasted in 1889 from uncapped wells. Steel, iron, tin and glass factories sprang up in many places, and Indiana enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. But natural gas has all but disappeared. Numerous former natural gas towns now pipe natural gas from West Virginia. Building stone, quarried in immense quantities in Lawrence, Monroe and adjacent counties, is another important natural resource. This is the celebrated Bedford stone, used more extensively in the erection of public and other buildings than any other stone in America. The cities of Bedford and Bloomington are “stone cities.” A hard limestone, known as “Niagara,” is quarried in Decatur and Franklin counties, for building and bridge purposes. The manufacture of commercial lime from certain kinds of limestone is another important industry, espe-

Winona College of Agriculture.

dally in a few counties. Huntington county is a lime manufacturing center. Some Otjier Industries. Building and paving bricks, clay pipes, tile and other clay products are made from the excellent clays of the state. In 1910 there were 31 pottery, terra-cotta and fire-clay manufactories in the state, employing 2,373 persons and producing products worth $9965,768- „ —-■ Sand for the manufacture of glass is another important Indiana natural resource. The best loose sand is found on the shores of Lake Michigan, the dune or hill being practically limitless in quantity. The manufacture of Portland cement in Indiana has grown wonder fully in the last 15 years. In 1910 the output was valued at $7,022,000. Portland cement was -first made at South Bend in 1877. The largest factory is at Mitchell, using limestone with knobstone shale as clay. The largest marl factory is at Syracuse, Kosciusko county.

Iron ore has been found in 32 counties in the state, but it could not compete in quality with ores from other fields. The first plant for smelting Indiana iron ore was erected at Mishawaka in 1834. It long since went out of business. Peat for fuel “briquettes,” mineral paint rocks and clays, medicinal waters, and here and there gold and diamonds are other natural resources that have added to the wealth of Indiana. Gold and diamonds, however, are scarce, and the commercial value has been small. But what the next one hundred 1 years of her life may bring forth for Indiana along that line remains to be seen.

Aeroplanes After the War.

When the war is over, the wings ol the wind will have been harnessed so effectively that a splendid profit will be written on the balance sheet of peace. The air dreadnaughts of the day are the prototypes of the aeroplane de luxe of the morrow; the winged wains that carry a ton of explosives will be commandeered by commerce; and the safety devices that stand the gaff of shot and shell will find no , very great test in the trade winds of the world, Meryle Crowell writes in the American Magazine. The highways of the sky know no barriers and no frontiers. Besides being lord of its own element, the new aeroplane, driving through space at 100 miles an hour, will outdistance the fastest ship, and leave .n a dilatory smudge of the horizon the smoke of the speediest railway train. The sky is a universal roadway that never needs repair. Spanning continents and bridging seas, hurdling cities, forests and the waste spaces of the world, the aeroplane, made safe, sound and speedy at the demands of war, will be trained to the minute for the greater service of peace and hu> manity.

The Worm's Turn.

Bllly Sunday gave a backhanded slap at war during a recent Trenton address. . , “There are actually fools," he said, “who tell you that war may be a blessing, but even those fools have to admit that it is a blessing in disguise. “The men who crack up war are the ones who don't have to do any of the fighting. These men really are no fonder of war in their hearts, for all their praise of It, than poor old Peck was fond of his wife. “ ‘lt says here,’ said poor old Peck, looking up from the evening paper, ‘that our blessings come to us in disguise. Mother, when are you going to unmask?’ *

7he two rails of a track are used as wires for telephoning to moving trains—ln the circle is shown the shoe by which the connection is made from rail to locomotive.

BETWEEN FAST TRAINS

TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION IS MADE AN EASY MATTER. Rails of the Track Used as Part of the Conducting Medium —Plan Is Simple, Though of Much Importance. By means of the moving train telephone invented by A. A- Macfarlane, communication between fast moving trains may now be possible. Communication has actually been held between the experimental station and New York city. In this experiment the rails of the track were used for part of the conducting medium. On a sidetrack near the little town of Bridesburg, experimental work has been carried on with a steel freight car. At one end of the section of track used, a two-volt battery is connected; at the other end a signaling and telephoning device is located between the tracks. The equipment consisted of a “puzzle” box and copper shoes that pick up currents from the rails. The nature and conteifts of this box are not being given out at present on account of some patents pending. The inventor states that what the device accomplishes is made possible, however, by his furnishing to the current a path of least resistance. Without this device, current would follow the track, run through the wheels and axles and jump to the other rail and produce a short circuit. The current simply avoids its natural outlet, follows the track until it reaches the box and shoes, where it is picked up and taken aboard the train. Telephoning between moving trains is but a part of the importance of the invention. The real object is to produce a signaling system that will bring the danger and clear signals into the cab of the engineer. An automatic brake has also been added and tested on an engine. The device will light colored lights in the cab of the engine, as well as furnish an automatically operated block for approaching tfrains. Into each block current will be furnished by batteries along the track. When a train is in this block, it will short circuit the current, so that a train approaching will be automatically stopped by the brake device operated in connection with the system. In the telephone system it will be necessary to have batteries along the track, and by the use of the shoes and box device with which the train will be equipped current will be furnished it. Then the telephone can be operated, and connection can be had through the main wires along the track, the current being carried out at the ends of the blocks. By this system, the inventor claims a moving train can be in communictaion with any telephone in the country.—Popular Science Monthly.

Locomotive Fuel.

W. W. Rittman of the bureau of mines in a recent article objects to locomotives using petroleum as fuel, because “every day there goes up in smoke the gasoline of another generation." What would he have the locomotives burn? If they use coal the coal of “another generation goes up in smoke,” and the same statement is true if they use wood or coke, or electricity generated at power plants. Perhaps the saving of these other articles may be as beneficial as the conservation of petroleum.—Oil City Derrick.

Money From Scrap Material.

In 1914 the scrap material sold by the Pennsylvania Railroad company brought in $2,157,241.24 or $1,000,000 less than in 1913. Waste paper alone sold for $19,211, oil barrels for $22,439 and old rubber for $15,222. Locomotives and wooden passenger cars sold for $114,326. Other odds and ends brought in $121,997. Old wheels, metals and wrought iron yielded more than $789,000.

Definition of Salt.

Rev. Father John Cavanaugh, head of Notre Dame, was discussing with some friends the definition of various words and the difficulty in finding their synonyms. “All this talk reminds me of a schoolboy’s definition of salt,” said the priest. “He was asked to define salt. He pondered a moment and then said: ‘Salt is something that makes your potatoes taste funny when there ain’t any on ’em.’ ’’ . •

Effect of Sandstorms Minimized.

The French railroad ,in the Sahara has built locomotives and cars specially designed for passage through sand storms to offer a minimum of resistance to the metal-cutting sand.

GOOD ADVICE FOR CHILDREN

Observance of Simple Regulations Will Do Much to Lessen the Long Chapter of Accidents.

More than a thousand children under fourteen years of age, and more than fifteen hundred between fourteen and twenty-one, are killed every year, and as many more are injured in the United States by the following causes: By using railroad track and yards as “short cuts” instead of using sidewalks and streets. By crawling under or going around crossing gates that have been lowered. By running across tracks against the stop signal of crossing watchmdn. By running across tracks just after a train has passed without waiting to see if another train is approaching on other track. By standing too close to moving trains. By “catching on” moving trains, cars or engines to “steal a ride.” By crawling under, climbing between or going over cars that are standing across streets or sidewalks. By playing underneath, on top or around, cars standing on side tracks. By boys chasing in the direction of railroad tracks or trains. By doing something dangerous, because you were “dared” to do it. These acldents will be avoided if you will “Stop, Look and Listen” before crossing railroad tracks or yard; and never play around trains or cars. —From the Erie Railroad Employees’ Magazine.

Searchlight Signal.

The jnore I read of railroad accidents and the precautions against them, especially rear-end accidents, the more am I convinced that my proposition made in print several years, ago is worth the consideration of railfoal managers? writes a correspondent of the New York Times. This proposition was that every train should carry a searchlight somewhere on top of the train, with its rays shooting upward. Such a light, and it need not be a very strong one, would always mark the location of a train, either at rest or in motion, and could be seen under conditions not possible to lights as now used on a level with trains. At night and in heavy weather such a light would be a sure mark always, and even on clear days it could be seen at a safe distance, if not as far away as at night or in foggy weather. The application would not be difficult, nor would the cost be great. Engineers discussed it a little at first, but it was soon dropped, because, I suppose, there was not sufficient power behind the idea to push it. Maybe before the twentieth century ends it will be adopted.

Do Without March.

In Mark Twain’s epic of boyhood Tom Sawyer sighs, “Oh, if I could only die temporarily!” On that convenient arrangement most of us would elect to have our temporary deaths fall in the month of March. March is neither hay nor grass; it is neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring. When it ought to rain it snows; when it ought to snow it freezes; when it ought to freeze it thaws. Where a road should be is a muddy slough of despond. Where the, sky should be is a tin-colored sheet of metal, oi°a hostile sector belches sleet and icy wind, says Boston Globe. Why not a bill in the legislature to abolish it?

Spending It All.

Of Booth Tarkington the anecdotes are legion —almost as numerous as they are about O. Henry. It remained, however, for Jesse Lynch Williams to tell this story in connection with his comment on Tarkington’s ever ready repartee: “After ‘The Gentleman From Indiana’ had made its hit,” he says, “and Mansfield had put on ‘Beaucaire,’ and that made a hit, I said to him one day, ‘Now, I hope you’re going to stay in New York for a while.’ “His reply was a most charming satire upon himself —‘Oh, I’ll stay here till I get it all nicely spent.' ”

Was It War or Tennis?

No more can it be said that English people do not know that war is raging somewhere on the continent. Two girls going to work the other morning discussed the prospect of tennis this year —probably by way of contrast to the arctic weather. all the men being away,” said one. The other acquiesced, and, added: “It is too horrible to think about.” We hope that she referred to the war, and not to She Adamless state of the tennis counts', as her observation indicated. — London Globe.

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They Sure Do. “Oh, yes, the professor is a very learned man. His specialty is. international law. His thesis on that subject won him his doctor’s degree.” "Well, goodness knows the international laws need a lot of doctoring.”

STOP ITCHING INSTANTLY

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Extremes Meet.

“The brighest man in my class at college is now motorman on a street car." “And how about the stupidest man? He’s president of the road, I presume?" “No, he’s the conductor.”

Dr. Pierce’s Pellets are best for liver, bowels and stomach. One little Pellet sot a laxative —three for a cathartic. —Adv.

Verbose.

“Did De Boore have anything to say when the toastmaster called on him at the banquet?” —— “No, and it took him nearly an hour to say it.” If you are not up and doing you will soon be down and done.

Important to Mothers

Examine carefully every bottle of CASTORIA, a safe and sure remedy for Infants and children, and see that it Bears the Signature of In Use for Over 30 Years. Children Cry for Fletcher’s Castoria

Paper Weight.

Wally—ls Reggie a heavy smoker? Wolly—No. He weighs only a hundred and ten pounds.—Exchange.

Misunderstood.

asks her husband for ~ money he gives her assent.” “Gracious, what a mean man!”

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