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Newspaper
Semi Weekly Herald
Location
Eldora, Iowa, United States of America
Date
May 21, 1904
Page
3
I Mr Wrage invites contributions of any new ideas that readers of this department may wish to present and would be pressed to answer correspondents desiring information on subjects discussed. Address M J Wrage Waukee Iowa.
Peach growers plant orchards despite past losses as loose, well drained soils with sand content support roots. Avoid hard clay and waterlogged pans. moisture aids winter hardiness, while soil texture must balance water passage and capillary action for fruit, not excessive wood growth.
In buying a draft horse observe how it pulls a load. A horse that carries its head high and drags with the front barely touching the ground cannot perform at top strength. If it lowers its head and plants its forefeet firmly, it uses both pairs of legs and anchors with four points, enabling strong work. A horse unable to go down in front cannot do its best.
A historical excerpt discusses the stumbling horse and argues against whipping after a stumble. It suggests causes include bad shoes or nervous disorders and notes whipping adds torture, not warning, since the horse cannot understand the punishment as a prevention.
The text urges farm managers to gather all intelligence on workers and treat them as one wishes to be treated. It recommends outlining plans, showing personal sympathy, paying promptly, praising good work, and engaging workers to boost productivity, noting motivated hands work faster.
In 1903 the nation’s five million farmers earned a combined net income of about two billion dollars. The text argues farming’s importance and declares a shift toward agriculture will mark the coming generation, with farm labor supporting workers and an optimistic rise in rural prosperity.
A Chicago paper reports new railroad rule books demand total abstinence from intoxicants on duty and ban tobacco around stations. Farm boys eyeing city rail work hear employers enforce dismissal for habitual use or visits to sale outlets.
Scientist M Dusalin notes dogs like fox terriers show endurance as they pace masters on bicycles or in carriages. He compares this to wild canids, citing wolves running fifty to sixty miles in a night and Arctic foxes capable of similar distances. Nansen reportedly encountered such a fox far northwest of Sanikow, about 480 miles from the Asiatic coast.
A bulletin from the Illinois Experiment Station advises immediate transfer of freshly drawn milk to a clean, well ventilated area for cooling to 50 or 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Milk should be aerated and cooled by cold water cans or a cooler, with the cooler preferred if the air remains dust free.
The speaker recalls testing the small caves above the sea and in fields as wind plays and cattle low. Trees rustle, birds sing, bees hum in a quiet rural scene.
A Limoges consular report to the State Department notes France buys many horses for the army and farms increasingly rely on draft horses as cattle yields decline. The report highlights Ike as a representative American horse and cites a shift from oxen and cows to horses for plowing and transport.
The piece explains hog cholera avoidance hinges on preventing germ contact, and that once infected, pigs rarely survive. It notes modern high bred hogs cannot tolerate careless feeding and housing as in the past, and stresses health hinges on feed, water, exercise and shelter. Proper care and handling are essential for profitable hog-raising.
Gapes affect old farm locations more than new ones due to soil fouling across years of occupancy. Keep chicks on clean boards or fresh plots to avoid former fowl or chick areas. Some successful farmers spade ground and spread a mix of salt and slaked lime on the surface, then rake smooth.
Farmers urged to test seed corn vitality this spring, discarding poor seed. Take kernels from several poor-appearing ears, germinate between moistened paper and warm, sealed spaces, count sprouts. Aim for 90 to 95 percent germination to avoid uneven stands and lower fall yields, and buy locally if possible with car shipments preferred.
The passage argues the chief road issue is differing ideas and local conditions. It advocates practical, not theoretical, solutions emphasizing perfect surface drainage and dual ditches. Roads should be graded with the center two to three feet higher than the edges to shed water.
A correspondent asks whether to cultivate corn deeply or shallowly. The author favors deep cultivation before emergence for weed control, then harrowing crosswise. If weeds are deep-rooted, plow deeply. with well-prepared seed beds and few weeds, shallow cultivation suffices to preserve surface mulch and conserve moisture.
The text argues busy people are repeatedly asked to take on high responsibilities because work builds competence. Through continual effort they gain capability, and activity trains them for larger duties. Labor thus rewards itself by ready readiness for greater tasks.
Wm Dutcher of the American Ornithologists Union advocates the mourning dove as a weed destroyer noting its diet is 99 percent weed seed in a U S Department of Agriculture study of 237 birds, suggesting relief for farmers from weed growth and backbreaking labor.
Oddfellows of America mark eighty five years since Thomas Wildey and four associates founded the order in Baltimore. The event features speeches detailing the Seven Stars birthplace and the 104d fire, with a Baltimore committee securing a tablet for the new building on the old site.
In Assam the Mishmi tribe uses skulls as currency with tiger skulls at the top value followed by monkey and buffalo skulls. A famed chief reportedly owns about 300 tiger skulls and lives in luxury, though there is little worth buying beyond the skull wealth.
The piece explains a windmill churn used in Holland where milk is placed in a vessel inside a box attached to a windmill axle. Wind turns the mechanism, producing butter as winds increase.
A Jamaica Barbadoes and other West Indies life tree, or life plant, is said to possess extraordinary vitality. It cannot be killed by any means except red hot iron. It can be cut into pieces that root and sprout anew, and its leaves reportedly grow even in airtight dry boxes.
Report from Crockett Texas states drillers in the T F F Driscoll oil well at 1000 feet depth uncovered the trunk of a large tree. Bark and wood of fine grain, in very hard texture, have been raised. Estimated diameter between two and three feet.
Residents of Williamstown Mass. watched a real woman hobo accompanied by a man calmly cook breakfast beside the railroad track near the depot. The scene drew curious locals and highlighted use of the rail corridor by travelers and dispossessed individuals.
Galveston May 16 In a remarkable case Paul Clarkson a prisoner in the county jail had a valuable diamond ring recovered from his stomach with the aid of two surgeons an X ray machine and a scalpel. The owner paid for the operation and told him to feed on diamonds no more The stone worth 250 dollars was located by the machine removed and returned to the owner Clarkson who had denied guilt earlier confessed during the search and then recovered rapidly after the operation.
Rev Charles A Lyons pleaded guilty to bigamy and received four years in the penitentiary. He first appeared in Sioux Falls a year ago posing as a gospel minister with plausible credentials. Last summer he married Emma Purvis and vanished. detectives traced him to St Paul and back to Sioux Falls where records showed four or five prior marriages.
The twelfth annual convention of the German Catholic Federation of Illinois opened in Springfield on May 16. Mayor Devereux welcomed delegates as a large parade moved through the business district. A mass meeting followed at Arion hall with speakers Dr. Albert Lockhart of Chicago Anton Scharger of Joliet and Rev. Father Joseph Straub of Springfield. Rev Father Thomas Swing Sherman spoke on The Church the Bulwark of the Republic.
Dover May 16 Charles Wright and William Parker, posing as leisure men, were publicly whipped in Harrington jailyard while wives watched from jail windows. Each man received fifteen lashes and showed no reaction.
In Munising Michigan on May 16 Bert Taylor aged 30 shot his wife, wounded his four year old son, and fired at Harry McCann, owner of the Munising hotel, before turning the gun on himself. Mrs Taylor is not expected to live. Jealousy is blamed for the crime.
Frank Barker of Red Cloud Nebraska testified and confessed in court to killing his brother Daniel Barker and Daniel’s wife last February. He said intoxication influenced his actions and asked for clemency.
Steubenville Ohio May 16 Mrs Jen nile Owens was sentenced to imprisonment in the Ohio penitentiary for life for the murder of her husband six months ago. Owens was found dead in an attic with a gunshot wound on his side.
Cleveland Ohio May 16 Augustis St Gaudens the sculptor has accepted the request to design the Hanna monument. The statue will be placed in his city.
Readers are urged to cut out and mail back this notice to receive a free catalogue of sewing machine brands including Minnesota, Singer, Wheeler & Wilson, White, Standard and New Home. The ad promises low prices and astonishing offers, inviting any interest in trying a machine at any price with postpaid review mail.
A humorous domestic exchange unfolds as a wife blames the butcher for dry meat while plotting to provoke him to scold the cook. The husband avoids blame, and the back and forth reveals tension over household dining and blame shifting.
Mrs Highupp and Mrs Wayupp lament gendered labor in a dialogue on perpetual duty. They debate that men may prosper and retire while women continue both making and receiving calls throughout life. The exchange underscores enduring expectations placed on women.
Mr Highfli asks where the book of etiquette and letter writing is. Mrs Jr questions the request. He replies he needs to write to the grocer to say he cannot pay.
A New York Weekly item portrays a couple where the wife complains that prior to marriage her husband brought flowers daily, while he retorts that flower girls no longer attract him. She dismisses the concern, saying she does not care for flowers anyway.
Harford Mills New York May 16 local residents report Mrs J D Wallace who suffered long illness could not walk eighty rods. After using Dodd's Kidney Pills she gained twenty pounds in three months and regained strength enough to perform daily tasks, with praise directed at the remedy. A final line notes a legal jab about men with money.
A lighthearted exchange has Mrs Blinks asking about screeching parrots in a neighborhood. The agent replies there are none, but Mrs Blinks reveals they already own two, expressing relief at the absence of more.
The Kansas City Southern Railway Company announces the 1904 Almanac ready for distribution. It includes monthly calendars, household hints, and information covering Missouri Arkansas Indian Territory Texas and Louisiana. Send for a copy to S G Warner in Kansas City. A humorous note on love and money follows.
A vintage ad blend touts Defiance Starch as a better 16 oz option for the same price, and promotes Allen's Foot-Ease powder for foot comfort. Also mentions a 5 cent Lewis cigar, bucket shops, and a college band ad seeking amateur musicians. Noted lines reference substitutions and sales pitches.
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