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^ l m grist s sons. Mutton.'}" ~ i ^amil3 JMwt: 4" <M {promotion of the political, Social, Agricultural anil Commercial Interests of the {people | ,ER^'N'0"E?lJy'"" J" """" ESTABLISHED 1855. YQRKVILLE, S. (3., FRIDAY, MARCH 1(), 1911. INTO. 20. "Alias Jimmy Valentine" CHAPTER XIV?Continued. "Oh, I'm to be arrested for this Jimmy Valentine, am I? The last time I was mistaken for him I was only embarrassed by having a tough on the streets In Chicago claim my acquaintance.. You are really amusing, Mr. Doyle." The assistant cashier chuckled softly. "So that's your game, eh?" "No game that I can see." "I suppose you are going to deny that Bill Avery called on you today?" Doyle watched the other intently to note the effect of this shot. But Valentine was entirely equal to the occasion. "I do not know your friend Bill, Mr. Doyle," positively. "No," exasperatedly. "Then a man with iron gray hair wearing a top hat and carrying a cane, did not get off a 1 train here today and come straight i here?" 1 "It is not possible for me to know i how the men get here who call on me. ? Such a man as you describe, however, i did call on me. But that man's name 1 was?er?er"? He crossed to his desk, i paused, glanced perplexedly at Doyle < and then reached to the telephone. i "I forget for the moment, but they likely will know outside. Hello! Do 1 you recall the name of the last man < who called on me today? No, not Mr. Doyle; he's here now. Cronln, that's it. Thank you." He hung up the re- i eeiver. "Cronin," he added. "He came i in here a short time ago to negotiate a loan." "Cronin!" gasped Doyle. "So he's 1 taken a new monaker, too, has he? ! Ana ne came to negotiate a loan irom Banker Jimmy Valentine! Well, If ? that isn't rich! I do wish Warden Handler could be here today to hear ' you pull off this little stunt. I always told him you were too good for the safe breaking game. You ought to be ] an actor or a United States senator. You're wasting your time in this busi- I ness." 1 "I appreciate your compliments, but I really quite fail to understand you." Valentine spoke sharply. "Your atti- i tude is trying my patience, Mr. Doyle. I am a very busy man, with large responsibilities, and as this conversa- 1 tlon is entirely frivolous?frivolous, I t say?I must regret to fully inform you that I must continue on my day's ( work." He nodded toward the tray of ] currency. "Believe me, I am perfectly 1 willing to do what any citizen should \ do to help apprehend a criminal, but I must ask you"? i "Oh, h?1, Valentine, do you think i I've lost my eyesight? You're Jimmy Valentine, and that was Bill Avery who called on you. I guessed he knew i where you were and had him watched, "quad to know you, mk. doylk.' and the first trip he made I followed him. Now, cut it out and declare yourself. Do you come, or do I get requisition papers and take you?" His manner became as threatening as his words. "You will do neither, and you will desist from insinuating that I am a criminal or I will cause the watchman lo eject you from the bank. Further. I do not know that you are a detective. Your actions are those of a lilnekmniler?or"? A clerk entered. "Did you ring, sir?" "Yes. Kindly remove that currency," cried Valentine, eying Doyle. "So many suspicious characters about in these hard times that one must always be careful of strange visitors, particularly in a banking office. The clerk cast an apprehensive glance at Doyle, whose face had turned red with rage, and, seizing the tray, hurried toward the vault room with it. "Take it out, take it out," commanded Valentine, waving his hand. "I shall take no chances. Now, Mr. Doyle, either show credentials to prove what you are or I shall telephone the police." Doyle, amazed at the effrontery and daring assurance of Jimmy Valentine, fell back against the wall, his legs threatening to give way beneath his heavy body. "In the name of Dan the Dip," he exclaimed helplessly, "if the crooks were all as slick as you, Jimmy, the jails would all be empty. You don't dare do it." Jimmy Valentine picked up the telephone and, getting the central of the bank's exchange, ordered in no uncertain tones: "Get me police headquarters at once." Doyle was further astounded by the readiness with which the battling young man before him had accepted his challenge to call the police. Was Novelized by FREDERIC R. TOOMBS From the Great Play by PAUL ARMSTRONG Copyright, 1910, by American Press Association. it possible, after all, that he had been mistaken? No. It was Jimmy Valentine who stood before him, the same Jimmy that was wanted by the Massachusetts authorities for that old and almost forgotten "job" in the savings bank of Snringfield. Mass.?$14,000 in currency taken on a Washington's birthday night and not a mark of an instrument or of an explosive on the safe when next morning the doors were found yawning open, the night watchman gagged and bound helplessly to the metal legs of a stationary washstand in the vice president's office. "Here, cut that out!" he cried, lunging forward at Valentine, awaiting a response to his call. "Don't bring any of these locals in on a big job like this." He thrust back his coat and. opening his vest revealed a shining shield fastened on one of his suspender straps. Valentine bent over and inspected it very deliberately and very closely. He turned to the telephone and instructed central to countermand his call?all a mistake. The two men seated themselves, Doyle drawing a chair close to the assistant cashier's desk. "Very well, sir. Now if you can see fit to refrain from your embarrassing questions and innuendoes I am sure we may arrive at something." "Of course you know you will have to prove that you are not Jimmy Valentine." "Pardon me, Mr. Doyle, if I set you right on a point of law," smiled Valentine. "You will have to prove that I am your friend Jimmy Valentine." "But you won't make me," laughing confidently. "No. To expedite matters I will convince you that I am not." "Please do, Jimmy." "Very well. Tell me how I may prove it." "Very simply. I said good by to you In a hotel one afternoon in Albany three years ago. You were fresh from ?Sing Sing prison." "Am I to understand that I was in prison, a prisoner?" " 'Doing a bit,' yes." "But I couldn't have been. I couldn't have been in two places at the same time." "No, not easily, and as Sing Sing doesn't allow its boarders to go visiting [ guess you were there. Now, think hard and try to remember," advised the detective. "Mr. Doyle, there can be 110 chance of any deception in so open and shut a matter. If I was in prison I must be your man. If I was not"? "You were in Sing Sing; committed on the 9th of February, 1906." "February 9, 1906, I was in St. Paul. Minnesota, sir," returned Valentine positively. "Well, the proof is finally up to you." "But my word," injuredly. "Oh, you arc going to talk me out of It." "But I can't get proof in an instant. Go up there and investigate." "No; it's too far, and don't forget you were going to prove it." Valentine now appeared to be disconcerted. Doyle watched him curiously. He did not underestimate the cleverness of the young man who had outwitted the veteran trackers of men for years and whose escapades extended over half a continent. But he was anxious for the next step in what he considered a colossal attempt at deception. CHAPTER XV. Valentine broke the silence. "But to prove so important a matter so suddenly?on a second's notice?why, no man on earth can? Wait. If I happen to have that scrap book here; I brought it down one day, and if'?he opened a drawer?"here it is. Of course there may be nothing here on the exact date you mention." The last doubtfully. "What's this?" "A scrap book. I suppose all people are the same about this little vanity," whimsically. "You doubtless cut out the first clippings about yourself you ever saw in print. There?no, that's 1907." Doyle came to him. Valentine shuffled the pages back. "Well, that's pretty close?that's in March, 1906. I made a speech that night. What was that date again?" "Well, by"?began Doyle, completely nonplused. "That was a pretty good speech," commented Valentine, pointing to another clipping?"second one I ever made. The first, what was that date? February what?" "Ninth." Doyle rose impatiently. "This is too good." put in Valentine. "Here, look here." He indicated the picture on the wall. "Who is that as big as life there? It's been staring us both in the face ever since you've been here. Doyle went to the photograph. "That was on Feb. 9, 1906?why, yes. the photographer even dated it." "Is this you?" Doyle pointed to one of the figures in the group. "Well, look at it. If this Valentine was in prison that must be me. You said yourself that Sing Sing doesn't allow boarders to go visiting." Doyle stepped back in front of Valentine's desk. "You van alibi yourself into hell. Valentine, but you ean't get away from that sear on your left wrist. Doyle had reserved this telling shot for a critieal moment. "I never had a sear on my left wrist," the other returned jubilantly. "Let's see," the detective snapped unbelievingly. "But that proves nothing." Valentine drew back as he spoke. He anpeared unwilling to permit Doyle to make an examination of his wrist. "Let me see, I tell you. It's got to be shown sooner or later. Dela;. won't get you anything." Doyle was forcing the lighting now. He was certain that he had Valentine cornered. The assistant cashier thrust his hands behind his back. "Don't you realize," he said triumphantly, "that that is a very old fashioned method of identification? Don't you know that since the introduction of a horsehair in sewing wounds there is never a scar?" He smiled irritatingly at Doyle. As a reply the detective bent swiftly across the desk, seized Valentine's arm and drew his left hand toward him. "Could an old scar be opened and sewed with horsehair and disappear?" he asked dazedly as he saw the wrist was unmarked by any indication of a scar. "I don't know; I presume so," Indifferently. tiToo oSlonf Thia loot rlftlnllP. ment disconcerted him more than had anything1 else. An idea came to him. He lunged forward, clutching Valentine's right hand in his own, and jerked it across the desk. "Was it the left wrist that was scarred?" he cried. He pushed back the cuff, but the surface of the right wrist was as smooth and as unbroken as the other. "Anything else I can do for you?" asked the assistant cashier calmly as Doyle let go his hand. "By , that's funny!" murmured Doyle. He looked across the room to the picture on the wall. He drew a magnifying glass from bis coat pocket ft YALENTINE SHUFFLED THE PAGES BACK. and stepped before the handsomely framed photograph once more. He passed the lens up and down and across, over the face of the photograph, then wheeled about and faced Jimmy Valentine. "Mr. Randall," he said apologetically, "you must excuse my mistake?my most unfortunate mistake?and I trust that you will overlook my ungentlemanly manners. I now realize that I have been making insinuations against an entirely innocent man. You of course realize the difficulties of my profession?how in dealing with the brightest criminal brains in the world we cannot avoid making errors at times, but"?his face glowed pride? "I will say in justice 10 mysen mui this is the first mistake of the kind I have ever made." "Quite true?quite true. I am sure, my dear sir," commented Jimmy Valentine condescendingly. "I can see that you are exceptionally able in your line. Some day if we ever have a lost, here through thievery I shall be most glad to recommend you to the directors. and I am sorry that you feel so embarrassed at your error regarding me." "Oh, cut that! Don't worry about me," said Doyle vengefully. "Wait till I put the bracelets on the real Jimmy Valentine, then save your sympathy for him. He'll pay for this day's work. It's all through him that I made a sucker out of myself today, Mr. Randall, and when I get him he's going to 'come through,' which means confess." Doyle paused for breath and concluded, "I'm on the biggest job of my whole career, and when I finish it I'll have the real Jimmy Valentine sewed up in a little stone jug G by 8, without light or fresh air, and what he'll get to eat would make a pit bull terrier turn vegetarian. (To be Continued.) NEW METAL FOR TOOLS. Stellite Cuts Ordinary Steel With Apparent Ease. A new metal for tools which will cut and not rust has been obtained by combining chromium and cobalt. Elwood Haynes, the inventor, calls the alloy "stellite." In color it comes between silver and steel and when polished shows a high lustre. It is both strong and elastic, forges readily at a read heat and can be bent at a right angle when cold if the dimensions do not exceed one-fourth inch square. Blades made from the alloy take a tine cutting edge. A kitchen knife ldade made from this material was in use for two years without showing the faintest sign of tarnishing. A razor in constant use for the same period showed no signs of wear, though it required more frequent stropping than a razor of steel. A small chisel, onefourth inch square, cut a twenty penny wire nail in two without marring the edge of the tool. A latin* tool math* from it with sonut modifications wan found capable of cutting ordinary steel tit a very high rate of speed. In it test made against high speed steel the stellite tool cut it continuous shaving from the bar at the speed of 200 feet per miuute. while the high speed alloy steel tools failed almost instantly. The stellite alloy may be made by melting in a furnace of special construction. operated by natural gas. *.t New photographs of Adelina Pattl and the dowager Queen Alexandra of England have just been published. Patti is 67, and Alexandra is 66. Her majesty in speaking with the famous prima donna is reported to have said, "we are two of the youngest women in England." Poth pictures look as if the subjects were women about .'10 or x Many who see the truth the most clearly do not practice it. 2UisfrUatuon.5 heading. CARE OF FRUIT TREES. Full Direction as How to Spray and What to Spray With. Spray all fruit trees while In dormant stage which will be from November to February inclusive. This spraying Is with the lime-sulphur wash and Is made as follows: Put 15 gallons water in large iron kettle and bring to boiling point. Weigh out lt> lbs. flour or flowers of sulphur and pour enough water on it to make a thin paste. Now pour this in the kettle of boiling water and continue to boll. Weigh out 20 lbs. stone lime and put it in the kettle of hoiling water and sulphur. Keep the solution boiling violently, not a slow simmer. If the solu tion begins to boil over, check it by pouring in a small amount of cold water. Continue to boil until the color changes to an olive green or to a dark red color. This will require from 45 to 60 minutes of violent boiling. When this color is obtained add enough cold water to make fifty gallons of the whole mixture. Strain the mixture Into the spray tank and apply while still warm. A meal or flour sack makes a good strainer. Cover every part of the tree thoroughly, and any scale insect, insect eggs or fungus disease spores on the trees will be killed. Spray all thin bark shade trees with the same substance as these scale insects attack all thin bark trees, especially fruit trees and maples. This spraying positively must not be done before the leaves fall from the trees, nor after the buds begin to swell. This Is the only spraying that need be done during the winter. Directions For Spraying Apple or Pear Trees. The first spraying to be given apple and pear trees after the winter spraying with lime-sulphur wash should be given just after the buds begin to swell, before the blossoms are out. Tnis spraying is to kiii rungus spores and make the tree healthy. The spray solution to he used this time is Bordeaux mixture, which is made as follows: Put five pounds of copper sulphate (bluestone) In a sack and suspend it in a vessel containing 4 or 5 gallons water, preferably warm water. Let the bluestone barely be covered by water, as it will dissolve more rapidly this way than if allowed to rest on the bottom of the vessel. Slake five pounds of stone lime and add enough water to make a thin liquid. Strain the two solutions. Now, pour the two solutions in a barrel, pouring both at same time. A third person should stir the solution while it is being poured into the barrel. Now, add enough water to make 50 gallons and stir thoroughly. Be sure that every twig and every portion of trunk and branches are covered. The next spraying should be given the apple immediately after the blossoms fall, certainly not later than ten days after they fall. This spraying is for the purpose of holding in check the fungus diseases, and the codling moth which is the common apple worm. The codling moth lays her eggs in the calyx or blossom end of the apple just about the time the blossoms fall. About five days from this time the egg hatches into the worm and it immediately begins to eat its way toward the centre of the apple. About two weeks after the blossoms fall the end closes up and all the spraying you can do will not reach the worm. This is the reason why it is so very Important to spray soon after the blossoms fall. Tha aAfntinn tn ho iiqoH thia time fa ? combined insecticide-fungicide in order that you may kill the fungus diseases and the apple worm at the same time. Use Bordeaux mixture with 6 oz. paris green or three pounds arsenate of lead mixed with each barrel of the Bordeaux. Mix the poisons with enough water to make a thin liquid and then add to the Bordeaux and stir thoroughly before using. 3rd. The next spraying should be with the same substance and about three weeks after the preceding spraying. 4th. The fourth spraying should be given three weeks after the third one and with the same spray mixture. 5th. About three weeks after the fourth spraying has been given the fifth one should be given and with the same substance. 6th. Give the sixth spraying with the same mixture and about three weeks after the fifth has been given. If the above sprayings are given thoroughly, first-class apples will surely result, provided the orchard is properly cultivated, fertilized and pruned. If you think you cannot do much spraying and are determined to omit some of those recommended, let it be the one just before the blossoms open, and the last one or two. The results from spraying apple trees will not be at all satisfactory unless at least three sprayings are given in addition to the winter spraying. Diritrdnni: Por Rnravinn P#?aph?R. T1 ?/ ""3 Plums and Cherries. Of course they should have the winter spraying of lime-sulphur. The 2nd spraying should he given just after the blossoms fall with the self-boiled lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead, which is made as follows: Put eight pounds of stone lime into a barrel and pour enough water on it to cover it. As soon as the lime begins to slake add 8 pounds of sulphur. Stir the mixture constantly and gradually add more water until the lime is well slaked, then add enough water to make 50 gallons which will cool the mixture and check further boiling. Strain into spray tank and add three pounds of arsenate of lead which has previously been mixed with a small amount of water. It is now ready for use. The foliage of the peach, plum and cherry will not be damaged by this mixture, but it would by the Bordeaux. The lime-sulphur kills the rot fungus and the arsenate of lead the curculio which punctures the small fruit and causes it to fall from the tree. 3rd. Give third spraying with same solution two weeks after second. 4th. Spray with self-boiled lime-sulphur two weeks after third spraying, leaving out arsenate of lead, as there is no danger from now on from the curculio. 5th. Spray with self-boiled lime-sulphur at intervals of two weeks until fruit is nearly ripe. Directions For Spraying Grapes. 1. Spraying with Bordcaux-arsenate of lead mixture just before bloom opens. 2. Spray with plain Bordeaux after fruit has set. 3. Repeat 2nd spraying every two weeks until fruit is three-fourths grown. After this give one or two sprayings with self-boiled lime-sulphur. L. A. Niven. ODD WAYS OF TELLING TIME. The Cock, the Sun and the Cat's Eye the C!ocks of Turkey. A watch or a clock was about as rare in Turkey fifty years ago as an aeroplane is in America now. Even today in the smaller cities and villages a timepiece in the house is a convenience and luxury indulged in hy a few of the wealthy class. Nature is the clock of that land, a clock which never stops or fails to serve its purpose. The crow of the cock is the simplest, says Armenia, the sun the most dependable and convenient and the cat's eye the most difficult and to Occidentals the most humorous of timepieces. The cock crows regularly morning, forenoon, noon, afternoon and evening, and serves the purpose of the striking clock of a belfry tower. Sometimes a cock crows at irregular periods. Woe unto him! for superstition demands that his head be chopped off. a de mand which is complied with withou delay, for to tolerate an ill-crowln cock is to bring bad luck?so the na tives believe. It needs little experience to he abl to tell whether it be morning, noor afternoon or near evening, by mere! noting the position of the sun. Th time is more accurately told by Judg lng the shadows cast by the sun, whlc is the mode most popular with th shepherds in the fields. Still another method, more accurate Is the following: They hold thei thumbs touching each other horizon tally, and extend the forefingers u perpendicularly. Then they divide th thumb and forefinger of each han i.ito six parts, nominal hour point! one hand representing the mornini and the other the afternoon. Where the thumbs Join being 1 o'clock, the tip of one forefinger rep resenting 6 o'clock in the morning an< the tip of the other 6 o'clock in the af ternoon. By holding the hands in th described position toward the sun th shadow cast by one forefinger upoi the other will point to the correct tinru judged by the hours nominally markei In mind. The hour divisions may b divided into additional parts, as th quarter hours. To tell the time by the cat's ey sounds at first humorous, but it can b done. The average person perhaps i not aware that the shape of the cat' eye undergoes changes during the da\ In the morning the pupil is normall; circular, but gradually it narrows un til noon, when only a narrow streak I left. As the day progresses it resume its normal shape, becoming oval abou 3 o'clock in the afternoon. In Turke; it is common for the old folks to cal the cat to their sides in order to as certain the time. As an illustration of how accurate!; time can be measured by the shadot cast by the sun can be cited a trial ii the courts of Omaha, Neb., held in th first week of January, 1911, where i mftn wag acquitted of the charge o attempted murder through the alih established by the shadow of a churcl steeple cast upon a photograph, whicl contained the two accusing witnesses who had testified seeing the man be tween 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternooi while returning from church, after th photograph was taken. But from the angle formed by th shadow and the horizontal boards o the church in the photograph Fathe Riggs, astronomer at Creighton unl verslty, calculated the time the pho tograph must have been taken am testified that the exact moment wa during the afternoon at 2.21.29, on hour later than the witnesses had tes tifled they met the prisoner. The tes timony given by the astronomer wa so concise and clear and the Impossl bility of the witnesses having seei the accused man at the scene of th awI?ma Via \*v*n ti'q a a 11rsanH t Li IIIIU ai uic II1IIV ?v u.i>vRvu %, ha /? been committed wan shown to b so absolute that the accused man wa acquitted. CONCERNING EGGS. Reflections By the Wife of a Cold Stor age Man. The recent catastrophe In the eg] packing business has reduced the egi men and their wives to such flnancia straits that some of them are turnini to literature in the hope that it wll help them huy their groceries. If the; cannot sell their eggs at a profit, the; hope, at least, to turn their trouble into literature and checks. The Tri bune is in receipt of the following dis sertation on "The Egg and Its Habits, by the "Wife of a Cold Storage Man. Check goes forward herewith. "Lay not up for yourself eggs in coli storage, where moisture and age dot! corrupt and where pure food law break through and squeal. "When I met Tom it was a case n eggs at first sight and ever since lif has been one grand omelet to me untl this winter, when the bottom droppe out of the case. During the late un pleasantness Tom, to use his ow: words, "got it in the yolk, and the some.' As usual, I was the innocen bystander and was egged on until was tempted to beat it. How was I t know that eggs which went into th cooler at 25 cents would came out a 5? I don't know any hens personally how could I tell? Kggs are just lik the boy who couldn't learn to spel because the teacher kept changing th words on him. You can't learn whei to store eggs because the weather mai keeps changing the weather on yoi That's what Tom says. "In my estimation a strictly fresl egg is all right, but a rotten one shouli be canned. When you come to knov eggs as well as I do you'll get to real ize there's a lot in them. There ar men in this town today who couldn' hold a candle to an egg. A man ma; be 'fresh,' and a fresher man 'awfull; fresh,' while an egg under the sann circumstances would be 'fresh,' 'heh fresh,' or 'fresh laid.' A man is as oh as he feels and a woman is as old a: she looks, but an egg is fresh all th< time until something happens. It al depends on the life it has led, whethe it has had a hot time and gone to thi bad early or has managed to keep coo and earn the respect of the commu nlty. "The egg has an awful crust. Ai egg that is old enough to know bette: will try to look like it hadn't been lah an hour. It's nothing but a shel game. The way it keeps In storage ai depends on the shell. When an egj has done time in the cooler until senili decay is no name for what it has, iti shell grows a mossy fungus that Ton calls whiskers. He says any warehousi that is on the square will furnish t razor with every case. "Speaking of eggs reminds me o the farmers and the pathetic tales w< used to hear of the poor farmer bun coed by the wicked commission man Hut it's different now. "The commission man, all sad ant forlorn, is milked by the farmer al shaven and shorn, who is driven hom< in the early morn, in the limousim with thy crumpled horn, which hi toots and toots to show his scorn, am t<> frighten the hen that laid the egg! that are stored in the house that Cole Storage Jack built."?Chicago Tribune >t' One hundred special railway can are continualy on the road conveying beer brewed in Riga to various parts o Russia, including remote points in Si' beria. THE TRUTH ABOUT HUMUS. it g An Expert Agriculturist Makes Himself Clear. Because of misleading articles e which have recently appeared In a i, number of agricultural Journals. Iny dicatlng that the teachings of the e University of Illinois concerning the - subject of humus and plant food is h being misunderstood and misstated. It e seems only Just to us and to all interested In the subject that a definite i, statement be made regarding the matr ter. i Thus, an article entitled "Humus p and Hopkins." by H. P. Patterson, of e the Montana Agricultural college, in J ?i On of Tanuonf 1 o u int? uimuut ruiiuri ua..uu. j ?v, J, 1911, contains alleged quotations said g to have been taken from a lecture which I am reported to have given 2 at Rloomlngton. Illinois, including the - following: d "What is of very much more value - than humus is decaying organic mate ter. It Is the action you get In the e process of making humus that is most n valuable. It is decaying organic matter that Is valuable. The humus itd self is very inactive. Humus has been e in the soil for hundreds of thousands e of years, and will remain there yet." In another part of the country e Professor W. F. Massey writes as fol- ' e lows, in the Southern Planter of Jan- < s uary, 1911: a "Professor Hopkins, of Illinois, is nothing If not peculiar. He now tells y the farmers (1) that humus is not im portant. (2) that humus has no plant s food, but (3) that what we need is 8 plant food." t 1 shall not discuss the point of pey cullarlty except to say that these are II peculiar criticisms considering that I - never gave any such lecture at Bloom- : ington, and never made several of the y, statements credited to me by Patterson and Massey. Certainly I have v never said "that humus is not importo ant," and I have never said that "hue mus has been in the soil for hundreds I of thousands of years." I may have said that some of the humus still con" tained in our worn soil has been there d for hundreds of thousands of years; h that the plant food which it contains ] , is not readily available, and that hu mus is not the all-Important thing in ?, soil fertility; but even when I have . made such statements as these I have ; always in the same connection pointed out the true value of humus. e The following exact quotations 1 might very properly be cited if it is i e desired to state the true position of ; our teaching regarding plant food, der caying organic matter, and humus: r Value of Farm Manure. "It is one thing to say that farm - manure has a value, but quite another A thing to say what that value is or to 1 what it is due. "The positive or intrinsic value of e farm manure lies in the amount of - valuable plant food which it contains. . It also possesses an important. Indirect value as a soil stimulant, due to 8 f?c! nnu'or n? It fprmpnta and decavs. - in contact with the soil, to liberate n from the soil plant food that would i not otherwise become available so quickly. There is still another distinct 0 value in farm manure due to the fact e that it makes the soil more porous s and spongy and thus increases the power of the soil to absorb and retain moisture and to resist surface washing. In other words, this third value of farm manure is due to improvement in physical condition. "The value of farm manure for its - physical improvement of the soil, is commonly fully appreciated, and frequently overestimated by popular 5 agricultural writers, while its value g for the plant food which it supplies 1 and for that which it liberates from B the soli is sometimes almost ignored. ? "There is no good excuse for erron- i II eous teaching regarding these differ- ( y ent values because there exists a vast y amount of positive information, both from practical experience and from 8 exact scientific investigations. "Thus, organic matter from peat . beds hauled out and spread on the ? lands and incorporated with the soil, ' produces no such effects on crop " yields as are produced by good farm , manure. Why? Because the peat ! j does not decay readily so as to furnish plant food either by its own de" composition or by liberating it from , s the soil; and yet the peat has as great power as farm manure for physical . improvement of the soil. "Manure made from clover hay and c heavy grain rations has much greater II value than manure made from wheat j straw. Why? Because they affect the physical conditions of the soil in - different wnvs? Xo. The great dif n ference in value is due to the dlffern ence in plant food and in rapidity of decay. "At the famous agricultural experlI ment station at Rothamsted, Eng0 land, on a field to which no manure _ and no plant food have been applied, the average yield of wheat has been 1 141 bushels per acre for more than ; half a century. Land treated with a e heavy annual application of farm mall nure has produced 35.7 bushels of wheat per acre as an average of 51 e years. Another field treated with ( n commercial plant food without oru ganic matter has produced 37.1 bush- ' els of wheat per acre as an average ' during the same time. The latter Held i received a little less plant food than \ h was furnished in the manure, thus , furnishing ample proof of the value of plant food supplied In manure and 1 showing that the physical effect of i - the farm manure was by no means p all-important. "Nevertheless the physical effect ' 1 should not be overlooked. Under cer- I v tain seasonal conditions this physical j y value may be very important. Thus . in the very dry season of 1X93 at Rothamsted the land fertilized with ' ^ commercial plant food produced only i 1 21.7 bushels of wheat per acre, while 8 the farm manure plot produced 34.2 bushels the same year." e (The above quotations are taken < 1 from pages 9 and 10 of Illinois Ex- < r periment Station Circular No. 108. . and the following statements are from pages 194 and 195 of my text ' book on "Soil Fertility and Perma- | - nent Agriculture.") Organic Matter. t t "The organic matter of the soil may r bo considered in two classes, uctlve timi insietive_ although no very sharp ' Iln?*!i can be drawn between them. ' "The most active organic matter ? 1 consists of such substances as decay- , r Ing plant roots and crop residues. ' green manure and animal manures, ? incorporated with the soil. These t s products decay rapidly in the soil and , i in the process of decomposition llber? ate not only plant food which they contain, including nitrogen, phospho- ? 1 rus, and potassium, but they also set ( free other decomposition products, f such as carbonic acid, nitric acid, and organic acids, which have power to dissolve more or less additional plant 1 food from the mineral part of the , ,. soil. . "The inactive, or less active, organic matter consists of the more resistant 1 * organic residue that remains after I several years and that decomposes very slowly. If present in large quanB tity. Its gradual decomposition may t still supply sufficient nitrogen to meet | s the needs of good crops, although its 1 power to liberate mineral plant food , from tho soli may not provide adequate supplies of available phos- ( ' phorus, potassium, etc. "Thus, we tind that one soil may at tho same time be richer in organic matter and less productive than an- ? s other soil, even though the two soils r are alike in other respects. Three f tons per acre of fresh, actively decaying organic matter may be more effective for a year or two than thirty tons of old and less active humus. 1 "The term humus Is not synony moua with organic matter. Humu: Includes only that part of the organh matter that has passed the most ac tlvo stage of decomposition and com pletely lost the physical structure o the materials from which It Is made and has thus become, as a rule, thor oughly Incorporated with the sol case. "It Is the decay of organic matter and not the mere presence of It, tha gives 'life' to the soil. Partially de cayed peat produces no such effect upon the productive power of tho sol as follows the use of farm manure 01 clover residues." Regarding the value of humus, as such. Professor Milton Whitney, chlei of the United States Bureau of Soils makes the following statements or page 16 of U. S. Farmers' Bullettr 257: "We have studied the office of hu> mus In the growth of plant. We have found that humus extracted from oui cultivated soils Is Innocuous to th? piaru. 11 1.1 apparently neitner beneficial nor deleterious?. Humus is s very stable form of organic matter. II remains in the soil for years. It maj be exposed to extremes of heat anc cold. but still the black color of 8 black soil will persist. It hi mucl more stable than wood. It is intc humus that wood or wood fibre is converted if it in incorporated in s finely-divided condition In the soil anc goes to an end product; that Is, if II goes Into Its most stable form. ] really believe that humus, next tc coal, is the most stable form of organic matter that we know of, and II pou think this over, you will agree with mo that when organic matter Is converted into humus, it is as thorjughly preserved as any organic matter that we have in nature." Of course, this refers to the value of humus as a source of plant food and not to its physical value. By excessive tillage and the use of caustic lime, further decay of this old humjs can be effected or hastened, and thui some plant food can be secured fronr true humus; but. as a rule, the use ol farm manure or of legume crops ai green manures will be more profitable especially in systems of permaneni soil improvement.?Cyril G. Hopkins University of Illinois. TOWBOAT AND WINDJAMMER. Bargaining In tha Old Days For a Lint Into San Francisco Harbor. Towboating out of San Francisco ir the old days, when the white wings ol lofty ships appeared on the horizon Ir a steady procession, was a much mor< thrilling and exacting game than it it now. In addition to exercising Judgmenl and good seamanship the towboat skipper was called upon to do some fine talking, much like the auctioneer Freights were good and the shrewd towboat captain was not modest Ir the price he would demand for a tow Many a skipper tore his hair and danced in rage on the poopdeck because h? was compelled to give in to the demands of the Shylock on the towboat It was a nasty, thick morning ir February a good many years ago wher the lookout at Point Lobos reported t big four masted American ship outside. By the time the tug reached th< Bailer a heavy fog had closed in anc the lines of the windjammer could onlj be discerned phantomlike in the obscuring mist. "Do you want a tow?" shouted th< captain of the tugboat through hii megaphone. "Yes," came the reply from th< windjammer. "All right; I'll take you in for $500." "And I'll see you ten fathoms length on the road to the bottom of the see first," roared the "blue nose." The impudent tugboat put about ant steamed away into the fog, which became still more dense. The ship's bel tolled out a warning through the impenetrable pall. The sea gurgled ai the bows as the vessel drifted. Aitei a short time had elapsed the tugboai came back and the captain of th< windjammer nearly tumbled over th< side as a voice spoke, almost mockingly: "Better change your mind, captain and take a tow; you have drifted ir near the rocks. The price is $500." The frightened skipper could not se< more than a ship's length ahead, bui he fancied he heard the ominous thunder of the breakers. The tugboat wai a dancing imp off his beam. He hes itated no longer. "Get your hawser aboard in a hurry," he shouted entreatlngly. The line grew taut. The tug throb bed ahead. A few minutes passed ar.( then the atmosphere cleared, the sur shone on the crisping waves. Th< windjammer was well off shore anc had been In no danger of getting clos< In. If a vessel showed up having lost hei anchors on the bar or in fetching uf outside the Inexorable tugboaters always fixed a fancy price for a tow, as the windjammer would be helpless ir the clutches of the currents. This was a predicament of the master of a certain square rigger, but he had wits to match those of the man on the tugboat. \s the small craft came in sight the aptain of the ship had the parted cades run out through the hawse pipes jo that the hookless ends were beneath he waves. The small canvas was so let that the ship had the appearance ?f a vessel riding at anchor. When the towboat came alongside he skipper was leisurely pacing the leek smoking his pipe. He replied carelessly to the query if he wanted a ;ow. "Not particular," drawled the sklp>er. "Hooks holding pretty well." "But there's no wind," argued the ugboater. "You can't sail in." "Well, we can wait for a breeze, I juess." "I'll take you in for an easy price," >ffered the former, naming a moderate sum. "Tnai's reasonauie enuugn, naw m he skipper, his eyes twinkling in triimph. "Make fast." After the dicker had been completed tnd the hawser put aboard the master if the sailer ordered the chains hauled ip. What the towboat captain said when le saw the broken links dangling out >f the hawsepipes was enough to drive he mermaids blushing to their grotoes.?San Francisco Chronicle. Proof at Last.?During some recent nanoeuvres a private had his skull >adly injured. The doctor told him hat the brain was exposed. "My brains exposed?" the Injured >ne cried' in surprise. "Yes, my man!" replied the doctor. "Please, doctor, do write and tell my ather about them," said the private, he always swore I had none!" t"' ' Prices paid to cattle raisers in Arjentina have been rising steadily for he last twenty-five years. TO MEXICAN FRONTIER. | Twenty Thousand Troops Ordered to Texas. f Washington, March 7.?The most extensive movement of troops and war j vessels ever executed In this country In time of peace Is now under way by or. der of the president as commander-In' chief of the army and navy, the objecl tlve being the country north of the 1 Mexican boundary and the waters of r the two oceans at either end of It. j Twenty thousand soldiers, more than f one-fourth of the army of the United . States, of all arms of the service are J moving toward the Mexican boundary; four armored cruisers comprising the - fifth division of the Atlantic fleet have 3 been ordered from northern waters to [ the naval station at Guantanamo. ! Cuba, and most of the Pacific is or i shortly will be on its way to assemble at San Pedro and San Diego, Cal., and I 2,000 marines are preparing to make l the Cuantanamo station. their head1 quarters. ? It was officially announced at the L White House and at the wax and navy I departments today that the purpose of J this great mobilization unprecedented ( save in war times, is the training of . officers and men under service condl' tions, and practice in co-operation of ! the land and naval forces. Unusual . pains were taken by all officially con cerned in the matter to give this color to the sudden activity, but these state! ments were accepted with increasing ! reserve. There have been many Joint : manoeuvres during past few years, but ' these have been planned far in ad, vance and carried through without a r ripple of excitement, or even of evl' dence of interest at the White House. : Today the executive officers were steeped with mystery; the entire morning was given over to conferences with officers of the war and navy department. This atmosphere a mystery and the zealous efforts to t minimize the importance of the business, lent a curious significance to the ) fact that Gen. Leonard Wood, chief of f staff of the army, in an effort to elude j interviews slipped out of one of the , rear windows of the president's office ' and beat a masterly retreat through the secluded portions of the White t House grounds to a rear entrance of t the war department. 5 The real significance of these activities which have been confined app&r[ ently to the last forty-eight hours or , less is thought to relate very directly to the conditions in Mexico, and to | the growing belief that the situation , there is by no means so satisfactory as , the Mexican government would have it believed to be. There are persistent , reports that the physical condition of , President Diaz has lately become such i as to alarm his adherents and that . momentous developments are to be j prepared for. I One report which was current here r today was that the Pearson syndicate, . heavily interested In enterprlsesjn northern Mexico, had appealed to the j British government for adequate proj tectlon of themselves and other foreign interests in preparation for the , chaotic conditions which would almost certainlv follow anv serious loss of prestige to say nothing of the collapse , of the Diaz government. It was said , that the British ambassador had taken up the question with the state 1 department here with the suggestion . that unless the United States took im1 mediate steps to exhibit its disposition . and ability to protect foreign interests t in Mexico, the European governments, f more particularly Great Britain and t Germany, would be compelled to do so. i Of course no direct confirmation of > this report was obtainable, but the . sudden burst of martial activity gave it color. Senor De La Barra, ambassador of i the Republic of Mexico, who has been in New York, returned to Washington ; tonight to fulfill a social engagement t and returned at midnight to New . York. He disclaimed any knowledge j of any change in the internal condl. tions of Mexico and as for the health of President Diaz, he insisted that . nothing in the personal or official of the communications of the president . indicated anything but his usual sati isfactory condition of health. Morei over, he stated that, apart from > sporadic disorders connected with the 1 revolt in isolated parts of Mexico, the ? situation was normal. It was admitted at the White House p this evening that the Mexican insur) rectos had been giving considerable trouble to the contractors engaged on the work of damming the Colorado river, across the line from the Imperial valley in California, and that Mexico was sending by way of the Gulf of California a regiment of federal troops , to guard the work which was under( taken by the United States to prevent floods in the Imperial valley and the i surrounding country. Two hundred Mexican soldiers sent through Yuma, Arizona, some time ago for this purpose were gobbled up by the insurrectos and never reached their destination. The president told callers today that Texas and the adjacent country offered an admirable field for manoeuvers at this time of the year but vouchsafed no further information. No such secrecy ever before has mofir/xs? tho nr^norotlnns fnr nrAntire manoeuvres. Quite the contrary; at other times the participating officers have been only too glad to draw public attention to and arouse public interest in the work of the army and navy. Furthermore, it was freely stated today that the appropriations for army manoeuvres for the current fiscal year are all but exhausted ^nd it is pointed out that in ordinary circumstances no such movements as those sprung on the army and navy during the past forty-eight hours would be thought of. Hence it was inevitable that Washington should be skeptical toward the explanations given officially and should look to conditions in Mexico, known or suspected, as explaining more plausibly that concentration of an army close to the border, with a goodly portion of the navy at hand in either ocean. ??'A movement is on foot among the telephone girls in Rome to have abolished the regulation which forbids them to marry before they are 28 years old. Italian women reach their prime before they are 20, and the telephone girls consider their chances of marriage greatly lessened by this government regulation.