The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1883-04-27

ana emma, " obtain Tor them PREPARATION
Tor losses sustained by being driven out OF
the town above named some months since,
the minister called the attention of the state
department 10 the matter. Secretary Frel-
inghuNsen In reply, said rs the cninpain-
ants We're notinjnrrd In their rights OF per.
! son property tnr"us'i an act OF the United
States, the depart mtut cain do 10 more than
IL has alreldy dnnc- that Is to request the
government 0f Georgia to instruct the local
authorities 10 investigate the alleged out
rage upon the Cinnamon with Il view to Sc
curing for them the same rights of protec
ton To person and property which would bc
accorded American citizens.
A RAILROAD rAX CASE.
A decision was rendered by the United
states supreme court Monday in the rail-
road tax case of the Little Miami and Co
lumbusand Xenia Itairpad company, plain
sill IN error, against the United States, in
error To the circuit court of the United
States for the Southern district of Ohio
This was suit brought by the United
states to recover from the railroad company
tax of 5per cent. on alleged profits of the
company carried TO the account of any
fund or used in construction''--at tax author
lied by the act of June 81, as amended by
the act of July l3, 1866. The Judgment of
the circuit court Is reversed and the cause
remanded with instructions to deduct from
the amount of earnings as aScertalned upon
the former trial the items of $2!,OOO depre-
citation in the value OF bonds and 5,22j de-
probation In the value Of certain cotton
press stock, together with such other sums
included In the items IF x51, 155, and To rem
der Judgment only for such an amount OF
tax as shall appear To be due upon the
basis.
THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
The department of agriculture Is not
making encouraging progress with its ar
tesian wells in Colorado. The land along
the water-cOurses has been so generally
taken up that the department concluded to
back from the streams desirable by means
OF artesian wells. These were intended
primarily to supply water for cattle ranches
but they were also To aid in irrigation. Last
fall two wells were contracted for. Worl
has been done on only one. This Is all
lis miles east or northeast from Denvei. o.
The contract Is for 900 feet. The commi-
sioner of agriculture has just received in
formation that Il depth of !, 40 feet has been
reached and water has been found, but it
only rises seven hundred feet. This leaves
it more than three hundred feet below the
surface, so that in its present condition the
well Is value!ess. Work will proceed, how
ever, unless the contractors, who are losing
money owing To the difficulties encounter
ed, throw up the job. Commissioner LOr-
ing is determined to give sorghum fair
chance and as soon as the season Is far
enough advanced, he is going to plant sixty
acres of it near this c,ty. He has got his
machinery all ready, and is going to make
another effort to get good sugar from the
sorghum juice at renunerative rates. The
removal of Mr.. Collier, lately chemist of the
department, and the appointment of Prof.
Riley as his successor Is attributed to sOrgh-
UNI. Collier has for q year or more refused
to speak to the commissioner, and finally
the commissioner concluded that IL would
be q convenience to have chemist that he
Coll All had In I'm
theories about sorghum, and got support
last fall from the Academy of Sciences. DIR.
Loring had other theories about sorghum,
and so Collier cut him.
THE WINTER GRAIN CROP.
The department of agriculture reports the
condition of the winter gr. IN crop on April
over its entire breadth. In Michigan and
other northern territory, wheat was still
covered with snow. In the Ohio valley the
winter protection had been partial for the
term, locally varying from three. to ten
weeks after which the loss from freezing
was quite general. Theaverage deprecia-
tion is greater in the upper part of the Ohio
of the Alleghenies the condition Is. good in
the northern belt declining slightly in the
in any part of the south. The average Tor
the crop is 50. Last April it was lO4; in
1881, 81. The most observing reporters have
tANiHllltu lllt IOOtS, anu nldIiy CbSCo
found them healthy, while the plants are
brown. There is good reason for believing
that the real condition of wheat Is, there
fore less unpr0mising than it seems. The
averages of condition in states of large pro-
ductiOn are:
New York. ......l 0l Michigan. ...... .93
PENNSYLVANIA. 49,. 95 Illinois. ........,. so
Ohio. ........... 20 Missouri SO
Kentucky ....... so Kansas. ..........7 10
Indiana. ........... - California. 80. .62
The average of winter Wheat varies little
from last years breadth. The returns in
dictate an increase of per cent. Illinois
returns per cent. increase; Ohio, Michi-
gan, Indiana, and Missouri per cent. de,
crease: California 10 per cent Increase and
a slight decrease appears in the. gulf states;
The returns of the quantity OF seed used
per acre indicate q tendency to thin seed
ing. Ten years ago about six peeks PEI
acre were used: now less than five and q
half i'm the winter wheat region. The in
creasing use of the drill admits of this econ
omy. The acreage OF winter rye Is W per
cent. of last years breadth; average condi-
ton, "a.
Returns received by the department ( : ag-
riculture from the spring-wheat region show
that seeding was in progress on April j, but
not anywhere finished. In Dakota and
parts of Minnesota it has hardly commenc-
ed, large areas being still covered with
snow. The department therefore docs not
spring wheat.
PoSTMASTEES' SALARIES.
The new law for the adjustment of Saln-
ries of pOstmasters, taken in connection
with the forthcoming reduction of letter
postage from 3 to , cents, will effect a ma
terial change in the pay If poStmaSters il
all the small Offices. as WcllaS in the amount
of revenue derived from sj i Offices to the
government. 1t Is estimated that undcl
the Kew law, aud upon the pre- eat fniiinc
of business, the aggregate revenue vi tie
pOstoilicc department from the sale Of post
age-stamps OF all kinds will be reduced 20
per cent. Upon the basis of this estimate
the proportiulate receipts of the govern
ment and postmaSters respe lively IN the
smaller offices will be changed as follows:
I'm postofiices where the annual revenue
from stamps amounts To so, the postmaster
now receives S3 and the government $40.
Under the new law for u like amount OF
business the postmaster Will receive $40
and the government nothing. Similar pro-
portlonate changes will be made in the re-
ceipts of the government and pOstmasters
according to the amount of business done,
until the offices are reached which have q
gross revenue from stamps OF $50 per an
| mum. In this class Of offices the pOstmast-
I'M