The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-01-03
Western Rivers on a Rampage-Some
"reminiscences that will Interest
rIany of Our Readers.


The following letter from an old Ceci
countian was not intended for publication
but it has so many good things in it that
we can't keep it from our readers, and
will compromise with the writer by with
holding his name. 1t appears impossible
for him to write without saying something
of general interest. He should have been
an editor. What stalwart reform writer
he would have been.
WHEATLAND, Mo-, Dec. 25th, 1895
1 enclose money order for two dollars fol
which please give me credit on sub to the MID
LAND JOURNAL. know the senior does not like
taffy, but for the boys am going to say that the
JOURNAL pleases me-partly by what it publishes
and more by what it does not publish. On the
silver question it has continued to preach the
orthodox doctrine as 1 understand it and long
may it wave. may say just here that its visits
have been on time with scarcely an exception.
should probably have heard less of it had it not
been the number for Nov 22d which unfortunate
ly went astray, and it was to have had the con-
cluson of the "Tax on Bachelors" in which a
bevy of girls who occupy the various farm houses
about naQ somehow got interested ana nave look
ed in vain for the missing number.
We have had the biggest flood on record. In
fact do not like to trust myself to tell just how
big it was. l have seen the Octoraro on many a
rage and the old Susquehanna on many a boom
since the Conowingo bridge went. in 1916, but
these streams are not t6 Jared to our
Pomme de Terre and Usage M-on they have the
job of emptying three days rain into the Mis-
souri,. was over last night with friend of mine
who owns fine farm of 24O acres of bottom land
on the Pomme de Terre. His place is swept
every fence gone or piled in ineXtricable drift
piles; one hundred tons of hay which was in
stacks gone glimmering or hanging disconsolate
in the big button-wood trees, twenty-five feet or
more above ground; thousand bushels of shock
corn gone to feed the fishes or rotting in the
drift-piles. His next neighbor had nineteen head
of cattle drowned in a stalk field and these are
only sample cases.
see by late paper that the old Ben Brown
farm has been sold by Mr.. Stewart, of Baltic, to a
native Now the point to this is that when sold
that place to Mr.. S. he was a business man. and he
told me that the reason farmers were not more
successful was because they kept any accounts
They never knew what anything cost to grow it,
etc., etc. That he intended to conduct his farm
ing on strict business principles, and when he
found crop did not pay he would drop it and
try something else As 1 had farm to sell fully
agreed to his theories but with the resolve to
watch the outcome. This was about fifteen years
ago and confess Mr.. S. has held on like bull
dog to his experiment. 1t may have been because
he could find no one to help him let CO. or it may
be he found the gamut on which he could change
the tune ofhs farming was more extended than he
supposed and it has taken all this time to get to
the end of the scale. Anyway, 1 would like to
take look at his ledger now the end has come
and see if could learn exactly where it is that
the average native falls down in his farming. If
you see Mr.. S. please ask him for an abstract of
his farm account and publish it for edification,
WE'LL 1 run to the end of my paper too soon. 1
hope you may prosper the coming year and
pound away ON the SLIDER wedge. 1t is destined to
be the opener to the other reforms.
We feel like we ought to put in word
for Mr.. S. in regard to keeping record
of his farm business. The "1edger''
which our old friend desires to examine,
would no doubt tell the story that the
millions of workers ought to know, that
the most frugal management and eco
homie pains-taking care will not suffice
against steadily falling prices which has
been going on for the last fifteen years.
This is the ripe fruit of the ''gold basis
system of finance, Cheap crops and dear
money.