The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-18
5iVIIEELING,JA JANUARY 10, 1900.
About Wool.

x tiSNrlter IN the PlttSDurSn IlmeS VINO
Inns been Investigating the wool and
q sheep conditions In the neighboring
Il county Of Harrison in Ohio, gives some
very interesting reflections on the
I state of that Industry compared with
z Its prOstration under the workings OF
: the Wilson bill. Figures from the as
SCISSORS books show the hocks Of Har-
q rison county in 1891, before the Wilson
\ law had any disastrous effect, to have
been 100, 5S7 sheep. The value OF the
s. flocks In that year was put at s767, $3.50.
I and the $4,000 pounds Of wool at thirty
I two cents had value Of s27s.6s5, MAX
! ing a total for wool and. hocks OF ST.
a047, 800.
3 ia From that prosperous condition the
y industry rclapsed almost to nothing
q ness. The writer in the Times In citing
q the change wrought by the iniquitous
\ Wilson bill says that In 1896 the flocks
4 had decreased until there were bu.
y $4,000 sheep in the county. and the
b value per head had diminished until the
4 entire number were worth but $l3S,000.
+ scarcely onc-sixth as much as five
b years before. The 100000 pounds Of
y wool at fifteen cents came to $1,000.
4 slightly more than twenty-five per cent
oflthc clip of 1891. The value Of sheep,
4 wool and all. had dwindled from more
& than a million TO less than fourth
that much. 1t will be noticed that the
! number of sheep had fallen away more
3 than q third. The decline in the price
! of4wool. and the fear that the business
was ruined forever, led to n panic
= among the farmers. and sheep were
y sacrificed at prices that seem little
i short of absolute insanity now. that the
conditions are changed again. Fine
animals were loaded on the cars in
+ Cadiz and neighboring points and sold
4 there for considerable less than a dolr
: lar a head. 1t is said that some sheep
Il sold as low as twenty-five cents head,
81 and probably that is possible. One
4. man told me of buying large number
$ at seventy-five cents for shipment. Yet
these sheep under different conditions
:. had been worth IS. Many of the Har-
& rison county sheep were sent to buyers
in Wyoming and Western Kansas and
IS Nebraska. who, attracted by the price.
\ and able 10 make wool at little cost.
q took advantage of the ruinous prices
to stock up with the best Of new blood,
j. and to Increase flocks that can thrive at
the least cost regardless Of tariff con-
: ditions." 2
Depressing as were these conditions
i there was one farmer, ut least. who had
not. lost faith. and who looked for
ward to the time when the Republican
4 party would be returned to power and
4 the.ev promptly corrected. He reas-
= oned:
you can't fool the whole country
y very long Mt time. AS long rs mer
live IN this climate they must have
I clothes and food. and there is nothing
I to Take the place Of wool for clothes. nj
least. We might have known that any
8 legislation that knocked IS per cent of
Of one industry, and which reduced the
value Of one business In one: county
! $3.50. 900 n year, would not meet the ap,
{ prevail OF the nation. We are getting
y back, into the sheep business In the
Z. county again. Butyou must remember
THAT while you can get rid Of Il flock OF
sheep In very short time. It takes &
long time to build one up again by the
3 slow process OF nature"
His faith Is being realized in the
4 rapid Improvement of conditions under
the working OF the present henefccnt
tariff provisions. Last fnll," says the
{ Times correspondent. according to the
assessors courts, the flocks Of Harrison
\ county had increased to 10O,S5T sheep,
valued at $i0S,0O0. The wool clip had
J. advanced TO 56i,799 pounds, and the
price had climbed up to twcnty-six
cents. While this is still far behind the
values of 1891. it Is n long way ahead
r OF the values of 1896, the sheep and
wool together showing an increase In
Il the,two years of $S35.OOO. Trustworthy
men estimate that the next assessmcn;
4 Of the focks will show an increase OF
from fifteen to twenty per cent. which
II continued for another year would
bring the number up TO where It was
before the mistaken policy of destroy
ing the domestic wool trade was com.
menced in Congress. The wool bust.
< ness Is on II substantial up grade, and
while the farmer Is finding decided
hope In the future 1t has some distance
4 10 so before It reaches the point from
which It rcceded. And, no matter wha,
the restored future, nothing can re.
store to the iloclsmastcr the losses o.
A. the half dozen years OF disaster tina,
have interviewed"
4, The history OF the wool Industry in
West virginia is but counterpart O.
that In Ohio. and while " has not re.
3t covered from the blow that free trade
:, inflicted upon 1t TO the extent It has lr
our neighborinS state across the river