The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-11-11
Views and Interviews.

Mr.. Il. l.. Dixon, an undertaken at
Milton. sends the News and Observer a
copy of a letter received by him from the
sheriff of Yancey county calling atten-
ton to section IS of the Revenue Act,
Laws of 1899, which imposes license
tax of $40 on all undertakers. This
tax must be paid on or before the first
Monday in December, 1890
at strikes me-" says Mr.. Dixon, com
menting on the matter, las being a very
unfair law A large per cent of the
undertakers, especially in small town,
do quite a small business and barely get
a meager living out of it. and are not
able to pay this tax. And l judge from
the reading of the sheriff's letter that the
license applies to large and small under
takers alike. This appears to me to be
very unfair If it was necessary to i'm
pose the tax why not have "a graduated
license tax similar to the merchants tax
then there would have been no kicking. ;"
Our readers should remember that the
great meteoric shower, predicted by the
astronomers, will occur between midnight
and day on the nights Of November a.
- and IS. These meteoric showers oc-
cur regularly every 80 years and many
vember 18th, 1888, as the night "the
stars fell" There was a shower in 1866,
but it is thought the one this year will
1 IL
A meeting of the Broom Manufacture
ers' Association of the United States.
will be held in Chicago on November
IA for the purpose of further increasing
the price of brooms. 1t is said that the
broom corn market is the most remark
able ever known in its history. The
first new crop sold at $50 to S75 a ton,
and the price has steadily advanced to
$3.50 ton, with a prospect that it will
go higher. It is expected that many
of the smaller broom factories through
out the country viii be compelled to
close at the beginning of the year on ac-
count of the high price of stock. Some
manufacturers anticipate that the best
grades Of brooms will be advanced So
Il dozen by January /.
One of the greatest Of American home
plays is "Shore Acres" which will be
presented here this afternoon and to-
night. James A. Herne first produced
it in Chicago in 1892. The scenes of this
charming comedy -drama are all taken
from life and the incidents portrayed are
the homely happenings of the people Of
small fishing village on the coast of
Maine. Mr.. Herne has not sought to
clothe his dramatic personal in silks or
satins, but he has aimed to present their
individual characteristics i'll a simple and
truthful way that cannot fail to move
the hearts OF all those who love and ad-
mire all that which is beautiful in ma
ture Mr.. Herne's hero in "Shore
Acres" has most homely exterior, yet
Lis trying to live up to that greatest
of all epigrams DO unto others as you
would have others do unto you" clothes
him with IA dignity and nobility that
cannot fail to make a deep and lasting
impression There is so much to praise
and admire in this play that one wants
to see it again, and it is to be hoped
that 'Shore Acres" will long continue
TO grace the English-speaking stage.
Mr. Vanderbilt will try on his farm at
Biltmore the experiment of raising
Ginkgo nuts. He has secured from the
Department of Agriculture at Washing
ton a peck of the seed and an effort
will be made to grow the trees there.
The Ginbgo trees home is Japan and
China and the inhabitants of these
Al. IL,
article of food.
The nut looks more like a persimmon
than nut. Its exterior is Il soft Shiny
pulp of whitish color and much shrivel-
ed in appearance When shaken from
the trees the nuts fall in sloppy mess
on the ground. The Cinnamon gather
them in wooden boxes and wash off
the pulp, which has a peculiar and
frightfully offensive odor, and the nut,
which looks like a plum pit except that
it is whittier, is put into a bag. The nuts
are cooked before being eaten. The in
terror is soft and gelatinous and rather
tasteless. Americans who have tasted
them do not take kindly to them, and
the fondness of the Oriental for them is
credited to the "Reminiscences which they
recall of his native land and possibly
the nut pies which mother used to
make"
The Ginkgo tree resembles the poplar
in certain respects, but its shape is more
regular, being pyramidal and gracefully
tapering 1t has a dark green escalop-
ed leaf which adheres until the very
latest frosts Then it turns a bright yell
low and sheds rapidly. The nuts grow
only on the female trees and are close
to the branches behind the leaves, and
each has its individual stem.
There is in Washington city hand
some double row of these trees bordering
the smooth asphalt drive leading mp to
the main building of the Agricultural
Department. Six of these are female
trees and bear nuts. The yield Of these
six trees is the first considerable crop
of Ginkgo nuts ever grown i'll this
country. The trees in the grounds of
the Agricultural Department We're grown
from seed imported thirty years ago.
They are just now arriving at maturity.
In speaking of Rev. Nj. w. Butler,
who comes to serve the Christian
church, the Berkeley correspondent of the
Virginian- Pilot says: GAS a pastor he
is true, unfaltering, kind and sympa-
thizing, and has the meekness of a