Arizona republican., 1899-12-22
 5 TOPICS OF THE HOUR 3


| Here is an item which might be put
 to valuable use in the Salt River val ley:
 A. J. Wakefield, a farmer near Sioux Falls. s. D.. has found a new use for the steam engine which is used to run his thrashing machine. Instead of put ting it out of service for the winter when his thrashing was over. he filled five big wagons with four hundred and ninety bushels of wheat, fastened them together one behind the other, like a train of cars. and used the engine to pull them to town. The journey of if teen miles was made in six hours, the engine and train requiring the atten- tiOn of but one man besides Wakefield. An average load for a team of horses is fifty bushels of wheat, so that even on the first experimental trip the en- ! zine did the work of ten teams, and | Wakefield feels sure that one thousand bushels can be drawn by the same en- zine without difficulty. The use of the
 engine resulted in a great saving of time, while at the same time it left both horses and men at home to work In the fields. which need prompt atten-
 ton at this time of the year. Wake | field believes that his idea will open up a new field of profit for all owners of | thrashing engines in the farming dis tricts.
 At this time of year the city of New York is one of the most attractive spots in the world. The holiday dis plays in the retail streets are magnifi-
 cent and the shopping crowds and pleasure seekers form wonderful at traction. The following paragraph
 from a New York paper will be inter esting at least to those of The Repub- ! Ican's readers who have never seen the second city in the world in the Christ mas season, and it certainly is signif: cant of the return of good times: The exhibitions in the shops and in the streets are worth seeing. They are
 not all of people from out of town. | New Workers are supporting one an- others business interests nobly and money is not only coming into town, but is changing hands after it gets here. | The street cars are good gauge of the amount of stir and movement and business that is going on. They are more interesting to see than they are
 to ride on. It is good fun to see other 1 people crushed together like a box of ! figs, but it is not so pleasant to be one
 Of them. And yet burghers and strang- CTS alike, must pass from place to place, and, not being angels. the most i of them, they must traverse the inter
 mediate space. For the same reason i they become congested, as angels. no doubt, never do.
 There are these inconvenience about | it all, and perhaps a few more, but on
 the whole it is a delight to see people walking boldly into shops again and l buying things, with no look on their faces as if they were sacrificing bread when they buy pictures or sugar for their tea when they buy books. The air now is of a population that can have what it wants without more than reasonable fear of the consequences. The population has been q good while in getting back to this felicitous state,
 but it appears to have arrived now
 May it get into it deeper yet, before it gets out.
 The narrative of Captain Joshua Slo- cum's "single-handed'' circumnaviga- tion of the globe has proved a remark ably popular feature of The Century.
 In the January number, the Yankee sailor tells of his arrival at Cape Town and visit to the South African republic where he was accorded an interview with President Kruger. Everything
 went smoothly till Captain Slocum's introducer, Judge Eeyers, referred to his voyage around the world. You ! don't mean round the world" ex- i claimed their host. "It is impossible.
 You mean in the world" This flat contradiction of an "outlander" heresy ended the interview. Before it oc- cured, "Oom'' Paul had delivered him. 1 self of an epigram that revealed his shrewdness as clearly as his geograph- ical correction" had disclosed his ig- norance. "The corner stone of the South African republic is dynamite" said he. Of the English he remarked:
 They took first my coat and then my trousers
 The village of Three Oaks, Michigan
 Is excited over the prospect of losing the Dewey cannon, the gift of Admiral Dewey. In an interview the other day
 the admiral said:
 
 enue cutter McCulloch brought off the ] Spanish gun from Corregidor island, he thought it would be a nice thing to give to the society in the United States that was building a monument to the mem
 ory of the men of the Maine. I con- sented and the gun was delivered at
 San Francisco by the McCulloch. The committee decided to award it to the city or town giving fbe largest sI1n1 of money for the monument in proportion to the population. Three Oaks won it,
 and was entitled to it, and now some one questions my right to give the cannon away. It was mine, wasn't it?
 l did violate the rules of the navy de- partment in giving the gun away, but ! I was violating the rules every day. I was obliged to. Now, if the attempt is
 made to take the cannon away from i Three Oaks I shall go to the president ] N.-l f