Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-19
HOTEL CORRIDORS
I'M

very rev people, mink. are aware LDdt
the corn lands of the United States are:
about all under cultivation" said Gen. Ben
Le Fevre Of Ohio at the Riggs to Star
reporter. Such. however. Is the case, and
In the future thesprice Of corn will steadily
increase. not onlyr because the number Of
acres OF good corn lands is limited, but be-
cause the people Of foreign countries are be-
ginning to use, corn in larger quantities
than ever before. found, when recently
abroad. that the peasantry of Europe were
mixing cornmeal with their rye -four and
were beginning to like the combination In
countries where to the poor meat is a lux
ury nothing stays up a workingman equal
to cornmeaL Virginia. Ohio. Indiana. Illi-
nois,t Iowa. Kansas. Missouri and Nebraska
are the great corn-rais4ng states.
Corn lands run In streaks. Not ali land
In corn raising states Is adapted to the rails
Ing Of corn. Tn my state. for instance, the
great contrasting belt Is in the Miami val
ley. The soil is a peculiar-looking black
loan, made up OF alluvial deposits. and Is
as lasting almost as granite. The corn
lands along the Wabash. in Indiana. are
much of the same quality. The lands In
the famous Genesee valley, New York. were
once the bottom Of a lake, biologists tell
us. AS demonstration that corn lands run
In streaks, take as a case in hand Jewell
county, Kan, which Is the banner corn
raising county in the state. The counties
contiguous are nowhere near fertile, and
yet IL they were placed in some states far
Their north would be considered phenomenal
corn-growing centers. All kinds of yarns
are told about the corn crop of Kansas this
year. No one knows to a certainty what
the yield is, but 1t is safe to say that 1t
beats the record by several millions of
bushels. Any one who saw the size of the
ears brought to this city from Kansas dur
Ing the recent G. A. R. encampment will
rot Of I'll, Ind Of
raise In the sunflower state. A few ears
Of that kind of corn would fill a bushel
basket
"a veteran was detailing to stranger
in my presence something about the Won
derful corn crop of Jewell. A boy went into
the corn field one day and climbed a stalk
for the purpose of getting better view OF
the surrounding country. While he was
engaged In viewing the scenery he CHANGED
to look down and found himself at a dizzy
distance from the ground, so rapidly had
the stalk grown since he had climbed it.
He shouted for assistance, and when 1t
came and an attempt made to cut the stalk
with an ak 1t was found impossible to
strike 1t twice in the same place. The
boy was finally given up for lost. In other
sections the stalks were temporarily used
for telephone poles until the proper tim
Der could be secured to rest the wires on.
Another good story that 1 heard was of
an eastern traveller who happened to look
out of the window the train was pass
Ing through the, corn belt. Turning to the
porter the traveller asked how long 1t would
be before the train passed through the tun-
mel. : Dis amt no tunnel, boss, dis Is the
Kansas corn belt, and the tall stalks shut
out de sun. You won't see much mo- day
light for twenty-five miles
In the wave Of prosperity which has
swept over the~country the farmer is sub
merged to the chin, and no wonder he
Votes the republican ticket, for now he
is getting his long lost innings. l have two
farms in the Miami valley, which pay me
20 per cent on 3he investment. What class
Of real estate Is paying better than that?
haYe=been trying to buy third farm, but
1 found l could not get one without paying
all the way from SS03to SS5 an acre for the
kind. want to own AS a matter of fact
farmers are not anxious to sell. now that
they are making money. Farm lands and
farm produce reached the high water mark
during the years Of the civil war, but the
farmer IS doing better today than he was
then. for his dollar is worth hundred
cents,
There seems to be a misapprehension in
the minds Of some people In regard to the
much talked OF speedway, which 1 have
projected along the Potomac" said Colo
mel Bingham at the Arlington last even
ing. ITO begin WITH 1T has been. stated
that the driveway viii be OF concrete. On
the contrary the raadbed will be of maoa-
dam and win have top-dressing of dirt
sufficient to make vehicles run easy, and
not so thin as to fnjure the feet of horses
at speed. j have plans formulated for an
ideal speed and driveway, but 1t will take
some years, perhaps before all my plans
can be realized. In the meantime we must
do the best we can with the money Cen
gress gives sus. And An this connection l
desire to, say that Congress has not been
niggardly in granting appropriation for
this enterprise. / find that the committee
on appropriations is as liberal as It should
be in the way Of granting money for pub
bers Of the committee that there is not a
Job behind the thing you want and they
will generally do the rest.
''What the city Of Washington should
have, and what it will have In the course of
time. Is plot Of ground set apart specially
for speedway purposes. This scheme would
give greater satisfaction to those who de-
light to drive at a slow pace as well as to
those who like to drive fast and take an
Occa SiOnal fall out of the other fellow who
thinks he has got horse that can go some
As matters now stand, when the driveway
Is finished, certain hours in the forenoon or
afternoon Will be set aside specially for
persons who desire to speed their horses,
and the right, OF way will be given to per-
sons who go this way of hitch. Just what
hour will be the most suitable for these
people has not been decided upon; when
the time arrives representative horsemen
will be consulted on that point. 1t has been
suggested by some lovers of the Hght-har-
ness horse that between the hours of and
pm. would be the best time to let the
speeders cut loose, as many government
clerks have horses that can step some;
while on the other hand many clerks who
do not own horses would like to go down
and see the fun This would work all
right were it not for the fact that II is a
fashionable hour for the great bulk of other
people to go driving. What I want to do is
to give every one a show and deprive no
one Of his natural enjoyment"
II never see Mr.. ]. Pierpont Morgan that
am not impressed with his striking re-
semblance to his maternal GRANDPA Their the
preacher and poet, John Pierpont," said the
scenic artist, Mr.. L. w. Seavy Of New
York. at the Arlington. my first Meeting
with Mr.. Pierpont was as far back as 1861,
when*he came to my town of Victor, On
tarlo county, N. Y. to attend a convention
Of spfritualists that was being held there
He was man Of striking presence and of
great personal magnetism, as I remember
him. and most entertaining converse tom
aiist. had read several OF his poems but
the one that impressed me most was en-
titled Passing Away" Forty years ago or
more=it was embodied in the Sanders series
of readers. and I ventured to ask the
author how het came to write it. He said
he had just moved into d new house in
Boston. where he had a charge. and like a
very poor husband, he had left his wife to
e1ota