davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
Paying Toll to Rats.

Why should farmer, continue to
pay heavy toll of his grain to a horde
of disreputable rats, when one-half of
the annual loss from these rodents
would make a crib or bin rat-proof.
II the receptacle is built on stone,
brick or wooden blocks, with sheet
of tin or zinc laid on top thereof, rats
can not enter, and will have to leave
and forage in the bins of farmers who
can not afford such precautions. After
a crib is built in the old way the con-
tents can still be protected by cutting
the tin in pieces four to six inches
square and driving them edgewise be-
tween the blocks and the superstruct-
ure, letting them overlap at the cor
ners. This is not hard to do, provided
the blocks are high enough so that a
man can work around them. Or any
old tinware, oil cans or anything from
which considerable scraps of sheet
metal can be cut, will serve the pur-
pose, and may be nailed around the
blocks in bands half foot wide. Rats
can not climb over tin.-Farm and
Ranch
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23

difficulty of examining the negative
from time to time to stop the developing
process at just the proper moment This
is overcome in the apparatus here shown
by placing a rejecting mirror beneath
the box, which throws light through a
colored screen in the bottom of the de-
veloping tray, and, the latter being of
transparent material, it is easy to watch
the process of development and check it
at the right time The apparatus in
cludes, of course, developing and fixing
baths, with shelves for storage of the
chemicals, and provision is also made
for a stream OF water for rinsing the
Chicago Daily News.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
PORTABLE DARK ROOM.
An English Inventors Idea OF Great
Interest to Amateur Photograph
ers Everywhere.

Every photographer will be interested
in the portable dark chamber for ma
nipulating plates and films, which has
recently been designed by an English
inventor. 1t is, of course, intended
largely for, the amateur, as the profess
sional is generally provided with large
room especially fitted up for this portion
of the work To those who are unable
to provide themselves with the regula-
ton dark room, through lack of space,
this idea will prove especially interest
ing. The idea of portable dark room,
where plate holders can be retilled and
the exposed negatives packed for ship
ment, is not entirely new, the inventor of
this outfit goes step further and adds
a developing apparatus, which is novel
and especially advantageous for the
class of work the machine has been de-
signed for.
The trouble with developing exposures
in q portable dark room has been the
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
PRODUCING WATER GAS
New Method Discovered In nns,. "a,
That Should Cheaper the Prod
uct COnsiderably.

Once upon time Illuminating gas was
made by distilling coal. Nowadaystt is
obtained by passing steam over bke.
Coke is derivative of bituminous koal,
and it consists almost entirely of bon,
but 1t is the solid residue which ID left
after the volatile elements in the coal
have been driven off by heat. In thu pro-
cess of manufacturing water gai, the
oxygen and hydrogen of the steam are
separated, and the former combines with
the carbon. The product then is a Chem
lcal compound of carbon and oxygen.
mixed mechanically with uncombined
hydrogen.
NOW, there are two gases in which
carbon and oxygen are combined. If
there is one atom of oxygen to one OF
carbon, the combination is called the
"monoxide." If two Items Of oxygen
unite with one of carbon thejproduct Is
the "dioxide." 1t is the latter (accom-
panied by the hydrogen which the
maker of water gas wants Unfortunate
ly in the methods which have been en-
ployed hitherto the preliminary heat
ing up" of the coke generates only the
"monoxide,'' which is practically
waste product. This stage of the pro-
cess consumes nearly or quite two-thirds
Of the solid fuel before the production
of dioxide begins.
A writer in the Engineering Magazine
describes system which has been per-
fected in England, whereby the manu-
facture of carbon monoxide is dimin-
ished and that of the other combinations
increased. These results follow a re-
duction of the thickness Of the layer
of coke through which jet OF air must
penetrate. This air, 1t should be ex-
planned, is let into the retort to promote
combustion on small scale. The neces-
sary heat is developed inside the retort,
instead of outside. The general nature
of the apparatus and the procedure re-
main almost unchanged. The only al
teration is in the arrangement OF the
coke. #
The results of this change are little
short of marvellous. The heating up
stage is reduced to two or three min
utes, while the gas making blow Is in
creased to eight to ten minutes, the pro-
duction of water gas for each ton OF
coke is more than doubled and the con-
sumption of coke in heating up is, there,
fore, reduced by one-half. AS the coke
is the most expensive material used in
the process, the improved method d.
minishes the cost.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SOIL CULTIVATION.
More Depends Upon the Stirring
Up Of the Soil Than In Gem
orally Supposed.


There is q great deal more success
depending upon the cultivation or stir
ring OF the soil than is generally sup
posed. And for this simple reason we
sometimes greatly neglect it, thereby
affording us great loss in crops and in
the valuation of the soil for future
crops. No farmer or any tiller OF the
land can afford to neglect it. 1t affords
great many advantages of which we
will only mention a few, and those
very briefly, in these few lines. In the
f!rst place it was meant for man to
cultivate or till the soil, and it Is
good thing that 1t was so intended, as
it keeps him busy if tended right, and
a man should be kept busy, as it does
not pay to have any idlers. 1t was
meant for man to work and earn his
bread, and so I think this was
one reason why it was meant for man
to till the soil. Next, it helps much
more in retaining the moisture than
by actual experience, during dry sea-
sons it is easy to see the difference be-
tween the well-cultivated crops and
those which were but half or not at all
cultivated. Often and shallow cultiva-
ton, if done in the proper way, and at
the right time, in dry seasons will
cause dust mulch, and this aids
greatly in retaining the needed moist
ure. These may seem to be small
points, but remember that small things
arc better than none, and that enough
pennies will make dollars. But here 1
would state that I call this a rather
large pointer retaining this moist
ure in dry years is worth dollars to
the crops on every acre, but l would
also say there may be places where
this practice may be overdone, though
not likely. Next it stirs and breaks up
the ground SO that it may come In con-
tact with the air. The atmosphere and
sunshine have great effect on the SOIL
thus treated, and then it loosens the
hard soil so that the roots may pene-
trate it more freely, thus giving a
greater root-feeding surface-for this
point alone it would pay to cultivate
our land. II you don't believe it pays,
Just give it a fair trial, and I know you
will be convinced. Farmers should not
do anything which does not pay, and
hence if cultivating does not pay we
should not do it. But it does pay, and
therefore we should practice it extern
sively. l am in favor of less acreage
and better tillage. and believe it will
pay, although I have not tried it on
what I call small scale. Why should
a man say that it does not pay to cult
vate? do not see any good reason
which he could give. l believe every
body will agree that it pays we'll Our
experiment station has tried it and
found it to be so, and every farmer
who has tried it, or has seen other
comparisons, knows it to be all right.
And so l conclude by saying, that 1t
is all right, and profitable in all cases
when done in the right way. Better
cultivation is what the American farm
er needs and more of it. That is one
reason why I want less acres, so they
can be cultivated better. But what
ever we do, let's have thorough cult
walton and we shall reap the greater
harvest and profits.-E. J. Waterstripe
in EpitOmist.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
A western woolRrower.

Newcastle, Wyo., Dec. 2l.-There is a
man in this place who claims that no
one need suffer with backache, as he has
proven in his own case that it can be COM
pletely and permanently cured.
His name is S. c. Hoist, and he is a
stock raiser a woolgrower.
Il vas shearing sheep at the time the
first oain came on says Mr.. Hoist. Il
was SO bad for two years afterwards that
! could hardly sit down, and when once
down, it was almost impossible for me to
get up again.
Il tried all the medicine / could hear
of and several doctors without help, not
even for moment. used Dodd's Kid
ney Pills and they made new man out of
me. felt as if there was new blood in my
veins. l am as stout in the back as a
mule and can lift and work as hard as l
please without an ache or pain in any part
Of my body.
ut is now over year since they cured
me and can say there is not healthier
man in Wyoming than | am, and before
using Dodds Kidney Pills there was not a
more complete physical wreck in the
whole country than ! was.'
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
THE FARM HOME.
The Farm Home Should BE the
Most Beautiful, But How
often IN 1t.

The home on the farm surrounded,
as it should be, by the works OF ma
ture. can and should be the most beau
tiful homes. A nice grove in front OF a
farm house is not only artistic, but can
be made a source of profit by planting
it in nut-bearing trees; and no farm
Ia complete without orchards large
enough to produce plenty OF various
kinds of fruit for home use, for II the
how has plenty of fruit at home, he Is
not apt to purloin the fruit OF the
neighbors, thereby gaining the name OF
a rough boy" missed half the pleas
ure of life as boy by not being raised
on a farm, but that was partly COM
pensated by the annual visit each sum-
mer to the farm, where l climbed trees
and rode my grandfathers unb;oken
horses to my hearts content and MS
discontinue. There was very little
progress in farming, those days, and
most people were willing to do a thing
"just SO" because father did. My moth,
or once told my grandfather OF my
reading every agricultural work l could
get, auu uC uc1lVCICO AAO O AoA6 AS0SeAA
on the foolishness of trying to farm by
baaks and papers. My mother was al
ways proud of my taking to farming,
but my father was disappointed, as he
wanted me to study medicine, so that
/ could heir his practice at his death.
MY mother always spoke OF me as
her little farmer" I was romantic
when boy, I read description OF
Texas Rangers camp that filled my
mind with many romantic ideas, and
do what l might l could not get over
it; so one evening shook the dust OF
the city from my feet and was on my
way to the west. put in four years On
the plains, branco busting and cattle
herding,, but I did one thing beneficial
to myself broke the chain of ro-
nance about myself, and was ready to
return to the farm. If the description
OF cattle ranches and gold fields could
fill a boys heart with an ambition to
visit them. a book to be used in our
rural schools, setting forth the beauty
and content of life on farm, would
do mucn towards helping our boys to
see the grandeur of Life on the
Farm" provided the parent read the
book and tried to make home life con-
form with what the book described
Enos c. Pittman, in Epitomist.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
Th. velocity of Radium.

That latest wonder of science, radium,
is now believed in some quarters to be
the substance of which the sun is COM
posed. Light travels at the rate OF 1885,
900 miles a second. Considering that
the brain can scarcely grasp the speed
of bullet, mere $50 yards second, it is
readily. seen how far beyond human
is such speed as this.
Nor is it any easier to grapple intelli-
gently with the speed of the emanations
Of radium. some of which fly OF at ve-
,ocity of 12O, 900 miles second, and will
nenetrate steel and various other sub
stances as easily as smoke will pass
through muslin So powerful are these
ravs that It would be as dangerous to ap-
nroach radium in any quantity as 1t Is
to 90 near gunpowder with lighted
match. A man entering chamber con-
tanning q pound of radium would have
his eyesight destroyed his skin burnt,
and would probably lose his life.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
HERE AND THERE.

Children living on farms should be
taught what wild plants are poisonous
in leaf, bark, sap, blooms, fruits, seeds
and roots, and which are poisonous to
touch anc to eat. -4
Have you any brush or trash of
any kind lying in your orchard? Why
not remove these unsightly things?
They are the breeding places of in
sects, and the homes of rats and mice.
The farmers in the United States
now produce about one-half of the
worlds crop of wheat, and fully three
fourths of the worlds total production
of cotton and corn.
1t takes thought and careful plan
ming, and work, to keep down expenses
in the poultry yard. Many people who
rear poultry successful allow their ex-
penses to eat up all of their profits.
REGENTS experiments, both in this
country and Europe, showed gluten
feed to be SO to 80 per cent. digestible.
and reliable for feeding all kinds OF
live stock, insuring the most econom-
ical gains.
Working from three o'clock in the
morning until nire at night is calcu-
lated to make farm hands scarcer as
the years go by. What is most needed
is to get down to fewer hours and
greater regularity.
Where even a single rat is allowed
to remain on the farm, loss of young
poultry will occur. Rats destroy mora
ha ho vuk
will carry off a hundred chicks in
one night if it has the opportunity.
You have some brushland which
you would like to clean. Try Angora
goats. They seem to be a comb1na-
ton of wood-choppers, bark-peelers,
saw mills. wood pulp factories and ex-
celsior machines, in their ability to
demolish wood.
Many people make mistake in
storing onions. These need to be kept
dry instead of damp, and hence an
airy place is the best for them. II
one mas many and will eventually mar
ket them it is we'll to leave the tops
on until time to make ready for mar
ket. e.- ~.
Dent borrow trouble. Don't Dor
row anything II you do, trouole Is
apt to come. If you can not ahord
to buy shat you need, rent it OF your
neighbor By SO doing, yo:.- neighborg
will quit .,sfrp~1ng of you, and there
will be a better quality of friendship
between you.
Encourage some young member OF
the family to take charge OF the butter
making, and make business OF 1t. A
girl we know, who learned to make
good butter, makes business OF it,
had increased her trade from the
product of three cows to that OF Is,
and could sell more butter II she
had It.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
! npgllq|p4
IS l-(EA q V&4
"7&A
DEVICE FOR MARKSMEN.
The Hyposcope, an Englis h Invention.
Will Enable Them to .'Shoot
h Around q Corner"

A device called by it's inventor a
"hyposcope." for enabling a marks
man to aim his piece at an object that
cannot be seen directly, has been in
vented by William Youlton, of Bright
on, England. Says the American In
yentOr:
1.-THE instrument consists essentially
Of series of mirrors placed at angles
to each other in an l. tube, which is
applied to the rifle forward of the
hammer and just behind the rear
sight.
LAS the illustration shows, the de-
vice is used to enable the marksman to
aim his gun without exposing any por-
ton of his person to return fire. The
two sights and the object aimed at are
clearly visible In the field Of the last
mirror, and the shooting done with a
gun SO equipped is said to be fully as
accurate as when held in the ordinary
way. This, in few words, is the con-
struction and use Of the hyposcope.
Going more into detail, 1t is pro-
vided with two scales allowing for the
raising and Lowering of the top mirror
with relation to the sights in order
that the gun may be sighted for any
distance to which 1t is capable of car
rying. A lateral scale allows Of adjust
ments being made for wind velocity.
Both of these movements are con-
trolled by milled-head screws and can
easily be made by the marksman
without exposing himself to a return
fire.
1.-THE instrument weighs about one
pound, and can be carried in a holster
depending from the belt As the con-
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
A,eahol from sa,.dust.

At the congress of applied chemistry
held at Berlin, Simonson. OF Christiania,
described a method of utilizing sawdust
IN the production of alcohol, which the
Country Brewers Gazette prints. ABOUT
two tons of sawdust are boiled with sui
nhuric acid for three hours, the liquid
matter being then extracted by pressure
neutralized, left to stand for IL hours to
cool and clarity, and then fermented for
four or five days. The resulting alcohol
l. afterwards distilled and rectiffed, and.
making ample allowances for loss
in the latter operation. the yield OF spirit
is said to be about 81 quarts per hum
dredweight of sawdust.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23

struction is so simple, there is little
to get out Of order. II any of the mir
rors happen to be broken, they can be
very readily replaced by slipping new
glass into the old frame.
1T is claimed by those who have
witnessed this instrument that 1t will
greatly increase the accuracy of aim
when troops using 1t are under fire.
Statisticians have computed that only
one bullet in seven thousand was eff
fective in the recent English war in
Africa. It is hoped that this proper
ton Will be reduced by many hundred
per cent. by the use Of the hyposcope.
Troops using this instrument can be
absolutely certain that they cannot be
shot when firing, and will, therefore, it
is hoped, be much cooler and take
much better aim than Is possible under
present conditions.
1.-THE instrument has not yet been
purchased by the British government,
although bill for its use has been pre-
sented to parliament, which will come
up next March. 1t Is not to be offered
to the United States government until
such changes in it's construction have
been made as will allow Of its being
fitted to the rifle by clamps and to al
low Of its being adjusted to our rifle
sights. Major G. B. Young. Of the ma
tional guard OF the District of Column
bia. made a score of q out OF posi-
BILE 80 at 200 yards. using hyposcope
which was arranged for use with the
Lee-Enfield rife and adjusted to a
United States magazine rifle. This was
the winning score in particular con-
test. The conclusions as to the ac-
curacy Of the new accessory are OBJ
viOus."
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23

called in to remedy the defect, but
after expensive delays, the manager
was advised to call in certain ex-
pert, and he did SO. The expert ex-
amined the defect, tapped the machine
here and there with light hammer,
called for a monkey wrench, gave
certain nut turn CT two and told
the manager to start up, for shes all
right now" The well-pleased manager
conducted the expert to his office and
asked him how much he charged.
"Twenty-one dollars" was the reply.
''Is not that heavy charge for ten
minutes work." asked the manager.
I'm only charging 81 for the work,"
said the machinists. But l charge
$40 for knowing how" There Is al
ways demand and good pay for men
who "know how" Mere animated
machines are abundant everywhere,
but as knowledge is required to profit
ably operate such machines, economy
must get in its work on the men who
have muscular, instead of mental abil-
ity. The same rule operates the same
way LII 1dluAu6. "a yOuA5 Aae1AA' liz
knows how, and why and when and
wherefore, does not have to content
himself with farm laborer's wages.
Such men are in demand for higher
positions. as teachers in agricultural
schools, es farm managers, as expert
ment station workers, as breeders OF
live stock, as ranch managers. as orch
ard superintendent, in ali OF
which positions his physical labor is
less and his pay more than that of
the best farm laborer. For every dol
lar he receives for actual work done
he receives twenty for knowing how
Texas Farm and Ranch.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
Electric Bolts I'm war.

To destroy armies by lightning Is
thought by Emile Guarani, French
writer. to be possibility. Receiving q
shock from q wireless telegraph appa-
ratus through an umbrella, he expert
mented with a Ruhmkorff coil, ana
found that shocks could be transmitted
through the air with moderate currents nnn
He concludes that the energy OF l,ooo
horse power, at 100000 volts, could oe
concentrated by antennae so as 10 ae-
stroy life at distance Of u miles. me !,,
nresent dinlculty, which he believes WIN
he soon overcome, is that OF controii'ns
and directing the electric waves.
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
Be Sure to Have Pe.ru.na on Hand
During the Indictment Months OF
Fall and Winter.

Group, capillary bronchitis and ar
ticular rheumatism are the special banes
of childhood. These all alike result
from catching cold.
One child catches cold and scares its
mother into Mysteries by having Group
in the dead of night.
Another child catches cold, develops
stubborn cough that will not yield to
ordinary remedies. The parents are
filled with forebodings.
Still another child catches cold and de-
velops that most fatal malady of child
hood, capillary bronchitis. The doctor
is called, pronounces the case pneumo-
mia and, If the child is lucky enough to
live. it has developed weak lungs from
which it may never recover.
And yet another child catches cold
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23

and articular rheumatism is the result.
Ankles, knees, wrists and elbows be-
come suddenly swollen and painful. A
long disastrous Illness follows. The
child may live and becomaconvalescent
a miserable invalid of valvular disease
of the heart. All these mishaps are the
direct result of neglected cold. Peruna
is the safeguard OF the family. ia child
catches cold Peruna should be used inn
mediately.
A few doses of Peruna and child's
cold is gone The apprehension Of the
parents flee away. The household is
free from fear once more.
If you. do not receive prompt and sat
isfactory results from the use of Peruna,
write at once to DR.. Hartman, giving
full statement of your case and he will
be pleased to give You his valuable adj
vice gratis.
Address DR.. Hartman, President OF
The Hartman Sanitarium, Columbus.
Ohio
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23
PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR.
A Rule Among Mechanical OccuDa-
lions That Has Its Re-
mex ON the Farm.

Why is it one man gets $50 per
week for experimenting ten men, all
Of superior physical ability, who are
paid 50 a week each. When poorly
paid man manifests superior knowl-
edge of his work he is promoted, and
always get an easier job and better
pay. Once in large factory some
Thing got out of fix with an essential
machine. Several Worxmen were
St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-01-23

Mr.. Albert Lietzman, 1896 Milwaukee
Ave-, Chicago, ILL.,, writes:
~ am only too glad to inform you that
am feeling splendid and have never
felt better in my life. Through the adj
vice of friend I tried Peruna, and am
glad to say it cured me to perfection.
began to tell friend about Peruna the
other day, and I had no sooner COM
menced than he told me his folks have
kept Peruna in the house for the last
1--WE years. I am sure I wouldn't be
without it, Mother also uses it to keep
herself in good health"