Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-01-25


The farmers living along the lines Of
the trolley roads are finding in them an
unthought of source Of convenience in
farm operations in the use of the cleo
trio current taken from the circuit for
the purposes of lighting the farm home
and the furnishing Of power for the
operation Of farm machinery. The man
who fights the establishment Of troll
ley road through or near his farm is
fighting the best thing which ever came
to him or ever will.
There are two men in the west en-
gagged this winter on decidedly novel
work. Each is working in the base
ment Of his house and has pile Of
sand and some barrels Of cement. The
one is molding handsome blocks with
which to build a nice house next sum-
mer, and the other is making draintile
from the same material and in the
same manner with which to reclaim
the wet places on his farm. Why is
uOC ILLS SOOU SCucuSt
The Wolf river apple seems to have
q mission In the line Of giving the in
dividual and the county or state which
produces them credit for raising the
largest and handsomest apples ever
seen, Of fooling innumerable suckers
who know nothing about fruit, Of pay
ing fine prices for an utterly worthless
fruit We have all read Of the apples
Of Sodom which turned to ashes on the
lips, and the Wolf river Is lineal de-
scendant Of that breed. This is clear
ly a case whore good looks get the
better Of goodness.
Where il the country going to put
all these Russians, Italians, Sardin-
ians, Arabs, Huns and Bulgarians
who constitute now almost the en-
tire type Of immigrants which the
country is receiving? None Of them
takes kindly to the farm or the soil, but
swarm to the cities and tester and
breed in the worst Of the tenement Sec
lions, living as garbage collectors, ped
dlers, sweat shop workers and tramps.
A hundred times better bar these out
and invite the japanese, or even the
Chinese, when we would at least have
a supply Of reliable indoor and outdoor
help.
A bad winter storm nowadays brings
out many thrilling and interesting rem
iniscences of life In the western prairie
country in the pioneer days. With the
snowfall greater and cold more intense
than now, with none of the comforts
and conveniences common to people to
day-no warm house, no big barns, no
fur overcoats, no overshoes no rail-
roads and the highways mere trails
across the prairies-the struggle for life
was something almost tragic The har-
dy settlers were ingenious, however,
and soon learned how to ameliorate the
annoyance Of a winter blockade. The
snow. while putting paralysis on all
work, was used as a means Of protec-
ton from the cold, and dugout and
shed were soon warmly packed with
the drifts, fuel and fodder for the stock
and food for the family were stored up
beforehand, and period Of Information
followed the oncoming of the deep
snow and the cold weather; in fact,
there was less fretting and complaining
then than now. when a storm even for
one day blocks railway and highway.
Those were great old times.
The feeding Of 100000. 900 people will
be the biggest problem in this country
inside Of twenty-five years. A stand
ard Of living has been developed under
American conditions which demands
much to eat and Of very great vari-
ETY.. The teeming millions Of the old
world are content to live on the plain
est and coarsest Of food. the English
man content with his bread. cheese and
beer; the Irishman with his potatoes
and clabber, the Scotchman with his
oatmeal and whisky, the German with
black bread and horse sausage, the
Italian with his macaroni and oil, the
Russian with his rye bread and vodka,
while In this country the spread on the
table Of even the common laborer
would be a festival banquet for these
unfed or underfed hordes. II the time
ever comes when any such bill Of fare
should become compulsory for the COM
mon people of this country, then look
out for trouble, and lots Of 1t. The best
way in which to prevent any such con-
dition IL to take an increasing inter
est in agriculture and the maintenance
Of soil fertility and crop production,
for all food comes primarily from the
soil save the crop Of the ocean waters,
this to the end that an abundance Of
good food may be produced cheaply.
Religion, politics, commerce, transpor-
tation, are each important issues ever
with us, but the biggest problem to
meet in the future years is to provide
an ample supply Of good food for the
American people, for when men become
hungry they become vicious, rebellious,
unreasonable, and with the masses Of
America In this condition what Is to
become Of the republic? The young
man who is making study Of the soil
L.. n.