Arizona republican., 1908-04-21

1 preset this embarrassment when the | time comes to decide for it will all be i reduced to dollars and dents. More of | his later
 i In deciding the present awards there were to be considered not merely the ! percentage of pro'it on investment. i but also the diversity of products dealt i with, the hlndicapS of age, poverty. : sickness, misfortune, the clearness with which the facts were set forth, i and a score of things that might all come under the head of the personal equation" There was just one feature ] that was not considered. as it had no 1 place in the object sought. and that was the writer's style" or use of English. It was the facts given that carried weight, and their clearness and completeness. It has been decided 1 therefore to make the awards 10 C. c Chambers who resides east of Phoenix Lewis H. smith of Tempe. and David Reed of Mesa City, in the ordeIA nam
 ed This announcement is made with fear and trembling by the judges who feel in their hearts that any letter writer who chose to take issue in his own defense would have some good ground for argument All that can be
 said in defense of the judges is that he who passed final judgment is not
 personally acquainted with any one of
 the winners
 Just word about the winners In
 awarding first place to MT Chambers
 it was considered that he had about
 the worst start of any man in the
 bunch. When he came here he had
 nothing to live for and did so only be-
 cause he was too tarnation far behind
 in the game of life to die with any
 satisfaction. The total oi his accumu-
 iations k not stupendous and his letter
 lacks something of detailed figures in
 vegetables and other of his side lines,
 but the statement of his present equip
 ment gives a good idea of his achieve
 ments for he is comfortably situated
 and everything he has is net profit on
 the total investment of nothing, but
 pluck, discounted by hard luck
 The story of Lewis Ii. Smith is all
 meat. mostly eloquent figures It is a
 full statement of the receipts and ex-
 penditures on the lines in which he is
 engaged which are quite diversified
 embracing the dairy. poultry. some
 fruit, his own labor and a quite com
 plete equipment for such a farm
 Moreover. he deals with the bad end
 of the year. shows a big percentage of
 profit and his operations have nothing
 to do with land values either now or
 when he began. as he lives on rented
 acreage. It is a story purely of pro-
 ducts without the faintest shadow of speculative values
 David Reeds brief and modest letter in some respects is still better but it
 lacks a trifle of accuracy in that his expenses are estimated rather than ac- tually shown. which gives the fin
 nicky' reader an opening to quibble with him. even though his estimates are conservative even to the point or
 giving himself the worst of it. In
 dOubtedly MT. Reed knows, but the reader cannot check him up so clearly and 1t iS the letter. not the facts. that
 is now under discussion He was therefore placed in third position though his statement covers probably the largest variety of products outside of livestock and poultry. The horticul- turist and gardener will find his short letter worthy of most careful atten- tion
 Some of the longer letters will no doubt be found of even more interest to the readers than the prize winners for features that could scarcely be brought within the consideration for prizes. C. W. Alexander has d poultry letter that is certainly full of heart in- terest" and shows fine results eventual ! ly and a conquering of obstacles that is surely creditable Others of the long rh, vice and point out things to avoid but i are not so clear as others as proof of i the writers personal financial success. { still others show the lauGa0ie enthu- l siasm of the writers and their faith in l the country and it's prospects. but are . in like manner lacking figures that [ show achievements however correct ] they may be in their estimates or what 1 is going to occur in this valley. There | are some excellent short letters show l ing exact results on oranges. bees. and { other individual lines of effort and | while they cover the one line thorough | ly they are not so indicative of all the :. resources of the farm. John Forney : one of the best farmers in the world. ! makes a fine showing and was thor ough in his work but it would appear | that he had not made quite so big a showing on the investment as did l.. H. Smith who had an equally thorough | account. Chaplain Scott had a letter that in some respects was mighty hard to side-step while there was a deal Of trouble in getting over the remarks of John C. Jackson. And there were oth- CTS. too numerous to mention but there were only three prizes and as the judges freely admit. they were up against it.
 Now word about the Farmers Contest, announced about the first of March. to run a year, and for which The Republican has offered three val Iable prizes of silverWare. a number of and the board oi trade has offered some honorary member ships. This contest. it is not believed. will give the judges so hard a try-out though they have to figure longer. II will be conducted under plain rules and the final result will be dollars and