El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-23
NEW BUILDING
EVERY FIFTY
MINUTES
Public Debt of New York
City Is Greater than the
National Debt.
HAS $500 ACRES OF
LAND UNOCCUPIED

New OK. N l., NOV z5--NeW YORK
builds a new house every so minutes
and has a public debt greater than the
national debt Of the whole United
States, according to figures just com
piled here by the Merchants associa-
ton According to them. father
KnickerbOcker now owes S1.O3T. OO0. 900.
or few million dollars more than the
sum for which Uncle sam is liable thus
making this city the first $1,000, 200, 600
debt municipality in the country. Just
what this swollen Indebtedness actual
" means is better indicated by the
fact that New York now owes more
than five times as much as Chicago,
Philadelphia and Boston combined.
Great as is this debt, these interesting
figures indicate that the development
Of the city is even more remarkable.
New Building Every so Minutes.
The daily average of new buildings
completed and put into use is now %
or one new building in apprOxima tely
every 80 minutes. As the average num-
Der Of persons which each of these
buildings accommodate is in the neigh
bOrhOOd Of %, this means that every
month accommodations sufficient to
mouse the population Of a town OF more
than $4,000 Inhabitants are constructed
here. New business, however, is in
advance even Of the record breaking
figures for new buildings, as the fig
ures show that there is a new business
corporation every 40 minutes More
rapid still is the increase of population
since the stOrk brings a new New
Yorker every six minutes. OF manu-
facturers this novel census indicates
nually more than $4,000 00O 900 worth
Of goods.
In contrast to these remarkable fig
ures of development there are still
more than $4,000 acres OF vacant land
in the city a fact on which statisti-
clans base their prediction that New
HOrks municipal Indebtedness viii
eventually reach the s5,OO0.0OO,0OO
mark, or five times the indemnity paid
by France to Germany as the result Of
the FrancO-Prussian war.
England's Free Farm Scheme.
Probably one Of the most surprising
bits Of news which has come TO this
country from England in many years
is to the effect that England is to
have free farms Coming from a cOun-
try where land rents for years have
been a bone of contention, the an
nOuncement is all the more surprising,
even though this novel move is not a
general one, but is initiated only by a
single large land holder, sir Fortescue
Flannery by name
According to the report brought over,
sir FOrteScue has announced that on
his large Essex estate he will charge
no rent for any portion Of his land
which his tenants plant to sugar beets.
WneLner or not this is the result OF
the anti-German feeling in England I
about which so much has been heard
lately is not reported, but students Of
international relations here are in
clined to think it a defensive move in
many produce all her own sugar from
the beet with surplus for export
amounting to S5O,O00.0O0 annually,
they point out while England is de-
pendent for her supply on foreign
countries, but the crops secured by the
use OF the sugar beet in rotation in
the land Of the kaiser are double those /
where the beet is not used.
Germany's success in securing great
yields is now acknowledged TO be due
to the cultivation Of the beet and as
the factor OF food supply is always i'm (
pOrtant in the case of war, this step I
to encourage the use of the beet in /
England is regarded in some quarters /
as having a particular significance As
an Illustration it is pointed out that /
IN this country the crop yields are I
JnOugn an increase OF 90 percent has I
been shown in sections where the sugar !
beet industry has taken hold. No offer /
of free farms has been made here, how /
ever, since it is recognized that with 4
Such encouragement as is needed TO \
wages the industry is likely I
TO become even more important than /
1t has IN Germany without any such /
radical stimulus as that proposed by /
sir FOrteSCue. That the free farm
movement should be instituted by a /
man named Flannery gives a humorous /
turn to the situation in view of the /
many troubles of the British govern /
ment in the past in connection with 1
Irish land rents.
Dog Stealing in New York.
remarkable ways OF making a living
have many examples in New York. but /
perhaps the most peculiar yet un-
earthed Is dog stealing which has
grown into a regular profession, as
cOrding to the officers OF the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to AMI /
a sure thing and there is practically
no risk for the thief.
The dog stealers choose their prey Z
carefully and always make sure that I
the dog belongs to a wealthy family, /
one where there are chill Z
1ren. They scout about the neighbOr-
MOOD sometimes for days, waiting for a
chance to find the dog alone, or with
)nly a child for protection Ono stolen.
The rest is easy. The thief waits The
owner adveruses a reward. The chill
lren cry for their playmate. The owner
ldVertises again and adds no Ques-
lions asked The dog comes home in
he arms of a poor but honest friend
Who claims to have found it in the
streets, and the reward, sometimes as
much As $500 or $500, is paid without
! question In a rather unusual case
he other day. in which such a stolen
log had been sold to a grocer who [
bought him in good faith. both parties
vent to court with their claims. The Z
magistrate. who evidently inherited
Ome of the wisdom of Solomon or
Tered the dog himself on the witness "a
tand- Jack" the clerk Of the court Z
allied, and Jack" a stubby. black and
white bulldog, was shown in by a pO- /
iceman- Both the woman who said (
he had owned him and the grocer who