Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-11-18
Looker-On In Iona

Clarion. Nov. 1s.-In ST Anthony
the other day the writer went into the
wireless telegram room operated by
G. L. La Plant, young man of %,
with genius for work in electricity.
It's so simple. All you have to do is
put up a flag pole, hitch some wires
to the top, run the wires into a room,
put some telephone receivers on your
| ears, and get messages from 1900
miles away. At least that's all you
see. Mr.. La Plant gets time, accurate,
absolutely accurate time from Airing
ton observatory every morning a,
o'clock. He says at TX minutes before
9 o'clock with the receivers on his ears,
he hears short whistle 1900 miles
from ST. Anthony. then at intervals Of
a minute the whistle is repeated till
exactly on the hour, minute and sec
ond, he gets the final whistle. Two
codes are used in sending, this exactly
as telegram over wires. dots. dash,
etc. 1t seems now the wireless tele-
graph operators, within so many miles
OF a government station, have to get
permit from the government, but his
apparatus can at present only send
fifty to seventy-fve miles, SO he is
| free to use It without permit. He Is
contemplating investing in more
extensive outfit and then can send"
as far as any one. When conditions
were just right he has picked up mes
sages from Key West. Stop and think
what this statement is. In the back
end of a drug store In st. Anthony,
little town of a few hundred people.
with an outfit of his own construction
he sits down to an operating table,
places the receivers on his ears, and
hears a message sent from Key West.
This because he has a flag pole eighty
feet high in his back lot from which
wires run to the back room. Mr.. La
Plant is OF the opinion that wireless
telephon!ng will soon be practical
thing.
It's a good thing we DO not all think
alike. Here's Mr.. S. A. Ferguson,
stock buyer, farmer and cid settler al
Rowan. says all this talk Of the high
cost Of living is nonsense. Says out
side of meat. eggs and butter and q
few other things, there has been no
great advance. Flour is cheaper than
twenty years ago. Clothing Of all
kinds including boots. shoes, hats, caps,
underwear. all much better and
cheaper than thirty-fve years ago.
Knows that farmer can buy any kind
of machinery now with so many bush
els of corn cheaper than any time
since Iowa became a state. And he
thinks the trouble in the cities is be-
cause the wage Garner doesn't save
his nickels. Beer, cigars, car fare
telephones. moving pictures and the
delivery system makes the high cost
Of living to the city dweller. Wonder
II he isn't more than half right
Right along this line is the ques-
ton will beef be cheaper. or continue
at present prices. thus making 1t
profitable business for our Iowa farm
ers to again feed few steers Tor
market, we read that heavy impor-
tations Of beef from Argentina are ex-
pected to take place soon, and much
interest exists in beef-trade circles as
TO the effect that may have on supply
and prices. The result, for one thing.
should demonstrate clearly how much
basis there may be for the defensive
statement often made by the big chi
cago packers. that the recent nlsh
prices have been due solely to the law
of supply and demand. These Dag
packers are themselves now bringing
in large quantities of Argentine beef.
It was understood by The Journal OF
Comm cree two weeks ago that ship
ments for them then under way
amounted to between 1900 and 1.5oo
sides Of beef These importations
have not been undertaken as a mere
experiment A continuous supply may
now be looked for from South America,
some of it being brought in by the
Chicago men and other quantities by
packers not SO we'll known. DR.. Mel
win, chief Of the bureau OF animal IN
dustry in Washington, returned recent
| ly from q tour Of South America
where he inspected beef cattle. He
found them for the most part high
| grade. Argentine beef now sells IN
England for from to 9 cents pound
wholesale. England for many years
has been importing cattle from Argen-
tina, which today produces some OK the
finest in the world.
A veterinary surgeon. one who has
had unusual good luck" in the use OF
virus and serum, says re shall be
many years older before we again
lose $12,o00000 in one year in Iowa
from so-called hog cholera In fact
does NOT think we have lost any more