The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-05-06


 that strong efforts are being made to get him into the race If he does enter | | the lists, making 1t triangular contest | Bilbo's chances will be weakened as d
 great many of the anti-Bilbo and anti Vardaman faction have declared their lh- tention of voting for Bilbo in the event there are but two candidates-Bilbo ana 1 i Vsrdaman. In either event, whether ! Brewer runs or not, the next senatorial contest in Mississippi is going to be one 1 of the most interesting the state has | ever experienced.
 GOOD SIGNS OF OIL
 1 There was a rumor a day or two since to the effect that oil had been struck at ! the Beg Ben" well, three miles north
 of Jackson, and it spread all over the city like wildfire, sending scores of men from town to the scene. They were dis appointed as to oil, but found that the
 men in charge of the borings, all of them experts from the Louisiana fields, were l very much encouraged, as the sand found beneath rock through which they have been driving several days, bears strong 1 indications of oil and the borers are really jubilant. They are now down nearly 2500 feet, and prepared to go 40oO 1 if necessary. Another well is being bored west of the city, four miles from the 1 Big Ben" the drill now being down about the same depth. and it is under |
 strong at this plant. If oil is struck and | a gusher should be reported, Jackson will simply go crazy.
 l TO MAKE OWN FLOUR
 The uolees vl lnc -Aiss1sSipeI penlteH- ,iary nave appropriated sovVU the puf- chase o1 flour lIlllI oI capacity SuulcIenl | to srlnu enough wheat to make the flour ! uiI wnIcn to Iced all the convlcts. The oVo acres UI wheat pIanted last 1all Is said | VHr d | lu zvUtv DuShelS, Wnlcn Will turn out | some InIng less than 4vvU barrels ot 1louf' l Aue trustees are aIso auvertlslns tor plus ! on cold storage pIant Tor the plg fafih i at Earcnlnan, and hereafter will be able l to k1Il tnelr carIIe ana hogs when they are ready and III condition for market. 1 he Idea is to make the convict farms entirely self sustaining. That IS being I worked up to by degrees, and IS being :! hastened because of the high price or
 such 1oodstufts as flour and meat.
 ORGANIZE BY COUNTIES
 l Two weeks ago the state council Tor ma cional detense was organized at
 state wide mass meeting held at the Capi- l tol, and it was suggested that eVoiS
 county should at once organize along tne same lines, with committees simiiar to
 those named by the state meeting, so that every farmer and gardener Tn the state could be reached in few days and have ! impressed upon him the importance or | planting a greater acreage to rood crops | than ever before. The plan has worked admirably The counties have organized
 and so have the several supervisors beats and communities in the counties,
 thus reaching all persons at one time. | The result is that Mississippi is making l great campaign for more foodstuHs'
 and Is going to show them up next fall. GOES TO WASHINGTON
 | The United States department of agri. | culture bureau of animal industry, has removed Dr. Frank w. Farley from Mis- sissppi to Washington, and placed nm in charge of beef cattle investigations, his territory being the southern states. Dr. Farley has been stationed at Jackson about two years, his duties being 10 arouse interest in live stock production and to state that he has succeeded is but feeble expression of the value Of hls work. as thousands of Mississippians are now engaged in breeding raising ana selling cattle and hogs who never dreamed of such thing until recently He mas been the immediate cause of the purcnase and introduction of thousands or thot- oughbred registered animals, and there is hardly a county in the state today that is not making money shipping cat tie or hogs to the northern markets. Dr. Farley will be succeeded here by Harry w. Parker, for two or three years oem- onstration agent for Madison county, the foremost cattle raising county in the state, and largely because of the work done by MT. Parker, one of the very livest wires to be found in the south TRUSTEES HAVE PRAYERS The board of trustees of the Mississippi penitentiary Is composed or a very re. ligious trio, and are the only Mississippi ! officials who begin their monthly ses.
 sions with an invocation to the Ruler or
 the Universe for guidance. Unrortu- nately, perhaps, for the conVlcts, the
 trustees meet but once each month, put
 when Chairman Stone calls the meetings to order he also calls on Rev. J. l.. Mc- Caskill, the official chaplain of the penl- tentiary farms, for prayer, and that gen. tleman does the subject full justice 1
 There are always scores of drummers and employees of the penitentiary in at- tendance on these meetings, and they bow their heads and listen attentively ANYTHING TO SWAP? few months ago Prof F. F. Garner, | state commissioner of agriculture, began the publication of what he calls swap |
 ping Sheet" in his official publication,
 The Bulletin, pamphlet that has 4ooVo
 readers every month. It is sent out free.
 In this Swapping Sheet are propositions
 
 the state, offering to swap or trade live !
 stock, corn for seed, beans, peas. blows.
 boilers, and little of everything used
 on the farm The sheets are also sent
 out to the sheriff of every county and i
 posted on the courthouse door, and many
 good trades have already been recorded.
 STATE CROPS ARE GOOD
 The three trustees of the penitentary
 admit in their reports filed this week l
 that all crops on the convict farms are
 flourishing, that the. convicts and the l
 live stock are in eiass condition, i
 with little or no sickness and not sin |
 gle death last month. They all state |
 that the farms will produce the greatest i
 food crops this year in their history Thousands of acres are planted to corn | oats, wheat alfalfa, lespedeza, sugar l cane, potatoes. peas and other things good for man and beast to eat There will also be about 12.0O0 acres in cotton, all of which is up to fine stand and has been worked over. This is 10 or To per cent more cotton than the state had last year. but all new land has been planted to food crops and that acreage is also largely increased, so that the farms will be nearer self-sustaining than ever before. STUDENTS TRAIN FOR WAR Dr. J. N. Powers, chancellor of the state university at Oxford, announces