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| Walter Wellman. |
Cortland
Evening Standard, Tuesday, June 29, 1897.
PLAYING A
BOLD GAME.
Will Japan Make Trouble Over Hawaii?
THE
COMMERCE OF THE PACIFIC.
Our
Trade With China and How to Increase It—A Grand Wheat Market In
Asia—The
Necessity For Reciprocity Arrangements.
WASHINGTON, June 29.—(Special.)—The proposed
annexation of the Hawaiian Islands has brought to the attention of congress and
the country the remarkable commercial development which is taking place on the
Pacific ocean. Many years ago one of our eminent men, William A. Seward, I
think it was, predicted that the time would come when the commerce of the
Pacific would equal that of the Atlantic. This prophecy is already in a fair way
to be verified. A good deal of our national policy and our trade efforts now
lie in the direction of the setting sun. We are about to take in Hawaii if
present plans be carried out. Naval authorities have recommended that we
establish a coaling and outfitting station on the Aleutian islands in Alaska.
It is a remarkable fact not generally known that the Aleutians are really the
key to the north Pacific.
We often hear it said that the Hawaiians
control that ocean, but the Aleutians—home of the fur seal—are really nearer
the line of command. Ships in crossing the ocean do not go straight across, as
many land lubbers suppose. Instead they follow the great circle, which is the
shortest way across. The great circle sailing line between Puget sound and
Japan and China passes within 90 miles of the Aleutian group. A naval station
there, away up within the arctic circle, would be near both continents and therefore
an admirable thing from the strategical point of view in case of war.
Ambitious
Japan.
At
this very day there are people in official life in Washington who think we are much
more likely to have war with Japan over Hawaii than with Spain about Cuba.
Whether this supposition is or is not well founded only time will tell, but it
is certain that the Japs are playing a rather bold game, and I find in official
circles an uncomfortable suspicion that they have some plans which they do not
disclose. They protest over and over again that they have not now and never had
any designs upon Hawaii, but it is suspected that they protest too much. It
would not surprise any one familiar with the situation if the Japs were to make
trouble for us before the Hawaiian business is out of the way. They are
exceedingly ambitious, they have abundant confidence in themselves, and their
navy ranks well up with our own.
When the matting items of the tariff bill
were up for consideration in the senate, there was some surprise that a number of
Republicans from the far west should combine to strike out the rates of duty
carried by the bill on mattings and similar goods. The secret of this is rather
interesting. During the past few years the Asiatic people have been buying more
and more of our wheat. There used to be a commercial tradition that the black
man and the red man preferred corn to wheat and that the yellow man preferred
rice. But the yellow man has learned to eat wheat. In China there is a vast
number of well to do families who live well. They are fond of dainty pastry.
Their cooks are among the best pastry artists in the world.
Our
Wheat In China.
Until recently the Chinese depended upon
Indian wheat for the flour. But Indian wheat is not to be compared with
American wheat. It is grown upon old ground, and it is not sound and hard like
our wheat. It is full of infinitesimal holes made by insects, and the flour
bakes up into soggy bread. In China they do not make bread as we make it. All
their baking is of hard tack or crackers, and the Chinese cooks have found that
American wheat is much better than any other that comes to their market.
So much do the Chinese value our flour that
the sales have increased very rapidly of late. Last year practically the entire
wheat product of the Pacific coast went to Asia. It had
formerly been shipped to England. Last summer English ships could not get a
return cargo of wheat in San Francisco and were compelled to take barley and
corn, which does not pay nearly as well. An important feature of the wheat
export trade is the return cargo. If ships cannot get return cargoes, they cannot
carry the outward freight cheaply. It has been found that with return cargoes
of matting, rice, tea, napkins of paper and other products of Japan and China,
we can send wheat to those markets in competition with India, Australia and all
other rivals.
Consequently when the matting provisions of
the tariff bill came up the western senators who are anxious to promote the
Asiatic market for the wheat crop of their section joined together to cut down
the duty. They wanted the products of China and Japan to come in our ports in
great quantities in order that the wheat carrying ships might be sure of return
cargoes. They carried their point.
Farmers
of the Northwest.
"I am for the farmer of the
northwest," said Senator Hansbrough of North Dakota to me in explaining
this matting item. "We want a better market for our wheat. For years we
have been depending upon England and Europe. There we come in competition with
India, with Russia, with the Argentine Republic and now with South Africa. The
people of these countries, with their cheap labor, can raise wheat at prices
which our farmers cannot touch and make a living, but if we will establish
reciprocal trade relations with China and Japan we can control their markets.
Think of the output of wheat China can consume if her people only learn to use
it generally! There are 400,000,000 of people in China, or some such number,
and as Colonel Mulberry Sellers used to say, every one of them has a hungry
stomach. If we can get our wheat going in that market, it will be worth
millions every year to the farmers of the northwest and the Pacific coast.
Already wheat grown in the Dakotas has been shipped to China.
"Mr. Hill, the president of the Pacific
Railroad company, told me he had made arrangements by which wheat could be
shipped by rail to Puget sound and then by water to China at $8 a ton cheaper
than it would cost to send the same wheat to Liverpool. But this cannot be done
without return cargoes. This explains our vote on the matting duties. I am
going in for reciprocity arrangements with the Asiatic countries. If congress
will support this idea, we shall have a great development of our commerce with
Asia."
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| Capt. Gen. Valeriano Weyler. |
WEYLER'S
SCHEME.
It Is
His Desire to Reconstruct the Wealth of Cuba.
HAVANA, June 29.—Addressing the local authorities
in the palace of Santiago de Cuba, the captain general said he remembered with
pleasure that region where he had engaged in a campaign during the previous war
in Cuba. Continuing, he explained that he was coming to pacify that part of the
island, and that though he was strongly desirous of peace, his system of making
war was to be rigorous toward the "rebels" who refuse to accept the
clemency which Spain and himself offered them.
The general added: "Notwithstanding the
examples in rigor set by other colonial nations, I attend to the reconstruction
of the wealth of this island. This was the purpose which inspired my last
decree, and I propose to continue this policy, although I have been compelled
in some instances to countenance destruction, owing to the fact that
circumstances have made it necessary in some cases to destroy the resources of
the rebels."
The captain general then referred to the sincerity
of the Spanish government in its desire to introduce reforms in Cuba, concluding
with the remark:
"I come to bring peace or war. If the former
is accepted we will then return to the law. But if the latter is desired,
behind me come 40 battalions of troops."
Governor Ordax banqueted the captain general.
Much enthusiasm is said to have been manifested by the people.
The Puerto Rico battalion in the district of
Sancti Spiritus has destroyed an insurgent rifle store and captured 9
insurgents and 14 women.
Advices received from official sources at
Sancti Spiritus announce the surrender there to the Spanish authorities of the
insurgent governor, Felix Companioni, an insurgent major, 3 insurgent prefects,
2 insurgent mall carriers, 6 insurgents belonging to the escort of Velloso, the
insurgent leader, and 84 men and 344 women and children.
Official dispatches from Trinidad, province of
Santa Clara say that 390 persons have surrendered to the Spaniards. The families,
it is added, are lodged in the railroad station, which is overcrowded. Fifteen of
the party died from fever.
Small skirmishes only have taken place recently
in the other provinces, with but slight loss on either side.
Fanatical
Moslems Attack Jews.
LONDON, June 29.—A letter from Teheran, the
capital of Persia, describes terrible persecution of the Jews. According to the
correspondent, a mob of fanatical Moslems
savagely attacked the Jewish quarters in that city and is threatening to exterminate
the Jews unless they embrace Mohammedanism. The government, although it has
dispatched troops to quell disorders, seems to be powerless to stem the tide of
fanaticism.
THE GAME
STOPPED
On
Sunday by the Sudden Appearance of Chief Linderman.
Sunday afternoon was one of those pleasant
afternoons when a certain class of young men delight in a game of ball, and so
a party of about forty of them gathered in Randall's meadow southeast of the
[railroad] junction where the grass is thick and knee high for a little
indulgence in the national sport. In short order two teams were selected, and
the game was progressing finely when an unwelcome guest was seen approaching.
Sentinels gave the alarm and players, spectators, rooters, umpires, scorers and
all others started on a dead run for parts known only to themselves.
The blue-coated form of Chief of Police
Linderman, who for about half an hour had been concealed a few rods away
watching the course of events and taking notes, was what caused the
disturbance. The chief then secreted himself in the milk station, and as the
young men passed up the D., L. & W. tracks to the village entirely
oblivious of his presence, the name of each one was noted down in a little book
the chief keeps for that purpose.
While no arrests were made, the police
purpose keeping a close watch of the young men in question as well as some
others, and it is the intention not to allow Sunday baseball in Cortland. The
state law imposes a penalty of $10 fine or ten days in jail for Sunday ball
playing, and a village ordinance imposes the same penalty for playing in the
streets at any time.
SPOKE
HER PIECE.
Member
of the Primary Department Surprised the Sunday-school.
Last Sunday closed the quarter's work in
most of the Sunday-schools in town and in nearly all there was a review
exercise. In one of the churches the entire school was together for the first
half of the period, then the little people in the primary department got
restless and tired and the doors between the main school and the primary
department were closed.
The superintendent of the primary department
called upon one and another to recite a verse or speak some little piece that
had been spoken before upon the occasion of some special exercises. Finally one
of the smallest children in the school raised her hand and asked permission to
speak her piece. She had spoken before recently, and the superintendent was
confident she knew what she was going to say, so she called her up to the
platform and impressed it upon her that she must speak loud, and also told the
other children to keep very quiet so that they could hear the little girl. When
all was ready she began and there was surprise unbounded as the childish voice
said in plain and distinct tones:
I
can handle a musket,
I can smoke a pipe,
I
can kiss a pretty girl
At
10 o'clock at night.
The recitation brought down the house, but
the superintendent will make herself sure what is coming next time when she
arranges for impromptu exercises.
Must be
Closed Out.
Mr. Isidore Bardin formerly with the
Syracuse Cloak & Suit Mfg. Co. of Syracuse, N. Y., has leased the store in
the Garrison block, 17 Main-st., Cortland, N. Y., where he has a fine line of
ladies' tailor made clothing. Also a large stock of men's clothing which he
wishes to dispose of so as to make room for a more extensive and complete line
of ladies' goods. Remember that these goods must be closed out at once, at
prices below cost of manufacture.
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| "Have a Home!" |
BREVITIES.
—New display advertisements to-day are—D.
McCarthy & Co., University bicycles, page 6; W. J. Perkins, perfect paints,
page 6.
—Twenty-three new applications for
membership were received by the Order of United American Mechanics at their
regular meeting last evening. There were three reinstatements.
—The roof of the house occupied by Morrell
Canfield at 69 Clinton-ave. caught fire from a spark from a D. L. & W.
locomotive Saturday afternoon, but was quickly extinguished by members of
Hitchcock Hose Co. without turning in an alarm.
—The Black Diamond Express has added another
"world's record" run to her long list. Last Friday she made the run
between Odessa and Geneva, a distance of thirty-nine and nine-tenths miles in
twenty-nine minutes. So says Conductor Fred H. Bates.—Ithaca Journal.
McGRAWVILLE.
Crisp
Local Happenings at the Corset City.
News come from the wilds of Solon that
George Oliver is training some of the wild and ferocious animals of that region
for circus purposes. Mr. Oliver has succeeded in riding all right, but the alighting
is somewhat quicker than he enjoys.
Mr. and Mrs. George Pudney of Hunt Corners
are visiting their son, L. G. Pudney, for a few days.
While Francis Potter, wife and three children,
Florence, Glen and Ethel, the eldest 10 years, the youngest 13 mouths, were
descending the Freetown hill near Hoxieville while driving to church Sunday morning,
a portion of the harness broke causing the team to run and throwing the family
down a deep embankment and bruising them quite badly. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were
unconscious for some time, the latter for several hours. It is but a few months
ago that Mrs. Potter and children met with a similar accident near the same place
and Ethel, the youngest, was badly injured. Dr. Forshee was called and thinks
it will be unnecessary to make another call, as all are getting along so well.
Percy and Arthur Hammond of Bridgeport are at
their grandfather's, Henry Hammond.
Walter Palmer of Cortland called on friends
in town Monday evening.
Harry Pierce, an old McGrawville boy, now of
Leominster, Mass., who is constructing an electric road between Olean and
Bradford, is the guest of W. P. Parker for a few days. Mr. Pierce, accompanied
by F. G. Isaacs, was west of Dryden Monday, where the former purchased a fine
carriage team of chestnuts.
The members of the McGrawville grange held a
pleasant indoor picnic at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Bean Saturday evening.
Ice cream and other refreshments were served. No meeting will be held next
Saturday evening on account of the Fourth of July.
Mrs. Hattie Pierce of Oquaga, N. Y., is a
guest at I. J. Walkers.
H. F. Greenman of Bridgeport, Conn., or "Harry"
as he is commonly called, was in town to attend the funeral of his uncle, C. D.
Greenman. He has recently been elected director of Bridgeport Gaslight Co., and
is a member of the executive committee. That company is one of the strongest in
Connecticut, its stock selling at a little over 200. His many friends here are
glad to learn of his success.
Miss Anna Pitcher of Hastings was the guest
of her son George over Sunday and returned this morning.
Charles
D. Greenman.
Death has once more visited our village and
removed another of our well known citizens, Charles D. Greenman. The deceased
was born Feb. 11, 1834, in the southern part of the town of Solon. He was the
youngest of twelve children of Homer B. and Rachel Waterbury Greenman, who were
among the pioneers of that part of the county, coming from Rensselaer Co. in
1804, and settling on what is now the Aaron Gardner farm. But one of the twelve
children, Mrs. Almira Wickwire of Cortland, survives him. His mother died when
he was but 5 years of age. His father married again and soon moved to the home where
the deceased has lived since the death of his stepmother in 1865. He was
married to Juliette McGraw, daughter of William McGraw of McGrawville, Oct. 29,
1856. Two sons were born to them, DeWitt C. of Cortland and Herbert R., who
remained at home. Anna McGraw, a niece, has also taken the family name, and
occupied the place of daughter and sister in the home circle from infancy.
When a young man, the deceased learned the
carpenter's trade and followed that calling till 1878. Since that time he has
been engaged in lumber business. In positions of public trust, he served the
town of Cortlandville over twenty years as highway commissioner, and was also,
for a number of years, a member of the school board of the McGrawville Union
school, holding the position of president of the board for sometime.
On the 20th of March, 1856, he united with
the McGrawville Presbyterian church, then known as the Second Presbyterian
church of Cortlandville under the ministry of Rev. E. B. Fancher. In his young
manhood days he took quite an active interest in Sunday-school work, he and
Rufus Graves for several years conducting a Sunday-school service on Sunday
afternoons in the Baker schoolhouse, he acting as superintendent and his co-laborer
as chorister.
He departed this life quietly on Friday,
June 25, at 12:40 P. M. after an illness of several years. His funeral
services were largely attended at his late home Monday afternoon, the 28th
inst., at 2 o'clock P. M., his pastor Rev. J. J. Cowles officiating. His
bereaved family have the sympathy of a large circle of friends.
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