N. Y. S. LEGISLATURE, MARCONI, CROUP IS DIPHTHERIA, CORTLAND TALENT AT TULLY, AND NEW GRANGE HALL ON SCOTT ROAD

 

Benjamin M. Wilcox.

Cortland Evening Standard, Monday, Jan. 13, 1902.

WEEK IN LEGISLATURE.

Administration Bills Are Being Pressed Rapidly.

BUSINESS CLOSED ON FRIDAY.

Two Hundred Bills Introduced, but One-Third Will Die in Committee. Mortgage Tax Bill Will Be Reported Soon—Governor's Canal Bill. Many Ridiculous Measures.

   Albany, Jan. 13.—The [New York State] legislature concluded its first week of actual business on Friday last and up to that time 200 new bills had been introduced. Many of the new measures have excellent prospects of passing both houses but it is predicted that 75 per cent of them will never get out of committee. Among the favored bills are three or four approved by the administration and they will be pressed as rapidly as possible. The governor and the leaders are still insisting that there be an early adjournment.

   By long odds the mortgage tax bill is the most important legislation. There will be a joint senate and assembly hearing upon it next Tuesday. It is said that the committees in both houses who have the bill in charge will report it favorably before Jan. 16. The governor favors the proposition as it is directly in line with his message recommendation.

   It was expected that there would be an early flood of excise bills but with the exception of Mr. Knipp's measure making the Raines law tighter than ever, none has appeared. It is understood that during the incoming week, District Attorney Jerome of New York and a delegation of the Reform club will appear in Albany with a Sunday opening measure.

   Very likely before the middle of the week the administration canal bill providing for the submission to the people of the proposition to expend $28,700,000 for the deepening and improvement of the state's big waterway will be introduced.

   The ways and means committee having reported the annual appropriation bill favorably, it is now on the order of final passage. It will be discussed and likely passed in the assembly this week. This is two months ahead of time gauged by previous sessions.

   In the assembly there are many curious bills. There is a measure to stop flirting; a measure permitting the ploughing up of daisies on the plea that they are weeds and a measure to censor the drama and license actors. All of these bills are still in committee.

   The bill for a municipal gas plant in New York, which this session was introduced by Assemblyman Adler, will not get through, it is said. The same legislator has introduced a bill to permit the opening of butcher shops on Sunday morning. A similar bill was vetoed last year.

   The taxation problem will come up for discussion in the senate this week and it is expected that the Stranahan mortgage tax bill with some few amendments will be reported during the latter part of the week.

   Senator Wilcox of Auburn has announced that he will attend the hearing and after studying the bill may offer certain amendments. He has decided to offer at least one amendment and that to make it mandatory, under penalty of usury, that the mortgagee shall pay the stamp tax.

   At present there are four bills on the order of third reading in the senate, including the Buffalo charter amendment bills, making the city treasurer ineligible for re-election, and reducing the number of park commissioners from 15 to 5. The first bill to pass this session will probably be Senator Brackett's measure legalizing the issuance of bonds by the village of Corinth.

   Senator McEwan's bill, legalizing the issuance of school bonds by the town of Guilderland, is second on the order for passage.

 

Richard Croker.

MR. CROKER RETIRES.

Lewis Nixon Succeeds Him as Chairman of the Finance Committee.

   New York, Jan. 13.—Richard Croker announced his retirement from the formal leadership of Tammany Hall Saturday afternoon. The announcement was made at the meeting of the executive committee at which the plan of the organization for the year 1902 was agreed upon.

   Lewis Nixon was named as Mr. Croker's successor as the chairman of the finance committee. The position by long usage carries with it the leadership of the organization.

 

Guglielmo Marconi.

MARCONI'S WORK.

Sails For Europe on Wednesday—Tells of His Plans.

   New York, Jan. 13.—Signor William Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraph, arrived here yesterday from Canada where he has been the guest of the Dominion government. This evening he will be the guest of honor at the annual banquet of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. On Wednesday he will sail for Europe.

   Signor Marconi described his recent experiments in wireless telegraphy between Newfoundland and Cornwall, Eng., and said the test letters were received exactly according to prearranged plans both as to number and speed.

   "As soon as I reach the other side," he said, "I shall start to work to get stations in readiness for the transmission of messages, commercial and otherwise, across the Atlantic. There will be two stations on each side, that in Europe being located at Cornwall and Belgium. Those on the American side will be at Nova Scotia and Cape-Cod.

   At the banquet this evening Signor Marconi is expected to speak regarding his recent achievements. Others on the list of speakers are Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles, Rear Admiral Bradford and Professor Pupin of Columbia university.

 

Wireless Signals Between Trains.

   Jamestown, N. Y., Jan. 13.—An instrument has been perfected by F. R. Cobham of this city for signaling between trains on the same railway track. It is based on the wireless telegraph principal and signals automatically when two trains are within 2,000 feet of each other. It also indicates in which direction each of the two trains is running or, if one of them is standing on the track, that fact is indicated.

 

USS ALABAMA (BB-8).

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.

Our Engines of War.

   The launching of the new battleship Missouri the other day is a reminder that we have several other powerful ironclads in process of construction. Three classes of vessels are represented among our more recent battleships—viz., the Alabama class, the Maine class and the Virginia class—and they respectively represent the evolution in shipbuilding which has occurred during the past decade.

   In the Alabama class there are five vessels, as follows: The Kearsarge, the Kentucky, the Illinois, the Alabama and the Wisconsin, all of which are now in commission and are doing active service.

   In the Maine class there are three vessels, as follows: The Missouri, to be completed March 13, 1903; the Maine, to be completed Oct. 1, 1902, and the Ohio to be completed May 5, 1903. The vessels belonging to the Maine class are much larger than those belonging to the Alabama class, but they are greatly inferior to those belonging to the Virginia class.

   In the Virginia class there will be, according to provisions already made, five immense ironclads, as follows: The Georgia, the Nebraska, the Rhode Island,  the New Jersey and the Virginia. The first three were authorized March 3, 1899, and the last two June 7, 1900.

   The vessels of the Alabama class have a displacement of 11,525 tons, those of the Maine class will have a displacement of 12,500 tons, and those of the Virginia class will have a displacement of 14,948 tons. But the vessels of all three classes will be much larger than either the Oregon or the Iowa.

   Whether the fighting craft which congress shall authorize will be larger than those for which provision has already been made remains to be seen, but certainly there has been an extraordinary development in the building of battleships during the last decade. In world's navies as well as merchant marine these are the days of big ships.

 

CROUP IS DIPHTHERIA.

Cultures Sent to Specialist Who Now Makes His Report.

   For the past week or more there have been in Cortland several cases of what have been termed by many membraneous croup. The attention of Health Officer Paul T. Carpenter was early directed to this and in each case he called the disease diphtheria and quarantined the houses where it was found. To make sure of his position in the matter the officer obtained cultures from several of the patients and sent these to Dr. William H. May, city bacteriologist of Syracuse, for examination. Saturday the specialist reported to Dr. Carpenter that the cultures showed diphtheria germs plainly.

   The health laws state that membranous croup shall be reported to the health officers the same as diphtheria, and this, the officer states, has not been done. The position that Dr. Carpenter takes is that all of these cases should be promptly reported to him, and that he will then quarantine them and thus form a safeguard against the further spread of the disease. He is of the opinion that the greatest care possible should be exercised. He states frankly that he takes all responsibility in quarantining and that he would rather be mistaken and get a case confined that afterwards proved not t o have diphtheria than to take any chance with it.

   Another matter that the health officer wishes to impress is that parents should be watchful and, if any symptom of throat irregularity is found, that medical attendance should be secured at once.  There are several cases of diphtheria in the city, and every one should cooperate in the plan proposed to break it up. There is no particular cause for alarm, as every case so far as known is quarantined, but it will be wise for each and every one to take every precaution possible in the matter.

 

Cortland Talent at Tully, N. Y.

   The Cortland Musical and Vaudeville company goes to Tully tonight to play a two nights' engagement at Van Bergen's opera house. The following will be the program:

A NEW GRANGE HALL.

Secured for the Grangers on the Scott Road North of Homer, N. Y.

   To the Editor of The Standard:

   SIR—We hear good news from the Alvord district on the Scott road. The members of the grange or Patrons of Husbandry have secured possession of a dwelling house to use as grange hall, where the farmers can meet to discuss questions about farming. They intend to progress in the science of agriculture and horticulture. Opportunity will be given the young men and women to read their essays and talk on subjects interesting to all who attend the grange meetings. We hope all, who can, will hold a continued interest in the organization and prosper as they advance in the science of farming, for the grange in designed to make people honorable and useful to each other.

   Some of the topics will be good roads and government legislation relative to the interest and protection for the tillers of the soil. A question that should be presented and properly considered is what shall be done with the cabbage which has been injured by severe freezing at the beginning of the unusually early winter? Remember, the analysis of cabbage at the Geneva experiment station has demonstrated the fact that cabbage is worth $1.70 per ton for fertilizing purposes. The farmers, who have ten tons of cabbage on an acre, have $17 worth of fertilizing material on that acre. Where there has been much loss, there can be some gain by removing a large quantity of the crop to other fields, where it should be broken to pieces and ploughed under. It should be ploughed under as soon as possible to prevent sickness, which will result from the poisonous effluvia of the decaying cabbage if it is left above ground.

   We wish to say to those who own the farms just north of that grange hall, that they would do well to divide a hundred acres or more into five or ten acre lots and sell them for a reasonable sum on long time payment to some honest and industrious men, who may be able to make comfortable homes, by growing the many varieties of fruits and vegetables for home use and the markets. Streets can be laid at right angles to the road, thus making a country villa, where it will be a pleasant place to live. E. C. CROSMAN, Homer, N. Y.

 

The Ministers' Meeting.

   The Ministerial association of Cortland, Homer and vicinity met in Y. M. C. A. hall today. The president, Rev. C. W. Negus, presided. The paper of the morning was read by Rev, W. P. Decker of Pitcher. It was a strong, exegetical treatise on "The Christian's Resurrection's Body." The sermon of the afternoon was preached by Rev. U. S. Milburn of Cortland. The subject was, "God and Man, as Factors in Revelation."

   Present Rev. Messrs. Robert Clements, C. L. Rice, U. S. Milburn, H. L. Rixon, W. J. Howell, G. H. Brigham and Geo. E. T. Stevenson of Cortland; B. W. Hamilton, D. D., W. F. Kettle, and C. W. [Negus] of Homer; Edson Rogers of Cincinnatus; W. P. Decker of Pitcher; D. D. King, Ph. D., and D. D. Harmon of Tully; Dr. Bull and A. W. Batty of DeRuyter.

 

BREVITIES.

   —The Cortland lodge of Perfection will meet at 8 o'clock tonight.

   —The regular meeting of the Women's Auxiliary has been postponed until Feb. 11.

   —A bowling contest will be participated in at Towsend's [sic] alleys this evening between the North end team and South end team.

   —A special meeting of the common council will be held this evening at which time it is expected that the appointments will be made for the coming year.

   —A regular meeting of the Royal Arcanum council will be held Tuesday evening, Jan. 14, at G. A. R. hall at 7:30 o'clock. Officers to be installed.

  —New display advertisements today are—Warren, Tanner & Co., Carpets, etc., page 6; R. W. Mitchell, Meats, etc., page 5; C. F. Brown, Pure drugs, page 6.

  —Evangelistic services will be continued at the Memorial Baptist church every evening this week except Saturday. Preaching this evening at 7:30 o'clock.

   —The Christmas offering at St. Mary's Catholic church this year amounted to $742 which is the largest in the history of this church and the sixth largest in the diocese. It is $57 larger than the offering a year ago and $15 larger than the Easter offering.