OUR AMERICA LETTER,

Otago Witness, Issue 2612, 6 April 1904, Page 11

OUR AMERICA LETTER,

CFbou Oub Own Coebespokdent.)

While "touching -upon commercial topics -it may not be amiss to refer to & recent cheap bit of information furnished • by Secretary of Agriculture Wilson to +he House Committee on Agriculture in dwelling upon the scope, purposes, and development of his department. What be had reference to was none other than master hog •who suffers euoh misprison, if we may quote from an essay of an American writer. He epoke of the great liking ■which Englishmen Lave for the ' genuine Irish baoon, which is much leaner than other baoon, and more certain to be of uniform grade, that can be : relied upon. He spoke of 'no less a matter tli an the connivance of Sir Thomas Lipton to servo the English breakfast table with Chicago bacon under an Irish name. He eaid the Chicago market seemed to have' the proper pig for the purpose — a remote relative of the raaor-back, with little fat on it-3 bones, a beasfc that produces bacon that is sweet and of the true Irish flavour. The Secretary of Agriculture asserted that the Chicago bacon is carefully cured and carefully canned, it is then shipped to Ireland, where a paste brush and label gives it the last necessary touch of Irish. This may well be believed, for Sir ' Thomas Lipton's packing house at the Chicago stockyards competes well with other large establishments of the same kind in this great packing centre. Secretary Wilson, continuing, went so far as to assert that the famous Irish hunt-ears are more plentiful in Chicago than in Ireland, and that Sir Thomas Lipton does not scruple to ~ fill the demand for Irish hunters with the horses that are raised in tbo States. Sir Thomas, the Secretary says, has seveia! Irish experts on hand who pick likoly weight-carriers, and when a good consignment is assembled it is shipped to Ireland, where each horse is put through a course of training at gates and bars until he becomes a really good hunter. Then the English riders are permitted to see them work. Governor Cummins, of lowa, in his recent inaugural address, said that the people of the agricultural West want Frcetrade with Canada in agricultural products and reciprocity with all the world. "It has been possible to make, and, in my judgment, Is still possible to make," said he, "a treaty ■with Canada which would for yeaTS to come make us practically masters of the imports into the Dominion. In the last 10 years American manufacturers have expended 100,000, OOOdol in the establishment of plants in Canada, which w,ould have been kept at home, with all the? labour which that implies, if there Lad been a fair and permanent relation existing between the two countries. _ The fanners of lowa have lost something in the foreclosure of the opportunity to feed tho men Tyiho axe operating the plants to -which I have referred, and they^ will lose more ' when Canada raises a barrier so that England, .France, and Germany will supply the material for the wonderful development upon whioh Canada is just entering— material whioh we are co well prepared to supply." Governor Cummins urged tHat; treaties could b" made with Central and Viuth America. France. Germany. Scam.

and Italy that would immensely increase our exports. "In England," eaid he, " there is still the open door, but you know that a mighty force is now ewinging it in your faces. Do you not think you ought to be , alert "and make some provision, if you can, for a pass key ,as the bolt slips into its eocket. In Franc© you are trader core disoriroination. Germany is making it harder for you all the while. Iow«, has been faithful to the policy of Protection. The 'benefits she- has derived have been great, but largely incidental. The time has come for her to raise high into the political heavens the twin flag, reciprocity. Let us have the reciprocity demanded in the Republican platform of 1903."

Telephone companies in New York are aboiit to test the inventions of Professor Pupin, a New York el-ectrioian, who has discovered, a method which he thinks will revolutionise the construction of telegraph cables, and make possible telephone communication between New York and London. By placing coils wound on -wire at regular intervals Professor Pupin has found that the current can be transmitted without interference waves or loss of current. To apply this discovery Jie New York Telephone Company has installed an underground cable at Kingsbridge, N.Y. ; the New Jersey Company is experimenting with a similar line between New York and Elizabeth, and with two lines on Long Island ; while the American Telephone and Telegraph Company is testing an overhead Pupin line between Omaha, St. Paul, and Boston. By the old eystcan conversation over a long distance wire would have been impossible if the wire were carried underground for a distance of 15 miles. It is believed the new system will remove this difficulty and enable wires to be carried into cities underground. Moreover, it is claimed that the new system dees away with the annoying buzz in telephones.

Dr Wiley, of the Bureau of Chemistry at Washington, has been testing the effect of the various acids which are widely used to adulterate or preserve foods intended for public consumption upon a voluntary class of young men whom lie has employed at his headquarters. The doctor is planning to make a report to Congress, and cays he is gratified with the results of his experiments. It is asserted that the boys, however, have found a diet of salicylio acid does not agree with them, and they are ■ compelled to take a three weeks' vacation for the eating of " regular " food. The claes, however, ha*» no intention of abandoning the experiments, and will submit to a new test of the doctor's as soon _as the vacation is over. It is eaid that the only one in the class who has a good word for. the salicylio acid diet is a clerk who entered the class with a bad case of rheumatism, and who is now free from the ailment. He thinks the acid is responsible for the "fcure. " They have had the whole class on salicylic diet for the past six weeks," said one of th« boarders, " and they continued the time of giving the dose two ! weeks longer than usual. About the time ; this rheumatic fellow began to get better J the rest of us began to get worse." i

It is asserted that there has been a clash between John D. Rockefeller and the American Baptist Educational Society aa

a result of the former's donations to Baptist Colleges. Rev. H. L. Morehouse has resigned as secretary of the society, and ifc is said that a number of Baptist colleges will decline any proffer of assistance froni the head of the Standard Oil Company. Since its organisation Mr Rockefeller has been one of the society's ohie>f patrons. Recently some of the leading Baptists of the country have taken the stand that the society should not accept the oil magnate's money upon the high ethical ground tha<i it was made by a trust that oppressed poor people, and for that reason should not be used for educational or religious purposes. Milton B. Mabks.