Items of Interest
In his annual report for the fiscal year the secretary of agriculture indicates a number of important measures necessary for the betterment of agriculture in the United States. These involve: legislation designed to promote the better handling and storage of farm products and the trading on the basis of fixed grades and standards, including a permissive warehouse act, a cotton standards act, a grain grades act, and provision for a market-news service to obtain and disseminate accurate information regarding crop movements and prices; a land-mortgage banking act; assistance to communities near the national forests in road building and similar improvements; authority to grant water-power permits within the national forests for fixed periods; the classification of the remaining public grazing lands to determine their character and to secure information upon which to base plans for their future improvement and use; authority for the sale of lands needed for local enterprises in certain localities within the Alaskan forests after examination and classification by the department, with definite provision against alienation of those chiefly valuable for waterpower sites, for the handling of timber resources, or for other public purposes; provision for a well balanced enlarged program for agricultural research; the continuance of appropriations for the purchase of forest lands in the Appalachian and White Mountains until areas sufficient to be influential in protecting those regions are acquired.
In his annual report, Secretary Lane of the department of the interior calls attention to the national parks as a valuable and undeveloped asset of the country. He says: "The United States furnishes to the people of this country playgrounds which are, we may modestly state, without any rivals in the world. Thousands have this year for the first time crossed the continent and seen one or more of the national parks. It may reconcile those who think that money expended upon such luxuries is wasted, to be told that the sober-minded traffic men of the railroads estimate that this year more than a hundred million dollars usually spent in European travel was divided among the railroads, hotels, and their supporting enterprises in this country. During the year a new national park of distinction and unusual accessibility has come into existence. It crosses the Rockies in Colorado at a point of supreme magnificence; hence its title, the Rocky Mountain National Park. Through it, from north to south, winds the Continental Divide,—the Snowy Range in name and fact. Two hundred lakes grace this rocky paradise, and bear and bighorn inhabit its fastnesses. It has an area of three hundred and fifty square miles and lies only seventy miles from Denver. Many hotels lie at the foot of these mountains and three railroads skirt their sides."
The boring operations for the Roger Pass Tunnel of the Canadian Pacific Railway have been completed. This tunnel passes through Mount Macdonald, the dome of the great Selkirk Range, and is the longest railway tunnel on the continent and one of the longest in the world. More than two years was spent in preliminaries,—the selection of the proper place to drive the bore, also the surveying and the excavation work necessary before the real tunneling could be begun. The boring and the related improvements will cost more than $10,000,000. The Hoosac Tunnel at North Adams, Mass., is four and three quarters miles long, while the Roger Pass Tunnel is five miles long. The main shaft has room for double tracks. The tunnel is fully twenty-nine feet wide and twenty-three feet high, and follows a straight line under Mount Macdonald, emerging in the Beaver Valley at a point about one thousand feet below the present line of the railroad. The highest point reached by the tunnel will be 3,795 feet above sea-level. The passage through the mountain has a gradual rise of I per cent to the "interior summit."
Until a few years ago there were no facilities in India for the study of archeology, and the government of India had no option but to seek recruits in Europe. In order to remove this difficulty it was decided in 1903 to encourage the pursuit of archeology among Indians by the offer of state scholarships. In the first place, two such scholarships, of the value of 75 and 100 rupees per month were instituted, open to candidates who had shown special proficiency in Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic, and arrangements were made for the training of the selected scholars under departmental experts. This experiment having proved successful, a scholarship was next instituted for Burmese archeology, and within the last three years six more scholarships have been sanctioned. At the present moment there are eight ex-scholars occupying responsible archeological posts, five in British territory and three in the native states of Hyderabad, Gwalior, and Kashmir, besides five other appointments held by Indians who have received their training in other capacities in the department.
The annual report of the forester of the department of agriculture comments on the government ownership of water-power sites and timber as exemplified by the national forest system. The financial burdens resting on private owners of uncut timber are held to have forced the manufacture of lumber without regard to market demands, and with consequent demoralization of the lumber industry and wasteful use of timber resources; while facts and figures regarding the water-power situation are given to prove that more rapid development of waterpower in the West is mainly prevented by the lack of consumers rather than by the absence of suitable legislation. Water-power permits taken out for national forest projects, says the report, involve a total of 1,261,560 horsepower. Free permits cover 70,628 horse-power, and the plants actually constructed or operating June 30 had an output capacity of 341,276 horse-power, the rentals paying $89,000 during the year.
A four ton boulder, carrying a large bronze plate, has been set in a circular space in North Terrace Park, Kansas City, Mo., overlooking the Missouri River, to mark the spot where Senator Benton stood in 1852 and made the prophecy, "Here where these rocky bluffs meet and turn aside the sweeping current of this mighty river, here where the Missouri, after pursuing her southern course for nearly two thousand miles, turns eastward to meet the Mississippi, a great manufacturing and commercial community will congregate and less than a generation will see a great city." The monument was placed by the Elizabeth Benton Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which worked nine years to carry out the project.
The White Star Steamship line has agreed to pay $664,000 in settlement of all claims arising from the sinking of the Titanic on April 5, 1912, when more than fifteen hundred persons perished. Of this amount, if all those claiming damages should accept the terms, approximately $500,000 would be distributed among American claimants, $50,000 to British claimants, and $114,000 would be required for interest and expenses. The original claims for damages amounted to about two and a half million dollars.
Secretary Lane of the department of the interior has ordered the restoration to disposition under the appropriate public land laws of approximately twenty-nine thousand acres of land in northern California. The tract was withdrawn a number of years ago under the authority of the reclamation act in connection with the proposed Pitt River project. It has now been determined that the lands will not be needed for that purpose, also that they contain no power possibilities.
Press despatches from Pekin had stated that Yuan Shih-kai did not intend to assume the throne for some time, though he formally accepted the offer. In a cablegram from his secretary the Chinese ruler says he will "submit to the people's will" when the "necessary preparations" have been made. In transmitting the cablegram, his private secretary referred to Yuan Shih-kai as "His Majesty," indicating that in effect at least he is now Emperor of China.
The commission form of government is in effect in 81 of the 204 cities of the United States of over 30,000 inhabitants. Civil service regulations are applied to the appointment of policemen in 122 such cities, including all those of more than 300,000 inhabitants. Policewomen are employed in 26 cities. Municipal prohibition prevails in 15 cities, state prohibition in 17, and county and parish prohibition in 3.
The nation's harvests this year have surpassed any ever before recorded. The value of the principal farm crops, based on prices paid to farmers Dec. 1, is announced by the department of agriculture in its final estimate at $5,568,773,000, making 1915 a banner year both in value and in production of crops.
A channel was opened on Dec. 17 through the slide at Gaillard cut, the first time the Panama canal has been open to traffic since last September. It is stated that canal tugs and dredges will be able to pass through the slide region about Jan. 1.
The action of Congress forbidding the importation or interstate transportation of motion picture films of a prize fight has been declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court.
