1 1 m iffliiic mm
Laying close siege to the century
mark, Uncle Sam's oldest soldier re
cently celebrated his ninety-seventh
birthday in Washington. He Is Major
General Daniel H. Rucker,' U. S. A., re
tired, born ninety-seven years ago
April 28. 1812. In the whole history
of the military service of the United
States there Is no record to parallel
his, declares O. F. Schuette In the
Chicago Inter Ocean. Probably In all
the world there Is no soldier who can
look back seventy-two years to the
date of his first commission. For It
was In 1837 that the future general re
ceived his first commission as a second
lieutenant from , President Andrew
Jackson. He was then a man of 25
little dreaming that he had before
him three-quarters of a century of life.
If he lives three years longer, and
with his present vigorous vitality
there is no reason he should not, he
will cross the century mark of life
and celebrate the end of three-quarters
of a century of membership on
the military lists of the United States
government.
Away back in the dawn of our na
tional greatness, our school book hls
toilca Lull of tlio war of 1S12. Yet
Daniel Rucker was two months old
before the. first shot of that war was
fired. A year later came the first
Creek Indian war. Five years later
came the hostilities with the Semln
oles in Florida. And then came out
break after outbreak of Indian con
flicts. It was in this Indian warfare
away back In the 30s that he saw his
first service. He won his first pro
motion for bravery In the Mexican,
war. Then again he participated in
Indian warfare. He was 49 years old
when Fort Sumter was fired on. When
the Spanish war broke out he was 86
years of age. But he had retired
from active service sixteen years be
fore, with forty-five years of service
to his credit.
It Is a far cry from the clumsy,
muzzle-loading flint lock to the noise
less, smokeless, rapid-fire rifle of to
day. And It is a further cry from
the wooden frigates that formed the
fleet of the United States and won
those splendid naval victories on the
great lakes, when he was a babe In
1812, to the marvelous squadron of
fighting Bhlps that sailed home from
a triumphant trip around the world.
When General Rucker first Joined
the ranks of Uncle Sam's defenders
there was no such thing as breech
loading muskets, no sixteen inch guns,
no torpedoes, no mines, no lyddite
shells. No warship was propelled by
steam and all the fleets of the world
were at the mercy of the wind and of
the waves. Then came the Civil War
and the first Ironclads. General
Rucker had passed the half century
mark of his life when the first battle
6f armored ships was fought and the
triumph of the Monitor In beating off
the Merrlmac and turning the tide of
the Confederacy on the seas. Yet
that was but a toy experiment of what
was to follow. Progress was slow, and
it was thirty years before the armored
vessel of to-day really came Into be
ing. General Rucker was 87 years old
when the navy of the United States
worthy successor of the plucky little
fighters of 1812 sent to the bottom In
two hemispheres the successors of the
proud Spanish armada.
It is a long Jump from the clumsy
frigate, with its muzzle loading guns,
its shaking sails and its limited range
of action, to the Dreadnoughts of to
day, with their heavy armor, their
speed, their powerful engines and
their wonderful range; and there have
been other marvels Just as great in
the progress of his profession. When
he took his first commission, and
rode 200 miles on horseback alone to
his post, no one had' thoueht of mitn.
mobiles or airships or wireless tele
graph, much less of their revolution
ary use in actual warfare.
When General Rucker was born Ab
raham Lincoln was a 3-year-old babe
In the backwoods of Kentucky. Gen
eral Rucker was 10 years old, minus
lust one day, When General Grant
saw the light of -day, April 27, 1822.
Only one President of the United
States died before General Rucker was
born George Washington. He was 14
years old when John Adams and
Thomas Jefferson died on that same
Fourth of July In 1820. When James
Monroe, the fourth ex-President to die,
succumbed, on July 4, 1831, General
Itucker was 19 years old. Jtnd out of
the nation's twenty-six ex-Presldenta
General Rucker has survived all save
one. Theodore Roosevelt.
General Rucker was but a boy when
his parents moved from New Jersey
to Michigan. It was there ho got his
first taste of army life, at a frontier
Michigan army post. His father was
averse to his Joining the army, and
his mother even more so; but the fu
ture general won out, and he applied
for a commission as second lieutenant.
There was plenty of work for Uncle
Sam's soldiers In those days, with the
boundless West Just opening Its
wealth to the onward march of civil
Izatlon. He was assigned to the First
dragoons, then on duty at Fort Leav
enworth. Lieutenant Rucker made his
way overland by stage coach until he
got to the nearest point which the
stage coach service of those days could
bring him to the Kansas outpost. . He
was then still 200 miles from his desti
nation. He had hardly settles down to the
comparative ease of his frontier post
before he was ordered Into the heart
of the Cherokee country, and for half
a dozen years he was kept busy with
his soldiers driving off marauding In
dians, protecting settlers and emi
grants' caravans and holding the hos
tile reds In check. He was still busy
In this hazardous campaigning when
the First dragoons were ordered off
to Mexico as part of General Zachary
Taylor's expedition. He took part in
the battle of Buena Vista, and dis
tinguished himself by an act of per
sonal gallantry In the field. It was
an act of bravery under the eye of a
commanding officer, who recommended
him for a brevet commission as major.
When peace was declared Major Ruck
er's command was sent across the
continent to Los Angeles.
The discovery of gold brought the
rush of "49, and then there was more
than plenty to do. It was a feverish
time, and the soldiers of Uncle Sam
had to hold In check the madness of
the men that swarmed Into the new
El Dorado. Few of those who started
across the mountains and the deserts
that fenced off California knew of the
hardships they must face. Each new
arrival brought tales of horror from
the trail. Lost and starving, the Im
migrants straggled off their paths, un
til sacrifice of life made terrible the
days.
Finally Rucker was ordered east.
He left San Francisco In a steamer
for Panama, with Lieutenant Sherman
afterward General Sherman as one
of his companions. They made the
trip across the isthmus of Panama
by ponies and small boats and then
sailed for Jamaica, where Sherman
and Rucker paid a friendly call on
General, Santa Ana, whom they had
worsted at Buena Vista. Major Rucker
saw several years of comparatively
peaceful service In the East and then
he was again Bent out to the frontier.
This time his battlefields covered New
Mexico, In constant warfare with the
Apaches. While he was in this work
the civil war broke out and he' was
ordered back to Washington.
In September. 1861. he was nro-
moted to Colonel of volunteers and In
May, 1863, President Lincoln made
him Brigadier General of volunteers.
In 1865 he was made Brevet Maine-
General of volunteers and In 1866 he
was mustered out of the volunteer
ranks.
But he was made a Colonel and as
sistant quartermaster general of the
regular service and served as such un
til February 13, 1882. when ha was
made Brigadier .General and quarter
master general. At that time he had
seen forty-five years of service and
seventy-one years of life. He wis
then placed on the retired list as a
Major General.
He Is still hale and hearty and de
lights in walks In the beautiful por
tion of residential Washington, near
his home; but he Is leading a quiet
life, and even the excitement of recall
ing the hard days of fighting Is too
much for his strength. With him lives
his daughter, Miss Sarah Rucker.
Another daughter, Mrs. Philip H.
Sheridan, widow of the hero of Win
chester, lives but a few blocks away,
where she can see the statue of her
husband that a grateful nation erected.
In all his yean of service General
Rucker was never wounded. What Is
mora remarkable. In all the years of
service and hardship; he was never
ill for a single day. J
ATLANTIC GARDEN IN DANGER.
Old Relic of New York's Bowerr la
Marked for Destruction.
The Atlantic garden, one of the few
remaining buildings binding the Bow
ery of to-day to the old Bowery the
Bowery which saw the wealth and
fashion of the town go nightly to the
Thalia theater and Blip into the gar
den next door for a bite and a sip be
tween the acts celebrated Us fifty
first birthday Friday evening under a
shadow. The shadow was cast by the
Manhattan bridge, already looming
large to the east and projecting Itself
nearer and nearer to the spot that
still has the savor of the old days.
A rumor to the effect that the city,
desirous of making a fitting approach
to the great brfdge, had already mark
ed the garden for destruction, brought
the oldtlmers there in droves Friday
night, the New York Sun says. They
told stories of the old days, the days
when if you wanted to hear German
opera you had to JourrieyHo the Tha
lia, where Conrled worked as a supe
and where Mme. Gelstinger drew her
crowds. The old passageway between
the theater and the garden is still
there.
The garden was opened on May 8,
1858, by the father of the present Kra
mers, and part of it Is the original
Bull's Head tavern of the Revolution,
one of Washington's many headquar
ters. It was the center of the German
life of the town, and there Kramer first
showed the great orchestra, the won
der of its time, which he bought from
the grand duke of Baden. There, too,
the German regiments of the Civil
War made their headquarters and re
cruiting station, and there played all
the famous bands of half a century
ago. All' this those at the long table
recalled Friday night as they drained
their schooners of Rhine wine and lit
the candles one by one.
CLIMATE MADE IN FRANCE.
Means of Providing Pari Vegetable
Weeks Ahead of Season.
The gardeners of Paris get their
products on the market weeks .before
the regular season ' for them. This
forcing of nature is described by Ern
est Poole in Success Magazine.
The secret Is simply this; The
French maralchers have manufactured
a climate to suit them. As one ob
serves has said, "They have moved
the climate of Monte Carlo up to the
suburbs of Paris."
Some new prodigy of modern sci
ence,' this? Not at '. all. Only enor
mous expense in money and in time.
The gardens, whenever possible, are
placed on land with a slope to the
south, and are well protected by the
walls on. the north and east walls
built to reflect light as well as to give
protection from the northeast winds.
The ground is practically covered
with glass, not as In a greenhouse, but
by glass frames in the open, "three
light" frames of uniform size, 12 by
4 Mi feet; and also by glass bells.
These, too, are of a uniform size,
about the shape of a chapel bell, a lit
tle less than 17 inches in diameter and
from 14 to 15 Inches high. The French
call them cloches. You 'may often see
over a thousand frames and over ten
thousand glass bells in one two-acre
plot In the suburbs of Paris.
A more recent Innovation Is the em
ployment of hot-water pipes run un
der the soil, making of the earth a
veritable 'steam-heated hotel, with, this
essential difference, that the hotel
keeper here Is desperately eager, not
to keep his guests, but to persuade
them to laave on tha earliest possible
day.
I,
n. aW 1
Water for the Beea.
Give the bees nlentv of water. Thar
need a great deal and will fly a long
distance to get it.
If there is no running stream or
lake of pure water near It is well to
place a pail of fresh water near tha
apalry every day.
Bees uso water to dilute the heavr.
thick honey left over from wintar to
make It suitable for the young larvae
ana also to make the cell wax pliable.
Bees , should" be Drotected from the
wind on the north and west by a close
sat hedge or high fence.
All the weeds should be kent down
In front of the hives. Mow a plot 6
reet wide and then cut the weeds and
grass close to the ground with a hoe.
An hour once a week BDent on tha
care of the bees will bring larger re
turns ror the effort than anv other
labor on the farm.
A newspaper man In Chicago, who
cut In
last year sold $225 worth of honey to
tnree big hotels. He says he did not
spend more than an hour a week look
ing after his bees during the season.
. ana u. Journal.
Feed for Chicks.,
Feed chickens the first day or two
upon , a mixture of bread crumbs
grated fine and hard-boiled egg chop-
pea nne. Keep water before them
in a small fountain, so they can drink
but not get into It. In a few days
feed upon rolled oats, finely cracked
corn and any small seeds. Add a
for several seasons the land washes
but little and the vines grow better
and bear betterd. The cow peas make
sufficient cover, so one does not get
into the mud when pruning In wet
weather in late winter or early spring.
Whether grown in the orchard or vine
yard the peas should usually be plow
ed under the following spring. In this
way they protect the soil without los
ing any essential part of their fertiliz
ing value.
Alfalfa Plaatlna-.
It should not be forgotten that tha
spring Is the proper time to prepare
the alfalfa crop that Is to be planted
next fall. The ground which Is ex
pected to be used for this crop should
not be planted to small grain; neither
should corn precede alfalfa, because
the ground will not be kept free of
weeds and grass. The best prepara
tory crop for alfalfa Is cow peas; then
after the vines are removed or plowed
under the ground should be well
broken and kept clean of weeds and
grass by surface cultivation until It
is seeded In alfalfa the following falL
Peanuts may be grown instead of cow
PC2S, !f the CrP? 1? cnnalriered mora
desirable, as it is perhaps, but they
must be kept well cultivated and es
pecially allow no earth grass to grow
In the crop. Chicago Inter Ocean.
Value of a Small Stream.
An Interesting example of the valu
of a small stream for light and power
purposes may be found near Sacra
mento, Cal. A trout stream has been
damned up and the power in the form
of electricity has been used for doing
such light work as washing and Iron
ing, also for cooking and lighting In
the home of the owner. As the stream
DRAFT ON DOUBLETREE.
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There is a difference of opinion regarding the pulling ability of each
horse In a team. Some are of the opinion that the horse ahead is pulling
the most, and vice versa.
The draft on each horse depends entirely on the relative lengths of the
lever arms, and the lengths of the lever arms depend on the position of the
clevis pins with respect to the draw pin. In upper diagram (1) the clevis
pins and the draw pin are in a straight line, hence the lever arm Is the per
pendicular distance from the draw pin (A) to the line of draft of each horse.
The lever arms In this case are A. B. and A. C, which are equal, no matter
how much one horse is ahead of the other. One horse always pulls the same
amount as the other.
In diagram (2) the clevis pins are behind the draw pin, and when one
horse pulls ahead of the other his lever arm (A. C.) becomes longer and
(A. B.) the lever arm of the one behind becomes shorter. In this case the
horse ahead, having a large lever arm. has the advantage and pulls less
than the one behind.
In diagram (3) the clevis pins are ahead of the draw pin and when
one horse pulls ahead his lever arm shortens and the lever arm' of the one
behind lengthens. The horse ahead, having the lever arm shorter nulls mora
than the horse behind.
little beef scraps to the food. In the
course of two weeks whole wheat can
be given. This Is the dry method of
feeding, which Is coming Into vogue
quite extensively. Here Is another
method of feeding: Mix dry two parts
of corn meal, one part of finely ground
wheat bran and one part of beef
scraps. After they are thoroughly
mixed add boiling water In sufficient
quantity to make a stiff dough. Cover
the vessel and let it cook. Feed the
dough warm or cold, but never hot.
Denver Field and Farm.
Raising- Pl.
The cheapest way to put gains on
young pigs Is through the sow. She
has a strong digestion and can turn
coarse grains and pasture Into easily
digested milk. Carerul experiment
show that a pound of weight taken
from the bow will make more than 1
pound of gain on the pigs, the flesh
of the young animals containing more
water. The sow should be fed to pro
duce a high milk yield, and the pigs
should be kept with her until they get
to eating a full feed of grain and pasture.
Cow Peas for Vineyards,
Cow peas are a good crop for vine
yards. The grapes are given thorough
cultivation until late June, when the
cow peas are sown. Before this prac
tice was begun, says the Farmers and
Drovers Journal, it was a problem to
hold the soil about the roots of the
Tinas. After cropping with cow peas
is very small during the dry months,
an old miner's ditch has been dammed
to form a reservoir of 100,000 cubio
feet capacity. The plant cost $1,500
and In a single year has done 1700
worth of work.
Portable Canning Machlae.
A machine by which the farmer can
prepare and can his fruits, tomatoes,
corn beans, or any other farm produce
which can be canned, in the fields or
orchards in which the vegetable or
fruit la growing, is described in Popu
lar Mechanics. Mounted on a wheel
barrow arrangement, the machine can
be pushed from one orchard to another
or from a tomato patch to a cornfield
as necessity requires. Water for the
process is heatedby a kerosene burner.
How to Set Felice Posts. .
Any timber will last quite well if set
in this way: Dig a square hole about
a foot deep, throwing the dirt well
back. Sharpen the post and drive well
into the bottom, then put a flat stone
against each side and a chunk against
the post, the boards holding it tha
other way. This prevents their rotting
off at the surface of the ground a
they always do.
Value of Quality.
Extra large specimens of vegetables'
are all right for exhibition purposes
and to win prizes with, but they ara
not what the average consumer wants
and is willing' .to. pay freifht on.
Quality, uniformity of size and smooth
ness ara what tha average man wants.