Show MINING DEPARTMENT DEPTHS OF ANCIENT AND MODERN MINES The Former Were Shallow by Comparison-Informat- ion About the Yukon District in Alaska In a paper recently read "heron me Fociety of Alla London liy R H Urolith It was stated that early In tlm last century ft shaft sixty fathoms In depth was an object of wonder and tracing the history of the depths hitherto attained tin rapid progress in tins respect is apparent Thu lirst systematic writer on mining Agricola describes mine shafts ns being for the most part two paces long two to three paces broad and thirty paces deep This deptli had however been greatly exceeded In classic times at Lanrliim "here silver lead mines were worked on a large scale by tin ancient Athenians There were 2000 well-likshafts many of which still exist and give a good idea of deep mining at that epoch The workings were carefully laid out "with the aid of geodetic instruments a sighting instrument and a water level the use of which was described by i e llero of Alexandria in tin third century I! (! The shafts were perpendicular sipiare in section two yards across The deepest was 'idO feet tint the most of them did not exceed eighty feet As a rule In liaise ancient times of which we have records In the works of Herodotus Diodorus Siculus and 51 iny tin mines were of small deptli Tin rock was generally not ditlieult to deal with tin minerals extracted were of great intrinsic value and labor was plentiful and cheap or as tn the Egyptian and Athenian mines large numbers of slaves were employed In England the mines worked in t lie early days were evidently very shallow A Variety of details regarding the work-luof a small colliery belonging to tin monks of Durham and situated in tin vicinity of the city are preserved ill (lie '‘Durham Household Hook” which contains the account of the bursa a of the monastery during the years 1530-153At this sixteenth century oolllei-live men were employed who were paid nil aggregate sum of 21 pence or about 4 pence each per day The jilts worked a very small area lasting less than a year hut the cost o( sinking new ones was a mere nothing ranging from 2 shillings ti pence to shillings Among incidental charges are jiayments for winding rojies at 2 and windlasses at shillings each pence each At t he end of the sixteenth century shafts were sunk from seventy to lob feet deej) They were drained by water levels or adits which were we are told very expensive costing $100 or more The Invention of blasting at Heliemnltz In Hungary in 1027 rendered it jiossible to mine at greater depths blasting was Introduced Into England by Herman jnlners at tho Eeton copper mines In It 218 and In 1(!80 it was adopted In the Cornish mines In 1(W8 the shafts of the Mon-dilead mines were four by two and one-lial- f feet and were remarkable In the early days for their depth Indeed an ancient charter exists of the date of Edward IV (1408) which lu a rude nttenijit at plan drawing curiously represents the "inyne deeps” ns they were then called Writing In 1070 Sir John l’ettus describes the shafts of that period In the following terms: "The shaft is that which is digged round or square like a well from which the earth that is digged Is wound up In baskets by rojies as wo do buckets of water and these are not only for that use but likewise to give Now oftentimes air to the mine pumps are put Into these shafts to fetch out the water for these shafts are in many places forty fifty or sixty fathoms deep before the miners come to the metal or minerals for which they In 1(172 Heorge Sinclair dedig” scribed the pumping operations in tin North of England in colliery shafts 420 feet deep In the following words: ‘ Hut there are to be seen In the north of England in Hishojirlek water works by which water Is drawn above forty fathoms In perpendicular hut not ail In one sink The manner whereof Is this there being a sink groin the end of their level to the surface of the earth where their works are going forty fathoms deep which must dry the coal sinks nt sixty to seventy which lie above the banks of tin river Where the water Works are situated there is lirst one forty fathoms deep from the grass another lu a right line from that of twenty-fou- r another of twelve upon all which there are water 4 Q p proves to be ns rleh as any In the Yukon country One of the richest claims has a imy streak thirty feet wide of three feet of bedrock and four feet of gravel which will average It Is claimed $1 to the jian but I think fifty cents Is nearer it For two miles each way from this claim good itiy has been located at the creek yet found dose intervals e st 3123 feet Belgium 3037 feet — ITodint’s Colliery Mens Belgium— Vivier’s Shaft 0 ill v 3750 feet Austria - Hungary — Adalbert Bohe-- 1 mill 3072 feet Creat Britain ter 3474 feet Creat Britain — Pendleton — Ashton Manches- Moss Man-- 1 Chester 3300 feet Victoria — Lansell’s Bendigo 3302 feet Victoria — Lazarus Bendigo 3021 feet Henna ny— Kaiser Wilhelm II Ilarz 2000 feet works” Hcrumuy — Einlg Kett Saxony 202C According to Robert I’lot the collieries at Heaudesert lu lost! were the feet France — Montchanin Colliery Creu-zo- t deepest in England Here canncl coal 2300 was mined at a dejith of 210 feet France—' Trend Colliery St Etienne Hr I’lot describes with great niimite-hesthe working of coal at Tunstall 2031 feet South Africa— Robinson Deep S A in North Staffordshire where ancient coal jiits three and a half feet in di- It 1001 f(ct South Africa— N'ourse Doej) 1578 feet ameter and thirty-sifeet dH‘j) have Norway— Kongsberg silver mine 1001) Waller in recently been discovered Ills essay on the value of the mines feet— Iron Age late of Sir Carberv Price in PHIS menALASKA MINES tions the Iludolplius shaft in Hungary as having attained tin great deptli of Kxtont and Dlctlmdn of Works Carried on 108 fathoms and “e Leopold shaft in thu ukon DUtrlct that of 150 fathoms The figures he Tills winter there an about 1200 obtained from Edward Brown's trav- men in t hi distributed us folels Similar statements are made by 1 lows: About country Tot) at Circle City and i lie H Merin who deseiilii n visit to tin diggings jmssilily twenty Hhemnitz mines in hi 15 Though giv- - tributary tix t on Seventy Milt ami American ing ail interesting jdoture of the state creeks between here and there about of milling at that date Ids description 12i at Mile and t lit diggings on can hardly be considered seientitleally tin headForty of Forty Milt and Sixty Mile accurate ns be gives great promi- rivers and at least Bonence to the njipcaraucc in the milieu nanza and Hunker 35o in the new districts or ’’demons In t tie shape or lUile negro A fair Idea of tin general location of boys” In 1700 some shafts on the these places can lit had from a United 120 feet feet nine deep Continent were Slates coast and geodetic survey map long and four feet wide Tin author Bonanza and Hunker creeks are tribuof the Comjdeat Collier in 170'? mentaries of tin Kloiidiek river near its tions shafts ns deep ns 250 to :?d! feet mouth It Is alKMit fifty miles above The cost of sinking them amounted to here and three miles above old Fort £1000 and more The majority of the Reliance on the east branch of the 1 shafts however did not exceed 120 to The town started at the mouth ISO feet and their cost was not more of the Klomllek river has been limned Ilian £55 Dawson and already boasts a sawmill The earliest npplleationsof thestenm three saloons and nlxiut fifty cabins engine were directed solely to tin Bonanza creek was discovered In the drainage of deep mines Savery in latter jiart of August and In one 1702 In his pnmjdilet on the" subject month the discoverer took out $1000 entitled The Miner’s Erlend or an En- Since the cold weather liegan so that Fire described to Raise Water by holes could lie sunk by thawing the gine the first application of 6team but gravel commonly called “burning ” s x e y e About half a mile above t hr Discovery claim is a tributary of Bonanza called El Dorado which has very good July for a mile and n half from its mouth though It Is not equal to that on tin first claim mentioned Hunker creek lias not been prospected much yet but will doubtless lnv® some good claims Bonanza creek Is about twenty-livmiles long and on it and Its tributaries there are located probably 1(H) claims of 500 feet each and half that many in Hunker district Of that mini her sonic will never jiay many will jiay wages and maybe a little more and a goodly number will give their owners snug sums The prevailing wages of the country are $1 jier hoar dejiending on tho distance from the Mipjdy point From five to eight hours is a winter day’ work The diggings at the bead of Forty Mile and Sixty Mile rivers are from one to ten years old and while none of them are so extensive as Bonanza's Newcomen and Crawley In 1710 were tin first to render the steam engine suitable for iruetleal use The introduction of tin steam engine crude as It was rendered it possible to sink In 1755 tho l’otosl deejier shafts mines were remarkable for their great dejitli The ladders there are stated to have been made of cowhide they were ten fathoms in length and with their aid ni(n carried a half hundredweight up 150 fathoms In 1780 we are told by Dt Morveau that the lecjest mines in England were at Whitehaven and in East Northumberland shafts were often to be seen fifty fathoms deej) At the beginning of the present century In the north of England shafts were usually eight to ten feet in diameter Here and there the equijmieiit of shafts remained in a primitive condition Even in 1837 a landsale colliery was In ojieration in the county of Durham at which coals were drawn by a donkey and banked out and sold by an old woman Nevertheless there were some fairly extensive collieries nod some ambitious undertakings were begun notably at Wearnioutli Colliery Here shaft sinking began in May 1820 It reached 344 feet in August 1831 was metal tubbed In October 1834 reached 1578 feet and struck coal in April 1835 It was down 151)0 feet The cost Is said to have been $400000 to $500-00- 0 For many years tills was the deej)-ecolliery in the world ’Thus 111 1830 It was a miraculous achievement when a shaft ajijinarhed 300 fathoms At tills period in the Cornish tin mines the wonderful Improvements of the steam engine caused mines which had licen stopped for want of steam jiower to be materially deejiened and large quantities of ore rendered available which w’ould otherwise never have been reached Wheal Abraham had then obtained a depth of 1152 feet Doleoath 1410 feet widle Tresavean coper mine was 1020 feet deeji below the adit level At tlie jiresent time Doleoath (2582 feet) Is the deeiest mine in Cornwall its neighbor Cook’s Kitchen (243(1 feet) taking the second place It Is Interesting to compare with these old mines the deejiest shafts of tin jiresent time which in the several countries are ns follows 1’nited States— Red Jacket Calumet and Hecla 4!ino feet railed States— Tamarack Hike Superior 4150 feet Cnited States — Yellow Jacket Com- Stock they have had diggings as rich a a ny but the very best on Bonanza Now as to the methods used: The diggings are of two elnsses— summer and winter Most of the creeks have a slight fall and wide bottoms the gravel being covered by one to ten feet of muck or soli (not glacial drift) The bedrock Is often twenty feet deep and since the ground never thaws more than two or three feet from the surface drains mid ditches are expensive so each winter more ‘‘burning" Is done which consists In thawing the gravel by lire removing it und relenting The muck tlmws but little amt makes a good roof for drifting The duuijis are sluiced with tin first water In the siirlng Sometimes the creeks do not freeze up solid and the water gives trouble— llmt being the case tills year in jdaces where the average temperature for tin jiast live weeks was ten degrees below zero There is jiromise of a cold sju-llthe coldest forty-fivdegrees below zero Last year at being recorded tliis time the dally mcun was fifty-livto sixty-fivdegrees Summer diggings are expensive to ojM'ii for work but tin net returns are often more than If “burning” had been In most cases lum her the method must be wbljisawed t he average cost being $150 per thousand feet Other things living in prnjmrtion considerable expense is Incurred before the ground Is ready to shovel "into the sluice boxes In all probability there will bo work for nil that come lu tills spring Bonanza is 111 an uiijmispocted section of the country though there may not be No one many new creeks found should tldnk of coming unless lie can laud with $500 if lie purchase his out- fit at Juneau anil twice that If he purchase after arrival here But little attention has been paid to quartz jiartleularly as the hills and valleys are covered by a heavy growth So far nothing but small of moss sLringcrs have been found In the Nuggets are often found which "are more than half quartz— Mining and Scientific Tress e lied-roe- k The State Ore Satiqdlng Works re- In outlook good for this season’s business The old reliable Whim Company of Denver sold more of their goods iaRt year than ever before They make one of tho best whims on the market The Denver rulillc Sampling Works have tlnlr sampling works at Holden running in fine sliajie This Is a great benefit to the mining companies in that locality and along the line of the D T & (1 Railway Mr E E Burlingame the popular Denver assayer has jmrehased quite a large amount of gold taken from tha banks of the Platte within the past month Mr Burlingame docs the largest assay business In the State and is considered one of the best authorities lu the East In the annual report of C KIrchhoff the special agent of the division of mining statistics and technology of the States general survey It is shown that for the year 1S!)0 Idaho took first place In the production of with Colorado second and Utah third which jiosltlon Utah has held for In the years 1894 and several years 1895 Idaho anil Colorado held reverse positions The past two or three years has demonstrated the great mineral wealth of the mining States of the West and the result of the general prospecting t iur in vogue during this time 1ms conclu- sively proven that the country is of greater Imjiortnnce as a mineral producer than the most sanguine had ever We feel safe lu saying that liojicd nothing can now retard the (levelojj-men- t of every mineral jirodueing section and during the coming sununet an advancement will lie made that will be simply wonderful Millions will lie the ultimate outcome of it nil and millions of money will In taken l'roin the ground the outputting of which will not come into competition with tho thousands of starving poor throughout the Eastern States but on the other band will tie just so much more added to the wealth of the world— Butte Mining World Wnrilen Harley of the Prison North st Ln Porto lioUiim litis niloptoil a noo method of prodding occupation tlio sevhundred title convicts under till eral ehurgo bv organizing niMItla oonipniiies within Hit walls The regiment will lie supplied nltJ wooden guns ami drilled liv convicts win served In the late war and are familiar with fr military turtles Over 1000000 cat skins are used every year in the fur trade The Maine hear Is fast becoming a tradition There is talk of abolishing the $5 bounty on bear A Philadelphia woman has sued her heartless husband for divorce because he has forbidden her to eat pie A pearl that was afterward sold to a Jeweler for $75 was found ln the gizzard of a turkey ln London recently Bangkok the capital of Slam Is a floating city containing 70000 houses each of which floats on a raft of bamboo The South Carolina legislature has rejected a bill to permit the running of trains on Sunday with perishable freight Antelope are abundant out ln the Garden City neighborhood Kansas and sportsmen have given the nimble Jack rabbit a rest It Is estimated that the cost of vessels now being built at lake shipyards Is close to $3000000 as compared with $9000000 a year ago The London school hoard rule forbld-(ln- g collections In schools was suspended ln order to allow subscriptions to the Indian famine fund It is said that a Missouri dealer who recently shipped several hundred mules to Johannesburg South Africa realized 1250 to $300 each on them Denmark’s foreign egg trade has grown to tremendous size mainly with Twenty years ago the an England nual Danish export of eggs was 600000 now It Is reckoned at 111000000 Paris Is making the venture of lay lng down mahogany roadways The Rue Lafayette has been pulled up and relald with real Brazilian mahogany of a peculiarly fine texture end color ’ Osceola— Wheat and rye went nndi now ln good condition Cattle scares and ln good condition bogs plenty and Markets active but prices healthy Madison— Wheat condition fair' somewhat brown on top by froet thin on ground rya oondltion good short Proa Ftrmeri’ Review r growth healthy Cattle and hogs tn VVVWWWWWWWS low good condition stock of all kinds have — Wheat ln good condition well cholera has been very wintered Saginaw the Reports received this week by Cattle scarce condition ln hogs in good bad many places Farmers’ Review show that the condiand supply ample Morrow— Wheat and rye In good contions have not materially changed good condition Sanilac — Wheat fair condition Cat- dition cattle and bogs fair to good from last week "Wheat la still going tle and hogs good condition and amScioto— Wheat looks well but some through a critical period of alternate and Losses from ple supply Prices very low butter damaged by the flood cattle a hogs freezing and thawing 10c eggs 10c was great There condition in these causes appear to he heavy The good deal of fodder swept away by the water Kentucky supply of moisture la good In some Hardin —Wheat prospect fair cat- also straw and hay In stack lost coses excessive Minnesota and the tle scarce hogs plentiful Dakotas have large supplies of snow Shelby— Wheat ln poor condition Hancock — Wheat poor condition late but showing strength after the ravages which will give an abundance of water when it melts Stock is generally sowing worse than last report cattle of winter and fly we can have but lit- healthy but in some localities hog and hogs in fair condition tie wheat at best Cattle and hogs ln cholera still prevails Marshall — Wheat damaged some by fine condition no cholera freezing prospects fair cattle and hogs Stark— Wheat fair some fly cattle IllluoU in better condition fair expecting and hogs scarce Bureau — Wheat small area condl Vinton— Wheat healthy hut freezing tlon good rye the same Cattle and prices for tobacco — Wheat ln fair condition Metcalfe and thawing without protection and hogs supply limited condition good some prospects damage by freezing and thawing Christian —Farmers complain of damwashing mins have reducedscarce hogs and but same snow little rye cattle oondltion very Cattle fair age to wheat and rye from too much Very rain and freezing but must have ten hogs In good condition hut scarce fat fine condition and supply but little changeable winter withcherries baddays of growing weather before It can hogs $325 — Jefferson sweet ln Wheat and good rye snow peaches and be determined Cattle In fair c dition condition damage will be done If It ly winter killed hogs scarce on account of cholera healthy' Washington— Wheat looksaccount Edwards — Wheat and rye In" poor should freeze also to fruit cattle and of on scarce ln March hogs condition of hut afraid good are but and condition winter killed Cattle con-- 1 — Wheat and rye look as well in Mercer good rye and thawing Have had too freezing hogB In fair condition as ever at this time of the year cattle dition Cattle and hogs very scarce much rain and hogs look well but ln good shape and healthy There Jasper — Wheat and rye area reduced Morgan — Wheat and rye look well was a general flood February 22 to and thawing not frozen out yet damaged by freezing plenty of cattle and 26 Cattle and hogs In good condition hogs In condition Ground is in good Iowa 15c Oats 16c Wheat Hogs $310 Corn fine condition for plowing There is a fair prospect 80c Milch cowb in good demand Appanoose— Nelson — Wheat not very good light been Kane — No wheat sown rye is look- on for winter wheat The winter has been doesn’t show up good and not ground has there and Cattle look well but are cattle ing well and hogs good condition and very open enow to cover the plant The scarce hogs in good condition bring done on enough on the Little plenty plowing being Is very small and thin rye good prices large supply of corn and account of rain ln and good are healthy Cattle fodder has made great demand for cat— Wheat and rye looking ground A little Nicholas and scarce high flesh but Is tle and hogs to feed Price of milk well cattle in good condition not cholera exists hmong the hogs and lower than ever before In the winter many shipped nearly all fat there will be about 80 per cent of a being In the history of milk shipping very little cholera Far- crop There is great demand for stock hogs shipped Lawrence — Wheat very bad condi- mers still of low prices complain cattle which are nearly as high as corn tion half crop cattle and hogs In good Pulaski — Wheat in very good condicattle fed condition but very scarce tion stock cattle look well but are Winter rye is damaged bub Burton— In bad and McLean— Wheat rye very Cattle are In scarce hogs scarce Is quite good and little excel-pocattle and hogs in condition — Wheat in fair condition and hlglK scarce but condition Simpson good lent condition Farming outlook good some some backward on account of Hogs are in good condition hut scarce fly only thing needed Is for the price of late sowing cattle ami hogs in fine There is little hog cholera com to advance condition and supply is ample Grass Boone— Cattle have wintered wellbut Massac — Appearance condition and looks well not many are being fed What hogs prospect for wheat and rye very poor Warren — Wheat looks in good condi- are left are doing well but 50 per cent in too much rain Cattle and hogs tion cattle and hogs plentiful and in have died with cholera since Septemgood condition but scarce some chol- good condition Farmers busy some ber 1896 era The almost continued rainfall Is Cass— Wheat fair ln condition CatImprovement in a general way doing much damage to wheat rye and Hogs light ln tle good hut scarce Minaourl the land and is greatly retarding cholera prevails in hog supply Cole— "Wheat fairly good except work roads In an awful condition Crawford— Winter rye Is in good conby wind or rain CatOgle — Very little wheat grown here spots damaged Cattle and hogs are also good dition and condition In good looks well rye appears to have stood tle and hogs Is not much cholera here WinThere for fruit fair Prospects bright supply Cattle are the winter uninjured ter has been open and there has not and all grains healthy and are moving freely to marmore than one week of extreme been condition In had Chariton— Wheat ket No cholera here and cows are fat cold CatIt has been a poor winter for and thawing freezing Injured by and being sold freely cattle we could not keep bednot condition feeding tle in good hogs healthy Peoria — Wheat In very poor condiFarmers are selling corn Abundance of corn ding dry much cholera tion were it not for grass seeding I though the price runs freely almost 15c all wheat quite at gone going think half of it would be plowed up 10 7 cents to — from Camden Wheat looks well Cattle Cattle and hogs in good condition and and Carroll —The condition of cattle is hogs fair condition supply limitchange-T'niteselling high at sales Weather ed good Stockers scarce and high Hogs abie and much sickness in the country Christian —Wheat badly damaged by are doing well but the supply is short not much hog cholera Is pjke— Wheat very much injured by freezing Cattle and hogs in good con- There d wlnter and water rye doing well Weather continues cold Markets are dition supply limited tte and bogs doing well supply s Cooper — Wheat damaged by freez- low and farmers discouraged and hopBad weather for seven weeks has had ing Cattle and hogs ln good Condiing for freight reduction on grain Des Moines—Wheat is about fair 75 a telling effect on wheat tion supply limited — cent small and freezing out dally and Piatt — Wheat and rye damaged some Wheat per badly rye Livingston prospect poor Rye Is about 85 per by the winter Cattle and hogs in good damaged by freezing and thawing CatCattle in good condition and condition but scarce tle in good condition hogs afflicted cent about the usual number being fed Hogs Rock Island— No wheat sown rye in with cholera cattle and hogs in Sullivan — Wheat appears lifeless no sold off close stock hogs scarce no good condition conditlon Corn selling at 14c and snow to protect bottom rye Is fair will hog cholera The ground Is bare and for make good pasture cattle feeders poor the weather very unfavorable dull sales at that price Saline — The wheat fields look like and plenty prices high beef cattle wheat Franklin— Rye Is covered with four plowed ground frozen out rye tho scarce stock hogs scaice breeders in Cattle are ln good good demand little cholera sheep in Inches of snow same Cattle supply short hogs mostare oondltion cows doing well what Hogs milch condition good high ly all shipped there Is left of them About RlWlfttttt Schuyler— Wheat in very bad condihave died of cholera and some are dyAnderson— Rye in good condition tion frozen out rye good condition west ing yet Corn is selling here at from Cattle and hogs bad condition sufferCattle very scarce farmers going Oats 10 cents 8 to 10 cents feedVery well some cholera weather bad feed from doing to ing hogs for stock or flax seed raised little rye — barley condiwant In Farmers good Clay Wheat and rye ing pigs no cholera Cattle and hogs here tion not much sown higher prices Howard — Winter rye Is covered with fine favorvery Wheat prospect encouraging no hog raising Vermillion— snow but was all right when last seen able good condition cattle and hogs cholera are getting scarce as there are Cattle In Wheat condition scarce Roads good but Douglas— In good condition so shipped out but their condimany fine so bad as to stop hauling corn 18c cattle and hogs Is good tion — Hogs plentiful and la in and Elk Cattle hog3 oats 13c money tight condition good much Too rain condition sown rye Will— Wheat very little Jones — Cattle scarce and high and Ford — Wheat damaged by freezing was in good condition before last not the usual amount being fed Hoga condition in in Cattle good rye good fed hogs about freeze cattle none not as numerous as usual Some hog marketed fat hogs condition stock all sold markets steady Farmers plowing for cholera In the south part of the counhogs ln demand Indiana ty siirlng crops Keokuk —The condition of cattle Is Brown — Wheat looks very bad at Lyon— Wheat in a healthy condition present no growing weather rye is in Cattle have plenty of feed and In fine good and stock cattle are high In The supply of hogs Is light fair condition cattle and hogs look- condition hogs in good health and price condition le good ing fairly well supply Is light not selling at $280 no cholera Has been but theilr — No snow dur- Madison Wheat 95 a favorable winter for grain and fruits much cholera of winter but there — — the condition and part early Wheat proslng Noble Miami Small acreage of wheat Rye also! Poct8 goo(1’ 176 the “®e: Cf“Ie and damaged by freezing no damage by was a good covering later 100 per cent are Cattle 95 cent no ln condltlon’ E°°d but and per scarce Cattle insects hogs very h°68 Bcarce corn and a fair number are being fed Soma cholera- many hogs died of cholera cholera among the hogs Wells— Wheat is in fair and rye in scarce worth 20c Muscatine — Wheat covered with 1c® Neosho — Wheat killed some on botgood condition cattle and hogs fair condition but very scarce no cholera tom land rye looks well Cattle and and snow but it Is thought to be In Rye the same Catgood condition hogs in good condition Plenty of rain and snow Norton — Wheat and rye ln good con- tle are in good condition as are hogsj Mlrhignn Van Buren— Wheat is about 65 per dition but backward Cattle and hogs The lowness of condition was Allegan — Wheat and rye healthy and ln fine conditlQU Farmers generally cent Cattle and liogs In good condition caused by the plants being killed by complain of hard times Cattle are in scarce Pratt — Wheat In poor condition Cat- freezing and thawing Antrim — Prospects good for large tle and hogs In good condition good shape and hogs are doing finely Hogs selling at! crop of wheat and rye Cattle and hogs Riley — Wheat appears to be in good Not much cholera mostly all marketed One foot of snow condition Cattle and hogs doing well $310 and cattle any price you may ask temperature not below zero this winter Smith — Wheat in fair condition OLOP REPORT rt d Cat-lea- © one-ha- lf first-cla- Benzie — Wheat and rye have been covered with snow since Inst December and was ln good condition when last seen Cattle and hogs never looked better Has been fine weather sleighing since January 1 Branch — Wheat and rye uncertain 1 am afraid of the snow and Ice on It Cattle and hogs in good condition but scarce Hogs were all sold on account of the cholera Oenesee — Wheat covered with snow la good condition rye small acreage and late sown Cattle and hogs ln Gen- good condition and very scarce ral dissatisfaction with profit ln farming big cut being made ln price of farm labor farms with first-clabuildings can be rented cheap 120-ac- re farm $250 to $300 per acre Livingston— Wheat and rye have been under enow for some time think tome damage done by early freezing Cattle and hogs ln good shape Mason — Wheat and rye covered with now Cattle and hogs are In good (NodlUoa Muoh rain lately ss 4 ss Wlseonfiin damaged by freezing rye in good condition Cattle and hogs In good conLafayette— Cattle and hogs doing dition and fair supply No wheat raised and very llttloj well onto rye ln good condition Stock moving Fairfield — Wheat is In generally good freely all kinds of feed low and liberal condition and looks healthy cattle feeding is—being done Monroe Wheat looks brown tod and hogs ln good condition no cholera Rye fair Cattle ln good con- now Winter has been open stock has dead dition but young ones are scarce Hog wintered well early pasture Is anticiGood winter foa ln good condition pated hard on winter grain Geauga — Wheat not a large growth stock but Ozaukee— Wheat and rye look brown but appears strong and healthy prosseem to be killed by frost and' and Cattle pects good If not frozen later Cattle and hogs scarce but and feed plenty thawing ln good condition ln good condition Prices be seem to hogs ln good oondltion mostly young low but market is fair Shoata no cholera Maple syrup sear Pepin— Wheat and rye under a foot) son snow Cattle and hogs ln good con-of Jefferson— Wheat and rye in good dition Indications are for high fine condition growing ground bare ln spring River bottoms coveredwater! with) Hardly any cattle except cows now loe ' feeding hogs plenty selling at $325 6auk— Wheat and rye ln poor eondl Montgomery — Repeated freezing and tlon from thawing and freezing thawing without much cover of snow ping milk cows some few steers Ships left has injured wheat barley and rye very Hogs mostly sold Potatoes 20gp$6ci and Cattle ln fair hogs seriously com 17cj oats lie carrots 20o tod supply Is ordinary — 1 s ftOoj oato&o 75c parsnip (Q eon-ditt- os |