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Show Official Residence of Gov. Folk at Jefferson City, Mo. SHOCKS RUINED EGGS. POULTRY RAISER SEEKS REMUNERATION REMU-NERATION FROM UNCLE 8AM. Bays Concussion of Big Guns During Sham Battle Destroyed His Incubator Incu-bator Settings War Department Depart-ment Doubts Claim. Fnlrhnvcn, N. J. This llttlo vlllngo Dn tho banks of tho Navcsluk furnished fur-nished perhnps tho las; department problem that William II. Toft, the Republican Re-publican candidate for president, had to wrcstlo with during Ids term as secretary sec-retary of war. The problem was ono of poultry nnd eggs, and Gen. I.uko h Wright, his successor as war secretary, and all tho bureau chiefs In tho war department nro trying to adjust tho matter. Tho question has to do with tho effect ot tho concussion resulting from tho flro of tho great guns that guard tho on-franco on-franco to Now York harbor on eggs In process of hatching. A. W. Handy of Falthaven, who raises somo ot tho finest chickens In all New Jorsoy, took tho question up with Secretary Taft. Ho had several hundred eggs that wero, at tho tlmo of tho shnm warfare In tho forts, In Incubators In-cubators and under hens. Tho eggs wero all ruined, and on Investigation bo found tho loss of the prospective chickens wns duo entirely to tho shaking they got when tho big guns wero fired during tho sham battlo that was a feature of tho coast artillery maneuvers on tho night or Juno 18. Hero Is a copy of Mr. Handy's letter let-ter to Secretary Taft: Fnlrlmven, N. J., Juno 21 The Honor- hIiTa RprHnrv nf Wnr WrtBlift.trtnn n C Dear Sir: Kindly pardon the liberty I take In writing this letter to you. I am a poor man, 'have n Urge family, and as what 1 am writing about Is tho government's govern-ment's fault, I thought I would wrlta to see what could bo tlono In the matter. I nm In tho chicken buslneai, and on May 1 laat, I aet my Incubatora, also my hens. The Incubators held IS) nun each,' for which I paid IS a hundred. For tho aet-tlnga aet-tlnga under the hena I paid It each. On tho 12th of June I tested the ckk and found that ono Incubator had 03 fertile fer-tile cgifs and the other S7 fertile egga In It. One of tho hens hail 0 fertile and the other 11 fertile rggs. On Thursday, June 13, quite a largo number of tho eggs had pipped. That night tho ahootlng of the aliam battlo took place and It killed all my rhleka In the shell. Kindly let mo hear from you In regard to this matter. Aa I aatd before, I am a poor man and tlili mcana a qulto a lois to me. A. W. HANDY. Mr. Handy had no Idea of tho controversy con-troversy ho was stirring up when ho wroto this letter. Ho thought tho government, gov-ernment, realizing It had Injured his property, would quickly recognize tho justlco of his claim and pay tor tho rumcd eggs. Dut Mr. Handy found out his mistake mis-take In short order. Instead ot a check by roturn mall tho claim was referred to tho ofllcors In commnnd of tho forts that caused tho troublo and by them was referred back to Wash ington. Gen. Arthur Murray, chief of artillery, took a hand in indorsing, as did also Adjt.-Gcn. Alnsworth, and vn-riotis vn-riotis other high officers who havo to do with tho administration ot coast nrtlllery affairs. After much traveling back and forth, tho Handy complaint camo back to Col. Harris commanding tho artillery district ot Now York, with headquarters headquar-ters at Fort Hnncock, for Investigation, Col Harris set all tho machinery nt his command In motion nnd tho result was tho following Indorsement to Washington concerning tho Handy eggs: Fort Hnncock, N. J.. Juno H, im-Wltli reference tn tho efftct ot concussion on eggu t will state that thero was no firing nt Fort Hancock nt any time during Thursday, Juno 18, nnd thero never la any night firing. Tho nhnm battle referred to occurreil In tho Narrows (Forta Wads-worth Wads-worth and Hamilton) Thursday morning and evening between eight and ten o'clock. It does not seem probable this firing could have nffected tho egga. No other complaint has been received hern. HARRIS. it Is understood hero In Falrhaven that Gen. Wright has personally taken ta-ken tho matter up for final disposition. |