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Show TIIE DROUGHT IN CUBA. 1 Havana, March, n Drought still pre- vails. Its effects are most severly felt ; in the department of Santiago cle Cuba. I The small rivers are dried up and heavy 1 losses in cattle sustained, owing to the 1 fact that i.-t impossible for the animals to get food or w ater. The draught will I naturally interfere with the sugar crop, ' the yield of cane heimj much reduced through lack if rain. The loss of cattle, too, will atleet the crops, oxen for the labor in the lields being vety scarce. Several large tires on plantations ate ; reported. In several instance tliev weie the work of incendiaries. At Cienluegos the proprietors of a large sugar plantation planta-tion are converting into sugar all molasses molas-ses produced on their estate. Thev use in this conversion a new process, which affords admirable tesults. No chemical agent enters into the operation and the sugar is naturally obtained by mixing molasses from centrifugals with cane ground in the fust mill. Dublin, March 10. The Irish local ! j government has issued a repoit on tiie failure of the potato crop and the condi-' condi-' tiou of the congested districts. It states 1 the distiicts in which the diseasse ap-X, ap-X, peared in comprise abutit half ot Ireland nd is due to the planting of old champion cham-pion seed, in light, d;y soil, the crop in some places is excellent; in cold, wet land and mountain districts the failure is everywhere serious. The corn crops are mostly good; green crops are up to the full average; oilier resoutces of the farmers are about up to aveiage. linefly the report goes to show the small farmers far-mers are in good circumstances, but are confronted with scarcity of potatoes unprecedented in thiity vears, causing r d stress in the congested d stncis. The distress is aggravated bv the reluctance ol local shopkeepers to grant credit. Some of the board estimite the potato crop failure is epuivolent to t ie midday meal. The report gives details ks to how the suffering pooi should be tel eved, showing distress is yet on the i 1 crease. Relief applications are confined to the congested distt icts ol the west, and to the labol ing and fishing classes ot the south. It is expected the pressure will become more general between now and Apiil. Judge Wampler and a number of gent'e men who mide investigations last fall with a view to the incorporation of a company ft rthe purpose of utilizing the water pevver a shait distance up Big Cottonwood to generate electricity for in itive rower and light, have given up tne idea as it wis f mud that daring the driest time in summer the lowering of the stream would decrease the geneative capacity to a thousand horse power which would not fiill the requirements. Their idea was to put in a w heel and el-e:tricr;l el-e:tricr;l ma;hineiy and conduct the power, pow-er, which would not fill the requir-ments. requir-ments. Their ideas was to put in a wheel and electtical machinery and conduct the power to this by wire the same a-t is used by the street car company. This scheme suggests to us the practicability of using electricity for the working of Concentrators and s amp mills up the Big Cotton as soon as the mines there aie sufficiently opened to make such an enterptise nesscefsary, There are a number of stamp and other mills in California Cal-ifornia that aie using electricity as a motive power, and in several instances the fluid is genetated by a walerwheel at some little stream some miles distant dis-tant from the wotks. The idea is at 1 least worthy of some thought, and we believe that in many cases such a power would be fonud convenient as well as cheap and reliable. |
