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back to the nearest siding and traffic was resumed at 11:15 o'clock-just four hours and fifteen minutes from the time the wreckers arrived.

It is not many months since a heavy passenger engine ran through an open drawbridge near Cayuga, N. Y., and plunged to the bottom of the river, only the tank and the top of the cab showing above the water. A wrecking outfit with. a 100-ton crane was rushed to the spot. It was a nasty job, but in one hour and forty minutes after the arrival of the crane the locomotive was back on the track ready to be towed in for repairs. An old farmer from the vicinity watched the work with great interest. When it was finished he turned to the wrecking master and said in a quizzical way:

"That's the third engine I've seen go through that same draw in the last twenty years. The first one it took 'em four days to get out; the second one, three days; an' this one took 'em an hour an' a half. Wonder how long it'll take for the next?"

So important is this question of speed in clearing a wreck and minimizing the delay to both passenger and freight traffic that railroads have special wrecking trains and crews stationed at intervals of from seventy-five to one hundred miles throughout their length, to be convenient in case of accident. And, given a fair position to work from, the highest type of steam crane makes short work of the worst wrecks it is ever called upon to handle.

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Vast Profits in the Golden Goat

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By René Bache

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UR agricultural explorers who visit every corner of the earth in pursuit of new and useful plants, have had instructions during recent years to keep a sharp look-out for available beasts and birds. Uncle Samuel has been making extraordinary efforts to obtain from various parts of the world rare and valuable varieties of domestic animals, and within the past few years one of his newly developed tastes has been for goats. And to a considerable extent this kind of enterprise has been helped by private individuals.

It commonly happens that, in countries where such animals are found, the authorities will not allow them to be exported; and difficulty of this sort has in some instances made necessary the adoption of very curious and ingenious expedients for the purpose of evading observation by local officials. Thus, for example, in the case of the Angora goat such watchfulness was exercised by the Turkish government that several attempts were unsuccessfully made to capture-the term seems not inappropriate— specimens of that much-prized fleecebearing creature for shipment to the United States.

Eventually, however, the problem was solved by Dr. W. C. Bailey, of San Jose, Cal., who in 1891, made a pilgrimage into the interior of Turkey, ostensibly as a traveling merchant. He succeeded without much trouble in buying four of the goats; but this was only the beginning of the obstacles he was obliged to encounter inasmuch as he had to carry them a distance of several hundred miles before he could put them on board of a ship. To begin with, he tied them up tightly in grain sacks, and in this way took them over the mountains on the

backs of mules. Then they were transferred to camels for a while, and finally were put into a closed carriage, finishing their trip to Constantinople on a scow, hidden under a load of hay. Though it was mid-winter, they were shorn, sprinkled with coal-dust, and driven through the streets of Stamboul in the guise of black sheep-thus evading the notice of the authorities of the port, and being safely stowed away in the hold of a vessel bound for America.

The four goats got here all right, and their descendants in this country already number several thousands. But since then many more have been obtained; and they breed so rapidly that, if the government figures are not in error, something like 1,000,000 of the animals, of more or less pure stock are now to be found in the United States.

It may be worth while, before going

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further, to say that the Angora goat is supposed by naturalists to have originated in Persia. Apparently, however, it was first domesticated in the district of Angora, in the Taurus Mountains, where it was certainly known as far back as the time of Moses.

It is a veritable golden fleece that is produced by this species of goat-the most valuable, indeed, of all fleeces, and fetches now an average of thirty-four cents a pound in the market. The animal is so extremely clean that it does not have to be washed before being clipped, and its hair, snowy white and of a beautiful silken luster, grows in ringlets, from five to twenty inches in length, curled as daintily as if twisted about a stick. This fleece is the mohair of commerce-a kind of fiber so highly valued that the demand. at all times far exceeds the supply, and might be indefinitely increased.

Indeed, the Angora has already proved its usefulness in America, nearly 2,000,000 pounds of mohair having been produced in this country during the last year. But the government is exceedingly anxious to encourage the breeding of the

creature, inasmuch as it is capable of yielding a vastly greater output, all of which would find ready sale. Goats of this kind are quite as hardy as the everyday variety; they readily adapt themselves to any sort of climate; they cost very little to keep, and the labor required in caring for them is trifling.

There are in the United States vast areas of mountainous and other waste land, unavailable for any other purpose, which could easily be made to yield a valuable crop of mohair annually. For Angora goats appear to enjoy no sort of provender so much as brush and weeds of all sorts; and one way in which they make themselves useful is by clearing brush-covered territory and rendering it available for tillage.

As pets they are altogether satisfactory, being as docile and as easily trained to harness as the common Billy or Nanny

though, if given their choice, they prefer to roam over high places, and will even essay out of mere sportiveness the climbing of a roof. Silvery-white in color, they are most graceful creatures, with short legs and spirally-twisted

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horns. It is necessary to beware of their appetite for clothing, which seems to be difficult to restrain if they have an opportunity to get at it; and precautions must be taken to prevent them from attacking fruit trees. In all other respects they are quite harmless, as well as amiable in disposition.

If we chose to create the necessary flocks, there is no reason why we should not supply the world with mohair. On waste lands in various parts of the United States there is plenty of room, as well as food supply, for 30,000,000 of these goats. Having so much territory available for the purpose, we could establish the industry on an unrivaled scale, exporting great quantities of the fleeces to Europe, and incidentally supplying raw material to keep busy scores of factories in our own country.

The Angora fleece makes the handsomest rugs imaginable, as well as upholsteries and other such fabrics not surpassed by any other material. Inquiry elicits the fact that the skins are being utilized largely for children's muffs and

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as trimmings for coats and capes, while the finest kid fleeces furnish collars and borders for the most beautiful opera cloaks. And in the shops many exquisite "furs," sold under trade names, are in reality supplied by the Angora. For robes for baby carriages there is at the present time nothing more widely employed than the same kind of silveryfleeced pelt.

For certain purposes the leather of the Angora is considered valuable, and the meat is highly esteemed by those who have tasted it. In fact, the flesh of the kid, served with green peas, is hardly distinguishable from the tenderest spring lamb. Thus it will be seen that the animal has a wide variety of uses; and, when it is considered how easily and cheaply the goats may be reared, it is, or should be, obvious that they afford an opportunity of wealth to the farmer which he cannot afford to neglect.

The finest mohair fleece comes to market from Turkey. Only a small fraction of that produced in this country is of equal quality-the trouble being simply

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