the nucleus that Pennsylvania could well point to for many, many years with pride for the development of those men of renown out of this section of the State.

This Board also comes with the knowledge that here resides the chairman of the Democratic State Committee. Whether that will have any influence upon this Board or not I am not prepared to say; but with some suggestions that you made in your address to the Board I do not think it unwise to suggest that fact. [Laughter.)

But they come, sir, to sit at the feet of the people of Lancaster county-to learn from them what the result is of these years of investigation and experience. I am satisfied that the session here will not be without fruit, and that the State Board, as it has left other sections of the State, will leave this section of the State better than when it met; and I am satisfied that the meeting of this Board in Lancaster county will leave a favorable impression upon the citizens of this county concerning agricultural interests. If we shall have accomplished that, after the warm welcome that you have extended, I shall feel, sir, that this Board was wise in surrendering to the member of the State Board from Lancaster, and that this session was held here.

On behalf of the Board, I desire again to express thanks for the kind words of welcome you have spoken.

The CHAIR named Messrs. Reeder, Barnes, and Herr a committee to receive and report upon the credentials of newly-elected members and of delegates from agricultural organizations.

On motion of Dr. ROLAND, seconded by Mr. SMITH, the Committee on Credentials were requested to present their report at the opening of the afternoon session.

On motion of Mr. OLIVER, seconded by Mr. ENGLE, the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was dispensed with.

On behalf of the Committee on Dairy and Dairy Products, Mr. Reeder, chairman, presented the following report of work accomplished since the preceding meeting.

"Soon after the meeting of the Board in June last at Towanda, we received word from Mr. Hiester, member of the Board from Dauphin county, that a suit to test the constitutionality of the law passed at the last session of the Legislature, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of imitation butter, had been instituted by the Duquesne Oleomargarine Company of Pittsburgh, in the courts of Dauphin county, the trial to take place early in September. In pursuance of instructions received from the Board at our last meeting, namely, to cooperate with the various organizations of dairymen in the State in sustaining the law, we immediately opened a correspondence with Edwin Satterthwait, president of the "Farmers' Protective Association of Philadelphia and Adjoining Counties," A. S. Cadwallader, president of the "Bucks County Creamerymen's Association," and John I. Carter, member of the "Creamerymen's Mutual Aid Association of Chester and Lancaster Counties." Meetings of these respective organizations were called for August 6, and delegates appointed to attend a union meeting called to be held in Philadelphia August 8, 1885. At this meeting a union was effected under the title of "The Farmers', Dairymen's, and Creamerymen's Protective and Mutual Aid Association of Pennsylvania." The officers elected were: President, Edwin Satterthwait, of Philadelphia; Treasurer, Tryon Lewis, of Delaware county; Secretary, Eastburn Reeder, of Bucks county. A committee of six, consisting of E. Satterthwait, Tryon Lewis, A. S. Cadwallader, E. Reeder, John I. Carter, and J. H. Brosius, was appointed to collect funds, employ counsel, and take such measures as may be found necessary in sustaining the law. Several meetings of this committee have

been held, and a synopsis of their work is as follows: As, counsel, the services of Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, of Philadelphia, and Messrs. Hall & Jordan, of Harrisburg, were secured to assist the District Attorney of Dauphin county; committees were appointed to raise funds, witnesses subpoenaed, detectives employed, as well as experts. After various delays, the trial commenced on Friday, September 11, before the Hon. John W. Simonton, President Judge of Dauphin county, the Commonwealth being the plaintiff and Powell & Bros., of Harrisburg, defendants. Two tubs were offered in evidence containing and marked "oleomargarine butter," which had been made by the Duquesne Manufacturing Company of Pittsburgh, and sent to the Powell Bros., of Harrisburg, for sale. These were purchased by the detective and witness for the Commonwealth, whose evidence established the sale of the prohibited article. The Commonwealth then rested their case. The defense called Professor Hugo Blank, of the Pittsburgh College of Pharmacy, under whose supervision "the butter" was made, to give evidence as to its purity and wholesomeness. This was objected to by the counsel for the prosecution, upon the ground that it was irrelevant and immaterial. It was the prohibited article, and it mattered not whether it was wholesome or unwholesome. The objection was sustained, and the evidence excluded. The jury were then instructed to render a verdict of guilty and were discharged. The counsel for the defense then made a motion for arrest of judgment, upon the ground that the law was unconstitutional, and therefore null and void. This motion was argued at length by the Hon. James Gay Gordon, of Philadelphia, and Hon. Lyman D. Gilbert, of Harrisburg, for the defense, and Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, District Attorney S. J. McCarrell, and Hon. Francis Jordan for the Commonwealth,' After a partial discussion, the report was, on motion of Mr. BARNES, received and ordered printed with the proceedings.

The following notice of Hon. M. C. Beebe, (late member from Venango,) prepared by the Secretary, was read by Col. DEMMING:

Manly C. Beebe, late member of our Board, was born in the town of Fabius, Onondaga county, New York, September 6, 1827. At the age of twenty years he started to make his way in the world, and in 1847 arrived. in Titusville with all of his worldly possessions in his pocket; after a short period devoted to a search for employment, he opened a school, which became very popular and numbered among its pupils many who afterwards became "men of mark in the world," among whom we may name Judge Thomas Wilson, Hon. F. W. Mitchell, of Franklin, and Hon. Samuel Q. Brown, of Philadelphia. At the close of his probation as a school teacher, he engaged in the pottery business, and soon afterwards went into partnership with Mr. Henderson in the grocery business. During this period he was elected justice of the peace, and served with signal credit for a number of years. In this capacity he was noted for his constant endeavors to induce those who called upon him in his official capacity to settle all disputes without a final appeal to court, and many were the cases which he "set tled" satisfactorily to both parties, and many were the dollars which he thus saved to his clients. In 1858, he was elected county superintendent of public schools, and gave up his office without a single word of reproach as to his administration of the position. In 1867 and 1868, he served as a member of the State Legislature, representing the district composed of Mercer and Venango, and having Hon. James C. Brown as his colleague. In 1872, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, in which

body his counsels and advice were regarded as of importance and value by all parties. He afterwards practiced law and gave up his practice to T. A. Morrison, Esq., but after the removal of the latter, in 1879, Mr. Beebe resumed his legal duties, which he followed until a very short period before his death. In 1877, Mr. Beebe was elected by his county agricultural society to represent them in the newly-organized State Board of Agriculture. Attending the first meeting, February 1, 1877, Mr. Beebe took a prominent part in moulding the work of the organization, and is the first one of the original members who, after continuous service, has been removed by death. With the exception of our recent meeting at Towanda, Mr. Beebe never missed a meeting, and our minutes show the prominent and important part which he took in all of the proceedings of the Board; and even at the Towanda meeting, when prevented by sickness from being present, he furnished an essay upon the use of plaster as a fertilizer. In the Board, Mr. Beebe was noted for his strong and never-swerving advocacy of a State experimental station, and at every suitable time advocated the importance of such an institution to the farmers of our State. In the last conversation which the writer had with him, the day before his death, he expressed it as the one desire of his life to see such an institution firmly founded in his adopted State.

In his adopted home, Mr. Beebe was always foremost in all works of improvement, and at the time of his death held a number of prominent positions of honor and trust, among which were those of burgess of his town and director of the Second National Bank. He was the first president of the Oil Creek Valley Agricultural Society, and was prominent in the organization and management of the Venango County Agricultural Society, which he for a number of years represented in our Board.

One of Mr. Beebe's friends, in referring to him, writes as follows: "Mr. Beebe was scholarly, possessing rare intellectual attainments and sound judgment. He was a profound reasoner and an able debater. His voice was often heard from the stump during political campaigns. He was highly respected by his neighbors and friends, he took a deep interest in the prosperity of our town, and was a public-spirited citizen. He was an earnest champion of the cause of temperance, and embraced every opportunity for its advancement. He was very fond of children, and was a favorite of all the children and young people in the town. He was not a member of any church, but gave liberally to all denominations. In all of the various offices he filled he displayed talent and ability of a high order, discharging his official duties with fidelity and promptness."

Another friend writes as follows: "His influence in political movements was great, but it grew out of his acknowledged shrewdness in foreseeing the drift of popular thought and constant effort to direct it aright. Of him it can be truly said that he was never known to advocate a measure or refuse his assent to a proposition through any time-serving disposition, but was governed by his convictions of right or wrong. These convictions were strong. He was a man of opinions upon all questions, and he had the courage to express them. He was charitable towards those with whom he differed in opinion, and was one of those rare men who, living in a most eventful period of war and strife of ideas, saw clearly the circumstances and surroundings that make characters and beliefs, and gave to honest dif. ferences of creed, whether of religion or politics, the respectful consideration due among brotherhood. But while he discharged the broader duties of political life in the public places to which he was called with the exercise of most excellent judgment and common sense, and always with faith2 BD. AG.

fulness and conscientiousness, yet in the daily walk of life among his fellowmen he exhibited in no less degree the sterling qualities of his nature. He possessed in a very high degree a clear knowledge of human nature, and with great kindness of heart, with all of his aggressiveness and strong convictions, he was always a peacemaker among his neighbors. Engaged in the practice of law, and having to do with the quarrels and disputes of his fellows, it was a very bad case that he could not find some way to settle to the satisfaction of all parties without a protracted law-suit.

His death occurred at Asbury Park, New Jersey, at six o'clock, July 29, 1885, and by it our Board lost one of its most efficient members.”

On motion of Mr. OLIVER, the Chair was authorized to name a committee of three members to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the Board in reference to the death of Mr. Beebe. The CHAIR named Messrs. Oliver, Gates, and Musselman.

The committee afterwards offered the following resolutions:

WHEREAS, It has pleased an All-wise Providence to remove from us by death the Hon. Manly C. Beebe, late member from Venango.

Resolved, That we bow in submission to this dispensation of an overruling Providence, knowing that God is too wise to err and too just to afflict willingly the children of men.

Resolved, That this Board, by the death of Mr. Beebe, has lost from its membership one who was active in its organization, who has proved himself a most useful, worthy, and energetic assistant in its labors, who has enriched its councils by his extensive information upon the subject of agriculture, and who found time, amid the duties of a professional life, to advance the interests of the farm and the products of the soil, and by precept and example aided in the advancement of an intelligent and wise system of agriculture.

Resolved, That this Board recognize and appreciate the labors of Mr. Beebe in the cause with which he was identified, and mourn the loss of a co laborer, who, by his abilities and acquirements, was well fitted to aid very materially in the promotion of the best interest of our Board.

Resolved, That we hereby tender our heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved family, in this their hour of trouble.

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Beebe, these resolutions be entered at length on the minutes of this meeting, and that a copy be sent to the family of the deceased.

Dr. J. P. BARNES, of Lehigh, moved, seconded by Mr. SMITH, of Luzerne, that the report of the committee be received and the resolutions be adopted. The PRESIDENT having declared the resolutions open for discussion, different members bore testimony to Mr. Beebe's worth, as follows:

Dr. W. S. ROLAND, of York. Mr. President, my acquaintance with Mr. Beebe runs back to 1877, when we were both newly-elected members of this Board of Agriculture, and I feel that I could not add one word to what has been said in the obituary notice, as well as in the resolutions, if I felt in clined or disposed so to do. Mr. Beebe was a man that we were disposed, on acquaintance, to not only respect, but love, whether as a member of this Board, or as a private citizen. We respected his opinions because they were always so liberally uttered and so fairly entertained; and, as has been stated in the obituary, because he was a gentleman. He was always ready to engage in any discussion that might occur, and I believe from my knowledge of him and my acquaintance during the nine years that I have been associated with him, that he loved not only the meetings of the Board, but that he was attached to the welfare of its members.

Col. WM. GATES, of Venango. As the successor of Mr. M. C. Beebe, I desire to say just a word. I had intended to give a short history of Mr. Beebe's life since he came to Venango county, but it is so fully given in the obituary notice that I think it is not necessary for me to repeat it.

In the death of Mr. Beebe, the people of Venango lost a good citizen. I was acquainted with him from 1854. He was always active in every undertaking in which he engaged. He was our first county superintendent in common schools. At that time everything was crude in the school system. Mr. Beebe took hold of the matter, receiving but a very small salary if my recollection is right, only one hundred and fifty dollars. He traveled over that county; he urged the directors and teachers to increase the standard of education. He lived to see the day when instead of old and rackety buildings, not fit to be used for such purposes, there were substantial buildings throughout the county, and the school-terms increased from three to six and nine months. He was a progressive man in all the work that you gave him to do. He was a lover of good morals and correct ideas. He was a man that despised everything that was wrong. He despised drunkenness and crime; and perhaps was as good an example of good morals as we had in the county.

It seems to me unnecessary to take up further the time of the Board after the lengthy obituary notice that has been given. I intended to go over the same ground, but it is not necessary to do so now.

Dr. J. P. WICKERSHAM, of Lancaster. If you will allow me to say a word or two-I knew Mr. Beebe for about thirty years. I knew him from the time he was elected county superintendent of Venango county, and became acquainted with him as county superintendent. At that time I was superintendent of this county. About thirty years ago, I met Mr. Beebe at a convention of county superintendents. At that time there was a period of unrest and experiment and fighting in school matters. There was a restless condition of things all over the Commonwealth, and this office of county superintendent-that has been so useful and has been the right arm of the school system-was then in jeopardy from our Legislature and elsewhere. Mr. Beebe held that office, and he was the most active, earnest, and able in the whole corps of superintendents.

I knew him as a citizen of Venango county. Later he went out of the office of county superintendent, and I went to Harrisburg; and it was my duty to travel over the State and meet the school men everywhere. I met the school men of Venango county and Crawford county, and Mr. Beebe was nearly always present. I knew him as a citizen at his own home-and the truest test of a man is his standing at home. There are a great many men who have high standing away from home, and when you come to test them there, they do not stand so high. Mr. Beebe bore that test. He was appreciated and held to be worthy by his neighbors -by those who lived around him by those who met him in his daily walks. I say again that that is perhaps the severest test by which a man can be tried.

I knew him as a member of the Legislature, and saw him going in and out; and I think I can bear testimony that he was a man worthily there. He was against bad measures and in favor of good laws. As one gentleman has said, he was progressive. Everything for the improvement of the State, and every measure calculated to benefit it, he was on that side.

I knew him as a member of this Board. I was present when this Board was organized. Ex-officio I was a member then, and I was exceedingly glad when I noticed that he was among the earliest members. He was very active, and I think I risk notning in saying that and no one of these