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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1909)
mm m brief NEWS NOTES OF INTEREST FROM VARIOUS SECTIONS. ALL SUBJECTS TOUCHED UPON nellolouo, Social, Agricultural, Pollt. leal and Other Matters Given Duo Consideration. Iwo Fremont women, for using vllo language on Iho streets, recolved o sontonco of forty dnys in Jail. TIio corn crop In tho vicinity of Ana ley will not bo over 00 per cent of last year's crop, owing to the drouth. Secretary Froshmnn of tho Beatrice Commercial club received n letter from H. Lomax of Broken Bow, stating tho Statu Sunday School association had accepted Beatrice's invitation to meet there next Juno. Emma It., n valuablo racing maro bolonglng to C. I). Michaels of Wy more, is dead. Tho horse was ono of tho most beautiful of race horses, and had won $5,000 In prizes nt equine ex hibitions. A special olection will bo held Octo ber 1 for the purpose of voting $100,000 bonds for tho erection of n now court bouse for Dawson county, the present ono having been standing thirty-six years. Tho olection of $50,000 In bonds for tho oroctlon of two now school build ings for tho city or Lexington carried. Forty thousand dollars Is to bo Invest ed in n High school building and $10, 000 for a grade school on the south side. J. JF. Jensen, n Cass county stock doalor, shipped n carload of stock to South Omnha recently and failed to return home, which suggested a pos slbllty that ho bad met with foul play. A search has been mndo but up to this time nothing has been heard of him. Wlillo Albert Woltsol, a Cass county farmer, was using a hay loader at tached to a wagon, It caught lire. Tho team, tho loader and tho front wheels of tho wagon woro saved, but the rear wheels, tho rack and tho load of hay woro very soon reduced to ashes. Tho gold-bearing Band found near Bloomlleld begins sixty-flvo feet below ground and extends down 1,220 feet. It wns a sample of this sand that showed $24 per ton of gold. Tho field Is con siderable, therefore, abundant and easily workable. Tho spinal meningitis opldemlo that lias been prevailing to such an alarm ing extent In north York county nnd south Polk county In and near Stroms burg, has, by strictest quarantine, the physicians believe, been brought under control. The total property valuation or Gage county for this year is $11,085,281. This Includes real, personal, railroad, tele graph nnd telephono properties. This la a decrcaso of $53,028 In tho county's total valuation as compared with that of last year, which was $11,138,300. Albert Mount, a farmer living north of Kearney, got mixed up on his dates nnd drovo Into town Sunday with a load of onts and eggs and other pro duce IIo tried to got Into a grocery store nnd was at a loss to understand why the mill office was closed. Ho thought the day was Saturday. Mrs. Ed Boyd, residing on the east side of tho river near Nobraskn City, wns terribly mutilated In a runaway accident. Sho was dragged over tho rough ground nnd her left car com pletely lorn otY, her scalp badly lace rated and her left shoulder broken. Nor injuries mny be fatal. Barney Casscn, n prosperous farmer, mot with n fatal accident at his ft.rm, about four miles west of Albion. Mr. Casson was stacking liny, when ho was struck by a largo hay elevator propelled by horse power, knocking him to tho ground and breaking his nock. Tho Plattsniouth rTelophone com pany hns received permission from the railway commission to issue stock to tho amount of $-15,000, In nddltlon to Its present stock of $190,000, for tho purposo of paying off $23,000 of debt nnd Improving its plants nt Weep ing Water, Louisvillo and other places. A Now York dlspntch says: Tolf Hanson, who until last winter oper ated two restaurants in Omnbn, nnd who wont Into bankruptcy there, com mitted suicide boro by Inhaling illumi nating gas in a lodging house. Samuel Edgar, n dry goods merchant, said Hanson camo here from Oinabn In July nftor ho had failed in business. "Ho wrote mo that ho could not stay In Omaha and faco his creditors any longor so ho came to New York," sale Mr. Edgar. Tho remains of Mr. T. G. Bnrtlett of St. Paul, this state, who was killed by accident near Northlleld, N. Y., on the 27th Inst., wero received last week. Mr. Bartlett wns making a trip to Sara toga, N. Y to attend ti conference of bis church, Intending on route to visit a slBtor residing at Franklin, N?" Y. The train passed his station, ho Btarted to 'walk back to his destination along a railroad track. Near Northlleld ho was struck by a train and fatally In jured, dying n short tlmo after. Ernest Kelser and Charlie Davis, two farmer boys wost of Humboldt, reports a narrow escape from what appears to hnve been an ambush when thoy wero on their way to town. Wlillo pnsslng tho farm of Gus Boeck, tho German farmer ordered to the asylum for tho Insane, someone took several shots nt them, somo of tho missies coming uncomfortably close, striking tho buggy and passing through their clothing. Fortunately no damage was done. At Clay Conler, Tom Banler was convicted of wlfo dosortlon nnd given one year In tlio penitentiary 8 11 lEtlJto ; trntion. ASHINOTON Tho riding test for army officers which was ordered by Theodoro Roosevelt has not been discontinued under tho Taft admlnls From Bomo of the com ments that have been made on theso "long, hard rides," it would appear that tho public bolleves that tho army onicors never wero given an opportunity prior tOkthe Hoosevolt adminis tration to show what they could do In tho way of covering long dis tances In quick time. No army In the world, perhaps, COPYRIGHT 1909 DV. W.A.PATTERSON J this wns not a cavalry achievement It Is not used for purposes of compart son. Touching tho per formance, however, -tho military writer says, that "excepting tho ass, tboro is perhaps no creaturo on earth so stubbornly endur ing as tho broncho." Col. Dodge does not think that l( tosts woro mndo there would bo much difference between tho records which English nnd American soldiers would register. Ho says that a composite picture jnade of COO British nnd of BOO Amorlcnn troopers would show that tho throe Hues which establish tho "seat" of tho rider aro practically the same, and that upon this and tho proper caro of tho horso depend largely the mnt- tors of distance accomplished nnd speed maintained. Ono of tho longest and most perilous rides ever mndo by an American soldier was that of a prlvato In F Company of tho Seventh Infantry. Early In July In tho year 187C tho forces of Gen. Terry wore In tho field at tho Junction of tho Big Horn and Yellowstono rivers In tho Territory of Montana. Only ten days beforo Gen. Custer and his squadrons of the Soventh cavalry had perished at the hnnds of tho Sioux under mounting n horso ho Btarted southeast to the wilderness to look death In tho faco. His course took htm closo to tho scono ot tho Custor mnssacro, whoro less than two weeks boforo 5,000 Sioux jiad gathered for tho killing. Ho trnvolod only at night, nnd all day long ho lay hidden In tho timber or In tho gulclies of tho foothills. Two hours after sunset on tho second night ho left his day's hiding plnco and sot his courso southward along a rango ot low hills. Ho turned nsldo to skirt n bit ot timber, nnd as ho camo to tho edgo ot tho trees his mount showed symptoms of uneasiness. Bell dropped from his horso and stolo for word. Ho saw not nioro than 100 yards ahead of him a war party ot fully CO Indians making preparations to camp for tho night. Thoy had como nppnrenlly from n direction opposlto to that taken by tho courier, for ho hnd not crossed their trail. Ho stolo back, romountod and made a detour, passing tho Indian en campment on tho right nnd without nwakonlng their suspicions. Notwithstanding tho rough nature ot the country through which ho was passing and the necessity ot opnrlng his horso, Boll made 4U miles In that second night's rldo. When It wus within two hours of sunrlso ho struck a small crook with a bottom of sand nnd pob bios. He know that It tho war party whloh ho had passed the night beforo should find hit trail that It would bo followed, and thnt the reds would not spam their ponies In tho at tempt to overtake tho wilderness messenger. For two mlleo Boll led his horso down tho bed ot tho creek, thus completely oblltoratlni his trail, but ho knew that tho hoot marks showing whero ho hnd taken to tho water wero telltale witnesses of his subterfuge Ho reached a part of tho crook whore tho banks woro heavily overgrown with bushes. Ho pushed the green growth nsldo from right to left and sent his horso through. Then ho coy- X-PftESDrtr fiOOSEVJCLT has had the same opportunities to test tho en durance of cavalry horses as has tho smnll regular force of tho United States. The long, level stretches of the plnlns and the activity of the marauding Indian mounted on his tireless broncho have been tho condi tions which gavo to Uncle Sam's cavalrymen his matchless chances for long forced mount ed marches. Col. Theodore Ayrault Dodge, U. S. A., collected the of ficial records of long dls tanco cavalry rides, and has mado them public In a book so that they may be compnred with the per formances of the soldier horsemen of other nations. Col. Dodgo declares spe cifically that ho has re jected all "hearsay rides, of which there Is no end," and has accepted only thoio proved by olllclal ro pcrts. Col. Dodge says that Cnpt. S. F. Fountain, United States cavalry, In tho yenr 1891, with a de tachment of his troop, rode 84 miles In eight hours. This record Is vouched for, and It Is bet ter than that once made by the Natul Mounted Rifles by nbout four hours, tho dlstnnco being within one mllo of that mado in South Africa. For actual speed this forced march stands perhaps at tho head of tho Amorlcnn army record, though other rides hovo been more remnrkablo. In tho year 1879, when tho Utes succeeded In getting somo United Stntes troops Into what was afterward known as Thornburg's "rat hole," several mounted couriers succeeded In slipping through the circling line of snvagos. All of them reached Merritt's column, 170 miles distant, in less than 24 hours. The oxnet tlmo wns not taken, for, as Col. Dodgo puts It, "res cue was of more Importance than records." It must be understood, ot course, that nil theso American rides wero made without changing horses. The steed at the start was tho steed at the finish, Tho best rider, accord ing to cavalry exports, is not tho man who takes a live-barred gate or who can rldo stand ing, but tho man who by Instinct feels tho condition of his horso, nnd, though getting the most out of the animal, knows best how to consorve his strength. Gen, Law ton In the year 1870. rode from Red Cloud agency, Nebraska, to Sldnoy In tho snme stntc, a distance of 125 miles, in 2(i hours. He was carrying Important dlspntches for Gen. Crook, nnd though the road was bad his mount wus In good condition whon Lnwton, looking five years older than ho did the day before, handed over his bundle of papers to tho black bearded general. Gen, Merrltt hns a forced march record that hns no American parallel when the conditions of his Journey are considered. Ho wns ordered in the fall of 1879 to tho relief of Payne's command, which wns surrounded by hostile In dians. Merrltt'n command consisted of four troops of cavalry, hut at the last moment ho was ordered to add to his forco a battalion of Infantry. Tho "dough boys" wero loaded Into army wagons drawn by mules, and with tho cavalry at tho flanks the relief column started. The dlstanco to bo traversed was 170 miles, and It was made, notwithstanding tho handi cap of the wagons nnd trails that were muddy and sandy by turns, In Just (in hours, At the end of tho march the troopers went Into tho fight, nnd In the cntlro commnnd not one horso showed a lamo leg or a saddlo sore, Four troopers ot the Fourth cavalry who had volunteered for tho particular service, wero sent In the summer ot 1870 from Fort Har ney to Fort Warner with dlspntches, and , v CAVALRY HOA&S4 TO US DOWN A r COMMAND THS PYRAMID DRLL AT rOAT SI YR woro told to make tho best time posslblo with out killing their horses. Tho men wero on their mettle, Thoy made the dlstnnco, 140 miles 20 miles of tho way being through loose Band, In 22 hours, the actiml marching tlmo bolng 18 hours and 30 minutes. At Fort Warner they rested one day, and returned to Harney on the same horses at the uniform rato of CO miles a day. Cnpt. Edward a. Fechot started at mid night for the relief of the Indian scouts who had been sent out to nrrest Sitting Bull, and, who, after killing that chief, wero beleugucred In n small hut by his followers. Fechot took an ambulanco wagon nnd n Hotchklss gun with him. The gun carriage broko down and ho wnB compelled to fasten the trail of tho piece to tho tailboard of the ambulance and thus jlrng It along. Notwithstanding this handicap ho made tho first 15 miles In less than sovon hours. Ho fought nnd drovo off tho young Sioux bucks, then scouted the country for ten miles, gnve his troopers somo bronkfast and returned to the fort. Fourteen hours woro consumed In covering 90 miles of ground, Tho cavalry horses of tho American army have tindergono theso ondurnnco and speed testy carrying weights of nioro than 200 pounds and without any training other than that re ceived in the ordinary courso of frontlor scouting and dnlly drill evolutions. Tho great est military rldo record, ns It appears on pa per, Is that of the Austrian Count Stahronberg, who rode ono horso 350 miles in 71 hours. Tho animal, however, carried only tho count's weight, 128 pounds; It had been specially trained for months to undergo the endurnnco test, and during tho wholo tlmo of tho rldo It wns kept up on stimulants. Tho horse dlod within 24 hours nftor tho completion of Its task. Col. Dodge, In his summary of remark able rldos, tolls of a professional oxpross rider, whom ho personally know, who for many months carried mall from El Paso to Chilian hau through a hostllo Apache country. This man on ono horso, a broncho, rogularly made .'100 miles In 00 hours, nnd then resting his mount for four days, mado the return trip. A Sitting Bull. A detachment of troops pushing forward In search ot tho "yellow-haired white chief" had found tho mutilated bodies or the slain, with tho llttlo heaps of empty cartridges at their sides, telling mutely tho story ot a desperately horolc defense. Tho dotnchnient had Joined Terry nnd tho story of the Custer massaero was told. The whole country to tho northeast and the south was swnrmlng with tho Sioux not yet sated with slaughter. To the southeast 200 miles away, near the headquarters of tho Powdor river, In tho Torrltory of Wyoming, lay the command of Gen. Crook, It wns Im peratively necessary that tho situation ot af fairs Just south of the Yellowstone should be mado known to tho general commanding the southeusteru forces. Between Torry nnd Crook wns an unbroken wlldornoss Inhabited only by wild animals nnd wilder men. With Terry's column wero six tried scouts nnd plainsmen. Thoy knew ovory inch of tho country, every trail, every hiding place in the mountain spurs and every patch of timber on tho plains. To theso men wero Intrusted the dispatches of tlio commanding officer, with Instructions to carry them south eastward to tho camp of Crook. Tho scouts started on their Jouruoy. Insldo of eight hours all of them woro back and tho report to Torry was that no mnn could attempt tho Journey to Powdor river and Uvo, In F Company of tho Soventh Infantry was a private named James Boll. Ho hud acquired a knowledge or tho country In tho campaigns In which ho had served agulnst tho Sioux, His knowledge, however, was but a tithe of that held by tho plainsmen, nnd his acquaintance with tho ways of tho Indians wns as nothing to tholrs, yet Prlvato James Bell went to Gen. Terry's headquarters and volunteered to carry tho dIspatcho8 through tho heart of tho hos tile country und to doltvor them to Gon. Crook, or olso, If It must bo, to forfeit his life. Torry asked tho man if ho knew fully tho danger of tho undertaking. Bell's answer was: "Tho scouts camo back." In tho four words ho expressed the wholo thing, for tho scouts nevor beforo bad turned In their trncks. Prlvato Boll took his rations, a full supply of ammunition, his rlllo and his rovolvor, und ercd the marks ot tho pnssago as well as ho could, and finally crawled up on tho bank him self, covering his own trail. Ho found a hiding placo for tho day In ravluo about 300 yards from tho bank of tha creek, und after feeding his horso, and eating his own breakfast ho put all thought ot sleep aside, and climbing to a hilltop he watched tho vicinity of tho crook. Bell bollovcd thnt tho reds could not have found his trail. If thoy had found It at all, un til near sunrlso nnd ho know that If thoy fol lowed him It would tako them tho hotter part of tlio day to reach his hiding place and that by that lime his horso would bo frosh and their horses Jaded. At thrco o'clock In the afternoon ho saw, something thnt set his heart beating, bravo man though ho wns, Tho wnr party was breaking through the underbrush on the bank or tho creek and Boll know that his trail had boon followed and that ho had but a moment') tlmo to snvo his llfo nnd his messago. Ho ran down tho Blope, vaulted on to h! horso and shot out Into the open nround tho base of tho hill. Tho rods chased tho courier for five mllos. firing now and again, but ho distanced thorn and nftor two moro nights of porll ho gava Torry's message Into the hands of Crook. James Boll wns given n medal ot honor, and for flvo years ho was a mossonger In tho hoadqunrters of tho department of tho laker In Chlcngo. Few people realized that tho qulol unassuming "orrand man" In tho Pullman building was tho courlor who had taken on himself a mission that tried plnlusmon had not dared to attempt to fulfill. The Home. Homo nnd homo llfo must never bocoma commonplace. The llttV surprises, tho re, menibrances of tho birthday, tho unexpected treat, tho ploasuro eamod for ono by tho sac. rlflco of nnothor all theso belong under oun head of spiritual exorcises. Nor is there any scone of our llfo which so domando Buoh ex erclso ns this familiar scono of, homo, which has to bo reset ovory day. Edward Everatt-Hale.