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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1901)
'T " mvt "7. 9 P pi Items of Interest During the past flvo months trusts have heen organized with an aggregate capital of $2,000, 000,000. Professor Ira Romsen has heen elected Presi dent of Johns HopkinB university to succeed Dr. D. C. Gilman. Immigration officials have decided to exclude from the United States all persons suffering from consumption. Mrs. Woodbury of Boston was defeated in her noted libel suit against Mrs. Eddy, the founder of Christian science. Andrew Carnegie has given $10,000,000 of the United States Steel corporation's 5 per cent bonds to the universities of Scotland. - The Washington legislature recently closed a two days' special session, passing among other bills a new capital punishment law. Senator Piatt has announced his intention to retire from the United States senate upon the ex piration of his present term in 1903. ' A' number of poems by King James I., bearing as marks of genuineness the royal autograph, are reported to have been found at Oxford. When the Great Eastern was launched it was the largest ship afloat. The Celtic, just launched in Russia, is 10,300 tons heavier than the Great Eastern. r The Argentine republic is the most progressive country in South America. Already $40,000,000 have been invested in electrical undertakings in the republic. The order of St. Benedict has furnished forty three popes and 40,000 bishops. The order of St: Francis has furnished ten popes, the order of St. Dominic four. The president has appointed Herbert W. Bowen of New York, present United States minister at Te heran, Persia, minister to Venezuela to, succeed Minister Loomis. Vertical writing seems to be a fad that has had its day. Numerous boards of education have abol ished it and ordered a return to the writing that slants to the right. Two hundred and fifty years ago eight cows and one bull were taken into the territory now comprising the Argentine republic. Today the cat tle herds contain 10,000,000 head. The new battleship Illinois, after adding the allowance for tidal corrections, made the ofllc.al record of 17.45 knots an hour, and is the speediest battleship of her class in the world. The new naval academy at Anapolis will cost $3,000,000 and will be the finest structure owned by the government outside of New York. It will pro vide accommodations for 550 cadets. Calculations based on the census returns thus far available fix the present population of the Do minion of Capada at 5,551,036. The increase during the past ten years has been very small. L. Dauphino, a poor shoemaker living in Yazoo City, M'iss., has been notified of the death of his aunt, Emily Dauphine" of Marseilles, France, who had willed to him her entire estate valued at $1, 000,000. June 12, by a vote of 13 to 3, the school board of Chicago adopted a resolution providing for free school books for the first four grades of the public schools and appropriated $91,000 for the purchase of books. There will be state elections in Nebraska, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Penn sylvania and Virginia this year. Governors will he chosen in all these states except Nebraska and Maryland. It Is estimated that it will cost $250,000 and re quire six months' time to repair the famous bat- The Commoner. tlcship Oregon which recently arrived in San Fran cisco. The damages were received in the wreck in the Gulf of Pe Chi Li. Bunker Hill Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri can Revolution, have decided to erect a monument on the spot where Paul Revere stood while wait ing for the signals for his famous ride "One if by land and two if by sea." Saloons in Toronto, Canada, close at 7 o'clock Saturday nights. This order is strictly enforced. The idea is to prevent workingmen who are paid on Saturday from squandering their wages at the saloons on Saturday evening. The Minnesota legislature passed a law parol ing life prisoners who have served 35 years less the time allowed them for good behavior; provided, that in all cases the unanimous consent of tho board of pardons must be first obtained. Goust is the smallest republic in tho world in point of area. It is one mile square. It is located on the flat top of a mountain in the Pyrinees be tween France and Spain and is recognized by both countries. It has a president and a council of twelve. Thomas A. Edison has announced that he has succeeded in devising a storage battery. This is an important achievement, and if Mr. Edison has really solved the great problem that for years has agitated electricians, he will have won a new laurel of no mean proportions. One of the largest bodies of land owned by a single individual on the western continent is tho Island of Antlcostl at the mouth of the SI. Law rence river. It was purchased four years ago by M. Menier, the great chocolate manufacturer of Paris. The island Is 130 miles long and 30 miles wide. Sumatra widows are tied down by an iron-clad custom. When the husband dies the widow erects a flagstaff at her front door and flings a flag to the breeze. As long as the flag remains untorn she must wear widow's weeds and keep in seclusion. Tho moment a rent, no matter how small, appears iii the flag she can lay aside her weeds and accept the first offer that comes. The Desert of Sahara comprises 2,500,000 square miles. It is believed that one-half of this area can be made habitable by turning the ocean into the other one-half. Most of the desert is fer tile and would produce crops if it had water. But rain never falls there. " Artesian wells have been bored in various parts with success, and wherever a well flows the verdure is luxuriant. A queer suit at law is attracting attention In Wichita county, Kansas, and promises to last for several years. A Kansas girl died, leaving a sweetheart and a brother. Sweet heart and brother arc not on good terms. When the sweetheart or dered a handsome monument for his dead love's grave the brother went into court for an injunc tion preventing the erection of the monument. The national indebtedness of the world is esti mated at $41,000,000,000. The human mind cannot grasp the immensity of these figures. If Adam had begun counting silver dollars at the rate of 100 a minute when he was first created and had lived to keep up the count twenty-four hours a day until now, he would not have counted enough to pay the interest for one year en this sum at the rate of 10 per cent. Accident insurance companies are considerably interested in a suit now pending at Des Moines, la., involving the question of liability of a company on its policy where the assured is killed by a maniac. Anna Kahler, widow of Frank Kahler, has sued to recover on a $10,000 policy, which is-re-sisted by the company on the ground that tho shooting was not an accident and that its policies especially provide that injuries purposely inflicted will not be considered accidents unless committed by a burglar or highwayman. The maniac was neither of these, so the question to be decided by tho court is whether In legal contemplation, a maniac can ho said to have a purpose in the com mission of his acts. , About May 1, Lieutenant H. L. Gilchrist, acting for tho board of health, completed a census of Manila. According to the Manila Times It shows the population of Manila to be 244,932, of which number 181,361 arc Filipinos, 51,567 Chinese, 8,562 Americans, 2,382 Spaniards and 9C0 of various other nationalities. The officers and soldiers of the United States army are not included in the above figures. There aro 18,463 buildings in the city classified as follows: Good, 3,739; bad, 1,135; small, 1,472; shacks, 12,117. The Chicago Chronicle, speaking of desertions, says: "Scores of soldiers will not answer roll call at Fort Sheridan this morning, and the celobratlon of pay day yesterday at this postthe fifth since the anti-canteen law went into effect- demon strated that many recruits as well as veterans have taken French leave of the army. Drunkenness seemed more general evcn than last month, and among tht crowds of men in blue who besieged the saloons of I-Iighwood there were many who openly declared their intention to desert the service. Not only are desertions on tho increase at Fort Sheri dan, but at every army post in the United States and island possessions, according to government reports. From Fort Sheridan alone the desertions have averaged more than twenty-five every month since February. Last month, while the Investigat ing committee of ministers was making inquiries at the fort and vicinity, men who wore the blue of Uncle Sam were leaving the post in squads to take off their uniforms in some secluded place, ex change them for disguises and flee from the re straints of army life to return no more. These scenes were repeated yesterday and officers at the fort say that if tho movement spreads it will not be long ere tho ranks will bo thinned as though a plague had struck the barracks. Twenty-five de sertions a month for ono year make 300 deserters. Three hundred deserters from every regiment in the regular army, now numbering 100,000 men, would make the total nearly 25,000, or the entire former strength of the standing army. Fort Sheri dan officers do not like to give out figures on de sertions, but the men themselves arc willing enough to tell how many of their comrades have gone. 'And there'll be thirty-five or forty more gone this month,' said a member of company II of the Twenty-ninth infantry. 'Four men out of our company left last pay day and six out of the com pany next to ours, company G. They cannot stand camp life these days. If it wasn't for the disgrace of it and the fact that my mother is living I'd go, too.' Major Lord, paymaster, paid out $16,000 to 3,379 men yesterday. Of the number, 3,191 belong to the Twenty-ninth regiment. The others are members of battery D of the Fifth artillery. The size of the commands is due to constant recruit ing, without which it would be Impossible to main tain the full strength. Most of the soldiers' money was in the hands of Pllghwood, Waukegan and Chicago saloonkeepers before midnight. One hun dred men came to Chicago on the 7 o'clock train last evening. So crowded were the eight High wood saloons during the afternoon and night that at times it was not possible to reach the bar. Al derman Gibbs' place did a thriving business. Fights were frequent, but so far as learned there were no attempts at murder, as on the May pay day. The woods near the fort were full of drunken soldiers, some of them asleep, the easy prey of thieves who throng the vicinity of .the post on such occasions. Gambling was being carried on under the trees. It was a common thing to see a soldier who had lost his entire month's pay at craps, poker or rou lette. Sergeant of the Guard Schmitz and his men were busy all night putting drunken and disorderly comrades in tho guard house. The sergeant said he believed more than half the enlisted men were drunk." I II t' 'ifamki.ri tfn-1 -Jt --i ritJiaA iHlAr riPin u iiV ir if -,. twAftrti i.eiu.J jr.. L MMNrMBI