Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1904)
.) gn ilMfMSI The Commbiier; 6 W i ic f $5,000,000 won't last a week. Truo heroes need no official indorsement other than the friendship of their comrades and fellow men. What would tho boys of 'Gl and '65 have thought of a 'hero fund' in thoso perilous days? Heroes who are horoos becamo so for love and devotion to their country and their follow mon and would shun public charity for their deeds." ' MR. JOHN FARSON of Chicago, who obtained fame by saying that ho would bequeath ?1, 000,000 to tho right kind of domestic, has again attracted public attention by explaining to nows papor roadors how to break into society. Tho Chicago correspondent lor the New York World says that Mr. Farson's recipe may bo summarized as follows: 'Apply for a divorce from your wife. Movo into a neighborhood in close proximity to swolldom. Movo into swelldom as soon as you can got monoy enough to pay tho ront. Join a fashionable church. Play cards at loast half the timo you have out of oillco hours. Cultivate tho 'golf habit. Read tho trashiest novels. Join a good club and work up an acquaintance with so ciety man. Attend club functions. Pay more at tention to what is on your back than in your head." MR. SHAW, now secretary of the treasury, and formorly governor of Iowa, is just now de fending himself against Ntho charge that -while govornor of Iowa, ho granted a parole to a des porato convict on political grounds, and In re sponse to a requost mado by a corporation law yer. Tho judgo who presided at the trial of this convict, and tho prosecuting attorney who ap peared against him, protested against tho grant ing of tho parolo, but their protests "were un heoded. A letter written by N. M. Hubbard, who was a railroad lawyer, to Governor Shaw, was as follows: "Cedar Rapids, la., Sept. 15, 1900. My Dear Govornor: When I was in Washington, last winter, I became acquainted witu David H. Mer cer, congressman from the. Fremont 'district in Nebraska. He helped pass our bill for settlement of the Sioux City and Pacific indebtedness, as soon as tho bill was passed, 'Davo' came to mo and asked for the parole of Frank Shercllffe, who is now in tho penitentiary for robbing somebody on the Sioux Lity and -acillc road. My son and Mr. Dawley, my law partners, I understand, havo writton urging you not to pardon or 'parolo him. 'Davo' doesn't ask that ho be pardoned, but pa roled on good behavior. He told mo that the judgo who tried him, and the attorney who prose cuted him, have mado a request to you, or will mako such request, to parole him. I suppose he Is guilty of tho crime charged, but 'Dave says -no has been punished pretty well now, and that it -will ho worth 300 or 4U0 votes to him from tho relatives of S'hercliffe if ho can be paroled. 'Dave' is one of tho best fellows I met in Washington, and I want to beseech you iii his behalf to parole this man if you possibly can. Of course, I do not know tho details, but 'Dave' was so kind and helpful to me in Washington that I am very anx ious that ho should be gratified provided, of course, it will jiot be too great an injustice to tho public." THEY havo heard recently of Judge Parker in England, and tho London Chronicle says: 4,Vhat his political views may be, what policy he intends to pursue if elected all this Is beside tho mark. But wo know that ho takes his coffee without sugar and his tea without either milk" or sugar. That he is an American of the Ameri cans Is proved by tho fact that ho eats pie for luncheon and dinner custard and pumpkin for choice. His personal appearance Is discussed from all angles and pronounced superior to Presi dent Roosevelt's. His nose is 'aquiline' and 'his high, broad forehead slopes back without a pump. Like Herbert Spencer's, his brow Is whol ly unfurrowed, 'Indicating a man who can concen trate his mind without the great effort which contracts the facial muscles It is difficult to conceive of such a paragon being beaten." IT HAS been reported that Joseph E. Bishop .. f Now York a strong friend of Mr. Roose velt, would be appointed secretary of the Panama canal commission. This office pays a larce sal ary. The New York correspondent for the cfn- Sttf61, 8?ys that U as beQn discovered I r Bh iB the1autor of a pamphlet show, ing why Mr. Roosevelt should be nominated for tho republican convention, and contain also severo strictures upon Senior Hanna,wlio was then regarded in some quarters as a candidate for the nomination. Senator Platte of New York says: "I have Informed the isthmian canS com' mission that I will not stand for the appointment of Mr. Bishop as its secretary. I shall fight it from first to last President Roosevelt has noth ing to do with making the appointment, although, of course, ho might suggest Mr. Bishop's name. Tho appointment must bo mado. by the commis sion, and as I happen to be chairman of the canal committee of tho senate, I think tho commission will listen to reason." HENRY M. STANLEY, the renowned African . explorer, died at London, May 10. For several weeks Sir Henry has been ill and his death is said to havo been duo to an attack of pleurisy with complications. Stanley was 64 years of ago and while even during tho years of his early manhood ho was not only unknown but was extremely poor, in later years, after ho became an explorer, ho was famous throughout the world and at tho time of his death was regarded as a wealthy man. IN MANY western cities,- and particularly in Omaha, Stanley was at one time well known to many people. Old timo residents of Omaha seem to remember him as a newspaper reporter of rather ordinary ability and one who was not always particular as to his financial condition. As av "matter of fact, the real name of the great ex plorer was not Henry M. Stanley. It was John Rolands. Ho .was born at Denby, Wales, in 1840. His parents were poor and when their boy was about threo years of age they delivered him to the caro of the parish and he was reared in tho alms-house at St. Asaph. After leaving tho alms house, and having a fair education, he taught -school for several years. TH E interesting career of John Rolands, other wise known as Henry M. Stanley, is de scribed in an interesting way by a writer in the Chicago Tribune. This writer says: "Possess ing the genius of the rover and tho physique of Hercules, pedagogy had no attractions for him, and presently ho shipped as the cabin boy of a vessel bound for New Orleans. He concluded to stay there awhile, and happened to meet a wealthy American merchant named Stanley, who was pleased with and adopted him, changing his name to Henry M. Stanley. His adopted father was so thoughtless as to die intestate, and Stanley found himself poor again. Even as the well endowed and expectant heir of a wealthy man young Stan ley' had been wandering afoot in the Indian coun try of the southwest, and had obtained much ex perience of savage ideas and habits, which proved of great value later. The war had broken out, and he was impressed in the rebel service. But his sympathies were with tho north, and ho man aged to get over upon the other side, where he continued to serve, though without any partic ular distinction, until the fall of Richmond." SUBSEQUENTLY Stanley obtained employment as a reporter on the New York Herald. He was readily recognized as a picturesque and clever writer The Tribune writer says: "His love of adventure was overmastering, and being sent abroad by Mr Bennett he started soon to fight for fun and liberty in the Cretan army and to record 11 i&tl & the Herald. That over, ho traveled through the eastern countries and in Abyssinia w i&o a V,oving correspondent until Octo ber, 18G9, when Mr. Bennett sent him to find Livingstone.- The story of that wonderful achieve ment is told in his book, one of the most fasc mat ing records of exploration. Upon his return from . Africa Stanley went west as far as Omaha an tShWSfk in ? Indian camPaiSn r the HeraM with his usual success. Returning to New York Stanly was sent upon another African trlnbv, Mr. Bennett,. and- four years more were snenf in gavels and battles "through the Lrif conSnont establishment of Migf fte of his life in less arduous labors" balanc0 writer says: tKLJE p?i? ii?" uno and Europe from tho pasha'o n.tT" ianzll)ar through Dr. Junker? taffiS5KiHnt Wadelai unable to hold his 'iS&wSEt tt.1 bo threatened attack and was Sh ., maMi's annmnation. Had TjZSl ,.--', .VOLUME i, NUMBER 18. people, those of whom he had created a nation he could easily have cut his way by some south ern route to the coast before the mahdi's forces could como down tho Nile and -get at him. But Emon wag a hero, and he preferred death to desertion.- Indeed, when Stanley reached him this sentiment, carried to almost Quixotic extremes threatened to render tho relief expedition una vailing. In 1889, however, after a march of near ly 1,500 miles througn equatorial Africa, reaching f rom Bagamoyo, on the eastern cqast, Stanley reached the beleaguered Emon and raised the siege. It was aperflous undertaking, beset with innumerable dangers in the shape of sickness, native hostiles, and secret plots and' open war fare from the mahdi's forces, but Stanley over came them all and brought Emon safely out of his danger." THE geographical and anthropological results of this expedition were of the highest im portance. The Tribune writer explains: "The course of the Aruwimi was at last fully defined, tho limits of the forest region fixed, the extent of Albert Nyanza bounded, and all the new coun try from the Congo to the lake reduced to a map. But of far more importance was the discovery of the Semliki river, of Mount Buvenzori, of Lake Albert Edward, and of the south-western exten sion of Lake Victoria. It was proved that Lake Albert Edward, the rumored Muta N'zige, is the primary source of the White Nile, .that its waters pour through the Semliki, which were seen by a white man for the first time in the Albert Nyanza. Mount Ruvenzori was shown to be a rival of Kili manjaro, and probably 17,000 to 18,000 feet high. The extent of the Victoria Nyanza was definitely ascertained to be, fully 26,900 square miles and lo reach within 150 miles of Tanganyika. The tribes of all this new country were discovered. Henry, M. Stanley was knighted In England for his ser vices, and after a brief career in the house of com mons, which was not to his liking, he settled down as a farmer at Purzehill in Surrey. He was married late in life to Miss Dorothy Tennant, but had no children, One of his-nephews he adopted about a year qgo. While not a riqh man Stanley had amassed a comfortable fortune from his books." A PECULIAR condition in tho relations betwesn the liquor interests and, the municipal offi cers has been brought about by the law recently, passed by the New Jersey legislature. A writer in the Newark News says that according to this law, the local board of excise and also all other boards, common councils, courts, or other bodies having power to grant licenses, will bo forced to become, whether they so desire, or not, the agents of the brewers. The law referred, to provides 'that the person who pays a license fee for another may retain control of the license by means of a power of attorney, and that such power shall be kept on record and no license shall be transferred without the consent of the person who paid tho fee. The Newark News writer says: "The fact of the passage of such a bill was not known by, the officials here, or by the general public, until the new law was brought to the attention of tho city clerk by the representative of a brewing company. An investigation then revealed that the measure had been passed in what may bo des ignated as a clandestine manner. Not only will the effect of the new law be to protect the brew ers, but it will make them 'practically the abso lute owners of the great majority of the licenses granted. It is a well-known fact that in this city, considerably more than one-half of the Hcenso fees are now paid by the brewers, though the "censes are hold in tho namos of the individuals, These nominal owners are merely the agents of the brewers, and as they are frequently unsatis factory, they are dismissed and the licenses held in their names are transferred. Under the new law it will be impossible to transfer such licenses without the consent and direction of tho brewers who hold tho recorded power of attorney. The board of excise is thus made accountable to the brewers and must obey their behests." N THE forests of France they are cutting uuea uy means or electricity. A correspo ndent for the Chicago Post explains the process in iT I jpiunum wire is neateu io a m" ? eai. , y an eIectric ourrent an4, used like a saw. m this manner the tree is f piled much" easier and quicker than In the old way. no sawdust is pro duced and the slight carboniza'tion caused by & not wire acts as a preservative of the wood, 'inj new method Is said to require only one-eighth oi the time consumed by the old sawing process." I i$ Vty 'U. t tjtfj. . iiumtfii