m
M
THE VALENTINE DEMOCRAT
SUCCESSOB TO
CHERRY COUNTY INDEPENDENT
BOBEET GOOD Editor and Publisher
Official Paper of Cherry Coun
ty Nebraska
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cation to this office
THURSDAY AUGUST 20 1896
Democratic Ticket
Por President
WnIAMfENNTNGS BRYAN
Of Lincoln Nebraska
For Yice President
ARTHUR SEWALL
Df 3atb Maine
Down with trusts
Down with plutocracy
Down with monopolies
Down with all forms of organized
oppression to labor
Honest poverty and honest property
are alike to be respected
Equitable taxation is just taxation
and people should be taxed in propor
to their ability to pay
The tariff is taking a rest McKinley
hasnt made a speech for two days
Prof Hicks predicts earthquakes for
September and The Democrat pre
dicts cyclones and snow storms and
land slides in November
It was under the McKinley act that
the great panic of 1893 occurred yet
there are a few tariff fanatics possessed
bf enough imbecility to claim it was
the direct result of the Wilson bill
According to rules and regulations
tiiis is the year for Keya Paha to fur
nish a candidate for state representa
tive from this district Up to date we
have heard of but orie candidate for
the office a populist
3he Advance Agent says that
with the reenactment of his high tariff
bill factories would resume business
wages would rise and farm products
would increase in - value But then
you know Mac kin lie
An Ohio man has invented a
which he says will carry a
man safely through the air at the rate
of 100 miles a minute McKinleywill
be lookiug for that man directly after
election when he will make the trip to
St Helenas lovely isle
Li Hung Chang the great Chinese
statesman and diplomat has been
toasted and feasted in all the Euro
pean countries he has visited but it is
verv likelv when he reaches the
United States he will be roasted in
stead
Much speculation is being indulged
in over the probable action of the
democrats in the matter of nominat
ing a man tor county attorney but
nobody is saying nothing just now
lhere is not a democratic attorney in
the county and it is very likely that
that the boys will pass the nomina
tion
P L Hughes chairman of the South
Omaha republican city central com
mittee has resigned his position and
announces his determination to work
for Bryan Rev TDeWitt Talmage
is for Bryan and Sewall There may
not be much connection between these
two iiacts but they are significant
nevertheless
It will be President Bryan after the
4th of next March and sleepy com
merce will get up and rub its eyes and
prepare to exert itself industry will
throw off its cemetery robes and pre
pare to convert the old grave yard in--to
the park of peace prosperity and
plenty Poverty and pauperism will
begin to shed their rags and look
respectable prophets of disaster will
blush with shame for their exposed
ignorance Rushville Standard
BpjWSJWW
TEE NEW YORK WORLD TO
WILLIAM J BRYAN
Wednesday August 12 the New
York World addressed an open letter
to William J Bryan which is so good
that The Democrat cannot forbear
reproducing a portion of it The let
ter occupied nearly- a page of The
World and is consequently too long to
xeproduce in its entirety The article
was based principally on Mr Bryans
attitude on the money question the
World apparently agreeing with him
upon all points in the democratic plat
form excepting that relating to free
coinage With that part of the article
eliminated it is practically as follows
Upon many grounds of sympathy
The World stands with you It is as
you have remembered for an income
tax It believes that unnecessary tax
ation is unjust taxation and that just
taxation is based in some measure at
least upon ability to pay and benefits
received from the Government Ic
declared for this tax thirteen years ago
and was thejrsfcand -nearly -he only
newspaper in the east that persistently
urged and defended itx It believes
and has repeatedly said that the selfish
short sighted and unpatriotic nullifica
tion of this just tax by a conspiracy of
rich men contributed potentially to the
prevailing discontent of the masses
The World is opposed as you have
declared yourself to be to a restora
tion of the McElnley tariff or to any
agitation for further changes in the
tariff laws at present The existing
tariff is high enough for protection It
has not had a fair trial as a producer
of revenue though yielding in its first
two years nearly as much as the Mc
Kinley tariff did in its last two Por
the additional revenue needed to meet
our expenditures internal revenue
taxes on a few articles of luxury or
convenience of wealth should be levied
if the public revenues were ample
most of our present financial troubles
would disappear No paper has insist
ed on this more strongly than The
World or has denounced more strenu
ously a tariff for monopolies bounties
protection for trusts and legislation
for privileged classes
We are first of all the most deter
minedly opposed to trusts and mono
polies One of our objections to the
Chicago platform is that it did not
more specifically denounce the evils
and wrongs suffered by the country
from these sources and pledge7 the
party anew to correct them It was a
leading issue in the successful demo
cratic campaign four years ago It
should have had first place now
The World is opposed with you to
the issuing of bonds in time of peace
except under explicit authority of con
gress It believes that the people
should rule- not a single man even
though that man be president and the
people for the moment be wrong It
is the business of congress to legislate
It is not the business of executives to
act against the expressed will of Con
gress
The World is as much opposed as
you can possibly be to the control and
guardianship of the Treasury by a
Wall street Lord Protector This
humiliating spectacle was seen in the
forced secret bond sale and is again
witnessed in the present prudent but
paternal charge of the governments
gold reserve oy a syndicate of the very
same financiers who have twice deple
ted it to force a bond issue The in
dignation expressed in the Chicago
and the last St Louis platforms in de
nouncing this partnership and protec
torate is but an echo of The Worlds
exposure of the conspiracy in 1895
and its successful protest forcing a
I public sale of bonds in February last
These are -true and fundamental
and far reaching issues They go deep
er and are more vital than the silver
question But for the moment and
for the campaign unless you shall by
wise and courageous words help to
change the situation the extraneous
and temporary issue of free coinage
will dominate the canvas Will you
consent to broaden the issue Will
you help to array democracy against
republicanism upon the basic princi
ples and the actually dangerous ten
dencies of the government Will you
aid in allynmg the people against
Plutocracy The World holds that
plutocracy or the rule of tariff-and-trust-organized-and-privileged
wealth
is a conspiracy against property as well
as against equal rights But it regards
as equally indefensible and dangerous
a movement of which there were
1 deuces recently at St Louis not
JT V i
TTBaTTrVr
merely against plutocracy seeking to
subvert free government but against
property as such Industry is not a
vice Thrift is not a crime Accum
ulation is not a wrong Aye even
capital has its rights It is as neces
sary to protect the just rights of prop
erty as it is to resist the attacks which
plutocracy makes upon all property
except its own The World is equally
the defender of honest property and
honest poverty It will not favor a
policy that would deprive a rich man
of his just due any more than it will
approve a course that would cheat a
poor man with a cheap dollar Do
you not concede the justness of these
distinctions Can you not make it
clear that to resist plutocratic
encroachments is not to favor either
anarchy or communism
George W Fisher the well known
cattleman of Antfam precinct called
at this office Tuesday George states
that over in his neighborhood tne peo
ple are nearly solid for Bryan and free
silver while in Pall River county South
Dakota the republican candidates for
county offices are afraid to run without
first announcing that they are for Bry
an Chadron Signal
A public meeting was held in the
county attorneys room at the court
house last Monday night for the pur
pose of organizing a Bryan club
About forty persons present represent
ing all parties J G Armstrong was
chosen as chairman and J P Asay
secretary of the meeting Thirty two
free silver men filed up and signed
Bryans roll of honor Rushville Re
corder
Alexander wept for other worlds to
conquer after he had carried his vic
torious banner throughout the then
known world Napoleon re arranged
the fmap of Europe with his sword
amid the lamentations of those by
whose blood he was exalted but when
these and other military heroes are for
gotten their achievements disappear
in the cycles sweep of years children
will still lisp the name of Jefferson
and freemen will ascribe due praises to
him who filled the kneeling subjects
heart with hope and bade him stand
erect a soverign among his peers
William J Bryan
TARIFF FACTS
All that the republican whov is not
McKinley mad ought to ask for is
tariff enough to protect home manu
facturers from foreign competition
and we have that now Our imports
are less than they were during the
days of McKinleyism and our exports
are more the balance of trade thus
being largely in our favor During the
years of 1891 92 93 and 91 our im
ports were 1669279789 or an aver
age of 417319947 free of duty
During the same time goods valued at
1479910136 were admitted on pay
ment of duty or an average of 369
977534 annually Last year our im
ports were 376890100 free of duty
and 354271995 on which duty was
paid Here is a falling off from
McKinley imports imports represents
ing foreign competition of 40000
000 annually on free listed and 15
000000 annually on dutiable goods
Democrats are accused of being free
traders but when free trade reduces
our imports and increases our exports
isnt it a good thing to have
NEBRASKA IS FIRST
The Iowa State Register deplores
the fact that Iowa can no longer boast
of having a smaller per cent of illiter
ate people than any other state in the
Union Nebraska teads the list with
a populace of whom only 31 per cent
are illiterate Iowa comes third with
36 per cent of illiteracy These figures
refer to those who are over 10 years of
age
This is a fact which was developed
by the census of 1890 but it is not
generally known and The Democrat
is proud to present the figures to its
readers Louisiana comes lowest on
the list with a population 458 per
cent illiterate while South Carolina is
credited with 45 per cent Our neigh
boring state of Kansas has 4 per cent
South Dakota has 42 Colorado has 52
and Wyoming has 34 These are the
states where hot winds grasshoppers
cyclones and populists flourish- but
these all seem to have a tendency to
educate people rather than otherwise
and so are not an unmixed evil
Worlds of comfort to Nebraskans are
found in the foregoing figures and
every resident of the state should take
pride in them
Stand up for Nebraska
j f - r
T
CHAPTER X
A Moonlight Spectre
After a pow wow the Sioux arose
and half a dozen braves unbound the
prisoners while the remainder of the
band commenced gathering the horses
Three of the ponies were brought up
and the two Prestons and Dick were
told to mount On doing so they were
surrounded by the entire Sioux band
and the cavalcade started up the Nio
brara in a westerly direction They
traveled steadily forward until nearly
mid day when they came in sight of an
Indian village of some size where they
halted
Jones and his companions were
marched to trees on the river bank and
there bound and a guard of six war
riors placed over them They were
however within a short distance of
each other and could therefore easily
converse
Nice mess to be in isnt it snort
ed Dick to John I wish I was at
liberty for a few moments and I assure
you daylight would soon be shining
through several scoundrelly Sioux
I guess under existing circumstan
ces we will have to be patient Dick
perhaps something may turn up in our
favor ere long and give us a chance to
elude our red brethern
Something turn up snorted Jones
Most likely something will turn up
but Ill wager it will be our toes
The elder Preston said nothing and
glancing in his direction Dick saw that
his face wore a very patient expression
which he thought was most remark
able under the circumstances seeing
that he was so anxious to reach the
peak on the Minnekaduza
Soon after dark the full moon rose
in all her silver glory over the distant
eastern hills flooding the wild prairie
country with her bright clear light
The river made a sharp bend direct
ly to the northward opposite to where
the prisoners were bound and the moon
shone directly across the canyon her
light shining weirdly through the river
pines making fantastic shapes of the
more distinct ones
Preston as he faced the glorious
sight seemed strangely affected and
after a time he addressed his com
rades
It was on just such a night as this
that the cowardly assassin killed my
little Isabel boys the moon I remem
ber shone down with the same calm
light that now falls on the form of a
man with a broken heart How long
dear God must I search I grow
weary weary of this life that is worth
not the living it is but a torture to me
now that all I held dear on earth is
gone The voice broke and the bent
form shook with grief
Prestons comrades sought to- com
fort him and the night wore slowly on
Toward midnight a red haze drove be
fore the face of the moon and her
light shone bloodred through it- not a
leaf was stirring and the air seemed
close and stifling Unable to sleep
Jones opened his eyes with an excla
mation of impatience and the next in
stant his comrades were startled by a
yell of terror There on the opposite
bank of the stream was a sight surf
ficient to freeze ones blood Allgiire
of gigantic proportions showing a
ghastly red in the weird moonlight
stood silently one arm outstretched
toward the three men who with eyes
starting with tenor gazed fearfully at
this hideous spectre
With whoops of wild terror the
Indian guard instantly prepared to
bolt but their leader who seemed to
have some pluck gave an order in
Sioux whereupon the other five follow
ed him toward the river bluff Stand
ing on the bluff edge the Sioux com
menced firing at the silent figure op
posite
With a bloodcurdling shriek the
weird figure threw its arms wildly
above its head and as it did so a flash
dazzling in its awful brightness lit up
the river canyon while an explosion
the force of which loosed great rocks
and echoed in roaring volume crashed
out and a if by magic the Indian
t -
t
he Preston Mystery
By LEROY LEACH -
Author of The Adventures of Don Enrique Romero etc etc
Copyright 189C by tlie Author All rights reserved
IN NINE INSTALLMENT
The Democrat offers a prize of
500 for the best solution of the mys
tery on which this story is based A
prize of 300 will be given for the
next best solution 200 for the third
best one years subscription for the
fourth and six months subscription
for the fifth best solution
guard disappeared while Preston and
his comrades were rendered insensible
by the awful force of the concusion
Instantly the Sioux camp was in an
uproar with dogs barking ponies
neighing warriors yelling in terror it
seemed as if pandemonium reigned
Bundling up their tepees and catching
a few horses the Indians fled in wild
disorder for the hills a flight which was
accelerated as they cast back terrified
glances at the silent spectre still stand
ing on the river bank
CHAPTER XI
Tlie Strange Peali
When Preston opened his eyes he
gave a start of surprise He found
himself lying on a blanket his two
comrades near by their fire arms in a
heap beside them while their three
horses were quietly grazing a short
distance away Overcome with aston
ishment Preston rubbed his eyes and
gave an exclamation as he observed
distant perhaps half a mile showing
golden in the rays of the rising sun the
the top of the peak he sought The
cry he gave awoke his comrades who
sat up in astonishment Jones in
stantly struck up another song of his
entitled How Surprised I was but
his comrades choked him off
Well if I cant sing I would like
to listen while someone tells me just
how and when we arrived here It is
evident that we came or we wouldnt
be here but as for explaining the
means of transportation I passrt
So will I Dick said John The
last thing I remember is staring my
eyes out at that ghastly spook across
the river and the Sioux peppering
away at it with their Winchesters
The next thing I remember is feeling
as though something was hurled vio
lently against me and well here I
am
Saved us a long ride in the hot sun
anyway said philosophical Jones
with a resigned look and here the sub
ject was dropped
After a hurried breakfast the men
saddled up and rode down near the
mound and dismounted With a short
camp spade Preston then led the way
up the steep side of the peak It
proved to be about a hundred feet in
height and was surmounted by a tip
Of limestone of perhaps fifteen feet in
height How to climb this was the
knotty point as it was perfectly per
pendicular on all but one side where
it had caved off with a slight incline
but Preston solved the problem by dig
ging steps in the soft limestone with
the spade After a half hours work
the men were enabled to gain the top
i of the hill and take a fine view of the
surrounding country Preston without
a moments delay set to work digging
in the center of the tip After a few
minutes work the spade struck some
thing hard which being pried up prov
ed to be a small wooden box Prying
open the lid it was found to contain a
second silver 3 and a note which
read as follows
Henry Preston When you find
this 3 you may know that the Pres
ton mvstery is soon to be explained
Recall your men or join them as they
waste their time in the wilds of Wyom
ing Go to Cheyenne where further
instructions await you Be patient
and your mystery will be cleared up
within two months No Name
As Preston ceased reading some
thing whizzed through the ah and
struck with a thud at his feet It was
an Indian arrow a paper pinned- to its
feathered shaft Unfolding itr Pres
ton read these lines r
I aided you to escape the Sioux
how it matters not Some day all will
be explained to your satisfaction For
reasons that will then be made plain I
do not care to meet you You have
done well to follow my directions
Continue to do so and ail will be well
No Name
Well said the irrepressible Jonesr
as he finished reading all I know is
this If I could shoot a three foot ar
row as straight as brother No Name it
wouldnt be a great while until I would
have a better name than No Name
Oh dry up Jones put in John at
this juncture I believe you would
joke in a graveyard
Just what I am doing now John
for if this peak dont cover the bones i
of a moundbuilder Im a Dutchman
I would dig down and discover if
your scientific theory is correct Mr
Jones were it not for the fact that my
uncle has already taken his- departure
bearing with him the spade answer
ed John smilingly as it is I think it
would be proper to follow him
With a grin Jones led the way down
the peak to where Preston was stand-
ing beside his horse with a troubled-
brow He seemed disappointed over
the result of the trip to the peak
Well boys said he as they came
up how would it be best to manage
Shall we all go for the boys in Wyom
ing or shall one of us go for them
while the other two make for Chey
enne
I will go for the boys Mr Preston
said Jones And so it was arranged
Jone3 after a handshake headed his
horse toward the southwest having to
cross the Niobrara before heading
westward
Soon after the others headed for the
ford some distance east of where Jones
would cross and were soon on the
southern bank of the Niobrara
to be continued
One of the funniest papers along the
line of the FE railroad is the Star
Journal published in the pretty littler
town of Ainsworth in the county of
Brown Prof Berkley is the nominal
proprietor and editor of the sheet but
it does seem as though A the Professor
lets his friends take turn at editing
while he is away disporting himself in
white duck pantaloons and such things
and thereby hangs a tale While on
one of these excursions recently the
Professor was imposed upon and made
to stand sponsor for a pretty good free
silver article and this paper as a
of friendship merely called his at
tention to the imposition and said the
world would be looking for the name
of Wm J Bryan to appear at the
head of the Star Journal columns
And Prof Berkley got real mad at
this paper and claims that he hasnt
changed his opinion one bit and talks
about shells and repudiation an5
dillitante honesty though what that
means nobody knows and calls us
Bobby just as though he were tfying
to teach school again and thought The
Democrat was one of his pupils
But nevertheless the Star Journal did
say that if we were to have free coin
age the country would soon settle
down and every dollar would be full
valued and that a full valued coin1 is
one whose commercial and coinage
value is exactly equal the same as a
gold doilar is now
The Brownlee Hornet is the latest
addition to our list of exchanges The
Hornet is a 6 column folio and is edit
ed by G W Pritz who says he will
support anything that is goodr regard
less of party but 3 he enumerates
nothing but populistic shibboleths it is
safe to say that he is a populist Mr
Pritz seems to have had hard work
getting out his first issue one page of
the sheet being printed in brown
and the other in a sort of brindley and
we wish him better luck next time
But he ought not to have given away
his object in starting the paper At
least not in the first issue
Wecan all win now m our- mindsr
but just as sure as fate one side or the
other will have to try the others theo
ries in the not far distant future so
prepare for the worst Bryan but let
moderation control your tongues as
we may all survive the returns of elec
tion and have to- do business together
afterwards Let your motto be Tour
President Will Be Our President
Springview Herald
A water cycle built for two is one of
the newest inventions What a boor
to humanity A young man can take
his best girl out water wheeling and
pop the question without danger
of being seen or overheard and both
arms will b free at the time And
how easy it will be for defeated candi
dates for office to go up Salt Creek on a
hydrocycler which is the technical name
for the machine
The Western News is the name of a
new paper started in this eity last
week by T R T Geddis Geo H
Reinert furnishes the capital This
gives Cherry county four papers
more than her share people think
Well four can starve to death in much
less time than two when there is no
increase in the supply of food
There are statesmen in the commun
ity who have found it exceeding diffi
cult in the past to make biennial settle
ment with their grocers who can en
lighten the wisest statesmen of our
land on the great problems of national
finances They should be given a
hearing in the great effort to- save the
country Gordon Journal
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