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THE VALENTINE DEMOCRAT
SUCCESSOR TO
CHERRY COONTYJNDEPENDENT
BOBEBT GOOD -Editor and Polisher
Official Papfer of Cherry Coun
ty Nebraska
10 JPer Wer in Advance
PUBLISHED ItVERY THURSDAY
Entered at the Pest office at Valentine Cherry
eouaty Nebraska as Second class matter
Thispapefill be mailed reguJarly
to itifcfsubBcribers until a flefinite order
to discontinue is received and all ar
rears -are paid in full
Advertising rates 50 -cents per inch
per month Bates per -column or for
long time ads made known on appli
cation to this office
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24 1896
MBemocratic Ticket
For President
wliam Jennings buyan
il Lincoln Nebraska
iFor Vice President
ARTHUR SEWALL
Of Bath Maine
Presidential Electors
PRED METZ
O W PALM
FJ HALE
X P1ASCEKI
N O ALBERTS
S L KOSTRYZE
J N CAMPBELL
31 P HARRINGTON
Por Governor
SILAS A IIOLCOMB
Por Lieutenant Governor
J EHARRIS
For State Secretary
W P PORTER
For State Auditor
JOHN F CORNELL
For State Treasurer
J tf MESERVE
For Attorney General
C J SMYTH
jFor State Superintendent
W R JACKSON
For Commissioner
J Y WOLFE
For JudgesSupreme Court
Long Term
WILLIAM NEVILLE
Short Term
J S KIRKPATRICK
For Uniyerity Regent
THOMAS RAWLINGS
-For Representative 52d District
ROBERT GOOD
For Countv Attorney
D H THURSTON
S
We cannot restore confidence either
-to the treasury or to the people with
out a change indoor present tariff laws
Major McKinley
The railroads are going to do their
share tor the McKinley meeting at
Canton We hear that the rate from
-Chicago will be IDG cents The chromo
in addition will be considered later
Fourteen thousand are going from
Pittsburg Kentucky will send a dele
gation Mark Hanna will show Mr
Bryan that he carft have all the ibig
meetings
- No better -equipped man ould have
been named forAttorney General than
C J Smyth of Omaha An upright
honorable gentlemen a practioner
who stands high at the bar a citizen
above reproach hev compares with the
present legal adviser of the state -as a
giant to a pigmy The duties of ttie
office of Attorney General have not re
ceived much of the time of the pres
ent incumbent whose record as a
lawyer In Nebraska l dates itrom the
time when he was indicted in Iowa
for appropriating to himself the wealth
of another man His incompetency is
notorious and the next Attorney
-General will -be a clean man and a
competent lawyer C J Smythj vof
Omaha Wgmore Arbor State
We think that Mr Bryan is making
a mistake in coming back to the East
and that his efforts will be wasted
here -It is true some democrats are
hopeful of carrying New York but we
doubt think it at all probable There
Is a very strong silver feeling in many
of the rural counties but it is far
more than overbalanced by the lieavy
democratic defection in the cities
Granting for the sake of argument
that Mr Bryan would have a chance
to carry New York yet that chance is
po small that it is not worth while to
go after it and neglect the West
Campaigning will be much more
profitable in Ohio Indiana Illinois
and Kentucky Then it must be re
membered that New York is notYnee
essary to democratic success this
yearn Mr Bryan can be elected with
9tftfc New York World t
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THEY WANT IT ALL -
Atrthe populist convention held at
Sparks last Saturday for the purpose
of nominating a candidate for repre
sentative irom the fifty second district
they were visited by Robert Good as a
democrat who asked them to withhold
the nomination of a candidate until
after the democrats had held -their con
vention with a view to securing the
endorsement of the democratic nomi
nee This they refused to do thus
rectly refusing to stand iby their oft
asserted shibboleth of principle before
party and indirectly challenging the
democratic party to nominate a candi
date for the dffice named Evidently
the populists supposed iw democrat
could be found- who have the
temerity to run for office -on nothing
but thestreugth of his democracy in
a district where hisiparty -is in the mi
nority and in a year when fusion
seems to be the watchword of both
democrats and -populists But they
reckoned without their host
A short time ago The -Democrat
gave outv as its -sentiment When
fusion fuses we ar e willing to support
hybut when fusion merely means ob
literation of the party it is time to
kick That is still the sentiment of
this paper As the fusion stood up
to Saturday it was all populism and no
democracy hence he kick
THe democrats Kf the state of Ne i
braska endorsed the entire state ticket
of the populists from governor down
to state superintendent
Thedemocrats of the sixth congres
sional -district endorsed the populist
nominee for congress W L Greene
Theidemocratsof the 14th senatorial
district by their -silence practically en
dorse -Otto Mutz populist for senator
The democrats pf Cherry county en
dorsed the populist nominee for county
attorney D H Thurston
The democrats of the second com
missioner district have as vet taken no-
action looking toward the nomination
of a candidate for that office
The Valentine Democrat is the
only democratic newspaper in north
western Nebraska yet the democrats
have given it no candidate -to support
Populists want fusion but all the
fusion candidates must be populists
This paper -protests that this is not
Eight and democrats support it when
it makes the declaration The nomi
nation -of a f usien Mcandidate for lepre
sestatLve would have arcpleted the
fusion -chain but the populists refused
to forge the last link
This is apVaih statement of the facts
in the -case Arguments and theories
must be based upon them and no fair
minded person can say otherwise than
that the populists were wrong in ask
ing everything without giving any
thing That party is supposed to be a
liberal party yet a greater example of
greed and selfishness was never pre
sented by the old parties However
in justice to the party at large we can
but think that the action of the
delegates at Sparks does not represent
the views of the majority
FACTS TO REMEMBER
It was the republican party which
turned over to the Cleveland adminis
tration a bankrupt treasury with con
tinuing appropriations of mdlio ns iu
favor of subsidized interests with
public revenues depleted in the inter
est -of private plunder and with the
plates for therbond issue that became
immediately necessary already en
graved and ready for the printer
It was the republican party rep
reseated by the
congress which by extravagant
appropriations looted the treasury
turning a splendid surplus into a great
deficit
It was the republican party which
passed the McKinley protective tariff
law a law which demoralized busi
ness impoverished tne people en
gendered labor strikes and lockouts in
numerable and oppressed every legiti
mate industry in order that political
adventures and gamblers might ttirive
on the uncertainties and distress that
such measures always occasion
It was the grand collapse of the re
publican partys - unrestricted legisla
tion in favor of -privileged classes of
the republican partys wanton aban
donment of the masses in favor of the
classes of the republican partys rot
ten financial and economical doctrines
that caused all the ills from which the
country has suffered during the last
three years
No fighting has been done in Cuba
of late but both the revolutionists and
the Spanisli are preparing for a series
of heavy engagemettiiiiU Iipend of
the war- is nafc far distant- -
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HE WILL STAT AT HOME
Mark Hanna says that McKinley
will not take the stump but will
continue to speak to the people who
come to see him Of course that is
all right for McKinley and his sup
porters for they can ride on palace
cars passes and special trains placed
at their disposal by the corporations
who own McKinley well knowing that
in the event of his -election should
they asku favor of him it would be
granted Not so however with Bryan
for the people who aire fais most ardent
supporters are the people who earn
their bread -by the sweat of their -face
and but very few of them ride on
-passes or in palace cars Bryan is one
of the people and is not afraid or
-ashamed to mingle with them It is
fitting andeminently proper that Mc
Kinley should stay at home and re
ceive those who have the means or
who are -furnished with the means to
journey So far to see this great man
who proposes to enrich thefew at the
expense of the many- because they
ask it of him Yes it is proper that
he should stay at home and not go out
among the people whom -his party
brands as rdpudiators and anarchists
We believe that the great mass of
people are glad he is staying at home
and we have goodand sufficient rea
son for believing that he will continue
-staying at home for at least four years
more Brotonlee Hornet
THE AMENDMENTS
The fourth proposed amendment to
the constitution rprovides that the
judicial power of this state shall be
vested in a supreme court district
courts county courts justice of the
peace police magistrates and in such
other courts inferior to the supreme
court as may be created by law in
which two thirds of the members
elected to each house concur As
the formation of new courts is left to
the legislature aud as the legislature
is elected directly by the people we
see no valid objections to this amend
ment
The fifth proposed amendment re
lates to increasing the number of
judges and changing the boundaries of
the various judicial districts and it
requires a two 1bfeirds vote of the legis
lature to do either This amendment
is Eminently pioper and is necessary
in order that the judiciary may keep
pace with the growth of the state
without the expense of amending the
constitution every time a new judge
is wanted Changes cannot be made
oftener than once in four years
The sixth amendment proposes to
allow five sixths of a jury in civil cases
ito ie turn a verdict and also to allow
trial by a jury of less than twelve men
in -courts inferior to the district court
This seems to be a good amendment
as it will greatly reduce the
of trials and also reduce to
PYnpnsp
a
mum the tieing up of a jury by one
or two men as is frequently done now
necessitating a new trial and conse
quent delay
HOME MARKET ARGUMENT
In one of his platitudinous speeches
Major McKinley declared that what
we want is to protect the splendid
ihome market to our own American
producers
The republican party has been pro
tecting the splendid home market
now for thirty years and the position
ofthe farmer to day is worse than it
has been in all that time
Nor has the depression in the indus
try come without warning It has
pinched harder year by year for twen
ty years till now with corn at about
18 cents a bushel the climax has been
reached
One need go no farther than Missouri
to ascertain the condition of the farm
er When parents of the farming
class are forced to deprive their child
ren of the education which had been
planned because of the depression of
tH6times what folly it is to talk of
preserving the splendid home mar
ket
Mr McKinley speaks again of al
most damaging competition In our
home market In what agricultura
products has this damaging foreign
competition been noted Is it in cot
ton Is it in cattle in wheat Are
not all these expoited
The truth of the matter is that the
policy of protection has evoked retalia
tory measures on the part of countries
like Germany and France which by
their prohibitory tariffs have prevent
ed our sales of agricultural products
arid thus caused a glut in the home
market McKinleyism means the
final destruction of the agricultural in
dustry -
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THE FAT IS FRY 7 NO
The New York Worldof September
18 says Mark Hanna admits that it
will take much money to educate the
peopls sufficiently to insure the elec
tion of his candidate and the fat fry
ing is now in full blast The gigantic
combines and trusts all have
been benefited in the past by the sys
tem represented by McKinley and
hope for future benefits and already
the assessment necessary has been de
cided upon The trusts are expected
to contribute at least 10000000 to
wards the election of McKinley and as
the total capitalization of the various
trusts doing business in defiance of
law is about l5U0UUOUUU the enor
mous sum of 10000000 can be raised
without a very heavy assessment
About two thirds of one per cent is all
that will be necessary
The dressed beef and provision trust
will be the largest contributer its
capitalization being 100000000 The
assessment for this gigantic corpora
tion is therefore 665000 The an
thracite coal combine will be touched
up for 565000 The skewer trust is
the smallest of the lot and it needs to
contribute only 400 When the
price of dressed beef and provisions
goes up you may know that the people
are paying part of McKinleyfs cam
paign expenses and the next time a
dollar is added to the price of a ton of
coal you will know that the coal trust
has paid its assessments
Ten million dollars is an enormous
sum and it will not all be used for
legitimate purposes Such a sum offers
many inducements for theft when it is
handled by men who do not have to
give an accounting for it Of this
amount about 5000000 will be used
to corrupt voters and 000000 will
be stolen Architects are already
drawing pUns for houses which will
be paid for out of this campaign fund
From all over Cherry county news
comes that the people are falling m
line for Bryan Not alone in one or
two precincts is this the case but in
all parts of the county The Demo
crat hears that a Bryan club is in
process of formation at Browulee and
tiuit several om time republicans are
interested in the movement At
Simeon the same story is told and in
Kewanee republicans are getting in
the band wagon Right here so much
progress is not being made but that is
easily accounted for
The Demo crat and the Thricea
week New York World one jr ear
150
Uesnocratic Platform
The following is a synopsis of the
platform adopted by the national con
vention at Chicago July 9th 1896 The
plank referring to free coinage of silver
is given in full
Recognizing that the money qneslion is para
mount to all others at this tune we invite atten
tion to tlie fact that the federal constitution
names suver ana goiu iogeiner as tne monev
metal ol the United States We declare that
tlie demonetization ol silver in 1873 has rusuheri
m the appreciation of gold and a corresponding
fall in the price of com nodities produced by tlie
people We are unalterably opposed to a sin
gle gold standard Gold mononietalism is a
British policy it is not only un American but
an ti American
we demand the tree and unlimited coinage of
both gold and silver at the present legal ratio of
iu 10 j wunuuc waning ior ine ain or consent ol
any other nation We demand that the stan
dard silver dollar shall be a lull legal tender
equally with gold ior all debts public and pii
vaie aud -we favor such legislation as will pre
sent tlie demonetization ot auv kind of legal
tender money by private contract
We are opposed to the policy and uractice of
surrendering to the holders of the obligations of
me ijnueu aiaies tne opnon reserved uy law to
the government of redeeming suck obligations
in either silver coin or cold coin
We are opposed to the issuing of interest bear
ing oonas ot tne u nitea states in time of peace
We ilemand that the power to issue notes to
circulate as money be taken from tlie national
oanks ana mat an paper money shall be issued
directly by the treasury department
We hold that tariff duties should be levied for
purposes of revenue and that taxation should be
limited by the needs of the government honestly
and economically administered We denounce
as disturbing to business the republican threat
toxestore the McKinley law winch has been
twice condemned by the people in national
elections and which enacted under the false
plea of protection to nome industry proved a
prolific breeder of trusts aud monopolies enrich
ed the few at the expense of many restricted
trade and deprived the producers of the great
American staples of access to their natural mar
kets Until the money question is settled we are
opposed to any agitation for further change in
our tariff laws except such as are necessary to
make the deficit in revenue caused by the ad
verse decision of the Supreme Court on tlie in
come tax There would be no deficit in tlie
revenue but for the annulment by the Supreme
Court of a law passed by the democratic cou
gress in strict of the uniform de
cision of that court for nearly one huntfred
years We hold thatthe most efficient way of
protecting American labor is to prevent the im
portatrolrof foreign palfper labor to compete
with it in our home market
We denounce the profligate waste of the
money wrung from the people by oppressive
taxation and the lavish appropriations of recent
republican congresses- which have kept taxes
high while the labor that pays them is unemploy
ed and the products of the peoples toil are de
pressedin price till they no longer repay the
cost of production
We denounce the arbitrary interference by
federal authorities in local aitairs as a violation
of the constitution of the United States and a
crime against free institutions
RecogniziHg the just claims of deserving union
soldiers we heartilv endorse the rule ot
missiouer Murphy that no names shall be
traniy dropped from the pensiou roll and the
fact of enlistment aud service should be tif onwd
conclusive evidence against disease and disabil
ity before enlistment
We extend ourtjymiiatnv to the people of Cuba
in their heroic struggle for liberty and indepen
dence
We are opposed to life tenure in tho public
service We tavor appointments based upon
tiirif fWoH lirm nF nflirn uiwl curtli in ultnin
lstration of the civil service laws as will afford I
equal opportunities to all citizens of ascertained
fitness
We declare it to be the unwritten law of this
republic established by custom and usage of
one hundred years and sanctioned bv the ex
ample oi the greatfst aud wisest of those who
founded and have maintained our Kovfernmeut
that no man should be eligible for a third term i
oi tne presidential aiuce
l
Uir
the Preston Mystery
Ev LEROY LEACH
Author of The Adventures of Don Enrique Romero etc etc
Copyright 1SW by the Author All nhK
IN NINE INSTALLMENTS NINTH INSTALLMENT
CHAPTER XVIII
TJit Solution to tlie Preston Mystery
At this moment the dying
opened his eyes and he gave
and moan when he saw the
man
a start
face of
Henry Preston above him
Preston Preston why nave you
come o torture my last moments with
your Accursed presence You were
ever ay lifes curse my rival in every
thing gasped the dying scout but
after -all it matters not the life you
caused the ruin of is almost at an end
Tn a few short moments I will have
leftithis cursed world gof disappoint
mentandl thank God that it is so
You wrong me Moore when you
accuse me of causing you disappoint
ment I had nothing to do with the
workings of Fate replied Preston
kindly
Bah Henry Preston think you I
would have become the wreck I now
am had yon not robbed me of the love
of Margaret Noble2 No man I loved
her more than life itself and she would
have been mine would have made my
life a very Heaven instead of a tor
ture such as it has been to me but for
your turning her against me
It was your dissipated habits that
lost you her love Harry I had noth
ing to do with her turning against you
But you are dying man let us be
friends Tell me for the sake of God
had vou aught to do with the murder
of my little daughter Isabel
I did Henry Preston But I did
not kill her It was a scoundrel in my
employ who fired the shot which
caused her death but the bullet was
intended for the man with her for he
was mistaken for yoa
For Gods sake tell me the story
Moore if you sought to thus wreck my
life you succeeded but too well her
loss broke my heart For more than
a year have I searched for her murder
er Tell me is he yet living
Prop my head a little higher Pres
ton and I will tell you the whole
story answered the scout his wan
face showing a shade of remorse
Preston did what he could to ease
the wounded man who finally related
the details from which the following
story of the mystery is written
The scout Harry Moore alias Harry
Lane had been a schoolmate of Pres
tons in the early days when they to
gether attended the little village school
in Ohio and strove to win the smiles of
pretty Margaret Noble Eor a time
the maid seemed to favor a young
man by the name of Hendricks but
finally bestowed all her smiles on
Moore A few years later Moore be
came a hard drinker aud the maiden
refused to longer recognize him
finally married Preston who was
of the brightest young men in
town Moore swore vengeance
by underhand rascality made the
of Preston for the ten years that
and
one
the
and
life
he
lived in Ohio so unbearable that Pres
ton moved to Nebraska Moore did
not molest him for several years but
at last hearing that a wealthy rela
tive of his whom Preston had at one
time rescued from drowning in the
Ohio had made his will in - Prestons
favor leaving him the only living
heir entirely out of it his rage knew
no bounds Hiring two rascals and
binding them by an oath to assist him
to kill Pnston he started for Nebraska
Each of the two toughs carried sus
pended from his neck by a chain of
silver a hollow silver 3 which con
tained a copy of their murderous oath
Moore wore the golden 3
Chancing to overhear a part of the
ruffians plans the man Hendricks
alias Charles Gates followed them day
and night On the night of the Pres
ton tragedy Moore and his companions
had camped on the Niobrara not far
from the Preston ranch Being short
of meat they had rowed out on the
river in an old canoe which they had
stumbled on in the grass and while
fishing had observed the forms of
Powell and Isabel on the river bank
Hurriedly rowing to shore the three
men conceal themselves in the bushes
and mistaking Powell for Preston one
of Moores ruffians tired a pistol shot at
him and the bullet missing its in
tended mark takes effect in the breast
of the innocent maid As Powell I
raises the form of his sweetheart
moaning her name in his anguish one
of the cowardly villians staD him from
behind Two bodies are thrown into 1
-
the river and the murderous trio row
down to the spot where they have left
their horses Arriving at their camp
they Bee two horsemen in the act of
making off with their steeds the two
strangers are Edward Belden and
Charles Thompson who have ridden in
this direction
A fig ht ensues and the two cowboys
are riddled with bullets After killing
the horses of the stockmen the three
murderersjmount their steeds and llee
to the westward As they arrive oppo
site the Preston ranch they beard the
sound -of approaching hoofsand sheer
ing from the roadf he men gallop di
rectly aver the scene of the killing of
Will and Mabel They are soon put
sued by Prestonaud his menbut mafi j
age to make their escape in the
storm
The next evening while they were
eating their -supper in the river timber
a shot sounds from the bushes and one
of the toughs falls forwarda bullet
through his brain As the other two
break for the woods a shot pierces the
body of Moore sremaining companion
nd he alone escapes
The man who has fired the fatal
shots Charles Hendricks finds on the
dead bodies of the two toughs the two
silver 3s Losing the trail of Moore
Hendicks goes to North Platte and
and there almost a year later delivers
to John Preston the silver 3 contain
ing the mysterious couplet
He who finds the proper 3
Soives the Preston mystery
Getting track of Moore in eastern
Wyoming Hendricks while on his
trail is wounded by horsethieves and
is cared for until his death by the band
of Claude Duval
Such dear readers is the story of
the mysterious tragedy which caused
the death of a fond mother three in
nocent men and wrecked the life of a
loving father a tragedy whi ch was for
almost two years wrapped in impene
trable gloom and termed the Pres
ton nivsten i
After telling Preston of his Yillainyi
Moore breathed his last begging withr
his dying breath for the forgiveness of v
the man whom he had wronged
The strangeness of Hendricks be
haviour in not wishing to meet Pres
ton is explained by the fact that they
had been bitter rivals for the hand of
Margaret Noble
After burying the body of Moore
Preston and his men bid farewell to
the band of Claude Duval after
thanking them for their valuable assis
tance in runniug down the murderer
Moore and started for the ranch on
the Niobrara and after a weary trip
they reached home
Preston soon sold out his cattle in
terests in Nebraska and accompanied
by John went back to Ohio
i -
Let us lift the curtain which has f al-
len between us and the heroes of our
oer true tale for a parting glance at
them dear reader In a pleasantly
situated spot on the banks of the Little
Miami river near Cincinnati may be
seen a comfortable looking residence
surrounded by lovely grounds It is
the home of John Preston
On a certain summer evening a pas
serby might have observed John and
his pretty wife seated on the verandaT
A short distance down the garden can
be seen an aged man He is leaning
on his cane and as the rays of the set
ting sun fall on his uncovered gray
locks they also fall upon a neat marble
slab at the head of a flower strewn
mound As the old man sadly kneels
in prayer over the grave we may read
the inscription on the marble
Sacred to the memory of Isabel and
Margaret Preston
Moving now among Gods angel3
In the heaven of the blest
Where the wicked cease from troubling
And the weary are at rest
the end
It is calculated that at least 20000
democrats did not vote in Maine
There are 55000 democrats in the
state and only 34000 voted It is
useless to deny that Bryan is wasting
time in the east The central west
ern states is where the battle is to be
fought Illinois Kentucky Indiana
Michigan and Iowa are the pivotal
states New York will go for McKin
ley and Bryan does not need the stata
to lnsura his election