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VALENTINE
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NEBRASKA
We doubt -whether England ever -will
leave China a loan
The consolidated biscuit trust sighs
no longer for floury beds of ease It
has them
That vegetable ball given by lead
ers of New Yorks 400 can only be
equaled in Boston by a codfish ball
Zola has raised an issue in France
comments the Detroit Tribune He
raised something a great deal hotter
than that
For the time he has been at it Gen
eral Blanco has managed to achieve
ns picturesque a failure as could have
been expected
Its hard to use the word in such a
connection but much of -what Ger
many lias said about the American ap
ple is simply rot
A writer in Harpers Weekly makes
the fine point that -when a Western
farmer lays by for a rainy dsy he is
Eaving up for a drought
The 100 counterfeit bill has ceased
to -worry capitalists but paragraphers
Bhould be on the alert There is a new
counterfeit quarter in circulation
A returned Klondiker says It is ex
tremely cold there about eight months
of the year we consider zero as just
sothing at all We consider it the
eame here
A fashion paper suggests that the
Teasona -woman powders as to take the
shine off her nose Not at all She
does it to take the shine off some other
women
The United States Circuit Court in
Cincinnati has rendered a decision
against the cast iron pipe trust Here
is a method of hitting the pipe -which
should prove popular
The cabled information from Italy
that the earth has two lnoons will sur
prise no one -who has ever overestima
ted his tankage capacity It is very
easy to see more than two moons
Bishop Vincent has started a crusade
In Kansas against the deadly sin of
chewing gum We have felt certain all
along that sooner or later the great
Resetting sin of Kansas would find her
out
Life is full of contradictions The
bacillus of the world stirring whooping
cough is found to be particularly small
and delicate but what ravages the lit
tle intruder can commit Science will
yet get the belter of this disturber of
the peace
Dr Nanseus criticism of our palace
cars is that there is no privacy on
them Perhaps it is natural for an
arctic explorer who loves solitude and
a low temperature to feel that way If
Nansen ever comes to this country
again the railroads should provide a
refrigerator car for his exclusive use
There is considerable interest mani
fested just now in regard to flour look
ing like wheat flour and sold as such
but manufactured out of wheat and
Iorn Com is a most excellent and
rwholesome food but fair play to the
consumer should dictate the policy of
common honesty in making this blend
ed flour so that the customer would
know just what he was buying
The election of President Krueger
jueans something more than a mere
compliment to the leadership of the old
boer Stripped of its trimmings it
means that the South African republic
or at least its Dutch element is un
compromisingly opposed to British
suzerainty over its affairs and that as
soon as the opportunity arises it in
tends to play for absolute independence
of Great Britain
A member of the editorial staff of the
Shreveport La Progress recently shot
and killed a negro The next issue of
that journal referred to the dead man
and added Our editor asks his
friends to come to the man -who did the
lulling for an explanation of the un
fortunate affair This is only fair no
one can denythat It might do no
fiarm for the States Attorney to drop
around there and get an explanation
The strike and lockout in the Eng
lish engineering trades -which began
July 13 of last year has ended and the
men have gone back to -work The
strike involved the question of an
eight hour day and also that of the
management of the shops and on both
points the men -were defeated It is
estimated that the strike caused a loss
of ten million dollars in -wages and a
distribution of two million dollars in re
lief but no accurate estimate can be
made of the loss to employers
In the diary of Samuel Pepys there
5s the entry for Oct 3 1600 This day
I heard the duke speak of a great de
sign that he and my Lord of Pembroke
have and a great many othor 5of send
ing a venture to some parts of Africa
to dig for gold -ore there Ty Intend
to admit as many as will vesture their
money and so make thems3lves a com
pany Two hundred and fifty pounds
3s the lowest share for every man
This record not only shows how old a
pursuit is gold hunting in Africa but it
likewise reveals the purpose of tJie
promoters familiar in modern plans of
the sort As many as will venture
their money have an equally good
chance nowadays to join the army of
investors Skepticism regarding the
outcome of such investments is also not
modern Pepys adds I do not find
that my lord do much like it
The United States has long enjoyed
the distinction of producing more gold
than any other country but in spite of
the recent discoveries in Alaska and
the gold that is being brought into the
country via the Pacific it is thought
that we are to be robbed of this dis
tinction There is reason to believe
that the Transvaal will soon take the
lead in gold production if it has not
already done so The Engineering and
Mining Journal recently estimating tfae
output of gold for the year credited to
the United States 35498930 and to
the Transvaal 53472300 The sig
nificance of these figures is understood
by a comparison with the figures for
1890 which show that the increase in
the United States was only 3000000
while the Transvaal made a jump of
no less than 13500000 If the Trans
vaal keeps up anything like this pace
during the present year there is little
doubt that we shall be left behind in
the gold producing race It is not im
possible indeed that the United States
may drop to the third place before long
Australia is increasing her production
of gold rapidly Her total last year
was more than 49000000 and this
without counting New Zealand and other
adjacent islands This shows a gain of
nearly 7000000 over the yield of 1890
so it Avill be seen that if Australia con
tinues to gain at the same rate and the
United Stages makes no more progress
than it has in the last twelve months
there will be two countries in the world
-with a better gold producing record
than ours
Most of the appliances of modern
civilization brings risks as well as ad
vantages The people who lived a hun
dred years ago could not travel so rap
Jidly nor communicate with each other
across great distances so conveniently
as we do but on the other hand they
were strangers to some perils which are
familiar nowadays Their journeys
were slow and serious affairs but they
were in no danger of being blown up
on a steamboat or tumbled over a rail
way embankment or even of being run
over by a trolley car or a scorching
wheelman Their houses were not
lighted by electricity or by water gas
but they were not burned up by reason
of badly insulated wires or asphyxiated
in their beds They knew nothing of
fifteen story buildings but they alsc
knew nothing of elevator accidents
Nevertheless it is doubtful if more lives
are lost by accidents of travel in pro
portion to the number of people travel
ing than was the case a century ago
Hundreds of people travel by water
now where one did so then but ocean
travel has been made relatively more
safe as well as more swift and com
fortable by modern appliances There
are still possibilities of collision or of
striking a reef in a fog but it almost
never happens that a modern sea
worthy vessel founders through stress
of weather One steamship company
which has sent its steamers back and
forth across the Atlantic for more than
fifty years is able to boast that it has
never lost the life of a passenger in the
service As to the railways in 1S9J
one hundred and eight one passengers
were killed on the railways of the
United States and nearly twenty nine
hundred were injured When these
figures are compared with the amount
of passenger traffic it appears that the
railways carried nearly three million
passengers for every one who was
killed and about one hundred and
eighty thousand passengers for every
passenger injured A famous humorist
once compared the number of people
killed in railway accidents with the
number dying in their beds and reach
ed the conclusion that it was several
thousand times more risky to lie in bed
than to travel on a railway It was a
playful exaggeration but it is true
that if modern discovery and invention
have resulted in new hazards to human
life they have also supplied new safe
guards and preventives
Appendicitis
The position is taken by Dr McBur
ney iu the London Medical News that
there really is no medical cure for ap
pendicitis even though some cases re
cover without operation he considers
too though appendicitis is a surgical
disease yet operation may not be nec
essary in every case the fact being
that Ibis ailment is a stoppage of the
drainage from the appendix to the co
ion and preliminary treatment is often
worse than useless Thus the opium
treatment relieves pain and discomfort
but entirely masks the symptoms at a
most important time for it is in the
first twenty four hours from the begin
ning of the attack that physicians can
decide not only as to the diagnosis but
as to the result and course probably of
the case If for instance there is no
Increase in urgency in five or six hours
the patient Is not in immediate danger
if kept at perfect rest in bed on the
other hand if In twelve hours there is
ctill no Increase in the severity of the
symptoms the patient should begin to
improve But if the urgency of iiie
case has steadily increased in twelve
hours from the time when the diag
nosis was made an operation will prob
ably be called for After two attacks
a patient is sure to have a third and
each attack renders operation more dif
ficult and dangerous all the advan
tages lie with operation between the at
tacks and in an operation during an
acute attack the prognosis is worse
Building Associations of the Land
The 4776 building associations in the
United States have 1010300members
and assets of 000000000
A tough beefsteak is a cure sure for
its own consumption
Living up to ideals is like doing every
day work vrith your Sunday clothes on
A-
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CAPTAIN C D SIGSBEE BRAVE AND COOL HEADED COHflANDER OF THE HAINE
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CHARLES D SIGSBEES
CAPT or rather the home of his
family for a navy oflicer has no
home but his ship is in a pleasant little
house in Riggs place Washington D C
Sigsbee married a daughter of Gen Lock
wood shortly after the close of the war
and they have three children The eldest
daughter was married a short time ago to
Ensign Kittelle of the navy who is sta
tioned on the dispatch boat Dolphin The
home life of the Sigsbees always has been
exceedingly pleasant the captain himself
having had several pleasant assignments
in Washington where he has been n fig
ure of note Mrs Sigsbee comes of mili
tary stock and is used to the alarms of
war Her house at Washington is the
rendezvous for naval officers at the cap
ital by whom she is highly esteemed
Of medium height with broad shoul
ders a spare frame and hair and mus
tache just beginning to turn gray Capt
Sigsbee looks like a man capable of coping
with almost every difficulty which might
arise in the service In fact his experi
ence in almost every branch of the navy
has fitted him for emergencies Born in
Albany Oxford County Me 52 years
ago he moved to New York and was ap
pointed as a cadet in the naval academy
from that State in 1859 After being
graduated in 1S03 he was appointed en
sign and stationed on the Monongahela
where he remained a year Then he was
sent to the old Brooklyn and took a gal
lant part in the battle of Mobile Bay un
der Farragut in 1864
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FACSIMILE OF SIGSBEES FAMOUS DISPATCH
Sigsbees work during the war was noticeable for its efficiency and he did not have to wait long for promotion
He was made a lieutenant in 1867 and assigned to the steamer Ashuelot in the Asiatic squadron He was promoted to be
a lieutenant commander in 1S68 a commander in 18S2 and has been a captain for several vears He lias passed several
aSiat naval acndem5 and has bceu connected with the hydrographic department in Washington From 1S75 to
io
i wasn charge of the coast survey steamer Blake which thoroughly explored the Gulf of Mexico While on the
Hake Capt bigsbee invented a system of deep sea soundings which has since been adopted bv all marine men He also
invented a gravitation trap which would bring water from certain
up any depth required Capt Sigsbee had two years
experience on the European station in command of the old Kearsarge
Jt TaS nIy a sbort time ag0 tho Maiue was on her way back to Tompkinsville from a cruise in Long Island Sound
YV hen about opposite pier 42 East River she came suddenly into a kind of pocket formed by a Mallory Line steamer a
tug with two railroad floats of freight cars and two excursion boats the Isabella and the Chancellor both crowded
to the rails with passengers The Maine forced out of her course was bearing down directly on the Isabella whose
pilot had either misunderstood or disregarded the signals At this crisis Capt Sigsbee took personal command of his ves
sel and instantly ordered the engines reversed and the wheel put hard-a-port The great warship came about with a
celerity that astonished all beholders and headed directly in shore while the Isabella with her load of passengers passed
by m safety scarcely four feet clear of the ironclads stern Then the Maine ran bow on into the pier sunk two railroad
floats with twenty cars on board jammed the plates of her bow and in less than ten minutes had damaged property
worth thousands of dollars but the thousand lives on the excursion boats were saved The Navy Department was pleased
at tins action and the captain was complimented in a personal letter by the Secretarv of the Navv
That Capt Sigsbee is a fearless man in the discharge of his duty is shown by his conduct during the war and his
vuucaa iu eitiuS a collision in uie Jast river Personally also lie has the great quality of braverv During the war
he was on duty with the North Atlantic blockading squadron One day a midshipman fell overboard The sea was heavv
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iuL uiiQoi a piece or rope ana piungca into the sea A few strokes bzrought him to the midshipman who was hurt bv his
fall and unable to swim Sigsbee manfully clung to the rope and held the boys head above water until the nair wero rps
cued by a boat
t
Capt Sigsbee would be a rich man did he not belong to the navy Inventions made bv naval officers are considerod
to be the property of the United States His scheme devised in the Gulf of Mexico for deep sea soundings and his
gravitation trap for bringing up water from any required depth have proved of great value to mariners all over the world
Had he been able to take out patents on them in his own name his royalties would have been immense Take him for all
in all he is not only a good naval officer but a cool shrewd man and is popular among his fellows
WINTER IN HOLLAND
Cold Winter Fun in a Country Where
Skaters Abound
In Holland the fun of winter life
takes many forms and winter facili
tates locomotion as the highways of
summer available for boats become the
Dest thoroughfares for those who skate
In this way directly the ice bears
visits are made and distances traveled
which cannot be done in summer and
instead of going round and round as
we do here on a small confined space
the Dutch make up a party and pay a
visit to some neighboring town or vil
lage A bright winters morniug is al
ways exhilarating how much more so
when cheerful company free exercise
variety of character and constant
change of scene all tend to make the
day as a red letter one Should the
frost be sufficiently severe a river is
most interesting being on a large scale
and partaking more of the character
of a fair which is the case for in
stance on the Maas at Rotterdam
The Maas runs very strongly and
the difficulty Is for the first coating of
ice to form When a severe frost catch
es the still water during the night then
once begun soon done and the crews
who turn into their berths at night
wake up in the morning to find them
selves frozen in The canals naturally
soon freeze over and the boat traffic
Is supplanted by baggage sledges large
and small Near dwelling houses are
seen little box sledges for the children
These are the same as the seven
teenth century contrivances the child
sits with just room for its feet and
with stick in each hand pushes astern
and propels itself ahead The adult
sledges are in some cases simply gor
geous as the opportunity affords great
body the driver perched at the back as
on the tail the sweeping irons follow
ing the curve of the swans neck over
these run the reins One horse gener
ally constitutes the team
A Liock of Napoleons Hair
A unique souvenir of the great Napo
leon is kept in the family of his old
nurse and attendant being oow in the
possession of Prof Bagley of Abilene
Kan He is a native of the island of
St Helena and his mother was one of
the intimates of the guardians of Na
poleon When the Emperor lay dying
his old nurse stole to his side and
clipped from his head a lock of hair
Part of the lock she gave to Mr Bag
leys mother and she gave it to her sou
It is kept in a bottle and is black and
gray with a trace of brown For forty
years the bottle has been kept in a dark
room that the hair may not be injured
by the light There are about forty
strands in all The relic is held at a
great value by the possessor He has
also some cloth from the coffin a medal
given by Napoleon and some other
minor souvenirs from the island of St
Helena
The only other portion of the body of
Napo1rton known to be on this continent
is a single hair thdt Richard Watson
Gilder once owned He kept it in his
watch case When the watch was re
paired he forgot to tell the jeweler of
the precious contents When he went
to get it he asked Did you find any
thing in the case
Yes replied the workman there
was a hair in there but it is all right
now I blew it out
You blew out a piece of Napoleon
Bonaparte said the editor of the Cen
tury
WILES OF THE GUIDE
Somehow the Best Pishing Grounds
Are Always on the Other Side
Being a scientific fisherman he is an
oracle on all matters pertaining to pis
catorial pastimes He carries three
tackle boxes and every tray is full He
has the finest rods reels flies spoons
trolley lines and hooks He is pre
pared to take anything from muskel
lunge to minnows
One thing I want to tell you he
said to the comparative novice At all
these island lakes tne fishing is on the
other side Stop off at any resort hire
a guide tell him you want the best
there is and if s 99 to 1 hell pull for
the otner shore no matter how many
miles have to be traversed He will
take you to the favorite haunts of the
gamy black bass Incidentally he will
see that you get a few big fish weigh
ing from fifteen to twenty pounds each
that you may take thin home and
astonish your friends
What you really get ir some pickerel
and perch possibly a couple of wall
eyed pike a few rock bass and some
sun fish There is always an explana
tion for this vast discrepancy between
hope and realization Thcq day is too
bright its too windy the lakes too
rough or the appetite of the fish has
been taken in their desire to get further
up stream You have the same experi
ence every day for these guides are
wiser than serpents and keep you in a
flutter of joyful anticipation hrough
an entire season Figure it up and
3roull find that most of your money is
spent in going to and fro from the other
side of the lake
Last season I dissected some bass
that I bought found that they were
feeding on crawfish hunted out the
rock bottom in the lake and took 15 of
the gamy beauties in one afternoon
The guides acted just as though I had
jumped a gold claim of theirs but I
kept quiet and caught bass while the
guides kept taking the other fellows
across the lake in the morning and back
at night Just to make the whole thing
plain prospect till you find out where
the fish are and then go after them
Detroit Free Press
A Days Variance in Weight
Have you ever tried this experiment
of weighing yourself in the morning and
again in the evening It is ce of thp
best ways so doctors say of finding
whether your health is good or not If
you are thoroughly well there shoulr
not be a difference of more than two oi
three ounces either way in the twelve
hours If you lose or gain ss much or
eight ounces you should immediately
consult a doctor while the gain or loss
of a pound indicates you are on the
verge of serious illness This of course
does not apply to one just recovering
from illness for convalescents who
have been much reduced may some
times gain 15 to 20 ounces a day
S
V
Y
After a debate lasting several days the
Senate on Friday passed the bill extend
ing the homester d laws and providing for
right of way railroads in the district
of Alaska Comparatively little discus
sion of general interest was created by
the bill Section 13 providing for certain
bonding concessions to Canada in lieu of
privileges to be extended by the Domin
ion Government to this country however
induced a pretty lively debate as it
brought into the controversy the old fish
eries question on the New England coast
which has been pending between the Unit
ed States and Great Britain for 100 years
Two more appropriations were sent to
the President Friday the pension bill and
the consular and diplomatic both of
which went through their final stage in
the House It was private bill day The
most important action taken was acqui
escence in an agreement to make tho bill
appropriating abont 1200000 for war
claims approved by the court of claims
under the provisions of the Bowman act
a special order for the next Friday The
claims carried by the bill 730 in number
are for stores and supplies seized during
the war in the Southern States Only
two bills were passed one to pay the heirs
of Sterling T Austin abont 39000 fcr
cotton seized during the war and the oth
er to pay an aggregate of 33G0 in small
claims growing out of back pay etc
earned during the war The House ad
journed until Monday
In the House on Monday the Hawley
bill providing for two additional regiments
of artillery was passed under suspension
of the rules by almost unanimous vote
Mr Bailey the Democratic leader want
ed more lime for debate than the forty
minutes allowed and because he did not
pet it he inaugurated a filibuster against
District of Columbia legislation that con
tinued all day In the Senate the session
was devoted toconsideration of the Dis
trict of Columbia appropriation bill At
the hour of adjournment the bill had not
been disposed of
The District of Columbia appropriation
bill containing a provision for the reduc
tion of abont one half of the present
rates of telephone charges in the district
was passed by the Senate on Tuesday A
bill to authorize the relocation and re
building of a nnntoon hridire nnross flip
du Chien
Wis was passed TheiiTnHCOthe relief
of the Methodist Episcopal Church
of Tennessee appropriating 2SS000 was
passed In the House the bill appropriat
ing 50000000 for defense passed unani
mously
In the nouse on Wednesday the legis
lative executive and judicial appropria
tion bill went through its last stages in
the adoption of the financial conference
report The remainder of the day was
consumed in consideration of the Senate-
amendments to the Indian appropriation i
bill The substitute for the Senate pro-
vision regarding the opening of the Un
coripahgre reservation was knocked out
on a point of order and the amendment
goes back to conference The desire of
the conferees to non concur in the Senate
free homestead clause encountered bitter
opposition and an arrangement was made
whereby four hours are to be devoted to
debate a proposition to concur submitted
by Mr Eddy of Minnesota Mr Sher
man chairman of the Indian Committee
declared that the free homestead provis
ion would cost the Government 50000
000 He desires to eliminate it from the
bill and has the support of the Secretary
of the Interior In the Senate the 50
000000 defense bill was passed by a
unanimous vote Hawaiian annexation
was considered in executive session
In the nouse all day Thursday was
spent on the Indian appropriation bill
The Senate
amendments were non-concurred
in and the bill sent to conference
In the Senate no business of real impor
tance was transacted in open session The
session lasted only an hour the time be
ing largely consumed in disposing of rou
tine morning business A few bills of
minor importance were passed
News of Minor Kote
According to the latest figures China
owes her creditors 193523000
Gen W B Taliaferro who was com
mander of the Virginia troops during John
Browns raid is dead
Four hundred patients have died of
starvation in one Havana hospital dur
ing the past two months
Mayor Good of Springfield O has been
ousted by the Circuit Court for violations
of the Garfield corrupt practice law V
The body of ex Commissioner Leonard
R Wells of Brooklyn has been found in
the woods near Plainfield N J with a
horrible gash in his throat
Miss Frances E Willard bequeathed
her estate to the Temple fund after the
life interests of her secretary and her sister-in-law
have expired
Half the party organized by Miss Mary
M Board at New Brunswick N J to
found a temperance colony in Alaska
started for their destination
The report that a Spanish naval ofEcer
some time ago sold to the Washington
authorities a map of Havana harbor
showing submarine mines is not creditedf
A 7 foot granite monument in the Up
per Hartz Germany has an iron tabletr
mscnneu Mere in the year 1S47 the first
trials were made with the cultivation of
the potato
A cablegram to London from Shanghai
China says the United States Asiatic
squadron is concentrated at Hong Kong
with a view to active operations against
Manilhi Philippine Islands in the event
of war with Spain
A Paris newspaper expresses a hone
that a European statesman will be found
to intervene with view
a of the mainte
nance of peace between the United States
and Spain
The navies of the world are now rated
as follows Great Britain 1 France -Russia
3 Italy 4 United State 5- qZ
many 6 Spain 7 Japan S Austrin
and Netherlands 10
The smokestack of the Government
as
say once in Wall street New York h
lately been cleaned and the
sweepings
smelted and refined yielding 52 standard
- by auu cuv ounces of silver
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