THE OMAHA DAILY IUX: FKIDAY, NOVEMIlKIt 27, 100.. i Tiie Omaha Daily Bee. E. ROSE WATER, EDITOR. I'VBUSMED EVERT MOHN1NQ. TERMS OF BUB8CRIPTION. rily Fee (without Sunday). One Tear $410 lmlljr le mid Sunday, On Hear ' Illustrated He... one Year Hunriay Hw, One Vrar J ' rmiiri1nv Hw, One ypar Twentieth Century Farmer, One Year., l.uy . DKUVEKfcD I1Y CARRIER. Tally Hee (wUoout Sunday), per ropy So Iallv Ike (without Sunday), per Dully hce lniurilng Sunday). per week.lio riinday Hre, per copy 5o Kvnlnr Him (without Sandiy). per week 6c Kvening Hee (including Sunday), Pr Wrtck Complaint of Irregularities In delivery should he addressed to City Circulation Ee vartment. ' OFFICES. Omaha The Bee Building. South Omaha City Hall Building. Twenty-fifth and M streets. Council H!uffs 10 Pearl Street. Chicago lftW tTnlty Building. New York12 Park How llulldlng. Washington 601 Fourteenth Street. CORRESPONDENCE. Communications relating to news and edi torial mutter should be addressed: Omaha ltee, Editorial Department. REMITTANCES. Remit by draft, express or poMal order payable to The Bee publishing Company. nlv 2-oent stamp" accepted In payment or niHll accounts personal checks, except on Omaha or eastern exchanges, not accepted. TUB UKE PUBLISHING COM PAN Y. STATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. State of Nebraska, Douglas County, as: George It. Txschuck, secretary of ihe Bee Publishing Company, being duly "worn, ays that the actual number of full and complete coplea of The Dally Morning, Keening and Sunday Bee printed during the month of October, 13, wu as follows: 1 UMMH 2. ,OiM) I as,Tn 4 ar,4o ( StM.TIO XJt.BOO i ao.ouo I l!H,TtO 9 1),030 10 iiS.HUO 11 ji.rtrw 12 .4A5 13. , i,40 4 iiM,MK 15 1W.!M0 la XHMO 17 sm,;iu 1 2.l oo 1 aojtNO ...... 803T0 21 8O.SO0 B.. 80,7tH L SH,710 24. . aa,o a .,.i,tKW 20...... 8I,T0 27 31.100 2 ai.ioo 29 0,V4U 30 40.B50 Jl 8J.HM5 Total 9a,ao Leal "unsold and returned coplea.... Net tout sales.. Net average sales stt,7Ba GEORGE B. TZSCIIUCK. Subscribed In my presence and sworn to before ma this 4iU Uay of October, A. JO., 1803. M. B. li UNGATE. It wits a sad and memorable Thanks giving day 'of Omaha nre-flghters. President Roosevelt supplied a very good example by upending Thanksgiving day with Mrs. Koosevelt. The nearer General Reyes of Colombia gets to Washington the more he won tiers why tho deuve he is going there. The whole city may well, be thankful that the flames were not permitted to reach the-cottonseed oil in the neighbor ing basement Governor Pea body of Colorado will re tire at the end of his term, perfectly confident that of trouble he got all that was coming to him. Mr. Melklejohtt will depart again for Mexico In, the middle of December.- Mr. Mercer departed for Minneapolis more than two weeks ago. . Experience is the best teacher, even ' if tho lessons taught are most costly. It is to be hoped that Omaha will profit by the lesson of its latest fire. Tho success of its bloodless revolution chows how thoroughly San Domingo has mastered tho art of amusing Itself without really hurting anybody. Juht as further evidence of Interna tlonal comity the Rnsslan government Is about to build it railroad from Siberia directly through to Peking. Judging from tho testimony given In lh Diamond IhmjI room case, Mr. Dunn's efforts to suppress gambling in Omaha do not seem to bo altogether impartial or disinterested.' Every littlo whllo something occurs to remind us that courage approximating heroism is not coullued to battlefields, and that fidelity to duty is still a char acteristic of tho American. Tin empress dowBger promises much to her gods if they will quiet trouble some provinces. Unfortunately tho gods appear as reluctant to accept this par tlcular woman's pledges ns is mankind. The gup between the market price of ciil tin and hogs in the stock yards and tho market piico of beef and pork at the butcher shop is widening from day to day and nobody can explain why or wherefore. Under the agreement entered Into be tween the Chicago Street Railway mag' nates and their striking operatives the Chicago Ktrevt Railway force ia- to re main vu a peace footing for the period ;of one year from Xoveinber 25, 1003. -j ... j To a man up a tree it looks very much us If the promoters of tho Ktoux City, Homer &. Southern Railway company, who propose to connect Sioux City and Omaha by chi-trlc trolley, are chiefly iK'iit on securing a valuable right-of-way through the Wiunehago Indian reserva tlon from congress with a view to mar keting tho franchise.'.-' The parental si-hoot recently ' estab lished by the Chicago ltourd of Educa tlon has sent In a requisition for a $J00 chicken coop. It 1 to ! presumed that the next requisition will bo for an la cubutor and teachers of chicken culture will le reckoned among tho specialist that go to make up the variegated corps of twcutleth-century educators. The golden spike In the last lin of rail on the first transcontinental rail way, d'tYfli by Inland Stanford, Ma 10, 1800, was a iiillcstono on the high tay of national progress. The cuiupit tlon of the cutoff across the tire.it Salt lake, although of comparatively lebs mo- h.eiit. accentuates the colotal stride lu twentieth century railway engineering that is balked by no ob.staclts whcthi they be lu the shapo of graiitte-iibbcd mountains, titanic ctuyons or even great Inland lakes. RVSStA'B rvWE.l IS THB OMKX1. The reports regarding movement on the part of both Japan and China which ppear to threaten hostilities with Itti- la make Interesting recent statement regarding the Intter's military und naval power in the Orient. This Is already formidable and Itussla's preparations for possible conflict are still going on. Ae- ordlng to late advices Russia intends to put into Manchuria WX),0tK) troops In ad- itlofc to those, she now has there, a force nearly or quite three times as strong as the entire active army or upau. the total strength of which, not counting reserves, was three years ago little over .H57.000. Fince then the Jap- nese army has been somewhat Increased nd at present numbers probably not less than 200,000 men, with reserves that would bring the total war fooling tip to qliout tVK),000, Estimates of the force that Russia proposes to have in Man- hurta place it nt between 400,000 and 000,000. In addition to increasing her military strength in Manchuria Russia Is constantly strengthening the positions that she has occupied in that region. Itussla's naval power in Asiatic waters s also somewhat formidable, consisting at latest accounts of eight battleships, four heavily armed cruisers and six fast unarmored cruisers, with a number of smaller craft of various classes. Japan Is inferior to the Russian Asiatic fleet in battleships, having but six first-class vessels of this type, but .her individual ships are believed to be somewhat su perior to those of Russia; "In armored cruisers Japan outclasses Russia, but lias no vessels cldsely .corresponding with the fast Russian cruisers, though having a larger fleet of swift cruisers of smaller tonnage, while far ahead in mis celluneous craft. It thus appears that t this time the two powers are pretty evenly matched In military and naval strength and if China should throw a large force into Manchuria a very un comfortable situation for Russia might bo created. There is not much to be ex pected, however from the reported Chi nese movement, China being in no con dition to carry on extensive military op erations, having neither money nor a dis ciplined army. The Chinese government is really helpless, so far as the opera tions of Russia in its territory are con cerned, without foreign backing, and this China is not likely to get. What tho facts show is that In the event of war between Russia and Japan each is well prepared to strike heavy blows and to make the conflict very, ac tive and destructive while it lasts. WILL VOSTIAVt JK SE3S lOX. The decision of the leaders of the bouse of representatives not to adjourn the extra session unless the senate either passes or rejects the' Cuban "bill will doubtless have general public approval. The senate plan was to bring the special session to a close And let the Cuban legislation go over to the regular ses sion, a -vote to be taken in, the somite December 10 on the bll passed, by the house. In Insisting upon remaining in session the leaders of the house urge that they are simply emphasizing ' the purpose for which congress was called and they are well Justified lu taking this position. Although no burin would result from deferring action until the middle of De cember, still there is no good reason why tlje -senate should delay until that time. The matter Is fully understwsl and there is no necessity for further discussing it. If tho. democrats of the senate desire to discuss the tariff, let them wait until the regular ei-ssljm, when they will undoubtedly hare nmplo opportunity to gratify their desire. Tho extra session of congress) was called for the specific purpose of considering leg islation to make effective the Cuban reci procity treaty. The people want this matter disposed of and the house has performed Its duty. The senate should act and the house leaders are right lu determining that unless thero is action by the senate there will be no adjourn uient. THE EDUCATIONAL TtST. The relntroductlon by Senator Lodge of his bill providing that no foreigner above 15 yeurs of age who cannot read and write shall be permitted to land in this country promises a renewal of the Immigration restriction agitation, and It Is by no means Improbable that some such measure as that of the Massachu setts senator will bo .passed by the pres ent congress. The fact is recalled that a measure applying the educational test was vetoed by President Cleveland, who expressed the opinion that the ability to read and write "In aud of Itself af fords, a misleading test of contented In dustry and supplies unsatisfactory evi dence of desirable citizenship or a proiMr uppreheusioii of the benefits of our in stitutions." He further said that in his Judgment It is safer to admit 100,000 immigrants who, though unable to read and write, seek among us only a home and opportunity Jo work, than to admit tme.of those unruly agitators and ene mies of governmental control who can not ouly read and write, "but delights In arousiug by Inflammatory speech 'the illiterate and peacefully lucllued to dis content find tumult." 'This view is not less wlfce und sound today than when uttered seven years ago. It remains true that the educa tional test affords no proof of physical or moral worth. ' The fact that a for clgner, coming here Is ablo to read our constitution afford no assurance that he Is not in sympathy with anarchists. Such person hava "mie to this country for no other purpose than to preach tho doctrines of auarcliy. TI.e simplest edu cational' test, ou-the other hand, might exclude an honest and industrious mau who would aid in the development of our resources aud make a laW'-abldliig aud useful citizen. As the Philadelphia Record remarks, there N a class of most Important work going on in this land that, native lalsir will not perform. "If mills aud work shops fchuuld limit production the idle employes could not be persuaded to dig great tunnels, to grade railroads 'and perform other rudo labor now done by Industrious immigrants." The statistics of Immigration show that there Is not so large n number of Illiterates from abroad as Is commonly supposed, but unfortunately many people accept state ments of the antl-lmmlgratlonlsts with out investigating the facts. Moreover, those in authority are constantly labor ing In behalf of restrictions, as the pres ent general commissioner of immigra tion appears to be1 doing. Tbe educa tional test would keep out some immi grants, but it would not sift the bad from the "good. Under Its application some of the best immigrants might be excluded and the least desirable admitted. rue lvssoxs or thi rmt. The destructive conflagration through which four gallant firemen lost their lives and several hundred thousand dol lars' worth of property was destroyed teaches a most Impressive lesson. Plrst and foremost, we are admonished that Omaha needs more efficient flre-extin-gulshlug machinery. No time should be lost by the mayor and council In con cluding negotiations for a first-class fire engine and a modernized hose cart. It goes without saying that the best ma chinery is in the long run always the cheapest and the fire apparatus that has. stood the test of hard usage is the safest as well as the best. Another lesson taught by the Thanks giving day fire is that we must linvo safer construction and more rigid in spection ot . worehouses and storage buildings. Building Inspection should not begin and end with new buildings. All the old buildings whose construc tion Is not known to be fireproof and safe should be examined and Inspected and such as are not safe condemned to be pulled down, or ma.de safe by their owners where reconstruction Is possible. Last, but not least, the mayor and council should lose. no. time In passing the long-pending ordinance "providing for the inspection ' of explosives and their storage within the city limits. The Imperative need of sucii supervision was iKjlnted out by The Ree four years ago, when two firemen lost their lives by an explosion, that could doubtless have been prevented by frequent in spection of the premises where large quantities of guniowder had been stored. The ordinance introduced four years ago was defeated on account of the differences that had arisen between the mayor and council over , the provision making former Chief Redell chief In spector lu addition to the duties already devolving on him. The ordinance more recently introduced, creating the ottice of inspector of explosives, was pigeon holed because it increased the city pay roll, and more particularly because cer tain interested parties exerted their in fluence with the council to prevent what they formed "the needless interference" with their business. , It was pointed out furthermore that ample protection Is already provided for against the storage of low grade pe troleum and other explosive oils by the state oil Inspectors, who are presumed to test all explosive oils stored within the clly or on the market in retail houses. As a matter of fact, state oil inspection has for the most part been a farce, and at best it does not include the most dangerous of explosives. State oil inspectors have, moreover, no ait thority to compel owners of warehouses aud storehouses who handle explosives to limit the quantity stored or to en- Yorce regulations relative to tho handling of explosives on the streets while they aro in transit from one struc ture to another. , While the calamity by which the four brave fire-fighters lost their lives was not caused by an explosion, the fact that a considerable quantity of ex plosive material was stored In the budd ing naturally warrants the presumption that other lives might have been lost If these materials had been reached by the fire. Tho Omaha Real Estate exchange ex hlbits good horse sense lu declining to commit itself to Mr. Maxwell's organ ized irrigation program before it has fully investigated its scope aud aim. Omaha and Nebraska are vitally inter ested in the proposed extension of the area of cultivable land by irrigation, but no plan or scheme for the recluma tlon of arid land should be endorsed without sufficient proof that its design Is for the promotion of the general wel fare rather than for the promotion of private or conorate Interests. The Prise Kid. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. At the age of 13 days the Republic of Panama signed the Isthmian treaty Panuma Is entitled to a front seat at the baby show. Now Post liir Hets. Indianapolis News. With Clevelund as the regular democratic candidate' and Uryan us a third party nom iuej betting would be ltve'y a to whether Cleveland or liryan would poll the most Votes. Force of Habit. f Baltimore American. No person except Roovclt could get the presidency next year, and no republican la sufficiently foolhardy to try to. beat him to It. The democrats, of course, will pre sent an opposition candidate, but It Ii nitrely a matter of form. , Gracious Condescension. Indianapolis News. The Northern Securities company an nounces th it It will obey Us own interpre tation of the court's decree concerning the ill guilty t'f Its action In acquiring the stock of competing railroads. For this concession to the prejudices of the statutes Mr. J a meg J. Hill should rre.'lve due credit. Socialism aad ( heap Money. Philadelphia Record. The principal Interest that attaches to the rrturns of the election In Ohio la the exile ne they afford that democrats repu diate socialism and the cheap money delu sion. ' .Tom Johnson was fbe&ten by tlm InrseMt plurality ever given agattiht a can UlJate fur governor In that i ite because he chose to endorse the Kansas City platform and because he Invited Bryan to come into the state and take the stump. Tralalagr for a Thirst Kaa. New York Tribune. Bryan Is not so sura a quitter for the third run as he thought he wss a while ago. His visit to England and near pros pect of seeing Croker seem to have put a new splice In the main brace of his aspira tions. Should he run again, lie -would hare the great polltlcnl advantage of being able to see the end from the beginning tha bottom of tho same old ditch, growing to look more and more like home to him avery time he tumbles Into it. Hea-olatlna; Coatiageat Fees. New Tork Sun. Senator Hale of Maine has Introduced a bill In congress declaring void all contracts heretofore made between claimants before tho Spanish Claims commission and their attorneys, and providing that the commis sion shall fix the allowance of each attor ney at not more than 15 per cent of the award made to his client. Mr. Hale wants to have the attorncy's fee in each case paid direct from the treasury to him aod tho awards of the claimants made payable only to them or their legal heirs. The adoption of such a system would protect unwary claimants from dishonest attorneys and agents and provide that, for a little time at least, the money disbursed by the govern ment would be In the hands of the persons for whom It was intended. WE KXOW HOW TO DO IT. American F.nterprlse and Vim DrlTes Ihe Business Band Wagon. v Detroit Free Press. American enterprise has encountered no serious difficulty In capturing foreign busi ness by going after it for keeps. Terkes got the great underground contract In Lon don In the face of opposing capital and prejudice. An American contractor got the enormous Wcstlnghotise contract over there for the construction of the biggest plant ot Us kind In the world after English con tractors had thrown up their hands and declared It a human Impossibility to do the work within the time limit fixed by the corporation. Young Americans were placed In command In every department of the work and It was completed before the stipulated period expired. Our Steel rails, locomo tives and agricultural Implements have found a great market abroad, especially In Russia. American shoes are popular in London, American watches sell well all over the continent and American stoves are In demand wherever stoves are used In Europe. Within ,a brief time Spain, through her young king, who Is a veritable business plunger, has ordered from this country gun lathes and electrical equipment, the outfit for i the largest brick plant ever erected In the world, and the machinery for a huge cement plant. All this is the more notable because we so recently had occasion to whip Spain, and in doing so destroyed her navy. We are shipping saw mill machinery to Sweden1 and now the Lorain Steel -company la to put In the en tire electric trolley,, system for the city of Wolverhampton, Jn. western England, ftir nfshlng everjthltif'j Ven to American oper ators.' This represents in itself a stupen dous aggregate ot business and has added importance In tttB'fact that It portends a far more remunerative grasp upon foreign trade. This nation did not have to sub sidise ships In order to get the business specified. Contractors and material men have no trouble in shipping their goods, and the profits become a part of our cir culating medium. -1 When our trade and our production demand! a larger outlet than is furnished by Europe and Asia, to say noth ing of an expanding field in South Africa, our manufacturers and merchants will de scend on South America. When they do they will know how to get the market; a far easier undertaking than to sell In Germany and Kngland and Russia and France and Spain and Sweden and in other countries what they make respectively for themselves or coujd buy nearer home. As contended for In a recent article dealing with foreign trade, the one problem Is to get the business. Private enterprise can be relied on to fufiliah transportation Just as .fust as there Is a demand for It. OPPOSITION TO SKWTOK SMOOT. Case Against Him Sald-lo Have Fnllea to Ihe Uroand. Philadelphia. Public Ledger. The opposition to Senator. Smoot of Utah fancies Itself to bu a moral move ment. In point of fact. It is an attack on the best Interests alike of mortality and of religion. It la the good fortune of religion to be guaranteed freedom in this country. The right to hold what soever religious opinion his mind and conHclenco recommend to him is assured every cltlsen of this land lu the Bill of Rights. The genius of the nation cannot allow the prohibition of the holding or practice of any form of faith, nor can it tolerate discrimination between cltlsens on the ground of religious opinion or practice. It Is true that if any detail of the prac tlce of a particular form of religion is deemed Inimical to public order or common morality it may not rely upon the const! tutinnal guaranteo for Immunity. Accord Ingly, the federal government has found means to force the abandonment of polyg amy by Mormons. The admission of Utah to statehood was made conditional upon the giving up of a practice so repugnant to the conscience of tho country and so op posed to Its social order. But congress did not dream of covenanting with 'the disciples of Smith and Young that they should relinquish their religion childish as this may seem to those outside the fold of "letter-Pay Saints." It was no,t sug gested when Utah was admitted a state that, aside from the matter of isilygamous marrluges, there should be any dlscrlm nation against them in tha couuclls of the nation. This Is what the enemies of Senator Smoot are asking the senate to make. He declares that he is not a polygamlst, and no proof Is offered that he is. He affirms clearly and in the most positive terms his guiltlessness before tho law of the land and his loyalty to It. As for religious oaths alleged to be in contradiction of his al legiance to the government, he denies ex plicitly ever having made any; says positively: "My first allegiance is to my country." The case seems perfectly clear. The opposition to Senator Smoot can attack him only on the ground thai he Is a Mormon. Bjit. In a republic like ours, whose citizens live in the enjoyment of religious freedom, this does not and It is a happy fact for every other form of faith - that It does not constitute a mo ment's objection to him. Seuator Smoot can no more be excluded from the senate op the ground that he Is a Mormon than other senators could be because they are Baptists or Presbyter tans. A Mormon congressman from Utah was expelled from the House of Represent stives a few years ago. but not on the ground of his religion; It was ascertained that Mr. Roberts was a bigamist. The case against Mr. Smoot falls to the ground In the abaence of evidence that he haa been a party to unlawful' marriages It would be a deed hateful to the cause of religious freedom and fatal to It to expel Reed Smoot from the senate because of his religious lem s. BITS OF WASHISOTO 1.1 FK. Mlaor Scenes and Ineldenta Sketched Ihe Spot. Another bunch of trouble has been handed to the Postofflce department, a branch ot the government already overstocked with that annoying article. As Is said of the oil magnate, "He as has, gets," so with a department having a surplus on hand. Peo ple delight in passing up that which Is not convertible Into cash or utilized In a horse traJe. Texas hns been somewhat back ward in contributing to the postofflce pile, but makes ample amends with a belated Idyll of Lone Star life. It came In a letter to Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Brlstow from the sheriff of the county wherein the postmistress complained of Is doing business, and reads: "We don't set up any claim that our manners are all they should be, but we'd like to be reasoned with and helped along. The postmistress here Is a worthy woman, all right, and there ain't a thing against her character, but she certainly Is rude anj hasty. One day lust week the mayor, being some flushed up and careless, re fused to remove his hat and bow on asking for the official mall, whereupon his hat was shot off and plumb ruined, and he left the postofflce so swiftly and undignified that it told against the standing of the town. "There's another thing we don't think is fair. The postmistress won't let niggers and greasers come in the office under anv consideration. We ain't overfond of nig gers and greasers ourselves, but it Is sure discommoding for the leading cltlxens to have to go to the postofflce personally to get the mall, Just because this lady don't like to see anything but a gentleman. W don't like to appear fault-finding and plcayunlsh where a lady is concerned, but this one I'm telling about is aure arbitrary and abrupt, and we'd like to have her toned down some." An Inspector has been ordered to Investi gate the case and report upon It If after an interview with tho lady his physical con dition shall be such as to enable him to communicate with the authorities at Wash ington. The Washington correspondent nf n, Boston TranscriDt discourses nn th blaod In the house of representatives in this Wise. X ne neW hOl MA PnntU 1 .1 mrtt nnlu a rge representation of new men. but n.mm. them many young men who are apparently beginning a political career of consldnrl.i promise. This general youthfulness i shown by the number of western states wnicn are in considerable part repre sented by native sons. Mr. Francis M. Eddy, a member of the last congress, was the first man Minnesota hnl ,.vP congress who was born within the limits of mai state.. . This time another r-t th. representatives is a native Mlnncsotan. having been born there In ism. of m,. other representatives, two were born in Pennsylvania, one each In Ontario, Illinois, Massachusetts, Sweden, Ohio and Wiscon sin. One of the senators was born In In diana and the other In Norway. t-anrornla for the first tlm h. representatives born in that state, the old est of whom is not yet 44, while the young est IS 31. All the older mon lh. .1..,. tlon came from the east. on fm ivi,.. sin, two from New York and a fourth from Scotland. Senator Perk in. Maine and Senator Bard In Pennsylvania. Of the two senators and ihru ... tives from Colorado, which has been a state since 187H, none was born there. The tnree Idaho "statesinen" were born lt Illi nois, Pennsylvania nt inHi.n. Uvely. "It U a singular thlna- that in . i,i . community as Iowa, of the eleven repre sentatives and two senators but three were born in that state, and one of them, Mr. Hedge of Burlington, relates that ho was 1 bor.n in the Territory of Iowa. June 21, 1814 came irom Ohio and JDolllver from eni Virginia. Hull Mil n..r,i...... also Ohloajis. The four renrnt - and two senutors of Maine were all born ui max state. In fact. In mn.t r i, u states native sons seem to be preferred. maHsacnusetts senators and ten of tho ...uncen representatives were born In Massachusetts. Hut , r-PM.,lf.,- . Nebraska was born In ti.-i ........ Hitchcock of Omaha, and he is but' 44 ''" OIU. -ine Kevuiluna .11 i ... there, and, according in ti,. - - - - .rimus re turns, they are among tho very few who "' ,,0, N"-tu Dakota senator, were lion, Illinois, and of the South IJHkota senators one cam frm v. ir .. and the other from New Hampshlro. Texas exhibits among the southern states the ' B- evidence of being a new com munity. Neither of it. sen.,.,. In the state, and but halt of its representa- young state of Utah has a native ,on In the senate In the peraori of Reed Smoot. None of the representatives or senators of Wyoming or Washington were born in the state they now represent. sUuVew" mUCh f U,e cou,ltr" "I may be wrong." said the woman with the broom and pall to a Washington Poat man, as she began her work in the corri dor of the Treasury building, "but I fully believe that some of these cigarette smokers would strike a match on the graves of their mothers. Some smokers here can t get out of the building before they begin to scratch matches, and they don't care where the mark is left either, nor does It give them any concern where the burned end of the match falls." Then, with snapping eyes and flushed cheeks, the really hard-worked employe of Undo Sum began her work of cleaning up, and as the writer looked around lie could see tho "blazed" way on every hand, evi dence that the match striker had been there before the caballHti-i hn.un t r , u u ......... .everywhere visible, on the side of the wal, riiuanu-. wviimie ine marble building the match-striking gud hutj biased the way-on letter boxes, lamp posts, sides of buildings, door Jims, tree boxes everywhere the eye rested the brown marks could be seen. Armed with a cigarette and a match any old place la good enough to make the necessary frlc' tion. Even church edifices are not too sa cred when the hurry-up call is Issued for a light; in fact, there Is no place too sacroil nor one too much out of the way for the match-striking fiend. It is a curious fact, however, that the habit once so exten sively and universally Indulged ln-strlklng a watch by drawing It ucross the gable end of the pantaloons hus alyut gone Into disuse. It Is the scldomejt thing tliut a smoker is seen to get a light In this way. Just as the house was- about to take a vote on the Cuban reciprocity b!ll Congress, mun Hlldebrant of Ohio rose to a queMton of personal privilege. In answer to a ques tion from the chair ho said: 'lt concerns me as an individual and no gentleman who wishes to keep the membership of thlM body clean will object." Lead silence followed and everybody felt sure that some story of boodle or bribery was about to be sprung. The Ohio member gravely sent a resolution up to the clerk, who read In hi usual dreary monotone: "Resolved, that one addUlunnl laborer be employed in the bathroom of the house during the Fiftyelghth congress." Til ere was a sigh of relief on the rrpubllcau ride, followed by a laugh all around. A group of congressmen were talking presidential poliilcs in a committee room when one of the member said: "Here is Haiiua ready to enter upon a new six-year term March t, but be will never U-glu PTTHE coat Made for ciate rich materials and fine, hand tailoring. Cheviots and Scotches in fancy plaids, mixtures and dark, solid colors. Inquire for Kirschbaum Over coats (Warranted). At good Stores 'everywhere. ; $12 to $30, Identify by linen label inside breast pocket of coat. New Style Book free, if you'll write for it, For Sale in Omaha by Berg, Swanson and Coe that terra. You remember Garfield, an other Ohio man, had been elected to a sim ilar term, but Instead of being sworn in as senator he took the oath as president. Mark me, history will repeat Itself." "But Hanna Is for Roosevelt' was suggested. "Yes, and Oarfleld was for Sherman," said the first speaker significantly. GROWTH OF TIIK FA It M.I. Rapid Progress of the Agricultural Population In Wealth. ' New York Tribune. ' ' Remark Is made, In a somewhat complain ing tone, that, while forty years ago the farmers owned 56 per cent of the wealth of this country, now they own only m per cent. The Idea seems to be that they are thus unjustly dealt with, - Hnd aro sacrificed to manufacturing and commer cial Interests. We cannot see that the point Is well made. Upon the face of the cuse, It is natural and inevitable that as a country of varied Industries grows in wealth the proportion of wealth represented by agriculture will decline. That does not mean that tlie actual amount of such wealth declines. It means simply that oth ;r great industries aro being developed. There was a tlmo when practically all the wealth of this country was agricultural. As soon as men started factories and built ships those enterprises represented a part of the country's weulth, and so thn per centage of agricultural wealth declined, although the uctual amount of agricultural wealth greatly Increased. . The question Is not, therefore, what pro portion of the wealth of the nutlon Is held by farmers, but rather whether the actual amount of wealth held by them is lucre-using at an appropriate ratio. To take l ho period cf forty years already referred to. It Is to be observed that in It the population of the United States has increased by 110 per cent. At thn same time the number of farms has Increased by iss per cent; the value of farm property, Including buildings, has Increased by 100 per cent, und the value of farm Implements and machinery hus in creased by 209 per cent. The first com plete report ,of the total value of farm products was made In 1870, so we con reckon the Increase In that value for only thirty years. In that tiino the lticiea.se was 142 per cent. These figures Indicate, therefore, that agriculture Is making more rapid progress than Is the populutlon of tho country. In number of farms, in value of farms. In value of Implements und machinery and In value of total products this Is, In propor tion to Its population,-, a greater f ilming Waltham Watches Old friends to trust. "The Tcrftcted Americ n-Witch," n illustrited book of interesting informAtion About witches, tulU be sent free upon request. . i . . Amerian WitthAtn Witch Company, WAlthAtn, Mass, $3.50 and S5.00 We are the now men's 6hoe store that guarantees satis factory wear from every pair fitted in the store. WE KNOW HOW TO FIT FEET. 1521 Farnam of the season is the Kirschbaum Belt Coat. men who anDre- country today than it was forty years ago. In that fact there' should be ample en couragement for farmers. If other In dustries have grown still more rapidly, that Is no ground for complaint by the farmers. On the Contrary, It would have been bad for the farmers If these other In dustries hud not been developed, to make markets for agricultural produce. If, after that consideration, farmers still think man ufacturers liavo an undue advantage over them, the remedy Is In their own hands. If they, will make the same use of the powers of combination and of scientific ap plication that other Industrialists have made, they will have no ground for com plaint of being outstripped. PKRSOSAI, NOTES. Philadelphia Is said to be about to spend $1(10,000 In advertising itself. Geroulmo, the vencrnble Indian chief. 1ih embraced Christiuntly ami has Joined the Dutch 'Reformed church at Fort 8111, Okla. The New York Horse show receipts show a falling off In tho collections in tho dress making trade arc somewhat slacker than a year ngo. I.llluokulanl comes back every year to get that I-'OO.IKjO for ' crown lands seised. Perhaps a counter claim quite as old could be put In ag.'ilnst the queen of the canni bal Islands for missionaries made culinary use of by her ancestors. Amos Martin of . Princeton, Pa., Is the oldest cltl n of the Keystone state. Within a short time lie will "celebrate his 107th birthday, lie ' Is a Scotchman by birth and has lived In western-Pennsylvania for more than seventy-five years. He Is a shoemaker by occupation and up to a fe months ago worked at his trade. Ex-Senator Turpfo of Indiana, Is nearly 77 years of nge, and although somewhat of an Invalid, lie loves work. IAst winter he read Rlackstone entire, notwithstanding ha had read it many times before. lie Is fond of the old classics, and '1s always ready with upj: quotations from his favorite authors. He considers the lilble the best Kngliivh classic. " Squudron Sergeant Thomas O'Keefe lias Just been honorably discharged from the Fourth United States cavalry after being twenty-nine years In the service. The offi cers aud private of Troop ll presented him with a watch as a token of their jegard. Sergeunt O'Keefe has been honorably dis charged six times, each time as a ser geunt, but always came "hack to the urm.v ugaln." This time he means to remain out. T