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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1904)
I TI1E OMAIIA DAILY nEE: FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1U04. Tiie omaiia Daily Bee. E. ROSE WATER, EDITOR. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. TERMS OF Bt'BSCRirTION. F tally Ilm (without BundHy), On Year M W "Ally Bee and Sunday, One Year s Illustrated Bee. One Year J'" HundHV Bee. One Year. Sattmfny Bee, One Year.... 1.60 Twentieth CVntury Farmer, One Year., i.w DELIVERED BY CARRIER. Pally Dee (without Sunday), per ropy:.. Co Doily Bee (without Sunday!, per week... 12c Dally Bee (Including Sunday), per week.lic ally B Sunday II n. iwti rutlV 6c Evening Bee (without Sunday), per week. 6c Evening Bee (Including Sunday), Pe" pp44( IOC ComrlaVn'ts'"'or'"lrreVu'larity In delivery Should be addressed to City Circulation De partment. OFFICES. Omaha The Bee Building. South Omaha City Hall Building, Twenty-fifth and M Streets. Council UltifTav 10 Pearl Street. . Chicago 4fl Unity Building. New Ynr- Park Row Building. Waahlngton-r)! Fourteenth Street. CORRESPONDENCE. Communications relating to news and edi torial matter should bo addressed: Omaha Dee, Editorial Department. REMITTANCES. Remit by draft, express or poatal order, payable to The Bee Publishing Company, only 2-rent stamp recolved In payment of Wall accounts. Personal rhecka, except on Omaha or eastern exchanges, rut accepted. THE BEB PUBLISHING COMPANY. BTATEMENT OF CIRCULATION, Mint nf Kliniibi TViuirtsa County. US. I George B. TssohUck. secretary of the Bee Publishing Company, being duly, sworn. ays that ths actual number of full and eomniete rvrla nr Thl iiv. nnmini, Evening end Sunday Bee printed Jrlng the , NJUlllll VI rWIUttlfi 1OT, m mm mm 1 JtN,KSO I 89,400 ( SO,8SO 4 eo,ono 24,OBO 1 80.4BO 17 90.8TO is ao.aoo 19 81,840 10 80.BT0 81 87,320 O 81.040 13 81,180 24 83,000 26 84,240 28 81,400 27 81.THO 28 2T.OOO 29 81,030 T sm,sio . 2S.SSO an.ooo 10 83.8T0 ii rta.ioo 11 83,180 it ao,o4o 14 S0300 U 80,850 Total 8TT.1BO Less unsold and returned copies.... ,6o8 Net total sale fT,4T3 Net average sales... , SO,918 GEO. a TZSCHUCK. Subscribed In my presence and sworn to before me this 1st day of March, A. D. 1H. M. B. HUNGATE, (Seal) ' Notary Public That penitentiary sentence of four and . a half years for stealing an attorney's overcoat shows how bench and bar hereabouts stick together. Ai a (trial pf the Mormon church for pernicious practices the 8 moot case Is proceeding with Senator Bmoot merely an Incident Instead of the issue. It does not require a proclamation by the csar to put Fort Arthur and Vladi vostok. In a state of siege. .The Japa nese put these districts in a state of siege some time ago. ' ' It Is announced that , the , proposed farmers' trust will have an authorised capital stock of $50,000,000. It is not stated, however, whether it will rely on natural or artificial means to furnish the water. Venezuela will, it is said, shut down Its embassy at Washington to save money. Why not put the Job up at auc tion and accept bids from its wealthiest citizens and make it a revenue produc ing resource instead. If the belligerents in the far eastern war would only exercise a little more precaution in selecting places for their operations with pronounceable names they would confer a great favor upon the newspaper-reading public. The Installation of a 10,000 'phone capacity switchboard In the Omaha tel ephone exchange Js indicative of the prospective growth of Omaha, but it does not necessarily foreshadow a pros pective reduction in 'phone rates. One of the attorneys for the prosecu tlon in the Smoot case served in a slml lar capacity on a case made to unseaw Brlgham Roberts some two years ago. This eminent legal luminary will prob ably like to see Mormon church digni taries elected, to every successive eon gress. By helping to pull down the railroad tariff on the grain traffic the Omaha Grain exchange is contributing to better prices to the farmers for heir wheat Turn about is fair play. Let the farm ers sharing the benefit lend their sup port, both mora! and material, to the Omaha Grain exchange. So long as an ever-ready market for the bonds of Nebraska counties is at hand in the purchases for state school fund Investments, there is no reason why Douglas county should not nego tiate its' bond tales direct without any takeoff for intermediaries, whose serv Ices are not at all essential. We are still waiting for the names and record of military service of the mem bers of the Grand Army post at Kear ney that "dnanlmously" resolved lmpug Ding the loyalty of Chancellor Andrews Just to get a little free advertising. Who re theyt Where did they fight? How many of them were wounded? Stockholders In the World's Colura btan exposition at Chicago profess to be highly gratified in having another divi deud distributed, making a total return on their mouey of 14.05 per cent of the sura oVlglnally advanced. What would the Chicago world's fair people have thought had they had stock in Omaha' Transmlsslsslppi exposition, which paid back 00 per cent of the money sub scribed? The contributed boost for E. C. Wall of Wisconsin for the democratic nouil cation for tthe presidency which has found space in the local Bryanlte organ must have slipped past the editor with his eyes shut. It should be remembered (hat Mr. Wall has always been an un compromising gold democrat end one of Crover Cleveland's stsunchest admirers. Vs 8 standard bearer Mr. Wall would ts Just 8 trifle more palatable to Colonel Jiryaa than .Mr. Cleveland himself. IHRlQATIOlt rROBL-MS. Not only Is the diversion of streams for purposes of Irrigation fruitful of pri vate liliRntlou, but is creating Interstate and international problems of mure or less gravity. As to the controversies be tween states they can be settled by our courts, but the international questions that may arise are more difllcutt. It is noted that a number of streams rising In Canada flow to the Missouri and on some of them the diversion of water on one side of the boundary or the other Is at any time liable to cause trouble. A western paper calls attention to the fart that there are already contentions lit regard to Milk river, which rises in Montana and after flowing a consider able distance through Canuda returns to this country. It appears that there are a large number of irrigation ditches on the lower stream and now Canadian ir rigators have begun taking out water above them. American settlers are ap pealing to the government to be pro tected in the matter and. lt Is by no means Unlikely that this will become a source of controversy between the United States and Canada. It Is also pointed out that there afe similar con flicts of interest, which have not yet be come acute, between this country and Mexico in regard to the waters of the Co,ora(1o ani the Rio Grande. Sooner or later this international feature of the irrigation problem is pretty sure to de mand serious attention and it is con ceivable that it may become trouble some, at least so far as Canada is con cerned. MKOLAIfD TO BE HMADT. The naval estimates of the British government, which are materially in creased over those of last year, are Justi fied by the ministry on the ground that reat Britain must maintain the stand ard of her navy upon that of equality with the two powers having the next strongest naval establishments. It was pointed out by the secretary to the ad miralty that Russia and France together had built, or were building, sixty-four first and second-class battleships and that France and Germany, combined. were building, or had built, sixty-one battleships, while the British total was sixty-three. Thus Great Britain was lose up' to the "two-powers" standard. It was urged by the secretary that re cent events in the far east showed the necessity for preparedness to strike tho first blow and so obtain incalculable ad vantage. . He argued that the greatest power for peace throughout the world was the British navy, which was also the most powerful instrument of war in the world 1 In the same vein the British secretary of war urged that England had done enough in the direction of the proposal to the continental governments for a reduction of armaments, and that Great Britain's naval strength was a vital necessity. He declared that there was not a single country of. Europe which could not abolish Its fleet, so far s any danger1 of an" invasion by Great Britain was concerned, but the moment the maritime supremancy of Great Brit' aln was gone she might bo invaded any day. ' There is seen in this evidence of the determination of England not to allow any deterioration in her sea power and the wisdom of this policy will hardly be anywhere . seriously questioned. It necessary primarily to home defense nd after that to colonial protection and the safeguarding of the vast British commercial interests. Nor is it to be doubted that Great Britain's naval su premacy is a, very decided influence in the interest of the world's peace, so long as that power finds it to its interest to maintain peace. One thing is quite cer talnly assured by the British naval pro gram and Jhat Is that there will be no reduction In European armaments in the near future. They will not only be maintained but steadily Increased. This Is a fact which should not fall to com mand the attention' of those who are opposing an Increase in the navy of the United States. iltTMSTlSa RUIMIATt STRONGHOLDS, The persistence of the Japanese - in their operations against Port Arthur la said to be somewhat mystifying to the Russians, but why this should be so It Is not easy to understand, since that position is manifestly the most vital in the war problem. This was very dis tinctly shown In the great care taken by Russia to fortify Tort Arthur, -to supply it with provisions, and to make it as nearly as possible a second Glbral tar. .Without this stronghold, which i concert of Sure-pen n powers refused to permit Japan to have after the war with China, Russia. will not be able to retain possession . of Manchuria. The possession of Port Arthur Is absolutely essential to the control of Manchuria and If the Russians can be'dtsiodged from there and prevented from regain ng possession of that stronghold, their power in the far east will be broken. It is realisation of this yint caused the commandant at Port Arthur to issue a few days ago his most ex traordinary proclamation to the troops and lutiubltants under his command, telling them that they havs no hope of reinforcement and no hope of escape, and that as he will never surrendei they must fight to the dentil. In the hope of repellng the Impending assault of the Japanese. It would be difficult to find anywhere In the history of war fare a more candid confession of des pcratlon than is contained In the prochv uiatlon of the military officer In com roand at Port Arthur. He declares that there is no way out, that on three sides is the Sea and on the fourth the eneni and that-, consequently the Russians penned up there Lave no hope except i repelling the Japanese, which seems a most impossible. What a remarkable tribute this is to the superior military Judgment and activity of Japnn. ITow completely It demonstrates the claim that power to take rauk among the moat enlightened and Drosresslvs na Jtlons, as well in the art of war as the arts of peace. Whether or not the report be true that it is the intention of the Russians to abandon Port Ar thur, it appears inevitable that sooner or later that stronghold must fall into the hands of the Japanese, and when ever that shall take place Russia may prrrare to give up its hold upon Man churia and make such terms of peace as will enable it to retain In that territory whatever rights and privileges the pow ers interested in China may decide to be Just and expedient The Japanese investment of Vladivos tok appears to be not less complete than that of Tort Arthur and the former ns well as the latter has been declared in a state of siege. The Russian squad ron at Vladivostok, consisting of nine warships, appears at present to be en tirely at the mercy of the Japanese, though it is not unlikely that a great battle will be fought at that port What the reports clearly indicate is that at this time Japan has very distinctly the advantage in position, but it muBt not bo concluded from this fact that her success is assured or that her formid able enemy may not later effect a radi cal change In the situation. AHOTHCH OBJMCT LKSSO.f. The collapse of the steel frame of a sky scraper under construction In New York City affords another object lesson that should be heeded by the municipal authorities of every American city that has been invaded, of is liable to be in vaded, by the modern structural mon strosity. The steel frame sky scraper fundamentally wrong as well as dan gerous, not merely to its occupants, but to the inmates and occupants of build ings in its Immediate vicinity. It is wrong for a municipality to permit the erection of structures that overshadow an entire block of buildings of moderate height, and incidentally decrease real estate values by the absorption of the tenantry that would otherwise be dis tributed among half a dozen, or even a dozen buildings devoted to the same ob ject, and it is a menace to public safety to allow buildings of greater height to be erected than the width of the street on which they front The collapse of the New York steel frame structure that had reached thir teen stories, or only about half the height of some of the tallest of its class in the American metropolis, proved fatal not merely to workmen employed in its construction, but to tenants in adjacent buildings who were buried under its wreckage without a moment's warning. In this Instance the cause of the collapse ascribed to overloading and irregu larlty in the raising of the framework of the upper stories. But there is Just s much, or greater, danger of the col lapse of completed sky scraper buildings by reason of fundamental defects in steel frame construction. It is a well-established principle of mechanics that the strength of a chain measured by its weakest link. The strength of steel frame structure is not to be gauged by its steel beams, but by the pivots that rivet the beams to each other. The constant vibration that necessarily permeates a sky scraper ex ternally and Internally cannot fall in the course of years to have its effect upon the pivots and rivets that hold it to gether. In addition to the vibration there is also the disintegrating effect of electrical currents that will In due time destroy the cohesion of the metal and make it brittle. Any explosion within such a stricture, or in its vicinity caus ing a sudden Jar is liable to have the effect of an earthquake. The giving away of a single pivot may cause a de flection in the framework and preclpl tate a collapse. This inherent weakness of the sky scraper has been a theme of serious de bate among great architects, many of whom concede that the steel frame will eventually have to give way to the solid wall building, and the sky scraper will have to come down to reasonable levels as a matter of public safety. Fifteen Jobbing houses have petitioned the mayor and council to Invest $25,000 to $30,000 in new fire apparatus imme diately and to follow it up by manning the new apparatus with a new fire com' pany. The signers of this petition do not intimate bow much they propose to contribute in addition to their regular taxes toward defraying the expense to be incurred, nor do they indicate how the mayor and council are to get the money in view of the fact that the pro posed expenditure will create an over lap, expressly forbidden by the charter. Conceding that the Improved fire ap paratus Is needed, we doubt whether any one of the fifteen Jobbers who want the fire department reinforced can Just ify the proposed increase of over $20,000 a year in the payroll of the fire depart ment when the city is in position to man the new engine house in the Jobbing dls trict and handle the new fire apparatus by discarding the old machinery and closing the Tenth street engine house, which will have outlived its usefulness when the Jackson street bouse shall be permanently occupied. ' It Is very lucky for the taxpayers of Douglas county that the plans of County Surveyor Edqulst for building dikes and dama to prevent the Missouri river from overflowing into Florence lake have col llded with the plans of the army engl nerr In charge of the Missouri river tin proveaieut who insists upon carrying out his own designs for curbing the rapuclty of the Big Muddy. To have carried out the scheme of the county surveyor would have been a waste of money and an opening wedge for drain. lug the county treasury periodically un der pretext that it had to come to the rescue cf parties who have taken up lauds In the disputed territory. State Treasurer Mortensen's protest against the employment of a special architect for the Kearney Normal sclioo when the state is already employing and paying a stats architect la timely and well grounded. It is an open question whether there is any lawful Justification for the creation of the office of state rchltect, but so long as such an officer Is on the stste payroll he should by rights prepare the plans and specifica tions for all sUte buildings and he held responsible for their proper construc tion. If he is not competent for such work he -should be made to vacate and make place for an architect who Is com petent The Navy department proposes to make an early and thorough investiga tion of the cost of producing armor plate in the European countries, with a view to ascertaining whether any ma terial advantage would accrue by the establishment of armor plate plants In United States arsenals and navy yards. Tills action is World-Heralded as the effect of Congressman Hitchcock's great speech in the house. One would actu ally imagine that the attention of the Navy department had never been called to this subject until Mr. Hitchcock's speech had startled the American people. Should congress pass the bill asked for by the postofflce authorities barring all guessing contests from the use of the mails, it would hardly be worth while to run for the office of governor In any of the four states which serve as the basis for the vote guessing con tests that have been rampant In recent years. It seems that the chief perquis ite attachtng to present day elections to the officers in question has come to be the free advertising derived as a result of prises offered for the nearest correct estimates of .the ballots cast Fifteen Jobbers have petitioned for an Immediate expenditure of $25,000 for new fire fighting apparatus and an ad dition of over f20,000 a year to the fire department payroll. Fifteen thousand taxpayers in Omaha will remonstrate gainst the permanent Increase of tha fire department payroll, if they only get th.e opportunity. Ten million dollars for Panama will constitute the biggest windfall ever en Joyed by any Infant republic. If the United States could have started out within a few months after the Declara tion of Independence with $10,000,000, it would not have required seven years of fighting to bring Great Britain to terms. Pate of Iaaeoeat Bystanders. Philadelphia Press. The people of this country are the inno cent bystanders In the war between Japan and Russia, and we are being hit by the higher prices of foodstuffs. Mlvhtr Uood imitators. Chicago Record-Herald. People seem to have generally overlooked the fact that when the Jap fleet retiree in good order the mikado's fighters are merely Imitating Dewey m withdrawing for break fast !? Flrst-Classn Nta Wanted. , BprlnaTflftld Republican. The president's laudable efforts to select canal commission of the highest en- glneering and professional ability deserve to be seconded by the first -class men to whom he has offered these very responsl bis positions. Any engineer should be glad of ths chance to associate his name with ths construction of the canal, provided that its engineering success is assured. "Write Me a Letter, Love." Brooklyn Eagle (dam.). The Eagle will pay to Mr. Bryan $100 for a lstter, sent here. In which he will agree to support tha demooratlo platform, to bo put forth by the convention at St, Louis, provided that platform omits to re affirm and thereby Impliedly renounces the free silver and free riot planks In the Chicago platform of 1896 and In the Kansas City platform of 1900. There Is no am blgulty In this, and there Is no string to HI The Last Dttch. Baltimore American. Now that the scientists are discovering everything to be germ-Infested and dan gerous, only one more point of attack re mains. That will fall when the germ hunters discover that ths human breath Is swarming with bacilli and that the only way to be -entirely safe Is to atop breathing. Already ths flat has gone forth that we must stop eating and drinking. so that the last alternative Is perhaps merely the logical conclusion of ths whole germ theory. No More Orcrfcemd Wires. Bpringfleld Republican. One thing which the business district of Baltimore will gain from ths firs will be the complete burial of all wires except ths trolley. The city electrical commission has decided to Issue no permits for the restoration of poles In the burned district and those if,t standing are being cut down and carried off for distribution among people in need of wood. The municipality had already provided underground conduits for wires and the various companies will now be compelled to make use of them. Seeoaa Thoagrht. Chicago Chronicle. The oactia sent word to his architect at the fft. Louis world's fair to resume work on the Russian building, and this Is ths most sensible thing the csar has done since the war began. There Is nothing like Intimate acquaintanceship to dissipate groundless prejudices, and that is what Russia needs. Its exhibition at the world's fair In Chicago drew it sensibly nearer to the Anglo-Saxon race, and it ought not to lose the similar opportunity offered at St. Louis. This country Is not at war with Russia, and never will be. Tkt Haaraa) Decision Captained. Philadelphia Ledger. ' The alarm caused by the sentence in The Hague decision; that "the United States Is commissioned to carry out the decision of ths tribunal." Is quite dispelled when ths quotation is completed "regarding costs. The explanation given by the State de partment and by Mr. MacVeagh Is simple. It was agreed that the expenses of the tribunal were to be divided pro rata among the creditor nations according to the amount of their claims. Somebody had to make this allotment, and as the United States was ths only one of the eleven na tlona whoa claims had not been finally ad justed, this government was authorised, as soon as It should receive the settlement from the umpire and the expense account of the tribunal, to perform the necessary clerical work and notify ach nation wha It had to pay. This, it will be seen. In volves no responsibility for collecting the claims from Venexuela. The United States had been mainly Instrumental in bringing about the arbitration, and this reference to it of the accounts of ths tribunal was appropriate and SeurteouSt BOOM Or QVAKER GINS. Washington Tost: The Russian battle- hip Retvlsan seems to operate as well on land as on water. We may engags the ves sel, after the war, to make the overland trip to those open ports in Manchuria. Indianapolis News: It Is asserted that the. Russian's sens of humor never de sorts him even In moments pf terrible dan ger. It that Is so, what a bunch of wit nd repartee must have been, pulled off durfng the last few weeks ond that side of the war. Baltimore American I The Japanese and Russians have learned "to labor and to wait." The Japs ara doing the laboring and the Russians the waiting. The latter have found that among the things that coma to those who wait" are torpedo boats, selges and bombardments. New York Tribune: The war news, ro mancers balk at nothing In the way of contradictions. One day on Lake Baikal the thermometer stands St 20 or 80 de grees below sero, and 000 Russian soldiers trying to march across the Ice are frosen to death. The next day the Ice melts suf. flclently to break and engulf a whole train- load of passengers. Portland Oregonlan: The spectacle of the people of Russia, led by the csar, ciarlna and commander-in-chief of the army, prostrate at ths confessional, in the hope of securing divine favor In war, Is one that at this distance Is mors ludiorous than solemn. A partial Ood, one who can be propitiated by offerings, or swayed by prayer and adoration the traditional "Ood of battles" la out of 'date among people who do their own thinking. Detroit Free Press: "We are fighting against numerical odds which are quite out of proportion to ths odds against any combatant in recent , wars," says Baron Hayashl, the Japanese minister to Great Britain. Did the baron ever hear of a certain war In South Africa in whloh ths Boers, with a total population less than that of Liverpool, resisted for more than two years the military power of ths great est empire known to. history O Pflug, With ug Ly mug Bo smug Just like a pug, Snug As a bug In a rug. In that Port Arthur Jug Where the Bear, with his hug; Its lair has dug. While ths Japanese slug The entrance kerchugl With all the missiles they can lug And tug, Or anyone Bug- GeBt O Pflugl Baltimore American. AMERICAN SYMPATHY. Philadelphia Record: The official organs in St. Petersburg complain of the un friendly attitude of the American people toward Russia. In what does this unfriend liness consist save a strict and honorable neutrality T Has Russia ever held any other attitude toward( the United States T The American people havs never sought an ally In Russia or Japan, and neltfier should look for an ally In them. New Tork Sun: How, then, has it come to pass that. In Its present hour of trouble, our old friend Russia can no longer count upon American sympathy? It Is because the Ckar Nicholas II has been ill served by his agents and advisers. The minister of the Interior, who incited, permitted, or failed adequately to punish ths massacre of Jews at Klshineff, put an Irreparable blot upon the fair name of Russia.' But what temporarily wrecked it in American es teem and confidence was the assumption of its sly diplomatists that methods suc cessful at Peking would also succeed in Washington, and that the solemn promise mads to our State department that Russia would evacuate Manchuria on October 8, IMS nearly Ave months ago could be vio lated with impunity. Then it was that the American people, regretting that tha csar should be so badly served, felt ' themselves constrained to say to Russia that they could no longer trust it. "I love thee, but never more be officer of mine," Portland Oregonlan: The position of Count Casslnl, Russian ambassador at Washington, Is somewhat embarrassing to him. While our government has proclaimed and will maintain strict neutrality In the struggle now on between Russia and Japan, ths American people almost to a unit hope to ses Japan win. This IS partly due to a feeling of magnanimity which arrays Itself upon the side of the weaker party, which has been harried into war by ths stronger, and partly because the belief Is strong that Japan is fighting the battle of open ports for the western world, while Russia Is oontendlng, among other things, for ex- oluslveness, distinctly hostile In character, in trade and business. The Russian am bassador has asked for suspension of Judg ment by tha American people upon these points, but In the very nature of things It Is somewhat difficult to accede to his re quest. In fact, if he would be happy, he will have to content himself with the offi cial attitude of the United States and Ignore the preferences of private cltlsens In the matter. It is tqo late to ask people to "suspend judgment'.' after their minds havs been fully mode up. PERSONAL NOTES. The Maroh lamb reposes in the Interior of the March lion. Chased to death. Experience teaches us not to get gay about spring weather. There are a few hard knobs on winter's backbone. With an American girl as vlcerine In India and another In Ireland, the ultimately dominating race on earth Is easily named. Tho educators in New Tork who de nounce corporeal punishment are so popu lar with the pupils aa are the doctors In prohibition communities when they pre scribe whisky for coughs and colds. Along with the other birds of spring Prof. Langley's "Buxzard" will make a flight mors or lea prolonged, Prof. Lang' toy succeeds In making the money fly, at any raM; he now has another 2S,000 appro priation. Viceroy Alexleff, ths Russian offloar In Manchuria, visited this country In 1878 as second in command among the Russian officers on board the Clmbria. . the time he paid a visit to Washington on s mission to the Russian minuter. Senator Quay of Pennsylvania . Is again on the down grade physically. The prom lsed Improvement In his condition aa a re sult of his Florida sojourn has not taken place, he Is unable to retain nourishment and is regarded as In a critical state. John E. ghepard, the son of a Methodist minister at Ludlow, Ky., has Just been ad mitted to practice In the courts of New port after passing a brilliant examination Mr. EhepardAs but 22 and is the youngest qualified attorney In the blue grass stats. Mrs. Delva Lot k wood, who once ran for tha presidency, has been In Washington looking after some legislation in which she Is Interested. One afternoon she ap peared on tha floor of the house, escorted by Colonel Ike Hill, the demooratlo whip, "(ire at Scott," exclaimed Champ Clark "here's Ike Hill and Miss Democracy." The remark was heard by Mrs. Lock wood, who laughed good naturedly and waved her hand at the Mlssourlan. "Look ou Chamc" said another congressman, "this la leap year, you know.'1 ROISD ABOtT NEW TORK. Ripples on the Cnrront el Mfe In the Metropolis, A colored professional litigant, who does a prosperous business pinching owners of publlo houses In which negroes are refusei service, has Just scored a verdict for $1,000 In a suit against a Fifth avenue druggist. Ths druggist didn't really decline to serve the man soda water. He told him In ad vance, however, that soda water cost 50 cents tha glass at that establishment. The negro said that he wanted the soda water, whether it cost 60 cents or $M a glass, and, thus cornered, ths druggist had to pass the soda water over. The colored professional litigant drank It and two days later tha druggist was served with a summons for a suit for ex tortion. The druggist maintained that. as an Independent business man, he had a right to fix whatever prloes ho chose upon his goods, and that, after he had fixed the prices, his customers were at liberty to buy or to walk out. The court didn't dispute this, but when tha colored professional litigant Intro duced incontrovertible testimony that a doien whits persons had got soda water at the same counter for the sum of 5 cents on the same day that the 60 cent price had been fixed for him the suit went his way! , At the annual meeting of the trustee of tha Grant Monument association last Mon day It was decided to petition the legis lature to appropriate 110.000 with which to Instill a heating plant In the tomb. The structure la at present heated only by gas, and this winter the temperature has never been higher than 80 degrees. It was declared that the result of this when the heat of summer arrives will be to cause, the masonry to sweat and the structure to eventually crumble. It was reported that the telegrams and mesages of sympathy received by Qeneral Grant's family at his death, numbering over s.000, have been turned over to the trustees by General Grant's son, and that they will all be framed In due time and hung In the mauso leum. Justice, vigorous and Improptu, was ad ministered recently to one of a gang of mashers infesting a district of Harlem. A young- woman Insulted by one of the gang has the good fortune of having a big brother, to whom . she told her troubles. The brother Induced her to meet ths masher again and walk with him to an appointed: street corner. The young woman followed Instructions to the letter. At the appointed place her brother and six companions were waiting. They seized the masher and hus tled him to an unused boathouse a block farther north. Once inside, they took off the mashers' . coat and walstooat, ripped his shirt from his back and set him up against the wail. Then one of them pulled out a rawhide and gave the osier's back twenty-five lashes. Then they let him go. The well-whipped masher appealed to a lawyer the next day for advice as to how to proceed. The lawyer advised the masher to proceed to forget It as quickly as he could. The very latest thing In New Tork hand organs Is mounted on a four-wheeled vehl. cle drawn by a horse. Horse-drawn piano wagons mounted on two wheels appeared in ths city two years ago. ' But while ths men operating the organ were spared the task of actually hauling It about all day they still had to walk all the way them selves. Tha newest horse-drawn piano-or gan on the other hand, has a seat in front on which the two men that operate it can rids. n ths field, at work., these two men are on their feet, one turning . the crank and ths other looking after the col lections and leading the horse, between stops, along the street; but when they make long Jumps they can mount to the seat In front and drlvs along comfortably. It really looks as though ths next advance In ths evolution of the hand organ must be one mounted on an automobile. I havs never been able to appreciate the Insolent theater usher In the past," said the confirmed patron of tha play houses, quoted by tha Evening Post "It is dif ferent now. I happened ti be in a theater the other evening whon & puff of smoke, which half the audience saw, made it touch and go' for a few seconds whether or not the always dreaded fire panla would follow. Enter, at this point, our old friend the callous usher. Down the aisle from the rear he strode with a disgusted look on his face. "Aw, sit down I' he said to the chairs. 'Aw, say. sit dqwn. .What's the use. There ain't any fire.' , "The bored flavor of the fellow's voice was tho . fear absorbent the audience needed. Had ha yelled excitedly or moved his arms he might have precipitated a scramble. It was a hard-faced usher's Aw. say. sit down,' that worked the won der. Hereafter I shan't say things out loud when the pasteboard locator shows me Into the wrong pair of seats, and chases me and my wife out again five minutes later. For I've found at last that the tneater usner has his uses." 'a few vcara aao no sightseer could olaim to have really seen New , York unless he visited the sweatshop district of the lower . aide. Now there Is no sweatshop district. Tha new tenement laws having driven the contractors from tho novels in thm lnwer oart of the city they have renleo the otherwise unavailable parts of cilices and store buildings farther uptown, in uno office building, where the front room used by a well known book conoern costs ,uuu i year, tho rear attic Is used lor a sweai hnn. nd only 120 a month rent is charged. xuhmr, th atrantfer souaht a glimpse of the sweatshops, where so large a part of the "other hair" strained human enaurance tv,. ia. i nnlnt he could walk into almost any building on the streets branching oft frnm the Bowery, and even lower in me city, three years ago and see these things. Ths Improvement In the sweatuhnp condi tions has hsd a remarkable Influence on the home life of the workers. After a day in inr. clean room, well lighted ana aired, the dirty, crowded tenement becomes duigustlng. The worker warns to ds ciean. and that Is the first step towara uener working conditions. In the new office building opened at 42 Broadway the management has eliminated the figure 1 throughout. There Is no thir teenth floor, and no room on any noor con taining the number 1J by itself or In com bination with any other numeral. This Is a concession to superstition, which Is as strong in ths Wall street district as elsewhere. live if in your hajebuvner Clean at hard caal.f ine forcookbj VictorTiute Coal Co.! 695Fdrnam5i. i MENAriXG Pt ni.IO NIISANCR. Detroit's Plan for Sappresslaa; the Rlllbonrd riaigne. Detroit Free Press. The ordinance regulating the use of signs and billboard! which has been drafted by the Municipal league and presented to the common council ought to pass. In a general way it provides that billboards shall not be erected without tho consent of ths mayor and the municipal art commission. Ths applicant for permission must give notice In writing to the owners, oocupants or agents of all houses and lots within 100 feet of the pliice where the board Is to be erected, and permission must be obtained from four-fifths of the persons Interested before the mayor may Issue a license for the erection of these billboards. Parsons desiring to use these billboards for ad vertising purposes must submit to ths rrui y or for his approval exact samples of tho advertising matter which they propose to use. Thoso restrictions are not necrwoarlly onerous. When property owners expend thousands of dollars In beautifying and adorning their lawns, and tho eity expends tens of thousands of dollars In similar Im provements, the construction of billboards which destroy all this beauty of landsoaps Is little less than en act of vandalism. The claim that a man tins a right to do what he will with his own property hai no foundation In law or In fact. -He has neither a legal nor a moral rljrht to devote It to purposes which Injure the property of a neighbor, and It Is time that the council placed a few restrictions on ths erection and use of billboards. Tho ordinance drafted by ths Municipal league seems to be a meritorious measure In all respects, and for the sake Of tho city's reputation for beauty it Is to be hoped that tho common counoll will loss no time In passing it THR LAND OF GRAFTERS. Past Masters of tho Art Abundant In Russia. Ollson Willets In Leslie's Weekly. To Petersburg cams three American busi ness men to secure a gold mining conces sion. There are 851 places where gold Is fminri In Dliadln . - M . . . " nun uur 1IJVI1UB WHIHCQ 1 11 B privilege of working one of those places. First, they had to deposit JM.OOO with ths ministry of the Interior as "good faith." So much for tha regular, legal part of the program. Now for tho Irregular, illegal part. They kept In their room at tho Hotel Europe a bag of hard, cold cash in golden rubles. Tills cash they doled out In In stallments, first to this prince, then to that count, for "Influence." Bach time they handed out tho money they wero told that their proposition had been found good and promises were made that the concession would be speedily granted. Each tlmo the would-be concessionaires believed that they had accomplished something, and each time they wero disappointed and had to refill the money bag. Tho wearisome delay In the negotiations continued week after week; technical obstacles, each more serious than the preceding one, wero brought forward; and so weeks grew Into months, and the Americans were not one step nearer ths goal. Deciding that bankruptcy would come before any kind of a definite con clusion could bo obtained, they went away with what cash they had left and an accu mulated amount of disgust. Their 160,009 was returned with all legal formalities, but considerably more than that sum was left In the hands of tho princes and counts. Such has been the . experlenoo' of many other Americans seeking to do business In Russia each In sheer desperation abandon ing his 'enterprise. ' . ,, JARS OF. TUB JOKESMIT1IS. "So, Undo Jed has gonet Bad blow, wasn't It?" "Yea. He ought to have known that the way to put out the gas was to turn It oft. ' Chicago Tribune. Mr. Grouch Dr. Docs has sent 4 bill for $260. . Mrs. Grouch He must have been giving you radium pills. Detroit Free Press. i Borroughs How is It you're not drinking Uiese duyS? ... Wlsaman Because It's Lent. Burroughs Ah! Mortifying yourself, eh? You muat be saving money. Wiseman (stgnlHcantly) I am, because it Isn't lont.-1'lilludelphU Press. "Do you think thnt only rich men ought to bo in political life?" "I should not put It that way," answered Bona! or Borghum. "But I am of the opinion that a man In polltloal life 'ought to bo rlqh sooner or later." Washington Btar. V Howes Come, now. do you ' really con sider Miss Belvolr a fine actress? Siiodd Don't see why anyone should doubt It for a moment. Doesn't sTis octu- ' J ' 1 1 17 V W VM! BV ( soiion i ranscnpi. . Adieu, ye wintry blasts. You've surely hod your fling; And now with bated braath Wa say It looks like spring. Cloveland Pluln Dealer HOW TO WHITE POETRY. W. F. Kirk In Milwaukee Sentinel. Begin by picking out some easy rhymes )raln fag Is apt to gut you otherwise; Then take some subject like ths summer skies, T Or fleecy clouds, or sunny southern climes: Having done this, it's ten-case notes to dimes You'll ring in something sweet about the eyes Of her whom you regard as Just your kiss. I've done It. too perhaps a hundred times. Well, only six lines left to stumble through Now only five so simple, don't you think? Who ever said the Muse was hard to wo? She's pretty soft for me too bad I drink. I'm done already; lnn't it .Just bliss To draw a salary for doing this? If You Want to Fight It Out with Nature, All Right. Millions have done so before you. But SENSIBLE people submit to tho dictates of nature, and when thi-re Is Indication of eye trouble go to a COMPETENT optician and have the proper correction made to their vision. We Glu Tests That Cannot Fill. IIUTESON OPTICAL CO., 213 South 16th St Paxton Block. Factory on tho Premises. Kodaks and Cameras.