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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1904)
TIIE ILLUSTRATED BEE. May 20, 1004., The Illustrated Bee. Published Weekly by The Itee Publishing Company, Bee Building. Omaha, Nb. I'rloe, 6c per Copy -Per Year, $MjO. Colonel Lala's Special Devil Entered at the Omaha Postofllce an Second Class Mail Matter. For Advertising Kates Address Publisher. C'ommiiiileutlonH relating to photographs or n nicies for fxi ll ic-;i I iort sh"tihl l ad dressed. "Kditor Tiie illustrated llue, Uma ha." Pen and Picture Pointers D Kr'flllATION DAT Im one of the few occasions on which Ameri cans stop In their business rush for a retrospective glance. It i.s an occasion when memories of dark and troublous time for the republic are IrrcHlatlhly hroiiKht to mind, of days when the fate of the union trembled in the balance of war, and when the blood of brother drenched the soil on that Soldiers on both sides loved so well. Out of the dreadful strife has come greatness and glory for a united country, and once each year the people pause In their affairs to Iay a tribute of love to the men who fought that the country might not b di vided. The sacrifice of the soldiers) vhr Inarched under the starry banner forty yetrs ago can never be computed, nor can the result of their valor ever be over estimated. It Is, therefore, meet that those who enjoy the fnills of the victory won should layths tribute of grateful apprecia tion on the graves of the soldier duad, at the name time remembering the spirit that actuated them, and keeping alive the fire of patriotism In the breasts of the present and coming generations. Decoratiim day has In a measure outgrown Its original con ception, but Its broadening of purpose Is but the result of an Increasing seusn of Its fitness, and It Is not likely to fall into disuse among Americans, either north or aouth. In this numler TheTtee begins the pub lication of pictures of prominent men of Nebraska. This is In connection with the semi-centennial annlversnry of the state's existence, nnd will serve In a large measure to indicate tho growth of lifty year. The pictures this week are those of attorneys of the Douglas county bar. From week to week throughout the remalndi r of the year at least one page will be devoted to thesa portraits, so that every rlty and town In the state will be represented In the collec tion, whk.-h will be a valuable one. South Omaha tins JuHt formally nlsierved tho laying of tho corner stone of a hand some building that Is to be devoted to the uses of tho Hiph school of that city. It Is to be strictly modern In every particular, nnd when finished will be worthy of the Importance of the third city of the state. A feature of the- public function that marked the oocasion ' was the presence of Hon. W. J: Bryan, who addressed the as semblage on a topic suggested by thn event, A Full Mown Rose the moulder. From ripest earth and molsturo rich, And gentle shade and sun. Me moulds the pretty lorm, in which liright life is run. Night sets no limit to his toll; .His win hands never tire. Fashioning tho suiiligJit and the soil Fur heaven's lire. THR PAINTKR. Prom earthun vials nil unseen He glvts the roue its dye; And dins the Iriiveu in vivid green, And iianga litem out to dry, lie dreams, nnd paints in summer's hush; Ills labors never done; Hut lays aside bis paint and brush When winter ehillH the sun. TUB SCULPTOR, lie build of night up from the sod Ills scaffolding of leaves. Ami to Its niche upon the rod The rose bud heaves. Then silently through rain and sun Ills chisel deftly goes, llntil a marvelous work is done; A full blown rose. JOSKl'H It. KOAN. Full Size Flasks "When I wa traveling through Kentucky a short time ago," snk! tho Man About Town, "a very amusing Incident occurred one night at the performance of a well known magician In one of tho small moun-. tutu towns where 1 happened to be. "The magician had promd-d willt uiuny mystifying tricks when he announced lie would for the next require a pint flank of Whisky. "Not a man In the audience moved. Thinking thai tliey had misunderstood 1 I n, the magician asked in a louder voice: 'Will some teiitlt'iiiuu kindly hiaa me a pint fliUik of whisky?' 'Tliis was also followed by silence, and 1 was bcgluulng to think that nil the itorle I had heard about 'Kentucky colonels' vera all rot, when a tall, lank fellow In the hack of the hall arose and, holding out a Mask slid: 'Mlstih, would a quart flask do?' " 'J'ist us well, sir,' repliod the niHglclan. "And at that every man In the hou a arise and extended a flank of that sis." Philadelphia Prea. (Copyright, 19(M, by Albert Sonnlchsen.) 1Mb origin of the Devil is lost In the otseuilty of his arly career. We are not now referring to His Hatanle Majesty, but to a lefu-cr liKht; lesser to the world at large, though far more brilliant to the little sphere In which he lived and moved and hutted. To the American soldiers who garrisoned San Hamuli In northern Luzon, and to the natives of the surrounding district, the Devil was a far more tangible ohJ ct of comprehension than the wider known I'rlnee of Darkness, with whom they bad only un abstract acquaintance. Their Devil was a living, moving, breathing power of evil, whose evasion required the keenest control of the physical senses, for when h came on mischief bent It needed more mus cular activity than prayer to get out of his reach. The natives had named him "Diablo el Segundo," which means Devil the Second. There were certainly strong lines of com parison tu merit him tbia tMle. Whit the Devil may have been In the obscurity of hia earlier life we cajinot tell, but as we knew him. In the prime of his later career, his huge home and pointed chin, not for getting the cloven hoof, were strikingly suggestive of his namesake. The compari son, however, waa more than physical. It was In temperament and In general char acter that resemblance waa strongest. When the boys of Company A took Ban Ramon they found what at Drat seemed an entirely deserted town. Kvery man, woman and child had fled with the last of the re treating Insurgents, and they had taken with thern every chicken, cat, dcg. pig or horse that the community owned. Kven much of the furniture bad been carted away from the houses. Kvldently the Fili pinos had decided to make their next stand at some more advantageous point, and, as the men In khaki marched In, they ex pected no resistance. But there la whe.-e they made their mistake. The company lined up In the big shaded plaza and there proclaimed American sov ereignty by raising the colors. This cere mony had Just been completed when there appeared a startling apparition In the open doors of the municipal town ball, fating tho plaxa on the north side. A huge, bearded goat stalked out on the steps and stood for a moment regarding them with a marked expression of disapproval on his satanlc face, which waa In no wise lessened by the remnant of a soldier's castaway coat suspended from his massive jowls. This was lie who waa yet to be handed down to local fame as "Diablo." Being native born. It may naturally be supposed that Dis bio's political tendencies were In favor of the Filipino cause. At any rate, having slsed up the enemy's position In the plaxa, he dropped the coat, lowered his hend and charged the line of dust-colored troops. At first a laugh arose from the men, but as the champion of the absent Insurgents gained momentum In his wild charge for the company center, some of the men shifted uneasily, then scrambled quickly to both sides, as the ponderous boost cut his way through. Having missed tho sergeant who had been the object of his especial attack, he turned again, and then the brown ranks wavered and a wild panic broke loose. The captain shouted commands to which were attached words not good to hear, but this unexpected sort of attack had de moralised all discipline. The bandstand and the stone fence surrounding bristled with men; only the captain stood his ground. And when at last the enemy turned on him he, too, dodged and sought refug with his men. Having won what he considered a com plete victory, Diablo withdrew to the end of the plaxa to contemplate thn confusion he had wrought In the enemy's ranks, pro claiming his triumph with load noises that were more bellows than, the "baas" of bis kind. Kvldently be waa satisfied to rest on bis laurels, for when the men reassembled In ranks, ho made no further hostile dem onstration and dlsapiM'urcd bvhind the walls of the municipal town hall. Next day he appeared again, but in a n iire peaceful mood. The first sergeant ap piouchud him with a wisp of straw, and this Diablo accepted as a peace offering, letter be came over to the barracks and mingled with the men, and while some were for retrieving the defeat of the da' before the majority were glnd to accept the truce that Diablo offered. Thus their acquaintance begin. Diiblo saw that these men in brown uniforms were not such bad fellows after all, and accepted their presence with a philosophical equanimity not to be disturbed by further serious strife. It Is to be suspected that his tombativenesa of the first day was prompted as much by a desire for iwrsonal glory as by patr'otlo motives, for now that he was accorded all the respect due to a warrior of his calltier he seemed to think no more of his fighting compatriots in the nearby bills. Not long after this the native families of Ban Itamnn be an to return to their de serted homes, bringing with them their household goods. Tbey, too, were begin ning to learn that the Yankees ware pretty decont fellows nnd comparatively harm less except in light. I'erhaps Diablo would have removed even t hi- litter qualification, but then he could Judge only by his own one exiKTience. lie had won where others hud lost. The Americans learned something of Diablo's antecedents from the returning natives. He had been brought there by a company of insurgent regulars from the Tagalog country as a m.iscot. He had al ways been on fairly good terms with them, except that he occasionally displayed a very hasty temper when offended. He had strong likes and dislikes and his dislikes usually outnumbered his likes. The red trousers of the insurgent cavalry uniform were especially distasteful to his esthetic sense. There had been only one cavalry otlleer In Han Kamon in those days, a Colonel I.ala, who was there on inme vague mission for the Tarloc government, and he, or his trousers, became the object of Diablo's bitterest animosity. Whenever the colonel appeired In the plaza 1)1. iblo's most intimate friends could not hold him back and the colonel found it safer to keep In doors. He openly advocated death for the goat, but the discipline of the already half shattered insurgent army was then too loose to permit of such tyrannical pro ceedings. With all his faults the Tago'.og regulars still had a genuine regard for their camp follower. That he had not been taken along in the retreat showed only how hard pressed they had been. As time paa.Me.d Diablo became apparently as used to his white associates as he had been to the brown. Ho formed a rather Intimate friendship with the first sergeant who had been the object of his special animosity the first day. Him he would sometimes honor with a formal visit at quarters, but toward the rest of the men, including the colonel, who sometimes came up from Vlgan, Diablo's attitude was one of contemptuous toleration. If he met them In the narrow strrets he gave them just one-half f the right-of-way not an Inch mora, Diablo's attitude toward women was pe culiar. It was a fact that any human figure above a certain age that wore skirts was an object to be actively avoided. The colonel's wife came up from Vlgan several times, and at once made overtures of friendship to Diablo but with calm dignity he refused to meet her advances. He showed no lens aversion toward the native women. If he met' them In the street he carefully stepped aside with a chilly po liteness and allowed them to pass. But strange to say, when It came to chil dren, his prejudices underwent a complete reversion. Small boys he could not en dure. Little girls needed no introductions to become bib friends; for them he even showed a marked fondness. They might pull his beard or punch his ribs or even crawl uKin his back, and he tolerated all with a patience simply astounding in one of his otherwise hasty temperament. Bananas or turnips from their hands were especially delicious. Toward all of them he was distinctly paternal. It was the one soft spot In his world hardened charac ter. Little Mercedes, the daughter of a local tobacco merchant, was once lost for a whole day. The surrounding Jungles were searched by American soldiers and natives for many hours until near sunset, when she wa3 found some distance up the moun tain, making faces and calling names to the nervous little jungle monkey&. Had she been alone she might have been In some danger, but Diablo waa found pa tiently watching her from under a nearby mango tree. He had followed and kept his eye on her the whole day, and when they found her, he abruptly left and trotted back to town. Thus months passed and, except for a few lively encounters with various men, both Filipinos and Americans, who were absent minded enough to forget Diablo's prejudices against certain peculiarities of dress, life In Ban Ramon waa peaceful enough. It was not until it was rumored that the insurgent guerrilla loader, Tlno, was coming down from the north that the monotony of the tedious garrison life was broken. Then began the hikes into the neighboring hills. Several times the boys had slight skirmishes with Tino's men, but no great harm was done to either side. A few prisoners were brought in and an Amer ican corporal was wounded, but Tino's game Just then was to lie low until the rainy season. One evening the officers were, gathered at mess, when a native boy came In and silently delivered a letter to the colonel himself. He opened it, read It, and then hastily excusing himself rose and left the room. It was quite dark as he made his way across the plaxa and entered the house of n local merchant, n rich mestizo known to be favorable to the American cause for business reasons. The rolonel was met . at the door by the mestizo himself, who conducted him Into a rear room of the house. There, seated In a large cane chnlr, was a second native, also a mestizo, whose yellow face was none the more attractive for a long, stringy, Maclc mustache. As the two men entered he rose and bowed. "Dls ess Colonel Lata," said the mcr chant, and, bowing he left the military men together. The two seated themselves close together and spoke In low tones, the American listening mainly, but occasion ally nodding his head. Finally the nativo drew from an Inner pocket of his civilian white drill coat a pae, thereby exposing tho finely striped white and blue uniform coat of an Insurgent officer. He hastily re buttoned the outer coat and spread the paper tiefore the colonel on a small table. The two men were still examining this paper when a noise below caused them to raise their heads. In the rear of the room was a trap door of light bamboo, covering a stone stepway that descended the base ment. Suddenly there came a loud crash with a splintering of glass; from between the cracks of the floor rose the smell and smoke of burning straw. The two men sprang to their feet. The commotion be low Increased, then suddenly the trap door flew open with a gust of smoke and excited and badly frightened native boy dashed up and out of the house, shouting "Incen dio! Incendio!" (Fire! Fire!) Hardly had be disappeared when there followed a clat ter on the stone stairway, and In the open ing, envelopel in a stream of smoke, rose the horns and face and pointed beard of what to some might have seemed a fearful apparition. But the colonel knew Diablo when he saw him. Not so the native, apparently. With a scream he threw himself before a crucifix hanging on tkc wall. "Salvaml Dlos! Salvamt Dlos!" he called frantically. Diablo had flung himself Into the room In a second. He paused for an Instant, then, rose on his hind legs and came down with a roar on the kneeling native, rolling him over on the floor. Then the big creature Jumped over the prostrate body of the screaming man, bounded through the door way Into the front room and out of tha entrance of the house, disappearing in the darkness outside. The whole Incident occuplod less than a minute. His first surprise over, the Amer ican officer, restraining his laughter with much difficulty, helped the native to his feet, who rose with a face that was pasty white. The disturbance below had ceased. Inquiry revealed the- fact that a lamp had been upset In a pile of straw, which hap pened also to bo the bed of Diablo, but the basement of he house being all of stone, tho fire had gone out of itself. As the mestizo merchant furnished thia Information, the native whom he had in troduced as Ixila had recovered his com posure, and he even made a lame attempt at a smile. He and the American again seated themselves at the table and resumed their study of the paper. But the Colonel could not help noticing that his compan ion's whUe trousers had torn In the seam, and through the rip was exposed a strip of red cloth. Next day Diablo was missing. He was hunted for for miles about, but unsuccess fully. The sou roll was abandoned in th afternoon on orders that erery si an pre pare himself fbr the march at once. It waaj some hours before sunset when the com pany fell In and marched out of town to ward the river, the Colonel with them. Outside of town they were joined by a native In a bkie coat and red trousers the cavalry uniform of tha inssrgenfs. Then the boys knew what was in the wind. In half an hour they struck the river and followed Its bank up Into the towering mountain crags that piled up in the In terior. The ground rose and became diffi cult to traverse, while tho river dropped below them. At last the command to halt was given, and every man lay down. Only the Colonel and the native remained stand ing. They were examining some nipa thatches that barely showed through tha foliage on a bluff still further up. Again the men climbed on, split Into two parties now, the captain and colonel going with otie, the two lieutenants wttli the other. The men were quivering with nervous expectation. Once more the captain' party halted, now Just above the nipa thatches. They could see men walking among the huts; men who wore striped white and blue uni forms. They waited. The first lieutenant's party had gone on a detour. Suddenly there came n splintering crash of a volley from below. Men In white and blue uniforms rushed helter skelter out oa a narrow road along the Bide of the bluff, only to be flredl on by the men in brown above them. "At 'em, boy!" shouted the captain, and down the Americans dashed in among the panic crasj-dj insurgents, most of whom were without runs. It was all over In no time ten Insurgents killed, some wiainded and fifty prisoners; a few escaped amor the crags. The Amer icans entered the hidden village. Of their own number none was hurt. Stretchers were made for the wounded and the march bock by the tnUl began. The captives scowled fiercely at the yellow man in red trousers. The sun was sotting and cast a red glow over the tops of the Jutting crags. Oyer the river hejow the shadows grew (Continued on Fage Sixteen.)