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About Dakota County herald. (Dakota City, Neb.) 1891-1965 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1910)
0 UN DAKOTA CITY HERALD tiO CLOUDS 1(1 SIGHT DAKOTA CITY, NEB. JOHN H. REAM, . Publisher. TI A 3V OVERTON PD1CE COLONEL GEORGE HARVEY. 8AY9 COUNTRY ALL RIGHT. ALIMONY AND DIVORCE. I lllM . ml K l1 Now cornea a New York woman who is sure to be charged with "woman's Inhumanity for woman," professing to be shocked at the multiplicity of dl vorces and proposing a remedy In tho total abolition of alimony, says Omaha Bee. She conceives the prospect of alimony to be the chief cause of di vorces granted to women and de nounces the system as nothing but a elmplo graft Undoubtedly many de lgnlng women can consistently take no exceptions to these charges, and It Is not to be questioned that some unscrupulous lawyer will co-operate with women for the purpose of ob taining financial emolument through the operation of the divorce courts, tut that alimony, or the desire to ob tain alimony, constitutes the prevail ing cause and purpose of women seeking legal separations from their husbnnds. It is hard to believe, any more than It would be wise, safe or Just to do away with the law provid ing for alimony. Society has come to recognize that there Is such a thing as a Justifiable divorce, and there is certainly such a thing as a woman Deeding and deserving support from the man from whom she seeks and l talns a divorce, and to abolish alimony would work hardship on many women and children, alike blameless for the causes as well as the fact of the separation. Has everybody forgotten Halley's somet? There was a reaction after the trepidation and Intense curiosity aroused by lis approach, and now, In stead of piling out of bed at unearth ly hours of the early morning In the hope of getting a glimpse of It, there are many who would not, for the prom ise of a good square look at the won derer, take the trouble of walking across the street They have seen It once, and so far as they are con cerned. It Is an old story. Halley's comet Is not beyond viewing dis tance from the earth; yet It cannot be seen. The reason of Its Invisi bility Is Its nearness to the sun. It Bets In the early evening, while the twilight Is strong enough to hide It with a veil of light At the end of the month It will set before sunset. It Is further south In the sky than the sun. THE WRITER SEES NO CLOUD Striking Article In North American Review That Is Attracting Wide Attention. The Canadian authorities have been so much disturbed over the re port that 15,000 American farmers have left the Caandian northwest that they have undertaken an Inquiry of their own. The result of that Is the admission that 261 farmers and their families have returned to the United States. During the same time they claim that over 0,000 settlers have entered Canada from this country. Perhaps It is up to the United Statef to Investigate these last figures. a Louisiana man nas patented a combined pickle fork and pair of tongs. With the aid of this useful In strument you may, after a pickle slips from your fork, reach Into the jar and pick It out with the tongs. For our part, we are unable to understand why anyone should wish to take so much trouble for the purpose of se curing a pickle. If It come to pass that a guard must go with every canoe, canoeing will lose Its vogue. Its chief charm has always been in affording the young man an opportunity to show the girl how be can handle the oars. He will never consent to be followed by a life saver. One of New Tork's fashion experts makes the interesting announcement that millionaires are not the best dressed men. The millionaires ap pear to be bearing up as hopefully as -could be expected. "A hearty laugh Is a good thing for Indigestion," says one of the doc tors. In these days the trouble Is to find the thing that will provoke a hearty laugh. one oi me ministers candidly an Bounces that automobile scorchers have no chance to go to heaven. But there are probably no automobiles In heaven, anyway. Why U it so astounding that a man in an aeroplane can go faster than a bird? Doesn't a man on a locomo tive go faster than a greyhound or a race horse? The attention of business and pro fenslonal men In all portions of the country has been attracted to a strik ingly strong article by Col. George Harvey In the September issue of the North American Review In which the writer takes a view of the greatest hopefulness for the future of America and Americans. The article Is en titled "A Plea for the Conservation of Common Sense," and It Is meeting with the cordial approval of business men of all shades of political opinion throughout the entire country. In part, Colonel Harvey nays: "Unquestionably a spirit of unrest dominates the land. BuL If it be true that fundamentally the condition of the country Is sound, must we necessarily succumb to despondency, abandon effort looking to retrieval and cringe like cravens-bifore clouds that only threaten? Itnther ought we not to analyze conditions, search for causes, find the root of the dis tress, which even now exists only In men's minds, and then, after tho American fashion, apply such rem edies as seems most likely to produce beneficent results? Capital and Labor Not Antagonistic. True Link that connects labor with capital la not broken but we may not deny that It Is less cohesive than it should be or than conditions war rant. Financially, the country la stronger than ever before in Its his tory. Recovery from a panic so severe ns that of three years ago was never before so prompt and compara tively complete. The masses are practically free from debt. Money Is held by the banks la abundance and rates are low. Why, then, does capital pause upon the threshold of investment? The answer, we believe, to be plain. It awaits adjustment of the relations of government to business. The ole problem consists of determining how government can maintain nn even balance between aggregations of Interests, on tho one hand, and the whole peoplo, on tho other, protect ing the latter against extortion and saving the former from mad assaults. "The solution Is not easy to find for the slmplo reason that the situ ation Is without precedent. But Is not progress being made along sane and cautious lines? . Conserve Common Sense. "Is not the present, as we have seen, exceptionally secure? What, then, of preparations for the future? Patriotism 1b the baala of our Insti tutions. And patriotism in the minds of our youth Is no longer linked Bolely with fireworks and deeds of daring. It Is taught in our schools. A new course has been added a course in loyalty. Methodically, our children learn how to vote, how to conduct primaries, conventions and elections, how to discriminate between qualifica tions of candidates and, finally, bow to govern as well as servo. Tbey are taught to despise bribery and all forms of corruption and fraud as treason. Their creed, which they are made to know by heart, Is not com plex. It Is simple, but comprehen sive, no less beautiful in diction than lofty in aspiration. These are the pledges which are graven upoa their memories: As it is cowardly for a soldier to run away from battle, so it U coward ly for any citizen not to contribute his share to the well-being of his country. America is my own dear land; she nourishes me, and I will love her and do my duty to her. whose child, servant and civil soldier I am. 'As the health and happiness of my body depend upon each muscle and nerve and drop of blood doing its work in Its place, so the health and happiness of my country depend upon each citizen doing his work In bla place. 'These young citizens are our hostages to fortune. Can we not safely assume that the principles ani mating their lives augur well for the permanency of the Republic? When before have the foundation stones of continuance been laid with such care and promise of durability? "The future, then, Is bright. And the present? But one thing Is need ful. No present movement Is more laudable than that which looks to conservation of natural resources. But let us never forget that the great est Inherent resource of the Amer ican people is Common Sense. Let that be conserved and applied wal nut cessation, and soon it will be found that all the ills of which we complain but know not of are only such as attend upon the growing pains of a great and blcpsed country. If- iM4t0liuMliM'm- j HE first idea of a tlement of free with the foundation of the Brit ish colony of Sierra Leone. Aft er tho close of tho American War of Independence In 1783 it became' necessary to provide for the negro troops who had served Great Britain faithfully In that unhnppy struggle. They were at first deported to Nova Scotia, but bad no place there in the body politic of white men; they were no longer slaves, but the idea of granting the suffrage to negroes was then dlspleusing to the dominant race. There was also the problem of the free Maroon negroes of Jamaica, who were Irksome to tho authori ties In a land of slavery. So the idea of found ing a free negro state or community In West Africa for the reception of enfranchised Amer ican negroes came Into being about 1784, and In 1787 the colony of Sierra Leone was found ed under a chartered company and taken over by the crown in 1808. Early in tho nineteenth century the same difficulty aroHo In tho United States, namely, tho presence of thousands of free negroes rhose case had not been sufficiently provided or by the American Constitution. Somehow ' '(A " nVoes-arose 5 fl R .VVSW .cCf'CI ' -V ."4 nk: rv, v m . f -V - V t I II O I t ; , '-lit, ZmT f ' v' " -M.l 111 Ky-f ' vf2iAF .. 1 m . . mi l 5 Ml' 1? " II Hah t ' - i i.l - . II A ' w. II -v. . 4 t-4 1 4, --i- 4 : 4 i-Z . .iff ."1 i 1 i. i i5r , t f rt e. x a 1 c Is t ' 1 1 k uL .if f If the cow shows Its appreciation of music by giving a bigger yield of milk, why not try the experiment on chickens during the egg famine? Aviators seem annoyed because an airship was wrecked by a flag pole. Yet a flag has a right to fly as well as a biplane. Fears have been expressed that the weather bureau bas mislaid the warm wave flag. He Knows the Game. According ko the Metropolitan Men- azlne, Fire Chief John Conway of Jer sey City, has solved tho bubeltill ex cuse question by the posting of thu following printed notice on his desk at fire headquarters: "All requests for leave of absence owing to grandmothers' funerals, lame back, house cleaning, moving, tore throat, headache, brainstorm, routltu' wedding, general Indisposition, etc.. must be handed to th! chief not hi '.or than ten o'clock on the morning ol the game." tt other these froe negroes and mulattoes trowing Impatient of being taxed without rep resentation must be provided for. So several philanthropists, remembering Sierra Leone, thought to promote by private enterprise and philanthropy a similar colony acrBs die sea which might provide for the return to WeBt Africa (whence most of them had come), of the freed slaves of the United States. Indeed, there was a strong disposition to adopt Sierra Leone for this purpose, with the assent of the British government; but the local authorities of Sierra Leon showed themselves very averse from receiving American negroes, who might owe a divided allegiance. Accordingly the American founders of "Li beria" (this name was not given to the infant state until 1824) who were mostly white men with a few mulattoes and nefcroes selected tho Grain Coast, Immediately to the south and east of Sierra Ixone, for their experiment. It was some weeks before the hostility of the natives, who were wedded to the slave trade, cculd be overcome, but In 1822 active operations were begun. A thirty-acre tract was allotted to each man with the means of cultivating it. The National Colonization soci ety's agents became discouraged at the diffi culties that were met and returned to Ameri ca with a few fainthearted ones; but tho others rallied about a determined negro, Elijah Johnson, and remained. The colony was en larged by the addition of new tracts. New settlements were afterward formed at Capo Monte and in the newly acquired llHssa Land, in which, In 1834, a town was founded and called Edlna, In acknowledgment of pecuniary aid sent from Edinburgh. Miwiy of the neigh boring chlefB were received Into the colony, and others were subdued. Trials of many kinds, deprivations and dissensions were the lot of the colony, managed by a society which did not fully know whether Its alms were sen timental or practical. In 1847 Liberia was left to its own resources and declared an inde pendent republic. The colony Immediately be gan to show moro prosperity, numerous churches and schools were founded, newspa pers were established, and slavery In the neighboring states wn-s abolished. The first president of Independent Uberlu was Roberts, an octoroon. He was a most able und cour ageous man and tho country mad rapid strides In civilization and other material lines 1 n"n CSLC&ffATnQ THC LBttAfl fNDPEMDJVC DAY progress under his admlnistra- Of course, we all Intended to travet In Switzerland and Italy this summer. but circumstances sen us du-tn to the old farm instead. A 15-ton Khark has been captured near Seattle, but even for Seattle wa take it that this Is exceptionally Ug Honing. Duty Smears. "How can you go around," demand ed bW wife," with tobacco Juice all vor your face?" "This isn't tobacco Juice," respond ed the candidate, mildly. "it's mo lasses. I've teen kist.lng LuLles." Hce to H mat your irrocer ones not ve ambush tcaleb -the k'l.d that lie lu weight. Pretending. "See tb toys." "Pretending to Ii" jo'dl' ra. eh?" 'Yes; kids cct lots of tun pretend ing." "And grow n-i:p. tio. I ;ut Ir my vacation protend. im I a rich.' The constitution of the republic Is framed after that of the United States. There are a president, vice president, a council of six ministers and a house of representatives. Vot ers must be of negro blood and own -real estate. The natives gnerally do not avail themselves of the suf frage. No foreigner can own land without the consent of the govern ernment. The coast territory is formed into the counties of Bassa, Cape Palmas and Slnoe, with one superintendent each, and Montserra do, with four superintendents. The capital Is Monrovia, named after President Monroe. English money I used, but American money figures usually In the keeping of accounts. There is a Llberlan coinage and a rather large paper currency. The official language of the country is English. The civilized in habitants are orthodox Protestants, mostly Episcopalians. During the fifties and sixties of the last cen tury the Amertco-Llberlaus did much to ex plore the Interior and enter into treaty rela tionships with the native chlefB. But thirty years ago their administration began to get Into financial difficulties. It ts not an easy thing to create a well-ordered, well-governed state In tropical Africa without a consider able capital to draw on. Consider for a mo ment what Great Britain has spent on Sierra Leone since 1787, and on the Gold Coast wars, the opening up of Nigeria; or the outlay of France on Senrgambla or Dahomey; and then Imagine how the government of Liberia could without any reserve of capital bring law, order and civilization Into a densely forested terri tory nearly the size of England, with a prob able population of over a million warlike sav ages and semi-savages. So long as Britain and France the control ling powers contented themselves with the mere occupation of a few coast towns on the seaboard of their West African dominions or protectorates, the Monrovia government could afford to do the same. But when these great European powers were compelled by force of circumstances to occupy and administer the regions behind their coasts the Liberians found themselves In a position of great diffi culty. They had been allotted theoretically by France and England a considerable hinter land more, than 50,000 square miles and were held responsible for the doings of the native trlbeB In that extensive Interior. Now these tribes had never been subdued by the government of the republic. They were many of thorn in treaty relationships with the Mon rovia administration, and such of them as had heard of the civilized negro government on the coast (and it must bo remembered that much of tho Interior Is deuse forest, inhabited by tribes who for ages have been isolated in that forest, and were and are quite ignorant of the world outside their tribal land) were quite willing to regard the Liberians aa the ruling power on the seashore. But they were very disinclined to obey orders from Monrovia if contrary to their own desires. Tho tribes farthest inland looked upon the British and French the "white men" as ag gressors who were putting down by force a most lucrative slave trade, who were forcibly disclosing the secrets of sacred streams like the Niger near Its sources, who, in short, were not only to be opposed, but whose organized territories offered a most profitable field for raids and robberies. More than this: the Im port of guns, gunpowder, rifles (above all) and alcohol was being restricted or forbidden by the Europeans. The Llberlan coast, especially where It was slenderly guarded by the Llbe rlan administration, offered the one loophole through which these forbidden goods might be smuggled. Accordingly a great trade sprang up between these uncontrolled hinterland tribes and the Kru people on the coast, who affected a sort of detachment from the govern ment by the American-Negro republic. In these ways the Llberlan hinterland beeame a positive source of danger and expense to the YW or CAft SiAJ.A1Ai5 ... British protectorate of Sierra Ieone and the French possessions of tho Sudan and Ivory Coast. Consequently the Liberian government has been forced of late years to live somewhat beyond Its means In organizing, a police and a marine, In occupying the Kru coast and in attempting to construct roads to places of Importance In the Interior. It haa from time to time engaged Euro pean officers for its services; but whereas some of these engagements have been of noteworthy success, others have been the reverse, and it Is difficult to locate the blame. European capital is somewhat shy of Liberia, partly owing to the turbulence of the Interior natives (though this has been exaggerated, for white men very seldom really Incur danger from the indigenes), but more on account of the irresponsible fickleness of the legislature, which is given too much to the hasty making and unmaking of laws and to conflicts of opinion with the executive. Yet the country Is extremely rich. Its rocks and river valleys produce both gold and diamonds, some of the coast districts (especially in the east) even give indications of the existence of bitumen, or oll-bearlng strata, while the forests of the ln- terlor are remarkable for their wealth of rubber bearing trees and lianas, their ebony, African teak and "mahogany," and the piassava fiber (derived from the raphla palm), which is used for so many purposes connected with tho making of brooms and brushes. Then there Is the oil-palm, with its two kinds of oil, both valuable to commerce the oil of the husk and that of the kernel. The extraction of this last and its great value for special industries are said to have been dis covered some seventy-five years ago by an American negro, one of the early colonists of Liberia. A great deal was done by these freed slave settlers, for which they have never re ceived sufficient credit. Unfortunately the attempted colonization of Liberia has been hindered by the American negro colonists proving almost as much liable to malarial fever and other African diseases as Europeans. They seem to have lost the relative Immunity from these blood-germ mal adies which their African ancestors enjoyed. The modern America-Liberian does not stand the climate of Liberia much better than the white man from Europe or America. The country is not unhealthy in the interior; it is the coast belt which, with Its eternal heat and moisture, its very short dry seasons, and tor rential rains (conditions which suit admirably the cultivation of rubber, coffee and cacao) saps the vitality of residents not of African birth. And the hinterland, with Its superior conditions of climate, haa already a some what large Indigenous population, who are not eager for foreign additions to their numbers. Hiring Help In East Africa The "servant problem" is bad enough in America, and the experiences mistresses have to relate are many and varied; but an infinite ly wider range of possibilities Is opened up when mere man and a bachelor at that tackles the servant and other household prob lems In an East African bungalow. Anything can happen and does happen! Native house servants of a sort are plen tiful enough around the chief towna of Brit ish East Africa, Nairobi and Mombasa, and the slightest rumor that the Muzungu (white man) requires a "boy" or m'pezl (cook) Alls one's compound with cooks, "generals" and raw niggers, representing every tribe under Africa's sun, a writer in the Wide World says. Tho average bachelor contents himself with four servants a head "boy," a cook, a "toto" (youth) to assist them, and a m'shenzl (raw, untrained native) for odd Jobs, garden ing, etc. It Is no easy task to make a selection from the host of eager, voluble applicants. Dirty, carefully stuck-together "baruas" (testimoni als) are examined and tlw owners questioned, but It unwise to put much faith In these documents, for It is no unusual occurrence for a "boy" on the principle of "the more the merrier" to proudly present you with three testimonials, every one bearing a different name from the one under which he Introduces himself! These gentry are always greatly offended when you kick them off the veranda and tell them they have bought or stolen the docu ments from other natives! Upon one occasion a would- be cook brought me a "barua" signed by a well-known settler and worded: "To whom It may concern: The bearer of this 'barua' Is an infernal rogue and thief Please kick him out." By the time I had stopped laughing the nig ger had arrived at the conclusion that some thing was wrong and was doing record time down the path, so I was unable to avail my self of the kind invitation. HORSE TRADE IN MISSOURI. In St. Charles last week Lester Ingraham traded A. S. Osborn a horse for a motor boat. A few hours later Osborn discovered that the horse was worthless, so be went to the boat and removed the engine and the horse died as he was hauling it away. A Jury In a Jus t ice's court awarded Ingraham the engine and $1 damages. Detroit Free Press. Poor Man-on Foot In a few ara aeroplanes will be as KiuimuD as automobiles aro now, and t Is obvious that the man-on foot v. Ill lave little bhow.says the Kmporla Ca lotte. The auto-acorcher will be a larmless individual as compared with Jie spued maniac overhead. A man ho will take to aeroplanlcg must be laturally reckless to begin with, and lis rcckleBness will increase with each light Ills boilers will bust, and his engines will fly to pieces, and there will be showers of hardware, and big Iron castings will hit the man-on foot and knock him into the ground up to his shoulder blades. Every time he walks around a block a falling monkey wrench or claw hammer will dot him on the head and make him sick and weary. Another prospective evil is the In crease of insurance agents. There will be an aeroplane insurance, which will enable you to provide for your widow and children in case an aviator falls on you and squashes you. In surance agents of various kinds aro bo thick now that It la Impossible to avoid them, and any scheme that threatens to swell their ranks should be denounced by press and pulpit. Lift Preservers for the Air. Dirigible balloon accidents for the last four years show a loss of 35 HveB, and In the past two years 12 aeroplun- Ists have met the Bame fate. Is it not time that some of the Ingenuity spent upon perfecting the airship be devot ed to inventing an airship life pre server? In hot air balloon ascensions the descent Is always niado with a par achute. While an aeroplanlst might not be able to extricate himself from his seat In time to take advantage of a parachute, why should not an equip ment of this kind be feasible for the dirigible airships? Those who are comjietent to deal with the situation should devlkve some method of pre serving life in tho case of accidents, which seem to be a foregone conclu sion, at least In the early stages ol the flying game. Leslie's. A Professional Diagnosis. Policeman What is the matter wltt my finger, doctor? It pains me terrl bly. Surgeon It Is a strictly profea sional affliction. Policeman What do you mean? Surgeon Simply that you havo t felon on band