!
THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIMMf
IRA L. DARE, Publisher
TERMS: $1.25 IN ADVANCE
NORTH PLATTE, - NKDRASKA
t
OWES
HER
LIFE W
Impractlcallty of a Practical Education.
I am oven ho optimistic no to think
It not Impossible that oven tlio general
public will revlso Its notions of prac
ticality. At nny rato, my experience
as a teacher him bcoii ono cbmpletn
chango of judgment in this mattor,
writes Dean Dlrgo in the Atlantic.
When I began to teach zoology my
teeth wore continually set on edgo by
tho well-meaning friends who tnlkod
wisely of tho practical naturo of tho
study of Bclenco as contrasted with
language For tho past 1C yourH, or
more, I have hoard nothing of this. All
nro now awaro that tho study of scl
enco is no mora practical, and no less
so, than tho study of philosophy. To
day that "practicality" which onco
seemed to Inhere in sclcnco Is placed
in tho study of history and of econo
mic). In 15 years more the world
may have learned Hint these now hu
manltlcs nro chlofly valuable, not as
furnishing practical guides to tho nf
falrs of active life, but that thoy stand
with tho old humanities', with tho sci
onces, with philosophy, an furnishing a
way into tho Intollcctual life. It may
bo well that students will learn that
in coming to collogo thoy aro scoklng
tho intollcctual life, and that tho wny
In which thoy reach it mattors little,
so that tho result have In it ahundnnt
vitality and many pointn of growth.
Sport for. an Old Whaler.
Whalemen still llvo In Province
town, Mass., though they aro few In
number and lead u II fo of retirement
seldom Btlrred by events connected
with their nforctlmo avocation. A fow
days ago, howovor, memories of other
days woro rovIvad. Tho lifo-saving
station reportod a' wlinlo floundering
In tho fish weirs of tho covo. Capt.
Joshua Sllckney Nlckorson loaded tip
Ills bomb lance, and with lilo son
towed a boat to tho Bceno. Tho har
bor was llnod with spectators who
shouted oncouragomonl. Capt. "Josh"
ranged up alotigsldo and, gottlng tho
whalo as ho rolled over on his side,
fired U'O'innco with Its harpoon head
Into tho vitals. Tho bomb exploded
Insldo and tho wlinlo rolled over dead.
It took some time to cut tho body freo
from tho wrecked wolrs, but it was
finally cleared. It proved to bo tho
largest whalo caught In this vicinity
for Bovoral years, and of tho right
whalo varioty. Ho ostlmntos tho prod
ucts of hlu prize at 30 bnrrols of oil
and a couple of hundred pounds of
bono, which will bring hm $500.
Ono grammar school of Chicago lins
aolvod tho vexod question of gradua
tion gowns for tho girls, or rathor tho
principal has solved It for thorn,
ClaBsos In tho highest grado of tho
grammar uchoolo havo formal gradua
tion oxorciscB bocauso so many of tho
pupils end their school days at that
time, and It has become tho custom to
,mako qulto a function of tho proceed
ings. A'b rnany of tho children cotno
from families not ablo to provldo olnb
orato costumuB the question of dress
has bocotno a voxed ono. Tho princi
pal mentioned cogitated on tho mattor,
therefore, nnd issued on order that
each girl must niako hor own'gradunt-
ing gown out of n Bpoclllod grado of
material, boforo sho could havo hor
diploma, ThoBo girls will now mnko
their appoaranco In gowns costing
11.39 each nnd with no soreness or
hard foollnga toward anyone It wnB
n happy thought.
Toledo cathodral, ono of tho mont
magnificent specimens of Oothlo archl
tocturo In tho world, Is In aorlous dan
gor of collapsing, owing to tho condl
tloifko central domo. Largo cracks
Imvo ttppeftwgs and n rocont slight
ewtUfluakeJBtgreatly Increased tho
kulldlna'aWrlir Tho
thprlUw-fire groatly alarmed, and thov
kxq prdered tho pricolosB choir stallB
removed. A commltteo or archltccta
urgos Immodlato cxtonsivo ropnlrs.
Tho government has boon oakod to
grant IG0.000 for this purpoBo.
Vory hard tlmoB aro oxpectod In
Gormany. From month to month th
working hourB In tho toxtllo factorlo
nro being furthor roduced, amounting
now to but four dayB' employment In
thtr SUcslan district, while In southern
Germany tho working tlmo of tho tox
tllo rrilllo hns boon curtailed by 1-1 nor
conk
Now diamond lloldo havo boon
found In Africa, this tlmo in Gorman
torrltory. It'fl going to tako nn Inter
national trust to keep up tho prlco of
engagement Hugs.
Mrs. Agues Knox Muck, wlfo of
Prof. C. Charloton Hlack of Iloston mil.
vorally, lins boon appointed to tho fnc
ulty of tho Collogo of I.Ibornl Arts of
tho university na Blmw professor of
elocution. Mrs, lllack BuccecdB Prof.
Malvlna M. Dennett, who recently ro
vlgnad.
An Indiana pja'uo pluyor ployed for
25 hourB In n coutuut and then fainted
Itpport falls to BtutQ how many of the
nolahboni woro ulmllnrly put out of
buslnosB.
2k Irt
N ITS effort to stop tho appalling
loss of life in tho coal mines of
tho country, tho United States
government Is mooting with
much success. For several
months an oxporlmcnt station,
under tho direction of tho tech
nologic branch of tho United
Stntcs geological survey, has
boon In operation at Pittsburg, Pa,, with tho pur
pose of discovering tho cauBoa of ml no disasters
and Biiggcstlng a romedy.
Along with catnbllshmont of, this station nnd
tho agitation which preceded tho necessary legis
lation, thoro has been n falling off In tho number
of donths In tho coal mines for tho year 1908, and
whllo tho ofllclal ilgurca havo not yot been ob
tained, it Is stated that tho number of deaths
w)ll bo Bovoral hundred less than In 1907, which
waa an unusual year. In December, 1907, four
ergloB to dis
cover nomo
m o t h o d b y
which this dust nn bo
prevented from bolng a
serious menace to tho
miners. Kxporlmonts In
wotting It havo been go
ing on for somo tlmo,
but nothing of n very
definite naturo has as
yet been learned, unless
It Is tho fact that tho
conl dust docH not Ignlto
when there Is a grcnl
amount of moisture In It.
Every effort Is being
made at tho station to
como ns closo to tho
condition!! In a mine us
of Improper explosives, as well as tho
improper use of sultablo explosives,
rosulttf annually In tho wnsto of great
amounts of coal. Tlio uso of too high
chargos In blnstlng, or tho uso of un
necessarily violent explosives, shatters
much good coal, converting fuel Into
dust which may Itself bo explosive
and becomo productc of much fur
ther damage. Such oxploslons often
loosen tho roof of a coal mine, which
mny fall lator- to bo wasted, or produc
tive of fatal accidents. ;
In ndditlon to tho actual experiments
In testing oxploslvos, Important experi
ments nro being mndo In rescue work.
Ono part of tho station has been fitted
up ns a mlnlaturo coal mine. This Ib a
large glass-encased, nlr-tlght room which
contains dlfllcult passages such as aro
found In coal mines. Thero nro also
various obstructions similar to what
would bo found In a mlno nftcr It had
been wrecked by'an explosion; also dum
mies weighing 150 to 200 pounds, rep
resenting usphyxlatcd miners. This room
is filled with deadly gas nnd a rescuo
corps of men' who aro being trained in
tho work enter dally, clad In helmets
which supply them with oxygen while
they work. Tho men remain in this
chamber for two hours, removing ob
structions, picking up tho dummies, plac
ing them on strotchcia and carrying
them away. Thero Is also in tho room
a mnchlno which records tho amount of
work a man may be expected to do whllo
wearing one of theso helmets. One-hnlf
of the large building In which this roscuo
room Is located Is used ns an auditorium
and several hun
dred miners nnd
it!
9 1 vmjMmuLiLjz i?ftr-i!:..twr.ii.rc"'-,-'
explosions took tho lives of 700 men,
ono of thorn at tho Monongnh mlno
In West Virginia bolng the greatest
mining dlsastor In tho history of this
country. Thoro wero 3C0 victims.
During 1908, thoro wero but two acci
dents In which tho loas of llfo was
vory hoavy; ono In January at tho
Hanna mlno, In Wyoming, with u loss
or 70 men; tho other, November 28,
nt tho Marlnnnn mlno In Pennsylvania,
which resulted In 151 donths.
Already at tho experiment station
two dlscovorlOB havo been mndo
which will tend to decrease tho inim
bnr of deaths In tho mines. It hns
been demonstrated that a number of
tho soculled "safoty" explosives aro
anything but safo, In fact tho state
ment Is mndo Hint with tlio present
oxploslvos used in mining, tho minor takes his
llfo In hlu hand ovory time ho touches off a fuse.
It Is tho purpose of tho government to continue
theso oxporlmontB until tho oxploslvos of tho
country aro standardized In such a mnnnor that
tho miner will havo ft dollnlto Idea what thoso ex
plosives will do,
After tho government has gono far enough In
its experiments, a bulletin will bo Issued recom
mending ns permissible explosives such as stand
tho tost. Tho fncts learned concerning thoso ox
ploslvos will bo called directly to tho attention
of tho state mining bureaus as well as tho oper
ators. Perhapa tho most important and far-ronohlng
oxporlmoulH so far nt tho station aro thoso In
which it huts boon doflnltoly shown that coal dusft
Is nn oxploslvo equally iih dangerous ns the dead
ly nro damp. This has boon a mooted queat ton
nmong mining engineers and miners ullko, both
Insisting Hint It is lmpuaulblo to explode conl dust
unless thero Is gas present. That tho conl dust
will uxplodo In tho mlno whoro thoro la no gas,,
hns, boon ropentodfy Hhown to sovornl hundred
oporatora nnd miners at tho testing atntlon. Tho
exports nt tho station nro now bonding thotr en-
possible. Tho tests of various dynamites and
powders used in blnstlng coal aro bolng mndo in
n mnmmoth holler pinto cyllndor which has pre
viously been filled with gas or coal dlst. Tho cyl
lndor Ib 100 foot long and air-feet in dlamoter.
Safoty vnlvea hnvo been placed nil along tho top
and nro left unfastened In suoh a mnnnor that
whenever thoro Is an explosion tho valves lly
open on tholr hinges'. A sorles of portholes on tho
Bldo, covered with ono-hnlf 'Inch glass, enables
thoso onnductl.jg tho experiments to witness tho
results from an observation house GO feet away.
An cxploslvo mixture of Hro damp and air, or coal
dust and air, Is pumped Into tho cyllndor ami tho
oxploslvo which Is to bo tested is shot into It from
ono ond or tho cylinder, bo that tho Hamo goes
right Into tho flro damp or coal dual. Natural
gas is used at this station for flro damp, becauso
It corresponds very closely to this deadly gas.
Tho cannon In which tho oxploslvos aro placed
Is llrod by olectrlclty from tho observation Iiouho
which Is parallel with tho cyllndor Itself.
TIicbo Investigations aro oxpectod to accom
plish a double purposo; not only a reduction In
thq number of men killed In tho mlnos, but also
n saving of tho wusto In mining cofi. The usu
operators have watched tho rescuo drill
through tho largo glass windows which
ecpurnto tho auditorium from tho gas
filled chamber. Although thero has
been but llttlo opportunity so far for
tho rescuo corps to demonstrate Its ef
ficiency nt tho mlnos, still it hns dono
somo good work.
Onco tho holmotod men whllo fight
ing n mlno fire succeeded In bringing
nn unconscious mnn to a plnco of safety,
whoro ho was given oxygen treatment
nnd rccovored his aensea In a short
tlmo.
It is not tho Intontion of tho United
State government to furnish rescuo
corps whenever thoro ie a disaster. Tho
present corps wn3 organized with tho
idea of encouraging tho mlno ownors
and miners thomBolvoa to form such organizations.
Invitations havo been issued to oporatom through
out tho country to send picked mon to tho experi
ment station, whoro they may watch tho govern
ment rescuers at work and lator go through tho
8amo training themselves, In order that thoy may
gain tho necossary confidonco in tho ubo of theso
helmets. Alroady n numbor of tho largo mining
companies havo taken advantago of this Invitation
and nro orgnnlzing rescuo corps nt tholr mines,
fully equipped with oxygen helmets.
In 1907 moro than 3,125 men wero killed In the
conl mlnos of tho country n death rato of 4,80
for ovory 1,000 mon omployed. This Is from thrco
to four tlmea as many men per thousand ns aro
killed In any coal-producing country of Europo,
whoro oxporlmonlnl stations auch as tho ono In
Pittsburg havo been In operation for several years.
Full Beards for Farmers.
Tho protection of farmorH nnd others who nro ex
posed to tho ham a great deal is n serious nnd ill 111
uult matter. Cancer Is on tho Inorcnao, nnd arm
ors fiirnhjli a lurirfB proportion of tho cases, many
'of thvm being due to tho direct effects of sunlight
on tliu fnoo nnd hands. A full board for tl o farmer
Is inot duNlrxblo for IiIb protection.
and ml
Lydia E. Pinkham's
Vegetable Compound
Vienna, W. Va. "I feel thatlowo
tho last ten years of my llfo to Lydia,
is. riuKiiam'8 vego
tnblo Compound.
Eloven years ago I
was ft walking
Bhadow. I had been
under tho doctor's
carebutgotnorcllcf.
My husband per
suaded mo to try
Lydia E. Pinkham'u,
"Votretablo Com
pound nnd itworked
liko n charm. It re
lieved all my nalns.
sorv. l nuviso an Buuonnir
women to tako LydmE. PlnKham'fr.
Vegotablo Compound." Mits.Esmx
Wiikaton-, Vienna, W. Va.
Lydia E. I'inkham'o Vegotablo Com
ipound, mado from nallvo roots nnd
herbs, contains no narcotics or harm
'ful drugs, and to-day holds tho record
for tho largest number of actual cures
of fomalo di3caso3of any similar medl
clno In tho country, and thousands of
voluntary testimonials nro on illo in
tho Pinkham laboratory at Lynn,
Mass., from women who havo been
cured from almost every form of"
female complaints, Inflammation, ul
ceration.displaccmonts, fibroid tumors.
Irregularities, periodic paino, backache,
indigestion and nervous prostration
Every such suffering woman owes it to
herself to glvo Lydia E. Pinkham's
Vegetable Compound n. trial.
If you would liko special ndvlco'
about yoiu cnsoivrlto n confiden
tial letter to Mrs. Plnlclmm, nt
Lynn, Mass. Her ndvlco is free,,
and always helpful.
Western Canada tho Pennant Winner
The government of;
Canada now gives
to every uctual eet
tlcr 160 acres of
Avlieiit- tJrowlii.
land froo and an
additional 100 acres;
nt $3.00 an ncre. The 300,000 contented
American settlers making their homes in
Western Cunutln is the best evidence of
the superiority of that country. They arc
becoming rich, growing from 25 to 50
bu3hels wheat to the acre; 60 to 1 10 bush
els oats nnd 45 to CO bushels barley, be
sides having splendid herds of cattle raised
on the prairie grass. Dairying is ah im
portant industry.
The crop of 1S08 still keeps Western Canada.
In the lend. The world wilt soon lxk to It no
its food-producer.
"Tho thlnir which most Improsvxi ns trsis tho
masnlttiilo ul tlni country Unit Is nvullnblo fur
mtrlcultuml purposes." A'ttlonal lMturial
Vorraiiontlinct, 1'jvt).
Low railway rates, cood schools and churches,
markets convenient, prices the hichest, climate
perfect.
lands nro for snlo br Hallway nnd Land Com
tuinlet, lH-bcrlptlro tiaiaphlutsantl ruups sent froo.
ir rullwur nttusnnd otlior Information apply to
Hupcrlntvndontot luiinlifmllon, Ottana. Cniiuda.or
tlio uuthorlzcd Ounadluu Uovcrnmont nvnt:
W. V. DENKETT,
CO! New fork Lite Bulldlnf. Onabi. Ntbrnts.
mm
Tho Roason I Mnko nr.d Soil Mot o Lion's . 93.00
& $3.60 Bhocs Than Any Other Manufacturer
ll txciutt I sirs th nrrirtr itit twetUt of th raoit
coraplit orfinltttloa of trilaed exptrti nnd lailit
hMin&lierf la tti country.
Tb( itlect'.on of tho lathri for nth prt of tho eho.
soil ortry dit&ll of too nulling la tvry itrutirtnt. Im
UcUi rur by th txit ihota sliors In tho tliuo Ininitrr.
If I 0Ql4 ohow you how cmtoUy W L. Douglii bct
sro milt, yoa wouiJ thia noiltrittna why thty hola thilr
ahjipa, nttiittor, uawiar lcmir thin uy other mats.
Uy Method of Tanning tho Soles makes them Moro
Flexible and longer Wcarlnj than any others.
Shoes fop l!-pry Urmhfp of tho Kitmlljr.
Men, lloya, WoiiH'li.M lo mill Children,
For ml" by shoo dmlers orerywlie ro.
PflllTlnM I NunB (fnulne nltliout V. 1- Dnels
UrIUIIUli I nuiua and prlc-a iauiitd on txj.tuin.
tuX Color rjlt U(d Cxdailvrly. Catilon nulla! fits,
W. L. DOL'QUS, 167 Spark St., Urocktoa, Miiss.
ONE DOLLAR A MONTH
trill prottrt yuti airulnst loss
of Income, doctor'a bills, etc., In
i-aBO you nro h1l-U or Injured nnti
aro prcveuled from followlurf your
ri'numr ix-vupailou. Uuuocls urir
paid promptly
the Ik-nI po I toy
ever ottered.
National
Fidelity & Casualty
Company
Omaha, Neb.
Tho HtroriL'est
Accident nml
lli-iillU Iiiur
iince Co, of
Ncbnmlxa.
NATIONAL
I FlDELITrc.
. OMAHA j
A0WTS
WANTED
ieed pcraor
I Per Salter's cauloe patn :ig. I
!1 In lncceitt money mnk nif crop in vrk'Ptulilna I
Is cabtise. Then rnnins niiiciti. ntillnlic. I
I c... VU.UIIIUBI.I t.ia iimihiuh ,itifiiii.voiitin
luoin itampt and re nlva cataloir ami ii.vil
Kurni I oncn or oiiliint. cai rnia. tinlnrv. mil I
I i sties. 1500 each Inline, niluliaum, Iniiilin,
100 uariier. 101 loimnoei. 1111 iiirIihk. i,ii
Icliarmlnu llowar arnila, In nil il.oii ki-tlii'M. I
eaally worth Sl.OOuf my niHli'a nioiiny ( 1 , 1
eiui auo biiii wn niii one pku, or lm k'3l
rei!ti u nay -nvi-ni 1 ill
SALZER SEED CO,, lion W, In Ornito. Wit,
t.iifvat" lilll '
m a r xt bss ,s r,u 1 1 1
kit ii viva ' 1
MAII IJALBAM 8
ami I'M "tfif iha l-al-
'alia J IjMtoil.
l ywiiW.fnl I'uler.
Thonipoon's Eyo Walor