Nebraska Newspapers

    NE0RA3KA NEW3 AND NOTES.
llama of Intereat Takon From Hero
and Thero Over the State.
The Midwest Life.
Tho Midwest Life Insurance com
pany is an old lino lnsurango com
pany organized under the laVB of
the state of. Nobroskn whoso homo
office Is located at Lincoln.
Its premium rates are n8 low as
thoso of caBtern companies and tho
provisions of Us policies are fnlr and
reasonable. All tho Investments of
The Midwest Life aro mndo In Ne
braska securities and tho money paid
to it for premiums Is thereby kept hi
tho state. Practical and experienced
llfo insurance men avo back of Tho
Midwest Life, it will bo threo years
old Jn May next and has ovor $1,500,
000 of Insurance in force.
The Midwest Llfo has plenty of ter
ritory In Nebraska for good, active
and capable agents who wish to tnke
tip the work of soliciting llfo insur
nnco either on full or part time. Lib
eral commissions uro paid. For ad
ditional Information wrlto to N. Z.
Snell, President, Lincoln.
A noteworthy occasion to the. Gor
man Luthoran church at Tobias was
the dedication on Sundny of their
new pipe organ.
Preliminary stops for tho opening
of an interurban railway lino botwoon
Sioux City and Hnrtingjtou, Neb.,
have been takon by Sioux City and
Nebraska business men.
George Warren, a leading -citizen
and a democratic leader of Jbhnson
county, was found dead in bin room,
evidently having passed away ton or
twolvo hours before of heart trouble.
Tho city of Lincoln has won its suit
for dollar gas.
William and Charles Dockon, broth
ers, between the ages of 25 and 30
years, wcro arrested in Sioux City on
tho chargo of robbery" and brought
back to Pender to bo given a trial.
They nro accused of robbing Sydnoy
Graves of $400. When arrested thoy
had $165 on their person.
Noal Bryan of Otoo county pur
chased soven head of mules from
Charles O'Brien on tho east sldo of
tho river, and was sho-wlng a team of
them on tho streets in Nebraska City
when an nutomobllo frightened ono
of the mules so that It roared up and.
fell ovor dead.
John, tho 15-year-old son of Chris
Coffoy. ticket agent for tho Burling
ton railway, Nebraska City, accident
ally shot himself while out duck
hunting in a boat. Ho was getting
nut of the boat and pulled tho gun
toward hlra. He died almost In
stantly. Wllllnm L. Gottle, son of W. G.
Gettlo, arrived in Humboldt from
Washington, D. C, having boon honor
ably discharged on tho 12th as first
class electrician on the cruiser May
flower, after a servlco of four years
in the navy. Mr. Gettlo at onco re-,
enlisted, and is home on a thirty
days' furlough to visit IiIb parents.
Louis Lnrscn, living ono mllo east
of Kennard, mot with a very serious
accident while hoisting hay into tho
barn with a team and hay fork. Ho
was walking behind tho doubletree,
when a tug broke and the ond of tho.
singletree struck him a terrlilc blow
in tho stomnch. Ho is still alive, but
no hopes nro entertained for Mb re
covery. "We, the Jury, find for the plaintiff
and assess her damages at $4,2S'3.75."
Thla was the verdict of tho jury in
tho suit or Lena Margaret Lilllo
against tho Modern Woodmen of
America to recover a $3,000 policy on
tho life of her husband, Harvey M.
Llllle. Tho Bult had been fought be
cause of the allegation that Mrs. Lll
lle was tho causo of her husband's
death.
Hov. Georgo J. Glauber, rector of
the Catholic church at Hartlngton,
died of paralysis at tho age of 55.
Born In Buffalo, ho was educated at
St. Joseph's college there and St. Jo
romo's at Berlin, Canada, and gradu
ated in theology at Niagara univer
sity. In 1877 ho wan ordained by
Bishop Ryan. The next year ho waa
appointed to Lincoln and had charge
also of missions In tho southwest of
tho stato, building churches at Hast
ings, Orleans, Whcatloy and Falrllold.
Daniel Ducello, an old resident
ranchman living In tho North Platto
valley, waB arrested charged with ma
liciously poisoning tho livo stock of
Charles Henry, his neighbor. Tho
wholconlo killing of Henry's property
was reported two weoks ago, and
Sheriff Beal haB boon keeping gunrds
on watch for further acts, Ducollo
was caught In tho act of placing snlt
mixed with parls green and a sack
of alfalfa hay dampened and sprin
kled thoroughly with parls green in
Henry's pasture
Beatrlco bloodhounds did effoctivo
work in trailing down tho murdororB
of William Dillon, nonr Oxford. Tho
dogs took up the trail, which was
Bovcral days old, and as, a result two
boys, Georgo Crltzer and Ben Hod
dendorff, were arrostcd and have con
fessed to tho crime. According to
their story, Heddondorff did tho
shooting, and in tho division of tho
plunder Crltzer secured only $20 and
a watch for his share of tho resultB
of the crime. Tho man killed llvod
alono on hlB farm.
Word was received lu Tocumseh
that Bon, tho 4-yonr-old son of Mr.
and Mrs. J. C. Vanlcer of Sheridan,
Wyo,, hud been drowned. Tho par
ents formerly resided In Nebraska.
Mr. and Mm M. M. Folk of Beat
rice aro tho parents of triplets, threo
boys, born last week. Tho babies
are healthy and w61l formed and
weigh 8, 7 and C pounds, respectively.
The talent for tho 1009 Falrbury
Chautauqua has tAl beon booked, and
includes some of the strongest num
bers tho local program has ovor em
braced. Tho dates of tho assembly
this year are Augaet 13 to 23.
S-, mfiZ'MW W ' I tl.esnndfor
yms w -g.
by Edward B. Claris
ASIIIN'GTON. In the last year or two congress has
Shown a disposition to be generous to the army
Among tho other measures passed with a special
view to tho decrcnHlng of the number of desertions
wnB ono which increased materially tho pay of en
llBted men. The non-commlssloncd ofllcers particu
larly were well treated by tho bill, for It was tho
Intention to make army life so attractive for the
scrgeantH and tho corpornls thnt thoy would bo willing to rc-enllst.
Then again tho amount of pay glvon tho "non-coms" was Intended
to act. as an Incentive 'to tho prlvntes to bohavo themselves well
and to Btay In tho sorvlco bo that in time thoy might secure pro
motion. Thero Is un army post at FortMycr close to Arlington, tho na
tlonnl ectnotery just across tho Potomac from tho capital. A good
urn r mmm&mwwBmimammmmm
bibb LBaP DBmHBbk iiHrWf ivwH
bbbbTwBBBp '.jbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb'bmb? a la 'Jbbbbbbbbb
LjbbbT 'Br1iffBBBBBBflBBBBMMBBBBi'M
THEL PYRAMID . JDP1JLL
us. Holding
hands wo
crdwlcd dig
ging our free
hands a n d
our knees In
to tho ground
until wo
reached a
point whoro
tho w a v o b
Btoppod our
progress.
"Thence wo
turned by tho
Hank a n d
tolled along
tho enttro length
of tho scntry'B boat, but no
sentry could wo find. I
raised my volco and shouted.
Tho man within two foot of
mo did not know that I had
IBaKIBI
snuffor and toro his "Springfield" from his
hand. '
Then tho garbage barrel wbb removed and
tho meruit was threatened with death if ho
made an outcry. Ho was forced to march nt
tho bayonet's point to tho Blioro of tho lslnnd
nnd then to run ovor the ice toward tho main
land with IiIb former prisoners nt his hcols.
When tho deserters and their victim nrrlvod
nonr the New Hochello shore a nolo was
chipped In tho lco by means of tho bayonet nnd
tho rlllo was dropped thrttugli into tho waters
of tho sound. Then tho recruit was told that
If ho chose ho might roturn to tho garrison.
Ho told Ms former charges thnt he preferred to
throw In his lot with them, for If ho went back
ho would bo cortnln to get a heavy doso of tho
guardhouso for neglect of duty in suffering his
prisonors to escape, and for tho loss of govern
ment property In the shape of tho Springfield
rlflo which was now nt tho bottom of tho
BOtlUd. '
Tho deserters told Uio recruit thnt ho could
OBI
TRAINING
to lie down . f rr,:. , :xmr&m
many old soldiers are stationed at Fort Myer,
men who have enlisted and rc-cnllslod until
the sleeves of their dross coats are pretty well
covered with the BtrlpeB marking tholr years
of service. These old soldiers tell many stories
of the old days when the army life was not as
pleasant as it ia to-day and whon tho recruit's
lot was far from a happy one. in thoso old
days desertions wero many and some of tho
EtoricH which the veteran regulars toll today
of the tlmo when they wore recruits letB ono
know readily enough why some men under tho
old conditions did not care to follow the ling.
Here Is ono Btory of recruit llfo In the army
20 years ago that Is rewritten with no changes
of fact and with only a littlo change of lan
guage from tho way that an old soldier told It:
"In tho winter of 1888 I was stationed at
David's island, Now York hnrbor, a recruiting
rendezvous of the nrmy, Thero wore about
800 newly enlisted ones stationed there at that
time. Tho Island is a lltllo affair lying fairly
low In the water and without any protection
from tho utorms which blow in from tho oast
through Long Island sound.
"Janunry nnd February, 18SS, wore months
of sunshine, nnd Dowers wero peeping on tho
stiuny sldo of thlngB before anyone could guess
whether March was to roar In like tho Hon or
to bleat liko tho lamb. Karly In tho second
week of thnt March month Now York was over
whelmed by a tempest of wind nnd snow. It
was In that storm that Kohcoo Conkllug met
with tho exposure which caused tho Illness
leading to IiIb death In a few days. It was tho
worst storm known to tho history of tho .east
ern country. Tho Now Yorkers, however, did
not experience its full fury, for their buildings
gave them shelter.
"it was loft for a few recruits of tho United
States army, tho inon on gunrd, to boar tho
brunt of tho blizzard and to face tlfo elements
that gave them battle. On the night of March
11 the storm broke. At nine o'clock tho sky
over tho Bound was unclouded, and there was
not a whisper of wind over the water. Within
ten minutes the black clouds had banked up,
and in unother ten minutes thoy wero Blinking
out their burden of snow, whllo tho wind which
had sprung to Its full strength almost without
warning, was roaring down the sound from the
Atlnntlc. At midnight thero were great drifts
of biiow against every obstacle whlph offered
the least resistance to tho wind. Out of doors
speech was Impossible for tho blasts tore tho
words from oiio'b Hps and smothered them
with their Jiowllngs.
"On thnt night I was on guard as corporal
3f the first relief. Tho sergeant of tho guard
i fow moments utter midnight stopped from
tho doorway of the guardhouso and was swept
trom hlu foot by tho wind. He saw what a ter
rible night wub ahead of us, had already come
to us in fact, and ho Bent n man to the quar
tern or tho ofllcor of tho tiny to ask permission
to take In tho outlying Bontlnols or to glvo or
ders to thorn to sock such shelter us they couid
find. Tho ofllcor of the day's quarters were sur
rounded with heavy evergreen trees und tho
il
ofllcor, looking out, did not
comprehendhow terrific tho
storm really was, and so
word was passed that tho
clrtUn of scntlnols should
not bo broken.
"At ono o'clock my guard
relief wns ordored out to
relievo the men on post. No
man who wns on that Is
land thnt night hits In IiIb
keeping words Btrong
enough to descrlbo tho aw
fill fury of that eastern
gale. Tho combined thun
ders of 20 mountain storms
could not cqnnl tho noise of
the roaring of tho waves
as they pounded tho shore.
ThoMvInd nddeil Its bellow
ing to the uproar and ItB strength almost took
awny tho powers of motion and of speech.
"The relief started from tho guardhouse. No
man through tho darkness brought by night
and tho tempest could soo tho outline or his
nenrost follow. Tho whltoness of tho snow
would have rolloved tho blncknesB hnd not
the lashing of the elements blinded tho vision.
1 ordered the men to unfix bnyonots because
of tho danger of cutting ono another, nnd I
gavo tho ortlor passing from ono mnu to tho
other and fairly bellowing It Into tholr onrs.
Tlion tho order wns given to 'securo arms' and
to clasp hands. It wns only by Uio handclnBp
thnt ono man could toll thnt ho had a com
panion. "Into tho tooth of tho tempest wo edged our
way. Twice within GO yardB or tho gunrd
house tho little Bqund was thrown from Its
feet. All sonso of direction wns lost and noth
ing but n collision with ono of tho low-lylng
bnrruckB buildings aftor ten minutes' tolling
progress gavo tho littlo command knowledgo
of its whereabouts. A half frozen sontlnol
whoso post luckily was under tho loo of the
barracks, wau relieved and took his placo at
tho roar of tho hand-clasping column.
"The hospital of tho gnrrison stnnds, or did
stnnd at that tlmo, at the extrenio cast ond
of the Island. Hack of It nlon,; tho stretch of
bench runs a sentry's post. A man walking
thero and looking strnlght eastward finds no
land upon which his eye mny rest. That night
the lashing fury of the waves was spent main
ly on thnt lonely sentry beach. Tho first re
lief managed to roach tho front or the hospital .
which gavo some protection. I ordered all the
innn oxcept the ono who was to rollovo tho
sentry on the bench to huddle under the piazza
while I took tho rollovlng recruit to find tho
man on post.
"Wo roundeJ the ond or tho hospital. Tho
blast throw us down. Tho wind was tnnrlng
down tho Bound nnd tho salt spray and tho
snow commingled dnshod Into 0ir faces. Wo
dragged our rlllos und edged our way through
n wnlTof wind. A few foot r pi ogross nnd
tho blast ugaln threw our feet fiom under
8.
I
mhm m m HMM
RBBBJl
locaaDB
aai
uttered a word. Back ovor tho Band wo went
through tho howling and tho lashing. Wo lost
our bcnrlngs nnd ran Into an obstruction. I
traced Ub outline nnd know what It was. It
was tho hospital niorguo, a wooden structuro
not more thun 15 root square. Wo crawled
around It until wo hnd reached tho west sldo,
whoro the shelter gavo us breath; from tho
doorwny of tho morgue ctuno a challenge that
oven tho uolso of tho Btorm could not smoth
er 'Who comes thero?'
"The niiBwer, 'Holler,' wub yelled hack by two
voices la unison, and we crawled into the dead
houso. There, standing guard lu the growsonio
pinto, was a colored lad, only four weoks a
soldlor, and within touch of his hand, resting
on Ha zinc blor, was tho corpse or a man.
"Driven by tho Btorm to seek sholtor, that
black recruit, rather than leave his post to
got tho protection afforded by the hospital,
had chosen In tho blackness of midnight, nnd
with wind nnd wave raging without, to tako
up his watch by tho dead, becauso tho placo
whore tho body lay wns on IiIb poBt, which ho
wnB under orders not to desert."
Two army deserters convlncod a certain
raw recruit thut thero wan something more
than words In tho saying ho had onco heard
to tho effect that republics always nro ungrnte
fill. It fell on this wise:
Tho recruit had marched on gunrd for tho
first tlmo. Tho sergeant In chnrgo turned two
prisonors ovor to him with Instructions to
guard them whllo they drove n mulo tenm nnd
collected tho garbage from the barrolfi In tho
ronr of tho qunrtcrs. It was tho dead of
winter, and for the first tlmo In years tho
'lanncl between David's lslnnd nnd the town,
i.f Now Itochelle wns frozen ovor.
The recruit plodded along nftcr his prisonors,
but. being green to such work, he kept closo at
their heels lnstond or trailing along nt a dis
tance of llvn paces as he should havo done.
Guard and prisonors reached a point near tho
shoro directly In the rear of tho commanding
ofllcer's quarters. Thoru one of tho douortors
soueil an empty garbngo barrel and nn oppor
tunity nt the ennio Instant. He threw tho bar
rel over tho sentinel's head like a candle
como with them ir ho chose, and they started
for n saloon In tho outskirts of tho town, a
place known to them, thero to wait until It
was time to go under cover to the dopot to
tulto a train which mndo no stop for many
miles beyond tho plnco of boarding.
About an hour before tho train was duo tho
recruit told tho deserters that ho had "weak
ened" nnd that ho would go-hack to tho Island
to "tako his medicine." Thoy offered no ob
jection und their compuulon started for the
shore whllo thoy took a back roud to tho do
pot. The recruit hnd soldler-maklng stuff lu him,
Ho hnd been maturing a plan all tho tlmo thnt
ho had been In tho Biiloon. Tho dosortorfi onco
out of sight, ho mndo for a farm house, told
his story hurriedly, secured a horse and rodo at
ii cavalry pace for a hamlet a row mlloB east
or Now Hochello. Ho wub afraid to go to tho
depot to which the deserters had gono becnuso
ho feared that thoy would see him and, suspect
ing Ills motlvo, would tako to tho woods.
At. tho littlo vlllago to which he had gono
headlong on his horBO, he secured tho servlccB
of a cotiBtnblo readily onough ror thoro was
u reward ror tho nrroBt of desortors and by
telling his story nnd by threatening tho station
mnstor with all tho poualtlcs posslblo or Inflic
tion by tho federal government, tho recruit In
duced him to flag tho train.
Tho deserters wcro caught, handcuffed and
sent back to tho lslnnd.
Tho board deliberated long If not wlsoly, and
finally renched tho conclusion that tho coun
try's treasury could not well hour tho burden
of the loss or the mouoy represented by tho
price of ono rlflo, nnd so It wns docrcod that
the oobI or tho weapon should bo takon out of
the pny of tho recruit who hud dono his duty
by tho govornmont nnd hnd showed pluck nnd
undorstuiidlng, oven If ho hnd lost a rifle.
Thoro was a dlBgustod young soldlor on Da
vid's lslnnd. He was not made of the stuff
of desortors, but desort ho did. Tho channel
was Btlll frozen and tho morning nftcr ho
leu rued of the order stopping his pay thero was
one soldier less to answer "Horo," at reveille
roll call.