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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1912)
Sjlfpfrf m Y I JnixfriV? 1 ifl 1 1 WhCsQ. IJf IhJl III Ay I c I 11 1 1 v I II 111 IllSfefS 1 L JFM . 1 111. m V 1 1L. vllilll 7 1 M 1. I Sill S 1 JL NwJ, XJU JUL VJLJLLJL OcJ. gjL JLx vtVWll Nj, L0k sPUBM ) Elephant-Hunting by Cave Men. J. Callaert after Stradanus. HE roccnt discoveries of prehistoric designs In a cavo In thu Boutli of Franco confirm tho assertion mndo by mediaeval writers that as aport formed tho subjects of tho cnrllcst designs, tho dlaclploa of Nlmrod enn rightly claim to havo given tho first Impulso to art. Unfortunately for us, tho old skin-chid Bportsman artist who covered tho walls of IiIh Perlgord envo with outline drawings of Ms fcllow-denlzens tho mammoth, tho giant cavo bear and the rclndoor theroby securing for himself undying famo as tho most archaic of all artlstB, and ondowlng that underground gallery with the distinction of being tho moBt ancient of nil nrt repositories, failed to depict hln own form dlvlno In con ncctlon with tho trotting mnmmoth or tho shambling bear. Truo, the spirit of self-effacement which this dmlsslon be trays evinces a refreshing nbsonco of tho "personal element" It proves more convincingly than could n library of volumes what an Infinite vista of ages intervenes between that flint wielding envo man and tho modern, soir-nssortlvc, prcss-the-button Hportflman. Hut stay! Aro wo Judging this Instance of paloeontologlcal self-obliteration qulto Justly? Was that troglodyte's fnlltiro to leavo a slnglo Indication ns to the relative position of man and beast roally tho result of gen uine dlflldenco? Whnt evldonco havo wo that this artist of tho Plclstoceno Ago had already emerged from that primeval condition when man wns still tho hunted Instead of tho hunter? How do we know that tho hugo ElophaB prlmlgcn mis or tho formidable Ursus spcloous portrayed In that Perl gord Louvre was not hunting him, tho pigmy homunculus? Whnt proof havo wo that theso crudo tracings were not drawn with trembling hand nftcr n horror-struck retreat to hln cavo, whon hln senses, which then wcro still as keen nH thoso of tho hnwk, tho far ncentlng deor, or tho acutely hearing wolvorlno, warned him of tho approach of his roioiitloss foo? Indeed, hnvo wo not ovldenco supporting such doubts In tho shnpo of n u.ono hnmmer found embed ded In the skull of a Mcgaco ros hlbcrnlcuB? Had that Mow boen dealt by a hunter to an nulmal already down In order to dispatch It, tho proc lous flint tool, which to pro Iuco had 'cost such Infinite Inbor, would not hnvo been loft whero Profossor Wan choppo found It untold nges Jator. What moro likely than that tho blow wim in. Jllctcd as a desporato act of nelf-defonso on tho part of the hard-pushed quarry when tho nntlorod monster charged down upon lilm, crushing him to death boforo ho had tlmo to withdraw his lnvnluablo flint? Thnt bit of honc-encasod rock what tragedies of tho Stono Ago doos it not suggest? Hut wo havo strayed far afield from tho real purposo of these llncB, which is nono else than to mako tho reader acquainted with tho llmninga of an infinitely less romoto ngo, but which, as samples of flnlshod drrwlngs of spprtlng scones, yot rank among tho oldoBt wo havo. Florentine of tho Florentines, though Flemish by birth, for ho was born In Ilrugcs In the year 1R23, Giovanni dolla Strada, or to uso his Latin keel namo with which ho frequently signed his work, .Toannea Stradanus, had acquired by his npprontlceshlp to MIchaol Angelo many of tho fnmous artist's peculiarities and mannerisms, as n glnnco at Stradanus' prancing, houvlly-mnned steeds nnd glant-llmbcd men discloses. Strada nus wns born at a most opportuno momont, for tho craving for plctorlnl matter making ltsolf felt In tho second half of his century was creat ing n demand which far oxcoeded tho supply, and though your Ilodcs and Tschudls, and oven ear lier nrt critics, Insist thnt this craving helped moro than any other clrcumstanco to prostttuto nrt, debasing tho dlvlno inspiration of tho painter to n common craft, it must not bo forgotten that but for men llko Stradanus, Theodora do Dry, linns Hoi, tho multitudinous dalle family at Ant werp, Collaora, Wlorx, Mallery, Sadelor and dolt fclun, as well nH th& Do PnsBO family, who all worked with extraordinary energy In turning out "pictures of tho day," our knowledgo of tho dally life and of occurrences In that tempestuous con tury would bo nothing llko as corroct and Intl mato ns it Is. What progress, for Instance, art mndo in tho half-century between 1G17 and tho yenr 15G7, whon Stradanus drew hlB ono hundred nnd four Vonntloncs sporting plcturos, n glnnco nt "Thouordnnk," Kmporor Maximilian's famous book of advontures, nnd nt tho prlntB appertain ing to tho flratnnmod sorlcB, will show. Both the Aleslgner of tho pictures and tho wloldor of tho graver had mado giant strides In tho Intervnl, nnd js wo can boo from reproductions of original drawings by Stradanus' hnnd, many a master of tho elghtonth contury would havo dono woll to Btudy tho Italianised Fleming's method and (touches. I Tho drawings afford amusing evidonco of tho widespread Ignoranco which then provnllod In connection with certain forms of sport. Perhaps tho most characteristic In tills respect Is tho pic ture of mountain sport vis., tho cIibbo of tho hamols. Whon ono first saw tho print of this "picture and ono's astonished gnzo rested upon tho 'delineation of tho ngllo mountain boast carrying Biorus that are crooked forward InBtend of back ward, ono nnturally assumed thnt this extraordi nary mistake was mado by tho engravor nnd not by tho nrtlBt who drow tho animal, whoso body nnd pose aro In other respocta correct. Hut in thin ono would have dono tho busy Antwerp en gravers nn InJiiBtlco, as was disclosed whon the original came into ono's possession, for thoro, Immortalized by muster hand, pranco about not ono but several chamois with this curious mal formation. In other respects, too, Stradnnus'drow upon his Imagination In concocting this drawing, for he ropreBents tho mnn of MIchaol Angelo-Hko limbs strapping Btolgolson, or crampons, to his naked feel, which, of courso, was nevor dono. To turn to another form or Bportoloplmut and ostrich hunting Stradanus In tho former picture drow Ills qtinrry of very under-sized dimensions, n mis take not usually mado either by him or by other nrtlBtn of his ngo, who, na a rule, magnified the' size of foreign nnlmnls, Take as an Instance our reproduction of nn engraving after another drawing by tho snmo Florentlno nrtlat. Hero wo linvo elephants which If wo accept tho ordinary liumnn form bb our scalo, must have Btood Bomo thing llko olghteen feet high, though probably, nB tho Inscription below tolls us that tho mnn In the act of hamstringing IiIb quarry Is a troglo dyte or cnvedwoller, a roco who were bolloved to bo of dwarf Btature, tho disproportion Is in tended to be ns great as It Is, As nn early pic- ii ?f Lk wy jBLJjpMMiwy jSrpSrfjQ&Sst f-i "BQft. . j !WHtiMKfiC.'ab?rBtBBlvBBitifjiK IhhpjBmmb Hsm Ostrich-Hunting. By Stradanus. tho lowlands and In northern Germnny. For prac tically all of his drawings wore ongraved nnd pub lished In tho former country, as were most oth ers of a slmllnr nature, with the exception per haps of thoso of his pupil, Tcmpesta, who, living In Home, and evincing a llko fortuity and Indus try, had some of his drawings engraved by Ital ians. As edition after edition of Stradanus' series were Issued by tho Galle brothers of Antwerp, and eagorly bought up, tho circle of his admirers in northern Europe grow over wider; but there Is no evidence thnt his work in tho picture-book lino ever becamo very popular In Italy, the country of his adoption. There his celebrated Naples fres coes, for Don .Hi an of Austria, and Ills equally good designs for tapestry for tho Medici Grand Duko, enjoyed far mora popularity. Considering tho Immense difficulties of trans portation which then still handicapped all Inter national and especially all transalpine Intercom munication, It Is rather curious that the formld ablo distance Intervening between tho city on tho turo of elephant-hunting Its amualng details, bucIi us tho long illo of natives carrying off IoadH of dismembered clcphnnt on their heads and shoulders, aro curious enough. Tho picture of tho bear-hunt Is moro truo to life, though we may express somo doubt whether horsps could bo got to chnrgo boars in tho way Stradanus pictures. Our last drawing repre sents tho Florentlno nrtlst's Ideas of heron-hawking It tolls Its tnlo fairly plainly, though, of courso, tho Inci dents It represents aro far too crowded togother. It was considered tho noblost of nil hawking, and though It Is not so long ngo tjint moro than two hundrod heronries existed ,ln tho British IsIcb somo of them comprising as many as a himdrcd nestB with four or llvo eggs In each tho sport is now extinct, Mr. Hartlng tolls us that In tho last con tury Mr. Edward C. Now como of Norfolk, who was tho last English falconer who kopt horon hawkB (ho died in 1871), killed in two soasona with his two fa . mous hawks, Sultan and Do Ruytor. which ho had im ported from Holland, no fowor than ono hundrod nnd eleven borons. This Bhows that tho royal sport becamo extinct in England not In consequenco of nny dearth of herons, in tho Nether lauds It IB still knnt nn though tho colebratod Hawk ing club at tho Loo, near Apeldoorn. which Mr. XuTn WortT vt0,d V7h DU,0 ed-and Mr Stuart Wortley, had formed in tho vnnr 183 maUty8.01"011 ' 7Mr !t hi reached "u nSnnM0ta". ,n Strn,,nn"8' drawing deserves spo h f ' 1 ?' ', ,-; l ,0 t"rnol-ui heads of tho two 2?Mn 1 'Jrt,8t fu,,y bcllovod tb IBond. Tnu ntd, Tn ,by 8uch lnt0 writers as Walter Scott, that tho heron whon hard presaod and stooped at by tho hawk will point his beak up. ln Ith"8.,rec!lvo tho descending enemy fP n, nF01" . thcrcby lnflctlng soriouB Injury, if not killing him outright. According to modern exports this pretty atory hns no foundntlon in fact. It Booms extraordinary that for centuries nrtlsts went on painting incldonts which thoy nevor could hnvo soon, BcoroB, If not hundreds, of Pictures of what was onco a favorlto and aristo cratic sport depleting this vory occurrenco Stradanus' predilection for portly mon and women, as well as for steeds of tho cart-horso typo, and for unwieldy fat Bpnnlols and hounds, botray his Dutch origin, nnd perhnps also n hus-l nessllko deslro to ploaso his principal public In Chamois-Hunting. By Stradanus. CAPTAIN ROSTRON'S REPORT WmZE-a ear-Hunting. By Stradanus. Arno and tho harbor town on tbo North Sen did not luterfcro In a moro discouraging manner be tween artist and engraver. For moro than half n century that studio in Florence, of which Stradanus gives us In one of Ills "arts and crafts" series, caled tho Nova Re perta, n characteristic picture, sems to havo gone on supplying busy hands In distant Antwerp with material of the most hctcrogoneous kind. Saints and devils, popes nnd emperors, holy legends and beetles from purgatory, wars and sieges, land bat tles and nnvnl engagements, roynl progresses and peasant fetes, hunting, fishing and fowling scenes galoro, tho horses of all nations, tho crafts and trades of tbo civilized world, tho discoveries of Columbus and Vespucci, scientific Indentions of tho day, tho working of the silkworm nnd scores of other subjects of the most dlvorso nature, wero ono and nil depicted with a realism nnd with a power of Imagination that really nmnzo one. It Bhows what an extraordinary demnnd for Illus trations had suddenly sprung up m tho second half of tho sixteenth century nmong tho nations of northern Europe, as thoy awoke from tho Intel lectual stupor that had enchained them during mediaeval times. STANLEY'S EXPLOITS No explorer boforo or Blnco hnB npproachod tho harvest that Henry M. Stnnloy reaped (says n wrltor In tho Now York Sun), and no man of let tors, soldlorB, or scholar has had such a single lecture tour ns Stanley's greatest. In something llku ten big cities ho received $3,000 for his first nppenranco. For the first night in nnothor group of cltlos ho rocolvod $1,000 and In Btlll another group $500. Travoltng In a apodal car upon which ho lived In most plnces, and accompanied by four or flvo tfuoBts, ho ended tho tour with $04, 000 clear of nil oxponsos. For that first night in Now York a charity paid Stanley's agent $5 000 and tho receipts from tho lecturo wore $14,7G3. On tho other hand Alexander Graham Jloll ucd to lecturo for $25 n night In schoolhouses and the struggling Inventor was glad ctiough of tho fco. Since Teacher Did Not Know. It was lit tho primary class of a graded school In n western city, and tho day was tho L'-'d ot February. . "Now, who can tell mo whoso blrthdny this ls7" naked the teacher. A llttlo girl nroso timidly. "Woll, Margaret, you may toll us," Bald tho teacher. "Mine." was the unexpected reply, Everybody'a Magazine. Capt, A. H. Rostron was in com mnnd of tho Cunard lino steamship Carpnthla, which rescued tho survi vors of tho Titanic disaster. His Bhlp was east bound on its regular trip when tho distress signal was picked up by tho vessel's wireless operator. In his official report to tho general manager of tho company, tho captain said, in part: "I beg leavo to report that at 12:35 a. m. Monday, lCth Inst., I was in formed of urgent message from Ti tanic with its position. I Immediately ordered ship turned around and put it in courso for that position, wo be ing then fifty-eight miles away. Had heads of all departments called and Issued whnt J considered the neces sary orders to be in preparation for nny emergency. "At 2:40 a. m. saw flaro half a point on port bow. Taking this for granted to be a ship, shortly after wo Blghted our first Iceberg. I had previ ously had lookout doubled, knowing that Titanic had struck ice and bo took every care nnd precaution. We soon found ourselves In a field of bergs, largo nnd small, and had to niter our courso several times to clear bergs. "Wo stopped at 4:00 a. m., thus doing distance In three hours and a half, picking up tho first boat at 4:10 a. m., boat In charge of officer, and ho reported that Titanic had foundered. At 8:30 a. m., last boat picked up. All survivors aboard and all boats accounted for. "At 8:00 a. m. the Loyland steamship California came up. I gave him tho principal news and asked him to search and I would proceed to New York; at 8:50 proceeded full speed while researching over vicinity of disaster." (Jill . vi'l2 id ntl WOMAN HEADS CHILD BUREAU Miss Julia C. Lathrop of Chicago, now and for many years a colleague of Jano Addams In the work of Hull house, haB been appointed chief of tho recently created children's bureau of tho national government. Tho nom ination was Bent to tho scnato the other day by President Taft. Miss Lathrop is tho first woman ever selected to direct a bureau of tho federal government. Moreover, to her will bo committed tho foundation and development of tho activities which tho national government is about to undertake to further tho welfare of children. It Is expected she will build up an institution which will be an important branch ot the government service in tho Investigation of conditions of child life and In corelatlng and accelerating tho activities of individual states in bettering such conditions. Tho appointment of Miss Lathrop was urged upon President Taft by so cial reform organizations not only in Chicago but in other parts of tho coun try. Ho wa3 Informed that she has made a specialty of the study of child llfo and Its amelioration in connection with settlement work and that she has been prominent in tho movement which resulted in the enactment of child labor legislation in Illinois. Tho samo organizations which indorsed Mi3S Lathrop brought about tho creation ot the children's bureau by congress. BAROIM HENGELMULLER ANGRY Baron. Ladlslas Hengelmuller von Hengervar, Austrian-Hungarian Am bassador to this country, Journeyed to tho Hamburg-American lino docks in Hoboken the other afternoon to meet tho baroness and their daughter, who wero passengers on tho steamship Amerlka. Outside the docks wcro scores of taxlcabs on which wero talmeters which registered distances and tho amount of change duo from passen gers. But the Baron passed theso by and his eye lighted on a limouslno car owned by Hexamer's garago and driv en by Fred Volkman, ono of its chauf feurs. There was no taximeter on this car, but in his pocket Volkman carries a schedule of prices. "We'll take this," said the baron to tho baroness, and ho assisted his wife and daughter and tho maid into the vehicle, and to Volkman rcmark'ed: "Tho Hotel St. Reels. Now Ynrlr " Volkman drove to the ferry and pay Ing tho passage money from bis own pocket, crossed over to Manhattan Then with all speed he drove to tho St. Regis. Tho baroness, tho daughter and the maid alighted. Then camo the baron. Ho stepped to the chauffeur and asked bniBuely "How much?" "Six dollars and fifty cents. Tho fifty cents is for ferriage," answered Volkman. , The baron's face grew red, his eyes wcro fixed hard on tbo chauffeur and he gasped: "Six dollars and a half? I'll not pay It." Ambassadors being bigger thnn Now York police, Volkman turned tho account over to tho company for collection. tfa. rrafcif 'BBBBBBBlWii PRINCESS PAT IS AN ARTIST New Yorkers nro enjoying tho opportunity of viewing somo of tho artistic handiwork of Princess Pa tricia of Connaught, who recently won so much popularity there. Six of her paintings wero selected from thoso shown nt tho Montreal art exhibition, and are now on exhibition in Now York. Ab a 'vater color painter sho has few rivals in Europe, certain ly none In Its royal houses. A picture, reputed to be ono of tho cleverest works of tho princess Bhows King Edward; smiling In perfect con tent, leaving the dinner table. "I Was Hungry" is tho title of this whimsical conceit. King Edward dearly loved his niece, Patricia, and did his best to spoil her. Ho iis.ed to urge her to give imitations of their k!n nnd roared with laughter nt her skill lit mimicry. As Bhe grew older It Is said she exacted a promise from him that ho would never use bis jum preruKuuve 10 iorce ner into a i marriage she did not desire. Certain it is, If she has not h m . tho man ot her chollce, she has at least remained fre " ab,e t0 m,irry
