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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 1912)
On -SJTS ium. CRUSHED AN EMPIRE IN FOUR DAYS Military experts are eagorly look ing up details as to tho career of SavofT of Bulgaria, conqueror of tho TurkB. In four days, out of the shadows of tho Balkans, ho has risen to cmlnonco ainong European mili tary commanders. HIa campaign in Thrace, leading southward In a sorles of desperately fought and brilliantly maneuvered battles to tho gatos of Constantinople, has written a now chapter In tho science of warfare. Tho great "turning movement," the speed with which ho moved hla forces, his marvelous success In keep ing his hoavlest artillery apaco with Infantry and cavalry are all Bcparato chapters of a dramatic war yet to bo written. Turning to tho man himself, thoro Is tho most meager Information con corning him. Tho situation called for ono of his abilities and ho responded. All that la known of him Is that ho Is yet a young man, bolng only forty- two years old. Ho Is a native Bulgarian, a graduate of tho Bulgarian mili tary school, who later took special courses In military science at St. Peters burg, Paris and Borlln He is of medium height, dark like all Slavs, lithe, sinewy, endowed with tremendous energy, Impetuous and gallant mi'-, szZMt IKS! Wm & W$. ASQUITH DEFINES ENGLAND'S POSITION , t?& down to tho sea in ships? Will ho not rather givo an ear to tho tales of strange things seen and boltovcd by sailor-folk? N It la tho writer's pleasure to wasto tinio sailing tho sea in a small craft, usually alone. Upon one of thoso voyages, having anchored upon tho odgo of tho Noro Sands, ho awoke In tho middle of tho night to find hlmsalf enshrouded by a thick fog erlo enough, tho uninitiated rcador will doubttcBs think. Upon looking out at tho blank woolly wall of fog that surrounded him, ho distinctly lioard his own namo hallqd acrosB tho water. No othor crntt was nenr. This struck him as bo lng so pocullar that ho mentioned It to a friend when ho arrived at ono of tho llttlo anchorages, 1 and tho skipper of a bargo, chancing to overhear, nald: "That's tho ol' gon'loman of tho Noro I Often of foggy nights yo may 'car 'lm a-yoHlng Rht in a kind o' 'olplcBS way, but sometimes Ms language la something horful. Thoy say as 'e was a flrat mate wot dropped overboard and Hwnm to tho panda, where 'o walked about until Mio tldo roao an' drowndod 'lm." Upon another occasion I was sailing along tho coaBt of Franco, under the cliffs upon which stands Oris Nez HghthotiBo, which Is nbout tho most powerful llgh In tho world. It waH a very dark night, and tho revolving rays of tho light- ho,UBo kopt flashing upon the sails of my boat, lighting them like a poworful soarchllght, until proceeding nlong tho course I got out of tholr range. Tho strange offoct had boon forgotten, only to bo remembered In tlmo to provont mo "from becoming a firm bollevor In ghosts. Thoro out at sea a ghostly ship was sailing; alio was rather too modem, porhapB, to be n real ghost, for ovory Ball net llko a glovo ghost ships woro mover particular In this rcBpoct lndood, oho was ono of thoso flno ships out of GlaBgow which aro tho last words in sailing craft. Prom apparently nowhere a ship had como .a ship uncannily glowing with au unnatural light. Her sallB woro surely cobwebs and her ropoa wcro spider strings l J tSMrango Bights and sounds frequently como tho way ot seafarers. Tho grovelling hlsBlng sea, breaking through tho night. Its appearanco Is ghastly gray; It comes from nowhere, It fadoa away soon after. What could not tho Imagination wcavo It Into? Shupo or sound of spirits chased by tho Evil One, tho dying wlfo with arms outstretched, or sound of mothor'a voice. Moreover, such messages as noa sounds glvo have frequently como from tho doad; tho howl of tho raging gale, or the mur mur of tho gentlo breezo through tho halyards, have borne tho departing message in words that wero exactly thoso tho lost ono whispered last. To tho mind of ono who knows tho sea, It would aocm strange that sailors aro not mora -nuporstltloua than thoy are, and thoro aro cor tatnly many rcasonablo exciiBos tor tholr belief tn such Btorlos as that of tho Flying Dutchman. A patoh ot Bwlrltng vapor through tho rigging ot his ship upon a dark night Imagination doea tho rest; ho has neon tho Flying Dutchman. Cornelius Vanderdecken, a Dutch navigator of long ngo, was making a passago from Batavla. For days and da'H ho encountered heavy gales and baffling head 'winds while trying to round tho Capo of Good Hope. Strugglo against tho winds .as ho would, ho lost ns much on ono tack as ho galnod upon tho othor. Struggling vainly for nlno hopoleSH wcoks, ho ultimately found himself (it tho samo position n ho was In at first, tho ship having mado no progress. Vandordockon, In a fit of wrath, throw himsolf on hlo knoos upon tho deck and cursed tho Dolty, swearing that ho would round tho capo If It took him till tho day of Judgment. There upon camo a fair wind, ho squared his yards and set off, but although Ills ship plowed through tho seas he mado no headway, for tho Dolty had tak on him at his word and doomed him to Ball tho seaB for over. Superstition has It that tho appearanco of tho phantom ship leads to certain and swift misfor tune. Old sailors will toll ot tho ship of tho Flying Dutchman bowling along in tho very teeth of tho wind, and of her overtaking their own ship which was beating to windward. Somo of them say thoy have seon her sail clean through tholr ship, tho swirling films of her sails and rigging leaving a cold clammy fooling llko tho touch of death. Cornwall In tho old days was remarkable for Its wrockors, and its rock-bound coast was tho scono of mnny ovil deeds. Tho Prlos't's Cove wreckor during hla evil llfo lured many vessels to tholr doom upon tho cruel shore by means of a falso light hung round tho nock of a hobbled horse, To this day tho good Cornish folk will toll you of tho phantom of the wreckor soon when tho winds howl and tho seas rage high, carried clinging to a log of wood upon tho crests of tho breaking seas, and how it Is sent crashing upon tho rocks, whero In tho seething foam it disap pears from sight. Tho wldo strotchlng sand-choked estuary of tho Solway has many a ghost story and more than ono phantom ship. Tho "Spectral Shallop" Is tho ghoBt of a ferry boat which wob wrecked by a rival ferryman while carrying a bridal party across tho bay. Tho ghostly boat is rowed by tho Bkolcton of tho cruel forryman, and such ships as are so un lucky aB to oncountor this ghastly pilot are usually doomed to bo wrecked upon tho sands. No monoy would tompt tho Solway fishermen to go out, to meet tho two DanlBh sea-rovers whoso Bhlps, upon cloar nights, nro Been gliding up ono of tho narrow channols which thread tho drlod-out Bunds, tho high-curved prows and rows ot shiolds along tho gunwale glittering tn tho moonlight. These two piratical ships, It seems, ran Into tho Solway and dropped anchor there, when a sudden furlouB storm camo up and tho BhlpB, which woro heavily laden with plunder, Bank nt tholr moorings with all tho villains which composed their crows. Among tho rocks upon the rugged coast of Korry was found one wlntor morning, early In tho eighteenth century, a largo galleon, mastloss and desortod. Tho Kerry wreckers crowded aboard, and wild was tholr Joy, for tho ship was laden with Ingots of silver from the Spanish Main. Thoy gradually filled their boats until the gunwales woro almost down to tho wator'a edge, and hastily thoy pullod to tho Bhoro In ordor that thoy might roturn for further lngota boforo tho tldo roao and floated the ship away. Nearlng tho ' ahoro a hugo tidal wavo broke over boats and Bhlp, and when tho wavo had passed, tho horri fied women watching on Bhoro Baw no sign ro malnlng ot boats, men or ship. Wild horses would not get a Korry fisherman to visit tho scono ot this disaster upon tho anni versary of tho day tho grim tragedy took place, for only bad luck haB como to Hiobo who have soon tho re-onactmont of tho affair, which Kerry folk bellovo takes placo upon that day. Tho Nowhaven ghost ship signified her own doom. A ship built at Nowhaven In January, 1G47, having sailed away upon her maldon voy ago, was thought to have been loBt nt sea. whon ono ovonlng In Juno, during a furious thunder storm, tho well-known ship was slghtod sailing Into tho rlvor mouth but straight Into tho eye of tho wln.d until sho ncarod tho town, when slowly alio faded from tho sight of tho peoplo who crowdod ou shoro to watch hor, Tho ap parition was significant tho Bhlp was never heard of again. Tho rocky coasts of Hew England aro haunted by many ghost ships. The Palatine Is tho best known specter. Tho coasters and fishermen of Long Island Sound will toll you that when a sight of her la gotten, disastrous and long-lasting stormB will follow. Tho Palatine, a Dutch trader, misled by falso lights shown by wreckers, ran ashore tipon Block Island In tho year 1752. Tho wreckers, when they had stripped tho vessel, set her on flro In order to conceal their crime. As tho tldo lifted her and carried her flaming out to sea, agonizing shrieks came from tho blaze, and the figure ot a woman who had hid den herself In tho hold in fear ot the wreckers stood out black amid the roaring blaze. Then tho deck fell In and ship and woman vanished. Tho whaling in Nantucket, as you will rcmejm her, waB In Its palmy days carried on almost en tirely by Quakers. Ono Sunday evening a meet ing was in progress; tho' simple service seemed as though It might pass, and tho spirit moved nono of the company. Tho elder Friend was Ju,st about to offor his hand to his neighbor in tho closing ot thb meeting, when a stranger rose and declared that tho Lord's wrath was upon a cortaln whaling ship, and that ho had seen her In a 'vision descending a hugo wavo from tho hollow of which sho never rose. Tho meeting closed hurriedly, but tho speaker could not be found, and tho ship was never heard of. Some of tho best ghost stories aro thoso which 1 tho writer has heard from tho simple folk of the salt marshes. It is hardly possible to describe those, droary districts, for whon ono has Bald thoy aro flat, atrotchlng for miles, and rather subject to mlstB, ono has said pretty well all that Is to bo said tho rest muBt bo felt. Howovor, Just as thoro Is a call of tho sea, bo thoro is a call of tho marshland. You shall go Into tho saltern and feel Its moist breath upon your cheek and tho breath of Its salty winds and tho ozone of its calms. You shall bo lost In Its vastness, and, threading Its Innumerable twisted narrow waterways, which lead to nowhore, yo shall tread Its carpet of scentless flowers. You shall go to Its vory odgo where tho sea cornea often most, and whero tho flowers decaying leave tholr rust-colored remains. Thoro you shall meat mud, and the cry of tho curlew shall mock as you flounder In its filth. Tho moon shall cotno up refracted by the mist Into unrecognizable shape, which shall bo blood color. Vou shall be a gray shape, differing llttlo from tho common things thnt aro thero, for you shall bo enshrouded by fog; nay, It shall sink Into your very soul, until you aro not flesh and bonos, but a particle of fog yourself. You shall listen to Its silences; you shall be told things by them, and, strdng man that you aro, you shall bo afraid. Is it to be wondorod at, thon, that these slmplo Essex marsh-dwellers remomber Btuh talcn as that of tho young skipper, homo from a long voyage, whoso haato to embrace his wife, and tho babo he had not yet seen, bid him to go tho nearer way of tho marshes? The talo has It that In crossing a narrow gutway. near Pltsea, ho sank In tho mud. So dooply did ho sink that ho could not oxtrlcato himsolf; the moro ho struggled the deeper ho sank, and with tho horror of knowing that tho tldo was rising and would como stealing up tho creek, ho shouted. As tho tldo rose higher mo louuor woro nis screams. Tho salterns near Pltsea aro lonoly; tho cries woro heard only by a half-witted peat-cutter, who often in his less Banc moments hoard such screams and thought no moro of tho matter So tho shrioks became gurgles, and by tho tlmo tho tldo had lifted the peat-cutter's punt thoy had coased. Tho older folk at this stage ot tho storv as sumo a mysterious air, and, with largeoyed glanclngs athwart tholr shouldors, will toll you that tho skipper's shrieks aro heard on starlit nights as tho tldo glides up that creek So here aro my ghost storlos. and If I some times bo lovo In them whon I sail all alono on tho midnight doop, you win not laugh at mo. Speaking at tho now lord mayor's Inaugural banquet tho other night, Prime Minister Asqulth made the emphatic statement that he belloved It to bo the general opinion of Europo that the Balkan states should not be robbed of tho fruits of their victory. Promler Asqulth referred to tho unsuccessful efforts of tho powers o prevent tho conflict and to tho groat changes the war had mado In tho map of Europo, and continued: "In theso anxious times it Is satis factory to be able to announce that tho relations of England with tho other powers, without a single excep tion, wero never moro friendly and cordial. "Tho great powers aro working together with a closenesa of touch and a frankness of discussion which la remarkable and which may seem almost unintelligible to thoso who be lieve that because, for certain pur poses, tho powers have been and aro ranged in different groups, they must, therefore, in a tlmo of European crislB, bo arrayed In opposlto camps "The map of Europo will havo to be recast, and nowhere Is there a dis position to belittle the magnitude of tho strugglo or dlsputo tho decisiveness of tho result "England has no direct lntorost In tho exact form which tho political and territorial redistributions may ultimately take. The special relations of tho other powers, geographical, economic, ethical and historical, with tho scene of the conflict, aro such that thoy cannot bo expected not to claim a voice when tho time comes for a permanent settlement." WOULD PENSION ALL U. S. MOTHERS That each woman who bears a child shall receive a pension of $25 is ono of tho provisions of a bill which Mrs. Ellen Spencer Mussey, tho dean of tho Washington College of Law the only exclusively women's law school in tho country Is advo cating beforo congress. Mrs. Mussey's bill contains a num ber of unique provisions, all putting a premium on motherhood. Sho would provide tho mother not only with ?25 for every child born, but would havo tho government allow mothers $2.50 a week for throe months beforo and three months after tho birth of a child. In addition to this a woman forty-five years old with six children should also get a pension, the amount not yet bolng named. Mrs. Mussoy, in discussing her bill, said that much of the blame for the white Blave traffic in this country could be laid to tho failuro ot mothers to properly Instruct their growing daughters. Tho sponsor for this bill Is ono of tho most prominent women In profes sional llfo in the United States. Sho has been a practitioner bofore tho Supremo Court of tho United States for fifteen ycarB, and sho was at ono time a member of tho school board of Washington and was the most promi nent flguro lp that board. DR. EWIIL HIRSCH FAVORS PORK CHOPS Dr. Emll G. Hirsch, preaching to tno young Jows of Chicago, who aro ''departed from orthodoxy and lacking religious anchorago," under tho aus pices of tho People's Synagogue asso ciation, created a sensation whon ho denounced tho dovotlon to "supersti tious observance that characterizes orthodoxy In somo of Its manifesta tions, and said: "I urge you that, Instead ot ponder ing about tho observance ot tho dietary laws, abstaining from certain foods, you lead lives of righteousness and holp to spread our religion among Jho peoplo. Wo believe in ono God and that God In spiritual form. Let us carry his word to our brothren. "Tho Roformed Jewish church has nothing to do with obsolete forms of religion. It has to do with tho unifi cation of the peoples of tho earth un der one God, nnd tho koshprlng ot meat Is far less Important In our scheme ot things than tho reacuo of human bolngs from moral, Intellectual and spiritual chaos. "Tho pork chop is just as much my meat as your meat or any man's meat Tho ouly thing I havo against pork chops Is their price. No super Btitlon that tabooes pork has any torrors for mo or any othor roformed Jow. "Wo havo nothing to do with undent and abandoned tribal Juju. Wb do not bollovo that tho hog was tho ancestor ot any branch of tho Jowlsh, race, and thla la the Basis of tho superstition that taboooa pork in orthodox circles." i N