THE 8EMLVEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE. NEBRASKA.
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NIKOLA TESI
HEN I was a boy and chance or an un
avoidable predicament made It ncc
cBBary for mo to walk past a grave
yard after dusk of an ovenlug, I
began whistling as I approached
and continued i ntll my llpa wore
swollen or walked a mllo out of
my way to get woll around It.
But even with all my whistling
In a boyish attempt to prod a recre
ant courage, my legs nevertheless
wero pretty wabbly and my knee
action was not of tho sliow-rlnc
class. My heart, too, ungallantly huddled up
In a corner and wont on strlko, so that there
wasn't much bjood In circulation to keep mo
warm, and quite ns a matter of course I got "cold
foot."
In the nervous tension my scalp contracted so
that my hair felt as If It was so many pricking;
needles, goose ilesh writhed In creepy lines ovor
my body, whllo my splno seemed llko nothing bo
much as an anlmntod Icicle and my nerves wero
rasped by tho demon of fear, for, mind you, every
one of those dlm-limncd gravestones was a po
tential ghost that might at any Instant ralso its
'uncanny arms and sweep awesomely out and
claim mo for Its own.
Did you over pass a graveyard at night whon
nlono? And didn't you feel Just about that way
whon you did?
Much as I might wish to bo a bo7 again, I
should not over caro to havo to pass a graveyard
nt night alono.
There has been so much Bald and written pro
and con In discussing tho tactics of tho Gormans
iln sending their forcos at tho onomy In what
1s known as tho "mass formation" that it aeoms
ns If llttlo could bo added to tho argument
But thero Is a human aldo to this policy that
iso far has not boon presented; not to my knowl
edge, 'at least.
It Is a simple phase of tho question that has
to do with tho olqment of human nature; tho
mental process of tho mass, as disclosed by the
Individual as Its unit.
Why is It that, tho man who quakes with fear
pt 'the approach of an impondlng battle qulto
loften, as tho recordo show, Is tho ono who goos
Ita at tho cbargo with apparently tho darodavll
recklessness and dlHrogard fpr danger that dis
tinguished him among his comrades as tho man
iunafrald or as being "crazy with tho heat" of
fbattle?
However, before ho attains to this dogroo of
courage and comes eventually to be stricken with
"battle fever ho must havo boon divorced from his
onBo of fear by eomo process or association aside
Jrom his conscious control. Fear and tho con
crete evidenco of bravery are soldom if over com
bined In any hazardous undertaking, and eapo
dally In tho caoo whore the Individual faces
tho enotny In battlo or other mortal danger un
supported and alono.
I And that brings us again to tho wolrd and fear
some specters that take form in tho dreadful dark,
along tho silent and desortcd road at tho edgo of
jtho ghost-haunted gravoyard.
i It Is interesting, and not a llttlo amusing, now
ithat I (and wo aro all pretty much alike in that
jroBpoct) look back ovor tho years and coldly an
ntyze the mental attitude in which under tho
ourtaln of night 1 hesitatingly approached, trem
blingly passed and thankfully left behind those
harmless and sacred villages of the dead at the
(time I was on Impressionable lad,
For, you Bee, when fortune favored mo with
companions on tho infrequent occasions of my
nocturnal journeys past the old graveyards, even
If It were only a small boy, not yet' old enough to
recognize' thq possibilities of a ghost in a dUBk
shrouded tombstone, my courage always retained
enough stamina to carry 'me through tho other
wise nervo-Bhreddlng ordeal without having to
rosort to the expedient of whistling myself out of
breath, At any rate.
Thero might bo prowling ghosts ovor thero in
the lowering dork of tho somber aisles running
through tho shrubs and the weeping willows
but wha'. follow should be nfrald of ghosts with
a faithful comrade touching elbows at his side?
However, pn occasions when thero was a com
pany of us, four or six or more boys, that walked
together along the graveyard road, why, thero Just
olmply were no ghosts at all.
But if one of us had by some fortuity becomo
(separated from tho main body and suddenly real
ized that ho was stark alono among tho momen
tous possibilities of his ominous surroundings, his
(also koyed bravado would instantly havo lost Its
Krlp and hit bottom with a plunk.
Tho chances are, as a matter of fact, that ho
would have been "scared stiff" too Btlff to got out
of his tracks for tho moment, at least. And,
quite uublushlngly, I am assuming that that boy
must have been myself,
And, aa for any of. us to have ventured In the
circumstance to go In thero alonequite unthink
able, I assure you.
But what, you are asking, has all this to do
with the question of tho German genoral war
staff's tactics when storming a fortress or charg
ing the battle lino In sending their troops at tho
enemy In close order or "masu formation?"
Well, tho man is tho boy and tho boy is tho
man, and tho mental attltudo of tho soldier In
relation' to battlo 1b precisely that of the boy and
the night-veiled grayoyard.
With this difference, all boys, unless It be tho
occasional exception that proves tbo mlo. aro
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J'tZPyOMF OF JZVJjP PJ&-JCJ&MS&
naturally obscssod w.lth childish fear of ghosts
and gravoyard phantoms created in tholr fertile
Imagination. Most men outgrow such baseless
fears, and somo, I cannot undertake to say what
por cont, havo by natural dovelopmont, will power
or solf-control outgrown tho sonso of fear to such
an extent that It does not manifest itBelf when in
tho faco of dangor.
But thoro nre those of us In whom fear quickly
and prominently develops oV recurs when our life
Is placed In Imminent peril. And such, men aro
in tho majority, very probably. Tho world calls
thorn "cowards," Possibly that is an appropriate
generalized term, though it should be gingerly
applied In tho caso of the man who strives but is
unable to ovorcomo a natural fooling of fear.
There should, too, bo qualifying distinctions, as,
for instance, the moral coward, as distinguished
from tho "physical" coward; tho coward of con
science and the coward of principle.
Tho moral coward may not ever havo experi
enced the sense of foar, or vlco versa.
It Is. the rare exception, however, when a man
will voluntarily admit fear of physical danger be
foro tho enemy. And it would needs bo a grace
less coward indeed who should confess that he
would bo. afraid to enlist under tho colors If called
upon for tho defense of his country.
Certainly an overwhelming majority of us,
whether or not wo aro sufficiently candid to admit
it, experience the sense of fear in a greater or
less degreo when we mentally place ourselves
within rango of tho enemy's flesh-mangling shrap
nel, parrying tho vicious thrust of a bowel-rlpplng
bayonet or dodging tho decapitating swing of o
cavalryman's saber.
And thero are many of us who, if wo were about
to bo placed In bucIi a position, would lllnch, to
say tho least. And then thero are those, no one
will over know what proportion of tho whole,
who whon ordered Into action would drop out,
flop ovor and play 'possum or Just plain "beat It,"
providing ho could do so without attracting the
attention of his more loyal comrades or being de
tected by his offlcers, "which last eventuality he
knows would result In a quick dealt penalty of
death.
Even If so disposed, such a getaway could, of
course, be effected only in a thin lino of troops
advancing in open or extended order, whero the
chances of or opportunities for detection would be
minimized, and whero, too, such action would be
likely to occur, because the Individual is deprived
of the moral support and psychological encourage
mpnt of olbow-touchlng comrades to spur him on.
It Is in tho cognizance of this clement in hu
man nature, which is concrete rnther than ab
stract, that tho Gorman commanders show their
fine understanding of this phenomenon 6f temper
amental idiosyncrasy, tho mental attitude, If you
please, of tho soldier facing the enemy, fpr, after
all, the Boldlor Is only tho average citizen In
uniform.
And this particular attitude of the Boldlor is the
story, all over again, of tho boy and tho dark and
tho graveyard road. Alono and unsupported, he is
tho victim of fear. Touching elbowB with fellow
compatriots, tho sense of foar either is momentar
ily allayed, or shamo prevents an open display of
It. Almost any man would accept tho challenge
of the risk In such environment rather than bo
called a coward by his comrades or to be shot
as such by a watchful officer.
It Is tho understanding of this fact, for It Is a
fact, not a theory, that Justifies and possibly com
pensates tho Germans in tholr tactics of charging
the enemy on maBsc.
And then, too, tho military experts, and even
tho layman, has learned that with tho great ad
vances made com in ononsivo ana aeiensive
moans In modern warfaro, the battles aro won by
masses rather than by tho individual as tho unit.
When a certain objective is aimed at the com
manders, having millions of men in hand and
moro in reserve, coldly calculate the BacrlDco of
many men to reach it, and to do so hurl men in"
solid masses at tho enemy with tho purposo of
breaking him by sheer weight of numbers.
The battlo value of the Individual as developed
in wars of tho past, when musket, bayonet and
saber were prominent factors, Is largoly lost in
tho face of ultra-modern machinery devised for
wholesale killing, which demands the co-operation
of masses rather than tho distinguish
ing activities of the individual. Such machinery
makes for barbarism and brutal slaughter, rather
than civilized warfare, it war can bo considered
a civilized institution, but in this day of a blood
red continent It is a part of tho gamo, and we
must perforce accept it. New York Press.
NEW
TATE OFFICIALS INSTALL
ED FOR DUTY.
HOLLENBEGK GIVES OATH
New Chief Justice Sat for First Time
Legislators Approve Gov-
ernor's Message,
Lincoln. Now officers of tho state
wore Inaugurated before a Joint ses
sion of tho two houses of tho stato
legislature and Governor Morohead
delivered his Inaugural address. Of
ficers for tho coming two years wore
sworn by the chief Justice, Conrad
Ilollenbeck, who was previously sworn
In and sat for tho first time in tho
court session. Tho stato officers, with
Governor' Morehead, who were Bworn
In, are: ,
Governor John II. Morehead, Lieu
tenant Governor James Pearson, Sec
retary of Stato Charles W. Pool, Aud
itor William II. Smith, Treasurer
George E. Hall, Superintendent A. O.
Thomas, Attorney General Willis B.
Reed, Land Commissioner Fred Beck
man, Itnllway Commissioner Thomas
L. Hall. i
The house was well flllc'd and the
galleries crowded when Lieutenant
Governor McKolvlo Btepped to tho
chair and called the Joint session to
gether, the last act of the outgoing
lieutenant governor. It took Govern
or Morehead about an hour to read his
message, which was listened to at
tentively. Many of his recommenda
tions seemed to meet with hearty ap
proval by the legislators.
Fix Time of Sessions.
Sessions of the house will be from
9 In tho morning until 12 and from
1:30 In the afternoon until 3, when
the committees will meet and work
until G. Employes were cut down
from seventy-five to thirty-one and
tho mallcarrlers and postmasters
eliminated. In placo of these a sub)
station of the postofHco will bo estab
lished during the session. There will
bo fewer committees and fewer mem
bers to each committee.
Automobile Instruction Popular.
Automobile instruction in Nebraska
is a popular thing if tho enrollment
at tho college of agriculture is any
Indication. The number of students
has more than doubled within the
last two years. Last year when such
Instruction was first offered, 30 stu
dents enrolled. This year there are,
75. Aside from the- lectures, actual
repair work is done on cars brought
In for practice.
Water Power Report Accepted.
At tho suggestion of Speaker Jack
son, former Representative , J. McAl
lister of Dakota county was. given
time in the house to explain the re
port of the special commission to in
vestigate water power, of which he Ib
chairman.
The house voted to accept tho re
port and order 500 copies printed for
the members of the legislature and
general distribution.
INDIAN TROOPS IN ACTION
Rural Credits Question.
Rural credits legislation has been
brought to the front in a resolution
offered in the senate by Beal of Cus
ter. He asks that congress be re
minded that the step is promised in
the platforms of all parties and that
passage of the proper bills would aid
agriculturists and stock raisers of tho
west.
After Careful Analysis of Problem
Body Suggest Beat Way to Han
dle State's Dependents.
Sterilization of the mentaly defec
tive, at tho Institute for tho Feeble
Minded youth at Beatrico and nt tho
nsylums at Lincoln, Norfolk and Hast
ings is the recommendation mado by
the Board of Control in tho blonnial
roport which that body has filed with
tho governor. The board's report is a
careful analysis of tho wholo complex
problem of how tho stato may best
handlo Its large dependent defective
and criminal classes, which, tho re
port shows, havo increased over 12
per cent in the lnst two years.
It recommends in regard to- tho
girls' industrial school that tho age at
which a girl reaches her maturity bo
raised from 18 to 21 years, for tho
board holds this period In a girl's life
to be more critical than any other.
The report terms it "somowhat of a
mockery" to send criminals forth from
the penitentiary with a Bkl,ll in an oc
cupation that Is pursued nowhere in
the Btato outside of the penitentiary.
In this connection It advises a refor
matory and explains its failure to pro
vide ono in pursuance with tho appro
priation of $150,000 granted by tho last
legislature as duo to tho fact that tho
amount of the appropriation was too
small.
The alternative of a twine factory
as provided by the last legislature did
not appear feasible to tho board which
did not consider twlno making a destr.
able employment for tho prisoners.
Dropping of the word "non-rosldeht"
from the alien land law of the stato
is, proposod in a bill, to bo introduced
at the session at the request of W. D.
Schaal of Springfield. Mr. Schaal in
sists that this apparently insignifi
cant change will remedy what he
deems 'the evils of tho present sys
tem, that of allowing resident aliens
to own land in this state.- He wants
to force all aliens who own land and
are enjoying protection and prosper
ity of the state to becomo citizens of
tho country.
ChlropracticB seek tho enactment
of a law such as somo other states
have passed, recognizing the "science
of chlropratlc" and placing tho pro
fession on a plane with osteopathy.
In ordor to do this they ask the legis
lature to create a stato board of ex
aminers, whose duty it shall be to ex
amine all persons who may wish to
practice tho chiropractic science in
Nebraska.
A movement is on foot to bring
Thomas Tynan, warden of tho Colo
rado penitentiary, to this state to
talk to the legislature upon making
good roads. A Nebraska law was
passed two years ago intending to
provide for such work, but it proved
in such shape that it. has not been
nvailed of. It Mr. Tynan comes, it
will probably bo this month.
Short Course at State Farm.
During the regular vacation of
classes at tho university farm, prep
arations nre being made for the open
ing of the" 'winter 'short course of six
weeks of the university sohpol of
agriculture which beginB this wek.
Although mainly Mohammedan, tho Indian na
tlvo army ombracoB men of tho most varying
religions, socts and races. Its normal strength
In round figures is 160,000 men, but this does
not lncludo (about) 22,000 Imperial service troops,
35,000 rosorvlstB and 39,000 voluntoora.
The officers, of course, aro British, but every
regiment has Its native officers, known respec
tively as rlsaldars, subahdars and Jemldars. A
rlsaldar is tho natlvo commander of a troop of
cavalry, whllo tho subahdar and Jomldar rank
respectively as captain and lieutenant among
thomsolves, that is, for in no circumstance does
a native captain- exorcise' any commaadt over a
British lloutenant. Tho. Indian soldiers whoso
names are most familiar to tho British public
are tho Sikh, the Rajput, tho Gurkha and tho
Pathan.
It waB tho Sikh, of course, who put up such a
tremendous fight against England years ago, but
who, once conquered, has ovor slnco proved tho
loyalost of tho loyal. Originally of Hindu origin,
tho Sikhs as a religious sect wore founded by
Nanak Shah in the fifteenth century, and reached
tho zenith of their military and political power
undor tho famous Ranjlt Singh (1780-1839). Tho
Sikh Is not born a Sikh, but is admitted or ini
tiated as ono when he reaches early manhood,
from which date he never cuts his hair, and
always wears an iron bangle on his wrist. By
tholr religion, tho Sikhs are forbidden to use
tobacco In any shapo or form. Equally at homo
in tho aaddlo or on foot, tho Sikh Is a magnificent
fighting man, and an awe-inspiring figure with
his big board, and great mustache curled up bo
hind his ears.
"Rajput" means literally, "son of a king," and
tho Rajputs aro an intensely proud, reserved and
silent race. They are tho world's finest horse
men, bar none, though thoy do not disdain to
serve In infantry regiments. Thoy are very tall,
upstanding men of magnificent "presenoo" and
haughty domoanor, for they never forget or allow
tho spectator to forget that thoy are of royal
blood. Inside his turban tho Rajput carries a
stool circlet with Bharp edges, and this ho can'
hurl or throw with Buch deadly accuracy and
force ns to decapitate an enemy at many yards
distance.
Kipling has mado us familiar with tho Gurkha,
who Is "blood-brothor" to tho Highlanders, and
tho moBt cheorfully bloodthirsty llttlo "dovll" go
ing, Tho Mongol descent shows Itself In his
broad, Hat features and squat frame, and tho con
Hog Barns at Fair Grounds.
The only permanent building which
the state board of agriculture will ask
the legislature to build on the fair
grounds during the year 1915 is a
modern hog barn. It is estimated
that the building and grading will
cost $80,000,
A motion to havo members of the
senate who had official matter to mall
out submit such matter to the secre
tary of the senate to be stamped and
mailed was passed. This is in accord
with reform recommendations of the
Joint committee appointed two years
ago and tho plan is designed to save
postage to the senate.
A bill to bo Introduced at this
session of the legislature will give
the Omaha metropolitan water district
the right to enter into the manufac
ture and sale of electricity, upon af
firmative vote of the citizens of tho
district, ahd will give the -water dis
trict a full opportunity to compete
with private enterprises of that city.
The committees chosen to select
standing committees in tho house and
senate are widely different in make
up. The houso committee is frankly
progressive, headed by J. N. Norton
of Polk, one of tho most radical mem
bers. The senate committee is head
ed by Phil Kohl of Wayne, a conser
vative democrat.
W. F. Frlsbee, State Chemist.
W. F. Frlsbee of Des Moines has
been appointed state chemist in con
nection with tho pure food depart
ment of tho state to fill the vacancy
caused by tho resignation of B. L.
Redfern.
Fries, Dean of Legislature.
Sorcn M. Fries of Dannebrog is the
dean of tho legislature In years of
service. Ho is now a member of the
house for tho Bjxth time.
Reports from the eight stato league
baseball cities by President Miles in
dicate there will bo concerted action
In the legislature asking for an
amendment of the law making It le
gitimate to play tho national gamo
on Decoration day after 2 o'clock in
the afternoon.
To establish a system of state life
insurance and annuities in Nebraska
similar to the plan in operation in
Wisconsin and Massachusetts is tho
purpose of a bill which will be intro
duced in both branches of tho legislature.
Speaker Jackson, J. N. Norton and
W. C. Parrlott form tho house com
mittee on rules.
Tanner Loses Place.
Senator Quinby of Douglas sprung
a sensation soon after the sonato was
called to order by an amendment sub
stituting tho name of E. W. Miller of
Omaha In place of that of "Doc" Tan
aer of South Omaha, who had been
agreed on In caucus as clerk of tho
engrossing committee, and after a
wordy battlo Indulged in by members
of the Douglas county delegation, in
which Dodge took a hand. Tanner was
Sentiment In favor of cutting down
the number of blUs introduced at this
session of the legislature had its first
expression lit tho lower house, when
Richmond of Douglas offered a reso
lution designated to eliminate all du
plicate measuros after tholr introduc
tion and before the bills are printed
at state expense. Tho resolution re
cites that there has been great waBto
of public money at past sessions of
the legislature in printing bills which
IrcomfcaTfn0 tho"extrdeml ,0rd,' " XS5T a vote TtTon Tor aclual o7pWcUcaUy duplicate" ono
minor lo miueu mr iuuuci, - hmuuiui.
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