The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, September 26, 1916, Image 2

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    THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE. NEBRASKA.
INTERNED CREWS
OF GERMAN SHIPS
BUILD A VILLAGE
Scarcely Six Months In the Mak
ing It Attracts Wide
Attention.
COUNT AND COUNTESS VON BERNSTORFF
UTTLE GERMANY IN ITSELF
Three Hundred Little Model Houses
and Other Structures That Go to
Make Up a Village Are Con.
etructed From Scraps.
Norfolk, Vn. At the Portsmouth
navy ynrd, near Norfolk, Va there
Is n vlllago of almost n thousand per
ions thp.t Has heen scarcely six month
In tho making, which Is nttrncllng at
Mention througliout tho country. Vlsl
lors to tho ynrd vie with one another
for tho precious and somewhat rare
passes which will admit one to the
peculiar place, and thousands of post
cards showing scenes within Its lim
its nro sold dally.
Tho village Is unincorporated and
without legalized form of government.
Its residents, though filled with civic
prjdo rnro in Its Intensity, nro nbso
lutely opposed to Increasing tho popu
lation. They toll and spin lit tho vll
lngo only as It pleases them, yet they
tnt regularly, sleep regularly and aro
assured of a comfortable existence, at
least, until tho end of thp great Euro
pean war.
And, now thnt war has been men
tioned, you have tho key to tho Iden
tity of this strange municipality in
tho making. It Is tho village built by
the Interned crows of tho Kronprlnr.
Wilhelm and tho Prlnz Eltel Frlcdrlch,
German war vessels, which ran Into
tho Virginia, capes within 30 days of
Bach other for safety, about n year
go, and slnco havo been interned by
tho United Stntcs government for tho
duration of tho war.
Build Wonder Village.
Cast Into tho waters of n neutral
country nnd realizing that their stny
Erohably would bo long, theso sturdy,
lond Teuton sons did not sit on tho
decks and mourn their fntc. Instead,
Uiey sprang upon tho laud, grabbed
every scrap of wood and metal and
cloth nnd leather and ovcry drop of
paint that camo their way and began
tho construction of their wonder vil
lage From scraps gathered from Hither
and yon In tho nnvy yntfd-nnd out of
It, moro than !!00 llttlo model houses, a'
windmill, n chnpcl nnd other struc
tures that go to mnko up tho vlllngo
hnvo been constructed. They lino pret
ty streets.
Their front ynrds bloom with flow
ers and their back yards arc filled with
garden truck. Nor Is tho end yet. To-
day you sco a load of old boxes or dis
carded ends of boards going Into tho
vlllngo nnd tomorrow n now house, of
which thoy will bo n part, will bo nn
der construction. Building operations
nlwnys nro under way.
Tho start of tho vlllago camo with
tho granting of tho uso of tho cast end
of tho ynrd, nenr where tho great In
torned ships lie, by tho commnndnnt
to tho Interned men. It Is composed of
Mvernl ncrcs cut oft from tho remain
der of tho ynrd so completely that It
seems n llttlo Germany within Itself.
On ono sldo In tho Potomac rlvor lie
tho two ships. Another sldo Itl bound
cd now by tho Immcnso United States
tolller O'Rynn, in tho making. Green
grass, n wood nnd somo water form
the other two sides.
Must Have Pass,
Tho vlllago must bo nppronched
through guards from tho O'Rynn col
llor sldo so, unless you- hnvo n pass.
there Is Uttlo clmnco of seeing It. Tho
l ouiii aiiU (.uuuuss von Bornstonr photographed at the time of the ar
rival of tho countess In New York, after a stay of two years In Germany.
Lines of care havo heen drawn In the fnco of tho German ambassador since
tho outbreak of tho war.
tho crowds would flock toward It and
rend with as much Interest as If It
had been the work of a regular mayor.
The houses nro occupied only In tho
dnytlmo. When sundown comes the
men hoard their ships for tho night.
During tho dnytlmo they enjoy them
selves on land at will, drinking coffee,
playing cards or reading within tho
houses.
Besides killing time by Improving
tho village, tho men hnvo a great num
ber of pets, nnd they also Indulge In
athletic games. Thoy havo dogs, chick
ens, birds and cats which they treasure
as children would. On tho athletic
field they hold turnvcrclns, boxing
mntches and athletic games, as well
as swing Indian clubs nnd piny modi
clno bnll nnd football. All of tho men
nro In splendid physical condition as
a result of their outdoor piny. If
called upon to return to tho sea tomor
row they would bo nono tho worse ofl
for their enforced vacation.
Their Chief Interest
Wnr news, of course, forms tho
greater part of their Interest. Thoy
follow overy detail closely, nnd when
ever anything of great moment hap
pens, or Is reported to have happened,
tho folk of tho tidewater country
anxiously inquire for tho German vil
lage view of it. And for persons in
terned as thoy nro they havo wonder
ful insight on coming events Much
gossip wh'lch ono hears around tho
enpes about things that nro likely to
HANDY MAN FALLS
HEIR TO LEGACY
Quaint Character in New York
Village Gets $60,000
Legacy. '
IS STAGGERED' BY THE NEWS
Helped Perfect Invention Which Made
Owner Wealthy and Latter Re
members Him In His Will
, His Plans.
Silver Creek, N. Y. The greatest of
all miracles has occurred right In this
village. "Low" Keith Is worth n for
tune. It is hard for peoplo to believe
happen In the wnr, nnd which comes
true, frequently can bo traced back to
tho vlllnge.
When tho Deutschlund successfully
eluded tho nllled cruisers recently the
village celebrated. Hut It did not cele
brate tho decision In tho Appam case
which would return tho captured ves
sel to her English owners.
That Appnm caso recalls tho state
ment previously made that the vlllago
has no deslro for moro Inhabitants.
There Is somo fear that tho Appam
crew may bo added to tho village, If It
should bo decided that it was the duty
of the United States as a neutral to
Intern tho men. And that Is not de
sired by tho Germans. Every man who
passes Into tho vlllago Is one more lost
to tho German service during the wnr.
Hcnco to gain In population, a thing
ardently desired by most villages,
means a loss to tho fatherland, which
Is not to bo desired iow.
Inside, tho vlllago Is very, very Ger
man. They speak tho German lan
guage, they sing tho German songs,
they follow tho Gcrmnn customs. But
If one tires of that, ho soon can turn to
things thnt aro American. For In
stance, Just outside the village there Is
a long row of as flno sunflowers as
aro growing nnywhero In tho state of
Kansas, and running in nnd out of ibe
navy yard there are some taxicab drlv-1
ers who surely ore direct descendants
Of somo of our pioneer Amerlcnn road
agents.
wealthy man, provided In his will that
$00,000 should bo set nsldo to provldo
an mcomo for life for "Low" Keith, In
case ho could bo found.
Tho receipt of this Information
caused somo comment and surprise In
duvcr jrccK. it didn't bother "Lew"
much. Ono duy ho was observed wend
ing a somewhat unsteady course from
ono hotel to another, and he was asked
wherefore.
"Nothln', only I've been somewhat
staggered by the news," ho snld.
its all true. Lew says ho was In
Scdnlla In 1878. no snys ho worked
for Mr. Carter and helped him with tho
machine. i
"It wasn't anything to worry over.
though," ho snys. "All Carter needed
wns n suggestion or two, and I had
tho suggcstlous that's nil thero was
to It"
A few days aco a check cumn fmm
FINE INVESTMENT IN CALVES
Writer Telle of Profitable Experience
In Buying Up Young Animals
Feed Cost but Little.
Now Ik the time for farmers who
1 have more hay than they can feed, to
' buy calves, for they will make a line
I Investment. At least my cxperlenco
proves so, snys n writer In un ex
"hnnge. Three years ago we bought
' 12 calves, ns we had more hay than
1 we could use. It was cowpca hay.
I Usually at this time of the yenr somo
' farmers have ono or two calves for
sale for about $10 to $15 each, which
is the price wo paid for ours. Wo
turned them on pasture, and by the
time pasture vriut gone, they were In
fair shape, as they were very 'poor
when wo bought them. That winter
nil wo fed them was cowpea hay. In
spring they were nice, slock and fat.
Then about June and July we bred
them to a flno registered Jersey bull.
All the calves were part or all Jer
seys. The manure was worth ns much us
.he hny, for It Is the best of fertili
ty but It's nn actual fact. So far ns
exccutlvo ofllccra of tho Interned shins ho can recall, "Low" never had moro
Ishuo Iho passes, regular nnvy vnrd of- Avo dollars at ono tlmo In his life,
fleers hnvlng nothing to do with them.
As tho vlllngo grow It becamo ob-
rlous thnt It wos planned with Infinite
skill. Not,on1y were thero houses and
yards laid out, but oven streets and
parks were added. Tho owner of each
plcco of property wns mndo to ronllzo
that ho would bo held strictly respon
sible for his plnco being kept nont and
clean.
and now ho Is worth .500,000.
"Low" Is tho modern Rip Van
Winkle. Ho Is about Blxty-flve years of
age. Ho wiiB born here, but moved
away soon after tho wnr, with his
folks, and passed n few years In Mis
souri, returning again to remain tho
rest of his life. A good many towns
huvo characters Uko "Low," Ho can
rcclto Shakespeare by tho week. IIo Is
"When word of tlib building progress n philosopher with n quulntncss of ex
Ihnt wns being made reached tho out
eldo world German sympathizers be
gan to lend a hand. Contributions of
various Kinds ppurcd In, and when, n
few weeks ago, tho first formal onen
Ing wns held, visiting crowds marveled
Ht tho wonders tho Interned crows had
worked with their poor material and
few outsldo contributions.
Thnt opening day was a proud ono
for tho residents. Tho band from the
ship nnd It Ib n good ono played:
the men marched nnd showed visitors
about tho village, nnd n regular carpi
vol wns staged. With all of tho busi
ness acumen of Ynukeo horso traders,
tho Germans arrested persons for nl
leged violations of their vlllago laws
and lined them beforo magistrates.
All paid their mien willingly, for tho
money went to tho German Red Cross
fund for tho benefit of blinded soldiers.
Kvery prisoner was permitted to assess
Ms own flno. Whero fines were too
low or tho prisoner was good uatured
be was arrested again,
au or. tno usual attractions of nn
amateur cnrnlvnl were nt hand. Thero
were cold drinks, hot dogs nnd rati
Mums to soothe tho pnlato nnd caso
the oyo. Frequently tho mayor, or
Dorfschulze, would post a now bulletin
nn bU bulletin board and immediately
Champion Jersey Cow.
tors, thus getting n second uso out
5f it In raising a better crop and in
Dulldlng up tho form. Thus we were
out the tlmo In feeding tho 12, which
tvns not much, as all we had to do
ivas to stuff hay In tho mangers
twice n day and salt them once n
week. Water wns plentiful.' Tho next
winter wo fed them clover and cow
pea hay, also corn stover, no grain,
ind they were in fine shape.
In the spring thoy had calves, of
which wo kept the females and sold
tho males. The calves were worth
moro than tho handling of tho cows.
Then wo had young, fresh cows for
sale, which after the sale brought over
fCO each. Beforo selling wo bred to
ur registered Jersey bull, which was
ne of the best to bo had.
CLEANLINESS IS BIG FACTOR
Special Care Should Be Taken to Pre
vent Meal In Corner of Boxes
From Fermenting.
Cleanliness is one of the most lm-,
portnnt factors In feeding young
qnlvcs. Clean feeding palls, troughs,
nnd stalls nro safeguards against di
gestive troubles. Milk should be fed
only In clean palls, which should bo
n ashed and scalded after each feed
ing. All feed boxes should be kept
clean. Special care should bo tnken
to prevent menl from fermenting In
tho corners of boxes. Fermented or
French Remains the Menu Language of Washington
FRENCH will rcmnln the lnngungo of Wnshlngton menu cards. No mattei
how strong tho offensive of tho New York hotel chefs becomes to have
tho French of the bills of faro supplanted by English, the lines of French
on menu cards bid fair to hold firm In
tho capital.
This is tho opinion of August F.
Moeller, maitro d'hotel of the Now
Wlllnrd.
"Wo havo decided to be strictly
neutral," said Moellor, with n twlnklo
in his eye nnd n decidedly Teutonic ac
cent when questioned ns to the pro
posed obvlntlon of the French from tho
bill of fare.
'Why. It would bo Just tho same
us asking the average Engllsh-spenklng
connoisseur to change his language," continued tho mnltro d'hotel. "There
nro many persons, those persons who nro accustomed to eating at hotels nnd
cafes, who would not know how to order their meals if tho French on the
menu card was supplanted by English."
"Will there be a change from the old order which might Interfere with
tho gastronomic environs of Washington's gourmets?"
"Jamais, Jamais," which in tho words of the languago attacked means.
"Nover, never." ,
Inventor Proposes National Emblem of 13 Balls
WASHINGTON. At last tho number of 13 is to be shown to tho world in'its
true light. All this argument about It being unlucky Is "bosh," according
to R. S. Gibson, who Is organizing a class of students In Washington to figure
out nn invention worth $100,000. The
new invention, when It Is discovered,
will be tho result of n close study of u
cluster of "stones' which he Bays he
has discovered to be the basis of all
nature.
Gibson, who claims to bo the In
ventor of tho paper headrest for barbet
chairs, pointed to n chart on the wall
of his room. The chart was a picture
of 12 balls grouped around a single
one in the center, and on the bottom,
wns printed these words, "What mean
these stones." "That picture," he said, "shows you what you will find in tho
cells of tho human body, nnd in all the planets nnd the stars.
"Take 12 perfect spheres of equal size and group them around a thir
teenth so they will nil touch, and you have a perfect symmetrical group.
That Is a discovery of my own, and I believe it can be worked out to be worth
somo money."
The inventor's iden Is that If he can get several peoplo to study Ids dis
covery, one of them is likely to get tho Idea that will bo worth the $100,000.
"The 'principle of tho 13 Idea Js basic," Gibson said. "Christ and the 12
apostles, 12 Jurymen nnd a Judge ,and tho 13 original states are a few cx
umplcs. ,
"I have written President Wilson, Bryan, Roosevelt and others, trying to
get them to adopt that cluster ns n national emblem. It stands for the
original states and at the Bame tlmo is a perfect symmetrical group."
prcsslou which makes him highly en
tertaining. IIo bus nlwnys mado his
llvfng "tinkering." IIo can mako a
motor boat, a violin, n camera, n
threshing machine in fact, ho can
mnko anything or mend anything that
anyone ever droamcd of. But ho
never tried to mnko any tnonoy. IIo
never wnnted any.
But listen to what has befallen him:
A few weeks ago John B. Webster,
vlllago president, got n letter from Se
dalla, Mo asking If "Low" Keith were
alive, and If so to furnish proofs of his
Identity.
"Tell 'cm I'm nllvc, nil right," was
"Lew's" nonchalant comment.
Mr. Webster did. Back camo n lot
tor from tho vlco president of a trust
company In St. Louis. This Is, In sub
stance, what It Bald :
In 1878 n man named Carter, llvluc
la Scdnlla, wns ut work on n machlno
to Bopnrato zinc from ore. lie. wns un
nblo to perfect his device. "Low"
Keith, a young mnn, hnpponed lu nnd
tinkered nrouud till tho machine was
complete "Low" moved away. Mr.
Carter patented tho machine nnd mndo
a fortuno out of It. Many times during
his llfo ho started to hunt up "Low"
Keith, but novor followed out tho no
tion. When ho died, Mr. Carter, a very
T I i. , UtUiUJ ttU ..... Mil-" " l"J - O
tho St. Louis trust company, and with yivo Bystem of n calf and endanger
t n letter nsklng thnt "Low" Journey lts life. No more grain should bo
iu oi-uumi iu I'luuuiisn nimscir perma
nently in his new Income. "Low" has
gone. Word has como back thnt "ev
erything Is all right."
Tho trust fund provides nu Incomo
rt tho rnto of six per cent or $3,000 a
year. This Is roughly $08 a week. Con
slderlng thnt "Low" tins never earned
moro than ten or .Ifteeu although he
might easily havo earned many times
that If ho had npplled'hls Ingenuity,
this weekly provision Is worth mention
ing. "I shall build n bungalow myself,"
snld "Low" tho other day, "I shall
havo It lined with shelves. One shelf
will contnln n demijohn bo visitors
shnll not depart unrefrcshed. Tho oth
ers will contain books, and I'll spend
my tlmo reading. I'll rend my bead
off. Thero Is ono observation I would
Uko to make: Ono nover knows bow
many friends ho has till ho hns n for
tune left to him
Ted than will bo cleaned up In a few
minutes. Tho bedding In calf Btalls
becomes wet very quickly. Tho calf
should by all means bo kept dry, nnd
It is therefore necessary to keep the
stalls well bedded at nil times.
WATER AND SALT NECESSARY
Important Requisites for Proper Manu-
facture of Milk, Says South Da
kota Professor.
Don't Btlnt your dairy cows on wa
ter, if you want thctu to keep up the
milk supply, suggests Prof. C. Lnr
sen of South Dakota State college.
He states that tho amount of water
needed by n dairy cow is In propor
tion to the amount of milk sho gives.
Xho average cow will drink about 75
Our Soldiers May Look Like the Knights of Old
ALL existing records concerning the types of breastplates, shields, helmets,
and even suits of armor worn by the knights of .tho middle ages, are
being closely studied by the ordnance burcnu of the war department In nu
effort to find the best kind of protec
tion for American soldiers in trench
warfare.
And the office of tho chief of
ordnance is getting to look" like the
showroom of tho royal armorer in the
days of Richard Coeur do Lion.
Since the European armies began
to adopt steel helmets nnd breastplates
ns protection against the hailstorms of
shrapnel and tho spatter of machine
gun bullets, a crop of Inventors lms
sprung up throughout the united
States intent on Improving tho devices which warriors of bygono days re
sorted to when cross-bows and battle axes were used on the field of war.
The other day,, for example, tho bureau had beforo it a working model of
a coat of armor Invented by an American. Its pattern wns adopted from n
type favored by the ancient Samurai of Japan. Tho breastplate was formed
of a V-shaped shell of quarter-Inch steel with a padded lining.
A mask of similar design with opening for tho eyes was Intended to bo
used to protect the foco nnd head. Shoulder plates and epaulets of tho
liarae material completed the equipment.
All known designs of helmets aro likewise being studied In order to pro
vide bullet-defying headgear for the men. Besides the designs In use at
present In Europe-rthe solid-piece types used by the British nnd Germans
nnd tho sectional typo used by the French designs similar to those used by
tho Crusaders with neck-pieces and vizors are also being studied.
Tho bureau is also at work on various types of hand grenades, although
ns far back as 1008 tho array experts had devised a grenade which, It its
thought, is ns good ns, if not better, than the kind In use in Europe.
nounds per day, while somo very Inrge
I hnvo received Isn milk producers drink 200 pounds per
Invitations to dlnuer already from pro. day. Tho dairy cows should also hnvo
pio who hadn't spoken to mo In thirty free nccess to sau. xno rigm mumou
yers. It all proves that vlrtuo Is it of feeding snlt Is to hnvo n water-tight
own reward." ' ', box 10 or 12 feet long In the yard,
frnlscd about two feet from tho ground
SUNFLOWER ON DEAD LIM3 JS.S'iffJSSSaS
... 11. .1...
01 It UllUU UII U1U
Plant Thrives Whllo Vegetation
Earth Perishes for Lack of
Moisture.
01
time. Tho cow
heeds salt not only for her body but
for the manufacture of milk.
Potersburg, Ind. J. W. Wilson, un
attorney of this town, has a dead South
Carolina poplur trco in tho buck of his
law ofilco. Several months ago ho no
ticed a Bprlg of green sprouting from
ono of tho limbs. He knew tho treo
was dead, and watched the sprout until
now It has grown Into n largo sun
flower, bush that will bo roady to bloom
In a few days. Thero Is no wny to got
molsturo to tho sunflower, and tho
limb la less than two Inches In diam
eter, yet it bus withstood tho drought
whllo vegetation on the earth has pen
lshcd.
COMFORT OF COW IMPORTANT
Animal Should Be Made Comfortable
and Willing to Part With Her
Supply of M(lk.
At mllklug tlmo It Is important that
tho cow bo comfortable and contented.
She should hnvo consumed at least u
portion of her food beforo tho milk
Ing begins, so sho will havo been satis
fied and willing to .part with her milk.
It Is also well that clean, fresh water
be offered her before tho milking process.
Crab Supply of the Capital City Is Diminishing
WASHINGTON Is famed ns n "great place for crabs." Well may this be
true, for the city lies within short dlstanco of the principal crab fish
eries of tho Atlantic coast those In Chesapeake bay. But the city's reputa
tion In tills one lino is in Jeopardy.
Benson by season for. the past ten
years tho crab supply has boon slowly
diminishing, and this year tho dealers
aro noticing that tho number of crabs
sent to market is showing a marked
decline. It is difficult to secure as
many hard-shelled crabs as tho trade
demands, to say nothing of tho soft
shelled ones, which aro unusually
scarce.
Is It possible that tho snowy crab-
flako Is destined to become only n
luxurious delicacy? Tho bureau of fisheries has been moved to act to prevent
such a tragedy. One of its crnbexperti is now down in tho Chesapeake bay
region making a thorough study of the causes of tho decline of tho crab
output. Ho Is going from crab fishery to crab fishery studying crab life at
first hand from overy angle.
Generally speaking, It Is thought that the chief cause of tho decreased
supply is duo to tho very extensive fishing which has been carried on within
tho last few years around theso shores. No attempt has ever been made to
prepare for the future's output by such means of artificial propagation as
scientific fishermen now uso In regard to that other valuable crustacean, the
lobster.
Winter ns well ns Bummer has seen an uninterrupted pursuit of tho hard
shelled crab; such persistent "crabbing" could not be without the effect
which It Is now beginning to show.'
Chesnpcako bay during tho summer months is crowded with fishermen,
nets and crabs ; it provides an unexcelled field for tho study of tho industry.
Owing to tho differences In tho depths of tho bay nt different places, ono can
also observe the different methods followed by crab fishers.
Familiar, indeed, to Wnshlngtonlans Is tho sportsman who spends a day
nt tho beach, and, with his string or hundllne baited with, meat entices tho
crabs into his waiting dip net But his returns aro nearly always negligible,
two dozen crabs being considered n good day's catch. Not so Is tho luck of
tho professional fisherman, who fishes for crabs und not for pleasure. Ills
method Is calculated to bring a greater return for n less expenditure of
energy.