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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1917)
THE SEMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. mere tiwm am miip m m PIIPLEWIKTIEEriEli ccmuoKT trvuiuti Ntwwm wion fcSJ' . 1 fnrm machinery and supplies fc W WmSBKMIfflt , Agf1 I FRANCE'S NEW HERO This is an article about the Farm and City Get" Together Festival at JamestotsJUt JSf. J?. , where some enterprising dreami er turned their talents to practical purposes : : Gen. Robert George Nlrelle, who lias succeeded General Joffre ns com tnnnder In chief of the French forces, .... l .1 a it... ... i i -.1 1 . t achievements of the war the recovery at a single stroke of almost all the territory gained by the Germans before Verdun. General Nlvelle, whoso mother was English, Is sixty yenrs old and one of the numerous "discoveries" of "Pnpa" Joffre. At the beginning of the war he was n colonel In command of the Fifth regiment of artillery and about to bo retired. Ho was promoted to general of brigade on October 24, 1014, and a few weeks later placed In com mand of the Sixty-first Infantry divi sion. On December 23, 1015, he re ceived his three stars and was ap pointed commander of the Third army corps. Nlvelle Is said greatly to resemble the authentic portraits of Cardinal Richelieu. In nctlon ho Is alert, quick, gesticulating and gives the Impression of having great reserves of energy, both physical and mcntnl. He has also the reputation of being n strict disciplinarian and possibly Is the greatest gun ner In the army. With him artillery Is the deciding arm. The general Is n great admirer of Englnnd, speaks English nnd Is fond of reciting old-time English wnr verso. More than this, he" frankly nsserts that ho Is more than half English, because his father married a Miss Sparrow of Deal nnd ho has several relatives In the British navy. Nlvelle Is the friend of Inventors. Let one get a pass to his headquarters and he receives the most nsslduous attention, particularly If he has brought u product of his work with hlra. 4 m N TOO many eases country pco people and town nnd city people misunderstand one another, and both lose. As a consequence urban dwellers buy Oregon ap ples nnd California grapes, and rural folk buy (heir furniture, farm machinery and supplies from Chicago mail-order houses. ft. licro aiiu inert, iiuwevur, buiiiu 'tklin ot tl10 moro fnr8lf,,tL'tl nicn nntl omen of both groups nro mnk- MUnnn Ing determined efforts to sup plant distrust and contempt with fellowship nnd co-operation. And It works Ladles and gentle men, It works beautifully I Tho enterprising citizens of Jamestown, N. Y nnd the fnrm pcoplo who live In tho counties sur rounding the city (which have a population of about 40,000) joined heads, hearts and hands this last autumn In n great "Farm and City Gct-To-gcther Festival," and the nfTalr was such a huge success that a permanent organization was formed nnd tho festival will be held annually here after. Hero Is an Illustration of how misunderstanding ts bred and why It persists sometimes: James Mason, a city dry-goods merchant, drove out In tho country ono pleasant Sunday afternoon In October, and was astonished at tho number of apples ho saw on the ground In orchards along tho roadside. "I cannot buy good apples at tho grocery next my storo," ho complntncd, "unless-1 pay Alaska prices for them, 5 cents each. Yot hero they nro rotting on tho ground." Mnsou jumped to tho conclusion that tho farm ers did not try to save tho apples, or to help tho city man nnd his family get food. "They aro both selfish and lazy," he asserted when ho told of tho experience Simon Ncwcomb lived on n farm near whero Mason drovo that Sunday. Ho had been In town Saturday afternoon with n load of apples. The groccryman looked them over, nnd offered New comb 50 cents n bushel. Ncwcomb hnd read In his fnrm pnper that apples wero scarce, and ho thought he ought to have a dollar n bushel. "IJut your apples nro not sorted. There aro sev eral kinds In tho one crate, and many of them nro Inferior In size, and Bonro bndly worm eaten," objected tho grocer. "You leave them with mo for CO cents a bushel or elso take them some whoro else." i Nowcomb looked at his wntch and saw It was nearly choro time, and ho Bold them. But when ho got homo he told his wlfo tho grocer took ad vantage of him nnd was little better than u rob ber. But both men were wrong. Tho orchnrd owner was hot lazy nor selfish. Ho hnd other problems worse to hnndlo and moro ncccssnry to him than picking up and saving n few bushels of apples. WHY DEWEY ENTERED NAVY 2$ zmrra?jpG3ZBir3' Nor was tho grocer u robber. lie had n trade which required certain stnndnrds, and tho stuff offered him did not conform to those stnndnrds. All wrong, almost from the stnrt Just as the foregoing Illustration makes plain tho problem moro thnn pages of generalities, so tho experience of Jamestown In Its first Fnrm nnd City festival will show how tho effort to got to gether succeeds better than moro pages of plati tudes. First of nil Jamestown had n live board of commerce, nnd n secretary with a vision not bounded hy tho fnctory chimneys of tho city nor Its city limits. Secretnry Fred Clayton Butler hnd been studying some United Stntcs census re ports on Chautauqua county, N. Y., nnd ho dis covered thnt most of tho rural towns of. tho county and nil Its rural vlllnges, but two or three that had a lot of factories, had decreased In population In tho last three decades, no did not need to bo told nbout tho Increase In cost of living. Thnt was self-evident. In surveying tho field ho found thnt thero was an nctlvo npplo growers' association In Chautau qua county, nlso n milk producers' nssoclntlon, n fnrm bureau, a lot of big granges, nnd n number of farmers' clubs. Tko mnnnger of tho fnrm bureau was Hnwloy B. Rogers, and Mr. Rogers wns called Into conference with Mr. Butler. "You do not need to tell mo anything nbout de creasing rural populations," Interrupted Rogers, whon Butler stnrtcd In on his pot paragraph. "I know nil nbout that before you city people nwnk encd. But what enn wo do nbout It?" Right here tho city man had tho farm bureau man beaten. "Wo can get together nnd find out," was his reply. "I know thnt tho city people hnve n doublo stako nt Issue; tho cost of what they must have to eat, and tho market for a largo part of their goods. I think your people have some thing nt stnko nlso. You want good roads, and good schools, and good markets. Pcrhups wo can got togother." Out of this conference grow n bigger conference, proscnt nt which wore representatives of most of these rural organizations and somo active busi ness men from tho city of Jnmestown. Tho pro portion nt this time, nnd so fnr as possible In every succeeding step up to tho big bnnquet which closed the festivnl flnnlly und successfully held, was Just "fifty-fifty"; half city people, half farm people on every committee nnd in every confer ence. This conference, held In August, decided to hold n Fnrm nnd City festival, n real get-together, In November. "Not n county fair, but better thnn a county fair,-with tho vaudcvlllo features omitted," was tho way It was expressed. At the Initial meet ing tt wns decided to enrry out this get-together Ideu by making the exhibits of nn educntlonnl chnracter, as far as possible In every lnstnnco. To do this and to finance it several committees were nnmed. A street wns closed nnd covered with tents. - Other tents wore put up on vncnnt lots, nnd tho stnte nrmory was used. All sorts of exhibits prize livestock, poultry, dairy products, grains, fruit, vegetables, etc. wero shown nnd prizes awarded. State experts In nil phnscs of farming, In domestic science, In child welfnre, In dietetics, etc., delivered lectures to the city nnd country people. A railroad traffic expert dis cussed plans for helping producer on the farm to get his products directly and expeditiously to con sumer in tho city. Tho government sent a good ronds exhibit, nnd motion pictures were used to mnkc many of tho lectures moro graphically Inter esting. And then thero wns n grcnt closing dinner. Fhro hundred persons representing every pnrt of trio county nnd city attended this nffnlr. Thero wns flno music, for one thing orclrostrnl nnd choral work, led by Cornell university music Instructors, nnd solos nnd Gov. Chnrles S. Whltmnn, who wns In tho city on n cnmpnlgn trip, left politics behind nnd ho nnd Mrs. Whitman nttended tho banquet. "Co-oporntlon" nnd "get ncqunlnted" were tho watchwords ot tho occasion. Two weeks aftor wnrd tho committees met and decided unanimous ly to hold another "Fnrm and City Get-Together Festival" next yenr. T SPIDERS ARE NOT VERY DANGEROUS ' The famous tarantula, reported to ho one of tho terrors of tho nrld pnrts of tho Southwestern tstntcs nnd northern Mexico, nnd which bulks so largo In tho Imagination and tho fenrs of thoso porsons who hnvo friends on tho bordor, Is really not tho tarantula of history and ot fablo. Ono of tho numerous students of Bpldcrs and tho tarantula Is a spider saya of thnt terrifying Insect that It Is tho Lycosa tnrautula, n kind of spider found In somo of tho warmer parts of Italy nnd Spain. When full grown It Is nbout the slzo of a chestnut nnd of n brown color. "Its blto wns nt ono time supposed to bo dangerous," snys this authority, "and to cause n kind of 'dancing dis ease,' but It Is now known not to bo worso than tho stlng of a common wasp." It Is very likely Unit when tho early Spanish ' explorers enmo upon tho great spider ot the South west, and seeing n good deal of rescmblanco to tho turnntuln of tho old world thoso explorers not having been scientific entomologists they called tho now spider a tnrautula, und tho nnino has stuck. Thero ts no doubt thnt tho big spider of Ari zona, Now Moxlco, California, old Moxlcn and many other places In a relative of tho tarantula of Spain nnd Italy, and In color, disposition nnd In tho matter ot his hairy legs a layman might easily tnlstnko him for tho turnntuln. But perhaps there ts not much In n namo so far as spiders go, and It Is Just as well to avoid If posslblo thnt particu lar spider which so many Americans call tho turnn tuln, though It ts qulto certain that tho meun nesfi ot his disposition has been exaggerated. J. II. Emerton, ono of tho spider exports of tho vorlfl, writes, aftor years of Intlinato study of spiders: "When undisturbed, spiders never bite anything except Insects useful as their food, but when attacked or cornered nil species open their Jnws nnd blto If they can, depending on tho slzo nnd strength of their Jaws. Tho stories ot denth, Insanity nnd lameness from tho bites of spiders nro probnbly untrue." Tho species of spider aro hard to number. Tho spiders of North Amcrlcn hnvo been studied by Hcntz, Emerton, Kcysorllng nnd Thorell, and no doubt by a number of other men who havo spe cialized In Insects, nnd It Is cstlmnted that thero aro 800 species In North America. Tho spider has heart, liver, stomach, Intestines, thorax, lungs nnd several other Interesting orgnns, ns, for ex ample, tho spinning glands and spinnerets. It Is recorded thnt n good many experiments hnvo been made to throw light on tho effect of spider bites on man. A distinguished entomolo gist, named Bortkou, allowed vnrlous kinds of spiders to blto his hnnd. Somo of them drow blood, giving u sensation llko thnt of u sharp ncedlo prick. Tho wounds smnrtcd und swelled Bomowhnt nnd Itched when rubbed, producing very much tho sensation of jnosqulto bites, hut no per manent 111 effects followed. Another entomolo gist, named Blackwcll, also nllowed specimens of tho big spiders to blto his hand. Ho reported that ho felt no particular pnln and little Inflam mation followed, nnd tho wounds soon healed. Still another entomologist, named Doleschall, re ported thnt ho had shut up small birds with tho Mygalo, ono of tho biggest nnd llcrcost of the spider tribe, Tho birds soon died nftcr being bitten. He allowed ono of his Angers to bo bitten by n largo jumping spider. Tho pain was sever and his finger and then his hand nnd Ever henr how It came that George Dewey, udmlrnl of tho United States navy, and hero of the battle of Manila, hnppened to go to Annapolis? It's n funny story, ns told by his third cousin, Col. Ellns Dewey of Chicago. "The fact that the West Tolnt ca dets got eight weeks' vacation in four years, while the 'middles' received but ono week In thnt length of time wns the reason the future ndmlral was sent Into the naval branch of tho service," says Colonel Dewey. "George lived nt Montpeller, Vt, In the middle of tho Inst century, nnd my home was nt Mnlone, N. Y. Our fathers were second cousins, nnd both of us youngsters received .appoint ments to West Point nt the snmo time. My fnther wouldn't let mo go because thero wero many Indian wars then and he wns nfrnld I would get scalped. It happened that George was somo lad In those days and had a good tlmo gen erally, nis fnther, after diligent Inquiry, found thnt tho West Point boys hnd two months vncntlon in four yenrs, while the 'middies' had to be satisfied with a single week. This meant thnt Dewey, Sr., would have had George around n long time if he went to West Point. Ho thought he could get along with one week, thnt ho could manage it somehow. So ho sent him to Annapolis." MIRACLE MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS arm became lamo, but tho soreness soon passed away. Tho Mygalo Is ono tho best-known of tho lnrgo nnd heavy spiders. It Is a native of tropical nnd subtropical Amcrlcn, It Is snld that It catchos and kills small birds with Its poisonous blto nnd then sucks tho blood of Its victims. Tho body of tills spider Is pitch black nnd Is covered with long reddish-brown hnlr. It has eight eyes placed closo together In tho front of Its head. It Is n closo klnsmnn to tho so-called bird spider of Surinam. Tho ofilclnl nnmo of that Amerlcnn spider cnlled tho tnrantuln Is Ctcnlza Callfornlcn, and It Is ono of the trapdoor spiders. It Is common In New Mexico, Arlzonn, nnd Cnllfornln. According to John Sterling Klngsley, this spider digs Its hole In n flno soil which when dry Is nearly as hard ns brick. These spider holes are sometimes nenrly nn Inch In dlnmoter nnd vary In depth from- two nnd three Inches to nenrly n foot Tho mouth of tho holo Is enlarged and then closed by n thick cover which fits It tightly. Thnt cover fits Into tho mouth of tho holo very much ns n cork does In the neck of n bottle. The cover Is made of dirt fnstened together with threads and, llko tho hole, ts lined with silk nnd is fastened by n thick hinge mndo of spider's silk. When tho cover Is closed It looks exactly llko tho ground nround It. This, llko many othor' Bpocles of spider, la nocturnal in Its habits, raising its trapdoor nt night nnd snllylng forth In senvch of food, It chief food being Insects. Thero Is so much diversity of opinion as to tho effect of tho blto of these spiders thnt In Jiving whoro they nro u mnn should practice safety first and take no chances with them. Somo tlmo ngo trnchomn broke out in n dangerous degree In tho Appa lachian regions of Kentucky, Tennes see, Vlrginln und West Vrlginln, nnd for n year the federal health authori ties havo been working to stop tho sprend of the Infection. At a cost far less than the cost of a single torpedo boat, tho government hns checked the spread of this Infection, which might hnvo proved an expensive plague If It had been nllowed to sprend. But the picturesque figure In the fight Is tho Mlrnclo Man of the Moun tains, the "gov'ment doctor," Dr. John McMullen, who with his faithful nurses has wrestled with tho power of dark ness nnd brought light to hundreds of eyes. It wns difficult to persuado these simple, childlike people at first to sub mit to operations on their eyes; now during the latter months of tho fight against trachoma Doctor McMullen's clinics hnve lasted from daylight to dark and hundreds have waited patiently in line for their chnnces. Doctor McMullen would not tell It himself, but It Is n fact that In Muhlen berg county ho held n four-dny clinic nnd in that time operated 00 times, no examined nnd treated 400 people, and nt any time could look down nnd see n hundred In lino wnltlng to reach him. To do what ho did ho had to begin work nt sunrise, and, except for lunch, stopped only when tho sun went down. Tho service has three hospitals In Kentucky nnd ono each In tho other threo states whero trachoma Is prevalent GARTER GLASS AND HIS SON Reprcsentatlvo Carter Glass, who Is secretary of tho Democratic national committee, ts not n lawyer. Ho is a newspaper man and banker, but one of tho Virginian's sons Is now qulto convinced thnt his dad would havo been successful had ho followed tho profession of tho lnw Instead of de voting his energies to flnnnce. It appears that Mr. Glass has a son nmong tho troops on tho Texas border. He Is a bright youth and Mr. Glass is proud of him. Tho younger Glass, llko other boys of his ago, started to smoke cigarettes somo time ago, much to tho discomflturo of his father, who protested against It. A short tlmo ngo Mr. Glass re ceived In his mail n packago contain ing threo photographs of his soldier son, nil In uniform. Later n letter came, and In It tho boy wrote thnt he stopped smoking clgnrcttes, "which no doubt would bo gratifying," tho boy snld. Mr. Glass read the letter, and rend again. Then he took up tho photo graphs. In two of them young Glass held firmly between his fingers a cig arette. "It's no use," wrote Mr. Glass to his son, "It's no use. I'd llko to believe that you huvo cut out cigarettes, but tho preponderance of evidence Is ngatnst you."
