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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 26, 1917)
THE 8EMI.WEEKLV TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE. NEBRASKA. JtERUL BATTLES Most Dramatic Feature of New Warfare Developed on Eu ropean Battlefields. WRITER GIVES VIVID PICTURE Young Aviators Take Deadly Risks and Do Work of Torror In 8amo Spirit Knights of Old Went Forth to Battle. London. Nothing Mint the grcnt wnr has developed Is more drnmntlc and thrilling than n battle between avlu tora umld tho clouds. It hits come to bo a common occurrence for n detach ment of airmen to umhtiscndo them selves behind a cloud bunk, sweeping down suddenly from cover upon their opponenti). A correspondent with the British armies east of Arms sends this de scription of aerial warfare : There havo been hours when I have heard overhead a continual tat too of Lewis guns and when n great sweep of sky has been rucked out with white shrapnel clouds following our flying squadrons enguged hotly with hostile machines. One cannot follow tho progress of these aerial battles, felt Is only rarely Unit one can dlstla gulsh nu enemy machine from ours, except by cloudlets of our nntl-nlr-craft barrage, But fur and high one sees tho during specks chasing through the blue,' touched sometimes by sunlight, so that for a moment they are nil golden or glistening or white us snowllakcs, and down to ono comes the loud drono of engines and the lit tle hummer-knocks of Lewis guns. Look Like Butterflies. Our soldiers on the march stare up at the war above their heads, so aloof from them, bo dreamlike, and the men on tho supply columns get their glasses out und laugh when ono of our kite balloons Is hauled down sudden ly with great haste. "Old It u pert has got tho wind up," they say; "a Bocho plane must bo sneaking round." It la no Jolce when n German alrrann de scends out of a cloud and hovers over a battery, signaling buck to his guns. I was In such n situation tho other duy, and had to crouch with the gun ners below a bunk while shrapnel but lets from our own "Archies" whipped the ground about. Iled wings havo come Into the nicy, for tho now German fighting machines havo crimson planes, so that they look llko butterflies' when the sun Is on them. Enemy airmen have been try ing to compcto with our own by swoop ing low above marching troops und gun teams olid using their machine guns In a way which add3 new perils to wnr. Hut, though they light behind their own lines with grf at skill and courage, they do not come over our country tn any such numbers as our men Invittle theirs. These boyafor they aro absurdly young In tho average age take all theso deadly risks and do all this work of terror with tho snmo spirit as tho young gentlemen of England who rode out with Sir John Chandos and Sir Walter Manny to seek com bat with rvench knights muny hun dred years ago along tho roads where our modern men-at-arms go marching today. Gtrman Tires First. During this recent fighting ono of them challenged n German Albatross, which accepted light, and for an hour they dl wery trick known to flying stalling, banking, sldc-sllpplng, loop ing la order to get In the flrst shot. It wn& tho Germun who tired first, though he showed himself master of his machine. There aro boys In our air servlco who huvo killed six or seven Germans In single combat A few havo account ed f,or many more, and go oft again for a morning's minting of men as though oti a good adventure. Yet they know the risks and tho fortuno of war. They ennnot havo all tho luck ull tho time. When tho turn comos It Is quick to tho end; or, If hit and left alive, they do amazing things up thcro In tho high skies to save the Una! crash. A fow ovcnlngs ago two of our young officers wero attacked by five hostile aircraft and both were-wounded, ono In seven places, but thoy de stroyed ono of tho German airplanes and landed safely, though tholr own machines wero pierced by many bul lets. On another evening of tlw battlo of Arras two hostile aircraft wero en gaged by ono of ours nnd forcod to land, though ono of our ofllcera had his collarbone broken by a muchlno gun bullet ENLISTS DESPITE GLASS EYE Man Rejected at First Finally Wlni Place In Marine Corps on Re cruiting Duty. New York. Esklkl Baccer has nt talned his nmbttlon, Three weeks ago he took tho examination for tho Ma rlno corps, passod and thought ho was In, but as he stooped to pick up his clothing a glass eyo dropped on tho floor. Undlscouraged. ho hud been going almost dally seeking enlistment. Cap tain Evans has Informed him that ho hao received orders to reward his na trlotlc fervor. Ho was enlisted In tho Murine .corps reserve, class 4, nnd as signed to duty in the recruiting sta Hob. -. FULL OF THRILLS IMPETUS TO SHARK HUNTING Shoe Manufacturers Discover That Leather From HJfles of "Man Eaters" Is Useful. New York. Shork hunting promises to become n gcnertil nnd profitable In dustry nlong the coast of the Eastern states, since shoo mnufncturcrs have discovered, by exhaustive experiments, that leather tanned from the hides of "man-enters" Is highly applicable for the purposes of ordinary footwear. New York fishermen are preparing to carry on the hunt on n gigantic scale .If the "sea tigers" como north this spring. While the Industry In Its Infancy does not promise to bo over highly reinttnorntlvt1, bont owners arc confident with specialized methods entches of sufnclcnt size to warrant exclusive attention to It will be their reward. In addition to the leather properties of the shark It produces an oil that Is said to ha the slowest dry ing lubricant known. It also Is used In the manufacture of certain brands of waterproof paint. ALL YEAR COLLEGE TERMS American Universities Are Seriously Considering the Plan as a War Expedient. Nmv Ynrlr. Mnnv Arnorlpnn imli'nr. sltles, It Is lenrncd here, are seriously considering making the college year consjst of four terms of. 12 weeks each, with only four weeks vacation a year. It Is nlso proposed, by certain changes In the curricula, to teach as much In two of tho new terms as wns formerly taught In three terms, or the whole col lego year. These measures are sucirestcd as a wnr expedient It Is admitted tho new arrangement will not be quite as effec tive as tho old method : but tho ndvo- cntcs argue better results will be ob- talncd from the plan thun by trying to contlnuo with the old svstem when young men, have llttlo time for educa tion ana are in more of a hurry than formerly to get Into tho army of some other active life 100 Yenrs Old; Does His Bit. Loudon. Ago does not deter Thomas Weeks of TIci'lltirKt. Siirrpv. frnm Joining in tho fight for greutcr food production. Although one hundred years old. he Is cultivating nn ncro of ground without any nsslstnuce. GERMANS INVENT Sharpen It and It Explodes, Maiming or Killing the Sharpener. TAKEN FROM SWEDISH NOBLE Baggage Contains an Amazing Collec tion of Bombs, Poisons, Bacilli of Deadly Diseases and Other Tools 61 Death and Destruction. Chrlstlanlu. An amazing collection of bombs, prisons, bacilli of deadly dis eases and other means of death and destruction has been seized by tho au thorities hero as pnrt of the buggngo of Huron von Itoscn, n Swedish noble man and alleged to be a German agent The baron lied to Norway after his ac tivities had aroused tho Swedish au thorities. Ho was arrested, but, us he could not be convicted of violating any Norwegian law, ho was released with a warning to leave tho country. Baron von Ilosen's field of opera tlonn was along tho Swedish-Finnish border. Ills purpose Is supposed to have been the destruction of Russian food and munition storehouses, but what success he had Is not known. When ho lied from Sweden last Janu ary part of his bngguge was seized by tho Swedish authorities and found to contain n largo quantity of high explo sives, packed in tin cans marked "cormd beef." It remained, however, for tho Norwegian police to uncover tho real extent of his equipment "Table Salt" Was Explosive. After tho baron had been ordered out of Norway thoso parts of his bug gago which hud not been seized In Swe den arrived nt ChrlBtlonln and wero turned over to tho police. Among tho articles found wero cans of explosives marked "tablo salt," bottles marked "mouth wash," contftlnlng cultures of dangerous bacilli, Identified by tho state health laboratory; boxes of lump sugar, each lump conccnllng a smull gloss vial filled with bacilli of anthrax of glanders, and several explosive pen cils. Tho latter article Is an Ingenious In fernal muchlno und a departure In rightfulness, so far as tho authorities hero are aware. It has tho appearance of an ordinary pencil, but If sharpened a drop of acid concealed In n thin glass tube Is relensed and, acting on other concealed chemical, cuuses on explo sion sufllclcnt to malm or perhaps kill tho sharpener, 8ought to Infect Animals. Ono scheme of nnron von Rosen In which tho poisoned sugar lumps wero to flguro Is believed to huvo been di rected agulnst the grout tratllc stream which tho war has called Into being between tno northern Norwegian town RECRUITING IN CHINATOWN Color bearer of tho American Junior Naval and Marine Scout which escort ed by n battalion of uaval scouts nnd a company of murine scouts, has been recruiting Its ranks among tho Chinese boys of New York's Chinatown. A number of enlistments havo been procured nnd It Is expected that shortly tho organization will havo formed a battalion composed ex clusively of Juvenile Orientals, but withal staunch Americans. The Amer ican Junior Nuval and Marine Scouts aim to train the boys In tho work of tho United States navy and tho mnrlno corps. If on becoming of ngo they deslro to servo their country, little further training Is necessary. More thun 40,000 boys arc members of tho organization, scnttercd through 38 states. DEADLY PENCIL of Narvik and Finland. A tremendous tldo of merchandise flows Into Russia along this road by horso transports. Between two thousand and three thou sand horses .aro used for freighting goods, and burns havo been construct ed nlong tho road for their accommo dation. Tho scheme attributed to Baron von Itoscn wns to put the poi soned sugar In the feed boxes In thoso bnrns nnd sturt an epizootic among tho horses which would cripple tho wholo transportation system. Tho revelations In regard to what tho baron described as his "scientific expedition" havo aroused great Indig nation here and tho authorities aro se verely blamed for releasing tho baron. xncru novo ucen somo cases of infec tious diseases among horses at places whero Baron von Itoscn stayed, but his responsibility has not been proved. X "HOME BY XMAS," IS SOLDIER'S PREDICTION Lincoln, III. "I'll bo homo for Christmas dinner." That la tho message received by Mr. and Mrs. J. 0. Thompson of Lincoln, III., from their son, Capt. John Thompson of the Ca nadian army In France, In n let H ter which has Just arrived. "Wo'll win tho wnr now, for there's nothing that can stop us since America has entered," Captain Thompson writes. FIND NO BUG IN THROAT Widow Loses Accident Insurance When Autopsy Falls to Prove Her Assertion. Kansas City. Tho fact ttint an au topsy failed to find a bug which J. M. Freeman told his wife had lodged In his throat, resulted In tho Kansas City court of appeals reversing n $4,000 vcr diet tho widow had gained against tho Loyal Protoetlvo Insurance company of Boston. Freemnn, n Howard county patent medlclno vendor, had an accident pol icy. Ho died of pneumonia. Tho court held that since no foreign body wns found In his throat ho could not bo said to havo contracted tho disease, as claimed, by "accidental or violent" means. Wears Shoes to Bed. To Punish Parents. Cbtcago. Judgo Stclk of tho court of domestic relations believes ho has solved tho problem of tho wayward child. t "Hereafter I am going to send tho parents to Jail Instead of punishing tho children," ho said, in nn address to members of tho First Lutheran church. GOOD ROADS flOADS IN NATIONAL FORESTS Allotment Made to Each State for Im provement by Secretary Houston California Leads. Secretary Houston has announced tho nmount allotted to each state from tho million dollars to be spent during, the fiscal year 1018 In constructing rouds and trails within or partly with in the national forests. This money Is purt of the $10,000,000 appropriated by the federal nld road act to assist development of tho national forests, which becomes available at the rato of $1,000,000 a year for ten years. The allotments ns approved aro ns follows: Alaska, $40,1154; Arizona, $58,004; Arkansas, $0,803; California, $140,088; Colorado, $02,575; Idaho, $108,730; Montana, $70,042; Nevada, $10,290; New Mexico, $42,405; Ore gon, $128,111; South Dnkoto, $8,002; Utah, $41,107; Washington, $01,044; AVyomlng, $40,084. A total of $0,005 has been allotted to Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Tho group of eastern states Georgia, Maine, New Hamp shire, North and South Carolina, Ten nessee, Virginia and West Virginia In which the government Is purchas ing Innds for national forests, receives $21,120. In making allotments, It Is explained, 10 per cent of the amount available for 1918 Is withheld as n contingent fund. One-half of tho remainder has been apportioned among the states In amounts based on the area of the na tional forest lands In each state, while the other half has been allotted on a basis of the estimated value of tho timber and forage resources which tho forests contain. CONCRETE FLOORS ARE BEST Poor Economy' to Replace Worn-Out Floors With Wood, Says Minne ncsota Highway Commission. It Is poor economy to build bridges with woodon floors or to replace worn-out floors with wood, the Minne sota State Highway commission says In n late bulletin Issued to county boards nnd district engineers, "Tho department is frequently re quested to Inspect old bridges nnd de termine whether it Is feasible to re placo n wooden floor, because In n ma jority of cases the old bridge Is found to be dangerous when carrying trac tion engines," says the bulletin. 'It Building Concrete Bridge. takes a strong bridge to carry a con crete floor, but we And that after tho original floor has been replaced twice with wood, on a light truss, the ex pence Is ns great as It would have been to build n concrete floor bridge, with heavier steel, and any further expense Is n clear waste of money." BAD ROADS VERY EXPENSIVE Estimated Cost of 23 Cents a Ton Per Mile on Average Highway- 13 Cents on Improved. Thero Is no need of discussing the Importance of good roads. They aro essential to comfortable travel, to tho economic production and distribution of farm products, to tho development especially of satisfactory rural schools, and to tho Improvement of the. social Ufo of the nation. Bad roads aro very expensive possessions. It is es timated that It costs 23 cents under ex isting conditions to haul n ton a mile on tho average country road and only 13 cents on a properly Improved road, but this Is not nil tho story. Tlfo di rect cost Is very great and tho Indi rect costs ore possibly greater. With had roads tho farmer is compelled to haul when ho should bo engaged In other activities, while with good' roads ho can plan his operations without reference to tho 'weather. Tho states and tho local units, us has been Intl mated, have strikingly recognized theso truths by greatly Increasing their ap propriations nn- by devising better machinery. American Review of Re views. Evangel of Good Roads. Tho automobile Is the evangel ol tho good roads movement. Every sale of a five-passenger touring car with tires subject' to sudden nnd dlsheart cuing puncture means better roads and more of them. Therefore, everyonu should buy touring cars because he will then becomo a good roads advo cate. Wanted for Nothing. Good roads, according to Howard Rann, aro something which everybody wants for uothlng. jLLLLHLVsuSHLSHHs Proposed National Park certnln lands In the vicinity of, national parK wns enthusiastically discussed anu inuorsea. une propusmiuw looked to tho conversion of stretches of Innd between Baltimore and Wash ington ; nnother to the taking over for national park purposes of lands on the west side of Chesapeake buy, nnd still another Idea wns that tho lands in southern Maryland on the lower Po tomac should be preserved as a na tional park. The proposed and planned conser vation of the power of the Potomac river above Washington, the submerg ence of many localities and topograph ic features long familiar to AVnshlngton people nnd the conversion of the river from Great Falls to a point nenr the Little Fulls Into n lake also culls to mind a plan for conserving the high wooded lands nlong the river. It was a plan, to which considerable publicity was given nt and following the national con servation congress which wns held nt St. Paul, Minn., In 1010. Former Ambassador Brycc, once In speaking of the future of Washing ton city, said: "The Potomac has two kinds of beauty the beauty of tho upper stream, murmuring over a rocky bed between bold heights crowned with woodj and beauty of the wide expanse, spread like a lake below the city Into n vast sheet of sliver. On the north, east and west sides of Washing ton, nnd on the Virginia side also, the country Is singularly charming, quite ns beautiful as that which adjoins any of the great capital cities of Europe, except, of course, Constantinople, with Its wonderful Bosporus. No European city hns so noble a cataract In Its vicinity as the Grent Falls of the Poiomnc, n magnificent piece of scenery which you will, of course, nlways preserve. Na ture hus done so much thnt you arc called upon to do more. You have such n chance offered to you hero for building up u superb capital that It would be almost an act of Ingratitude to Providence nnd to history and to the men who planned the city here If you did not use the advantages that you hero enjoy." Amusements Provided for Soldiers in Camp THE "Aldershot plan" of providing hnseball, boxing, basket ball, track and field meets, football and other athletics at the array mobilization enmps Is to bo followed In this country, according to nn announcement by the morals nnd strength of their German opponents when they meet The committee hopes to develop personal Interest among the men In proficiency In bayonet exercises through employing it as a sport befitting soldiers. Singing also will be encouraged among the troops. Usually every bat talion or slrallnr unit organizes a glee club of Its own ns the men come to know one another; but the committee hopes, through the aid of choral socle ties In various cities, to develop larger choruses. Already theatrical concerns are volunteering their aid to the committee in providing amusement for the men. There Is no doubt that the use of play houses will be given free for that puitpose, nnd thnt touring thentrlcal com panies will visit the soldier camps. Moving-picture films will also be em ployed widely. The troops will be kept In touch In thnt way with the work of other camps and with conditions nmong American or other forces at the fighting front. High Honor Won by Negro Composer of Music HE WAS only a small, hungry-looking ill-clad negro boy and did not for a moment expect to bo ndmitted Into the splendidly furnished drnwlng-room, whcr$ fashionably gowned women nnd their sedate men were gathered to hear Rafaet Joseffy, the great composer, play, nut he did want to hear, if possi ble, a few stray notes by the grent master, and so he got as close to the big drnwlng-room window ns he dared approach, and stood shivering tn the Bnow, his ears strained to catch every note that might escape to the outside. It was a bitter cold day, but he was oblivious to it All he knew wns thnt within n few feet of him, sepa rated from him only by' the wlndoV, was a great musician, nnd thut music was being made such as he had never "before dreamed of and which to him wns sweeter thun tho Imagined chanting of angels. Not until the last note had floated out and become a memory did the boy realize thut he was half frozen. As a result, he hovered close to death's door for long days and nights with pneumonia, but he heard always the sweet melodies ringing In his ears, and he had no regrets. The boy was Harry T. Burleigh, now the well-known composer, who to day Is the proud possessor of the third Splngnm medal, which Is awarded annually to the mnn or woman of African descent who has mnde the highest achievement during tho year In any Hold of elevated human endeavor He hnd a fnr-awoy look In his dark eyes, as though he was thinking of the' shiv ering little outcast at First Congregational church when Senator Wes'e- L Jones handed him the mednl of gold which meant thnt the committee of iiward had singled him out for the grent honor. Value of Topographic Mfcps Is Now Recognized UNCLE SAM'S geological survey could very appropriately be called tho muster map ranker. When It Is proposed to prepare a map for anv snodnl purpose tho flrst thing that should bo done Is to find out whether or not any . ... irj. in ouier words, the tonoirrnnhlo- map is nn engineering base mnp, that is useful for both the s mnlest ami e most complicated engineering problems. simplest uud the It Is said that cities, state organizations, official boards, contractors and others are recognizing more and more the Immense prnc leal rvlcn am value of a reudy-mado map, which shows not only every pl yVlcul feature " tho area It reprints but all the works of man lotmmmX aro of special value In connection with the work of plnnnl g pu c SX ways, and their use In every phase of this work Is suggested byTh se ol -c.als of the survey who are thoroughly familiar MU, Xlr exac S. A study of the maps, they say, will assist materially In tho selection of routed ns they show- geographically the grndlenfof any SJS" the engineer to compare the route projected with other possible routes In tin mmedlute vicinity. Topographic surveys have been made by the expert r he survey of fully three-fourths of tho well-populated portions of the United States uud Index maps of ull of the states. in Vicinity of Capital rt-o ennfordnen tllO nronosal tllllt Washington should bo converted Into board, headed by Raymond B. Fos- dick, Y. M. C. A. worker. Singing so cieties also ore to be organized nnd theatricals provided. This Is to be done with n view to fighting the Influ ence of the saloon and Immoral con ditions nt mobilization centers. Another feature of the recreation al programs will be bayonet competi tions. The fields In France have seen the grentest use ever made of cold steel, and It Is vital that the American soldiers be at least the enuals In skill " "o vur uten prepared by the survey. The survey's topo graphic map has been called tho "mother mnp," and It Is being supplied to an ever-wldenlng circle of Industrial and scientific agencies for practical uso in the study of nil sorts' of prob lems nnd the execution of all sorts ot projects. This map Is especially valu able, say experts of the survev, In the solution of problems thnt require n study of the configuration of the eoun-
