( r V- h I -r A THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER W. W. 8ANDKKS, TublUher. NEMAHA, NEBRASKA. SPRING GLEANING. An to Valuable IIlntM for Itctiovntlntr Old ami Soiled Article. An efficient and economical house wife will nhviiys welcome suggestions in matters of cleanliness and renova tion. To begin with, thu best cleanser cl lialr brushes is spirits of ammonia und warm water. Take a tnblespoon ful of ammonia to a quart of water, clip the bristles up and down in the wa ter without wetting tho back of tho brush, and rinso in clean warm water, then shake well and dry in the air, but not in the sun. Soap and soda soften tho bristles and will turn an ivory backed brush yellow, so in the case of -the latter the following treatment is Tecomniended: Hub plenty of Hour well in, wrap up in paper, and leave all night, give a good shaking and remote tho remaining Hour by blowing tho brush. All brushes and combs should bu kept in the dressing case, or in a bag made for tho purpose, when not in use, so .as to keep them us much as possible irom the dust. Ivory that has beeomo jellow from ago or usage may bo whitened by a good rubbing with fine sandpaper or moist powdered pumice fctonc. Glass which has become dull may Le brought back to its original bright ness by washing with diluted hydro chloric acid and afterward rubbing with moist chalk or whiting. Marble may be cleansed with com mon dry salt, which requires no prepa ration, but may bo rubbed directly in the soiled surlace, leaving tho marble beautifully clean. Alabaster may be Iwashcd with soapsuds. If stained, whitewash the Blains, and let it remain for several hours, then clean it oil'. Take ithe finest quality of ground pumice stone and mix it with verjuice; let it stand two hours; then take a spongo and rub the alabaster with the mix ture. Wush it with a linen cloth and ifresh water, and dry it with clean linen xags. i Ormolu articles and trimmings of ifurnituro should be washed with plain &oap and water and polished with cham ois leather. To clean brass and copper & mixture of oil and rotten stone ap plied with a piece of leather and then UMibbed bright with clean chamois skin ,will give a beautiful polish. Furniture ito be polished should be washed with jfioap and wnter, little by little, and each 'little quickly dried. Afterward the cream should be applied. Here are two ood recipes: Boil quickly in a gallon of water one pound of becswux, four tounces of soft soap and two ounces of ipcurl ash. The second, which should 'be made at least a day before it is used, lis compounded by melting together at a jgentlo heat eight parts of white wax, two of resin and a half pint of turpen tine. Pour into a jar, shake it well, iand add six parts of rectiiled oil of tur pentine. A careful housekeeper is frequently troubled by the tannin stains in fine ichina teacups. They may usually be removed by rubbing them with a little 'whiting on ilannel. Salt will have the same effect, but it sometimes scratches very fine wnre. ' To clean wall paper use bread about a day old. If tho paper is only dusty, illick and rub it with a soft yarn mop. ,lf it is marked with grease, hold a ipieco of blotting paper over tho spot (with a hot ilatiron for a few moments, i Atlanta Constitution A MIND READER. IIIU Honor Kikmv "What llln rrlvnte Sucre tnry Thought. "Job," said his honor, holding be ,neath his nose a bunch of ilowers which ,had been left on his desk a few minutes ibeforo by a city hall bride, "did you 'know that I am n bit of a mind reader?" "I did not know it," answered the pri vate secretary, "but if you say so, of course " "I will prove it to you," answered his honor, chuckling gleefully. "I will tell you what was in your mind a few intimites ago, Job. You remember that when I finished the marriage ceremony the pretty bride stepped forward and (presented her cheek for me to kiss?'1 "Yes, I remember," stammered the (private secretary, his cheeks Hushing, "And you remember how 1 merely tfihook her hand uud did not accept the .invitation?" "I do," answered the private secre tary, with a regretful sigh. "Well," continued his honor, "the Imoment I turned nway from tho girl J. caught sight of your face and I'll bet jyou a pound of the best Hno cut that 1 can tell you what were your thoughts .nt that moment." The private secretary blushed, hung his head, nnd mumbled something. "Ha! ha!" his honor chuckled, "you .don't want to hear your thoughts re peated, eh? Well, I nni going to re peat them, anyhow. At the moment I turned away from that pretty girl you were thinking: 'What a blanked fool -tho old man is!' Come, now, isn't that to?" The private secretary saw it was use less to enter a denial, so ho iled to his .desk, and so agitated was he that in the next five minutes he missed the cus pidor three times in succession. N, Y .Journal. LEGAL OLLiY-POMUDA. Funny Stato of Affairs in tho Dis trict of Columbia. Wliat In an OfTciiMc on One Sltlc of lluoli Crook 1 Perfectly Legiti mate on tlie Other Side. Special Washlncton Letter. Tho laws which are enforced in tho District of Columbia are peculiar. Many of the old laws of Maryland, which were made before this land was ceded to tho federal government, are still in force. Then thcrenrc federal laws which were enacted before the creation of tho territorial form of government: Inwsen actcd by tho territorial legislature, and laws enacted by congress since tho present form of government was cre ated In 1372. The ancient city of Georgetown waB an independent corporation until re cently, but It Is now West Washington. t is separated from the nationnl cap ital by Hook creek, and the lows there are in many instances different from tho laws on the east side of Uock creek. Maivy acts punishable as offenses in that section do not constitute offenses under the laws governing the rest of the district. Many of these old laws, though they may never have been repealed, are seldom enforced, and then only when many complaints nro made about a certain thing, and the old law books are overhauled. Now and then one of these old law books is resurrected, nnd for nwhile persons have to obey It, but it soon becomes a dead letter again, and the law is violuted with impunity for another score or more of years. Every few years the question of observ ing the Sabbath is agitated. Some of the old laws arc found to meet the case. It is a violation of one of the old George town corporation laws to sell on Sun day any article except medicines, fresh Hsh, milk and other perishable goods which ennnot be kept over night with sufety, but this law is seldom enforced, and then only when complaint is made, or after a general order has been is sued notifying stoickeopers to close their places on Sunday. This law, like many others, has been contested in the courts nnd found to be valid. Then there Is another law which pio hibits any manual labor on tho Sab- THIRTY-NINE STRIPES. bath. This law, like the preceding one, has been contested and held to be still in force. It provides: "That more effectually to prevent ir regular practices so common on Sun day, every person working or com manding, or suffering their children or slaves lo work, except in cases of neces sity, or otherwise profane tho Sabbath by gaming, hunting, fishing or other unhwful pastimes, shall, on conviction, forfeit a sum not exceeding Hvo dol lars." The second section provides that "if the offender bo a minor nnd the fine is not paid by himself, parent, guardian or master, ho bhnll be forth with committed to the penitentinry for a time not exceeding five days, or if he be a slave he shall be publicly whipped, not exceeding 39 stripes." At tho West Washington station house the police have an old law book, printed in 1821, which furnishes them th3 text of tho old laws covering cer tain offenses. There are but few of these books in existence, so fnr as is known, and when a case otljcr than ns sault and battery or disorderly con duct is made the officer making the ar rest usually has to take this book to court to show his ground for action. The police doing duty west of iloek creek have not only to bo able-bodied men, strong and plucky enough to handle rullinns and smart enough to capture thieves, but they have to be versed in all the ancient Jnws of George town. Most of them can stand for hours and discuss tho legal status of their section. Iteported in the book is a law passed August 4, 1795, which is intended to pre vent accidents arising from galloping horses through streets. The act pro vides "That any person, within tho jur isdiction of this corporation, who shall by galloping or otherwise force at an impioper speed any horse, maro or gelding through any of tho streets, Janes or alleys, shall, if a free man, for feit and pay for every such offense tho sum of 15 shillings, current money, to tho use of this corporation, to bo re covered either before any cue aldermen or by indictment or confession in the mayor's court; and if an apprentice, in dentured servant or slave, the mistress or master of such apprentice, servant or tluve shall forfeit and puy the sum of (nfro& fS&i seven shillings and six pence, current money, to be recovered ns aforesaid." An act of October 10, 1790, sets forth that "the respectable inhabitants have suffered grent inconvenience from tho vast concourse of idle white and black persons who frequently assemble and engage in cock lights, at which times they drink to excess, became rlototn, nnd prevent tho quiet nnd repose of good citizens." The first section of tho act, nnd the second section, related to slaves, who wero subject to 39 stripes on the bnro back In a public place. Tho firing of guns or other firearms was made punishable under an net of Octo ber 24, 1801. The penalty prescribed was Hvo dollnrs, one-half of which went to tho informer. If tho person violating the Inw was a slave or in dentured servant the penalty was ten lashes, unless two dollars was paid by his or her master or mistress. An net to prevent goats from running at largo was passed in 1790, giving per sons power to kill nil goats found run ning ut large, and to sell tho same tit tho market-house to tho best advantage, the person doing so to retain one-half the money received nnd the corporation to receive the other half. September -I, 180-1, an act was passed to keep dogs out of tho market-house, where it appenred they went to get meat and other vege tables from the stands. A tax of one dollar was assessed on dealers whose dogs wero found within tho walls of the mnrkct, but country dogs wero not troubled, provided they wore kept a re spectable distance from the stands. A penalty of $20 was provided under net of March, 1800, for tho keeping of any public gaming table, whether "A, 1', C," "L, S, D," "E, O," or other game. A subsequent net, entitled an "Ordinance to restrain vice," included "rooley pooley," or faro bnnk, faro table nnd hazard, and prescribed tho sumo pen alty. An act approved April 30, 1808, regu lated and fixed tho sizo of loaves of bread offered for sale. The loaves were to be made in size according to the qual ity of tho Hour used and wero to sell nt tho sumo price per loaf. The va grancy act under which vagrants arc now prosecuted fixes tho term of Im prisonment ut not more than 20 days. Tho act also provides that if he fails to pay the jailer's fees ho shall, with con sent of tin) mayor, be sold ut vendue to serve nnd labor for any time not exceed ing four months. There nro other acts ol tho old corporation regulating com merce and protecting the river and vari ous business interests. Tho chimney sweep is required, under penalty, to faithfully perform his duties, nnd to his advantage n penalty is prescribed for placing a stove-pipe through tho ex terior wall of any frame building or through tho roof of any house, so that stove pipes, under the law, are not per mitted to pass through the lrame parti tions of summer kitchens. "It would be almost impossible to en force many of these laws," said a police man, "yet when complaints are made, and the law is found, there is nothing else to do, and, until congress acts iu tho matter, West Washington will re main under tho old laws. Wo work under too many Jaws," continued the olliccr. "Inside tho city limits we have one set of laws and in the county we have an entirely different set. What is an offense in one place is permitted iu another. Within tho limits of West Washington a man may strip off his clothing nnd walk tho streets In de fiance of the officers because there Is no law to punish him, but if he does tho same thing on tho river shore and goes n bathing before- nine o'clock in tho evening he may be arrested for unlaw ful bathing, On the eastern side of IJock creek the same state of ivnuirs exists. "Persons can do an act not in violation of tho law on one side of Boundary street, but If they repeat it on the other side they soon find themselves iu tho hands of tho law. Then, again, thero nre some offenses punishable by a heavy fine in one section, while the penalty iu another section is not half so heavy. Such a stute of affairs makes it very hard for a policeman to know whether ho is doing his duty properly or not." While nil Georgetown policemen are required to know something of law, and intricate law at that, the policemen in Washington study only the police regulations, nnd very few of them seem to have brains enough to master oven that much literature. At any rate they are a careless lot of peace guar dians, and knowingly wink nt vice. Just across the river from George town, on the Virginia shore of the Poto mac, there are numerous gambling houses and vile liquor saloons, the very lowest of the low. The governor of Vir ginia claims that he has no legal power to control the Inwless or to arrest the vicious. The sheriff of the county does not call on the governor for aid, and the governor says that he cannot invnde the county without the authority of the sheriff. 'While the Inwless can cap ture the sheriff they can continue to defy the law. SMITH D. FRY. ISXCllMCll. Justice Magnifleo What is your ex cuse for not serving on the jury? Juror I'm an expert witness myself; and I know what fools nil those testi fying would be! N. Y. Truth. Slio lluil mi Idea. Ethel What Is Stiinson in Wall street? A bear? Maude Why do you ask? Ethel lie hugs just like one. Town Topics. ON THE CONGO JRIVEB. A Boautlful Country Rioh in Nat ural Rosourcos. Uluroncnn ISinlKriitlon to Trontcnl Afrloit In IncrcnnliiM; from Day to Day Ueitloraltle Condition of the Women of the Native Trlhca. LSpcclnl London Letter. The newest "now world" is the vnst region watered by the Congo river and its numerous tributaries. It is over GOO.000 square miles in extent, and hna been dlscocred and mapped, nnd some parts settled, annexed, nnd eon par tially civilized within tho past quarter of a century. It is a strangely beau tiful new world of which Henry M. Stanley was the Columbus, whose wealth and fertility nnd scenery nro gradually becoming better known. Whero "Kar nway tlirotiRh forests old Tho Congo rolls o'er huiiiIs of Bold." Unlike some other great rivers of tho oltl world, the Congo empties into the Atlantic ocean in a single strcnm, seven miles wide nnd of enormous depth, and although cataracts and rap ids interfere with Its continuous nav igation, there nre between these imped iments, iu the Congo and tho Aruwlmi, its chief tributary, over 4,000 miles of navigable watera. Tho Congo valley, that is the country of the Upper and Lower Congo, is n wonderfully fertile land. At present the chief commercial products mo . IV Vu VvVwviv;9 Yluuw! ' iM-ti r. " I t Mrcri7aKHw . ur j.l" mwiu j jtuhhihviTjUiv: -. .. r- i ,- -w n. A CONGO LANDSCAPE N'TOMRO FALLS. MANYANQA. palm oil, rubber, spices, gums for med icinal use, anil ivory. Gumcopal, wild coffee, camwood powder and fruit in grent nbundnucc nro produced. Theso yield a revenue of about $25,000,000 an nually. In what Is termed the lake re gion of tho Congo thero aro valuable iron nnd copper mines und gold nud silver deposits. Tho Upper Congo region, between the Congo and the lakes, Is said to be n fine field for colonization. The climate is salubrious and temperate, the alti tude ranging from 2,000 to 0,000 feet above tho sea. The rich river vulleys and old lake bottomsyleld Immense crops of rice and grain nnd there, as well as on tho uplands, Is found some of the most valuable timber iu the world, the logs making the most costly transporta tion profitable. Speaking of the Congo valley as a New World Is only figuratively true, for those lazy old pioneers, the Portuguese, have been settled at tho mouth of the great river, nnd many a grand fumily in Portugal has been kept nourishing for tho pust 200 years on the profits of the Congo slnve trade. Thanks to the Inter vention of tho British, principally, this iniquity is being broken up, the only transgressors nowndays being the Arubs, next to the "unspeakable Turk" tho most despicable member of the human family. Wherever the influence of tho believers iu the fnfse prophet ex tends the traveler expects to find that the natives are treated with cruelty, and that neither age nor sex is spared when those demons are aroused. What the Mohammedan Is doing iu Armenia he has done In Equatorial and West Af rica, and occasionally cities and culti vated regions are destroyed for miles by the Arabs so as to capture slaves. Among the many natives which peo ple the Congo region there mny be found us muny varying types as in Ku rope, and some of them nre ns strange in their appearance us they are in their manners nnd customs. A fnvorite facial adornment with the Bu Yansi, Usindi und Alnbingn Is the curled barb of tho beard which is stiffened with gum and grease so as to, give it the most elegant curve. Dr. Buumuuu, who wns one of the first trav elers to follow Stanley's footsteps in the Congo valley, hud a pleasant experience among the Usindi. They believed that he was a rciubodlmcnt of their last king and hnd come back from the moon! The Urundi, or Unsindi, clnim thnt their former kings were lineal de scendants of the moon, and in this re spect exhibit nn extrnordinnry parallel with the belief of the Incus of Peru. One of the strange races of the grent forests of the mid-Congo basin is the Uatwas. Before the early traveler nnd pioneer had become familiar with the Hat was he had heard them described as cannibals, though better acquaintance proved this to be Incorrect. The Bntwa averages only four feet three inches iu height, but is well built, active and much stronger than his height would lend one to expect. A dwarf woman was bought by Dr. T. II. Parke, who paid her former owner, an Arab, for her "a handful of beans, 12 cups of rice and six cups of Indian corn." He tells tin t'int ho wan obliged to be very kind to her nt first to prevent her running away, but when she hud ceased to have nny dread of cruelty, her devotion was un bounded. "To her constant attention and care," he said. "1 owe the enjoy ment of good health and good foods as far as forest weeds can bo foods -during months of what would, without her, have been absolute starvation." Tho first of the forest dwarfs that was measured was found to be ex actly four feet in height, it is sup posed by scientists that tho pigmies rcptesent tho earliest typo of African humanity, and that through the cen turies they have remnincd unaffected by tho partial civilization that ha conio to their Inrger-llmbcd fellows of other tribes, it has been found that theso dwnrf races are not deficient iu mental ability, that fa, as compared with tho other races of the Congo. Among tho 50,000,000 or 00,000,000 of natives, divided into many different nations, there Is n wonderful diversity of tpngues. Not a few of these races use sounds made by "clicking" or "chirping" tho sounds wo make with tho tongue agulust tho palate when wo call a dog or a horse. To the hunter tho valley of the Con go presents extraordinary attractions. From Its mouth to its source It is a grand hunting held whero such mighty name as the rhinoceros, tho hippopota mus and those great felines, the leop ard, Hon, etc., can be found, and in tho Lower Congo the African elephant la at MtPPTMl , -- :-i" rs&&rJ -sr :?r - 7?Pai2-z n home, though ho has never been do mesticated like his Asintio brother, and is hunted for his tusks only. The condition of womankind among tho savages of the Congo uud adjoining territory is shocking in the extreme. Generally she Is classed as a domestic nnimal merely, and to murder his wife is not considered a crimo by a Mu kumbi. A chief of thnt tribe, :n conver sation with a missionary, casually re marked: "I killed five of my wives dur ing the night." A Mabunga sent his wife to collect firewood. She sunk up to hor shoulders in a marsh, and, her screams attracting his attention, he threw her a stick with which to defend herself agninst the hyenas und other wild bcusts, and left her till morning, when no truce of the wretched womun wns to be seen I Writing from tho court of King Mtesu, dipt. Spoke, the famous Eng lish traveler, said: "No dny has passed without my witnessing the execution of nt least one, and sometimes two ot three, of the unhappy women who com pose the king's harem. A cord round their wrists, they are dragged to the slaughter, their eyes streaming with teurs, and venting their misery In heart rending cries of Mini Minangel K'buk ka llai n'yaviol' (Oh, my lord, my king! Oh, my mother, my mother!) Not a hand is lifted to savo them, al though here and thero a remark upon the beauty of some young victim passes current in alow voiceamongthecrowd." Fv. Ilautecoeur, a missionary, report ed that recently a child was born to one of tho sJavo women iu the village whero his mission is located. Jtegulnrly every day, in defiunco of any consideration hho might have claimed for her child's suite, tliu wretched womun was cruelly beuten, so that she would spend the greater part of her time prowling I'liiong the bushes round tho village for fear of tho ill-treatment which she know awaited her reappearance. "One day," lie says, "I heard tJte baby wns dead, and 1 learned a little Juter from tlie other nutives thut tho poor little tiling's death was entirely caused by tho brutality of its own futhcr, who would beat his wife without any re gard for the child which she carried ort Jier back, according to tho custom of the country." And If this is the fate of Africnn women in their own homes under fa vorable circumstances tho reader can imugine that it must be unspeakably worse when capture und exile are added to their sufferings. Tho conqueror, generally some Mohammedan monster in human form, profiting by tho fre quent battles between rivul tribes, se cures u hundred or more of the prison ers. These miserable wretches, bound together, weighed down beneath heavy burdens of jvory, or precious gums, nro driven for weeks und mouths across tho desert to an uiiknown land, there to be again sold into abject slavery. Tho conquest and annexation of western and equatorial Africa by Eu ropean nations will be the dawn of day; for the women at least. JAMES IRVINQ CRABBE,