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THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER
.
W. IV. SANDEItS, TiiblUher.
1 i
NEMAIIA, NEBRASKA,
SPRING GLEANING.
A to Valuable Hint for Uciiovitlliicr
Old ami Soiled Articles.
An efficient nnd economical house
wife will ahvnys w'elcomc suggestions
in matters of cleanliness and renova
tion. To begin with, the best cleanser
cl lmlr brushes iu spirits of ammonia
and warm water. Take u tublespoon
ful of ammonia to a qunrt of wuter,
dip the bristles up and down in the wa
ter without wetting tho back of tho
brush, and rinse in clean warm water,
then shake well and dry in the air, but
not iu the sun. Soap and soda soften
the bristles and will turn an ivory
backed brush yellow, so in the case of
-the latter the following treatment is
recommended: Hub plenty of flour well
in, wrap up iu paper, nnd leave all night,
.give a good shaking and remove the
remaining Hour by blowing the brush.
All brushes and combs should be kept
in the dressing case, or in a bag made
for the purpose, when not in use, so
.as to keep them us much as possible
from the dust. Ivory that has become
jellow from age or usage may be
.whitened by a good rubbing with fine
sandpaper or moist powdered pumice
fctone.
Glass which has become dull may
t'e brought back to its original bright
ness by washing with diluted hydro
chloric acid and afterward rubbing
with moist chalk or whiting.
1 Murble muy be cleansed with com
mon dry salt, which requires no prepa
ration, but may be rubbed directly in
Ihe soiled surface, leaving the murble
beautifully clean. Alabaster may be
Iwushed with soapsuds. If stained,
whitewash the stains, and let it remain
for several hours, then clean it off. Take
the finest quality of ground pumice
stone and "mix it with verjuice; let it
stand two hours; then take u sponge
and rub the alabaster with tho mix
ture. Wash it with a linen cloth and
f resh water, nnd dry it with clean linen
rags.
Ormolu articles and trimmings of
ifurnituro should be washed with plain
fcoap and water and polished with cham
ois leather. To clean brass and copper
a mixture of oil and rotten stone up
iplied with a piece of leather and then
rubbed bright with clean chamois skin
,will give a beautiful polish. Furniture
Ito be polished should be washed with
ifioap and wnter, little by little, and each
'little quickly dried. Afterward the
'cream should be applied. Here are two
ood recipes Uoil quickly in a gallon
,of water one pound of beeswax, four
jounces of soft soap and two ounces of
pearl ash. The second, which should
be made ut least a day before it is used,
lis compounded by melting together ut a
gentle heat eight purts of white wax,
two of resin and a half pint of turpen
jtine. l'our into a jar, shake it well,
land add six parts of reetilied oil of tur
ipeutine. j A careful housekeeper is frequently
'troubled by the tannin stains in fine
ichiua teacups. They may usually be
removed by rubbing them with a little
'whiting on flannel. Salt will have the
same effect, but it sometimes scratches
.very fine wnre.
I To clean wall paper use bread about a
day old. If the paper is only dusty,
iflick and rub it with a soft yarn mop.
jlf it is marked with grcuse, hold a
jpiecc of blotting paper over tho spot
(with a hot ilutlron for a few moments.
I Atlanta Constitution
A MIND READER.
IIIIs Honor Knew "What HI Private
Secretin')- TliotiKht.
"Job," snid his honor, holding be
,neath his nose a bunch of flowers which
ihud been left on his desk a few minutes
ibefore by a city hall bride, "did you
'know that I am a 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
j honor, chuckling gleefully. "I will
itell you what was in your mind a few
iminutes ago, Job. You remember that
when 1 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 flushing.
"And you remember how I merely
(shook her hand and did not accept the
limitation?"
, "I do," answered the private secre
itary, with a regretful sigh.
"Well," continued his honor, "the
moment I turned nway from tho girl
3. caught sight of your face and I'll bet
you a pound of the best fine cut that 1
can tell you what were your thoughts
m I that moment."
The private secretary blushed, hung
this head, nnd mumbled something.
"Ha! ha!" Ids honor chuckled, "you
,lon't want to hear j'our thoughts re
peated, eh? Well, I am going to ve
peat them, anyhow. At the moment I
turned nway from that pretty girl you
were thinking: 'What a blanked fool
-the old man is!' Come, now, isn't that
:fcO?"
The private secretary saw it was use
less to enter a denial, so he iled to his
desk, nnd so agitated was he that in
the next five minutes he missed the cus
pidor three times in succession. N, Y
.Journal.
LEGAL OLLA-POMUDA.
Funny Stato of Affairs in tho Dis
triot of Columbia.
U'luit In nn OlTeii-ic on One Side of
Itoeli Crock In Perfectly Legiti
mate on the Other
Side.
Special Washlncton Letter.
The laws which are enforced in the
District of Columbia are peculiar. Many
of the old laws of Maryland, which wero
made before this land was ceded to
tho federal government, are still in
force. Then thcrenre federal laws which
were enacted before the creation of tho
territorial form of government: inwsen
actctl by tho territorial legislature,
and laws enneted by congress since tho
present form of government was cre
ated in 1872.
The ancient city of Georgetown was
an independent corporation until re
cently, but it is now West Washington.
It in scpnrntcd from the nntionnl enp
itol by Hook creek, nnd the laws thero
are in many instances different from
the laws on the east side of Hock creek.
Ma ivy nets punishable ns offenses in
that section do not constitute offenses
under tha laws governing the rest of the
district. Many of these old laws, though
they may never have been repcnlcd, are
seldom enforced, and then only when
many complaints nre made about a
certain thing, and the old law books are
overhauled. Now and then ono of
these old Jaw books is resurrected, nnd
for awhile persons hnve to obey it, but
it soon becomes a dead letter again,
and tho law is violated with impunity
for another score or more of years.
Every few years tho question of observ
ing the Sabbath is agitated. Some of
the old laws arc found to meet the case.
It is a violation of ono of the old George
town corporation laws to sell on Sun
day any article except medicines, fresh
fish, milk and other perishable goods
which cannot be kept over night with
fiufety, but this law is seldom enforced,
and then only when complaint is made,
or after a general order has been is
sued notifying storekeepers to close
their places on Sunday. This law, like
many others, has been contested in
the courts and found to be valid.
Then there is another lnw which pto
hibits any manual labor on tho Sab-
THIRTY-NINE STRIPES.
bath. This law, like the precedingonc,
has been contested nnd 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 to work, except in cases of neces
sity, or otherwise profane the Sabbath
by gaining, hunting, fishing or other
unlawful pastimes, shall, on conviction,
forfeit a sum not exceeding five dol
lars." The second Eection provides
that "if the offender be a minor nnd the
fine is not paid by himself, parent,
guardian or master, he shall be forth
with committed to the penitentiary for
a time not exceeding five days, or if
he bo a slave ho shall be publicly
whipped, not exceeding 30 stripes."
At tho West Washington stution
houFe the police hnve an old law book,
printed in JS2t, which furnishes them
tli2 text of the old laws covering cer
tain offenses. Thero ure but few of
the.se books in existence, so far as is
known, and when a case otljer thnn as
sault and battery or disorderly con
duct is made the ollieer making the ar
rest usually has to take this book to
court to show his ground for action.
The police doing duty west of Itoek
creek have not only to be able-bodied
men, strong and plucky enough to
handle rullians nnd smnrt enough to
capture thieves, but they have to be
versed in all the ancient laws 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, 1793, which is intended to pre
vent accidents arising from galloping
horses through streets. Tho act pro
vides "That any person, within tho jur
isdiction of this corporation, who shall
by galloping or otherwise force at an
improper speed any horse, maro or
gelding through any of tho streets,
Janes or nlleys, shall, if a free man, for
feit and pay for every such offense tho
bum of 15 shillings, current money, to
the use of this corporation, to be re
covered either before any cue aldermen
or by indictment or confession in the
mnyor's court; and if nn apprentice, in
dentured servant orsluve, the mistress
or master of such apprentice, servant or
slave shall forfeit and pay the sum of
seven shillings nnd six pence, current
money, to be recovered as aforesaid."
An act of October 10, 1700, sets forth
that "the rcspcetnblo Inhabitants hnvo
suffered great inconvenience from the
vast concourse of idlo white nud black
persons who frequently assemble nnd
engage in cock fights, at which times
they drink to excess, became riotoui.
nnd prevent tho quiet nnd repose of
good citizens." The first section of tho
not, nnd the second section, related to
slaves, who wero eubjoet to 39 stripes
on the bare back in a public place. Tho
firing of guns or other firearms was
made punishable under nn net of Octo
ber 24, 1801. The penalty prescribed
was ilvo dollars, one-half of which
went to tho informer. If tho person
violating the law was a slave or in
dentured servant the penalty was ten
lnshcs, unless two dollars was paid by
Ills or her master or mistress.
An net to prevent gonts from running
at Inrgo was passed iu 1700, giving per
sons power to ldll nil gonts found run
ning ut large, and to sell tho same nt the
market-house to the best advantage,
the person doing so to retain one-half
the money received and the corporation
to receive the other half. September 4,
1804, nn act was passed to keep dogs out
of tho market-house, where it appeared
they went to get meat and other vege
tables from the stands. A tax of one
dollar was assessed on dealers whose
dogs were found within tho walls of the
mnrket, but country dogs wero not
troubled, provided they were kept a re
spectable distance from tho stands. A
penalty of $20 was provided under act
of March, 1800, for tho keeping of any
public gaming table, whether "A, 1!,
C," "L, S, IV "13, O," or other game. A
subsequent net, entitled an "Ordinance
to restrain vice," included "rooley
pooley," or faro bank, faro table and
hazard, and prescribed tho same pen
alty. An act npproved April 30, 1808, regu
lated and fixed tho hizo of loaves of
bread offered for sale. The loaves were
to be made in size according to the qual
ity of tJio flour used and wero to sell
nt tho sumo price per loaf. The va
graucy act under which vagrants are
now prosecuted fixes the term of im
prisonment at not more thau 20 clays.
Tho act also provides that if he fails to
pay the jailer's fees ho shall, with con
sent of the mayor, be sold ut venduo to
serve nnd labor for any timcnotcxcced
Ing four months. There are other acts
of tho old corporation regulating com
merce and protecting the river and vuri
ous business interests. Tho chimney
sweep is required, under penalty, to
faithfully perform his duties, and to his
advantage a penalty is prescribed for
plucing a stove-pipe through the 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 tho frame 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 Jaw is found, there is nothing
else to do, and, until congress acts in
tlio matter, West Washington will re
main under the old laws. Wo work
under too many Juws," continued the
officer. "Inside the city limits wo have
one set of laws and in the county we
linve an entirely different set. What is
an offense in one place is permitted in
another. Within tho lim.Us.of West
Washington a man may strip off ids
clothing nnd walk tho streets in de
fiance of the officers because there is no
law to punish him, but if ho docs the
same thing on the river shore and goes
n bathing before- nine o'clock in the
evening ho may be nrrested for unlaw
ful bathing. On tho eastern side of
Hock creek the same state of AWalrs
exists.
"Persons can do nn act not in violation
of tho law on ono side of -Boundary
street, but if they repeat it on the other
side they soon find themselves in tho
hands of the lnw. Then, again, thero
are some offenses punishable by a heavy
fine In one section, while the pennlty in
another section is not half so heavy.
Such a state of affairs makes It very
hard for a policeman to know whether
lie is doing his duty properly or not."
While nil Georgetown policemen ure
required to know something of law,
nnd 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 even
that much literature. At any rate
they are a cureless lot of peace guar
dians, nnd knowingly wink nt vice.
Just across the river from George
town, on tho Virginin shore of the Poto
mac, there nre 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 lnwless or to arrest the
vicious. The sheriff of the county does
not call on the governor for aid, nnd the
governor says that he cannot invade the
county without the authority of the
sheriff. Wliile the lawless can cap
ture tlie sheriff they can continue to
defy the law. SMITH D. FRY.
lO.iuiiHed.
Justice Mttgnilico Whnt is your ex
cuse for not serving on the jury?
Juror I'm an expert witness myself;
and I know what fools all those testi
fying would he 1N.Y. Truth.
She Hud nn Idea.
Ethel What is Stimsou in Wall
street? A bear?
Maude Why do you nsk?
Ethel lie hugs just like one. Tom n
Topics.
ON THE CONGO KIVEK.
A Boautlful Country Rloh In Nat
ural RoBOurcoB.
liiuroncnii Kmlwrntlon to Troplrnl
Africa In liiurrnnlnix from Day to
Liny Deplorable Condition of the
Women of the Native Trlhea.
ISpcctnt London Letter.
Tho newest "new world" is the vast
region watered by the Congo river and
its numerous tributaries. It is over
000,000 square miles in extent, nnd has
been discovered nnd mapped, and some
parts settled, annexed, and eien par
tially civilized within tho pnst quarter
of a century. It is a strangely beau
tiful new world of which Henry M.
Stanley was the Columbus, whoso
wealth and fertility and scenery are
gradually becoming better known.
Where
"l-'ar nway through forests old
Tho Congo rolls o'er minds of gold."
Unlike some other great rivers of
tho old world, tho Congo empties into
tho Atlantic ocean in a single stream,
boven miles wldo and of enormous
depth, nnd although cataracts and rap
Ids Interfere with Its continuous nav
igation, there are between these imped
iments, iu the Congo nud tha Aruwimi,
its chief tributary, over 4,000 miles of
navigable wntcra.
The Congo valley, that is the country
of tho Upper and Lower Congo, is a
wonderfully fertile land. At present
the chief commercial products i.ro
VVZ
f
A CONGO LANDSCAPE-N'TOMBO FALLS. MANYANQA.
palm oil, rubber, spices, gums for med
icinnl use, and ivory. Gumcopal, wild
coffee, enmwood powder nnd fruit in
great abundance nre produced. These
yield a revenue of about $25,000,000 un
nunlly. In what is termed tho lake re
gion of tho Congo thero are valuable
iron and copper mines and gold and
silver deposits.
The Upper Congo region, between
the Congo and the hikes, is bald to be a
lino field for colonization. The climate
is salubrious and temperate, tho alti
tude ranging from 2,000 to 0,000 feet
above tho sea. The rich river valleys
and old lake bottomsyleld immnnsecrops
of rice and grain nud there, as well as
on the uplands, is found some of tho
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 nt the mouth of the
greut river, nnd many a grand family in
Portugal has been kept flourishing. for
tho past 200 years on the profits of the
Congo slnve trade. Thanks to the inter
vention of the British, principally, this
iniquity is being broken up, the only
transgressors nowadays being the
Arabs, next to the "unspeakable Turk"
the most despicable member of the
human family. Wherever the influence
of tho believers in the false prophet ex
tends tho traveler expects to find that
the natives are treated with cruelty,
nnd that neither ago nor sex is spnred
when those demons are aroused. What
the Mohammedan Is doing iu Armenia
he has done iu 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 unlives which peo
ple the Congo region there mny be
fsund ns many varying types ns in Eu
rope, and some of them nre ns strange
In their appearance ns they are in their
manners and customs.
A fnvorite fncial adornment with the
Ha Yansi, Usindl and Mablngn Is the
curled barb of tho beurd which is'
stiffened with gum and grease so as to.
give It the most elegant curve. Dr.
Huumunn, who wns one of the first trav
elers to follow Stanley's footsteps in the
Congo valley, had a pleasant experience
among tho Uslndi. They believed that
he was a relubodiment of their last
king and had come back from the
moon! The Urtindl, or Unsindi, clnim
that their former kings were lineal de
scendants of the moon, nnd in this re
spect exhibit an extraordinary parallel
with the belief of the Incus of Peru.
One of the strange races of the great
forests of the mid-Congo basin hi the
Untwas. Before the early traveler ond
pioneer had become familiar with the
liatwas he had heard them described ns
cannibals, though better acquaintance
proved this to be incorrect. The JJutwti
averages only four feet three Inches In
height, but is well built, active and
much stronger than his height would
lead ono to expect. A dwarf woman
was bought by Hr. T. II. Parke, who
paid her former owner, an Arab, for her
"a hnndful of benns, 12 cups of rice and
six cups of Indian corn." lie tells mi
that ho was obliged to bo very kind lo
her at first to prevent her running away,
but when she line ceased to have tiny
dread of cruelty, her devotion was un
bounded. "To her constant attention
nnd care," ho said. "1 owe the enjoy
ment of good hcnlth and good foods as
far as forest weeds can bo foods dur
ing mouths of what would, without her,
hnvo been absolute starvation."
Tho first of the forest dwnrfs that
was measured was found to be ex
actly four feet in height, it Is sup
posed by scientists that tho pigmies
rcpiesent the earliest type of African
humanity, nnd that through the cen
turies they hnve remained unaffected
by tho partial civilization thnt ha
conio to their larger-limbed fellows of
other tribes. It has been found that
these dwarf races aro not deficient in
mental ability, that is, an compared
with tho other races of the Congo.
Among tho 50,000,000 or (10,000,000 of
natives, divided into many different
nations, there is a wonderful diversity
of tongues. Not a few of these races
use sounds made by "clicking" or
"chirping" tho sounds we make with
tho tonguo against tho palate when
wo coll a dog or a horse.
To tho hunter tho valley of the Con
go presents extraordinary attractions.
From Its mouth to its source it Is a
grand hunting held where such mighty
game as the rhinoceros, tho hippopota
mus nnd those grout felines, tho leop
ard, lion, etc., can be found, and in tho
Lower Congo the African elephant Is at
home, though ho has never been do
mesticated like his Asiatic brother, nnd
is hunted for his tuaks only.
The condition of womankind nmong
tho savages of the Congo and adjoining
territory is shocking in the extreme.
Generally she is classed ns a domestic
animnl merely, nnd to murder his wife
is not considered a crimo by n Mu
kuiubi. A chief of that tribe, :n conver
sation with a missionary, casually re
marked: "I killed five of my wives dur
ing the night." A Mabunga sent hla
wife to collect firewood. She sunk up
to her shoulders in a marsh, and, her
screams attracting Ills attention, ho
threw her n stick with which to defend
herself against the hyenus and other
wild bcusts, and left her till morning,
when no truco of the wretched woman
was to be seen I
Writing from tho court of King
Mtesn, dipt. Speke, the famous Eng
lish traveler, said: "No duy has pussed
without my witnessing the execution of
at least one, and sometimes two oi
three, of the unhappy women who com
pose the king'B hnrem. A cord round
their wrists, they are dragged to the
bluughter, their eyes streaming with
team, and venting their misery in heart
rending erics of 'Hal Minangel K'bnk
ka lini n'yavioP (Oh, my lord, my
king! Oh, my mother, my mother!)
Not u bond is lifted to suvo them, al
though here and thero a remark upon
tho beauty of some young victim passes
current iu alow voiceamongthecrowd."
Fr. Uuutecoeiir, a missionary, report
ed that recently a child was born to ono
of tho slave women in the village whero
his mission is located. Ueguhirly every
day, in defiance of uny considerution
sho might have claimed for her child's
nuke, tho wretched woman was cruelly
beaten, so that she would spend tho
greater purt of her time prowling
Muong tho bushes round the village lor
fear of tho ill-treatment which s lie
knew uwuited her renppenranee. "Ono
duy," ho says, "1 heard the baby was
dead, and 1 learned a little later from
tJio other natives that tho poor littlo
thing's death was entirely caused by
tho brutality of its own futlter, who
would beat his wife without any re
gard for the child which she carried on
her back, according to tho custom of;
the country."
Ana If this is tho fato of African
women in their own liomcs under in
variable circumstances tho reader can
imagine that it must be unspeakably
worse when capture and exile are added
to their sufferings. Tho conqueror,
genernlly borne Mohammedan monster
,iu human form, profiting by tho fre
quent bnttles between rival tribes, se
cures a hundred or more of the prison
ers.! 1',e:3e miserable wretches, bound
together, weighed down beneath heavy
burdens of jvory, or precious gums, nro
driven for weeks and mouths across tho
desert to an unknown Innd, there to bo
again sold into abject slavery.
Tho conquest and annexation of
western nnd equatorial Africa by Eu
ropean nations will be the dawn of day;
for the women ut least,
JAMES IR.VINQ CRAB13E, .
