NEBRASKA NEWS
A PLEASING CONDITION EXIST8
IN STATE BANKING CIRCLES.
SEC. ROYSE MAKES REPORT
Not a Single Bank Under State Super
vision Went Down During the
Cyclonic Financial Convul
sion of Last Fall.
Secretary Royse of the state bank
ing board makes some very gratifying
commentaries as to the conditions of
the banks under state supervision in
his report just Issued. He commends
the present state law and the manner
in which It is obeyed and enforced,
and points out only one danger that
promises to cause trouble in the fu
ture the not unusual chain of small
banks owned, operated and controlled
by the same management, or used as
feeders for some larger bank. Aftor
giving compilations of tho work done
by the department, Secretary Royse
says:
"An Inspection of the foregoing com
pilations will certainly be gratifying
to your honorable body, as It shows
the condition of the banks under your
supervision to be exceptionally strong.
At the date of the last report mado
for 1007 the financial panic had been
in full force for one month, and found
such a degree of strength existing that
not a dollar has been lost to a deposi
tor. The manner In which the banks
were able to withstand the onset of
the panic and to resume normal con
ditions is convincing evidence of the
wise foresight and conservative man
agement of the banks of the state.
Reference to the last annual report
made to your honorable body will
show the confidence this department
had at that time that banks of Ne
braska were prepared for any emer
gency that might arise. The financial
convulsion through which they have
passed, cyclonic though It was in its
nature, failed to destroy a single insti
tution under state supervision and
fully justifies the confidence then ex
pressed in the soundness and Integ
rity of our banks.
"There is one practice that exists
to some extent In this state .which, in
my opinion, sooner or later will have
to be remedied or serious trouble will
follow I refer to a chain of small
banks owned, operated and controlled
by the same management, or used as
feeders for some larger bank. This is
a practice that will require more than
ordinary skill to avoid disaster sooner
or later. I am firm In the conviction
that somo legislation Is necessary to
enable the state banking board to
meet this practice, when in their opin
ion the Interest of tho depositors de
mands it."
FALLS INTO SCALDING TANK.
.Workman in South Omaha Packing
Hou6e Severely Burned.
Joe Meduska of South Omaha fell
Into the scalding tank at the Armour
packing houso Thursday morning, re
ceiving serious burns. Meduska was
one of the regular workmen at tho
tanks, and it Is his business to han
dle tho scalding hogs with a pike pole
and move them along to tho lifting
apparatus. It is said he was resting
on one side of the tank and his part
ner was on the other side. In their
conversation Meduska, trying to ba
polite, wns in the act of reaching
across over tho tank to give his part
ner a pinch of snuff. The platform
at the side of tho tank on which he
stood was slippery with the splashed
water and lye. While his partner was
helping himself Meduska's feet
slipped and ho fell head first Into tho
lank.
His Liberty is Short.
Charles I. Webb was released from
the county jail at Plattsmouth Thurs
day morning at tho termination of a
contence of 30 days for petty lar
ceny and soon thereafter went into
tho shoo shop of John Gebhart and
nskod to havo a new heel placed on
one of his shoes. While the work
man was engaged in tho task Webb
slipped a pair of fine shoes under his
coat. John Kuhney, a barber next
door, happening to be out in front,
saw Webb's act. He called the
deputy sheriff who was passing and
Wobb was rearrested.
A Notable Mystery Story.
Lovers of mystery stories in which
desperate crime Is unravelled havo
long been waiting for something novel
In this fascinating field. Charles E.
Walk has succeeded In giving a now
and modern touch to this established
form of fiction In his first essay, "Tho
Silver Blade, A True Chronicle of a
Double Mystery," newly published, by
A. C. McClurg & Co. He has made his
book not only a narrative of Incident
and crime, but a romance of lovo and
passion, and at tho same time a novel
of manners and character.
WAR VETERANS CONGREGATE.
The First Meeting Since They Wera
Mustered Out.
The first reunion of the Spanish war
veterans was held at Lincoln, Thurs
day, ending In the evening with a
huge banquet, filled with Intense en
thusiasm and patriotic speeches. A
plan of organization was presented to
the association by a special commit
tee and was adopted. More than 150
veterans were present from all partB
of tho state. The First, Second and
Third Nobraska regiments were repre
sented in a way gratifying to tho
movement, whllo sevoral veterans reg
istered as United States volunteers,
and four men placed their names un
der the head of "Grigsby's Rough
Riders." It was decided that the next
reunion should be held in Omaha, at
a date to be fixed later. A toast was
drunk to Brigadier-General P. II.
Barry, adjutant-general of the state at
the timo of the war, and a message
of condolence on his recent illness
was sent to ex-Governor Silas A. Hoi
comb. The afternoon meeting was devoted
to a camp fire in the convention hall,
at which tho "vots" told stories al
most forgotten about things, ludicrous
and Bad, that happened when they
were soldiering. The chief attraction
of the meeting lay in the report of tho
committee on organization, and in tho
banquet in the evening, with its atten
dant speeches from well known par
ticipants in the war. The reunion was
the first one in tho ten years since tho
war occurred, and the effort is to
make It a permanent thing with a per
manent organization,
Many and prominent were the
speakers present, among them being
General Barry, Governor Sheldon, Wil
liam J. Bryan, and Col. Wm. Hayward.
EAGLES HAVE LIVELY SESSION.
J. J. Rider of Lincoln Elected Presi
dent at Norfolk.
The state aerie of Eagles, after a
two days' session at Norfolk, ad
journed Thursday afternoon. Benson
vas selected as the place for holding
tho 1909 convention over McCook and
Grand Island. John J. Ryder of Lin
coln, deputy labor commissioner, was
elected state president over H. B.
PJeharty, of South Omaha. Other
officers elected were: Julius Althaus,
Omaha, state vice-president; E. B.
Kauffman, Norfolk, state chaplain; J.
M. Tanner, South Omaha, state sec
retary; L. J. P. Iaeger, Chadron, state
treasurer; Thomas Eastner, Nebraska
City, state conductor; George Gam
ble, Florence, inside guard; An
thony HIrschman, Hartington, outside
guard; T. J. Curry, Geneva; C. Chris
tianson, Fremont; O. E. Gilllon,
BJair, state trustees. The Nebraska
aerie declared against reducing tho
membership age limit to 18 years, and
in favor of a new system of national
deputies.
AN OLD RESIDENT A SUICIDE.
C. F. Wilber of Beatrice Hangs Him
self in Store.
C. F. Wilber, an old resident of
Beatrice, committed suicide Wednes
day morning by hanging himself In
the rear room of the building for
merly occupied by him as a meat
market, on North Fifth street.
The deed was done in a deliberate
manner. A block and tackle was
suspended from a large hook in tho
ceiling, and after a small rope had
been knotted and fastened to the
hook in tho block, the unfortunate
man placed his head in the noose
made by him, ascended a step ladder
and jumped off, the fall, a distance
of nearly eight feet, breaking his neck
and causing almost Instant death.
Mr. Wilber was observed in tho
room about eight o'clock that morn
ing. He was placing tho hook and
tackle in position and stated that he
intended to hoist some boxes from
the cellar. Upon going to the rear
room shortly before nine o'clock, ono
oc the carpenters working in the front
of tho building found Mr. Wilbor
hanging from the rope, his feet al
most touching the floor.
Enid, Okla., Under Water.
Enid, Okla., faces the most disas
trous flood In Its history. Following
six hours' rainfall, Boggy creek, run
ning through the city, widened from
20 to 2,000 feet and flooded prac
tically the whole of Enid, carrying
away houses, flooding stores and en
dangering lives. Water stood 12 feet
deep in Main street, covering two
blocks of the business center. Fifty
houses wero swept away and carried
down stream with tho occupants who
had been drivon to tho roofs, shout
ing for help. Soveral families floated
about at the mercy of the flood and
in tho darkness all night.
Elevator at Grand Island.
Tho Union Stock Yards company at
Grand Island has lot the contract for
an elevator of 20,000 bushels capacity
and will equip it modernly and estab
lish a grain market in tho vicinity of
j Its yards two miles east of that city.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
Most Important Happenings of the
Past Seven Days.
Interesting Items Gathered From all
Parts of the World Condensed
Into Small Space for the Ben
efit of Our Readers.
Miscellaneous.
A life size statuo in bronze of tho
late President McKlnloy lias been un
veiled in front of tho city hall In
Philadelphia.
The Missouri supreme court has de
cided that liquor shipped into prohi
bition counties is sold at place of ship
ment and that no state law Is thoro
by violated.
Tho Missouri supreme couprt has
declared unconstitutional tho law for
bidding rallro'ad companies to work a
telegraph operator more than eight
hours In 24.
President Roosevelt has reappointed
the members of tho inland waterways
commission.
Business failures for the week end
ing June 4 number 225 in tho United
States, the smallest reported for any
week since last October, and com
pared with 2G3 the week before, 155
in the like week of 1907.
Tho Santa Fe shops at Topoka were
closed down for a week giving an en
forced layoff to 1,1100 men.
All tho banks, two hotels and prac
tically every business houso in Frank
fort, Kan., have been flooded by tho
overflow of the Vermillion river. All
tho st roots In tho town were running
with water from three to four feet
deep.
The rebate fines assessed against
three packing firms and one railroad
company at Kansas City have just
been paid. The total aggregated $45,
880.75. Tho admission has been made at the
White House that President Roosevelt
and his son, Kermlt, are making defi
nite plans to spend a ytnr in Africa
hunting big game. The party will
sail from New York to Cairo, Egypt,
as soon after March 4 next as arrange
ments can be made.
The Republican national committee
In session at Chicago decided the con
tests from Alabama, Involving 24 seats
in favor of the delegates Instructed
for Secretary Taft. No roll call was
necessary In deciding tho case.
Four men were killed and ten In
jured on board the cruiser Tennessee
whllo on the way from Santa Barbara
to Los Angeles when a boiler tube
broke, hurling fragments of iron
about the engine room and filling It
with scalding Bteam. Admiral Sebreo
had just stepped out of tho room when
the accident occurred.
Several persons were injured and a
dozen residences were either destroyed
or badly damaged by a tornado In
Kearney, Neb. Eight funnel shaped
clouds formed during an hour and
passed within sight of the city.
Returns from the Georgia primary
indicate the defeat of Hoko Smith for
govornor by Joseph M. Brown by a
majority of 15,000.
While the president and Mrs. Roose
velt were riding in Rock Creek park
the president's horse roared and
plunged backward over a ten-foot em
bankment Into the stream. Tho presi
dent escaped with a thorough ducking.
On account of muddy roads the
motor car tour of Speaker Cannon and
his party was abandoned at Pittsburg,
will be composed of 80 Republicans
and ten Democrats and may be com
pelled to elect Gov. Chamberlain to
the senate as the people's choice.
Tho body of Miss Lena Uhllnger,
member of a prominent St. Joseph,
Mo., family, who disappeared last Oc
tober, has been found In the Missouri
river.
The people of tho south celebrated
the one hundredth anniversary of tho
birth of Jefferson Davis one June 3.
A suit asking $1,000,000 damages
and praying for a receiver for the
United Oil company, one of the largest
drilling and refining companies In tho
west, has been filed In the district
court at Florence, Col.
At tho ninety-first commoncemont of
the Georgetown college 1G graduates
received the degree of bachelor of arts.
Ninety-three acres of land occupied
by tho Illinois Steel company In South
Chicago hns been declared the prop
erty of the state by a master In
chancery.
The Lackawanna railroad is prepar
ing to replace its telegraphic system
of -train dispatching with the telephone.
The assembly of tho United Presby
terian church at Pittsburg, Pa., ad
journed aftor adopting a resolution to
abandon for tho present the proposi
tion to unite with other branches of
tho church.
Tho Kansas delegation to tho Repub
lican national convention will be quar
tered at tho Auditorium hotel. The
Missouri delegates will be at the
Grand Pacific,
The big balloon Chicago travoled
from Qulncy, 111., to Clear Lake, S. D.,
a distance of 500 miles, in 11 hours.
It Is estimated that 25 persons lost
their lives In the tornado which do
vaatated southorn Nobraska recently.
It Is Impossible to estimate tho vaiud
of tho property destroyed.
The antl-Taft leaders have decided'
to submit no moro evidence In con
tests to the Republican national com
mitteo. This will cause the commit
teo to sent all the Taft delegates bj
default.
A tornado struck Charles City, la.,
demolishing 200 buildings. Ono man
was killed and four children reported
missing.
Tho special commission sent to
Panama by tho president to Investl-'
gate labor and commissary conditions
In the cnnnl zono has returned to New
York.
One man was killed, three persons
fatally Injured and 40 others sorlously,
hurt when a St. Louis trolley car
jumped tho track and pitched over e
ten-foot ombankment.
Tho work of preserving the old
state house on tho Fort Rlloy military
reservation, tho first Kansas caplto)
has boon completed.
J. A. Edson, presidont of tho Kansas
City Southorn railway, has been ap
pointed receiver for tho Strang inter
urban motor lino operating botween
Kansas City nnd Olnthe, Kan.
Many points in northern Kansas and
southorn Nebraska roport sovere dam
age from floods and storms. Tho Blue
river near Wotmoro, Kan., wns report
ed 12 miles wide. Several fatalities
wore reported.
Sheriff Garrison of Oklahoma Clt:
was shot and killed In a fight with
sovon negroes at Hitchcock, Ok. A
deputy was wounded and ono of the
negroes wns shot.
In a hend-on collision between two
special electric cars near Annapolis,
Md., eight persons were killed outi
right and a score of others wero seri
ously injured.
An estimate of the total assessed
value of all Kansas property this yeal
1 placed at $2,500,000,000.
During tho canonization services of
Etnil Zola at tho Pantheon in Paris au
attempt waB made by a nowspnpor at
tache to' kill Maj. Dreyfus, tho contral
figuro In tho world-dlsciiBsed Droyfus'
case. Two shots wero fired but only
one took effect, wounding the officer
In the wrist. The would-be assassin
was arrested.
Warrants have been Issued In Phila
delphia for the arrest of Max Kaufi
mann,, secrotary of Mayor Reyburn,
nnd Secretary Gibbonoy of the Law
and Order society, on charges of per
jury and libel.
Stanley Ketchell of Grand Rapids,
Mich., was given tho decision over
Billy Papko at Milwaukee in the pres
ence of 6,000 spectators.
Three persons were killed and 20
others injured in a collision between
a trolley. car and frolght train near
Joliet, 111., recently.
Miss Hester Ward, tho girl oper
ator of tho Apploton City, Mo., tolo-(
phono exchnnge, was recently bound;
and gagged by masked n'cn and tho
safe robbed of $G0.
Five hundred infuriated Italians
stoned the closed doors of the prlvatei
banking house of Castauo Liotta in
Cleveland, O., but wero prevented from
forcing au entrance by tho police.
A rate of ono cent a mile for har
vest hands in parties of five porsons'
1b to be asked of the railroads by tho
Kansas railroad board.
Personal
Mary Ann Lndheus Hunt Is dead at
Belolt, Wis., aged 106 years. Sho was:
born in Connecticut In 1802.
John A. Thayer and wife of Boston
won first prlzo In the annual flower
fete In Paris.
Dr. Gustav Nautze, formerly an
army surgeon stationed at Jefferson
Barracks, St. LouIb, and Fort Leaven
worth, Kan., is dead in St. Louis.
G. F. Payne, ono of tho defendants
in tho capltol graft cases In Pennsyl
vania is dead in Philadelphia.
By the bursting of a dam near Enid,
Ok., 200 persons wero drivon from
their homes in that city.
Mrs. Ruth Leavltt, daughter of Wil
Ham J. Bryan, has been elected a delo
gate to the Colorado state Democratic
convention.
Mr. Bryan Is out In a statement de
nying categorically tho charges of tho
New York World that a campaign con
tribution from Thomas F. Rryan of
Now York was used In his behalf In
the Nebraska campaign four years ago.
Speaker Cannon has opened perma
nent headquarters In tho Auditorium
hotel at Chicago.
James Eades How, the St. Louis
millionaire, has been re-elected presi
dent of tho Hobo association.
A document has been discovered In
St. Louis which showB that Gen. U. S.
Grant applied for tho position of coun
ty engineer in 1859 and was rofused
the place.
Prlnco David Kawalnanakoa of Ha
waii, brother of tho Hawaiian con
gressional delegate, Is dead In San
Francisco of pneumonia.
Capt. James E. Cox, 82 years old, a
pioneer of St. Joseph, Mo Is dead
from gangrene poisoning resulting
from trimming his too nail. Capt,
Cox built the first street car system
in St. Joseph.
UifiTiuc nr in i ii n
luiimv ui iiiiiu
KNOWN DEATHS IN FRIDAY'S
TORNADO TWENTY-THREE.
KANSAS HIT WITH NEBRASKA
Loss of Life Heaviest In Vicinity of
Geneva and Byron Heavy
Property Loss at Town
of Fairfield.
Reported Dead 23
Fatally Injured 5
Injured, slight or serious 60
Tho tornado which passed over
southern Nobraska and portions of
northron Kansas Friday ovenlng was
tho most destructive and covored tho
most territory of any Blmllar storm
which hns visited tho stato in many
years. Twenty-three aro believed to
be dead, five fatally injured and a
score of others, possibly GO, more
or less seriously hurt, somo of thorn
dangerously.
The Dead.
LULU SCHMIDT, domestic, at
Shlvely homo, near Gonovn.
IRENE SHIVELY, aged four, near
Geneva.
JOSEPH SHIVELY, a boy.
MRS. MAUD CARTER, nt Carloton.
BABY CARTER, Carloton.
TWO SMALL CHILDREN OF MRS.
SNELL, near Guldo Rock.
HENRY MADISON, near Franklin.
MRS. AUGUST FENTELL, near
Shlcklcv.
BABY FENTELL, infant Bon of
Mrs. Fentoll.
ELIJAH ARGENBRICHT, of near
Shlckley.
BABY FLAMING, drowned nonr
Fairfield.
TWO DAUGHTERS OF MRS. O.
SIMPEL.
MR. AUSTIN, a farmer.
MRS. AUSTIN, his wifo.
MISS AUSTIN, his daughter.
AUSTIN, 17-year-old son.
ONE ENTIRE FAMILY, four to six
members, names unknown, all near
Byron.
BABY LUEDERS, Infant son of
Mrs. Leuders, near Hebron.
Fatally Injured. (
John Shlvely, Geneva, fatally.
Ross Shlvoly, Geneva.
John Merrlnm, Shlckley.
Press Bailey, Carloton.
Mr. August Fentell, near Shlckley.
Tho storm was general throughout
nt least four counties, Fillmore, Web
ster, Franklin and Thayor on tho
southern border of tho stato and
reached over into Kansas from whoro
great destruction Is reported. Tho
towns of Carleton, Fairfield, Deshlor,
Shlckley, Geneva, Franklin, Ong and
Rlverton uro among those visited by
tho storm.
Homeless nnd helpless, moro than
200 people, members of tho farmers'
families, have sought refugo In such
homes as wero rot In tho path of' tho
storm, or were fortunnto enough to
escape without serious damage.
Botween Bryon and Deshler, the
greatest loss of life occurred, 12
persons being killed outright and a
number receiving injuries from which
thoy cannot recover. Tho injured
havo been cared for In the best man
ner possible, but many aro still In a
critical condition and cannot bo
movod to hospitals. Every physician
within a radius of 50 miles has gono
to the sccno of destruction to rendor
assistance.
At Carleton five residences and two
churches wore entiroly destroyed,
whllo a new school building and 30
bouses wore badly wrecked. The
homo of Leslie Carter was demolished
and his wifo and baby killed, whllo
carter himself and another child re
ceived possibly fatal Injuries.
At Geneva tho Btorm wrought great
destruction and in tho adjacent coun
try claimed five victims, two of whom
wero killed outright and three fatally
injured. Tho scene at Fairfield Is
bad. Moro than 40 buildings wore
moro or less wrecked and somo of
them, Including three churches, wero
entirely demolished. The loss thoro
will exceed $100,000.
In tho vicinity of Shlckley farm
housos received the brunt of tho
storm and one or more fatalities aro
reported, with a number receiving
Injuries, somo of which will provo
fatal.
Factory Blown Up.
Tho prestollto factory at Indlanap-
Us, Ind., blew up Saturday for tha(
third timo within a year. Its now.
plant is wrecked nnd St. Vincent'
hospital adjoining is damaged. Tho
explosion wbb heard all over the city
and windows were shattered In build
ings several blocks away. Eolght per
ions aro known to be injured.