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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 1901)
:| Mildred J* 1 | Zyre'Oanion I ^ BY THE DUCHESS. ^ CHAPTER XII. This terrible announcement she ut tered aa though It could not fall to strike despair and remorsa into the hearts of her hearers; and, indeed,' in I^ady Caroline’s breast it awoke min Igled feelings cf Joy and terror, though in those of Mildred and Mabel the Joy reigned supreme. Lady Caroline attempted a faint re monstrance, but was sternly silenced; and on Wednesday, two days earlier than that on which she had originally decided, the old lady, bag and bag gage, swept out of King’s Abbott, very much to the relief of those she left behind. And now came the most trying time in all poor Mildred’s life. During all of the past weeks that she had been suffering.vlolence at the hands of her relatives, Lord Lyndon had become a constant, untiring visitor at King’s Abbott, taking no rebuffs, nor open slights, nor petulant actions to heart, but, as might a faithful animal, attend ing all the more assiduously to her wants who was his acknowledged mis tress. Patience, assisted by perseverance, has ever been known to work wonders, so it followed that in process of time he became—though so imperceptibly that it was without her knowledge— necessary to Mildred; so much so in deed that fewer and fewer grew the slights and unkindnesses on her part, while in their place a certain winning friendliness came and increased, rais ing false hopes in Lyndon’s breast that should never have been there. The end of all this was that close upon Christmas-time, somewhere aboui the middle of December, while all their minds we re fully occupied with Lady Eagleton’s sayings and doings, Lord Lyndon proposed for Miss Trevr.nion, and was rejected. This blow might perhaps have effectually daunted an other man; but Lyndon, still following up his trusty instincts, determined to bide his time and never surrender hope until a more favored suitor took his place. Mildred, having lively recollections of the treatment she had received on a similar occasion, thought well to keep , her own counsel in this matter; and ■ so it was agreed upon between them to hold the entire circumstance a se cret from the rest of the family—to Insure which, things of course went on in the usual way, he calling every oth er day and she accepting his atten tions—which were never of the obtrus ive description—in the same manner as formerly. So well did they sustain their several parts that even Lady Harriet’s keen old eyes failed to de tect that anything was amiss. Sir George’s affairs at this time were going from bad to worse. He had been hard at work for the past two months trying to find the ways and means to ward off the inevitable day of reckon ing, and had suggested plans and pur sued theories, all of which his man of business had frowned at and pooh poohed as utterly impracticable. Noth ing but the possession of a large sum of money—and that *to be written in five figures—stood between him and complete ruin; and how to secure the money was the difficulty—a difficulty beyond all surmounting unless some body could be found who for pure friendship’s sake would lend it for an indefinite period, trusting to time and chance for repayment. Such a friend was hard to find. One evening Mildred, on her way to her mother’s room, was stopped by a servant with the intelligence that Lord Lyndon had just called, and was in the drawing-room. “Would Miss Trevanion go down and . receive him, while she informed her ladyship of his arrival?” To which Mildred made answer that she would tell Lady Caroline herself, and went on to her mother’s apart mpnf i When she came to the bedroom she j found the door closed, but opening it passed on toward an Inner room be yond, where Lady Caroline usually 1 sat, and whence voices, suppressed yet | distinct, reached her. As she ap proached still nearer, they rose still higher, and words became intelligible to her ears. “If I do not get this money without J delay we are simply ruined,” said Sir ^ George, irritably. “Then I suppose there is nothing left you but to ask Mr. Younge for it,” re turned Lady Caroline, in a reluctant tone. “I suppose not,” said Sir George. Ask Mr. Younge! Ask the father of the man whom she had not considered good enough to marry for money! What could it all mean? Mildred stopped short and pressed her hands tightly together. Surely she had not heard aright. They could not mean- She drew her breath hard and swept like a whirlwind into the room. “Papa," she said, “what - are you thinking of? What have you been saying? I heard you as I came along. By what right do you intend to ask money of Mr. Younge—of him of all men? What claim have you on him?” “Mildred, you do not understand,” began her father. “I speak of a loan.” “Yes, I do understand,” broke in the girl passionately—“only too well. You < ^ speak of a ‘loan’; when, then, do you Intend to return It—In months, in **BfHraS!Bit***&** years? Why, you yourself told ine only the other day you could not hope to see the time the estate would re trieve itself. I ask you, therefore, Is it honorable to borrow?” “Something must be done," Sir George urged feebly, “else we must starve.” “Then let us starve,” cried Mildred, vehemently; “far better do that, or work for our daily bread as others have done before us, than live com fortably on other people's money. Let us be honest, whatever we are; and surely to borrow without hope of be ing able to repay is the very acme of all dishonesty.” Lady Caroline rose, pale and trem bling. “Mildred,” she said, “how dare you speak so to your father? You have altogether forgotten yourself, I think. How can you presume to dictate to him what is right or wrong? Is he not your father? Are you not his child? Ah, it is because he has been so good to you that you now fail in love and obedience to him!" It was the first time she had ever rebuked Mildred within her memory, and her voice shook with the unwont ed agitation. “Do not speak to her like that," in terrupted Sir George, gently. “She Is right; she has but spoken the truth. I can now see for myself that my in tention was dishonorable and dishon est.” But Lady Caroline was still stung to the quick. , “And you, you ungrateful girl,” she went on, taking no notice of her hus band’s speech, “how can you claim to have any voice in the matter at all— you who could have saved us all by putting out your hands and would not?" “Hush, Carry!” interposed Sir George, authoritatively. “We have had enough of that subject. 1 will hear no more of it. Thinking it over of late, I can see no just reason why Mildred should sacrifice herself to please her family. If I am to be beggared in my old age," he said, with a wretched attempt at a smile, “the sooner it comes to pass the better.” An awful pain arose in Mildred’s heart; her mother’s words had sunk deep into it. Was she indeed the cause of all this cruel suffering? Was it through her fault that sorrow had fall en upon the closing years of her father and mother? CHAPTER XIII. Mildred descended the stairs and hurried across the hall, giving herself no time to think of or meditate on what lay before her, and, going into the drawing-room, found Lord Lyndon standing with his ba dr to the fire. She went up to him, and he:d out her hand. “I want you to do something for me," she said, in a low, choked voice—“will you do it?” “Of course, I will,” he responded in his pleasant, cheery way. “Why do you ask me that? Have you yet to learn that there is nothing in the world I would not do for you If I could ?” “Hush!” she said. “I would rather you did not promise just yet. Wait until you have heard my request, for it is no ordinary one. I do not think you can grant it. I shall not think it in the least strange if you tell me you cannot.” At least let me hear what it is,” he requested, gently. “I want you to lend me, for an Indef inite period, fifteen thousand pounds.” Lord Lyndon was so taken aback that at first he scarcely recognized the importance of an immediate reply. He was rich, certainly—richer far than many men who were accounted well possessed of this world’s goods; but fifteen thousand pounds was a sum that few could put their hands on at a moment’s notice. He hesitated, there fore, for a little, and then recovering himself said quietly: “What day shall I bring it to you? Or would you prefer paying it in any where?” “You will give it to me, then? You really mean it? Are you sure—cer tain? Think what a large sum it is, and how small is your hope of repay ment, and do not speak in too great a hurry.” “I am sure,” he said. “I promise you.” "And about securities?” questioned Mildred, trying anxiously to recollect all that she had ever heard about money matters, and not succeeding at all “We will not speak about securities,” answered Lyndon, gently. “Let it be an arrangement between yon and me alone; I shall trust to you to repay me the moment you are able.” The utter kindliness and nobility of his nature touched her to the heart. “What shall I say to you?” she said, in a low tone, while a strange trem bling pervaded her voice. “How shall I thank you?” ’’Say nothing—do not thank me at all,” he answered, in a hurried, pained manner, moving back a few steps from her. Meanwhile time was flying. One, two, three minutes passed, marked by nothing except the small ormolu orna ment on the chimney piece, as it ticked away its little monotonous existence. He, gazing absently in the fire, be thought him of what ail this might portend; she thought of nothing—re membered nothing—beyond the fact that, for her, life's sweetness, liberty and tender sympathy were not. At length, rousing herself with an efTort, she went up to Leydon and placed her hand on his. Her heart was beating wildly, her face was ash en. “Do you remember a question you asked me about two weeks ago?” she said. “Do you still care to remember it? Because, if so, I have a different answer to make you now." “Two weeks ago I a3ked you to marry me,” he replied, in a forced, un natural manner. “And then I said 'No.' ” she mur mured faintly; “now—now—I would say ‘Yes.’ ” She covered her face with her hands; a thick, dry, tearless sob escaped her. “But I have not asked you to say it,” observed his lordship, coldly, still keeping down with firm hand the ris ing hope that was consuming him. “What, Mildred, do you imagine that, because I have been able to help you in this little matter, I have a claim on you? You are doing both yourself and me a great injustice.” “You are too good for me,” said Miss Trevanion; “and yet I know you love me. If you still care to marry me, I will gladly be your wife.” “Mildred, Mildred, what are you aaying?” he cried, all the icy brave re serve breaking down in an instant. “Think what your thoughtless words must mean to me—life, hope, happi ness greater than I have ever dared to dream of—and beware lest I take advantage of them. If you are say ing all this—as I feel you are—from a mistaken sense of gratitude or pity, I implore you to desist and leave me as I was before.” “Listen to me,” entreated Mildred, determined honestly to advocate her own doom, and holding out to him her hands, which he gently took and held. "If I tell you that I do net love you with that passionate love with which some women love the men they marry, but that I respect you above all living men, will it content you— will you take me as I am?” “If I were quite sure you would be happy,” he began, reluctantly. “I am quite sure I should be happy,” she interposed, and burst into bitter tears as she spoke. After a little she recovered herself. “I feel nervous,” she declared, try ing bravely to appear her usual self, and smiling a wan, faint smile, though heavy drops were on her lashes; “you should have come to my rescue—it is not every day the proposal Is made by the woman.” “My darling,” he said, tenderly ca ressing the small hands, of which he had again possessed himself, “I hope —I think—you will never regret it. Mildred, if I were quite certain that this was for your good, and that you would never wish unsaid the words you have uttered, I believe I might feel satisfied.” “Be satisfied, then,” she returned, but there was a terrible, dull aching pain at her heart, as she gave the expected assurance. When he was gone she went upstairs again to the room where she had left her father and mother, and found them still there—Sir George standing at the window gazing out upon the snow-covered ground, Lady Caroline before the fire, as though in the act of warming herself. The traces of tears were still upon her mother’s cheeks, and even as Mildred gazed a heavy drop fell upon her lap. “Mamma, be comforted,” cried Mil dred, coming suddenly forward from where she had been standing unno ticed, in the shadow of the door; “I have done what you wished me to do —I have got the money for you.” Lady Caroline started and turned to ward her; so did Sir George. (To be continued.) WILL NOT LEND THE BOOKS. Collector* of Rare Volume* Hava a Hor ror of the Borrower*. A noted book collector of New York, one whose library is filled with some of the rarest treasures of the biblio phile’s heart, recently complained of the total lack of the collector’s spirit among literary men. "I was recently asked by a literary man to send him a copy of an extremely rare book that I have on my shelves to aid him In some work that he is doing. Now, I want to help him all I can, and If he will come to my house he can have the use of the book as long as he wants it, under the most favorable circumstances. But send him the book—no, under no cir cumstances! It is not the fact that it is worth hundreds of dollars anywhere in the market, but the fact that If damaged or lost it would be utterly ir replacable that makes the collector shudder. If it were lost or spoiled Mr. Literary Man would send an abject let ter expressing his deep contrition at an untoward accident, perhaps with a check inclosed, but of the real horror of the situation I think he and his tribe could have no inkling.’’ Improvement* Upon National Capitol. About $300,000 will be expended upon ftie capitol at Washington during the congressional recess. Many desirable improvements will be made, and the architect of the capitol has been au thorized to prepare and submit plans for the reconstruction and fireproof ing ot the central portion of the build ing and the renovation and redecora tion of the rotunda. Plans are also to be prepared for a new fireproof building adjacent to the cap'tol grounds to be used for additional com mittee rooms, storage and power plant. ECONOMIC ASPECT. RECIPROCITY CONSIDERED FROM THIS POINT OF VIEW. _I The Forcing Out Process of Extending Foreign Trade Has Invariably Been Attended with Serious Depression of Domestic Industries. Such is the suggestive title of a lec ture delivered before the students of the College of Commerce In the Univer sity of California, on the evening of April 4, by Mr. John P. Young, of the San Francisco “Chronicle.” Mr. Young is the author of "Protection and Progress.” a work of great strength and importance, which made its ap pearance last year and attracted very wide attention. Ranking, as he does, among the ablest economic writers of the day, Mr. Young's views regarding “The Economic Aspects of Reciprocity" are sure to command respectful con sideration. Inquiring into the causes of the rise and fall of nations, Mr. Young makes the terse comment that “the cause of decay in most instances was due to the failure of the defunct to mind their own business.” There is pertinent sense in the remark that in almost every case “nations which en gaged in the work of empire building pursued the economic course of neg lecting the development of their home resources." Economic backing is es sential to permanency of government, and solidarity is best promoted by de veloping domestic industry. Advocates of reciprocity ignore or fail to compre hend the wastefulness of trade arti ficially promoted. They see a chance to sell larger quantities of machinery to Russia by taking Russia's sugar on terms more advantageous than those granted to other countries; but they do not see that sound economics re quire that Russia shall make her own machinery; that we shall produce alt the sugar we need, and that hauling machinery and sugar back and forth is, therefore, an unnecessary waste. They fall into the Cobdenite error of think ing that present cheapness is the only thing to be considered and that the people of today owe nothing to the generations to come. The wane of Egypt’s power and pres tige is traced by Mr. Young directly to thetmistaken policy of Ramses III. in opening up reciprocal trade relations with Phoenicia and Syria. Egypt fell a prey to her more vigorous rivals, and became a heterogeneous population without a national aspiration, “a con dition which inevitably ensues when the solidarity of interests which a pros perous domestic industry promotes is impaired by exchanging commercial independence for a state of depend ence upon foreigners.” The manufac turers of Egypt and of Rome, says Mr. Young, were constantly trying to push their surplus wares on other peoples, and, like some moderns who are clam oring for an “open door,” they over looked the fact that when a door is opened it permits egress as well as in gress. In short, they suffered the ex perience through which Great Britain is now passing, the destruction of do mestic Industry through the flood of rival products that followed the forc ing open of the trade doors of foreign ers. The interests of individuals will always prompt them to adopt methods which consider their own advance ment at the expense of the community. It should be the aim of statesmen to restrain and not promote this tenden cy. It is a powerful enough factor when unaided, and influences the des tinies of men sufficiently without the direct help of lawmakers. In conclusion Mr. Young says it may be urged that a national policy such as here outlined is narrow and selfish, but reflection will convince any un biased person that in the long run its operation will prove universally bene ficial. Certainly it is no great eco nomic achievement for a nation to flourish in brilliancy for a short pe riod and then decay. But that is the fate which has overtaken many com mercial nations, and it seems to be the destiny of Great Britain to share it. When a writer like Mallock coolly tells his countrymen that they must consider the propriety of emigrating as soon as their coal mines are worked out, he indicts the system he extols, for he virtually advises a reversion to nomadic conditions. That is what the forcing-out process tends to. Through out the ages it has resulted in the shifting about of commercial centers, and is responsible for the attendant evils. It has made industrial people campers by the side of raw materials. Today they are exerting themselves to get rid of the bounties of nature as speedily as possible; at some future day they will be compelled to abandon the field of their operations because It is worked out, and resort to other countries, perhaps the very ones upon which they lavished the surplus they should have conserved. This 19 not intelligent, nor is it economic. There ought to be a more rational scheme, but it will not develop until economists begin to teach that synchronous uni versal development promises better re sults than those attained by pursuing a course which operates to prevent the advancement of backward peoples. If the world were created for the enjoy ment of the existing generation, the forcing-out process might have some justification. But it has not been. Other generations are to come after us, and we owe an obligation to them. Economists must keep this in mind. They cannot, they dare not, take for their motto, "After me the deluge.” Dent Kucar Production. The statistics of the beet sugar in dustry, as summed up in a census bul letin, show that, after many years of manufacture on a small scale, it has assumed large proportions, and in the census year more than one-third of the domestic sugar product was obtained j from the beet. This quantity of sugar, ' 70 per cent of which was suitable for immediate consumption.was produced in a year of extremely unfavorable ag rucultural conditions in the beet dis tricts. The yield of beets per acre whs less than half that of an average sea son The factories could readily man ufacture more than two and one-half times the quantity of sugar produced, if supplied with sufficient raw material. —Pittsburg Times. A CELEBRATED CASE. F«d«r»l Court Decision Which Strikes • Blow at Undervaluation* A legal question of extraordinary in terest and importance in its varied bearings and its remarkable possibili ties has just been dec’ded by the United States Circuit Court of Ap peals. In the year 1898 the treasury department learned through reliable sources that a system of large under valuations existed in connection with the Importation of embroideries from Switzerland and other countries. By the instructions of the department different customs officers took up the subject for customs investigation, and j during the following year this class of merchandise coming especially from Switzerland was advanced from 30 to 40 per cent by the appraiser at New , York, and this action by the appraiser was appealed by the importers to the . United States Board of General Ap- j praisers, where the cases were heard by General Appraiser Sharretts, who : promptly reduced the advances referred to above to 4*4 per cent. One appeal was left to the govern ment, namely, from one general ap praiser to the full board of general appraisers, and It was expected and believed that the collector at New | York would promptly appeal the case. I He not only did not appeal, but re fused to take this action, and was A- j nally overruled by the treasury de- . partment and ordered to appeal the cases to the full board of general ap- j praisers for final adjudication. The full board of general appraisers sus tained the original advances referred to of 30 and 40 per cent. The case was taken before the classification branch of the General Board of Ap praisers on the purely technical ques tion of jurisdiction, and this branch of the board decided in favor of the Im porter, thus invalidating the action of the full board of appraisers. The treasury department then took the case to the United States Circuit Court, and Judge Townsend, following his usual Inclination, turned down the government, thus sustaining the ac tion of the collector of the port and of General Appraiser Sharretts. The treasury department again ap- ' pealed tbe case to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sec ond ^District of New York. The decis ion has just been handed down from this court, which reverses Judge Town send, Collector Bldwell, General Ap praiser Sharretts and the Classification Board and sustains the position taken by the government. In legal points and stripped of con fusing technicalities, the case is this: Enormous undervaluations existed. This was proved and confirmed by the highest court, but the collector of the port claimed and actually exercised the absolute right of final judgment as to whether the government should or should not appeal from an unsatis factory appraisement by a single mem ber of the Board of General Apprais ers. Had the decision of Collector Bidwell been sustained the govern ment would have been compelled to rebate $154,000 to the very underval uers who now are paying duties based upon the final appraisement made in this case. It would have had the effect of practically placing the appraising department of the government in the hands of the collectors of customs throughout the country, and of strip ping the treasury department of the power to compel the collection of rev enues to which the government was entitled under the law. It would have made a subordinate officer of the treasury department superior to the secretary of the treasury himself, su perior to the courts, superior to the law. It would have made the ibcal collector "the whole thing,” as re gards valuation, appraisement and the collection of hundreds of millions of levenue. Fortunately the United States Circuit Court of Appeals saw the danger and the illegality of such a state of things and smashed It. a rv A A a la f T>r\ u a \» r> m r? » o r> American Farmer—Yes, protection is all right. All my crops sold, all my mortgages paid off, and everything 1 can raise this year sold ahead. Fas tare Crop* for Hogs* Pasture and rsgige are necessary in order to keep breeding swine In a healthy condition and grow the stock at a profit. The man who tries to raise swine under other conditions is play ing a losing game, and his balance will be on .the debtor side ot the ledger just as sure as we have day and night. Although these facts have been vouch ed for many times by experiment sta tions and successful swine raisers and given wide publicity, thousands of farmers still continue In trying to raise hogs in a dry lot with nothing but corn as a feed, with the expecta tions of making It a profitable opera tion. A hog pasture does not mean a dust lot with possibly a few old weeds off in one corner, but a good and commo dious range, and if planned to give the best results. It will contain a variety of crops, selected as to their food value. The pasture should not be so small that the hog is compelled to eat his own filth to get the feed. Every farm should have six to eight acres of hog pasture fenced purposely for this use. This is in addition to what range may be utilized outside at times. Better far to have a little too much than not enough. If the crop gets ahead of the hogs and becomes woody cut it off with the mower and a new growth will start. This can be donb with many plants and will pay even if the mowed portion is not gathered. The pasture may be greatly fertilised by this method in many cases. The enclosure should be divided into two or three parts, at least, so that ^vhlle one part Is being pastured, crops may be growing In the others. While succulent food Is very essen tial the year round for growing and breeding stock, the exercise ia Just as necessary. Pigs confined in pens will do much better if they have some green feed, but the results will be vastly better If the pigs are allowed range and the chanca to gather this feed for themselves. Any green crop is much better than no pasture, but some crops for this purpose are very much superior to others, and a variety of crops, even though they may be much alike in composition, are supe rior to a single crop. Many swine raisers that appreciate the value of a hog pasture, do not realize the Import ance of giving attention to variety and composition of the plants to be used. In selecting the crops for a hog pasture consider the composition of the plants as you would consider the composition of the grain in a ration. Bear in mind that certain crops are rich in the food nutrient protein, that is so essential In the animal system to build up the frame and muscles, and Is very neces sary in the food of breeding stock. Crops of the opposite nature are rich in carbohydrates, the heat and fat form ing compounds. Endeavor to have some of the former to pasture along with the latter and the results will be better. Alfalfa Mlaga. A bulletin of the Colorado station thus summarizes the results of tests of alfalfa as a silage crop: Some tests were carefully made upon a small scale to see what losses might be expected In making silage of alfalfa. One test was made with the alfalfa put In whole as cut in the field, the other with the alfalfa cut into quarter-inch pieces as we cut our corn for silage. The whole alfalfa showed a spoiled layer three Inches thick on the top and an inch layer around the side nearly all the way down. The silage of the bottom and middle was excel lent and was greedily eaten by the cows and calves. Its loss in the total weight was 10.7 per cent, but its loss In feeding value was probably a little larger. The other silo was filled with cut alfalfa. The next day the silo was covered with two thicknesses of building paper and one of boards and weighted with stone to about 66 pounds per square foot. When covered, the silage was hotter than the hand could bear. Two days later the tempera ture .ad fallen to 83 degrees P. and in two days more had fallen to that of the atr. The silage shrank and set tled a good deal. When put In It con tained 33 per cent of dry matter. On . opening, the silo showed 2 Inches of spoiled silage on top and half an inch on the sides. The spoiled silage was 7.3 per cent of the total weight. The loss In dry matter was approximately 10 per cent. It is fair to presume that with a good tight silo, well made silage from cut alfalfa should not make a larger loss than was here given In our small experimental silo, or about 10 per cent of Its feeding value. To make good silage from whole alfalfa Is a much harder proposition. It re quires that the alfalfa be quite green; that the silo be both tight and deep; that the alfalfa be thrown Into the silo in small forkfuls and carefully tramped, and that It be weighted by four to six feet of some heavy, tight packing material like cut-corn fodder. If the alfalfa is put up in the middle of summer in clear, bright weather, it mast be raked and loaned as fast as cut. One lot we tried wai too dry for silage two hours after it was cut. Tree Wash—A good wash Is of ten worth many times what it costs to apply and will do much toward preventing the attacks of borers and other Insects. A one pound can of con centrated lye dissolved in two or three gallons of water makes a very good tree wash. Another good wash can be made of one-half pint of pine tar, one-half pint carbolic acid, and two gallons of soft soap. These washes can easily be applied with an old whitewash brush or a swab made of old rags tied on the end of a stick. These washes should be applied two or three times to the trunk and large limbs during the spring and early summer.
