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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1909)
ROOSEVELT TELLS FARMERS’ NEEDS; SPECIALMESSAGE President Transmits the First Report of Country Life Commission. SCHOOLS TEACH OUTDOORS Too Much “Indoors” Education Nowadays—Some Trench ant Suggestions. Washington. Feb. 11.—Three especial 90*. meeds of country life in America are ®tated by President Roosevelt today In •a message to congress transmitting the first annual report of the country life commission appointed last year. They are; First, effective co-operation among farmers, to put them on a level with <he organized interests with which they do business. Second, a new kind of schools in the country, which shall teach the children as much outdoors as indoors and per haps more, so that they will prepare for country life and not as at present, mainly for life in town. Third, better means of communica tion, including good roads and a parcels post, which the country' people are everywhere, and rightly, unanimous in demanding. “To these may well be added," says the president,, “better sanitation; for easily preventable diseases hold several million country people in the slavery- of continuous ill health.” The Message. President Roosevelt's message fol lows; To the Senate and House of Representa tives: , , I transmit herewith the report of the commission on country life. At the outset 1 desire to point out that not a dollar of the public money has been paid to any commissioner tor his work on the com mission. The report shows the general condition of farming life in the open country, and points out its larger problems; It Indicates ways in which the government, national and state, may show- the people how- to solve some of these problems; and it sug gests a continuance of the work which the commission began. Judging by 30 public hearings, to which farmers and farmers' wives from 40 states arid territories came, and from 120,000 an ew*?™ to printed questions sent out by the department of agriculture, the com mission finds that the general level of country life is high compared with any preceding time or with any other land. If 1 it lias tii recent years slipped down in some places, it has risen in more places. Its progress has been general, if not uni form. Yet farming does not yield either the profit or the satisfaction, that it ought to yield and may be made to yield. There is discontent in the country, and in places discouragement. Farmers as a class do not magnify their calling, and the move ment to the towns, though, I am happy to eay, less than formerly, is still strong. Help Themselves. Under our system, it is helpful to pro mote discussion of ways in which the peo ple can help themselves. There are three main directions in which the farmers can he ip themselves; namely, better farming, better business, and better living on the farm The national department of agri culture, which has rendered services equaled by no other similar department in any other time or place; the state depart ments of agriculture; the state colleges ol S agriculture and the mechanic arts, espe , daily through their extension work; the etatei agricultural experiment stations; the Farmers' Union; the Grange; the agricul tural press, and other similar agencies, have all combined - to place within thi reach or the American farmer an amount and quality of agricultural information which if applied, would enable him, ovei large areas, to double the production ol the farm. . , The object of the commission on country life therefore is not to help the farmei raise better crops, but to call his attentlor to the opportunities for better business anc better living on the farm. If country lif: Is to become what it should be, and whal I believe it ultimately will be—one of th: most dignified, desirable, and sought-aftoi ways of earning a living—the farmer must take advantage not only of the agricul tural knowledge which is at his disposal • but of the methods which have raised am continue to raise the standards of living and of Intelligence in other callings. Jt would be idle to assert that life or the farm occupies as good a jiosition ir dignity, desirability and business result! as the farmers might easily give it if they chose. One of the chief difficulties is thi failure of country life, as it exists at pres ent, to satisfy the higher social and in tellectua! aspirations of country people Whether the constant draining away o' ao much of the hest elements in the rura population into the towns is due chiefly t< this cause or to the superior .business op portunitles of city life may be open t< question. But no one at all familiar witl farm life throughout the United State: can fail to recognize the necessity foi building up the life of the farm upon it: aoclal as well as upon its productive side How It Has Improved. |V It Is true that country life has improve: .greatly In attractiveness, health and com fort and that the farmer's earnings an higher than they were. But city life 1: advancing even more rapidly, because o the greater attention which is being glvei bv the citizens of the towns to their owi betterment. For just this reason the in troductlon of effective agricultural co operation throughout the United States 1; of the first importance. Where farmer: *re organized co-operatively they no only avail themselves much more readily of business opportunities and improve: methods, but it Is found that the organiza tlons which bring them together In th work of ‘their lives are used also for so clal and intellectual advancement. The co-operative plan is the hest plai of organization wherever men have th: right spirit to carry It out. Under thi plan any business undertaking Is manage, by a committee; every man has one vot and only one vote; and everyone get profits according to what he sells or buy or supplies. It develops individual re Bponslbillty and has a moral as well as , financial value over any other plan. 1 desire only to take counsel with th farmers as fellow- citizens. It is not th problem of the farmers alone that i ar discussing with them, but a problem whio affects every city as well ns every fan In lhe country. It is a problem which tii working farmers will nave to solve fo SAMPSON’S BROTHER FOUND DEAD IN BE[ Palmyra. N. T„ Feb. 11.—Georg Sampson, fatner of Harry Sampsoi whoso wife, Georgia, was arraigned u Lyons yesterday charged with the raur der of her husband, was found dead 1 bed at homo here this morning. H was a brother of the late Roar Admin Sampson, and was an important wit ness for the prosecution of his daugh 4er-in-law. +4444T4444444444444444444 4444444 44 4 44444444444 4444444 \ DEFICIENCIES IN COUNTRY j : LIFE SEEN BY COMMISSION! 4 A lack of knowledge on the part of farmers of the exact agricultural 4 4 conditions and possibilities of their regions. 4 4 Lack of good training for country life in the schools. 4 4 The disadvantage or handicap of the farmer as against the estab- 4 4 lished business systems and interests, preventing him from securing 4 4 adequate returns for his products. 4 4 Lack of good highway facilities. 4 4 The widespread continuing depletion of soils, with the injurious 4 4 effect on rural life. 4 4 A general need of new and active leadership. 4 4 4 ^ SOME OF THE REMEDIES. 4 4 4 ~r The encouragement of a system of thorough-going surveys of all 4 4 agricultural regions in order to take stock and to collect local facts with 4 4 the idea of providing a basis on which to develop a scientifically and 4 4 economically sound country life. 4 4 A thorough-going Investigation by experts of the middleman system 4 4 of handling farm products, coupled with a general inquiry into the 4 4 farmer’s disadvantages in respect to taxation, transportation rates, co- 4 4 operative organizations and credit, and the general business syBtem. 4 An inquiry into the control and use of the streams of the United 4 4 States with the object of protecting the people in their ownership and 4 4 of saving to agricultural uses such benefits as should be reserved for 4 4 these purposes. 4 The establishing of a highway engineering service, or equivalent 4 4 organization, to be at the call of the states In working out effective and 4 4 economical highway systems. 4 The establishing of a system of parcels posts and postal savings 4 4 banks. ^ 4 Careful attention to the farmers’ interests in legislation on the 4 4 tariff, on regulation of railroads, control or regulation of corporations 4 4 and of speculation, legislation in respect to rivers, forests, and the 4 4 utilization of swamp lands. + themselves; but It is a problem which also affects In only less degree all the rest of us. and therefore If we can render any help toward Its solution, It Is not only our duty but our Interest to do so. The foregoing will, I hope, make it clear why I appointed a commission to consider problems of farm life which have hitherto had far too little attention, and the neg lect of which has not only held back life in the country, but also lowered the effi ciency of the whole nation. The welfare of the farmer is of vital consequence to the welfare of the whole community. The strengthening of country life, therefore, is the strengthening of the whole nation. Where Aid Is Needed. The commission has tried to help the farmers to see clearly their own problem and to see it as a whole; to distinguish clearly between what the government can do and what the farmers must do for themselves; and it wishes to bring not only the farmers but the nation as a whole to realize that the growing of crops, though an essential part, is only a part of country life. Crop growing is the essential founda tion; but it is no less essential that the farmer shall get an adequate return ror what he grows; and it is no less essen tial—indeed it is literally vital—that he and his wife and his children shall lead the right kind of life. For this reason, it is of the first Im portance that the United States depart ment of agriculture, through which as prime agent the ideas the commission stands for, must reach the people, should become without delay in fact a department of country life, fitted to deal not only with crops, but also with the larger aspects of life in the open country. From all that has been done and learn ed three great general and immediate needs of country life stand out; First, effective co-operation among farmers, to put them on a level with the organized interests with which they do business. Second a new kind of schools In th« country, which shall teach the children as much outdoors as indoors and perhaps more, so that they will prepare for coun try life and not as at present, mainly for life in town. Third, better means of communication, including good roads and a parcels post, whigh the country people are everywhere, and rightly, unanimous in demanding. To these may well be added better san itation; for easily preventable diseases hold several million country people in the slavery of continuous ill health. The commission points out, and I con cur in the conclusion, that the most im portant help that the government, wheth er national or state, can give is to show the people how to go about these tasks of organization, education and communi cation with the best and quickest results. This can be done by the collection and spread of information. One community can thus be informed of what other com munities have done, and one country of what other countries have done. Such help by the people’s government would lead to a comprehensive plan of organi zation, education, and communication, and make the farming country better to live in, for intellectual and social reasons as well as for purely agricultural reasons. The government through the department of agriculture does not cultivate any man’s farm for him. But it does put at his service useful knowledge that h< would not otherwise get. In the same way the national and state government might put. into the people’s hands the new and right knowledge of school work. The task of maintaining and developing the schools would remain, as now, with the people themselves. One Recommendation. The only recommendation I submit Is that an appropriation of S2.S.000 be pro vided, to enable the commission t» di gest the material it has collected, and te collect and to digest much more that is within its reach, and thus complete its work. This would en able the commission to gather in th« harvest of suggestion which is result!n§ , from the discussion it has stirred up. Tht commissioners have served without com pensation, and I do not recommend anj appropriation for their services, but only for the expenses that will be required to finish the task that they have begun. To improve our system of agriculture 1 seems to me the most urgent of the task; wrhich lie before us. But it can not, ir my judgment, be effected by measures which touch only the material and tech nical side of the subject; the whole bust ness and life of the farmer must also bf ' taken into account. Such consideratiam led me to appoint the commission or '• country life. Our object should be tc > help develop In the country the grea' i ideals of community life as well as o; , personal character. One of the most im portant adjuncts to this end must be tin country church, and I invite your atten , tion to what the commission says of tin s country church and of the need of an ex tension of such work as that of tin Young Men’s Christian association ii I country communities. Bet me lay specia emphasis upon what the commission sayi » at the very end o’ its report on persona ideals and local leadership. Everythin! resolves itself in the end into the questioi i of personality. Neither society nor gov » eminent can do much for country life un 3 less there is voluntary response in th< I personal ideals of the men and womei ' who live in the country. In the develop j ment of character, the home should b 3 more important than the school, or thai society at large. When once the basi i material needs have been met, high ideal may be quite independent of income; bu ; they can not be realized without sufflcien > income to provide adequate foundation i and wh^re the community at large is no i financially prosperous it is impossible t i develop a high average personal and com i munity ideal. In short, the fundament;) r facts of human nature apply to men an DES MOINES COMMANDER | TO SUCCEED QUALTROUGI Washington, Feb. 11.—Captain T. A r. Potts, on duty at the Washington nav; yard, has been selected to eommani ’ the battleship Georgia, succeeding Cap 1 tain Edward F. Qualtrough, who wa - suspended from duty following trial b i court-marital at Gibraltar. Captai e Potts- last sea duty was in eotnman I of the cruiser Des Moines. Lleutenan Commander Walter S. Crossley, o duty at the New York navy yard, ha - been chosen as an executive officer c the Des Moines. women who live in the country Just as they apply to men and women who live in the towns. Given a sufficient foundation of material well being, the influence of the farmers and farmers’ wives on their children becomes the factor of first im portance in determining the attitude of the next generation toward farm life. The farmer should realize that the person who most needs consideration on the farm is his wife. I do not In the least mean tfiat she should purchase ease at the expense of duty. Neither man nor woman is really happy or really useful save on condition of deing his or her duty. If the woman shirks her duty as housewife, as home keeper, as the mother whose prime func tion it is to bear and rear a sufficient number of healthy children, then she is not entitled to our regard. But If she does her duty she is more entitled to our re gard even than the man who does his duty; and the man should show special consideration for her needs. O. K. for Farm. I warn my countrymen that the great recent progress made in city life is not a full measure of our civilization; for our civilization rests at bottom on the whole someness, the attractiveness, and the completeness, as well as the prosperity, of life in the country. The men and women on the farms stand for what is fundamentally best and most needed in our American life. Upon the development of country life rests ultimately our ability, by methods of farming requiring the high est intelligence, to continue to feed and clothe the hungry nations; to supply the city with fresh blood, clean bodies, and clear brains that can endure the terriflc strain of modern life; we need the de velopment of men in the open country, who will be in the future, as in the past, the stay and strength of the nation in time of war and its guiding and control ling spirit in time of peace. Theodore Roosevelt. The White House, February 9, 1909. SUMMARY OF REPORT OF THE COMMISSION The report of the commission describes with some fulness the existing conditions of farm life and points out the causes that may have led to its present lack of organ ization. It suggests methods for the re direction of rural society, for arresting the drift to the city, for maintaining the natural rights of the farmer and for the devolepment of an organized rural life that will promote the prosperity of the whole nation. Broadly speaking, agriculture in the United States is prosperous and the con ditions in many of the great farming re gions are improving. Country homes gen erally are improving in comfort, attrac tiveness and healthfulness. Many insti tutions, organizations and movements are actively contributing to the increasing welfare of the open country. There has never been a time when the American farmer was as well off as he Is today, when not only his earning powfer, but the comforts and advantages he may secure are considered. There has been a complete and fundamental change in our whole ecomonic system within the past century. Yet it is true, notwithstanding all this progress as measured by historical stand ards, that agriculture is not commercially as profitable as it is entitled to be for the labor and energy that the farmer expends and the risks that he assumes, and that the social conditions in the open country are far short of their possibilities. Rural society is lacking chiefly in a knowledge on the part of the farmers of the exact agricultural conditions and pos sibilities of their regions, resulting in the widespread depletion of soils with the in jurious effect on rural life; in proper training for country life in the schools; in good highway facilities, and in organiza tion for buying and selling. There is an absence of any adequate system of agricultural credit, a shortage of labor, often complicated by Intemper ance among workmen; a lack of institu tions and incentives that tie the laboring man to the soil; the life of the farm wom an is burdensome and narrow; there is need of adequate supervision of public health. Farmer Handicapped. The farmer is handicapped by the spec ulative holding of lands, monopolistic con trol of streams and forests, waste of our natural resources, and restraint of trade. Some of the remedies for the conditions set forth lie with the national government, some of them with the states and commu nities in their corporate capacities, some with voluntary organizations, and some with individuals acting alone. All organized forces both in town and country should understand that there are country phases as well as city phases of our civilization, and that one phase needs help as much as the other. All these agencies should realize their responsibility i to society. Many existing organizations and institutions might become practically ! co-operative or mutual in spirit, as for example, all agricultural societies, li braries and churches. All the organiza i tions standing for rural progress should I be federated in states and nation. There are several great forces, or prin i clples, which must be utilized in the en ■ deavor to solve the country life question. There must be a vast enlargement of • voluntary, organized effort among farm i ers themselves. It is indispensable that * farmers shall work together for their s common interests and for the national i welfare. If they do not do this, no gov ’ ernmental activity, no legislation, not i even better schools, will greatly avail. : The forces and institutions that make for : morality and spiritual Ideals among rural ; people must be energized. t There must be not only a fuller scheme ) of public education, but a new kind oi - education adapted to the real needs of the 1 farming people. The country schools are i to be so redirected that they shall edu QUAKE IN MEXICO. . Mexico City, Feb. 11.—A serious L earthquake lasting 31 seconds was felt near the volcano Colima yesterday ; The eruption of the volcano continues j The Inhabitants of the neighboring col ony are not frightened despite the frt , quent earthquakes and results aecom { CLOSE ILLINOIS BANK. 1 Washington, Feb. 11.—The comptroll t er of the currency, has announced thai i the Coal Belt National bank, of Ben s ton, III., is closied by order of the di f rectors, and that George C. Bell hat been appointed receiver. cate their pupils in term* of the dally Ufa. Opportunities for training toward the ag ricultural callings are to be multiplied and made broadly effective. This means redoubled efforts for better country schools, and a vastly Increased Interest In the welfare of country boys and girls on the part of those who pay the school taxes. Education by means of agriculture Is to be a part of our regular public school work. Special agricultural schools are tc bo organized. Want Good Roads. The country people everywhere are ask ing for good roads. Everywhere too they want a parcels post and the extension of the rural free delivery. The commission has purposely avoided indorsing any particular bill now before congress, no matter what Its value or ob ject. In the opinion of the commission, however, there are two or three move ments of the utmost consequence that should be set under way at the earliest possible time because they are funda mental to the whole problem of perma nent reconstruction. There should be or ganized under government leadership a comprehensive plan for an exhaustive study or survey of all the conditions that surround the business of farming and the people who live In the country. In order to take stock of our resources and to sup ply tho farmer with knowledge. Each state college of agriculture should organize as soon as practicable, a com plete department of college extension. Local, state, and even national confer ences on rural progress, designed to unite the Interests of education, organization and religion, should be held. There Is need for young people of qual ity, energy, capacity, aspiration and con viction, who will live in the open country as permanent residents on farms or as teachers, or In other useful fields, and who, while developing their own business or affairs to the greatest perfection, will still have unselfish interest In the welfare of their communities. The farming coun try Is by no means devoid of leaders and i Is not lost or Incapable of helping Itself, but it has been relatively overlooked by persons who are seeking great fields of usefulness. It will be well for us as a people If we recognize the opportunity for usefulness In the open country and consider that there Is a call for service. The suggestions of the commission only outline a general plan whereby the strong resident forces In the open country may themselves build up a new and better rural social structure. To accomplish this the entire people must be aroused. The time for this is at hand. —*■— QUAINT ANSWERS COME FROM FARMERS One of the most Illuminating—and Inci dentally one of the most interesting and amusing—series of answers sent to the commission was from a farmor In Mis souri. Ho stated that he had a wife and 11 living children, he and and his wife being each 62 years old; and that they owned 630 acres of land without any mort gage hanging over their heads. He had himself done well, and his vtews as to why many of his neighbors had done less well are entitled to consideration. These views are expressed in terse and vigorous Eng lish) they cannot always be quoted In full. He states that the farm homes in his neighborhood are not as good as they should be because too many of them are Incumbered by mortgages; that the schools do not train boys and girls satisfactorily for life on the farm, because they allow them to get an Idea In their headB that city life Is better, and that to remedy this practical farming should be taught. To the question whether the farmers and their wives In his neighborhood are satis factorily organized, he answers: "Oh. there Is a little one-horse grange gang In our locality, and every darned one thinks they aught to be a king." To the question, “Are the renters of farms In your neigh borhood making a satisfactory living?" he answers: "No; because they move about so much hunting a better job." To the question, “Is the supply of farm labor In your neighborhood satisfactory?" the answer Is: "No; because the people have gone out of the baby business;" and when asked as to the remedy he answers, “Give a pension t* every mother who gives birth to seven living boys on Ameri can soil." To the question "Are the con ditions surrounding hired labor on the farm In your neighborhood satisfactory to the hired men?" he answers: “Yes, unless he Is a drunken cuss,” adding that he would like to blow up the stlllhouses and root out whisky and beer. To the question “Are the sanitary conditions on the farms In your neighborhood satisfactory?" he an swers: "No; to—to careless about chicken yards (and the like) and poorly covered wells, In one well on a neighbor’s farm I counted seven snakes in the wall of the well, and they used the water dally, his wife dead now and he Is looking for an other." He ends by stating that the most important single thing to be for the bet terment of country life Is “good roads;” but In his answers he shows very clearly that most Important of all Is the Individual equation of the man or woman. -- m — ,ii -- GOULD IS ANGRY; HE’S NO QUITTER Head of Great Railroad System Declares Harriman Has Not Forced Him Out. New York. Feb. 11.—George J. Gould was angry today after reading a dis patch under a Pittsburg date, saying j h& was about to retire from the active [ conduct of railway affairs and relin j quish the control of his vast interests to E. H. Harriman. Mr. Gould said. I "I am not going to retire and Mr. Harriman has not obtained control of the Gould railway system, nor is ho likely to as long as God spares my life and I am able to do a full day’s work. The wish of Mr. Harrlman’s friends l may be father to the thought, hut the* Gould railways will remain Gould rail j ways for many years to come.” WOMEN’S FIGHT FOR SUFFRAGE GETS CHECK New York. Feb. 11.—The proselyting campaign which the women "fighters for franchise" tiad started on the lower East Side received a check in the form of an ultimatum from the educational alliance forbidding leaders of young girls’ clubs to take their charges to meetings where woman suffrage is to be the subject of discussion, j The matter was brought to the at tention of the alliance when Miss Rose Shapiro, a stenographer, who has a , club of about 20 girls, took the girls to a meeting In the nurses’ settlement. Miss Elkus said today she had for , bidden Miss Shapiro to take her club to the suffrage meeting n^t because she was opposed to woman suffrage, but because the girls of that partic ular club are too young to consider such a question. ATTACKS TRINITY CHURCH. Detroit, Mich., Eeb. 11.—Rev. Maurice Pqnfield Eikcs, pastor of the Wood ward Avenue Raptist church, address ing members of the Pastors' union or "Preaching for Souls," last night, at tacked Trinity church. New York which is the owner of tonement prop erty in the worst districts of the me tropojjs. Dr. Pikes did not mention th church by name, but his meaning wa unmistakable. He referred to the pow erful ecclesiastical body which has don< more harm than all the saloons, bro thels and atheists In the state of Now York." STABBED AND KILLED WHILE ON A "DRUNK” Drunken Rioter Seeks Trouble Among His Fellows and For feits His Life. Bloomfield. Neb.. Feb. 16.—Mfehall Eafley was stabbed and almost Instant ly killed at Maxwell's pool hall by Hammon Horey Thursday. They had been drinking and playing poker during the night, and Eafley be gan to pick a quarrel with every one he came in contact with In the-morning, making the rounds of all the saloons, and Anally stopping In the pool hall where the stabbing took place. At the coroner's Inquest, It was prov en by eighteen witnesses that Eafley was In fighting mood and that prac tically Sorey was acting In self de fense. At the preliminary hearing So rey was bound over to the district court In the sum of $2,000, which was furnished. FORMER NEBRASKAN INVOLVED IN TROUBLE Denver, Feb. 16.—Charles. O. Charles ton, said to be a former member <*f the Nebraska legislature and of the Chicago board of aldermen, was ar rested here today charged with numer ous forgeqlos of checks. I Charleston eight or 10 years ago Is ' said to have been a prosperous con tractor In Chicago. He came to Den | ver about three years ago. BOSTON MUSIC MASTER ELOPES WITH A WIFE ban Francisco, Feb. 16.—Daniel Ma quarre, professor of music in the Bos ton Conservatory of Music, and for merly a member of tho Boston Spm phony orchestra, is under arrest at the 1 city prison upon telegraphic advices from the Boston police saying ho Is wanted upon an Indictment charging him with a serious offense for eloping with Mrs. Matilda Lenom, who occupies a cell near that of Maquarre. Accord ing to a telegram received by Chief of Police Cook, detectives are on their wav to San Francisco to take the couple back to Boston. Maquarre is 28 years old. Mrs. Len om was a member of the Boston Sym phony orchestra and Is 10 years his senior. Since coming to San Francisco ; Mrs. Lenom has opened a millinery I store and Maquarre was giving music j lessons. OIL TRUST WOULD PAY BIG FINE IN SILVER Galveston, Tex., Feb. 16.—The Wii ters-Pierce Oil company, which has I been ousted from the state and fined $1,000,000 for violation of the anti-trust laws, announced it will pay the big fine i In sliver dollars and asks If the state ! of Texas will not pay express charges on the shipment. The attorney general replied that tho convicted company must deliver into tho Texas state treasury every cent of the penalty without cost to the state. Man ager Hancock, of the oil company, who is here, says tho company would like to j pay the fine In pennies if it is possible. It will cost the Waters-Pierce com ! pany $2,500 to deliver the big fine. It ' will require three express cars to car I ry the silver from St. Louis to Austin, | Tex., and a small army of guards and j laborers to deposit tho money In tho j state treasury. SYLVIA GREEN TO MARRY CANADIAN Galt. Ont., Feb. 16.—Miss K. L. Wilks today announced to her friends In this city for Mrs. Hettie Green, of New York, the engagement of Mrs. Greene's only daughter, Sylvia, and her nephew, Astor Wilks, eldest son of the late Matthew Wilks, of Crulekson Park, Galt. Ont. Rumors of the engagement last Feb ; ruary are denied. The senior Wilks left ; a fortune of many millions. The son passes most of his time In New York and Newport. Crulekson, the Wilks estate here, Is I one of the most beautiful homes In ! Canada. Forty-five years ago Matthew Wilks, sr., who married an Astor, came here to settle after finding the New York climate ruinous to his health. There was a second son. Langdon Wilks, who is now traveling with his wife in the South. WILL PROSECUTE BOOTH OFFICERS _ Cricago, Feb. 16.—Criminal prosecu tion of the author or authors of ‘the falsified financial statement of A. Booth & Co., which "dropped" the matter of $1,300,000 of the company’s debts, Is promised today by one of the attorneys representing the con cern’s creditors. Although the lawyer is unable or un willing to name the men against whom such prosecutions probably will he aimed, he did declare that " it would be no dummy or beggar. Men highei up,” said he, would be the ones held responsible for the affairs of the com : pany. Attorney Olevlnson, who is acting ! for the bankers, pointed out that such a prosecution might be brought undet section 96 or 97 of the criminal code, which is relative to the obtaining ot money or credit by false representa tions. The maximum penalty undet the second of these statutes Is 14 years in the penitentiary and a tine of $2, 000. _ _ _ RUSSIAN POLICE WOULD ARREST MAXIM GORKY St. Petersburg, Feb. 16.—The police issued a warrant for the arrest of Max im Gorky, the well known Russian nov elist. In the document Gorky’ is de scribed as “nizhni-novgorod—a house painter.” Maxim Gorky is at present in Italy and recent dispatches said he purposed to reside permanently at Florence. BIBLE IN ONE HAND, KNIFE IN THE 0THEF Memphis, Tenn., Feb. 16.-- Runnlnt amuck, attacking men, women anc children and throwing the fashionftbh neighborhood about Poplar avenue ani Dunlap street into a panic today. £ crazy negro finally was shot and killec by W. B. Clement, one of the hundret pursuers. The dead negro was Henry Tate. H< 1 is believed to have gone crazy on thi subject of religion. He carried a bibb in ont hand and a knife in the other. ■■■"■ .. What Ha Put In tha Milk. A London boy. delivering milk, wap stopped the other day on his rounds by two police officers, who asked him if his employer ever put anything In the milk. "Oh, yes,” was the Innocent answer. The officers, thinking they had a clear case of adulteration, offered the boy six-pence If he would tell them what was put in It. "Ah,” said the boy. with a grin, “you will not give me the sixpence If 1 tell ye." "Oh. yes, we will," said the officers. "Give it to me first,” said the little fellow. The sixpence was duly handed over, with the Question: "New, what does your employer put In the milk?" "Why,” said the boy, with a cunning look, “he puts the measure In every time he takes any milk out." - Private Forestry In England. From the February Garden Magazine. Everywhere in England you Bee pri vate forests planted for profit. England first won her naval supremacy In shlpd built of English oak trees which wera practically planted for the purpose on private estates. Public or state for estry hardly exists In England. Her* we commonly think that forestry con cerns the government only. A few Americans will plant catalpa, locust, or somo other tree crop that matures in seven to 16 years, but when the paa slon for enduring things becomes a na tional trait with us we will plant oaka and other species that require a hun dred years or more to mature. Mean while, tho bureau of forestry at Washington, D. C., has a plan for co-operating with anyone who has a forest In which profit Is the chief con sideration. _ _ Tho Latest Fad. Anna D. Adams Theatrical Beauty Paw tie. 10,000 prizes to those who solve tt. Amuses young and old. Seat 25c to-day. Room 212. 39 State street. Chicago. The Real Immortala From the Homlletlo Review. We have been building monuments to those who could massacre the most. In the cathedrals of Europe and In the parks of America you will find M monuments to those who havo destroyed their kind to •very one of those who have brought tho world light and life; but a better day 1» dawning. Seven years ago, when Franca made up its list of Immortals, Napoleon, the greatest of butchers, headed the list but last year It mads another roll of Its noble men. and Pasteur, the savior of| human ltfe, stood first. There is another book which has the list of Qod's Immor tals, and above that list It Is written, “They that be wise shall shins as tha flrmanent and they that turn many to< ,righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Tho Unanswerable Tear. (From "Corsair,” Canto 2.) Oh! too convincing—dangerously dear— In woman's eye the unanswerable teari That weapon of her weakness she can wield To save, subdue—at once her spear and shield. —Lord Byron. BACKACHE IS KIDNEYACHB. Usually There Are Other l)rap<*a( to Prove It. Pain In the back la pain In the kid neyB, In moat cases, and It points to the need of a special remedy to relievo and cure the con gestion or Inflam mation of the kid neys that Is inter fering with their work and causing that paiu that makes you say; , "Oh, my back!” David Pries* Corydon, Iowa, says: “My back was so weak and lame I could hard ly walk. The kid neys showed bad i disorders. 1 ran down until almost a skeleton. I thought 1 there was no hope for me and noth ing helped me until I began using Doan's Kidney Pills. I Improved rap idly and finally became so well that tbo trouble never returned." Sold by all deulers. 50 cents a box. ! Foster-MUburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. To Columbia university belongs the I credit of offering the first course de signed to give students a practical knowledge of the conduct of political affairs. That institution has asked the bureau of municipal research in New York to give the members of the class the benefit of the experience It has de rived from the study of the affairs of thut city, and the invitation has been accepted. The growing demand for the adoption of the scientific methods of city government lends support to. the view that college men will be In demand in this department of the pub lic service, hence the propriety and use fulness of a university course estab lished on the lines Indicated by the in novation at Columbus. “Write It in Letters of Gold.” When you see aught that is good In u. friend, Write it in letters of gold; Something or other your heart can com mend. As on vour journey you daily may wend, | That the dear import remain to the end. I Write it in letters of gold. j Hear the glad greetings as onward you tare. Write it in letters of gold; , I publish It wide on the mountains so bare, I Over old fields of the thorn and the tare, "Vi* cannot wander outside of My care,’’ Write it in letters of gold. There is the message to one gone astray, .! Write it In letters of gold; Tender is mercy, enduring for aye, Guiding the others who might lose the way. Treasure the meaning for yourself—and . | stay! Write it in letters of gold. I —Alonzo Rice, in Western Christian Ad | vocate. . i Several new railroad bridges in Mex . lco- are of white marble of the best grade.