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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 1923)
# “YouVe certainly green," «he apprised. “Benton’s roar in’—and 1 know what that means. Didn’t North Platte roar? I seen it at the begin nin’s. My old man and me, we. were there from the 'fast, when it started in as the railroa 1 terminal. My.sakes, but them were times! What with the gamblin’ and the shootin’ and the drinkin’ and the high-cock alorums night and day, ’twasn’t no place for innocence. Edvy come, easy go, that was the word. I don’t say but what times were good, though My old man contracted government freight, and I run an eatin' house for the railroaders, so we made money. Then when the railroad moved terminus, the wust of the crowd moved, too, and us others who stayed turn ed North Platte into a strictly moral town. But land sakes! North Platte in its roarin’ days wasn’t no place for a ynnig man dike you. Neither was .Tulesburg, or Sidney, or Chey enne, when they was terminuses And I hear tell Benton is wuss’n all rolled into one. Young man, now listen: You stop off at North Platte, Nebrasky. It’s healthy and it’s moral, and it’s goin’ to make Omyha look like a ah inplaster. I’ll watch after you. Maybe I eau get you a jib in my man’s store. You’ve j’iu ed some church, 1 reckon? Now M you re a Jsaptist—7 But since I had crossed the Missouri something had entered into my blood which rendered une obstinate to such allure ments. For her North Platte, “strictly moral,” and the guar dianship of her broad motherly wing I had no ardent feeling. I was set upon Benton; foolish ly, fatuously set. Ami in after days—soon to arrive—I bitter ly regretted that f had not yield ed to her wholesome, honest counsel. Nevertheless this was true, at present: “But f have already p i .’chas ed my ticke tt> Benton,” J ob jected. “I understand that I shall find the proper cli.tvnte there, ^pd suitable aecom ni dations. And if I don't like it Fean move elsewhere. Possibly to Salt Fake City, or Denver.” Shfe snorted. “In among them Mornians? My Gawd, young man! Where they ive ij* conkibinage—several women to or.e man, like a huf fier herd or other beasts of the field? I guess your mother nev er heard you talk like that. Denver—well, Denver mightn’t be bad, though I do hear . tell that folks nigh starve to death there, and with the Injuns and the snow. Denver ain’t on no railroad, either. If you want health, and to grow up with a strictly moral community, you throw in with North Platte of Nebrasky, the great and grow i of the Pains. I reckon you’ve heard of North Platte, even where you come from. You take my word for it, aud ex change your ticket.” It struck me here that the good woman might not be un biased in her fondness for N&vth Platte. To extol the present and future of these Western towns seemed a fixed habit. During my brief stay in Omaha —yes. on the way across Ulinos and Iowa from Chicago, I had encountered this peculiar trait. Iowa was rife with aspiring if embroyonic meti'opolises. Now in Nebraska Columbus was des tined to be the new national capital and the center of popu lation for the United States; Fremont was lauded as one of the greatest railroad junctions of the world; and North Platte, three Vundred miles out into'the pains, was proclaimed as the ri val of Omaha, and “strictly mo ral.” “I thank you,” I replied. 'But since'I’ve started for Ben tan I think I’ll go on. And if I don’t like it or it doesn’t agree with me you may see me in North Platte after all.” She grunted. “You can find me at the Bon Ton restaurant. If you get in broke, I’ll take care of you.” With that she settled he-self comfortably. In remarkably short order she was asleep and snoring. CHAPTER II TO BETTER ACQUAINTANCE! The train had started amidst clangor of bell and the snouts of good-bye and good-luck from 2 the station patform. We had rol led out through train yards oc cupied to the fullest by car shops, round house, piled-up freight depot, stacks of ties and iron, and tracks covered v\ith freight cars loaded high to mils, ties, bailedLhay, all manner and means of Supplies designed, I imagined, for the building oper ations far in the West. Soon we eft thi.i busy Train Town behind a d were entering the open country. The land scape was pleasing, but the real sights probably lay ahead; so I turned from my window to examine my traveling quarters. The, co^eh—a new one, built in the company’s shops and de cidedly upon a par with the very best coaches of the Eastern roads—was .jammed; every seat taken. I did not. see My Lady of the Blue Eyes, nor her equal, but almost the whole gamut of society was represented: Far mers, merchants, a few soldiers, plainsmen ih boots and flannel shirt-sleeves and long hair and large hats, with revolvers hang ing from the racks above them or from the seat ends; one or two white-faced gentry in broadcloth and patent leather shoes—who [ fancied might bo gamblers such as now and then plied their trade along the Hud son River boats; two Indians in blankets; Eastern tourists, akin to myself; women and children of country type; and so forth. What chiefly caught my eye were the carbines racked against tli.‘ ends of the coach, for pro tection in case of Indians or highwaymen, no doubt. I ob served bottles being passed from band to hand, and tilted en route. The amount and frequen-. cy of the whiskey for consump tion in this country were as tonishing. my inena snored peacefully. Near noon we halted for dinner at the town of Fremont, some fifty miles out. She awakened at the general stir, and when I squeezed by her she immediate ly fished for a packet of lunch. We had thirty minutes at Fre mont—ample time in , which o discus* a very excellent meal of antelope steaks, prairie fowl, fried potatoes and hot biscuits. There was promise of buffalo meat farther on, possibly at the next meal station, Grand Is land. The time was suffieitn, also, to give me another glimpse of My Lady of the Blue Eyes, who appeared to have been awarded the place of honor between the conductor and brakeman at r»bie. She bestowed upon me a subtle glance of recognition— with a smile and a slight bow in one; but I failed to find her on* the station platform after the meal. That I should obtain other opportunities I did not doubt. Benton was yet thirty honfs’ travel. All that afternoon we rocked along up the Platte Valley, witli the Platte River—a broad bn*, shallow stream—constantly 'up on our left. My sea* compano l evidently had exhausted her re pertoire, for she slumbered at ease, gradually sinking into a shapeless mass, her flowered bonnet eskew. Several other passengers also were sleeping, due, in part, to the whiskey bot tles. The car was thinning out. I noted, and I might bid in ad vance for the chance of obtain ing a new location in a certain car aheffd. ' The scenery through the car window 118(1"merged into a monotony accentuated by great spaces. As far as Fremont the country along the railroad had been well settled with farms and unfenced cultivated fields. Now we had issued into the un trammeled prairies, here and there humanized by an isolated shack or a lonely traveler by horse or wagon, but in the main a vast sun-baked dead sea of gentle, silent undulatious extend ing, brownish, clear to the hori zens. The only refreshing sights were the Platte River, flowing blue and yellow among sand-bars and islands, and the side streams t’ at we passed. Close at hand the principal tokens of life were the ittle fla. stations, and the t.e mendous freight trains side tracked to give us the right of way. The widely separated hamlets where we impatiently stopped were the oases ot the desert. In the sunset we halted at the ' supper station, named Grand is and, my seat neighbor finished her lunch box, and I returned well fortified by another ex cellent meal at the not exorbi tant price, one dollar and a quarter. There had been buf > falo meat—a poor apology, to my notion, for good beef. An telope steak, on the contrary, was of far finer flavor than the best mutton. At Grand Island a number of wretched native Indians drew my attention, for the time being, from quest of My Lady of the Blue Eyes. However, she was still escorted by the conductor, who in his brass buttons and of ficious air began to irritate me. Such a persistant squire of dames rather overstepped the duties of his position. Cpn found the fellow! He surely would come, to the end of his run and his rope before he went much farther. “Now, young man, if you get shet of your foolishness and de cide to try North Platte instead of some fly-by-night town on west,” my seat companion ad ressed, “you jest follow me when I leave. We get to North Platte before plumb dark, and you hang onto my skirts right up town, till I land you "in a good place. For if you don’t, you’re liable to be skinned alive.” “If I decide upon North Platte I certainly will take ad vantage of your kindness,” 1 evaded. Forsooth, she had a mind to kidnap me! “Now you’re talkin’ sensi ble,” she approved. “My sakes alive! Benton!” And she snif fed, “Why in Benton they’ll snatch you bald-headed ‘fore you’ve been there an hour.” She composed herself for an other nap. if that pesky brakeman don’t remember to wake me, you give me a poke with your elbow. I wouldn’t be carried beyond North Platte for love ’^or money.” She gurgled, she snored. The sunset was fading from pink to gold—a god likely f omebody’s hair; and from gold to lemon which tinted all the prairie and made it beautiful. Pursuing the sunset we steadily rumbled west ward through the immensity of unbroken space. The brakeman came in, light ing the coal-oil lamps. Outside, the twilight had deepened into dusk. Numerous passengers were making ready for bed: the men by removing their boots and shoes and coats and galluses and stretching out; the women by loosening their stays, with significant clicks and sighs, and laying their heads upon adja cent shoulders or drooping against seat ends. Babies cried, and were hushed. Final night caps were taken, from the pre valent bottles. The brakeman, returning, paused and inquired right and left on his way through. He leaned to me. “You for North Platte?” “No, sir. Benton, Wyoming Territory.” “Then you’d better move up to the ear ahead. This car stops at North Platte.” “What time -do reach North Platte?” “ Tjaro-thirty in the morning. If you don’t want to be waked up, you’d better change now. You’ll find a seat.” At that I gladly followed him out. He indicated a half-empty seat. Tins gentleman gets off a bit farther on; then you’ll have the seat to yourself.” The arrangement was satis factory, albeit the “gentleman” with whom I shared appeared, to nose and eyes, rather well soused, as they say; but fortune had favored me—across the aisle, only a couple of seats be yond, I glimpsed the top of a golden head, seciirely low and barricaded in by luggage. Without regrets I abandoned my former seat-mate to her dis appointment when she waked at North Platte. This car was the place for me, set apart by the salient presence of one person aihong all the others. That, how • ever, is apt to be differentiate city from city, and even land from land. Eventually I, also, slept—at first by fits and starts concomit ant with railway travel by night, then more soundly when the “gentleman,” my comrade in ad venture, had been hauled out and deposited elsewhere. I was ful ly awakened only at daylight. The train wTas rumbling as be fore. The lamps had been ex tinguished—the coach atmos phere was heavy with oil smell and the exhalations of human beings in all stages of deshabille. But the golden head was there, '■ ... 1 ■ about a& jvhen last sighted. (Continued next week.) BY ARTHUR BRISBANE, M. S. Hershey, dedicating $60,00*, 000, his entire fortune, to protect and educate the children of others, re minds you that the candy business i» now the first or second Industry of the United States, greater than steel, wheat, corn or anything else except, perhaps automobiles. Mr. Hershey establishes his great industry and his magnificent phll anthrophy at the spot where he was born, poor, on a farm. Contrast this action of Mr.“Tler shey, giving his $60,000,000 that poor children may have a chance, with an individual who died the other day, leaving $1,000 to his wife and $35,000 to be invested in prayers for his poor miserable soul. In these two men you see all the difference be tween selfish barbarism and enlight ened civilization. Mr. ZangwilT telling Americans that their “pep” is lost motion, that they are undignified, unj&st, lack shame, etc. will be useful to the wise ana annoying only to the foolish. It doesn’t matter what Mr. Zang will is—is theft", any truth in what he Bays? .. ' » If a humble mouse crawled from a sewer, looked at you with long, quiv ering nose, and said, “you are a shameless creature and don’t know anything,” you should not try tr kill that mouse. You should ask yourself, "Is there truth In what the mouse says? If so, how can I correct my fault?" The bad features of Mr. Zangwlll’s talk Is the harm It may do to his coreligionists, among those already prejudiced. It cannot hurt him, for he will soon be back, safe in England, where they will approve quite gener ally his views op America. But his inaccurate belltting of the Ku Klux Klan may cause trouble to better Jews than Zangwill. And his ridiculing of Christian Science does not come with good grace from one belonging to a race that has so long complained, and Justly, of religious prejudice. However, at his worst, Mr. Zang will is to be thanked. The United States and its people have a thousand defects, many that Mr. Zangwlll could not see or understand. To make us think about them is to render a service. What does the imigination of man amount to? Not much, outside of the little circle in which he agitates him self like a squirrel in the whirling wheel. What does it mean to the human mjnd that our Bun is a million times as big as the earth, and that there exist suns a million times as big as our sun? It means nothing. We can't even imagine the size of our own tiny earth. Or what does ft mean to us when a professor, lecturing on the con struction of the atom, tells us that a speck of dust floating in a sun beam weighs 1,000,000,000,000 times as much as an atom of hydrogen? It means nothing. We live suspended between infinite bigness and inconceivable littleness, understanding neither. It’s a wonder we worry so little. The old fashioned mind says, "be ware of new fangied ideas." Twenty-five years ago that mind, in medicine and other lines, said ‘‘beware of new Ideas." Dr. Charles H. Mayo, whose word commands respect everywhere, says “the last 23 years have taught us more about preventing disease than all the preceding centuries.” The best French fliers agree that the speed of flying machines “will never exceed about 312 miles an hour." Higher than that they say is Impossible. It Interests us to know that some diesease now worrying us most are found In fossilized bodies of animals that vanished from the earth long be fore any men were here. Mani will conquer all diseases eventually, as he has conquered all animals. All he needs is time, and luckily i science proves that we h»ve many millions of years ahead of iw. When the locomotive was young, as the flying machine now Is, “scient ists” said It might be possible bpr a railroad train to maintain a §peed as high as 20 miles an hour, but it would be difficult, and that great speed would kill the passengers if It were kept up too long. Flying machines will go about as fast as men care to have them go— about 1,000 miles an hour, the ap parent speed of the sun around the earth, will probably be the average for long distance trips before the end of this century. “Three hours to cross the ocean, three hours to come back, air boats leaving every hour on the hour," will be a sign read by your grandchildren. f i—iii ■■mm3 an i inn Hnm mb i kh - I . a* - The Canadian department of mines has Just received a block of silver ore weighing two tons from the Kelly mines In northern Ontario. It will be pre served as an exhibit. Mrs, Nancy Brown, living near Knox* ville. Tenn., has not been an extensive traveler during her U years of life. Though her home Is within four miles of a ra'iroad she has never seen nor rlddea on a railroad train._ Aunt Jemima Rag Oolfs Get this jolly family ' foryour children Aunt Jemima; Uncle Mose, Wade and Diana—four of the jolliest rag dolls you’ve ever seen; all in bright colors ready to cut and stuff. Also a sample package of Aunt Jemima Prepared Buckwheat Flour, a sample package of the famcrja Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour and n recipe folder telling how to use it in making fine waffles, muffins and special pancake treats. Send coupon and 30c in stamps or coin—today. Aunt Jemima Mills Company, Dept. 142-B St Joseph, Mo. Enclosed find 30c. Please send dolls, samples, etc. PRINT Nams. St. Of R. D r* Town.....••.State.. M—1- " — -■ i ■ * a' ■■■» .. ■■■■— ——i. ...i—■■ -- - Curious Belief. Among English miners there was formerly a curious belief that, when having a bath, they must not wash the back, as water weakens that part of the body. 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