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About The Plattsmouth daily herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1883-19?? | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1888)
TilF DAILY HERAL1): frAlTOMOuTII, NEBRASKA, TlttlllSDAr. AUGUST 23, 1888. '0 - V JANS of subsistence; MEN WHO PREDICT THE EXTINCTION OF HUMANIY BY STARVATION. I'dtIi More ConylnHng Thn Theories. The Whole Matter of Food Supply Ilevo latloulxcU The Coming Man May Lie of Overeat lng. It Mcmi strange that at a time when food of nil kinds N cheaper and mora plenty than it ever win lefore in the history of the world, and when famine nowhere exist, men of mind ami learning should to pre dicting the extincion of humanity by starva tion. 8t ill the matter has recently been dis cussed by Mr. Frederick H. Haw ley iu the Quarterly Journal of Economics ami by Mr. Kdwnnl Atkinson in The Forum. Both writer refer at length to the writings of Malthu ami ItWrdo, tho first of whom taught that there U a tendency of population to increase faster tlian the means of subsist ence tho fln-t increasing in a geometrical and tho lust in an arithmetical ratio and the second of whom showed that laud culti vated for u series of years yielded diminish ing returns iu proportion to the amount of labor and capital expended uion it. It is certainly diflh-ult to refute the proje ctions of Malthusand Ricardo by arguments. They were acute reasonera and plausible writers. Facts, however, are more convin cing than theories. Tho jjopulation of the world is much greater than when these men wrote and food is chcajx-r and more plenty. Science as applied to the raising of crops and to trnn-iortatioii has revolutionized the whole matter of the supply of food. Fifty years ngo wise men informed their sons that tho time would soon come when they could eat whito bread but half tho time, for the reason that wheat enough could not bo cut to supply the material to make it- There was then no Implement for harvesting wheat but the sickle, lint t lie horse harvester and self binde r soon made wheat cheaper than corn was when tho pro iiction was uutdo. Till" TAUT AN" THE PRESENT. Forty years Jigo a mun with a hand hoe the only implement usedcould only plant and cultivate four acres of corn, liy the aid of machines one man now finds no difficulty In planting and tending forty acres. Exicri inents uro now being made with machines for harvesting and thrashing corn, and within five years' time tin y will bo brought tq per fection and in general use. Potatoes are now planted, cultivated, dug, sortftd and bagged by machinery. The machine- has done more for the Held than for tho shop in the matter of increasing production. Hkill iu breeding and feeding has reduced the time necessary to prcjwire a steer for the market from four years to about eighteen months. A few years ago it was estimated that tho product of five acres of land was tiecessjiry to supiort a cow or steer. Now the prod'm-t of one acre, preserved in a silo, will kecpth" animal, tfijajo is tho coming food for all animals kept on farm for the purpose of producing meat. Producing new varieties of small fruits and melons und improving their cultivation have added much to tho food supply of tho world. Fruit is now almost as common on tables as bread. Melons, oranges, strawber ries ami grapes form jwirts of the poor man's breakfast. Sugar U one of the cheapest articles of food, and tho country s "flowing with honey," strained for its waxen comb f:iid costing but four cents per pound. Dur ing tho iast few years grapes during their season lmve leen about as cheap as potatoes, and tho prospect is that they will soon bo in cluded among the most common articles of fcxxl. PRESERVATION OF PERISHABLE pOOHS. Tho process of canning fresh fruit, vege tables, fish and meat has prevented about half tho amount of these articles annually produced from going to waste and rendered their preservation practical for years. Cars and vessels fltt-nl up as refrigerators now carry food products classed as perishabl round the world. We can dine on fresh sal mon caught in tho Columbia river ten years ago. green turtle captured in the West Indies at the same time, and pineapple raised iu South America. Huxley tells us that tho "harvest of the sea" has but just commenced, and our own Seth Green has apparently demonstrated that "water farming" is more profitable than land farming. He thinks that all will soon be convinced that an acre of water is capa ble of producing as much food as an acre of laud. Grain producing territory large enough to form au empire has just been brought into notice in several parts of tho worliL Agri cultural experts state that Siberia is capable of supplying all the pcoplo in continental Europe with grain. A like statenunt is made in regard to Canada. Most of tho laud in the world once classed as "desert1 has been found to be very productive. Tho first settlers in California thought the most of the soil would produce nothing. The state is now exporting vast quantities of food. There is no danger that tho coming man will starve. It is more likely that he will die of overeating, thinking that it is his duty to do his part in "disposing of the surplus." Possibly tho last man will laugh himself into an untimely grave while reading the absurd theories of Malthus and noticing how his predictions came out. Chicago Times. The Value of Advertising. "If you will tramp the city over and take notice of tho business places you will find that where the show windows are finest, tho stock of goods the freshest and the salesmen the quickest to make sales." The speaker was a joker and wo checked him to ask what kind of i patent medicine 'ad' he was going to spring on us. We were fooled, for in all seriousness he continued: "There you wiil find an advertiser." AVe all agreed, and an nother friend said he had another way of telling. "If you will ride from Ashland avenue to State street and count the mercan tile houses having electrical lights I will venture that you can find tho 'ads' of nine out of ten by searching the morning and evening pa pel s." We were standing in a cigar store and the proprietor said he could go us one better. "Two years ago my patrons were so few that I scarcely made a livimg. One day two men got in a quarrel in my store and one hot the other, not fatally, but seriously. The patrol came, thousands gathered iu front of the door, the reporters wrote up the affair elaborately and my little store and myself came ia for a share of the publicity. The next day hundreds dropped iu as they passed to see the scene of the shooting. Many of them bought cigars. From that day on my store was 'advertised, and for a year I made more money than in three years previous. I now keep a small 'ad1 in several papers and you see my clerk ore busy." Chicago Jour nal. A Day of Hard Lack. - Jones (to Robinson, weary and footsore) Been fishing, Kobindonf Robinson Ya'as. Jones Catch anything! Robinson Nw; didn't even catch th lost ' i ' Jitw X'1- WHY BOYS GO TO SEA. The Charm of Sailor Dri Rom an tie "Notions of Foreign Land. I was but a very little lad when I first went to sea my ago 13 years and 0 months. Why I went to sea I can hardly say. I had cer tainly no clear views. Maylie the reading of story books about the ocean life raised a kind of hankering In me; but I think it was the desire to shino in buttons, to wear a pair of blue cloth trousers flowing at the feet, a litttfe jacket with pretty brass bound sleeves, a colored shirt with a collar lying well open at the throat and embellished with a black silk handkerchief tied in a proer sailor's knot, the ends twinkling to every breeze like tho fly of a streamer pulling at a mast, a cap on tho bock of my head with a sparkling de vice abovo tho peak of it representing a golden wreath encircling a flag beautifully colored with blue and silver silk. I say it was a yearning to walk attired in clothes of this kind that ended in my going to sea. My notions of the deep were entirely ro mantic. I thought of coral Islands, green savannahs, forests of fruit trees, savages with bows and arrows, great elephants with little black men riding cross legged on their heads, blue rivers winding toward the pur ple of distant mountains, with shining white cities upon their banks, where the roofs of the houses of the nobility were garnished with gold and silver and precious stones, where there were ducks that laid emeralds and hens rubies, and where there were the funniest monkeys iu tho world too be had for the asking. I promised one of my little sis ters to bring her a box of gold dust and the ivory tusk of an elephant; for another I was to procure a bird of paradiBO, two humming birds and a lizard that wasn't poisonous. ,To my brother Tommy, who was two years younger than myself, I promised a real canoe, and I rather think I added that if it was to bo managed I would present him with a live savage to go fishing with him in it. 1 knew geography pretty well, though my Ideas of distant lands were a little pojifused when I came to think of their product; but it seemed to me that a fellow only needed to go to sou to obtain what he wanted. The world was very big, I thought, and when a man sailed into it he was bound to meet with everything that was wonderful and worth having. t never struck mo that I might malce voyage to a place where there were no elephants, no gold dust, no canoes, no savages even, merely a civilized black man or two, sut-h as you may meet any day, bland, clean und shining, in a London street. In deed, I no more realized tho sort of country I might first visit than J did the life I must lead in order to get to it. There was a great deal of fruit mixed up in my seafaring dream; the brass buttons and the badge stood first, and then my vision was as plentifully stocked as a big market with cocoanut3, ba nanas, oranges, dates, custard apples and other first class eating. I knew soiuethiuK about ships; X had lived half of my littlo life in a seaport town, and coulJ talk of bowsprits, quarter boats, de&d- eyes and jibs without blundering; but of the hardships of a sailor's life, tho food he eats, the work he has to do, I was, of course, quite ignorant. It has pften amused and interested mo siuco to ask a boy, say of lo, who has told his papa and mamma that he is de termjiud t ZQ t- what Ins iiotionaof the calling are. As a rule I find them wonder fully like what mine were. It is partly an idea of getting away from school, partly the dream of becoming a man all at once, partly a fancy of pirates, buried treasure, glitter ing uniforms, and flue curiosities to be got somehow and brought home, the whole col ored with the light of the romance which shines very gloriously upon the minds of boys when they are little, but which slowly fades as one gets old and older, till life turns as gray round about one as a cold November day. Clark Russelj. Cossacks In the Russian Army. The Cossacks hold an exceptional position iu the Russian army, and though they have lost some of their former liberties, they are usually looked upon more as the allies than the servants of the czar. They form a liv ing rampart from five to six thousand miles in length, over the entire Aslato frputiei: of Russia, from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Don and the Caucasus. In former centuries they were of vast service to Russia in protecting tho Russian borders from the Afiiatio hordes. The Cossacks of the Caucasus were them selves up to the year 1S58 Russia's greatest opponents in the south. Shamyl gave the Russians twenty-two years of hard fighting iu the mountains of the Caucasus before he was finally captured with his family in one of tho hill passes. From Shamyl's former adherents Russia has won a magnificent Cossack army. Ono of Shamyl's sons is an officer in the Russian garde; a second son was also an officer in the Russian service, but went over to the service of the sultan during the last war, where he commanded for a time a regiment of his own people who acknowledged the sovereignty of tho Torte, After the Cossack revolt on the River Yaik (Ural), in 1G55, many emi grated to Turkey. The Cossacks of the Ural, like those of the Caucasus, fought long for their independence. Their final struggle took place in the year of the declaration of American independence. But tho Russians were victorious, the Cossack leader, Pugat cheflf, was captured and executed, the name of the river and province of Yaik was changed to Ural, and since then the Cossacks have been peaceful subjects of the czar, whe is iu his own person a Cossack hetman and iu whom is now vested the right of appoint ing commarders, Philadelphia Times. Firearms in African Warfare. Professor Drummond, the African traveler sa3's ho has often wished he could get inside an African for an afternoon and just see how ho looks at things. It is certain his views of tho world are very different from ours. Tho General-iu-cbief of the king of Uganda's army recently expressed some novel ideas on the introduction of firearms in native war fare. He told the king he was sorry gun powder had ever reached the great lakes. In the good old times the Wftgand.- warriors were invincible. Those were the days of hand to hand combats, when victory rewarded the bravest and strongest, and skill in hand ling the lance and shield decided the fortunes of war. But now, a clumsey coward safely hid in the grass can kill the bravest soldiers. There is no longer a chance for glorious feat of arms, and "since guns are the fashion we must fight with guns." This stickler for war dub. and assegais was doubtless all the moro Impressed with the degeneracy of the times from the fact that he was suffering from two bullets wounds inflicted by the "Wayoro, whom for the first time iu his life he had failed to whip. It seems a pity that all sav ages do not harbor old fashioned prejudices a jiiust firearms- New York Sun. Should Be More Careful, Wife J ohu, I bad a fearful fall this morn ing. Husband How was thatf "I was going down the cellar stairway" "Aiid I spce you flipped and fell?" "Yes." "Well, you'll have to be mora careful, 1 just paid $V3 to have the stairway painted, rnd it you keep on youTI hare it all scratched end dinged. " Lireoln Journal. SHAM AND PRETETSE. A BRIEF LOOK AT OUR OWN PLEAS ING PERSONALITIES. What Our KIch Mrn Have Done The Dale Who Made Believe lie Waa a Sailor A Fancy "Colonel" In 1801. Only Veneer. But come a little nearer home. Let's take a look at our own pleasing per sonalities. Do we wear wigs, falso teeth, tight shoes? Do we wear high heeled boots to deceive our neighbors as to our height! Do we pull in our waists and pud out our busts? Do we wear funny things behind, in the absurd endeavor to persuade people who know better that the Lord made us different from what he did make us? You remember, don't you, a few years ago, when our dear sisters wore little humps on their shoulders? That was tho funniest fashion 1 ever know. Every woman tried to make everybody else believe that on each shoulder she had a little hump. Now, all women, and a majority of men, know that no women was ever born with a little hump on either shoulder, let alone on both. Our rich men are curious creatures. They have ornamented, beautified, solid fled our streets and those of every significant city in the land by magnificent structures, semi hotels, and they have pandered to a fast growing sentiment in this land of the free, which ueems to ape foreign affairs by giving to these structures names which mean some thing on the other side of the ocean, but which hero are bloomingly idiotic. Our great apartment houses here are called the Buckingham, tho Rockingham, the Sund rLighain, tho Belvidere nnd so on. THOUGHT I1E WAS A, SAILOR. I was sitting on the broad piazaa of a sum irer hotel about an hour ago, when a curious creature came from the inner recesses and stood in the doorway. On his head was a sailor's cap. Ho wore a flannel shirt with a wide turnover collar and anchors embroid ered on the euds. Gilt buttons maJo his attire more conspicuous, but what attracted my attention more especially were the creases down thp middle of his trousers, which by tho way were turned up about two inches from tho bottom, revealing a pretty pair of black silk stockings and neatly fitting iatent leather pumps. lie was a dude from Duue ville, a darling escpaed from the bandbox, yet he thought he was a sailor, and that the effect produced upon the guests of the hotel was that of a rollicking, jolly, pipe smoking tar. I wondered as I looked at him what he would do with those pumps and those silk stockings anil his pretty trousers in a storm. Ho apparently had about as much muscle as a fresh water clam, and J qqpvjed how many ropes his bejewelled fingers could handle in a moment of necessity or of danger. Whom did ho deceive? Ho knows perfectly well ho is no sailor, and he knows that everybody who looks at him knows that he is no sailor. As I looked at him, my mind ran, back to, the stormy days in 1S01, v;l:en, with one foot pa the sturdy solidity of peace and proserity, the naliuii put its other foot forward upon the threshold of a Ave years' war, with its blood and tur moil. I was sitting in the office of Williard'3 hotel in Washington. The grtat corridor was packed with angry men, eagerly dUcu.ss$ 'ng what must be done, forcing hia way through the flense uiuss, a young gentleman in tho full uniform of a colonel, approached the desk and registered hjj uuuie, appended to which were the words, "paymaster of the state of New York." By his side clinked a sword. On his shoulders were glittering epaulettes. Brass buttons were Rll ovea' him.! nnd h j fr,rj cpA-ked over his right eye, with u. real 1801 swagger. CoL Mansfield sat near me, then a bronzed veteran wth, a record, and Rosecrans, then, I ttU'tk a colonel, also waa at the uck iettliug a bill, ero he de parted for the extreme west. AFTER RUDER EXPERIENCES. Tho slap dash of the young gentleman nttracted their attention.. They looked at him with curious eyes, and seemed to see in him a prefiguration of tho young America, about to come to the frout. This young gentleman was on the staff of the governor if tho state. Ie was there on duty, tut he then had uo more idea of war than any . of the rest of us. To him the trip was a jolifi-. cation. To him the experience was a pionio. To him it was all cocked cap, hross buttons, a clinking sword and a well written name, with a paymaster of the state of New York at the end of it. He had no more idea of the true duties of a soldier, then my turlcd darling in the yachting suit bad of the duties of a sailor. His drpss, so far ps typifying any character beneath it, was a farce, a sham, a pretense, and yet I doubt not in later days, when ruder experiences were under gone, he developed the manhood that was in him. His bright buttons became tarnished by exposure, the blue of his uniform faded to a shiny white, and the noise made by his sword was not its clinking on the marble pavement of a metropolitan hotel, but its whizzing through the air, as pointing the way, he led his comrades to victory or death. Mind you, I don't believe that the Ameri can mind intends deception. These shams, pretenses, deceits are but the shining veneer, super laid over tbo hard wood endurance of sturdiness of character, of honest determination to win success in the great battles of lite. Well? Well, the obvious suggestion would be to throw away your brass rings, to slice off your shoulder humps, to let your waist havo its normal size, to wear heels of comfort rather than of show, to plane away the veneers and stand as you were made, im proving along rightful lines, helping your selves to grow, that you may extend the right hand of fellowship to others who would iike, but aro unable, to follow your example, Joe Howard in Boston Globe. pefendtng the Dutch Language. Our aggressive mother tongue, which is pushing its way into every corner of the earth, has aroused the South African repub lic by its encroachments, and the Boers are rallying to tho defense of Dutch as the na tional languaga, When it was announced in the volksraad tho other day that the English language was spoken in the public offices, in the markets, and was even creeping into the courts, the vice president stood up for the vernacular, and deckred that he would give every drop of blood in his body to uphold the Dutch language. The legislature then authorized the government to require that only the Dutch be used by public officials and in the market places and courts, Two Englishmen who were enjoying a lawsuit were thereupon informed that if they could not talk Dutch they must hire au interpreter or get out of court Sew York Sun. trader th Walnut Tree, A well known horticoltorlst says .that of all trees for placing a seat tinder in hot weather, none is for a moment comparable with the walnut. Beneath its glossy leaves the air is always refreshingly cool ; it nartx few insects, and it affords the most delight! al shads in the world. Obos a Week. WOODS FOR FURNITURg. Value of Waluut Preparation of "Quar ter Oak" Staining. There are many crazes in the furniture basin ess in respect to the different woods and their imitations, which are extensively used. For many years walnut waa a wood that held absolute predominance over all other woods for furniture. But while other woods have become very jxipulnr, and walnut is appar ently on the decline, yet, really, walnut will always be a fashionuble wood. Tho price will gradually increase, for the large demand is fast consuming the supply. In many states fifteen years ago the farms were inclosed with walnut rail fence, as the wood was not so valuable iu those days. But iu these states where walnut grows, the lumber that would have beeu formerly cast aside with tho "culls" is today sold for high prices. Even the small limbs of walnut trees are now sawed up into materials for rungs and post9 of parlor chairs. The old snarled limbs and knots of tho walnut trees are sought after with avidity by buyers through the country districts, who ell them to firms that manu facture them into ornaments for antique shelves, fancy hassocks and other similar furniture. Rail fences in these districts are now a rarity in the extreme. But as to the various woods that are used in the manufacture of f urnlture, maple, ash, poplar, gum and cherry comprise the list. What is known as quarter oak is tho latest craze. Quarter oak is made by first sawing a log from end to end through the mid dle. Then each half is sawed from end to end through the middle, thus leaving four quartet's. Each quarter has only three sides, one tho bulge part of the log, and the other two sides liein fl':t ana coming 10 a snarp ci-t;. lo uuaia iwe sawed off the sharp edge, and each sawing, therefore, throws off a board wider than tho ono beforo it. Sawing the quarters of the log in this manner the lumber is beautifully cross grained. Tho cross grained lumber is "worked" into the finest parlor furnituro at present. Tho wood is susceptible of a very fino polish, and tho cross grain produces an effect, made by both nature and the saw, that is far superior, to the art of the most ex lerienced grainei . But one of tho prominent features still in the furniture business is the staining of wood. There are tricks in all trades, aivl this is the greatest one in tho furniture man ufactories. A very simple preparation, com posed of crudo oil and lampblack, Is rubbed on the highly polished surface of oak, and wnon it soaks into tho pores of the wood the wood then takes on a dark hue. The varnish is then applied, which gives a neat finish to the wood, and this is then u fair imitation o? antiquo oak. Tho common gum Is often stained to represent cherry. Cherry itself is very valuable, and is left in its own natural color, although it is sometimes stained to represent rosewood. Soft maple, iKmlar and gum are stained with preparations of burnt umber, crude oil and lampblack, to produce an imitation of iiauogany. Ash has a very pretty grain, that stands out prominently under color, and it can bo stained to imitate red cherry. Sycamore is a wood larjrelv useq tor ueu poets, ana it stains nicely in imitation of walnut W. L. Mitohell iu Globe-Democrat. Lincoln to Morton In 1801. Your letter by the hand of Mr. Prunfc was received yesterday. I write this letter be causo I wish you to believe of js (as wo cer taiuly believe of you) that we are doing the very best wo can. You do not receive arms from us as fast as you need them, but it is because wo havo not near enough to meet all the pressing demands, and wo aro obliged to fchare. around what we have, sending the larg est share to tho points which appear to need them most. We have great hope that our own supply will be ample before long, so that you and all others can havo Sis many as you need. 1 see an articlo iu n Indianapolis newspaper denouncing mo for not answering your letter fcfcnt by special messenger two or t0'o weeks ngo. I did make what 1 thought tho best answer I could to thit let ter. As I remember, it asked for ten heavy guns to bo distributed With some troops bt Lawrcuceburg, Jaadison, New Albany and. Evansville, and I ordered tho guns and directed you to send tho troops if you had thc-m. As to Kentucky, you do not estimate that state as more im portant than I do; but I am compelled to watch all points. While I write this i am if not in range at least in hearing of cannon shot, from an army of enemies more than a hundred thousand strong. I do not expect them to capture this city; but I know they would if I were to send the men and arms from here to defend Louisville, of which there is not a single hostile armed soldier within forty miles, nor any force known to be moving upon it from any distance. It is true the army in our front may make a half circle around southward and move on Louis villv; but when they do we will make a half circia around northward and meet them; and in the meantime we will get up what forces we can from other sources to also moot them, I hope Zollicoffer has left Cumberland Gap (though I fear he has not), because, if ho has, I rather infer he did it because of his dread of Camp Dick Robinson, re-enforced from Cincinnati, moving ou him, than because of his intention to move on Louisville. But if he does go round and re-enforce Buckner, let Dick Robinson come around and re-enforce Sherman, and the thing is substantially as it was when Zollicoffer left Cumberland Gap. I state this as sn illustration; for, in fact, I think if the gap is left open to us Dick Rob inson should take it and hold it; while In diana and the vicinity of Louisville in Ken tucky can re-enforce Sherman faster than Zollicoffer can Buckner. Tho Century lied Tape in Italy. The Italian official is never in & hurry, and there is a vast multitude of public servants, a dozen being appointed to do the work which two or three could easily accompb'sh did they display any activity. The most trifling affair is mode to pas3 through so many hands, and each change is attended by so much delay and confusion, that a person is obliged to sacrifice an endless amount of time to rectify an official blunder. He is sent from one place to anotoer, holds long conferences with innumerable dignitaries, each of whom mokes out a formidable state document covered with seals, signatures and stamps, for which the luckless person is re quested to pay a liberal commission, and at last the chances are greatly against the re covery of the lost letter, telegraph dispatch, baggage, or whatever he may be searching for. Upon asking advice respecting a lost letter of importance sent from Rome to Florence, the American bank authorities said it would be well to report the case simply to keep tile subject agitated, but not to enter tain the slightest hope of its recovery. This same delay and confusion is carried into every branch of the public service and is particularly glaring in the justice courts. Florence Cor. Chicago Times. . A First Class Table. ilea (looking for board) You set a good table, I s'pose, madam? Landlady Yes, sir; only last week my fowtb flow back died ot gout, Tas Epoch. The Plattsmouth Herald Is on joying1 aBominboth its EDITIONS. The Tear 1888 Will be one Jurin wliicli the suLjectH of national interest and importance will le strongly agitated and tlie election f a President will take place. Hie people of Cass County who would like to learn of Political, Commercial and Social Transactions of this year and would keep apace with the times should -SUBSC K.IBE Villi KITH Kit TIIK Daily or Weekly Herald Now while we have the subject before the people we will venture to Bpeak ol our DEPA Which is first-class in all respects and from which our job printers are turning out much satisfactory work. rLATTSMOUTII, nr M rvn UVJ U a NEBRASKA, A