THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT. BURDEN OF TRUSTS. ADDITIONAL LOAD ON THE BACKS OF THE CONSUMERS. Tke Truata Have laereaaeo' the Coat I Utimm 15 Par Cant Geerl Rlaa la Prices of tha Keeeassurlea Con trolled br Monopollea. The cost of the necessaries of life are today on an average 15 per cent higher than they were a year ago. The wage earner who supported his family on $1,000 daring lost year must now pay $1, 150 for precisely the same necessaries and comforts. f ' Crops are plentiful The supply of raw material of all kinds was never larger. M The amount c manufactured products is in excess of that in any previous years, Without unnatural manipulation these conditions would cause a decrease in prices instead of an increase. . Trusts have forced the increase upon the people. ,' , The prices are going np, and the 10 per cent increase which the heads of families mnst pay for necessaries goes directly to moke dividends for largely overcapitalized combinations. It Ls claimed that since the trust era there has been a general increase in the pay if the wage earner of 10 per cent Thus the worker earns 10 per cent more, but pays 18 more to live. ; ; " Retail butchers have advanced the price of meat 2 or 8 cents a pound, forced to this by the greed of two trusts. . Of course the formation pf an ice trust has something to do with the ac tion of the butchers, for they expect to have to pay more for Ice, but the main squeeze comes from Jhe beef combine in Chicago. , , Louis Wagner, president of the Re tail Butchers' association, said: "Chi cago beef sells today for 2 cents a pound less in England than in this city. The beef trust controls the New York mar ket Its agents say cattle cost more and that beef ni"st be higher. " 1 An attempt is also being mado to form a cattle trust, and if this is ac complished meat will go higher yet On March 20 last the National Salt company was incorporated nnder.the beneficent trust laws of New Jersey. This company controls 90 per cent of the salt plants of this state and Michi gan. ... T ; Before the formation of the trust the price of fine salt per barrel of 820 pounds was 85 cents. A few days after the organization of the trust an increase in price Was made of 83 per cent Since then there have been several additional increases, and today the price of a bar rel of table salt is $1.5a ; : - i i j Those to whom the incroase' means something are the farmers, who pur- atstaaua AfinnrjflAai r9 4Vt a nnn ran mn A fxm of salt for their cattle; also the meat packers. The latter are not much wor ried, as they have a trust The farmers and housewives haven't ' . Since the formation of the national carpet trust there has been a gradual increase in prices until now the pur chaser pays 20 per cent more than he did formerly. Eighty per cent of the carpet mills in the eastern and middle states are con trolled by the combination. Outside of these states the carpet making industry is very email and the trust has the business of the wholo country fairly within its grasp, particularly as it oper ates in harmony with the wool trust and kindred combinations. There has been an increase in price of raw materials used by carpet mak ers, duo to combinations of the concerns controlling the materials, but this in crease is only a fraction of that charged by the carpet trust Furthermore, recent improvements in the machinery used in carpet making more than offset the Increase in the price of raw materials, but the pur chaser nevertheless pays 20 per cent more than he did for the same class of goods. The average head of a family has paid perhaps little attention to the forma tion of such industrial combinations as the wire and wire nail trust, the chemical trust the lumber trust and the iron and steel trusts, thinking that they do not affect him. Yet he pays indirectly a share of the increased price which each of these combinations has made upon the com modity it controls. For instance, the large dry goods or department store at which his wife buys a few yards of cloth is forced to charge her a trifle more because of the operations of the trusts above named. It seems a wide and disconnected stretch between the yards of cloth purchased and the iron, steel, nail, wire, lumber and chemical trusts, but nevertheless they all operate to aend up the price. Ia the first place, the chemical trust has increased the prices of the dyestufls used in coloring the cloth. The lumber trust has added its mite to the price of the pine boards out of which the packing case in which the cloth ia shipped ia constructed. . The wire nail trust haa added some thing to the cost of the nails with which the boards are fastened together. The nail trust makes this increase part ly for its own profit and partly to cover the increase charged by the steel trust for the raw material. The iron bands which are nailed aretindthe packing case to strengthen it cost a trifle more than they formerly did because of the Increased price for the raw material charged by the Iron trust ' ... Ia addition to these the operations of the wool or cotton mill trust have con tributed their share toward raising pricea There are 800 trusts in existence in the country, and almost in every in stance it could be shown that in some way the average consumer helps to swell the profits of all The print cloth market is three-quarters of a cent higher per yard this year than last Practically all the mills of the New Eagland states are controlled by a trust, but this increase is not due entirely to the operations of that par ticular combine. The same causes which contributed to an increase of the price of cloth also affected the prints. Cotton, however, is slightly higher than last year. An effort was made early this year by leading cotton dealers to form a cotton trust with the co-operation of the large south ern plantation owners. The growers, however, could not be controlled in the matter of acreage, except in a minority Of cases, and absolute control of the raw material is yet to be effected. The ramifying trusts interested in the print cloth industry, however, in connection with the trust most imme diately concerned, have caused the prices to en un. ' Nearly every article handled by a hardware etcre is the product of a trust and the stock of a large establishment represents perhaps 20 different indus trial combinations. A majority of these trusts are depend ent for their raw material upon the iron vsteel, copper and brass trusts, and as each of the latter has increased its prices heavily within the past eight or ten months, the manufacturing trusts, following in the wake of the others, have also made an increase. Retailers, when forced to pay more to the manufacturer or producer, in variably make additional provision for themselves when fixing a new scale of prices. The result is that for various articles of hardware the purchaser is paying anywhere from 10 to 100 per cent more than 12 months ago. For stoves and kitchen utensils gen erally the increase varies between 80 and 00 per cent, but for different tools controlled by individual trusts the in crease is much higher. The average in crease to the consumer 1b in the neigh borhood of 40 per cent Since the organization of the Amal gamated Copper company in April last with a capital of $75,000,000 and the possibility of an ultimate increase to $400,000,000 the price of copper has been raised repeatedly. ' Copper today is so costly through the operations of the trust that various concerns have found it profitable to buy and import Chinese copper coins and use them for manufacturing purposes. They can obtain the raw material in this way cheaper than by dealing with the trust This explains why the house wife when purchasing copper kitchen utensils has to pay 70 and 80 per cent more than she did six months ago The coal trust is one of the few mo nopolies whose owners have failed to declare .that such combinations were for the public good. The trust practically owns the whole of the anthracite coal region and fixes the price at whatever it sees fit Two months ago it ordered an increase of 25 cents a ton, and later at Pittsburg an additional advance was announced of 0 cents a ton on nut and lump coal and of from 0 to 15 cents on slack. This last advance was due, it was de clared, to the rapid rise in the iron and steel markets within the last few weeks Using this as a reason for further ad vances, the consumers during the com ing winter wilf have to pay to the coal barons 50 cents more a ton than they did last year. New York World. a .-. A National Express. It is promised that within 60 days from now we actually shall have a gov ernment express on a small scale at least By that time New Yorkers will be able to register valuable packages at their homes and have them forwarded by the national government to any city and town within the limits of the Union that possesses a system of carriers. We ought indeed at once to have the whole express business of the country run by the national government that is, our postofnee department should be so extended as to carry parcels of every kind to every part of the Union. Great Britain has preceded us and become a pattern to us in this as in some other matters by her parcel poet act of ,1883. which has proved just as successful as her postal telegraph. Mr. Wanamaker, as postmaster gen eral, in his report of 1891 strongly rec ommended such a national express. arguing that the national post goes to thousands of localities where no private express company consents to go. The principal advantage of such an extension of the government's activity would be by no means the saving in money. A far greater benefit would be tho fact that, like a national telegraph, such a national express system would , tend to ntnfy our people, would bind them together. And what is the obstacle T There is only one, but a very great one, also stated by Wanamaker. It consists of our four private express companies. Think of where we should be with out our national postoflice. It would cost New Yorkers 60 cents perhaps to aend a letter to California. - The government express promised us Is an example of most beneficent ex- ' pansion an expansion of usefulness oa the part of the servant of the people. New York Journal The Lay off ea Aaelaat Spark. He knelt la front ot tha furnace, In the morning sold anl irar, And woalrrd with growlnc terror If tha Are would bum that day. He knelt and ha blow upon It TU1 hit back tresr limp and lame. And he telle hie friends of the aoreow That eomes from an old, old Rama. 0SC23 c:s jnu c::.3 t:ui erMt, eaa S " aaaw wlut n jr.,,, tt tsrsism, BBaTl-JJ, eV MS, VeOT&Tea Li ia and prima L,aanV ZTha- ,aMkSiMkMaaMMkm Fm. MWe.eae) IsaaA.aes I ssksw v wsyr COMPETITION' IS WAR. Tha Road to Peace la Through Pah lie Ownerahlp of PnU Vtllltlea. Mayor Jones of Toledo, in a speech delivered recently at Cleveland, said: "The boycott is a cruel and unjust weapon in many ways. It ls war, and I don't believe In war nor competition, both being synononious. '"If there Is a degree of patriotism developed that people say, 'We won't ride on cars that are operated by men subjected to inhuman treatment,' it Is a hopeful sign for the growth of the sew patriotism patriotism that refuses comforts purchased at the price' of the wretchedness of their fellow men. "We are In an epidemic of labor troubles. ; Strikes, lockouts and boy cotts, affecting widely separated por tions of our country and as widely diversified industrial Interests, disturb the land. The situation may be fitly characterized as one of industrial civil war : v,a "1 am not here with a plan for set tling the difficulty at Cleveland alone. It ls not my province nor any part of my purpose to propose a local remedy for a national I might say interna tionaldisease. I am here to urge, to plead for, to propose a remedy that Is a sovereign and final remedy, not only for street railway strikes, but for all kinds of difficulties with labor In every sort of public utility. ',; "There Is such a remedy, and only one. That remedy may pe found In absolute municipal ownership, opera tion and control. You may rely upon it, no matter how the present difficulty may be adjusted In Cleveland, the peo ple of Cleveland cannot avoid or evade this fundamental truth. M "To my mind the cause of the pres ent disturbed state of society Is not hard to locate. We are in what ls call ed an era of Industrial prosperity. Liv ing in the social state known as com petition, it is natural that eacbjmem ber of society should strive to get a la,rger share of the things that Is called wealth. The inevitable result, then, Is that every member of society demands for himself a larger share. ' "A shorter name for competition Is war, and our everyday life as business men, as workingmen, as employers and employed, Is a denial of brother hood. , , . '' "We are living, as It were, over a mine charged with dynamite that Is liable to be exploded at any moment. And this condition Is not likely to con tinue, but It Is certain to grow worse so long as men live In a social state that is a constant denial of the funda mental principle that must be admit ted before the first step necessary to a peaceful state can be accomplished." "Men are brothers, not competitors. Competition and war may do as a sys tem for wild beasts, but God Almighty never Intended it as a social system for those whom he created In his own Image. v- " "The only way to bring about this condition of affairs is to resort to mu nicipal ownership.". ' The Misery of tfcebUIMoMlre. Although there are many who doubt bis sincerity, I believe after three years of Intimate acquaintance with Mayor Jones that the rapidity with which his wealth increases and his inability to use it for the real benefit of either him self or mankind are a constant and deep distress to him. He said to me one day: "My bookkeeper has explained the1 difficulty. A friend of mine has one reply to make to me whenever I men tion the injustice in the system that gives me a fortune when others who , are willing to work have nothing. 'If j you don't want your money,' he says, why don't you give It away? He was In my "office today when I opened a letter from Mr. Nelson. Nelson wrote, among other things, that the conviction was rapidly growing among men of large fortunes that it was not so de sirable to have more than your neigh bors and that the real joy in effort. after all, comes not in what you get, 1 but in what you accomplish and the respect accorded you by your fellows. I read this to my friend, and he said. If be don't want his money, why don't he give it away? I was dumb, as usual, after this very sensible remark, but my bookkeeper said dryly, 'He don't give It away, because If he did, Hanna would get it' Now, that Is the real reason why a man who don't believe In accumulating private fortunes Is obliged to remain a millionaire in case be gets the million. If be were to give It away while the system. under which he ls able to secure It remains in opera tion, it will only eventually go to some other Individual who is a little shrewd er than his fellows." Alnslee's Maga sine. Haw York Street Railwara. The gross receipts of the street rail ways of New York city hut year were $15,000,000, but the amount paid the city in taxes and In all other ways was only 2 per cent of the amount The actual profits represent 20 or 30 per cent on the real cost of construc tion. These enormous profits are hid den by most liberal watering of stock.' An instance will illustrate the extent to which this Is carried. When tha consolidation of tha street, railway, lines was effected In 106-6, the cap italisation. Including that of leased lines represented by rentals paid, was Increased to $51,000,000, while the track operated had Increased to only 171 miles, representing a capitalisation of $300,000 per mile. Since 1885 the capitalization has been Increased to more than $05,000,000, tha amount per mile remaining the same. Although the average cost of constructing a line of street railway with double tracks Is but $10,000 per mile, and $30,000 would be a liberal allowance to cover all expenses, Including rolling stock, power plant, etc., the company pays handsome dividends at the rate ot $300,000 per mile. The net profits during 18054 were tt.KJ8.397.-New York Verdict ' OLD 229 1 f Took World' Fair Price Six Tears Afo, ' Bat To-day la a "Baa Been." . Poor old 229 steamed slowly into her local side track drawing a conglom eration of freight cars which constitute the "local freight" which runs between Cincinnati and Seymour, Ind. , The old locomotive looked worn and rusty, and also appeared very , much dissatisfied with her task. She lacked - the ; old time pride and bluster which marked her first days on the road,, when the pulled the CL Louis flyer, and, upon entering a way station, would puff and steam, while the denizens of the sur rounding country stood and marveled at the "critter" with their eyes and mouths open. Old 229 is no longer the object of the amazed country boy's gaze, nor is she the pride of the road. as her days are post, and she ls now compelled to take a back seat and join the ranks of the "has beens," says Cin cinnati Enquirer. Other locomotives of more modern design now pass her by without' noticing tho old mass of iron, and the fickle country folk come for miles to the stations and crossings, and marvel as they did 'hen old 229 was in the j mlth of her fame. The old engine l?ys In a side switch, giv ing the new one the right of way, and Is unnotlcM and forgotten. Each year the various railroad companies, in or der to keep abreast of the times, are compelled to purchase new locomo tives, as great improvements are being made every day. . Aa the new ones come on the engines hitherto In use are compelled to be reduced in the ranks according to their age, and the last use an engine Is put to before be ing sold for old iron Is on the "lo :al freight." It is a well-known fact In railway circles that the worst rolling stock' will always be found on this run. . ' . ; - ... ... ,-, . Poor old 229 Is . a sample of the triumph and advancement of Ameri can mechanism, as she is now hanging on the last edge before being deserted. When alongplde one of the new crack engines oi the road she Is a sight, but yet just six years ago as a sample of the Baldwin locomotive works this en gine took the prize at the Chicago world's fair. This engine was one of a trio that were sent there by that works, and were afterward purchased by a road running out of this city, and when first placed on the tracks she created somewhat of a furor.. Old 229, her days are past, and she is now re duced and disgraced! Even her whit tle lacks the bragging spirit it once possessed, and the old - "Iron horse,'' downcast and depressed, sees others who have followed in her wake whose fate will be the same as her own in a few years to come. , WatllngVs Island. Chicago ' Record: Investigations that were made at the time of the world's fair settled the long contro versy about the landfall of Columbus to the satisfaction of nearly aH geog raphers. Rudolph Cronau, a German scientist; Fred A. Ober, an American, and the superintendent of the light house service in the Bahamas, a Brit ish naval officer, whose name I have forgotten, made thorough explorations with the logbook of Columbus as their guide. They visited all the other is lands In the neighborhood, but none corresponded in any way with the de scriptions given by the admiral, while Watling's seemed to fit exactly even the coral reefs and the lagoons that gave him so much difficulty. The light that Columbus saw the night before the discovery Was undoubtedly a torch in the hands of some faithful flsherwlfe held up to guide her husband home, and Albert Biersstadt spent several weeks at Watling's painting a picture to commemorate the Columbian anni versary and to give that worthy woman an appropriate place In history. The members of the board of lady managers from New York state adopted her and her torch as a design for their seal. Monastery Llqaor. ; The Income from liquors manufac tured at the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse has Increased enormously during the last forty years, and profits now amount to about $750,000 per an num. The seeming anomaly of a re ligious order being engaged in the manufacture of a beverage has given rise to some criticism, and the monks for .some time have been willing to sell out, but no way has yet been found to satisfy conditions they deem indispensable. The rule of the mon astery and the vows of the monks for bid their appropriating for their own benefit any of the revenue from the liquor, so It ls devoted. In equal parts, to three objects to "Peter's pence," to the maintenance of an hospital, and to the relief of the poor. The monks are not willing to part with their rights unless due provision ls made for the first and last of these objects. These monks, however, are not now the only manufacturers of chartreuse, as one of the Inmates left the monastery some time ago and Is now said to be making the liquor after the approved formula. Mas a. Cairo's Tomb. Mme. Emma Calve, the singer, has ordered M. Dents Puech, the sculptor, to design her tomb. She has 'no imme diate intention of dying; will probably, In fact, sing "Carmen" many times more. But she wishes to see her tomb before she has need ot it Also she is net without hope that "M. Puech's de sign may prove fine enough to be ex hibited at the Paris World's Fair. That explains, does It not? , Hons la Rlnalas Put a teaspoonful of borax In your rinsisc water. It will whiten thai clothes, and also remove the yellow cast on garments that have been laid aside for two or three years. The Would' Heathen. The heathen still outnumber sil the various religious bodies put together. According to the latest statlstlcs.there are ia the world 143,000,000 Protest ants, 98,000,000 followers of the Greek church, 230,000,000 Roman Catholics, and 176,000,000 Mohammedans. As the population of the world la estlsiitcd at 1,500,000,000, and adding to the adher ents of the four great religions of the world other 53,000,000 for the thousand and one beliefs with comparatively few followers, there are left 800,000,000 people who worship strange gods or practice curious rites in lieu of religion, and who come within the definition of the "heathen,", for whose conversion large sums are collected year after year amongst the churches throughout the civilized world. The Sun's Carbon Shell. It has often been suggested that the brilliance of the sun's disk is due to in candescent particles, of carbon, and within a few years past the presence of carbon in the sun has been demonstrat ed by the spectroscope. Lately Prof. Hale, the .director of the Yerkes ob servatory, has shown Unit there ls a thin layer of carbon in tLs lower part of the sun's atmosphere. It surrounds the solar globe like a luminous shell, and, under normal conditions, Is prob ably, not more than 500 miles above the sun's surface. But when an eruption1 takes place, from beneath, the carbon layer, like airthe other constituents of the solar atmosphere, is broken up and locally dispersed by the tremen dous agitation. Largest American Flag's. George Main of this city In 1855 or '56 made the biggest specimen of the Stars and SL .pes ever manufactured, which was flung to the breeze at a reception to President Franklin Pierce. The democrats of Concord were bound to "beat , the record,' and hired Mr. Main to make for them a flag 120 feet long by 90 feet wide, containing 1,200 yards of bunting. It was hung across Main street, between the state house yard and a building on whose site the New Hampshire savings bank block now stands. Mr. Main made $5,000 worth of flags for the Plfire and Bu chanan campaigns. Concord Patriot : " Monkeys Esci, t, , Two monkeys . have escaped from their cage in the garden of the Bull and Bush hotel, Hampstead, England, and nave been exploring, not only the heath near Golder's Hlll.but have also enjoyed themselves In the well-kept grounds of houses adjoining the heath. One of-the animals, "Joey," got Into trouble last August, when he and three companions went out on a similar ex pedition. His companions were killed and "Joey" was wounded and captured. On being taken back to his cage his owner bought another monkey to keep him company, and It is t Is new com panion "Joey" has now led astray. Highest Bolldlnfs In tha ifSrld. The ten highest structures in the world are in order as follows: The Eif fel tower, Parle, 984 feet; Washington monument, Washington, D. C, 555 feet; the city building, Philadelphia, 535 feet high; the cathedral of Cologne, . Ger many, 611 feet: the cathedral of Straas burg, Germany, 466 feet; the chimney of St. Rollox chemical wors, Glasgow, 455 feet; St Martin's church,. Land shut, Germany, 454 feet; St. Stephen's church, Vienna, 453 feet; the great py ramid of Egypt, 450 feet', and St. Pe ter's church, Rome, 448 feet. Blue Roses Brew Wild. An account of the blue rose has been given by the German gardeners In Slavonla, Chwoika and Bitz, who are cultivating it. Reports came of blue roses that grew wild in Servia, and a specimen was sent to them two years ago with violt blue flowers. They have been experimenting to see whether the color is retained under cultivation or whether It ls due to the soil of the moors where It Is found. If the roses retain their blue, the plants will be for sale in 1901. New York Sun. ': A Bare Coffee Test. There is no drink more delicious than a cup of coffee when the beverage ls made from the beet seed. To test coffee put a spoonful gently on- the top of a glass of water, r If the coffee Is pure It will not sink for some minutes and will scarcely color f- water; but If chicory is mixed with it will sink to the bottom immediaty, rapidly ab sorbing the water and also giving It a dark-reddisb tinge. A Wonderful natural Bridge. Down on Pine creek, near Camp Verde. Ariz., is a natural bridge that is probably greater than any other In the world. It is nearly five times the size of the natural bridge of Virginia, and has a span of more than 500 feet across Pine creek, -which Is dry 200 days in the year. The height of the bridge is about eighty feet, and it ls about 600 feet wide. Carrier Pigeons Armed. In China carrier pigeons are pro tected from birds of prey by apparatus consisting of bamboo tubes fastened to the birds' bodies. As the pigeon flies the action of the air passing through the tubes produces a shrill whistling sound, which keeps the birds of prey at a distance. j Preferred Wat One sensible man In Wlnterport.Me.. who has wanted city water put In his house, but felt that his Income was hardly equal to It this year concluded to drop the use of tobacco, after thirty years' use of the weed, and put In the water. Aug. 3. '8oq I T. A. CAROTHERSv ICE E DellTero he aay aart as ,Jm City. TELEPHONE 478 DR. M. B. KETCHUM, SPECIALIST. EYE, EAR, NOSE, THROAT, CATARRH. Spectacles Fitted Accurately, y All Fees Reasonable. 4 fflce 226 S, 10th St.. Lincoln. Nebf. DR. O.C. REYNOLDS, SURGEON. Headauarters for Good Lumber at low prices. f. w. ULIl UU. 7th &O St,LIOCOLN, NER g 7 : ( 4 C) : A chance : to save some money by dropping me a postal card, . asking tor -. . Catalogue and Prices. Good standard new Organ $45 and up. v ARTHUR BETZ, 212 So. 1 1 IS Si Lincoln. Nebraska. Annual Encampment G. A. B. at Philadelphia Low Bates Stop-Overs.' Here is a popular excursion for you I the Northwestern Line. Pretty nearly everything yon want '8 granted. r or tue rounu lrlp same roam going ' ... j . - j and returning, continuous passage, 52.85; going and returning same route with one stop-over in each direction east of Buffalo, Niagara Falls or Pittsburg, f 34.05; going one way and returning , . another, with one stop-over as above, f 36.05. Tickets will be sold September 1, 2, and 3. Extreme limit September 30. For other information please call at city ticket office, 117 So. 10th St, Lincoln, Neb. Cryptic Masons at Pike's Peak. On the occasion of the above meeting, Aug. 7 to 12. the Denver & Rie Grande railroad will make a rate of one fare for the round trip from Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo to all points in Colorado and to Salt Lake City. This will be an excellent opportunity lor an outing in the Rockies. For particulars call on agents or write S. K. Hooper, O. P. & T. A., Denver, Colo. The Fertile Lands of Colorado" . is the title of an illustrated book issued by the Denver and Rfo'Grande Railroad. Descriptive of the vast area of agricultural, Hor ticultural, and Grating lands in Colorado & New Mexico, and which also contains full information as to live stock interests, the sugar beet industry, farming by irrigation, and the opening of the Ute Indian reservation, which will be mailed free by ad dressing . i S. K. HOOPER, CMT.A,. Deiver. Colo. i by 7s - t m , ... . ...... m mm. 0