Old Line
During the last quarter of a century in Nebraska's history
scores of fire and life insurance companies have been organized in
Nebraska, only to "wither and die. Some died because they were
not founded upon a scientific basis. Others died because they were
poorly managed. " Others died because of one thing or another.
But during all these years, while other companies were springing
up and fading away, the Old Line Bankers Life Insurance Com
pany of Lincoln has been growing and prospering. It was a strug
gle for existence for a major portion of this quarter of a century.
But the men who founded it, and who are still controlling it, knew
to a certainty that they were building on a sure foundation. And
today its success is the wonder and admiration of the life insur
ance world. Its magnificent home office building at Fourteenth
and N streets, Lincoln, is an evidence of its stability and success;
its record of a quarter of a century is a guarantee of the wisdom
of its management. Today it is one of three companies in the west
and southwest carrying the full reserve. "With $5,500,000 of assets,
it has not a dollar invested in stocks and bonds. It has never put
a drop of water into its capital stock, and has never paid over 6
per cent on the capital stock actually invested an investment that
is represented by one hundred cents for every dollar claimed. '
Every dollar of assets is represented by farm mortgages, with
the sole exception of the money invested in its splendid home office
building. These farm mortgages are all on lands bordering on the
Missouri river and within 150 miles of that river a section of coun
try that exceeds the famed valley of the Nile in fertility, and pro
ductivity. In its history of twenty-five years the Old Line Bankers
Life Insurance Co. has never lost a dollar, principal or interest, of
a farm loan it has made. On January 1, 1912, these farm loans
amounted to just 31 per cent of the actual valuation of the land
with improvements, and 34 per cent of the value of the land with
out improvements. The actual expense of making one of thes
farm loans is less than one-fifth of 1 per cent an expense far less
than that incurred in buying a thousand dollars' worth of stock
from a broker. Study the statement of this company as you will,
you will find no "agency balances" nothing listed but money
and loans. Its cost of securing business is lower per thousand than
SEVEN REASONS
Why Investors Should Buy Preferred
Stock in The Lincoln Traetion Co.
1. It pays regularly 6 per cent per annum in quarterly installments.
2. There is no collection expense and no delay in collections. ' Checks
are mailed on the first day of each quarter to every holder of stock.
3. The Company pays the taxes and the holder gets a 6 per cent divi
dend free from tax burdens.
4. The shares are $100 each, convenient in form for the small investor
as well as the large.
5. The investor is saved the trouble of renewing loans and the loss of
interest while capital is idle. The stock cannot be retired without the. holder's
consent.
6. Every dollar of stock is issued and expended under the supervision
of the State and the purchaser is assured that his money is represented in
extensions or betterments. i .
7. A growing street railway means a growing city. The investor who
buys stock is taking a hand in the up-building of his city.
Stock for sale at the office of the Company, 941 O Street.
THE LINCOLN TRACTION COMPANY
Bankers Life Insurance
that of any other life insurance
administration is less per thousand of business transacted than any
other large life insurance company in America. The death rate
of this company is the lowest of any company in the United States
that is more than twenty-five years old. It is settling its deferred
dividend contracts, written ten, fifteen and twenty ; years ago,
above the estimates when sold, and is the only insurance company
in the United States producing such gratifying results for its
policyholders. It has never issued any kind of a contract other
than legitimate, straight life insurance, and no side schemes have
ever been adopted to enhance the insurance account.
This, in brief, is the history of this great life insurance com
pany a home company managed by Nebraskans, bringing millions
to the state and helping materially to develop the state's re
sources and possibilities. It is a record that, should appeal to
every Nebraskan; -a record that should command the support of
Nebraskans who believe in standing by home institutions that daily
prove their worth ; a record that Nebraskans can point to with
pride and say, "That's a Nebraska institution!"
The Old Line Bankers Life
passed that stage when it might
patronage on the ground that it was a home institution. But, jus:
the same, WilL Maupin's Weekly, always anxious to foster ard ad
vance home institutions, insists that the fact that it is a home in
stitution should be considered by Nebraskans. The company's in
fluence upon the commercial and industrial life of the common
wealth has been of immense advantage to Nebraska. And a com
mon sense application of the system of standing by our Nebraska
institutions would prosper the state itself equally with the :nstitu
tions growing up within the state's borders.
Of course, we may be "reactionary," and all that sort of thing,
but we prefer allowing private corporations to get a start and make
money before regulating them, to the policy of keeping them out by
serving notice that if they enter our commonwealth they do so at
the peril of their lives.
Company
company in America; its cost of
Insurance Company long since
have been necessary to appeal for
Taking, a Census of
MADAM I
IAMTAKWC
A census of
WELL
HAVE YOU
ONE ?
WASHINGTON. Prof. W. J. McGee
of the department of agriculture
has been at work upon a curious sort
of census for some months. This cen
sus is not the counting of souls, but of
the wells of water upon which souls
are nourished. He has secured data
concerning the wells of the country,
and they are bearing on the national
water supply and incidentally upon
the ultimate food resources of the na
tion. This wU enumeration has al
ready reached 35,000, and covers the
states and practically every- country of
the United States." Records are com
piled, so far as possible, showing the
depth of the well and the depth of
the water and the variation of water
level from year to year. The signifi
cant part of the showing is that the
water level in the wells of the country
is decreasing at the rate of 'a foot and
a half for each decade. Some of the
records go back for 20 years and some
to the first settlement of the country.
The average reduction in level of
the "ground water" is shown to have
been 14 feet since its first settlement.
This Is regarded as a serious condi
1 (II S 3 -H3 V
First Giant Wireless Towers Erected
THE first of three giant steel towers
to be used by the bureau of yards
and docks of the United States navy
as wireless telegraph stations has
been erected on a high hill overlook
ing the Potomac river at Arlington,
Va. Two of the towers are 450 feet
high, while the third is 600 feet' high,
the latter being the highest in the
world built for use as a wireless tele
graph station.
When the other two towers are
erected the three will be capable of
seeding a wireless message a distance
of 3,000 miles over the sea and almost
that distance over land. Had they
been completed and in working order
a week ago . direct communication
could have been established between
Arlington, Va., and any of tbe vessels
within hundreds of miles of the ill
fated Titanic.
The 600-foot tower, when erected,
will contain an elevator, and the steel
work on the two smaller towers has
been so arranged that elevators can
be placed in. them at any time. How
ever, for a while at least, persons will
ascend from the bottom to the top of
the smaller towers by means of a
stairway. The 600-foot tower rests on
a base 150 feet square, while the two
450-foot towers rest on a base 120 feet
square. v
A power and engine house, trans
mitter and receiving buildings are be-
Historic Ship Is Abandoned by Navy
THE historic old ship Santee, which
recently sank at her dock at the
Annapolis Naval Academy, has been
abandoned by the naval authorities
and will be sold to the highest bidder
with the understanding that he re
move her at his 'own expense. An in
spection of the vessel shows that she
is waterlogged and beyond repair for
naval purposes. She rests on ' the
muddy bottom of the Severn with the
water . about twelve feet above her
water line and probably never will
float again.
Naval officers have an affection for
the old Santee,. based oa recollections
of their student days at the academy.
For many years she was used as a
practice ship by the midshipmen, and
when no longer able to navigate, was
transformed into a prison ship for the
Aeroplane Gun Fires from Both Ends
TESTS of another invention designed
to make "war in the clouds" pos
sible are being prepared by the United
States. It consists of an aeroplane
gun that discharges a projectile from
each end. One of the projectiles is
designed for destructive work and the
other as a dummy, to neutralize the
recoil. Commander Cleland Davis, V.
S. N., is the inventor.
The practicability of ' the weapon
!ias been partially demonstrated in
ests at Fort Wright. Two light can
vas wings, corresponding to those of
'an aeroplane were rigged up close to
the gun. Delicate springs and recoil
ling discs were placed under the
Stanchions to record the vibration and
concussion and recoil. The results in
dicated that its use on an aeroplane
hundreds of feet above earth is prac
ticable. As the two projectiles weigh about
the Water Wells
tion, because the food-producing pos
sibility of the country depends even
tually on the water supply.-
One group of 10 states was taken in
the rectangle inclosed by Minnesota,
Ohio, Tennessee and Iowa. It was
found that this was representative of
the general condition. It was shown,
that the water level was gradually but
steadily falling all over the country,
so that the ultimate outlook, not next
year, but in a few centuries, will be
for a vanishing drinking supply not
only on the farms, but in urban com
munities where the water supply Is
drawn from lakes and rivers.
Prof. McGee says that the supply
could be increased by digging the
wells deeper, but that this would be
merely a palliative measure. The real
remedy is in changing the system of
farm cultivation so as to conserve the
water supply. . V ;
: He explains that when the country
is in a state of nature all the rainfall
and tbe melting snowfall sinks Into
the ground and the rivers run clear.
With, settlement and cultivation the
ground is broken up so that it to
washed into the streams and the riv
ers run muddy in the spring, and
there are intervals of disastrous floods
and bad drouths.
He says further that as land be
comes more valuable the farmer Is
unconsciously applying the remedy by,
more intensive cultivation and manag
ing his land so that it Is not allowed
to erode and wash away.
ing erected at Arlington. These, with
the three huge towers, which, when
erected, will be visible from any point
within many miles of the nation's capi
tal, will constitute the most powerful
wireless station in the world.
When completed the station will be
able to communicate over the seas
with the Azores in the Atlantic, all
West Indian ports and South Ameri
can coast towns- as far south as the
mouth of the Amazon river. ' Aerial
disturbances, which are greater over;
land than over sea, will. It is expect
ed, make transmission over land more
difficult, but it Is said that after al
lowances . for impediments in trans
mission over land wireless communi
cation from this station will extend
over half of North America. -
The steel work on the towers has
been completed for some time. The
towers were shipped to Arlington
from tbe shops here In sections and
erected as fast as the different seer
tions were completed. . .
embryo admirals who transgressed the
rules. In more recent years she was
used as a garrison for marines and
sailors on that station. A few days
ago a large section of her bottom gave
way and she sank slowly to the bed
of the river.'.,.
The Santee Is a wooden ship of the
square-rigged type. She was built Just
before the civil war, but because of a
mistake In her design she never was
used for any Important service. .. Tra
dition has It that the error was point
ed out to the designer by his young
son soon after the vessel was launch
ed, and that the designer committed
suicide by shooting himself on her
deck. ' The mistake was that the port
holes were built directly opposite
each other, thus affording an open
line of fire to an opposing warship.
The Santee was taken to Annapolis
la 1865, when the Naval Academy was
transferred there-from Newport. Soon
after that she was dismasted and
roofed over. Huge anchors were cast
lore and aft to steady her in position
and, in fact, for years she practically
rested on the soft mud at the Naval
Academy dock. , ,
fifty pounds it is acknowledged that
the sudden loss of weight might af
fect an aeroplane greatly. Now the
inventor and Captain Washington I.
Chambers, U. S. N., in charge of avia
tion in the navy, are studying this
phase of the problem.
Final tests of the gun will be held
soon at Indian Head under the super
vision of the bureau of ordnance. It
will be fired from a frail structure to
represent an aeroplane and a dyna
mometer will register the effect of
the discharge.
Jl