MTES OF THE DAY.
HARRISON PRESS-JOURNAl
GEO. D. CANON. Editor.
HARRISON. - - NEBRASKA
NEBRASKA NEWS.
Several day ago a 3-year-OL? son of
William Greve of Fairbury fell and
badly lacerated his throat with a toy
trumpet held in hU mouth. The boy
died Tuesday from the effect of the
wound.
B. A. Small'! hardware store at Fair
mont was entered by burglars Sunday
night and 1100 worth of pocket nives
and razors were taken. Entrance waa
through a rear window.
C D. Woodruff, residing near Tecum
seh, suffered a broken rib and other in
juries while attempting to ride a wild
horse Wednesday.
Lorenx Richling. a farmer about 72
years of age. waa taken suddenly 111
on last Sunday, died on Monday and
was buried in the Catholic cemetery
at Crelghton Thursday. Mr. Richling
leaves an aged wife aad a number of
children.
Ex-Mayor Bernard King of York has
publish d a circular offering I'M re
ward for information that will lead to
the arrest and conviction of the par
tie who set fire on Monday night to
his store at Central City, Neb.
The Nebraska fish car was at Sid.
ney Thursday and made Its Semi
annual distribution of fish. Black bass
and rock bass, croppies, perch, cat and
German carp were In eager demand
and thousands will be planted in tha
numerous streams of western Nebras
ka. The car was in charge of Super
intendent Adam Bloup and Commis
sioner Oberfelder.
Frank R. Wlngfleld of Crawford was
In Chadron Thursday with a view of
taking out his first papers toward be
coming an American citizen. Mr. Wing
field has been a resident of this county
for several years, but Is a subject of
the queen of England, and has the
British flag hung up In his office at
Crawford. Court did not convene and
he Is still a British subject. He Is a
regular republican nominee for district
clerk. His party is all disorganized
over the affair.
During a heavy rain storm lightning
truck the large two-story frame ho
tel at Gresbam, almost demolishing the
front from roof to foundation. - Heavy
beams were torn out and scattered in
fragments, pieces of siding were thrown
1M feet, loth and plaster was torn off
la several rooms, three of which were
occupied. How the occupants escaped
Injury or death and the bouse total de
struction from Are are miracles) beyond
iprehenston.
William Erwln, a farmer, living
eight miles south of Fairbury. was
killed by lightning. He waa threshing
whea at James Smith's and started
home on horseback when the storm
oame up at 6 o'clock. His horse waa
also killed. The body was found in
the morning near his home by his wife.
Be leaves four smalt children.
lira. John MJttcham. of Fairbury.
aged 74, while starting a fire Sunday,
Ignited her clothes and when the
Ill I SS WBIC CAIUIUIICU www iw-
tally burned. She died after suffering
Intensely for several hours. She leaves
a husband and three sons.
John Ottersbunr. well known fann
er living near Adams. Gage county,
was killed recently while helping a
neighbor move a house. He crawled
under the house, which was elevated
on jackscrews, when one of the rotten
His gave way, crushing his body so
that he died on Sunday last.
The big sugar factory of the Standard
Beet Sugar company at Ames Is about
completed. The heavy machinery Is
an placed, the big steel smokestack
has Just been erected, the brick work
Is about finished, and the placing of
the shafting will complete the work.
The company haa been shipping In help
from eastern cities to rush the work as
much as possible.
Reuben Miles of Rock Bluffs brought
to Plattsmouth a report of having
found the dead and decayed body of
an unknown man across the river from
tk Bluffs half burled In a 'sand bar.
The unfortunate Individual had evi
dently been dead for months, and pos
sibly since the high water of 'June and
July. A portion of his face had drop
pe daway and Identification will be
difficult unless his pockets contain
some evidence of who he la It was so
lata when the report cams In that the
coroner did not go to the scene until
the next day.
All the streets crossing the Union
Pacific tracks In Columbus are now
protected with an automatic alarm
system. The wiring and electrical part
of the work were done some time ago,
but the wires were not connected with
the gongs until Thursday. Under this
system the gong Is sounded when a
train approaches within 200 feet of the
crossing and continues until It has
passed. Red and white lights are au
tomatically displayed at night In ad
dition to rlngng the gong. The system
has been tested and works well.
One of New York's "yellow Journals"
to referred to by a Philadelphia con
temporary as having "published more
exclusive rumors than any other paper
la the country."
Since the opening of the free em
ployment bureau In Chicago six weeks
ago MM persons have applied for em
ployment, and of this number work
for S.MS has been secured. During the
same time (.0U people have endeavored
to employ labor through the offices and
t,W!t of the applications have been
Officials of the Brooklyn Rapid Tran
sit company say that rosy have been
robbed of nearly SS0.0M In the last six
weeks by the new conductors who
bare taken the place of the strikers of
last July. The new men are said to
have been "knocking down" fares In
dustriously, but the leakage has at
last bees stepped.
Dremsdsrtes have a great lore for
- - hi nil a aad can be made to do
almost anything under Its Influence,
aad m Egypt they rely more on It than
asj anything else to control these hg
basis la esses where the drome
arte have to work night and day
to wattt st?tt and day to acconpHsh
Jsarasy in the abertest possible time
Oey kt rng with clears. The
cfrtvs ratrtt triangular piece of
ft! liisnil at one point like a cigar
M-jr. tato Cat moot ef the animal,
ripbsa netted aad pressed
tm t-a ia the faction followed
1 rwm. lb inmttwr lawsisw
wawaBBBJW' SJ u lssw w. ssw saw wwsaw ww.
r-M. js arpear t fairest It aad
ta ua a f t w
Are
I
?rJLo
of
K
M VVA'e
J ffl"'"
I R.L.,n
I tfhere
.y I r
jO menpf&rvadJfehivtka,
t I cUomihe Cities andrtt plains.
rtndmA
rier vwt.
"What have the pops done for Ne
braska?" shouts the republican orator.
"What has the tripartite partlon of
fusion and confusion .done for Ne
braska?" sneers J. Sterling Morton, as
he searches among his files of old let
ters. "What, Indeed?" echo a hundred
or more little republican editors who
never had a dozen original thoughts in
their lives.
What have the "pops" done for Ne
braska? What has fusion done for
Nebraska? Well, the people of Ne
braska know what has been done and
they have time and again expressed
their approval thereof. In matters of
legislation, beneficial to the whole peo
ple, the populist legislature of lMil, the
demo-pop legislature of 1893 and the
fusion legislature of 1897 can Justly
point with pride to their several rec
ords. The fusion executive Btate offi
cers, beginning with Governor Holcomb
In 1895 and extending down to the pres
ent, have every reason to believe their
duties have been faithfully performed
and In the bet possible manner. These
matters of legislation and administra
tion have been discussed In hundreds
of columns of print, and the mere
enumeration of the various Items would
occupy more space than I care to use
In the present sketch. There is, how
ever, one little amendment enacted by
the populist legislature of 18!U which 1
purpose to discuss at this time.
A republican legislature In 1871 en
acted a law prescribing "the duties of
the state treasurer,"! etc. (General
Statutes, 891.) Section 1 of that act
prvolded that "all warrants upon the
state treasurer . . . shall be paid
In the order of their presentation there
for." And the quoted words have been
the law ever since.
Section I required the state treasurer
to "keep a warrant register, which
register shall show. In columns ar
ranged for that purpose, the number,
date and amount of each warrant pre
sented and registered as hereinafter
provided. . ." And this section, so
far as relates to the state treasurer,
has never been changed.
But section t deserves to be quoted
In full. Inasmuch as the administration
of the state treasury thereunder has
cost the taxpayers of Nebraska many
thousand dollars of needless expense In
the way of Interest on state warrants:
"flee. t. it shall be the duty of every
such treasurer, upon the payment of a
FEB of TEN CENTS by the holder of
sny warrant, or by any person pre
senting the same for registration. In
the presence of such perron, to enter
such warrant In his 'warrant register
for payment In the order of presenting
for registration, and upon every war
rant so registered, he shall endors
'registered for payment.' with the date
of such registration, and shall sign
such endorsement: Provided, that noth
ing In this act shall be construed to
RBQUBME the holder of any warrant
to BXOtSTER the same, but such war
rant gear be presented for payment
aad eadorsed, 'presented and not paid
for want of fuads,' and shall DRAW
IJfl'f atT from Dm DATS of such
PftXaauCTATIOK, as ow provided by
law.
WHAT HATE Tl POPULISTS DOM?
Cm
ZZtfjir 17)
sleeping n theirA
)irihatte thnu U
, j
rfs or s&fofi
Be uforldgHsmpvgro.!
j nlnn. on UOLL.
ue men oniaiihem.
isworkforjfou to do
allot &UJ(IGHTY
ana marxn rtdhton '
Nebraska. Nine republican legislatures
convened and adjourned without taking
any steps to correct the mistake made
by the legislature of 1871, and it be
came incumbent upon the populist leg
islature of 1891 to make such amend
ment thereto as would result In a sav
ing to the taxpayers. Not much change
wag necessary, but that little was of
vital importance. The fee of ten cents
for regismtering a warrant was cut
out, as was also the proviso, and pro
vision was made "that all warrants
outstanding at the time this act takes
effect shall be presented for payment
or registration by August 1st, 1891, and
shall not draw Interest after such date
unless so presented." The full Intent
of this latter clause will be made clear
er later on.
For some years prior to. and Includ
ing part of, the year IKM, the state
general fund had always money suffi
cient on hand to pay any warrant pre
sented and registration of general fund
warrants was, of course, unnecessary.
But the legislature of 1W7 had made
appropriations exceedingly generous, it
not extravagant, with the result that
about September, 1&84, the balance In
the general fund began to diminish
rapidly. On the 20th day o October
that year, warrants were Issued by the
auditor to Kails, Reynolds at Sprecher,
certain contractors for the erection of
public buildings, aggregating over 138,
000. Of these warrant No. 4,717, for
112,090.60, was presented to the state
treasurer and Paid October 20. t the
close of business that night the general
fund balance was only W. 495 99. Two
days later warrant No! 41.718, for S26.
249.40, was presented, but State Treas
urer Wlllard had not enough funds to
pay It The holder did not care to
Invest ten cents to have It registered
for payment In fact, he preferred to
have It endorsed, "presented and not
paid for want of funds," because, under
the law. It would draw Interest at the
rate of 1 per cent per annum from the
date of such presentation, and there
seemed to be no provision In the law
whereby a warrant so endorsed could
be "called" by the treasurer and Inter
est stopped. Apparently all the holder
of such a warrant had to do was to
keep It away from the state treasury
and It might draw Interest for an In
definite period, terminable only at the
option of the holder of the warrant Be
sides, If he should run short of ready
money, the treasurer would cash It at
any time. If be had sufficient funds on
hand.
Not to exceed six warrants were reg
istered In the year IMS. The ten-cent
fee waa burdensome to the holders of
small warrants, and the holders of the
large warrants knew that those regis
tered would be called and paid In a
very short time and they wanted s
safe Investment at 7 per cent
Section 1 of the law provides that all
"warrants shall be paid In the order
pf their presentation therefor," but
section I and I, as then existing, ren
dered strict compliance with the law
Impossible. If all were compelled to
register their warrants, compliance
would have been easy: the treasurer
would have stopped cash payments on
ths Ret ef October, ins, registered all
taa warrants aa las as pre
V.
rill
sented and used all the available gen
eral fund balance from time to time in
the payment of principal and Interest
on the registered warrants, taken In
the order of their registry numbers.
But the alternative of having war
rants stamped with the endorsement,
"presented and not paid for want of
funds" threw the state treasury In con
fusion. From the 2th day of October,
18X8, to the 21st day of January, 1&S9.
the auditor Issued 1.166 general fund
warrants, being numbered from 48,716
to 49,881 Inclusive, and aggregating the
sum of 169,630.62. Nearly all these
warrants were presented to the treas
urer within a few days after Issue. Six
hundred and three of them, aBgregat
Ing t96.100.26, were paid in cash upon
presentation, and 563, aggregating $173.
630.34, were endorsed "presented (giv
ing date) and not paid for want of
funds." No attempt was made to pay
these warrants "In the order of their
presentation therefor." On January 7.
1889, J. M. Stewart presented warrant
No. 49,410 for 1375; It was not paid foi
"want of funds" and received the cus
tomary endorsement Stewart then
disposed of It to a warrant broker, who
in turn sold It to an eastern banking
house; when it was finally paid, July
22, 1891, the taxpayers of Nebraska,
through their tate treasurer, were
obliged to pay 164 79 Interest, although
at various limes during the years 1889
and 1W0 more than 1200 000, belonging
to the general fund, was lying idle
In tbe state treasury. (Theoretically "In
the treasury" In fact In Nebraska
banks.) The eastern bank was not
obliged to send In the warrant for pay
ment and held It until almost the last
moment Two days after Mr. Stewart
presented his warrant Governor John
M. Thayer presented warrant No. 49,
418 for 1426, and was paid In cash the
same day. On that day, also, D. B.
Howard presented warrant No. 49.46S
for 8411.01; his warrant receiver tne
usual endorsement, and when It finally
came back to the treasury on July 24.
1191. the taxpayers of Nebraska were
mulcted for 173.20 Interest January 7,
1X1. Effle Lewie presented warrant No
49.411 for IM0. and had It endorsed.
The eastern banking house which event.
ually came Into possession of her wsr
rant sent It to the treasurer for regis
tration, complying with the populist
amendment to section t. It was regis
tered as No. 44ft and was not paid until
February t, 1892. on which date the
treasurer paid 34.7t to redeem it.
Nearly tt per cent Interest
These Illustrations will suffice to show
the chaotic condition of the state treas
ury In 188 and 1890, caused primarily
by defective republican laws, and sec
ondarily, by an unbusinesslike sdmin
Istrstloa thereof. The people of Ne
braska paid tS7.7t.M In Interest to re
deem the 1171,60.14 of warrants here
tofore mentioned as having been en
dorsed In compliance with the proviso
to the old section I, or something ovei
14 per cent
The balance In the general fund Oc
tober M, in, was M.4M.M. Recelptr
from that date to January tl, Ittf, werr
l.7M.ls, making a total of tllf.SM.17
Now the total general fund warrant
Isewed durlnf that
09s9iv9ew4sw aleswt3kj
that penod amounted te
u tne present pop-
I
Rift
ullst law had then been in force there
would have been, on January 21, 188f,
about I1M.4M.15 of registered warrants
outstanding, every dollar of which
could have been paid In three months or
less. In proof of this, I submit the fol
lowing table of balances in tbe general
fund:
February 1, 1889 S 61.154. 14
March 1, 1R89 49,734.34
April 1, 18X9 98.851.11
May 1, 1889 155,501. 95
June 1, 1S89 135,665.2
July 1, 1889 248,889.98
August 1, 18S9 228,822.67
September 1. 1889 180,790.1
October 1, 189 105,544.59
Three months' Interest on the total
Issue for the period under consideration
would be only $4,718.28. The Interest on
warrant No. 48,716 alone was 15,844.14.
But suppose the period of registration
to be extended over a longer period,
with warrants running full three
moaths before payment, 127,878.90 would
pay such Interest, at 7 per cent, on SI,
593.080. Republican extravagance and dishon
esty, beginning with 1889, have saddled
a great floating debt on Nebraska,
suon honesty and economy are lifting
that debt although not so rapidly as
could be done under more prosperous
conditions. CHA8. Q. DE FRANCE
Reese's Rake-off.
A list of state warrants Issued to C
B. Reese, wife, and H. A- Reese, sod
of Chief Justice Reese, tbe "father of
nepotism In Nebraska:"
March SI. 188. H. A. Reese, warrant
No. 44670, amount S32.
September 13, IMS, Hi A.
warrant No. 48341 amount $10.
January 4, 1889, H. A. Reese, war
rant No. 49121, amount S2.
April t, 1889, H. A. Reese, warrant
No. 62031. amount S24.
May 31, 1889, C B. Reess, warrant
No. 62952 amount $4.
June 14, 1889, C. B. Reese, warrant
No. 63188, amount $40.
June M, 1889, H. A. Reese, warrant
No. 61311, amount $48.
August 12. 1889, II. A, Reese, warrant
No. 64013, amount till.
August SO. 1889, C. B. Reese, warrant
No. 64164, amount $44.
September 16, 1889, C. B. Reese, war
rant No. 64344, amount $3.
September 30, 188, C. B. Reese, war
rant No. 64431, amount $40.
October IS, lttl, C. B. Reese, warrant
No. 64166, amount $44.
November 1, UN, C.B. Reeas, warrant
No. 66324, amount $44.
November 17, ISM, C. B. Reese, war.
rant No. 66464, amount $44).
December 10, ISM, C. B. Reese, war
rant No. 6417S. amount $40.
January , ISM. C. B. SUtsi.ewar
raat No. mn. asaoust $44).
New Tork Is fighting its so.'t coa'
smoke.
Cleveland ranks as the greatest Iron
ore market in the world.
In Germany a tramp is called a
"chausnlergrabentapestierer."
There are thirty-seven gold-ptoduc-Ing
counties In the 150,000 square miles
of California's area.
For every 1,000,000 Inhabitants In
Russia there are only ten newspapers
and Journals of all sorts.
Cattle raising in Georgia has reached
a point where tl ere is a surplus, and
the surplus Is coming west.
Italy has bought the Durghese Mu
seum and Gallery In Home tor 3.0OU.OU0
francs, to be paid In ten annual In
stallments. While plowing on his farm near Pe
tersburg, Ind., Joshua Dean unearthed
nlnty-four flint spearheads and two
skeletons.
Siberia and the Amur country pos
sess advantages very similar to those
of North America, Australia and parts
of South Africa.
The newest "lucky piece" Is a carv
ed ivory rabbit, not blKfter than a
bean, which must be carried In tht
palm of the hand.
The savings of the enlisted men In
the British navy amount to nearly S2,
000,000, all of which Is on deposit with
the government.
The Italian cruiser Garibaldi, recently
launched at Genoa from the yards of
the Ansaldos, was launched nine
months after the keel was laid.
The American Distilling company has
a concession from the Venezuelan gov
ernment covering the right to make
whisky and other liquors.
A fruit grower in Mendoclna county,
California, has this season shipped 69,
63 pounds of Bartlftt pears, which
were raised on four and one-half acres
of ground.
The mineral resources of western Si
beria are vast. Between Tomsk and
Koojtneck lie 60,000 square kilometers
(23,167 square miles) of coal lands which
have never been touched.
Kalel(fh, N. C, has the largest pair
of oak trees In the United States, when
symmetry of trunk and top Is taken
Into consideration. They stand 300
yards north of the capital.
The opinion that malaria Is conveyed
to human beings by mosquitoes has
long been held by the Bomall of East
Africa, according to the Information
given In Wlckenburg's "Wardtrungen
Ostafrlka."
Tallahassee, the flower-bedecked cap
ital city of Florida, boasts that It is
the only American city founded by a
member of the Immediate family of
Napoleon Bonaparte, Colonel Charles
Iouls Napoleon Achllle Murat.
A woman with pale ears can be safe
ly set down as one whose heart Is hard
to reach, while she whose ears are pink
along the curled rims and downy lobes
is a creature of sympathetic and re
sponsive temperament
A New Jersey man haa patented a
hitching post which will accommodate
bicycles as well as horses, the portion
of the post nearest the pavement be
ing provided with slots of sufficient
width to admit the wheel of the ma
chine. A 5-year-old boy of Brentwood. Eng
land, has received the Royal Humane
society's diploma for Jumping Into the
water and saving the life of his baby
brother, lie Is believed to be the
youngest certified life-saver on record.
A fly so minute as to be almost In
visible, ran three Inches in half a sec
ond, and was calculated to make no
(ess than 510 steps In the time a heal
thy man would take to breathe once,
A man with proportionate ability could
run twenty-four miles In a minute.
Fingers are valued at a high price in
Australia. A Melbourne boy of 8 had
his fingers crushed in a gate at a level
crossing, and one had to be amputated.
An action on his behalf was brought
against the state railroad department
The Jury awarded the full amount
claimed, 15,000.
An Ingenious person residing In Lit
tle Rock. Ark., has patented an Inflat
able boat. One gets into It sits down,
fastens a sheet of rubber about his
waist and blows the thing up. The
craft, moreover, may be adapted for
the use of two or more occupants If
desired.
A notice In the London Times of Au
guest 31 Illustrates the simplicity of
the English system of preparing the
final lists of the persons liable for Jury
duty. "On and after tomorrow for
twenty-one days," says the notice, "the
lists of persons liable to serve as Jury
men In England and Wales will be ex
hibited on the doors of the churches
and chapels and othrr place of public
worship over the country. These lists
are open to public Inspection. Unless
objection Is made to the overseers of
'he various parishes during September
by persons who are exempt and whose
names appear on the lists, their names
will be returned to the clerk of the
lace and they will be liable to serve
special and common Juries for the
nailing year. During the laft week of
September the Justices hold a petty
elon to correct the lists Hnd to allow
he notices of objection to the over
ers." V. D. Hunter, a special agent, has
st reported to Dr. Howard, the ento
iiloglst of the agricultural depart
ent. in resard to a recent statement
) the effect that It wns considered by
nomologists that the Turtle mountain
crlon, In North Dakota and Montana,
robobly was a permanent breeding
round of the destructive mlxralory
rasrhopper, a statement which occa-onf-d
much alarm and Indignation on
e part of railroads and other land
wn-rs. This region, therefore, was
carefully scrutinised by Mr. Hunter,
who reports that the mlgrstory grass
hopper does not breed permanently In
the Turtle mountains nor In that vi
cinity. The ground I perfectly unsulU
ed to breeding, and. moreover, swarms
descending farther east have been
traced from far to the northeast of that
place. The probable breeding ground,
he thinks, Is on the Asslnlboln river,
north and east of Rfglna.
A system Is to lie estsbllshed In Phil
adelphia this fall, whereby teacher'
will be given permission to take their
classes for one-half day, twice a yesr.
to Falrmount park and to the Zoolog
ical Gardens, such visits to be ragerd
ed as a part of the regular class du
ties. In Germany such an arrangement
Is a regular part of the program In
many of the schools. Bpeaklng on the
subject, Superintendent Brooks of the
Philadelphia schools said thHt one of
the prlnclpol subjects of Instruction
In the elementary schools Is nature
study, including lessons on bott-, ani
mals ad plants. Through the gener
osity of the managers of the Zoological
Gardens, the superintendent Is furnish
ed annuslly with about 125.000 tickets,
which sdmlt both teachers and pupils
to the gardens, snd to make th visits
of greater benefit to the children, the
teachers, he said, should accompsny
their pupils, while the Information ob
tained by such visits can be utilised
In subsequent Instructions In the class
room. Like advsntsges, he clslmed,
will result for a visit of the pupils to
the psrk, under the supervision of a ,
teacher who Is qualified lo point out 1
the objects of Interest
I
