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About Harrison press-journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1900)
"THE LION OP SOUTH AFRICA." Cronje, the olJler,. ha carved his niche beside that of Leonldas; Cronje the man remains to be known ouUide hia own brave land. The Sunday Post Dispatch thus presents him to the American people: It la fltltng that he, beyond all hia fighting countrymen, should capture the admiration of the world, alnce he more fully represents the Boer and hia aspirations than any other general. He Is second In command of the republican forces, but he is first in the hearts of the burghers. They love Joubert, with his courtly manners and his crafty generalship; but Joubert's qualities are the product of his French ancestry, and he does not appeal to their racial Instincts with the force of his subordinate, Cronje, the veritable farmer-soldier, who will stand for &fl time as the type of the Boer In war and peace. Cronje Is, first of all, a farmer. Ills life as a civilian Is that of a patriarch He rules his own little tribe with ab solute authority. In the true biblical way. and Imposes upon It the obliga tions of worshiping God and of tilling the soil. His farm, which is near Potchefstrom covers 12.000 acres. Any Boer farm would strike an American as a crude essay In agriculture, but Cronje's Is somewhat suiwrlor to his neighbors . Still, the greater part of It Is unfenced and untllled. The homestead Is a stone building of one story. There are half a dozen room, tho contents of which could be replaced for tM. The floors through out the dwelling consist of the native earth, beaten flat and glazed with bul lock s blood. Thero are no pictures on the walls. True Boer as he is. Cronje despises art in all Its forma His reading Is con fined to the bible, which he knows by heart, and a weekly newspaper in the Dutch tongue published In Pretoria. That a man should find pleasure In books or paintings or the manifesta tions of nature, in to him beyond un derstanding. Me comprehends such ec centrics under the designations "root neks.'' which Is applied Impartially to Englishmen, Americans and other un welcome foreigners. He is a silent man, simple and God fearing, inspired by a passionate deter mination that Ills race shall be free, nut alone from alien dominion, but also from the Influences of modern luxury. To him the old and new testament are nllke literal truth. It Is recorded of him that he laughed scornfully when a "roolmk" whom he met In Johannes burg ventured to remark that the earth revtlved round the sun and not the sun around the earth. "How can that be," demanded Cronje, "when the bible tells us that Joshua caused the sun to stand still that he micht slaughter his enemies?" That settled the question. Joshua is his favorite biblical charac terhis military and religious Ideal. To his family and dependents and the stranger within his gates he loves to read the story of the Hebrew leader's bloody fights with bis enemies, and In going forth against the English he Is lifted with the spiritual exaltation that nerved Joshua to vanquish the Philis tines. He hates politics. He dots not com prehend the ambition that would lead another man to make political capital out of the great regard that his gener alship has won for him. In IMS he was strongly urged to oppose Kruger for the presidency, but he refused. Roberts is an IrlHhman and a magnifi cent fighter. Personal daring has had no less to do with his advancement than skillful generalship. His most famous achievement was the march from Cabul to Kandahar. With 10,000 men he crossed the great mountain ranges nf Afghanistan, a dis tance of 300 miles. In twenty days, and then crushed the formidable Ayoub Khan. The empire rang out with that march, and it was only one of the many martial feats of the Indomitable "Little UollS." General Lord Kitchener of Khartoum also bears a title which commemorates his great achievements in arms. He Is a type of the modern soldier. He Is a student, an organizer, an en gineer. He Is as cold as Ice. In his eyes a line of infantry is no more than a sty the, a body of cavalry no more than a projectile. Of personal valor he may be richly capable, but his method of warfare does not give it opportuni ties. He has a brain that can plan great, tedious operations, foreseeing difficulties and overcoming them in advance. By P. Louter Weasels, Secretary of the National Boer Relief association: Pleter Arnoldus Cronje, the general from the Transvaal who is fighting for and with the people of the Orange Free State, may well be called the "Lion ol South Africa." Ha has proved his valor and has done his duty. It Is not the habit of the people of South Africa to worship a hero. Every man standi ready to fight for his country. General Cronje is known by reputa tion In the Orange Free State, although his life has been spent beyond the Vaal. Like many of our people, he is of Hu guenot descent, and settled in our part of the world under the Dutch East In dia company. His people Joined In the Great Trek oi 1846, and he settled with them in the north of the Transvaal. We first heard of Cronje In 1881, when he was elected Commandant General ol the burgher troops of Potchefstroom di vision. Against him was pitted Major Clarke of the British army in that year of warfare which ended at Majuba hill. Major Clarke capitulated to General Cronje. The peace papers were signeo by them. General Cronje ocupled a very Im portant position and figured conspicu ously In the settlement of these diffi culties. Let me say here that we of South Africa considered Gladstone the fairest statesman England ever had. Cronie has a great heart as well as a great head. He treats his prisoners with the greatest consideration. Here Is how we of the Orange Free State came to have Cronje at the head of our troops: Our own commanding general was General Gideon Joubert, no relation to Piet Joubert, but he was too old to direct the forces on the field, nav lng reached hia eightieth year. It was agreed between the Orange Free State and the South African Republic mat the Free State should send men to the southern border of the Transvaal. Gen eral Cronje for a time was at the siege of Mafeklng, but he was ordered tc Join Commandant Lubbe's Free State forces at Magersfonteln when It was learned that General Methuen, with 24.000 men, was on his way to relieve Kimberley. Cronje brought 5,000 men only with him. Cronje took command of the united forces. He Is a clear-headed and deter mined man. A man of uncommon com mon sense and a brave man. I was in Hloemfonteln before the war I saw Sir Alfred Milner ride through the streets of our capital with his face set. He did not want the ditticulty set tirl lirnhant. now of Brabant's horse, said he would ride the length and breadth of the Free State with 4,000 horse, but he was told that he could not do It with ten times mat iorce. While we welcome Cronje as the lead er of the Free State forces, we wish that our brave old Gideon Jouhert were able to take the field. He fought in the ltasuto war. His strategical planning was marvelous. Indeed, the art of strat egy is born In South Africa. There is something about the topography of the country which leds Itself to such skill and wars with the natives have added to the Boers' ability to stand off the enemy. Like America, South Africa raises men of the moment, and, unlike many generals, our leaders confer with the humblest private and follow advice, II considered good, no matter whence the source. Although we do not allow an ordinary burgher to come and make suggestions, Interviews with men In camp are re garded as part of the plan of cam paign. Our generals and field cornets mo Kn seen llstentne to an ordinary soldier. In this way Ideas are developed ami crnod nlans ensue. If a man's advice Is followed his rise from the ranks is Immediate, and thut there are always men In line ior pro motion. Mr iirnther. C. It. Wessels, Is chair man nf the war council. He was in the iin.ntr. ivnr fnit that was nothing. It may be said that this Is his first ex nerienee In warfare. He has read ev erylhlng on the art, however. He Is a SWEETHEARTS AND WIVES FIGHT FOR : THEIR COUNTRY IN THE INTRENCHMENTS. The Boer women fought side by side with the men in their heroic defense of Koodousrand. This is a revelation at which even England stands aghast. It appears to be true, as many famil iar with the Boers have predicted, that the women will shed their blood with the men in defence of the last inch of Transvaal and Free State territory. Again and again has this prediction il been made, but little attention has been paid to it. It Is now beginning to have a terrible significance. Statements made from time to time by British sol diers give confirmation of It. A war In which women take part will be awful beyond edscrlptlon. They will surely urge their men to the last pitch of desperation, while the enemy will have the alternative of killing women or being ruthlessly slaughtered themselves. Such a war as this has never taken place In modern times. The most strik ing Instance of it Is the great struggle of the Dutch, the ancestors of the Boers, against Spanish tyranny, In which women not only fought, but In several Instances led men. Motley tells how the Dutch women tore out -the hearts of the Spaniards and flung them In the faces of the enemy. The Boer woman is a strange figure, apart from this age, uncouth, heroic possessing boundless courage and the bigotry of her husband in an exagger ated degree. With the 3,000 Boers who resisted for a week the assault of 50,000 British troops In that death hole In the Modder river were the wives, sweethearts, chil dren and other women relatives of the defenders. They had accompanied the original army of 10,000 Boers which re sisted Methuen's advance and slaugh tered the Highland brigade at Magers fontein. It was not that the Roers took their wives. The women Insisted on going, They said it was their right. The free dom of their country was as much to them as to the men. As the mothers went, they had to take their children for there would have been no one left to look after them at home. They would have been left to the mercy of the Kaffirs. To set the example, Mrs. Cronje, wife of the ablest general of the Boers, ac companied her husband. He is a rich man, probably a millionaire, but in the Transvaal the rich are as ready as the poor to give their lives In defence of their country. It may be added that there are no poor, in the European sense, In that country. What a spectacle was that the wife of the great and rich man of the Trans vaal doing her duty under the murder on fire of 50,000 soldiers! That simple old Boer housewife made coffee, cooked food, nursed the wounded, carried am munition, while a hall of rifle bullets and lyddite shells charged with poison ous vapor filled the bend of the Mod der river with death and disease. Dy- ng men and animals lay all around. But she calmly went on with her work, her own safety being the last thing she thought about. There Is no more heroic spectacle than this In all history. Even when the British general offered to suspend hostilities while the women with their children went out, they would not hear of It. It was Cronje who sur rendered first. The women stayed with him to the last, and perhaps we shall arn that they opposed the surrender, whic h appeared Inevitable to his calm er wisdom. In one of his reports Lord Kobens states that there were 170 wounded and sick Boer women and children In his hospitals. These Boer women were not a nuraen to their husbands, as ordinary women would be. They cooked the food, car ried ammunltion.and nursed the wound ed at moBt times, but whenever neces sary they fought with their rifles. It Is owing to them that the Boer gen erals have no occasion to worry about a commissariat. The service which these women, perform for the Boers occupies about 10,000 men in the British army n South Africa, who are thus with drawn from the fighting force. The Boer women are almost without exception god shots, good horsewomen student of Napoleon and Washington. Ho reeentlv vliilted England, as a re suit he is carrying on the work like nn old eamnalener. I have been in the United States but a short time, but letterB and visitors are overwhelming In their expressions of good will. I accept no offers from those who want to fight for the Boers, but I tell them to wait. The time may rome. if you see a boy and a man fighting and the boy Is doing pretty well you dc not Interfere, do you? But once let the man overpower the boy and you wu senarate them. The South African Republic and the Orange Free State never will be slaves A CHISEL IN HIS HEAD. One of the most difficult and peculiar surgical operations ever attempted In Maryland was successfully performed at St. Joseph's hospital. In Baltimore, when Prof. Iuls McLano Tiffany, as sisted by Dr. Carey Gamble and other surgeons of the hospital, removed from the heud of Charles C. Barker a steel chisel four and one-naif Inches long, one Inch wide and one-qunrtcr of un Inch thick. The operation lasted only a 111 tie over half an hour, and there are good chances of the man's recovery. Mr. Barker Is employed by the Gelser aianufacturlng rompeny of Waynes, boro. Pa., and was attending a wood working machine which contains two Steel chisels that made 1.200 revolutions a minute. He was leaning over the machine when the chisels were driven out by the tremendous centrifugal force. He was wounded over the bridge of the nose, and the wound, which was a cut an Inch wide, was dressed as any ordinary wound. One of the chisels was found, but the other one was not. 4 few davs later Mr. Barker suffered uartlal paralysis and was brought to Baltimore and taken to St. Josephs hospital. There Prof. Tiffany examined or,,t mmneeted the chisel was in his head. The X-rays were resorted to and showed his surmise to be correct. The sharp tool hurled with the force of a bullet, had entered where the wound was over the nose and had taken a downward course. l ne Keen edge came coremost and cut through flesh muscle and bone until It rested against the vertebrae. In tho otx'ratlon the sufferer was chloroformed and an Incision made from the under lip to the right side of the nose at Its top. The flesh was then laid back and a portion of the superior maxillary removed with bone forceps Through this opening the chisel was removed with forceps, without muen force being exerted. The wound whs pewed up and the patient put to bed He will recover. and accustome dto all the hardships of campaigning. These qualities have been developed by the successive treks, or Immigrations, they have made and the ordinary life they lead in the Trans vaal. In middle life the Boer woman weighs from 160 to 200 pounds, without any of the helplessness tnat womu im ply In an American woman. She can shoot a lion or an antelope from horse back, or a man, if there is occasion native wars. Often the trekking Boers would to construct a laager to resist the onslaught of a horde of Zulus. The great trek wagons would be placed in a cirole, while the men, resting on them, would shoot the advancing blacks with their unerring rifles, while others would eland behind with axe in hand to chop off the heads of any Zulus who should crawl under the wagons. With all these combative qualities the Boer woman sets up an example of true womanhood by raising an enormous family. In personal appearance she is not displeasing, as many ill-natured and ill-mannered writers assert she is. Only upon the artificial and unwhole some theory that women ought not to be robust can she be criticised. She has almost invariably a fine complexion bronzed, but ruddy which lasts even to old age. The Boer woman is the absolute ruler of her household within doors. Her husband spends much of his time hunt ing and looking after his cattle and Kaffirs. When he comes home to smoke his pipe on the stoep he interferes in no way with his vrouw. Mrs. Kruger has no opinions on politics except those of her able husband, but at home she is the ruler and saves every cent of the president's salary, it is said. The dress of these women is exceed ingly picturesque and varied. One In evitable feature of it is a large sun bonnet, necessitated by the fierce Af rican sun. This is evidently a modifi cation of the national head dress of the women of ancestral Holland. The various types of Dutch coiffure may be traced among the Boer women There Is no doubt that we shall hear more and more of the fighting qualities of the Boer women in this war. As the situation of their country becomes more desperate, they will come to the front. Many reports which have been made on this subject have received too little attention A colonial soldier with Buller's army writes that before the battle of Colenso he heard the voices of women and chil dren In the Boer trenches. He could hardly believe his own ears, but after the battle a drummer of the King's Own Borderers told him that In the middle of the charge he saw women carrying belts of cartridges to their husbands. They walked across the open ground behind the first line of trenches, which was swept by bullets. Behind were llttleo hildren carrying bags of bullets. Many were killed When the women went back from the trenches carrying empty belts the Eng lish thought the Boers were retreating and redoubled their fire. A sergeant of the Scots Fustleers says that the Boers bury their dead In a sort of well and that In them were many bodies of women and children Many foreign observers have warned the British that if they conquer the Boer men they cannot conquer the wo men. One of these observers Is Dr. A Kuyper. an educated Dutchman and member of the States General of Hoi land. He writes in the Revue des Deux Mondes, the leading French mag azine. He explains that he is an ad mlrer of British institutions and that for that reason he is particularly grlev ed to see England engaged In a war o conquest against a free people, He declares that England can only succeed by exterminating the Boer race, because the women will fight after all the men are dead. He concludes "As long as the lioness of the Trans vaal, surrounded by her cubs, shall roar against England Irom the summit tnr If Every Boer woman of middle life has the Drakensberg, the Boers will not had some experience in the innumerable be forever subdued." FILIPNOS AND AMERICANS. Melbourne, Australia, a city with 500, 000 population and rapidly growing, has taken an advanced stand for municipal ownership. It owns absolutely Its owr. gas works, and last year made a profit of over 11,500,000. The street railway system will soon revert to It, when It will transport passengers a distance of three to five miles for 1 cent. Long ago It adopted the eight-hour law for all city employes. It provides for tho free transportation of school children, it furnishes free employment exchange and one of the finest school systems In the world. Next to Paris It Is the equal of any. When Good Btomnch, one of the Hloux Indians with the Nouveau Cirque In Paris was picked up In tho street drunk and Inarticulate, the police spent the lime In which he was sobering up in hunting all over tho city and sur rounding country for an Interpreter at ,h Sioux language. They did not find one When the noble red man regained h mastery of his vocal chords It was o?nd that he spoke nothing but Eng. Uih. One of Ihe newest forms of the bolerr Jacket appears lo have no fastening ol nil, but Is hooked Invisibly under the fronts, toward Ihe side seams. TIip mosl dressy styles aro of open guipure cut round and low at the neck, reaching to the waist In a point at the center ol the back and front, and arching up slightly beneath the arms, so that a portion of the silk or satin under t' bodice is in evidence. Das Marinas, Province of Cavlte, Jan. "Your soldiers sometimes get drunk , ,, .. and our Moros never ao, sum m the Sulu chieftains to General Bates, and your soldiers are equally strange about women. If they find a strange girl alone and unprotected In the woods they give her food and take her to a place of safety, making her weakness her strength. Our Moros have always thought her fair game." Even the natives of Luzon are now aware of the superb characteristics of the white soldier. They recognize It as a fact, If they do not understand It, for they understand very little about us, and we understand very little about them. Before the outbreak u was inex plicable to them how a soldier who gets drunk ran flgl.t. Now they know that the soldier who gets drunk will tight. The process of education Is slow arid costly. Last spring when our forces entered a town, If there was any one left behind, he was cither ol dor feeble. In this province of Cavlte, where we are the most bitterly hated, as our column marched unopposed from Imus to Das Marinas yesterday, the women and children were In the nipn houses which lined the roadside. Some of them had fruit to sell to the soldiers. Many of them smiled as If they were really sin cere. As long as they are present we know that we shall not receive a volley from cover, at least within the next quarter of a mile. But excepting the old men, not a single male adult was present. The Filipino man who appears within range of our skirmish line runs the risk of being shot as an insurgent. If he is In the open very often he Is Bhot. With a view to his own Interest, the insurgent soldier wears no uniform. Our skirmish line does not always dis cern whether or not the figure ahead Is carrying a rifle. If he runs, the chances are against him. Instead of saying that we outrage the women, the Insurgent leaders now try to Keep up the courage of their men by asserting that we give no quarter. We waited until the natives of Cavlte had harvested their rice before we sent out an expedition to harvest their rifles. It Is estimated that there are tnreo or four thousand rifles In tho province. General Otis, who made all the plans of the campaign, hoped to round up mosl nf these by sending Schwsn around In their rear, only to llnd that they could march as fast, If not faster, than Hchwan. Considering Its purpose, the campaign has been a failure, We went at It as If we expected stem resistance, Terhaps wn got as many as two hundred rifles. The rest of the enemy simply walked away. They are now In Batangas prov ince, or In the mountains between Ba tangas and Cavlte. We shall have to follow them to the end of the Island. General Otis may have to wait some time before he has troops enough to spare for this. With the Islands of Samar and Leyte as yet unocupled, he needs every man of the 65,000. A good proportion of the troops that have taken Cavlte will be needed to garrison It. In this hotbed of the in surrection we have absolutely no friends. The women who smiled at us from the roadside will assist with in formation their brothers, their hus bands or their fathers who are beyond our line. The great surpassing military virtue of Ihe Filipino soldier Is that he keeps contact. This is especially and wonder fully true of the Cavlteltes. They keep Just without the range of our rifles, going before us or following us up. An other unarmed man acts as courier, carrying the information of the out posts back to headquarters. As an organization for dodging our blows, the Filipino army Is superb. Con sldertng Its number, Its poor marks manship and the Incapability of the Filipino soldier to fight In the open, it accomplishes some remarkable feats in wearing out our troops. The enemy s soldier finds food at any nlpa hut where he may pause on his march. We must carry our food with us. The three regiments under Wheston here are volunteers: who have but late ly arrived, of course their outposts brought in a great many prisoners at first. It is a proud thing for an outpost to take a prisoner, but his enthusiasm soon dies out, for he meets with no encouragement. What we want Is rifles and not pris oners. In fact, it Is generally under stood that prisoners are not to be taken any more. We kill all that we can of a band that 1" retreating, take the rifles of those we rapture and let them go. A prisoner Is simply an elephant on our hands. General Bates has been releasing man after man that has been brought In, and tomorrow the outposts will not be miltlnr themselves to useless trouble. The evidence that the outpost has against the prisoner Is that he Is carry ing a nolo knife. But every Filipino carries a bolo. It Is his agricultural nnd cullnarv apparatus. lies work with It In his garden; he builds his house: he slits his bamboo and he oiens his coconnut with It. Unques tlonnblv. If he can get behind on Amer icnn soldier unseen he will kill him n-lth It. One of the prisoners brought in last night h.id a large and suspicious look- in bundle. It was opened In the pres enre of General Bates, who Is always patient and broad-minucu. it contain I about six pairs of American soldiers' awers. "I picked them up in a field," he said. "That is a very straight story. Very likely he could, and very likely he did. Let him go," said the general. The opinion of the whole army is not the opinion of General Bates. We often hear the expression "That the only good Filipino is a dead one. Shoot ev ery man Jack of them that we find snooping around our lines." The plan which many officers openly favor Is to drive the whole population of the southern provinces before us until famine and distress make them cry for mercy. Post-Dispatch. Cannibal Don't Like White Man, Cannibalism Is not so prevalent today as It was a quarter of a century ago. It Is necessary to penetrate to very re mote parts of the world where the ex plorer and the missionary have not car. ried civilizing influences. There are many tribes of savages, however, now in a semi-civilized state, who, not so many years ago, were the worst kind of cannibals. A missionary the other day who has Just returned from a sojourn of many years among cannibals, gave some Interesting information about this. All the present generation, he said, are converted to civilized prac tices, in large part, and only the old folks retain memories of the barbarous orgies the tribe used to indulge in. 'Once," said the missionary, "when a new young man came to Join me,' one of the first things he confided to me was that he was very anxious to see and talk to a real live cannibal. According ly I sent for one of the old. gray-headed men of the tribe, who had been a fierce warrior In days gone by. He was a tall and stately fellow, and he saiuted us profoundly as he entered. As he could speak only his native language, I had to Interpret for the curious young man. " 'Have you really eaten human flesh?' he asked. "I Interpreted this, and the tame old ravage grinned and nodded his head. " 'Yes. frequently, when 1 was a young man,' was the reply, with a grin. " "Did you eat white men?' ""'Yes. whenever they could be caught.' " 'And people of your own color?' " 'Always, when we made war, we ate our captives. If we were victorious; If not, they ate us. " 'Which tasted the best white man or block r ''Black man best; nice and Juicy White man tough and too salty.' HE RURAL MAIL DELIVERY SYSTEII (Homestead.) Great Interest is felt In the subject it rural free mail delivery, and we hare yet to hear of a farmer who doe not favor It. Indeed the only objector, ac cording to the official reports of the special agents of the rural free delivery! ystem, are the postmasters at smalt offices, some country storekeeper la , hose places of business the office 10 kept and saloonkeepers whose buslne s reduced when the necessity for fre quent visits to town is taken away. Ot . the 1st of November last, rural free delivery was in successful operation from 383 distrlbuUng point In forty) states and one territory. Indeed, taej only states where there wa no rural delivery were Idaho, Mississippi, Mon-j -tana and Wyoming. We are in receipt of a considerable number of inqulrlea in regard to how a rural community should proceed in order to secure frea - delivery. One correspondent writes follows: 'I have noticed a number of times la your valuable paper items and article referring to rural free mail delivery, ai subject of special interest to me. There) s no question but we will get it In time. but life is too short to wait long for Improvements. It is every man's duty; to help make and get Improvement.! What would be a greater improvement : n this country that rural free mail delivery? I have talked to a great many about it, and all are in favor ot it, and when we all want it I can see no good reason why we should not have it, except, perhaps, that we are una bashful children, who, when asked it they would like a piece of cake, though the cake may be very tempting, are afraid to say yes. That seems to be the way with us. Our Uncle Samuel has been offering it to us, but we don't seem to get after It. I would like ta , see the question, "Free Rural Mall De livery; Would It Be Beneficial to Far- , mers, and in What Way?" discussed in the Special Farmers' Institute edition. I can think of no improvement that would meet with more favor, unless It would be the telephone. The farmer walks after his team all day, and when he goes, in for the night, feeling the need of rest, he often rinds ne musi go to a neighbor's on an errand, or per haps to town, when, if there was a ru ral telephone system he could stay at home and rest. Is there any reason wnyj the farmer should not enjoy these con- , veniences? I would like to write more , on this important subject, but will only, ask a question or two and close. How are the trial delivery routes arranged c Must they start from some large town and end at another? Do they take in m certain prescribed territory? What would be the proper way to go about it to get one established?" We cordially coincide with this corre snondent In his advocacy of increased facilities for communication in the rural districts, both by free delivery ana dji the telephone. As to the method by which the routes are established, the regulations of the department require that all service of this kind must be originated upon petitions, presented byt the people desiring it, through their senators or representatives in congress. Wherever it Is practicable to do so the petition must be accompanied by a rough map showing the country to be traversed, with a general statement a to the number and avocations of the people who are to be served. Where roads are good no rural route should be less than twenty-five miles In length, and there should not be less than one hundred families within eash. reach of each, route. As the purpose is to fur nish rural free delivery, the petition must not be for service that would b a mere adjunct to city delivery, by giv ing a suburban service to resident wjthin two or t-hree mijes of the post office in the city. The route must start from a postoffice, but does not neces sarily end at one, though it often passe by country postofflces ana renaers serv ice so good as to lead to the discontin uance of such offices. When the petition and may have been presented through the congressman, as above indicated, the department di rects a special agent to examine the proposed route, map it out more exactly and bond the carrier. The special agents have no authority to lay out route without previous Instructions to make Uie survey, and no route must be put in operation after survey without specific instructions. When the order is Issued for its es tablishment the postmaster of the dis tributing office Is advised of the length and boundaries of the routes which the carriers must follow. The carriers are placed under his control, and their pay. is $400 per annum. The postmaster 1 also directed to see that boxes are put up by the patrons of the delivery at convenient points, so that the carrier can place mail matter in them and take it from them without alighting from his vehicle. This Is the substance of the regulations for establishing free rural routes. Another correspondent raises the question of rural mall delivery in con nection with star routes in me ioiiow Ing letter: "What method should one take to procure rural mnil delivery? Could it be carried In connection with a star route, or would it have to be alone?" The first inquiry In this letter has al ready been sufficiently answered. Under present regulations the rural delivery route Is wholly independent of star routes in the same territory, and fre quently leads to their discontinuance, as well as the discontinuance of small postoiHces, because furnishing better service. A bill was Introduced in con gress February 13lh, however, to extend free delivery of mall along star routes. The first section provides that all con tracts for carrying mall on star routes made after the passage of the act shall Include the deposit In proper boxes, placed along the line of the routes fot this purpose, without charge to the ad dressees of any mall matter that may be entrusted to the carrier for such dis tribution, by any postmaster on the road. The remaining sections of the bill consist of details, merely, as to how It Is proposed to carry on the free rural distribution In connection with star routes. Should the bill pass, It will at the next letting of star routes, estab lish free rural delivery very generally all over the country. While the dress skirt still fits smooth ly about the hips, the marked advan tage of graceful lines Is not Ignored. The skirt Hares out prettily, but not abnormally on the best French models. Skirts In pleated form will have un questioned reign for two seasons to come, and In tho hands of various noted ateliers they arc Increasing with extraordinary rapidity. Next summer will wV.ness at Newport the society debut of Miss May Goelet, who Is heiress to (20,000,000 in her own :lgnt. The Butter and Cheese Makers' asso ciation of Minnesota has adopted reso lutions nsklng legislation establishing a board ot examiners whose duty It shall be to examine all butter and cheese makers as to their qualification. The resolution Is based on the allega tion that Incompetent men are Injur ing the reputation of tho state a s "gilt-edged" butter state. It I said that t hero are men In the state who are taking charge of factorle for IX a month.