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About Harrison press-journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1901)
Life's opening voyage. Lord. Thou didst safely keep O'er chiMliood's sheltered bays; As now the tides of age around me creep, Protect my shortening days. Thou didt defend my youth when sped my bark Out toward the open sea : As I approach the shore, unknown and dark, Still guard and care for me. Becalmed by idle winds n placid seas, Thy vigil did not cease : Now tempests beat, and whea I shrink from these. Impart uplifting peace. When Joy, bright-winged, poised lightly on the prow Thou gently didst restrain; Though Sorrow often voyages with me now, My troubled soul sustain. When many ships were nigh and skies were bright, I knew Thy presence sweet ; As one by one they vanished in the night, Draw near me, I entreat. Lord, Thou hast been companion, friend and guide O'er life's unresting sea: When Death, the gentle Pilot, stands beside, Oh, make the port with me! Francis E. Pope. A Dangerous Discovery- BY JOHN GASTON. (Copyright. 1901, by Dally Story Pub. Co.) It all came about because I was too Inquisitive and too honest. I was em ployed la the counting room of Lemuel Ripley, the wealthy broker. A very successful man was Lemuel Ripley. His signature was good for fabulous sums and the "street" shook when he went in to Influence the market. He used his wealth well and was a shin- lng pillar of the church while every appeal for purposes of charity or civic reform found bis ears open and his che.'k-book at hand. I had been in hi3 employ for some five years and had acquired a very re sponsible position when one day I ran against a most peculiar thing in the books. Of itself it was not of great s:?nl3oance but it suggested that the bxiks had been tampered with. The discovery frightened me as I had had charge of the books and I resolved to Investigate. The further I delved the more puzzling the matter became and the amount Involved rose to fig ures which made me gasp. I found that customers of the house had been cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars but try as I would I could not see how anybody had routed by it. I decided to take it to Mr. Ripley. "Ah yes, you hare discovered that series of errors, have you?" he re sponded blandly. "They gave me th mout serious annoyance and I sped many nights over the books straight ening the affair out You are vigilant. Charles. I am more than pleased that you found this matter because it gives me confidence that I can depend on you. Have you discussed the matter with any of the other clerks?" I hastened to tell him that I had spoken of the matter to no living be ing. "Quite right, quite right," he re plied. "It has all been straightened out tyit it would be unwise to have It he talker! about. Bv the way. Chares, I have been watching your work with a great deal of interest and ' I have come to the conclusion that you are worth more to the house than I am paying you. Hereafter you will draw a hundred dollars a month mure than you have been getting. Oh, fool that I was not to see the whole thine then when he nearly doubled my salary. If I had known anything about the world I should have seen through the scheEfc. In "Too are vigilant, Charles." atead I leaped to my feet with extrav agant exclamations of gratitude. I thought of one entry in the hooka that might give a clew to the errors which had to puxsled m tad I went to the oflteo after dinner that night to nuke ooe more trial to clear np the mystery, fare enough the entry did Give sm a clew tad following It np 1 received a shock that Marty took away ty eeaeee. There was the evidence U black and white that Ripley htm rf tad nutperaf with the books and tai ttarafly twhwd Ma eaatoaMra of rrtat ssttaaaa While sitting atape jUJ tt t Cjsawary a key taraed la r i tzi waded Mr. Ripley. LszZzi ct Oe oaaa books he aaw Ctl I ttl ct s3i Carlos? I desire to Mv use the books tonight. You need not wait I will see that they are put away." All the next day I thought it over as I fumbled through my work. Rip ley called me into his office and asked me a lot of questions about the errors in the presence of other employes. There were discussions going on In his private room. In the afternoon a deputy sheriff appeared and to my sur prise said that I was wanted at the court bouse. What was my horror when I found I was called before the court to have my sanity inquired into? Ripley was there as was bis manager and several employes of the house. Ripley went "Oh, uncle, don't!" on the stand and testified that I was unquestionably insane. I sar through the whole affair in a minute. I was to be buried alive in a mad bouse. All the clerks followed Ripley's lead and each spoke of my particular delusion to the effect that Mr. Ripley's books had been tam pered with. In despair and anger 1 told the story of Ripley's guiit. In a moment I saw my fatal mistake. The face of the judge showed that he was convinced that 1 was mad. How could he think otherwise when it is consid ered what Mr. Ripley's reputation was? The result of it all was that I wa3 de clared Insane and ordered confined in an aslyum. Riploy wiping bis eyes as in the deepest grief offered to pay my expenses in a private institution wherij I might be "better cared for." I cried out against it raved and begged not to be put in Ripley's power but this was thought to be a part of my delu bion. Words cannot portray the horrors of that asylum. It was one of those dens run by the most brutal and unscrupu lous of men. On the way I was drug ged and when I came to my senses I was in Irons. My bead ached and I was nearly maddened at the hopeless ness of my position. I cried out and beat the bars hopelessly In my im potent rage. A keeper came In pres ently and I demanded fiercely to be freed. He knocked me down and kicked me with bis heavy boots. I will not describe the days that fol lowed. The tale would be too grue some. One day I was taken to the office and informed that I was to help carry coal to the cellar. I bad given up all bopo and sincerely courted death. "Not a Stroke of work will I do for you," I replied. "Not a stroke." "Oh you won't," replied the super intendent with menace in his voice. "I guess we'll And a way to make ye better-natured." "Do your worst," I cried throwing my bead back, my eyes biasing with anger. "You know that I am no more Insane tlian you are. You know why I am here. You know what my fate Is to be and It can't come too quick." As I began this speech the door opened and ther came Into the room the fairest vision of loveliness I had ever seen. A young girl la the flower of womanhood, with eyes Ilka stars, aad a perfection of faatart, form and carriage that was only starred by aa osnrsssloa of aaattsraMs aadaass, the paaeed aad glanced at bm aad whea I had flaishtd said: . "0. asM, don't Haroa't we had aaSariag aad misery aaoaga barer "Get out and stay out," replle! the superintendent. "I can run this plica wLhout any advice from a begg3r.- Flushing deep' the girl turmd to me with a piecing look: "Please, please do as he Bays: for my sake. I can't stand any moi'e of these horrors." "I will," I responded, "for your sake." With a look of gratitude she turned and left the room. I carried coal all day under the oaths and blows of two brutal keepers. That night as I lay exhausted and suffering, but thinking all the time of the fair young girl with the sad face and wondering how it would look if the owner were happy, the door of my cell opened, there was a swish of gar ments and I struggled to my feet to see the angel of my vision. "Not a word." she whispered. "It is worth your life and mine." "When the clock strikes one," she whispered, "open your door, turn to the right and you will find the window at the end of the corridor open. You must drop twenty feet and climb the wall. The keeper is drunk. Uncle is going away at half past eleven. I will unlock the door." She unfastened the Irons on my hands and feet and in an Instant she was gone. The next morning at 9 o'clock I stood before the man most wronged by Ripley in the affair of the doctored books. My terrible earnestness per suaded him to investigate. Within two weeks the newspapers were filled with details of the terrible scandal and of the downfall of Lemuel Ripley, who now occupied a cell in the county Jail awaiting trial on a criminal charge. This is the end of my story. I might go on and tell of how the people who received their money made me most handsome payment for my services and how 1 secured a fine position; and, I might even tell how 1 braved the lion In his den and in sisted on carry'ng away the girl who had saved me, from that horrible asy lum, but my wife says that Is a matter wbieh concerns only two. COREAN GIRLS. Cut Mill Plear Enter Ipto Their Monotonous I.lrrs, Marriage does not bring happiness to girls in Corea any more than to those in other parts of the far tast. When young a girl is allowed a free dom which is denied her later, and it is not till she attains the dignity of being a mother-in-law that she begins to en joy life again. The daughter of a Corean ho;:s is of little consequence, while a son is of great importance, and hla advent Into the family circle S3 always welcomed with joy. When very young the boys and girls play together, but when they reach the age of eight or ten a great distinction is made. In the families of wealth, where none of the women of the family are obliged to do any of the housework or toil in the fields, the daughters are secluded in the part of the house reserved for tbe women. Into which no men are allowed to enter. Their brothers dwell in the men's apartments, where they are free to do what they please. Education in Corea Is provided to a certain extent for the boys and young men, but it is almost an unheard-of thing for a girl to be allowed to learn anything outside of the purely domes tic accomplishments. The girl is a mere chattel; she la not even consider ed a unit of society. As an illustration of how far this Idea is carried it is In teresting to note that the girl lias lit erally no name. When she is a mere child a surname Is given to her for convenience, but when she marries she gives it up and merges her identity in that of her husband. Her parents call her by the ward or district in which she contracted her marriage; her parents-in-law call her by tbe came of ths village from which she has come. Later on. when sbe has children, she Is nam ed the "Mother of So and So." Ttmpertirt In QImcow. Devotion to teeraperance impresses the visitor more forcibly than any other feature of Glasgow life except, perhaps, Its capacity for whisky. The strictest regard for the great cau.se animates tbe authorities In all their dealings with public affairs. Ever' bailie, every magistrate Is a temper ance advocate, and needs to be to pre serve the esteem of his fellow citizens. For every citizen is a convinced and sincere upholder of tbe temperance cause. No matter bow many whiskies he may take In the course of a day, be never loses faith in his principles. In deed, be seems to And that bis tem perance prlnclplesarestrengtbened and his exposition of them facilitated by the consistent use of whisky. Tbe fart seems to be that In Glasgow to drink whisky Is not o Indulge In strong drink. Tbe Scotch are a hardy, healthy aad vigorous race, and to them the national drink is not a liquor; It I merely a liquid. Tbey take it Just as they breathe tbe bracing air, as one of tbe ordinary conditions of existence. Daily rserrlae Strength, Bsron Pierre de Coubertln, chairman of tbe International Olympian commit tee, without previous training, succes fally spent six boars out of eight in sport. This he did by going through os hour's riding, one hour's rowing, pending sn hour In cycling, another In plsying lawn tennis, sn hour In rid ing a motor-cycle ad four bouts of fif teen minutes esch with the sword, the foil, the ssbat aad the boxing gloves. The baroa maintains that aay man who heaps ap dally exercise u la Ilka manner bo ready at aay t!a to obey tbe most exartlag call for phys ical endurance Paris Letter, Oood haator la the blue sky In which tha stats of talent brightly thine. Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) Is. as a general rule, rather economical in the matter of giving interviews to the public press, but while in Boston with his great educational exhibition the other day he was Induced to say a few Tfords about himself and the de velopment of the great West which will be of Interest to readers gener ally. Speaking of his early life be said: "There were a heap of occupations for boys in those days, and I guess I tackled 'em all; driving loose cattle behind a bull train, carrying dispatch es for freighting outfits, following and going with trappers for furs on differ ent etreams. That's how I learned to know the Indian by going with trad ers who trade with 'cm for furs. When I was along in my teens I was per fectly familiar with oil the country from tbe Canadian river in the south to tbe Yellowstone of the north, and the lands between the Rocky moun tains and tbe Missouri river. I became thoroughly acquainted with the In dians, knew their favorite haunts, their camps and their bad lands." "What was the real cause of the first Indian uprising?" "It was the effect of the bad exam ple set them by the white men. Dur ing the war of the rebellion the In dian heard that the white men wen killing each other off. They kept hearing about It for two years, until all the tribes were talking about tbo gradual extinction of the white man, who bad wonderful guns and ammu nition. At lat they held a grand meeting which led to a general up rising. They obtained modern guns and armed themselves like the white men, and it was their impression that they could sweep across the continent clear through to tbe 'great river," the Atlantic, and recapture their country from the whites." The material for western romance began at this time with a vengeance, and followed the dramatic flavor that literature had gained from the sor rows of the civil war. The United States government is not a romantic organization, however, and as soon as peace was declared in Washington be tween the North and the South, the entire forces of the regular army were hurried out to the frontier, command ed In turn by such men as Sherman, Sheridan. Hancock, Custer. Carr. Miles. Crook. Augur, Ord, Hazen, Emery, Duncan. Forsythe. King. Reynolds, Terry, Penrose. Palmer, Gibbon, Can by, Henry, Whistler. Crosby. Greely, Sudley. Mills. Hayes, Sthwitzer and many others. Most of these officers were totally unfamiliar with tho plains, and then came into existence the man of whom "Bill" Cody is an Ideal representative the scout. "You fee. when these army fellows eame out our way," continued Col. Cody, "the question was. Who could they find to act as guides and scouts? The miners were IivfTlclent; tbey didn't tell much about the hiding places of the Indians, so they began to look around for fellows like me. who had been raised out there. When Gen. Sherman came West in 'C5 and 'G6 to make his great treaty with the Kiowa and the Comanche Indians, I was first employed as a scout and dis patch carrier. Well, he soon found that I knew the country better than any man In his command, and he made rae his guide. I felt considerable pride In my responslbllty, too, for I was pretty young to have an old army veteran like Sherman leaning on me." He paused. "How young?" I asked. "Nineteen!" he aald, emphatically, and In two years that Is, in '68 when Sherman took, command of the field, he made hie chief of scouts and guido of tbe United States army." "Scouting was a trade?" I asked. "It's a gift. The Indian is the nat ural scout, and he'll keep a white man bustling, with all bis clothe on, and no sleep either to beat him." "The scout knew his game?" "Yes, sir, as well as the Indian could bunt his. A scout had to have eyes, ears and brain working overtime when be was on the trail, I can tell you." "You followed the tracks of the In dian ponies?" "Tracks, nothing!" said "Dill" con temptuously, "That's no sawdust country out there; It's all grass. You couldn't see a hoof print. I've fol lowed a single horse file by watching the grass and noticing how It was broken, I could tell the way the grass broke If tbe Indians were traveling fast or slow, horses packed heavy or light, ridden by Indian or running loose. Tbe manner in which a moc casin shsped It tread on the prairie would tell me what tribe our enemy belonged to, and by their camp em bers whether It was a party on the warpath or peaceful Indians. Nothing made aa array man so sore ss to have i guide make a dry camp at night, so that a scout hsd to be conversant with tbe country and reach water whea nightfall came. The subjection of the Indians was one of tbe toughest proposition to face. la 1ITT tho lias Bidge trouble broke out Tat Indians expected thsii Messiah, who was to liberate them from captivity. Tbe suppression of this uprising fell to the lot of Gen. Miles, and be fought, as he always does when In command, with bl head. He put down the ghost dance without tbe loss of hardly a life on either aide, and in all my service as a scout I never saw finer generalship than his at Pine Ridge. "Even In tbe thick of tbe Indian fighting it was impossible for a man to escape seeing tbe great possibilities of those arid states, but it took a pro fessor to convince me of tbe chances of civilizing that country. I was sta tioned at Fort McPherson, Neb., Gen. Sheridan, In command of the Missouri division. The general came to me one day and Instructed me to act as guide for Prof. O. C. Marsh and 23 Yale students who wanted to go through the 'Bad Lands' on a fossil expedition. Well! I got kinder Jealous of that pro fessor. He was always talkln' a whole lot of stuff about that country that I'd never heard before. He said that the Great Big Horn basin was formed by tbe passage of a big snake that bad finally cut Its waj through the Big Horn canyon. He went In to tell why there should be In this basin the finest soil in the world; that there muBt ba great mineral deposits there, probably sea gold. I said to him then that I guess he thought be knew more about that country than I did, and told him he'd better go it alone. Well, sir, the old fossil hunter was right. Twenty V Buffalo llt'lfl mM Illllis COL. CODY AS HE APPEARS TODAY. From a Sketch by Coodman. years later a party of prospectors dis covered gold, campers had seen the color of It and hurried out thera to locate claims." "And what did they find?" "Million of acres of grazing land, the sides of the canyon covered with timber, all kind of building stone, marble, granite, sandstone, gypsum. Tbey found they could raise cereal as good as any In Indiana or elsewhere. They bad discovered a national park. Why, In my town of Cody, within a few miles are seven different kinds of naAral water geysers, hot, cold, boil ing, freezing, any old style you want. Starting lire in tbe West at its most thrilling period, Col. Cody ha seen tbe buffaloes pass away, the Indian subdued, tbe cowboy farmed out, the settlers crowding In. He has been of active service to tbe United States government In sll these year; but the most American thing that this typical American has dona Is to build a town In the shadow of ths canyons and bap tise It with his owa name. Boston Bally Herald. Mais' tmm Afsta. Tat familiar controversy never la gulshaa.. What Is the origin of Dix ie's Land or Dixie Land, or Dixie? On, on. It goes. I believe It was right here on Manhattan Island, and that tbe fellow who wrote about it being a "land of cotton, 'slmmon seed, and sandy bottom" was a chump. Old Man Dixie was a slaveholder on Manhattan Island, who removed his slaves to the Southern states, where they had to work harder and fare worse; so they were always sighing for their old home, which they called "Dixie Land." The "nigger" Imagination eoon ad vanced thl Island Into a sort of De lectable Country, or Land of Beulah. New York Press. . Odd Oklahoma Joatlro. If one want to find an extraordinary brand of Justice he must go to Okla homa or some other region known In general parlance as the bounding west. At Alva a man was arrested for stealing two hogs, which he hauled to Waukorals and sold for $20.50. The law defines grand larceny as the steal-" ing of something of more value than $20, and petit larceny as the stealing of something of less value than this sum. Tbe question in the hog case was whether It was grand or petty larceny. The lawyer for the prisoner argued that while the hogs had been sold for more than $20, the prisoner was entitled to a credit of $1 for haul ing them to market, which would re duce their valne to less than $20 and, the crime of hi client to petty larceny. And the court o found. ' ; Kldlo the n lion. A few ocean travelers are now en Joying the novel sport of riding the "sea horse." Thl "sea horse" Is not tbe marine animal which zoologists know by that name. It I an electric al contrivance In the gymnasium out fit aboard the new cruising yacht Prln zesaln Victoria Lulse of the Hamburg American line. A gymnasium itself is an unusual enough Institution aboard ship. One of the appliances affords all the varieties of horsebsck exercise, a conventional saddle, stir rups and other accessories being pro vided, and with them suitable adjust ing mechanism, so that the whole out fit can be given more or less violent vertical and slightly horizontal recip rocating movement through a system of cams and connecting rods, slmulst ing very closely tho motion of tho animal la life. Happiness Is lacreased, not by ths ealargebent of the possessions, but of tha heart Kuskla.