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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1899)
Folk Live on the Ice of the Winding Bogaducc, Sheltered in Their Shanties. Brooksvllle, Me., Correspondence: Ah soon as Ice forms on the tortuous Bog aduce everybody—men, women and children, the lame and lazy, the rich and poor—pushes a little 5x8 board shanty onto the new Ice and goes to catching smelts. It is the one occu pation which everybody follows, and. incidentally, it is the one calling which yields more money than all the oth ers combined. The modern smelthouse, as it is, is a marvel. It Is placed upon wide run ners. which are made longer than the house, so that the weight may be distributed over as wide an area of Ice as possible which proves of great advantage early In the season wh<>n the Ice is thin, and none but the wealthy can afford to buy smelts. The house, which is put on top of this sled, Is made of thin matched boards and is four feet high at the eaves and six feet in the peak. In front end Is a door. At the opposite end is a small stove. The floor is double boarded and sheathed to keep out the cold, ex cept one board midway between the ends, which is left unnailed, so it may he lifted up to allow the lines to drop through to the water. In the shoal places along shore are depressions In the mud that form miniature ba.ys of brac kish water whpn shoves his sled along until the hole in the Ice Is under the loose floor hoard of the smelthouse, and then, halting two lines, each nrmed with two hooka, he drops them into the stream and sits down to await what the tides may bring. When smelts are bringing from 10 or 12 cents a pound in the New York markets and the fish are running well and biting greedily, the scene on the frozen Bogaduce Is animated. From Walker’s Mill to the bridge which • losses Into the town of Penobscot the river Is dotted with tent-like houses, giving one the impression that a vast army has come along and camped on the ice. If the surfuce Is free from snow and no wind is blowing, the houses are ranged face to face, with a street between, along which the children romp and the young people skate from daylight until long after dark. At intervals along the main street are clusters of houses, which mark the place where some family has founded a colony. Many of these con tain no more than five or six houses, while others have fifteen or twenty. In the course of a few days these knots of buildings are called Walker vllle, or Blllingstown, or Blckfordshlre, according to the name of the family which lives there. When a storm or allow their smelts to freeze In distort ed shapes, and who dump them Into the hold of vessels with forks and take them to the cities as If they were offal. The true Hrooktille smelt ha* Its remains decently composed before It freezes, and every fish Is packed by headH and points, crostways In the box, so as to make good stowage be fore the cover Is nailed on. It Is a local tradition timt a crooked smelt from the Provinces I* no better than a Yankee tomcod, and while this state ment may not be actually true, the man who should come here and dis pute Its- accuracy would get himself disliked. Living within a mile of their work — for the Uagaduee almost girdles Hrookvllle the men folk In Ihe fam ilies arise before daylight and go to work without breakfast. As soon ax the morning meul is eaten at home the wife or some member of the family, relieves the fisherman, who breaks his fast at his own table, after which he attends to his barn work before re turning to the Ice. lie is relieved In a similar manner at dinner and sup per. Meantime, some of his family drops in at odd spells, allowing him to go from camp to camp and exchange gossip. After supper great heaps of driftwood that have floated down from the sawmill are lighted on the Ice, and the whole town comes out for an ev ening party. The older people sit around on shingle blocks In the camps talking and laughing, while the men fish and the women knit mittens for • THE QUEER SETTLEMENT ON THE ICE. the tide goes out. These spots are marked by tall stakes before the river freezes, the flsherfolk knowing that when the tide recedes the minnows and mummy chubs, which are used for live bait, will seek out these pools to await the coming flood. Hut cutting holes in the broken ice near the stakes the fishermen can run down small nets and dip up their bait by the pailful. Having secured his bait, the fisher man cuts a long, narrow hole through the ice near the channel of the stream, wind comes up all the houses that face the blast must be shifted hindslde be fore to protect the occupants. As fast as the smelts are caught they are laid out straight upon a board and exposed to the cold to freeze, and no sooner are they congealed clear through than they are nailed up in small wooden boxes and sent to mar ket. Brookville people take great pride in preparing their fish for sale, and have no patience with the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia folk, who the market. The young people either go skating in pairs, gliding far up the stream among the dark woods, or if the ice is rough or snowy they get up little dances in the lee of the smelt houses, to a fiddle or an accordion. Suspended from poles, the Chinese lanterns cast ghastly lights upon the gay scene, while overhead the torches of the aurora borealis flash across the sky, and the fixed stars look at one another and wink with a meaning that Is too deep for words. IN THE BERMUDAS. ] There I* a Plague or (at* and Kparroei. New York Journal: People arriv ing in New York from Bermuda say that the island Is overrun by eats and sparrows. The nuisance of the plague has even been discussed in the Colonial legislature at Hamilton. Visitors from ilie United Stales seeking the lialmy climate of Bermuda are com plaining especially of the "rat gangs" which nightly disturb their sleep. When the dog tax bill came up be fore the legislature Iasi week, Dr. T. j A. Outerbridge. one of the members of the council, proposed an amendment. ' In doing so he said ' ' I should like to set' the bill recast ami a heavier tax pul upon dogs, be cause we have too matty worthless curs In Bermuda I should also like to see a lax put upon cats. You may laugh tint it there Is any useless stimuli in this world it 1* a cat. Cots may be of use in some lountrie*. but they arc of no use here. They do not kill rats They do destroy oill' naliie birds "I have not *»vu a bluebird in six weeks, and there ought to be plenty of them here now from America I have not seen one this vs*r, ami be fore long all our uatlve birds wilt be extri minalril Iwiwceii ih< > at* and the sparrows *' • »<*!» IlMflltil \\ |»* t !«• 1 tl lt)tt»ltalo (orIt)a> u( to ►nuiir ur fur*# uf ImMI ur Mh ■ thoro b humor In ikr l>»rl*ih| U ol n'r aturjr uf an oM man aim •*>11. n*va|ia|H>ia in lk« a«i<«ar* " II* ku ltd>u« l from handling tb* tonaattunal aboota I bat In oidar lu «**■ uf bla •tub bo mm alnar* ha*o awmotbinn ■ hurt ltd* on Hand, »u tt l» All aUo*» lh* burr I bio *Mhid* * Ul ibwi lb* borribla wurdrr/ AH about lb* bur rlblo nnrfdwui, or mil about •oiuotbin* •Ion ibat la burrlbio dar aftor day On* atoning i«at autumn bo atiwrd at h * miwatum* pla o nbon tb# tato H«tba*" nor* k Xifkl around Vftor securing a bundle he scrambled to his corner, saw half a dozen men ap proaching, and cried out: “Here’s your extra paper, just out, all about the horrible—horrible—" Then he stopped. He had forgotten to look af the headlines and And out what hor rible thing had happened. Hastily turning over one of the papers, he euught a glimpse of the account of the Harvard-IVnnsylvania football game. The troubled look faded from his face, a glad light came into his eyes, aud he continued. All about the horrible football game.” trrh«n In the Heart of the t tty. The military student* at Tun* Chou (China* are u coiixpimoun nttla unce. They have a way of using one of the main at reel* In I he city ax a convenient *|»ot for practicing archery, and we have been repeatedly obliged lo edge up to the e»trente edge of the footpath to avoid |MMOdhle eccentric Itighta of arrow- Characteristically. It never occur* to them to au-|wnd op eration* for others' safety or conven tetp e. and minor accident- must he not Kite"lomoii lad was brought to the taorpt' •! the other day who hail been »t by an arrow Just Itelow the eye, . • he wa» edging along the 1 highway tl< was not badly hurt, and probably tenanted bis Injury a* Inci dental to the ordinary risk* of travel on eltv street- North China Merabi t l>|Si«kl< l» *Ust. Htanreoe wott*n tttirUst (tirti < Ml iltra to the rate of eh ph*nt» a,oi It l< said that the irsu la n »er betray • • d The baht* • p'ay about the huge f. cl of the eh pl ant* W tio Are ever rateful lirof to hurt the little r re y tnr>* And If ibrUger liurslrllt th» •anacluua animal wttl *ml the <htld gently up In kb trunk and * * ins It tip out of hat nt t way upon hi* broad bark Many a ytruth a ho a-pita* • ■ k»-- •• u* an A M I* la al *r year* glad to settle In• h aa ike linage |* U A COSTLY DINNER. rirst of Ks|t«ti«U* KntsrlsIniiisuU la N«*r York City. Writing of the lavish expenditures of New Yorkers, Euretta Van Vorat recalls, in the Ladles' Home Journal, a dinner given In 18*1 by a man of wealth which cost $10,000, and which astonished his most extravagant as sociate*. as It was the most expensive feast given up to that time. ‘Delmon ico, the Helpful resource of both those who know and those who do not know how to spend their money, whs at a loss to know how to dispose of this then fabulous amount upon a single tneul, There were ieventy-lwo guesta, and they were entertaiued In the large ballroom which in Heliiionii-o's fourteenth street establishment has seen so many social triumphs. The house had lic. u Moses Uriunell's and ever Imre the imprint of a gentleman's ic*ideiice even when transformed into a public place of entertainment. The table occupied the whole length and hi cadi h of the room, the waiters had barely space to move about it. It was a long, oval tabic round which a mss sivr wreath of ehtiuislic flower* was laid guarding a miniature lake thtrtv feet long t he wallet, It) uo< hailOal ' contrivance, undulate I genii) , and on I Its breast ti<>ated font living swan* a { golden network keeping them in I pla t " I lltliU' I mm %•<«• 1114 Ktdhtpon kmi<ln4 mn apn t»r lhtiv«iM«ui* ||t> l<t>ui«u "Uiiwinr, Trn J«u built a >irl<l|h> anww ih*> IKihmIw. l hr pl*n «l *ki>k *l* lm)R4 bt lk« Huwiiait »« rHtk>ota wil l a-iiuugk lu ttwlglb 4 ««* ollUtlUf* *kl h will wtt* tM iwwn« ki I hmim Aturtp In Mwuifanta un i tiitlo.« m tfnrtin In lb* mi l»Mr of lb* ■itii.itH* lb* •(mu* , » f I t * •*!> Will i«*li 1 fu *l «i|IUM< l>» nil Ikr »i»4« • 1*41 bln* <« it wnil 44*fiM . Ut thi m>r|mtuwi«Hn lb* w«n»*ii uf »s.«i gr«4i ntt^vfiu 4Hl in i>ln* butt l*« fur |Mtb*b« *n«»h*» *-*•»* uf rHIkflra BLUNDERING. -- Mra. Cramer. a wealthy young wid ow, lived In a style of simple elegance fn a dealrable quarter of the city. Her personal attendant, Susie Moore, was young, pretty, and coquettish, with half a score of lovers at her heels, so . it Is not to be wondered at that she was at times absentiulnded and giddy. Mrs. Cramer hod gone out calling, and Husle was doing two things at once. She was reading for the twen tieth time a declaration of love she had received that morning and dusting a marble-top table that stood In the center of the room. An omlnious <rash which followed an unlucky whisk of the duster caused her to drop both the broom and the letter and exclaim: "My goodness.” On the carpet lay the fragments of a costly porcelain cup a valued gift of the dear departed! Instant dismissal was the least she could expect In case of detection, and how could detec tion he avoided? No one else had access to the apartment, and there wasn't a cat on the premises. But Husle was a girl of resources, A bright Idea struck her and she ran to the back yard, snatched up a stone twice as large as a hen's egg. and dashed It through one of the panes of a rear window. Then returning to the parlor she picked up the stone and laid It among the pieces of the broken cup, "But will that look right?” she ejac ulated. "People don't throw stones through window* for nothing, and this being a back window, why I have It!” Her love letter lay at her feet. It had neither address nor signature, though well she knew whence It came, hatching up the missive and the mis sile she hastily wrapped the one around the other, securing the parcel with a thread and placed It amid the ruins. Having finished her work, Susie dosed the apartment and took good care not to be there when her mistress returned. If Mrs. Cramer was vexed when she raw her broken cup and window, she was Indignant when she came to In vestigate the cause. "Who can have dared to take such a liberty?" she exclaimed, crumpling the paper In her hand, but she had scarcely asked the question when a dark sus picion took possession of her. The damaged window not only over looked her own hack yard but the gar den of an adjoining proprietor, a gen tleman passionately devoted to horti culture, and Mrs. Cramer had occasion ally busied herself for a few minutes In looking out upon his labors. The two had often exchanged glances, but never the slightest token of recogni "MY GOODNESS.” lion. She had thought him a proper man. and he had Romctlines lingered a little longer at his work than he prob ably would have done bad the blight pyea of the widow been absent. To bURpeet wan to resolve, and, in stantly tying up the stone in the letter, an she had found them, she walked to the window and with all her might burled bark the hated message beyond the enemy's confines and at once re treated. The Innocent and uesuspecting l neighbor, who chanced to be stooping out of bight, digging weeds In the midst of the shrubbery, startled by the sound of what might be some meteoric body whitting past In dangerous prox imity to hi* head, raised himself just in lime to mtch a glimpse of the wid ow's receding figure. But judge of bis surprise as hi* eyes fell on the strange object which bad barely mused knocking hlui down With a trembling band he undid the parcel and. as he read It.- contents, hi* | heart fluttered worse thsn rbulc * had done In the morning The fact is he had long been In love with the widow and had secretly sighed for an upportunity to tail her so. hut In receive an une«|Ui*tiial do I ar at tot. from hei that w«. a little more thou be had ever dared tw hope dome fastldbuic pe*tp|r might think tuck a proceeding iadelhai* but the widow had evidently taken pu> on hr* hgfbwardnes# beanie* wasnt it leap year* Tine. h< r grammar might have itesn better and her spelling was, tu ay the lead it. iitfc eat. But then hr* wa.u t partial tu literary Mir* |h» lord !. I *) was What he* wanted and ilia silks a a* th* picture of that. The hole said ecimething about net hr* * gelling t n't lurk No. he a no Mu I forget It 4ml he did a t 4i i u'vtrtth «barp Ktijah H<ig«i* presdoted himself al Mie fusurT 4mt gn l was s tmiited by dost* i "Tell jour mistress,” he said, "that a gentleman desires to see her.” "Please walk In,” Invited Susie. The fair widow was prompt In mak ing her appearance. “Mrs. Cramer, I am Mr. Rogers— Elijah Rogers—jrour neighbor,” said the caller, arising and Introducing himself, with some nervousness and a heightened color. The widow bowed stiffly, for In Mr. Rogers, though better dressed and of course better looking than she had ever seen him In his garden, she recog nised immediately the ruthless tres passer who had broken her window, smashed her china, and been guilty of other ads against her peace and dignity. "I scarcely know, madam," Mr. Rog ers began, after a painful pause, "how to preface what I am about to say, but the note-" "That, Indeed, requires explana tion!" exclaimed the widow. "And yet I had flattered myself that It was sufficiently explicit," returned Mr. Rogers, somewhat disconcerted. "Sufficiently explicit, no doubt," con ceded Mrs. Cramer. "But the motive M "Do not say It was to deceive," In terposed the caller. "And the method chosen," cried the widow; "perfectly unheard of-" "Whatever others may think,” said Mr. Rogers, “between us two It can never be misinterpreted." And Mr. Rogers told his love—told It so much better than the stray note could have done that the widow would have wondered how much his tongue was mightier than his pen had she been In any mood for such compari sons. She and Mr. Rogers have now been married for many years, but whether they have even discovered how the broken cup first broke the Ice between them Is more than I can tell.- New York Evening World. THE NEXT CENSUS. Congress will probably past* a bill at this session to provide for taking the next census. The primary purpose of the government In thus counting the people, which the constitution requires to be done once in ten years, is to ascertain how many representatives in congress shall be apportioned to each state. Until a first census could be taken the constitution Itself specified the number of representatives allowed to each of the thirteen states. Vir ginia was assigned ten members, Mas sachusetts and Pennsylvania were al lowed eight each, New York and Mary land six each, and the other states were granted representation in the same arbitrary manner. The total membership of the first house of rep resentatives was sixty-five. The apportionment based on the first census, that of 1790, allowed one rep resentative for every 33,000 people, as near as the divisions could be made. On that busis the membership of the house became 105. By the next cen sus, ten years later, using the same "unit of population," the number of representative's was inc reased to 141. Since that time it has been neces sary with every new c ensus to allow a larger population to each district, and also, with the exception of one decade, to enlarge the membership of the house, A part of the increase has been caused by the admission of new states. There are now 357 men in the house, and each congressional district Is made to c ontain as near 173,901 souls by the census of 1890 as Is possible. The forthcoming c ensus In 1900 will, as usual, make a new apportionment necessary. The population of the United States, which was 62,622,250 In 1890, will be, it is estimated, from 74,000,000 to 76.000,000, not including our new possessions. It is not desirable to have the house of representatives made much larger if its efficiency as a legislative body is to Ice maintained. Hence, that in crease of population will probably make necessary an enlargement of the congressional district perhaps an in crease to 20,000 which would be six times the population of the original unit of apportionment. Knergt to Hpttre. "I feel juat hh I hough I had been drawn through n knothole,” declared a Woodward avenue man of bualnnaa, and it wan only 10 in the forenoon. "Out late to Home party or theater?" laughed IiIm partner. "Can't Htand thoae thing- hh you could when u youngater. You do two men'M work here, and that demaiuD tegular hab it# for the rest of the twenty-four hour#,” reporta the Detroit Free Preaa. "I'm a# regular aa a dock I waan't out late at all, and haven't mikaed going to tied before II alnce holiday week. Hut the old gentleman la vlalt lug me You don't know my father, do you'* He’a one of the houeet yeo manry of the land. Waa reared a funnel, ami la dl*po<ed to look down upon ulmoat every other calling a* lac dependent for a pirlietl American cll laen Ite'a 72. and lively aa a cricket there |- many a voting man of So that might well envy him ’ *|tut what haa be to do with yuui I being need up? ' * Kverything Me g> ta up at & every I morning and |uh*i up and down, i whittling like a pi* •ado player and a-kmg lino * if aloud wheie la • reailon the family la Me gee - Into the hitch (u hMiI heula tb> net over tor Mot having b*»«*kt«»t ready, )olUe< with - in the tone * of a -tutay orator there ta u * •bailee to *l*»p after », toil I m aoi going to have the old genttamau latevfeie-d with altbcugb all of tta will be going atound in g pattial Italic* at I lung a* ba *h‘***a** to nn Nature la the mother and habit ta | the atapmotbar “ Only the First Step is Difficult.99 should be to cleanse Nature's house from Winter's accumu lations. Hood's Sarsaparilla does this work easily. It is America's Greatest Spring Medicine. It purifies the blood, as millons of people say. It makes the weak strong, as nervous men and women gladly testify. It cures all blood diseases, as thousands of cured voluntarily write. It is just the medicine for you, as you will gladly say after you have given it a fair trial. Bad Blood-" Although past 70 years of age I am thoroughly well. It was three bottles of Hood's Hariuparilla that made me so after si>eiiding over pH) In medical attendance. My trouble was a raw sore on my ankle.” Mas. Ixmusa Mason, Court Street, Lowell, Mass. Running 8oroa-“ After worrying four month* 1 gave my children Hood's Sarsa parilla and it cured them of running sores. Hood's Pills cured me of dyspepsia and constipation." Mas. Katk K. Thomas, 31 Governor Ht„ Annapolis, Md. * Consumptive Cough-“Five years ago I bad a consumptive cough which re duced me to a skeleton. Was advised to take Hood'a Sarsaparilla which I did and recovered normal health. I have been well ever since.” Matii.da Hsidokwatsb, Cor. Pearl and Chestnut Hts., Jeffersonville, Ind. _ * CUI« cur* llvsr III*, tli* non Irritating and tl,«.Iv ratliarlli- lo t*k« with Hood'a S»r§«p«r!iJ» A newly found letter by T. P. Ilar nuin, one of the last he wrote, adviael young men to learn stenography and typewriting, and adds: "Keep your brains free from fumes of alcohol, your blood freed from Its talnta. Avoid tobacco as poison It really is. Keep yourself clean physically and morally. (Jive your body the care you would give to any machine of which you re quire much good work.” Coe’s Cough II Alsu in la (hr oldsat sn'l licit It will break up kcoldqnlckcr iban anything cUe. It la »l way a reliable. Try It. Statistics In regard to the amount of money brought to this country by Eu ropean Immigrants show tha: the Ger man Is the richest, with an averag« of 52, 50, while the Englishman Ir. a close second, with $52. The French man has $47.25 and the Belgian $45, while the Irishman brings but $15. the Russian $12.50 and the Italian $1C. Probably the Italian takes more bacs to his native land, however, than any of the others Mrs. Winslow's Noothlng Sjrrop. Fur children teething, soften* the gum*, reduce* It* flsinuisltun, ill*/* i>»ln,cure* wind colic. ZJc » bolllo. The Burlington route, advertising from its office In Omaha recently, of fered a cash prize of $100 to the per son who would send them the best plan for encouraging immigration to Ne braska. Among the letters received was the following: “Republican City, neb., January 27, 1899. J. frances, g p: I saw youer add In your paper asken advise of how to settle nebraska, for my 20 years' expe rience that the grate part of nebraska Is old batchus and air longen for a wife or a housekeeper and the eastern world Is full of old mades and wldoes, now If the railroads wood traaport the old mades and wldoes to nebraska free thealr woodend bee no further truble about settlers, I tell you th wlmen neaTr that hair.'t Ingaged air scaris then benes teath and most of the glrles marey when thealr 16, now If theaa old mades and old batchus go to keepen bouse and the men heatr that all the wldoes healv ship to nebraska. you felowes wood Just half to put on extra trainee to carray the men. Health for Ten Cents. 'ascarets make bowels and kidneys act naturally, destroy microbes, cure headache, billiouBuexH and const ipatiou. All druggists. It Is hard for the preacher to keep people from the opera In the week when he runs as near to It as he can on Sundays. THE EXCELLENCE OF SYHIP OF FHiS ia due nut only to Uie originality and aiiuplhdty of the combination, but alao to the care ami akiil with which it la manufactured hy aclentiflu pruceaaea known to the t'Ai.ironaiA Km Htarr to. only, aud we wiah to iuipreaa u|m>u all the ini|Mirtan«'e of purvha*ing the true and original remedy. At the genuine Hy rup of I'tga U manufactured hy the t AuronaiA I'm Hvuur Oa only, a knowledge of that fact will aaaUt one in avokllug the worthlcm imitation* manufactured by other par> tlca The high alumling of the t »| |. vonviA Klu nt lit c fo, with the medi idi |Mid«--.iin, aud the natikfactiou whh h tin* genuine N, rup of Kiga ha* given to million* of fauiilieu, make* the name of tiui I .iiupaMv a guaranty «f Die r tcufh<nee of tu r<-n*«ly, It U far in nluu.r of alt utter laaativea, a* it mlt on D,« kidney*, liver and w ithout irritating or weaken tug tin in ami it d<w* n*d gripe mu ■>,u„at.- in urih r logit It* hem flcial rflhmta. pierum retucular the name of lb# iiNMMMXy «» CAlltOkNIA HQ SYHUP CO. i nt i*iui«« m i WWIUI. H« tang. a. V.
