Nebraska Newspapers

    j——— ■ _ _ _ _ I
MYSTERY IN SUDDEN DEATH OF MRS. STANFORD
AT HONOLULU—HER GIFTS TO THE UNIVERSITY
1(1) View of Facade, Main Group of Buildings. (2) North Tower and Inner Triangle. (3) President David Starr
* Jordan. (4) Mrs. Leland Stanford. (5) The Chapel.
S1ANFCRD UNIVERSITY, ITS PRESIDENT AND MRS. LELAND STANFORD, WHO IS SUPPOSED TO
HAVE BEEN POISONED AT HONOLULU.
I Mrs. Jane Stanford, widow of Sena- 1
tor Leland Stanford, died in Honolulu
February tlS.
On Feb. IS it was reported that an
attempt had been made some time be
lt re to murder- Mrs. Stanford by
means of poison placed in a bottle of
mineral water at her home on Cali
fornia street, in San Francisco. It was
stated that she had taken three drinks
o the deadly mixture, but the poison
had been used in such large quantities
that it served as its own emetic. Mrs.
Stanford was taken violently ill and
medical aid was summoned.
The contents of her stomach and
the water remaining in the bottle
were analyzed and sufficient strych
nine to have killed three persons was
found. Mrs. Stanford first drank of
the water on Jan. 14, and from that
Lme her health declined. Although
the story of the attempt to poison
her was positively denied, persistent
tumors regarding the matter were
revived.
GIFTS MORE THAN $33,000,000.
• Make Other People Happy” Motto
of Dead Philanthropist.
Mrs. Leland Stanford was left, an
^ (state estimated at from $30,000,000
P r.. $40,000,000. Under her husband's
" ill she was in sole management of
Ik the great property.
rWith her husband she spent more
than $37,000,000 in building and sup
porting the Leland Stanford Jr. uni
v( rs'ty at Palo Alto. Cal., as a memo
rial to her son. Her life was insured
. :m more than $1 .'*00,000 for the bene
| fi* cf the university.
This was her belief:
•Ten greatest blessing that millions
ran bring is the power to make other
people happy.”
Mrs. Stanford's maiden name was
Jane I.athrop. She was born in Al
bany, X. Y.. eighty years ago. While
she was yet a girl she met Leland
Stanford, who was then a struggling
young lawyer at Port Washington.
Wis,. and after their marriage she
went there with him to live.
Their residence in Wisconsin was
of brief duration. All they possessed
v as destroyed by fire, and when the
’ ottr.g lawyer looked about him on the
mins he determined to go to the Pa
cific coast ar.d start a new life. The
wife (lid not join him for three years.
When she arrived at Sacramento she
found her husband awaiting her in
the simple wooden house he had pre
pared for her.
In si *e of disappointments and re
verses Mr. Stanford rose rapidly, and
by 1S61 he was not only rich, but he
had won political distinction as well,
lor he was governor of the state.
It was not until after they had been
married eighteen years that a son
v as born to Mr. and Mrs. Stanford.
This was the Leland Jr. for whom the
great university was named. To edu
cate this son and make of him a
noble citizen father and mother gave
Themselves up without reserve. He
promised to become a great scholar.
As a lad he was intensely interested
i t mathematics and in the science of
archaeology, and to help him along
the family went abroad.
At Florence, in Italy, young Leland
was stricken with fever and after a
brief illness dies at the age of 17. in
1885. Almost immediately after the
parents began plans for the memorial
university.
“It will cost $10,000,000,” said Presi
dent Dwight of Yale when they con
sulted him.
“We had expected to spend $25,000,
OC0,” they replied, and the building be
pan at their country place. Palo Alto.
During the years which precede:! Sen
ator Stanford's death they lavished
$30,000,000 on their son's memorial,
and a great jcy came to the old man
in his latest days when he sat in a
carriage and saw the opening of the
school. It was the happiest achieve
ment in all his stirring, successful ca
reer.
But when the will was opened a new
and* heavy burden fell upon the de
voted widow and mother. Site was
named sole executrix, with instruc
tions to pay $1’,500.000 more to the uni
versity, but the panic of 1893 had set
in. Banks were breaking, stocks were
tumbling, loans were impossible.
The Stanford fortune was in jeopar
dy. The university itself trembled on
the verge of ruin, and to make, matters
worse the government of the United
^States began suit for $15,000,0on
against the estate, declaring it was lia
able for the government bonds which
the Pacific Railroad company had
failed to pay.
Mrs. Stanford, throwing herself’into
the whirl of affairs, became familiar
with every detail. The professors at
the university were without their sal
aries. Even the servants were unpaid.
The closing of that vast institution,
was imminent, but Mrs. Stanford
strained every nerve to avert the cat
astrophe.
Mer town uouse wim us enormous
expense was closed. Horses and car
riages were sold. Houses and land
were mortgaged or placed upon the
market. The immense wheat farms
at Gridley were reduced to a paying
basis. She opened the wineries at
Vina, and sent thousands of gallons of
wine and brandy to foreign lands.
Palo Alto was robbed of its choicest
racing stock.
Her jewels, a noted and priceless
cc'llection. were sent to the markets of
Europe, and at last a day came when
Mrs. Stanford sat in her drawing room
without a cent in the world, and with
only two wageless servants to wait
upon her.
Every effort was made to hurry a
decision. The case was fought from
court to court. The months rolled into
the years, and at last victory was ob
tained. On March 9. 189«. the courts
. decided in favor of Mrs. Stanford, and
May 3 she handed $2,500,000 over to
the university trustees.
Meanwhile Mrs. Stanford had be
come a financier and the times were
mending. In one year she studied,
schemed and manipulated so that she
made $1,000,000 clear profit upon her
stocks. Her whole soul was bound up
in the university. All other consider
ations seemed trivial.
On Dec. 9, 1S98, she obtained the
court’s permission to distribute the es
tate. To her previous gifts of $20,000,
000 she added $11,000,000. Afterward
she deeded over her San Francisco
n ansion to be an academy of history,
economics and social science. She
also gave $100,000 for an orphan asy
lum in Albany, a memorial to her fa
ther and mother.
Every rug. chair, vase, table and
picture in her estate now belongs to
the university. She had an allowance
of $12,000 a year: but owned nothing.
“Life Work of Noble Woman.”
By the death of Mrs. l.eland Stan
ford the world loses one of its great
est and gentlest figures. This lonely
woman, bereft first of the sop who
w as her idol, and then of her husband,
whose sharing of her anguish made it
easier to bear, refused to give herself
over to selfish grief and devoted her
self to carrying out the great iTust
that devolved upon her. She knew
nothing of business when she took tip
her life's task, but she applied herself
to the mastery of the management of
a great fortune, not for any selfish
purpose, but in order that the univer
sity founded in her son's memory
might not sutler. She was ready to
hear poverty herself if need be. but
the cause to which she devoted her
life should not want.
The thousands of young men and
women who have gained an education
because of her sympathy, humanity
and self-sacrifice, and unnumber-d
thousands yet to come, will bless the
memory of the woman who made Po
land Stanford University possible
Chicago American.
PRUSSIA TO OWN COAL MINES
Plans to Buy Them Because of Labor
T roubles.
The movement in Prussia to nation
alize the business of coal mining in
Rhenish Westphalia and Silesia is in
teresting as the first step in this
direction, says the New York Times.
'Ine government has been assured
that to capitalize the mines on which
Prussia depends and make them go\
ernment property would present in
financial difficulties and that the $250,
0"t ,000, more or less, which may b<
needed for this purpose can be had
at once at very low interest, since"
the security underlying bonds of this
character would be. the best known.
it seems that the people of Prussia,
and by reflex influence, the govern
nient, are tired of the inability of the
mine owners and the miners to adjust
tl eir differences as to wages without
protracted strikes ar.d that the con
viction is gaining ground that the
public interest, in an uninterrupted
supply of fuel is paramount to the in
it rests of those whose contentions
make the coal supply uncertain and
unduly costly. Whether the govern
n ent has any serious purpose of tak
ing over the coal mines or is merely
putting itself in a position to show the
rrine owners and the miners what it
could do if the necessity for action in
the ‘public interest shall arise, we
shall probably not know until it acts.
SECRET OF LONG LIFE.
Substance Discovered That Is Death
to Inimical Bacteria.
Curdled milk of a special kind, pre
pared only on a Bulgarian recipe, is
row supposed to be a remedy against
growing old. M. Xavier Dybovski has
made a communication on the subject
to the Academy of Medicine. The sub
stance is called yaghurt. and can now
be obtained in tins in Paris. It is sup
posed to be death to all the inimical
bacteria in the intestines, while those
friendly microbes to which Prof.
Metchnikoff pins his faith positively
adore it. Hence the property of yag
hurt to prolong life to what is its nor
mal span—a century or so. The sub
stance looks like ordinary cream
cheese gone bad. and tastes similarly
The solid portion is mixed with a
white, thin liquid, which is exeeedng
ly sour. People who wish to live to a
hundred breakfast off yaghurt exelu
sively.
Japanese Baron Starts Reform.
Baron Miyoji Ito has set a most sen
sibie example. The 26th, being the
anniversary of his mother’s death,
would have been, under ordinary cir
cumstances. the occasion of various
costly rites and ceremonies. With
these the baron has dispensed, and
has contributed instead a sum of 500
yen to the poor of his district in con
sideration of che exceptional times.
English Lad a Maori Chieftain.
When the earl of Onslow was gov
ernor general of New Zealand his wife
gave birth to a boy. The child was
gnen the Maori name of Heria out of
aborigines. Later the baby was form
a'ly chosen a chieftain, and recently,
w hen he accompanied his parents on
a visit to the colony, the three were
given a notable reception by a great
crowd of "natives. The boy. now a
sturdy lad of nearly 15, addressed the
. assembled Maoris, several of whom
Jf delivered poetic orations in his honor.
Lucky Find of Glasses.
Harvey J. Gallinger "had his gold
bowed spectacles blown off into the
snow while driving to his home in
South Charlton, Mass., after dark.
Knowing it would be useless in that
gale of drifting snow to look for them,
Mr. Gallinger simply stuck a stick in
the ground in the direction of where
he supposed the glasses had blown
and went home. Returning the next
morning to the place, he saw the
glasses dangling by one of the gold
.bows from a busV
Giant Has Hearty Appetite.
Manchow, a Russian 9 feet 8%
itches tall, now on exhibition in Lon
don. has an appetite fitting his size.
This is his average menu tor a day:.
Eieakfast—Two quarts of milk,
twelve eggs and two loaves. Lunch—
Three pounds of meat, vegetables, five
pounds of potatoes, a quart of beer.
Dinner—Soap, three to five pounds of
beef, vegetables, three pounds of
bread, two quarts of beer. Supper—
Ten to fifteen eggs, bread and butter
and a quart of tea.
Automobile Stayed “Stuck.”
A stranded automobile belonging to
a New York man caused John Moran
of Wales (Mass.) to lose some of his
sleep and much of his temper late
Sunday night. He was routed out of
bed to comply with a request for some
water for the boiler and a shovel for
the bothersome snow. Neither per
suasion nor bribery could induce him
to furnish either and the stranded
party were unable to find a less prej
udiced citizen until 5 o’clock the next
-corning
Korean Idea of Respect.
According to the Korean idiom it is
dishonoring to use “thou” or "he” of
God. In speech. Korean Christians
are often heard to use “Ken yang
ban (that gentleman), in order to
avoid the objectionable terms. In
stead of saying “He (God) says,” they
say “That gentleman says.” Then
the Korean language does not possess
the article, and has no idiom to repre
sent terms like “faith.” "love,”
“grace,” “holiness,” “justiflcation,”
truth” and "eternal life.”
Mules’ Fear of Bearskin.
Two farmers were making pur
chases in a store. One had a team of
mules hitched outside. He was nego
tiating for a pair of gloves both mules
stood on their hind legs and started
a boxing match with their owner. It
took four men to hold them until the
gloves were put out of sight. A mule
has yet to be found that will stand
for anything with fur, especially bear
fur, on it. The owner of the mules
did not get the gloves.—Lawrence Ga
I OLD PORTAGE RAILROAD LINE I
For some time prior to 1800 travel
across Pennsylvania had been in
canoes and in river barges propelled
by poles or along the shores of riv
ers by horse and foot and by inter
vening portages on Indian trails, con
necting points oil the different rivers.
The Philadelphia Pitt-i nrg national
pike was built upon such a substantial
basis that wherever undisturbed one
still finds the gracefully modeled
atches of solid masonry almost intact,
after more than a century has passed.
The completion of the Old Portage
railroad by the state of Pennsylvania
in 1824 put an end to the time-hon
ored “coach and six,-’ with the many
picturesque a?id commodious inns and
taverns along the line of this broad
macadamized toll road, which with
its substantial construction was, in
point of endurance, secord only to
the Roman military ro ds ef Great
Britain.
This Old Portage road was con
structed from material brought from
England. The British government
sent over experienced engineers to in
struct the Americans- in d-,e running
of the stationary steam ergines used
upon the inclined planes of the road
in the Allegheny mountains. The rail
road's highest point was about 2,700
WW -# V - *&T§
feet above s^a level: being only 200
feet lower than the neighboring hill,
which is the highest point of the Alle
gheny mountains in Pennsylvania,
i The road consisted of ten planes, five
of which were on either side of the
i mountain, anti intervening levels. In
ls’."> the canalbr.ats were so construct
i ed that they could be taken in sections
and hauled over the mountain on flat
cars, without disturbing their cargoes.
The rails were secured to stone sleep
er.-. twenty inches square, which were
sunk in the ground.
On the Old Portage road the best
time for the forty miles between Hoi
lidaysburg and Johnstown was twelve
hours. Express trains on the Penn
sylvania railroad now run a closely
parallel distance over the Allegheny
mountains in a trifle over one hour.
The passenger traffic on the road in
those days was usually limited to one
car each way a day. with a capacity
of thirty j assongers.
In 1S54 the Pennsylvania Railroad
company bought, the Portage road
from the state of Pennsylvania. Com
mon rumor says that at this time the
state legislature was “greased" and
that mot a cent of the 547,000,000
which was to have been paid for the
read was ever received into the treas
ury of Penns; lvania.
Reoort Real Sea-Serpent
Rudyard Kipling has seen Pis sec- i
ond sea serpent, according to a story •
which conies with some seriousness
from Cape Town. People who read
Kipling's first sea-serpent story
thought i> was merely a brilliant piece
of fiction. This second sea serpent !
story is not told by Kipling, but by
the skipper of the steamship Arma
dale Cast It*. The sett serpent was j
seen—in fact, it was struck bv the !
ship and probably killed—while the
A'rmaciale Castle was on her last voy
age to Cape Town, in latitude 3 de
grees south. Mr. Kipling was aboard i
the ship.
Commander Robinson is not sure
whether the creature struck was a
real sea serpent, a queer whale or «
greatly overgrown shark. Whatever
it was, the thing was hit by the bow
of the ship where, in all properly
regulated fishes, the pectoral fin ex
ists. The bead was doubled across
the port bow and the tail trailed away
along the starboard side. The vio
lent struggles of the creature to free
itself from its painful and embarrass
ing position led to its striking the soft
brown paint of the “boot-topping” on ,
the ship's side with the powerful fluke
of its tail.
This was observed by the boatswain
and some of the men who were watch
ing the affair through the side ports
immediately over the tail of the fish.
The marks enabled the commander af
ttr\»urd to make fairly accurate meas
urements. From mark to stem it was
forty-five feet. In girth it was appar
ently about the volume of one of the
ship’s lifeboats at the broadest part,
say eight feet in diameter, very grace
fully tapering away toward the tail.
The body appeared to he of a green
ish-brown color with large dark spots
all over the back and sides, the lower
parts being of a dull white.
!t was first observed by one of the
stamen, who heard a knocking against
the ship's side. When the news was
passed along the decks all the pas
sengers. young and old, performed a
mad stampede into the forecastle to
look at the unhappy prisoner. The
engines were stopped as soon as pos
sible and reversed, but fully a quar
ter of an hour elapsed between the
first, discovery and the final clearance,
by which time the creature was either
dead or completely exhausted, for it
sank slowly, tail first.
Telephone in the Woods
■' ' ■" ■ —- ■ n I —...i - ■ —
"I've been reading,” remarked a
citizen who spends five months of
every year in the woods, “that the tel
ephone is a great convenience in the
wilderness. The Electrical Review
says that throughout the forests, from
St. .John to Vancouver, the telephone
brings the lumber camps into touch
with one another, letters are read to
lumbermen snowed in .">() or 1<m) miles
from civilization and the human side
of life is made warmer and more vivid
by this means of .communication.
"A telephone does heat up consid
erably anywhere, especially when it
won't work; but i'm inclined to think
a telephone in the wilderness is a
great nuisance instead of a great con
venience. What an angler, hunter or
l>otanist wants of one of the things is
more than I can understand. They've
got the Adirondack;* fixed so that
there's a push button in every other
tiee, and if you stub your toe a
waiter'll pop out of the br.ahes with
a champagne cocktail or a telegram.
That’s all right, perhaps, but why not
stay in the Waldorf?
“A telephone in the woods is a
good thing for game, though. We had
our cabin wired to a village down at
the end of the railroad one summer.
Never again for me. I'd be dangling
for trout. John. John.’ would come
ir.y wife's voice, resounding through
the aisles of pine and hemlock.
•What?' I'd say, mad clean through
'Your Boston brokers want to talk
with you a minute.’ Or I'd be almost
within range of a deer and that same
‘John- would come floating cn the air
from the shanty. ‘What?’ I'd have
to call back, and the deer'd be in the
r.ext county. ‘New York's waiting;
long distance.' the servant would hoi
ler. Line's held open for you.' The
only trout I got that season was a
tame one I bought of a man who fat
tens 'em for market, and the only
thing I shot was the are of spades. I
tacked if tip the last day and blazed
at it for spite. And now.” he con
cluded. "when I go into the woods
| the central office can't find me with
a guide and a brass band.”—Provi
dence Jviurnal.
Forcing Fort Arthur Gate
One hour before midnight you could
see once more the same men who had
applied the explosives in the day
making for their victim. The founda
tion of the caponiere was made of
concrete, sand and steel plates. It
could turn the largest and most pow
erful shells ever manufactured by men
into a loud and foolish joke. The men
carried this time a large quantity of
gunpowder. This they applied to the
cracks made by the former explosion.
The white heat fuse was applied.
The report certainly handled the
serene silence of the midnight with
out mercy, tore it into pieces. This
time there was a large rent made in
the wall. Night, once more, rocked
the confusion back to peace and there
came into the rent a number of Rus
sian heads. Some of us laughed.
Quick as a flash the rifles of our men
greeted them. Wide as the rent was,
it was not quite sufficient for men in
haste to pass, and for the third time
we made the preparation of explosives.
At 14 minutes past 4. in the still dark
, hours of the 28th, the earth about us
shuddered as it had never shuddered
before, and we saw a hole in the wall
that was over one meter in width
and considerably over one meter in
height. Through this hole our engi
necr threw in over twelve sacks ol
explosives. The caponiere was choked
with fume and smoke. The ash gray
of the breaking day and the most
sinister gray of the smoke from the
explosives creeking like cowardly
ghosts from the hole in the wall was
broken by silvery flashes here and
there. They were the icy blades ol
our men rushing into the caponiere
through the confusion of the ex
plosion. A crash of arms, groans,
sounds of fakirs bodies, of broken
steel, shrieks with which the life flew
away from the clay, all mingled and
melted in a confusion far beyond pen
and brush. A few moments later the
sun-round flag waved from out of a
torn hole over file covered caponiere
a welcome to the new-born day.—Les
lie's Monthly.
Truth and the Freeman
He Is the freeman whom the truth makes
free.
And all are slaves beside. There's not a
chain
That hellish foes confederate for his harm
Can wind around him. but he casts it off
With as much ease as Samson his green
withes.
He Iooks abroad into the varied field
Of nature; and though poor, perhaps,
compared
With those whose mansions glitter In his
sight.
Calls the delightful scenery all his own.
llis are the mountains, and the valley
his.
And the resplendent rivers. His to enjoy
With a prtpriety that none can feel..
But who, with filial confidence inspired.
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous
And smiling, say: "My father made them
all!"
Are they not by a peculiar right.
And by an emphasis of interest his.
Whose eyes they fill with tears of holy
joy.
Whose heart with praise, and whose ex
alted mind
With worthy thoughts of that unwearied
love
That planned and built, and still upholds,
a world
S« clothed with beauty for rebellious
man?
Yes. y» may till your garners, ve that
i • a P
The ioudfil soil; and yo may waste much
good
In senseless rot; but yet will not find
In f<*ast. or In the chase, in song or
dance.
A liberty like his. who, nnimpeached
Of usurpation, and to no man's wtong.
Appropriates nature as his Father’s
work.
And has a richer use of yours than you,
He is indeed a freeman. Free by birth
Of no mean city, planned or e er the hills
Were built, the fountains opened, or the
sea
With aifc his roaring multitude of waves.
His freedom is the same in every state;
Anti no condition of this changeful life.
So manifold in cates, whose every day
Brings its own evil with it. makes it less
For he has wings that neither sickness,
pain.
Nor penury can cripple or confine;
No nook so narrow but he spreads them
there
With ease, and is at large. The oppres
sor holds
His body bound: but knows not what a
range
His snlrit takes, unconscious of a chain;
And that to bind him is a vain attempt,
Whom Got! delights In. and in whom He
dwells.
—William Cowpar.
i| LEGISLATURE
Of NEBRASKA
!A Synopsis of Proceedings of the Twenty "Ninth Gen^
era! Session.
SENATE—The foil lwing bills were
I passed in the senate on the 8th: Sen- t
! ate file 22(5, a bill limiting the number
of proxies of building and loan stock
to the actual number of shares held
by the member who wished to vote
them. Senate file No. I'1'. erea*'ng a
state railway commission. Senate file
No. 1 NT. a drainage hill House r II
No. 172. transf•*rrirg S2>\0°b from the
Norfolk to th ■ Ha."fugs asylum. Sen
ate file No. 23, by Senator Grkfin, a ,
bill to provide for a prose iiting at-1
\ torney system in the state, was killed
in the committee of the whole of the
senate by a decisive majority. Sen
ate file No. 1 ; a companion bill was
also slaughtered. The state prison
committee reported that the peniten- !
tiary was in excellent condition, the
damage done by the fire having been ,
repaired and the administration of
Warden \. I>. Beemer was most ex
cellent. The warden was compliment- j
ed on his manner of conducting the j
institution. Senate file No. 17. by Sen
ator Gibson, was indefinitely post
I poned on the report of the standing j
committee. It provided for the.care j
of dependent children.
HOUSE—In the house on the 8th j
i the following bills were read for the j
! third time and passed. House roll No. j
] 188. by Douglas, eliminating the coun
ty clerk and county assessors as
members of the county board of eouali- j
nation. House roll No. 21 i. by Ar.der
1 son. to protect lab- Is and tradcmmks
| of union labor organizations. House
roll No. 229. by Parker, to prohibit
j the granting by county boards of
licenses to sell liquors within 4"o f et
of country school houses. The railroad
| committee reported to the general
file, with a favorable recommenda
tion. house roll No. 2S2. by Hill, re
quiring the running of at least one
train daily on every line of railroad
• and fixing a minimum speed of twenty
! miles an hour for passenger trains,
i ten miles for fr iglb trains and twelve
miles for mixed trains. At 2 o'clock
j Dodge moved that the house go into
; committee of the whole to consider
: house roll No. 297 and other hills on
| the general file. House roll No. 297
| provides for the submission of a con
| stiiutional amendment for the crea’ion
of an electric railway commission of
three members, which commission
shall have the power to establish,
modify and enforce reasonable freight
rates and prevent discriminations and
j abuses. Mr. Dodge spoke forcibly in
| support of his motion, calling attention
! to the importance of He bill and the j
| lateness of the session and arguing
| that unless the bill be considered at |
once it would have but little chance of j
| passage. Porter objected to the ad- j
1 vancement of the bill over the rate
bill, and Peabody of Nemaha moved j
that the bill be not considered at this
time, which motion prevailed by a ris
ing vote of 34 to 10.
SENATE—Upon the personal re
quest of Governor Mickey the senate
on the f>rh allowed (he introduction
of the county engineer hill, which the
governor vetoed because of defects in
the bill recently passed which invalid
ated it. The salary bill introduced by
Good of Nemaha to make the pay of
all deputy sfate officers $1,800 a year
was killed, the vote being 15 to 13.
not a constitutional number having
voted in the affirmative. S. F. S7. pro
! viding for the payment of costs in
| misdemeanor eases, was passed. S. F.
I 170 and S. F. 184 were recommended
! for passage. The former fixes the
length of a school term according to
the number of pupils, making the
shortest term five months. S. F. 184
provides that when a district fails to
levy a tax for sehocl purposes the
same may be done by the county clerk
upon the recommendation of the coun
ty superintendent. The morning was
spent by the senate in the committee
of the whole, with Shreck in the chair,
in a discussion of S. F. 112, which
was finally recommended for passage.
The bill reduces the salary cf hank
examiners from $1,800 to $1,500. An
amendment by Gilllgan was adopted
to cause the discharge of examiners
when a bank fails within six months
after having been reported solvent by
the examiner. These bills were rccom
i mended for passage: S. F. 174. allow
ing cities of the second class to make
a levy for the purpose of improving
the roads leading into the towns, upon
the petition of a majority of the free
holders along the road, and to make
the poll tax $2 when paid in cash. S.
F. 152. to compel railroads to carry
stock at a rate of eighteen miles an
hour on the main line and fifteen miles
an hour on branch lines and to allow
the roads to designate three days in
the week as stock shipping days for
the branch lines; the law not to apply
on branch roads other than on these
three days. This designation of «hip
ping days was an amendment put on
by Gould, the introducer of the meas
ure.
HOUSE—On the 9th the committee
on revenue and taxation reported for
indefinite postponement house roll No.
cities and towns locally to assess, for
municipal purposes only, railroad ter
minal property within their limits.
McElhinnev of Burt moved that the
report of the committee indefinitely
postponing the bill be adopted and Mc
Leod seconded the motion. Clarke vig- '
orouslv protested against any such
summary action on a bill which means
$250,000 to $300,000 more railroad
taxes a year to the cities and towns
of Nebraska. The vote for indefinite
postponement resulted, yeas 65, nays
34. Wilson of Pawnee, chairman of
the finance, ways and means commit
tee, moved that the two big appronria
tion bills yet pending—house rolls
Nos. 342 and 302—be made a special
order for Friday, at 10:30 a. m., and
continue such until completed. The
motion prevailed. The following bills
were read for the third time and pass
ed: House roll No. 12, by Horton, to
aliow counties of less than 5,000 to
assess property at 33 1-3 per cent for
purposes of local taxation only. House
roll No. 250, by Wilson of Pawnee,
cairying the salary appropriations for
ail the state departments and institu
ti >ns for the ensuing biennium; total.
S' 094,280. House roll No. 217, by
Rouse, requiring liverymen to post
price schedules in a consp: nous place
and to punish by fine and imprison
ment failure to pay livery bills. House
roll No. 231. by Marks of Fillmore,
establishing the pay of demit' countv
assessors at $3 per day for time act
ually employed. House roll No. 215.
by Dodge of Douglas, to transfer free
High school funds now in county
treasuries to school districts main
taining such free schools. House roll
No. 233, bv Hoare of Platte, invalid
ating salary loans unless made with
the written consent of the emj lover
and reqiring the assent of the wife,
if the borrower lie married. House rob
No. 261, by Perry of Furnas, to out
law mortgages in ten years after ma
turity and in fifteen ye. rg when - on
t lining an indorsement. House roll No
267 by Hill of Hitchcock, establishing
a fee system for the ccmpensa:ion of
the secretary of the state heard of ir
rigation. House roll No. 189. by At
wood of F'ovard, fix s the salary of
road overs.ers at $2 per day for tim*
actually employe 1. not to exceed $"d
a year. House ’oil No. 262, l.v no
frefe. a curative insurance act to al
low foreign mutual coir.pa.iie ■ with
assets of loss than ?'*; oco to do busi
ness ii Nebraska. House roll No 268
by H;!l of Hitchcock, giving the state
board cf irrigation an ofifRial seal
Hou'e roll No. 2*71, by McAllister of
Deuel, limiting the amount of var
iants to be issued by irrigation dis
t riots.
SDN A TFT—These bills were passed
in the senate on the Pith: F. F. 184.
by Gilligan—Which provides ;hnt
when a school board at its annual
meeting makes no provision for a
form of school the levy can he made
by the county clerk after the county
superintendent has estimated the cost.
S. F. 5" and 52—Two of the Cadv de
cedence bills. S. F. 164. by Mocker t—
Making the statutes conform to the
federal statutes in matters pertaining
to the filing of transcript of judgment.
S. F. 197. by Meserve—Fixing the
boundary line of Dakota county to
conform to the agreement between
ihe Nebraska and South Dakota com
missioners. S. F. 176. by Epperson—
Prescribing the length of a term r.f
school under which a district < an se
cure a par' of the state school ap
portionment. S. F. 174. by Gould—
Providing that citie* of the fir.-t «! -s
can make a levy to improve roads
leading into the city an i providing
that the poll tax when raid in cash
shall be $2 instead of $3. F. F. 206 by
Dimerv—Giving the State Board of
Public Lands and Buildings power to
rent buildings owned by the state. S.
F. 112. by Good—Cutting down the
salary of bank examiners to $1,500 a
year and making it a cause for dis
missal should a bank fail within six
month? affer it is reported solvent by
tl»e examiner. The vote was 17 to 10,
just barely enough to carry. Fix were
absent. The senate went on record as
absolutely opnosed to any increase in
salaries of state employes, but rather
a reduction, and expressed ir? disap
proval of the liberality of the house*
in the matter of allowing claims in
discriminately, by indefinitely post
porting, with only one voice opposing,
that of Mockett of Lancaster, the
claim of Tom Kennard for $10,000. It
refused by a vote cf 10 to 15 to re
consider its action in turning down
the Good bill providing that all de
pntv stare officers be paid $1,800. A
resolution of sympathy to Senator Gif
fin because of the death of his brother
was adooted and the* senate adjourn
ed out of respect to the bereaved sen
ator.
HOUSE—Committee reports w< re
read on the 10th. showing these Hills
indefinitely postponed: S. F. 76. by
Bresee of Sheridan—A judicial r^ap
portionment bill. H. R. 417. by Bur
gess of Lancaster—Providing for a
weather signal service through the
state superintendent to warn teachers
and pupils of approaching storms. On
motion of Lee of Douglas S. F. 44.
by Gibson, the South Omaha sewer
bill, was ordered for third reading.
With Jackson of Antelope in *he chair
the house went into committee of the
whole and took up H. R. 3-57 and H
R. 302. the deficiency and general ap
propriations hills, on special order.
Clarke of Douglas made a fight for
an amendment providing for a salaried
deputy game warden at Omaha, but
failed. McMullen of Gage submitted
an amendment adding $4.00 for al
lowances to the National Guard. It was
adopted. McLeod's amendment to
strike out the $.30,000 item was Ioi*t
by a vote of 21 to 42. The appropria
tion for junior normals was raised
from $12,000 to $15,000. The statutes
appropriation goes to Cobbey instead
of Wheeler. The house cut out Wheel
er and put. in Cobbey. The general ap
propriations, a total of $1,800,000. ap
proximately. was not vitally altered.
The deficiency bill had an original
total of $40,166 and the committee
brought this up to $55,560, which the
house did not change. Both bills were
then recommended for rassage. the
house having concluded consideration
of them at 4 p. m. H. R. 235. by Perry
of Furnas, the biennial election bill,
making the term of all county and
state officers two years, was recom
mended for passage.
_
The (oor stood open as I passed
and therein I beheld silent groups of
women sitting around tables, their
hands before their faces, their eyes
rivited upon a sheaf of cards which
they seemed about to devour. "What
is this?" I asked. “Why this appalling
silence'and intense demeanor?” “Oh,
that is a bridge w&ist club,” was the
response. “It’s a matter of life or
death with all the players.”—Ex
change