NEW LAWS OF NEBRASKA Complete List of Bills Passed by the Recent Session of the Legislature. From Last Week.) ITS, by llowe of Ne upon (Continued House roll No niaii.i, to make it obligatory upon county buaids, instead of optional to furnish aid to county agricultural societies. Ap proved April 3. House roll No. 223. by Perry of Furnas, to provide for the conveyance of the in terest of an insane husband or wife in the lands ot his or her spouse, by means of a guardian, to be appointed by the district court ui>on application and proper showing. Approved April 1. House roil No. 314, by the linance, ways and means committee, to allow the state printing board, in emergency, to pur chase supplies to cost not exceeding $100, on the requisition of the officer requiring them, of the best and lowest bidder, in addition to the supplies procured under the annual contract. Emergency clause. Approved April 1. House roll No. 359, by Barto of Valley, to provide that no person can be com pelled to pay for a newspaper, magazine or other publication mailed him if he has not subscribed, or after his subscrip tion lias expired, notwithstanding lie may have received the same. Approved April 1. House roll No. 364, by Voter of Cedar, authorizing county courts to empower executors, administrators and guardians to mortgage real estate when there is lia money to redeem existing mortgages due or about to become due. Approved April 1. nouse roll rso. "... by the insurance E committee, providing for the admission fr' of foreign insurance associations or com panies to transact the business of ac | cident or sickness or accident and sick ness insurance and to pay not to ex ceed $2'K> funeral benefits in case of R death from natural causes. K House roll No. life, by Lee of Douglas, mk to make the county treasurer of Douglas | county ex-officio city treasurer of Omaha B and also ex-officio city treasurer of the [ Omaha school district. It requires him I to give bond to the city and school dis ' trict in amounts to l>e fixed by the city I council and the school board. He is to K, leceived such additional salary as the B' mayor and city council shall authorize. | Th£ city shall pay, in addition, for toe F Ti/cvssary additional clerks. He shall hold ! office for four years from January, 1006, and shall not be eligible for re-election. House roll No. 321. by the committee ” on revenue and taxation, to require that 1 oldcrs of state warrants registering the P same shall be required to pay a fee of Bo cents on $7>o or less and 50 cents for each additional $50, but that no charge shall be made for registering warrants K purchased for the permanent school fund. This is to induce holders of state war rants to st 11 the same to the permanent I school fund instead of holding .hem as B: an investment. House roll No. 422. by McOlay of Lan caster, to amend the law providing for the election of trustees of Wyuka ceme- I tcry at Lincoln in conformity with the biennial election law. House roll No. 71. by Scilley of Dodge, tq give cities of from 1,000 to 5.000 in habitants authority to grant lighting | f franchises, and also to furnish power j to residents, citizens and corporations I doing business in the city. House roll No. 212. by Currie of Dawes, to authorize county treasurers to take out letters of administration upon the estate of a deceased personal tax debtor for the collection of such taxes. House roll No. 256, by Cast-beer of ; Gage, to establish, at the Hume for the : Friendless at Lincoln, a hospital for crip- j pled, ruptured and deformed children and ! # those suffering from diseases from which they are likely to become deformed. The hospital is to be governed and man aged by the board <>f regents of the state university. Applications for ad mission are to be passed on first by the I county physician in the county whence “ they originate, and then by the board. An appropriation of $10,000 is made to carry the act into effect. House roll No. 265. by Hill of Hitchcock, to grant over all lands belonging to the state the right of way for ditches, tun nels. telephone and transmission lines ! necessary to construct and operate any ; irrigation works constructed by authority of the United States. House roll No. 267. by Hill of Hitchcock, j provides that these fees must be paid into the state treasury by parties desir ing the services of the secretary of the state board of irrigation: Filing appli cations lor water permits, $2; copies of maps or plats. 40 cents per hour for time consumed in making same; recording wa ter right instrument. $1 for first 100 words and 15 cents for each additional folio; is suing eertificaates of appropriation, $1: certified copies of documents, $1.15 per folio House roll No. 267. by Hill of Hitchcock, to provide an official seal for the office of the state board of irrigation. House roll No. 216. by Kyd of Gage, pro vides that taxes levied for township pur poses shall not exceed 10 mills for roads. 2 mills for bridges and 2 mills for all other purposes, instead of 2 mills for roads, 2 mills for bridges and 3 mills for all other purposes, as at present. House roll No. 303, by Bolen of Butler, to allow mutual fire insurance companies to issue policies on grain and hay in the House roll No. 206. by Roberts of Dodge, to increase the salary of county com missioners in counties of from 20,000 to 40.000 inhabitants from $5UU a year to $650 a year. House roll No. by trust oi jonn son, for the erection and maintenance of a binding twine plant at the state peni tentiary. Appropriates $50,000 for the plant and machinery ami $150,000 for an operating fund. The plant is operated under tiie direction of the board of pub lic lands and buildings. The labor of a sufficient number ot convicts is to be applied to operate the plant. To defray the expenses incurred the state shall I issue $200,000 of ten-year coupon bonds, optional in two years, to bear not to exceed 3 per cent interest, and to be sold to the permanent school fund. The profits of the plant are to be applied to the redemption of the bonds in such man ner as the legislature may direct. House roll No. 333. by Perry of Furnas, to provide that when creditors of persons dving intestate fail for two years to ap I iy fur le;ters of administration or to cause such estate to be administered upon their rights so to do and their. claims against the state shall be barred j end an order of descent may be made! by the county judge on application of any lieir or interested person. House roll Xo. 327. by Richardson of Madison, to provide for the compensation of clerks of the district court, in addition to their fees, as follows: In counties of from 8.000 to 12,000. $300; from 12,000 to 20.000, $400; from 20.000 to 40,000, $600 ; 40,000 rr.d over. $1/00. to be paid quarterly out of the general fund of the county and be subject to the same limitation as other fees. House roll Xo. 301. by Bartoo of Val ley. to empower Ruth Oberg to maintain an action in the district court of Doug las coun.y against school district Xo. 23 for personal injuries claimed to have been sustained through the default and negligence of the officers, agents and ser vants of that district House roll No. 343. by Anderson of Hamilton, to strike from the book and records of the state auditor and treas urer all charges against Hamilton county and persons and property therein on ac count of unpaid taxes for the year 1891 and al! years prior thereto, the county records up to that time having been totally destroyed by fire. House roll No. 141. by Windham of Cass. A0 give district courts instead of boards of county commissioners original Jurisdie- | tion in actions brought for the removal of county officers lor cause. House roll No. 121. by MeClay of Lan caster. to prohibit the wearing or use of the badge, insignia, jewel or badge of rec ognition of any society, lodge, guild or association, fraternal or otherwise, by any unauthorized i*erson, under penalty of $30 i fine or thirty days in jail, or both. House roll No. 198, by Wilson of Paw nee. to provide that bona fide owmers of contracts for lease of educational lands, which were in full force and effect prior to May 26, 1879, so that said owners may perfect their title according to the terms and provisions of the laws of the state winch were in force and effect prior to that time, under and by virtue of the laws of the state under which law then in force they obtained said contracts lor lease aforesaid. House roil No. 2by McAllister of Deuel, to provide that any water user's association which is organized in con formity with the requirements of the laws of the United States and which under its articles ut incorporation is au thorized to furnish water only to its stockholders shall be exempt from the payment of any incorporation tax, and from the payment of the annual franchise tax, but shall be required to pay as pre liminary to the incorporation, only a fee of $2o for the tiling and recording of its articles of incorporation and the issuance of the certificate of incorporation. House roll No. 252, by Sciiley of Dodge, to amend the eompuisorv education law so as to provide that the required twelve weeks of attendance on school may be made at any time during the term in stead of during the first twelve weeks thereof. House roll No. 1S6, by Meradith of York, to permit the owners of land to drain same by the construction of tiled ditches, as well as open ditches leading into nat ural water courses. House roll No. 72, by Casebeer of Gage, makes it unlawful to manufacture, sell, give away or willingly allow to be taken away cigarettes or the material for their manufacture. Violation of the act is made a misdemeanor, punishable on convic tion by a tine of not less than $o0 or more than $100. Officers, directors and managers of firms and corporations vio lating the law are made liable. House roll No. 51, by Warner of Lan caster, amendatory to the new revenue law. Makes the following changes: in counties of over 30,ti00 population the county assessor shall make up the as sessment books: the deputy assessor shall forward froyi time to time schedules of personal property assessments, from »min tue county assessor snail mtKe up the books of assessment in his office; the county assessor shall revise real es tate assessments anniMily for th<- cot. tion of errors; the state board of equali zation and assessment shall have power to increase or decrease the assessed valu ation of any class of property in any county by per cent; the county board shall not make the levy until tiie state board of equalization and assessment lias completed the work ot eq jalizalioil. Emergency clause. House roll No. 201. by Dodge of Doug las. disclaiming and relinquishing all claims of ownership or title on the part of the slate of Nebraska to any and all lands now being within the boundaries ot the state of Iowa, which shall here after be or become within the boundaries of tiie state of Nebraska by virtue of the action of any commissioners appointed by the said states and the ratification thereof by said states and the sanction thereof by the congress of the United States or otherwise; provided, however, that said land has been for ten years or more lust past in the possession or occu pation of any person or persons claiming ownership of the title thereto, and tin s so in possession or occupation have for said period of ten years or longer paid taxes claimed by state or county au thorities or officers to have "been levied upon said land. House roll No. T.S6, by Andersen of Douglas, making it unlawful for any per son to give or receive, offer to give or agree to receive any sum of money or any other bribe present or reward, or any promise, contract, obligation or security for the payment of any money, present or reward or any other thing for the purpose of securing signatures or signing petitions designating materials to be used in the paving, repaving, macadamizing, curbing or guttering of streets or roads and to provide a punishment for the vio lation of this act of not exceeding $500 fine and three months' imprisonment. Emergency clause. House roll No. 212, by Cropsey of Jef ferson. to provide that no school district meeting shall lie held ilb-g.il for want of the requisite fifteen days' notice. House roll No. 122. by McClay of Lan caster. to provide for space in VVyuka cemetery for burial of decreased inmates of state institutions located in Lincoln. House roll No. 2S1. by Robbins of Gage, to fix the salaries of sheriffs in tbe vari ous counties of the state as follows: In counties of 6.U00 population. $5w; 6,000 to 12,000. $iW0; 12,000 to 10,000, $1,200; 16,000 to 2U,0"0, $1,500 ; 20,000 to 25,000. $1,750; 23,000 to 3£,e applied upon the ac counts of such county for any year later than one year prior to the current year's tax. House roll No. 34S. by Lee of Douglas, creating and making the county assessor of Douglas county the tax commissioner ex-officio of Omaha and requiring him to qualify as tax commissioner cx-officio of said city by taking an official bond for the faithful performance of his duties and providing for his compensation as fixed by the mayor and city council. To take effect July 1, 11*6. House roll No. 357. by Post of Knox, pro aides for the committment by an exam ining magistrate of a person charged with an offense where probable cause has been shown, but where the offense charged is bailable permits recognizance for appear ance to be filed. House roll No. 412, by McMullen of Gage, provides that in counties having from 3b,000 to 6».000 inhabitants clerks of the district court shall be supplied by the board of county commissioners or super visors with a deputy or first assistant for the use of such office, whose salary shall be $1,000 per annum, to be paid monthly out of the general fund of the county. The board ct county commissioners or supervisors shall furnish such additional nelp for the use of such office as may be by them found necessary. The salaries of such additions' help shall be fixed, allowed and paid monthly by the county ooard out of the general fund of the county. Emergency clause. House roll No. 361. by McClay of Lan caster. provides that the law for the protection of the flag . hall not apply to any law permitted by tire statutes of the United States or by the United States army and navy regulations, nor shall it be construed to apply to a newspaper, periodical, book, pamphlet, circular, cer tificate, diploma, warrant or commission of appointment to office, ornamental pic ture, articles of jewelry or stationerj for use in correspondence on any of whicf shall be printed, painted or placed saic tlag disconnected from any advertise ment. Emergency clause. House roll No. 213, by Dodge Of Douglas provides for the proportionate distribu tion of all funds heretofore paid into tht treasury of any county lot' the main tenance of free High schools lor non resident pupils among tHe schools whict have maintained such High schools Emergency clause. House roll No. 421, by Marks of Fill-., more, to transfer from the board anc clothing fund of the (1 iris' Industrial school at Geneva the sum of intc a fund for furniture and repairs Emergency clause. House roll No. 412, by Anderson of Ham ilton, appropriates tt.e sum of $.1,000 foi I the purchase of a library for the use ol j the officers and crew of the battleship Nebraska. House roll No. 146. by Hand of Cass, requiring the registration of motor ve hicles and regulating their use or opera tion upon the highways or streets. Re quires each owner of a motor vehicle to tile his name, address and brief de- i scription of vehicle with the secreary ol j stale,, for which lie shall pay a regis- | nation fee of $1. and receive an aluminum ■ medal, w ith number, which must be kept ! conspicuously displayed on the vehicle. The same number must also be shown ill figures three inches high. The speed limit is fixed at ten miles an hour in the populous portions of eties, towns and vil lages: fifteen miles an hour in the less populous portions and twenty miles in the country. Drivers of such vehicles are required to stop, at the side of the road, on signal from driver of restive horse, and to use reasonable care in passing. Motor vehicles must have good brakes j and boll or horn ar.d show lamps at ( night. Cities and towns are forbidden to exclude by ordinance vehicles whose nwii i ers have registered with tin- secretary ol state, and received the aluminum medal provided for. \ iolations of the act are j punishable by a tine of f-o for tlie* first j offense and from $23 to $&> or thirty days in jail for subsequent offenses. II use roll No. 241. by McClay of I^in raster, to prevent and punish the desecra- | thin, mutilation or improper use of the j Hag of the United States for advertising purposes. House* roll No. El. by Muxen of l)oug las, requires laying in hospitals to oh- j tain permit to do business from health i officer of the city where located, to be conditioned on good moral character and i tit sanitary* condition of premises, which permit may be revoked for cause at any . time. Iteport must l>.* made of births to said officer within three days of their occurrence. The same regulations are to . apply to children's homes. Advertise- ( ments to dispose of children as an in duo-ment to . liter laying in hospitals are j forbidden. Violation of the law is pun ishable bv a tine not exceeding *10o or three months in jail. Emergency clause. House roll No. :>'•!, nv Clark, making it unlawful to solicit or accept tt bribe, i'he penalties are titles of not more than £»<*. or nut less than 1300 or imprisonment in the penitentiary not to exceed one year. House roll No. 110, by Junkin. the anti trust hill. This measure forbids restraint . f trade-. Persons found guilty of making contracts, combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade shall be punished by tines not exceeding $o."00, or by imprison ment not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the >un. The state may seize and condemn as forfeit any property owned under any such contract, combina tion or conspiracy. After June ;»<•. llKk». no corporation or joint stock company whose stockholders are not personally liable for their debts shall engage in business in the state unless, before September 15, 196, and each year thereafter it files in the office of the attorney general a statement show ing the amount and value of the capital stock: this statement must be signed and sworn to by the president, the treasurer, ihe general manager and a majority of the directors. P.efore June &>. 1906, such corporations must also tile in the office of the attorney general an undertaking signed by the chief officers that they will comply with tire laws of the state in the management of the affairs of the com pany. The attorney geneiul may require from such corporations at any time such statements as he thinks tit in regard to the conduct of its business. Any person injured in his business or property by such corporations by reason of anything forbidden in this act may sue therefor in any court of record in the state and shall recover threefold the damages sustained by him and the costs of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee. The sum of 110,000 is appropriated for the enforcement °f the act in the employment of special counsel and agents by the governor tnd the attorney general. House roll No. 231, by Marks, a bill to regulate the salaries of assessors. In >, in counties hav ing a population of from 50,000 to 100,000 the sailary shall be $1,800, and in counties having a population .if loO.OOO or more the salary shall be $2,400 per annum. The compensation of the deputy assessors snail be $5 per day for the time actually and necessarily employed in the discharge or their duties. Emergency clause. House roll No. 244, by Copsey, forbid ding the killing or injuring of English, China and Mongolian pheasants, English or Belgiui*, partridges, English black cocks or any imported game bird. Fines range from $25 to $50, or imprisonment not exceeding sixty days. House roll No. 200. by Foster, exempt ing from taxation capital stock, repre senting tangible property, which is as sessed in another state. Emergency clause. House roll No. 128. by Rouse, extending the hotel keepers' lien law to boarding house and restaurant proprietors. Emergency clause. Horn'** roll No. 134. by Horton, requiring the listing of land in blocks for taxation. Sections or fractions thereof shall be lis ted in one tract when the land belongs to the same owner. Lots are to he listed in blocks in the same manner when the owner requests it. House roll No. 58, by McAllister, de fining the powers of magistrates in breach of peace eases and pnoviding that the recognizance may be for a sum not less than $50 nor more than $1,000. House roll No. 228, by Burgess, the Lincoln charter bill. Seven councilmen are electcal from the wards and seven at large. The storm sewer fund is enlarged to $11,000. Emergency clause. House roll No. 101, by Kaley. appropriat ing $i2.0U0 for the Lewis and Clark ex position. Emergency clause. House roll No. 222, by Clarke, giving justices of the peace, magistrates and ministerial officers the power to require a surety to make an affidavit to his qualifications. House roll No. 381. by Detrick, the de ficiencies appropriation bill. House roll No. 302. by Stetson, the mis cellaneous claims bill. House roll No. 347. by Wilson, the gen eral appropriation hill allowing $L9QL\€9« for general state expenses. Emergency clause. House roll No. 219. by Burgess, pro viding for a warehouse lien and allowing goods to be sold for charges. House roll No. 210. by Clarke, a bill to forbid and punish lotteries and policy playing. Fines have a maximum limit of $500 and imprisonment not to exceed six months. Emergency clause. House roll No. 280, by Robbins, sheriffs' fee bill for Gage county. Emergency clause. .House roll No. 423. by McClav, providing for the biennial election of the mem bers of the Lincoln board of educa tion. (Concluded Next Week.) Some people think they are dodging the devil when they are only playing peek-a-boo with him. The man who has plenty of money usually it the man who knows how to keep it. Most men regard their own safety u something deserving of first thought Give a weak man a little success, and you will destroy him. , Very often the less a man has to say the greater reputation he gains for wisdom. It is not safe to presume that no one can find anything in your doings to gossip over. If you are looking for a faultless friend, you are sure to remain friend less. Life has many sorrows that become exquisite pain. One may be sensitive to a degref that gives it the appearance of jeal ousy. A show of confidence inspires a feel ing of friendliness even in a disposed to-be enemy. The charity which covers a multi tude of sins often is terrifically bad fit. Cling a little closer to the faith of , your heart Fiancee cl Anson Phelps Stokes a Talented Girl IMfrr 'Rose Harriet Factor / Miss Rrse Harriet Raster, former cigar factory employe, financee of ,1 G. Phelps Stokes, the wealthy young sociologist and son of Anson Phelps Stokes, the millionaire banker, was among the women who attended a meeting at Cooper Union. New York, when Judge Dunne of Chicago spoke. Her fiance v as one of the speakers and she occupied a seat on the stage. Miss Pastor showed a deep interest in everything that went on around her. but she was not recognized by more than a dozen persons present. From the moment that the young mil lionaire, following his Introduction by the presiding officer, stepped to the speaker's desk, she became entire ly absorbed in him. When he likened many of the so called vested rights of private corpor ations to the ‘•so-called rights of a common thief or swindler” she could scarcely restrain herself, and joined enthusiastically in the outburst of cheering. A poem written by Miss Pastor not long ago. when she was almost starv ing. has been found. It is as follows: FEEDING THE SPARROWS. I..ittle sparrows, take your fill Of crumbs from off my window sill. I know you look to me for food— Look to me for livelihood; And I cannot keep the crumb From such little creatures dumb. So now pick them ofT my sill— Little sparrows, take your fill. j.G.P-h.eipJ' Stores Take your fill then, chirp your prayer; Thank the One who gives His care. Gives His care, and gives His love. Pours it from His Heart above. i My last crumb 1 feed to you; I pray the Lord to feed me, too. For I'm so hungry, birdies sweet. And no o*e gives me bread to eat. ; The crumbs you pick were laid away From bread I ate ere yesterday. Since when I have not tasted food. Hut—“He will cate" and "All is good My heart is full, my table bare; Yet "All is good” and "He will care.” So. little sparrows, take your fill Of crumbs from off my window sill.’ Miss Pastor is 22 years old and is an adherent of the Jewish faith. SPY SYSTEM IN EUROPE. All Governments Seek to Secure Underhand Information. Not a month passes but some spy is taken on some of the frontiers in Europe. It is true that nowadays spies are not shot in times of peace, but the punishment often amounts to years of imprisonment. To many this will seem a dear price to pay for patriotic effort. The French presi dent has pardoned several spies con demned for this offense. Such clem ency, however, is exceptional. Spies, patriotic, or merely mercenary, take their own risks. The ordinary spy work on the Franco-German frontier is peculiarly systematic. A month or two in ad vance the French etat major, for in stance, communicates a program to the spy, with maps necessary to the execution of his work—maps prepar ed by the German government, which have arrived in France through trait orous* channels. If work has already been done in the region full details of it are communicated to the spy. Dur ing this preparatory time his work must be to study up the region from these documents in such a way that he will know them all by heart. A spy must not be caught with maps or papers on hiifi. When he is perfect officers of the famous second bureau put him through a rigorous examination. Several ad dresses, both in France and Germany, to which he must send his correspond ence, are given to him, and he is rec ommended to change them to avoid suspicion. German gold and notes are given to him. Then they say. “God save you, for we cannot!” And so he departs, well knowing that if caught his government will do nothing for him. Indeed, it will deny him. “We do not know this man. He must be a mercenary volunteer adventurer, hunt j ing information to sell to us. Treat ! him as he deserves!” On the other hand, they leave the j spy free to choose his own means to execute the work assigned to him. He takes orders from no one. He i makes no account of his expenses. He must even forge his own false papers. Some time in advance he h9s I worked up a fictitious identity, and if i his government gives him a passport i it is only to be used in cashing postal orders and satisfying hotel keepers. The moment the police demand his I papers he must burn the passport. Nowadays, when passports are de manded so seldom of mere tourists, the spy will content himself with a few letters that have come through | the mail to him. He will have had these letters sent on to a prearranged German address a few months be | fore. A life insurance policy taken out under the assumed name is also : valuable. QUESTION HARD TO ANSWER. Visionary Engineer Was Squelched by Secretary Taft. Bunau Varilla. the Parisian engi neer, drifted into Washington a few days ago with a wonderful scheme for building the Paanma canal in four years. He entertained Sacretary Taft with a graphic account of how the estimated time for completing the big ditch could be reduced one-half. “Let's see.” slowly said Secretary Taft. "You were connected with the Panama canal under M. De Lesseps, were you not, Mr. Varilla?" "Yez. “For how- long?" "Oh, for ze long time—eight, nine years.” "Didn’t it occur to you,” asked \1g. Taft, picking up a pen to resume the signing of of ficial papers, "that you might have saved four or five years and built the canal in the meantime by employing your system under De Lesseps?” The Frenchman bowed himself out. Photographs Plant Growth. Photography, -which has caught an express train in full motion by the cinematograph, has also been brought into use to depict, with equal fidelity, action so slow as the growth of a flow er. By exposing a plant every quar ter of an hour for sixteen days to a camera it is noM( possible to watch a bud open gradually; to see the blos soms close at night and reopen in the morning; to see the leaves in crease in size and the stamens peep out. And all in the space of a min ute or two. President Roosevelt’s Bodyguard. A German periodical has printed pictures and descriptions of the pic turesqde body guards of the rulers of the modern world, including the Indian bodyguard of the king of Eng land. the Swiss guard of the pope and nany others. It remarks of the Unit ed States secret service that “no king can be more carefully protected than is President Roosevelt, even though his bodyguard is not clad in bright and easily recognized uni forms.” Indian Sticks to Washington. No Shirt, a big chief of the Umatillb tribe in Oregon, has been haunting the office of the Indian commissioner in Washington for a week. No Shirt heard of the new white father who presides over his comrades’ destinies behind a desk at Washington. He found that he could not rest content until he had seen and conversed with the new chief. So No Shirt traveled all the way to Washington to meet Mr. Leupp. He was so pleased with his reception that he finds it impossi ble to tear himself away. Civility a Vital Necessity. Dr. Samuel A. Green, the historian, says that the late ex-Gov. Boutwell once gave these hints to a student at the Groton academy: “If you wish to take a college course I trust you will be able to do so. But there are three things you must have to succeed—in dustry. integrity and civility. You can not get along without civility.” This advice made so much impression upon the boy that his grandfather has the words printed on a little card for dis tribution to friends. i NEW HISTORY OF WAR Task for Whoever Will Write Descriptions of Recent Battles in the East I "The histories tha; v.ill toll of the 1 fighting about Mukden will noi. be Tinted in my time,” said the veteran J second-hand book dealer. “Of course : war histories ar'- net written r.;w as they were when I was a \ uingster. I fancy that the war in the far East will have no such historians as Headley and John S. C. Abbott. Our own civil war. otu of which such countless ' . tcries have been woven, never had such historians. Maybe it is well that it is so. They were not sticklers for lacts. Rut they were artists. They painted pictures which one could nev er forget. “Zola’s ‘Le Debacle’ gave cne the nightmare, but still 1 sold more copies of that work than 1 ever did of Car lyle's French Revolution. But both will be eclipsed by some future his torian who shall tell us of Mukden and the retreat to Tieling. “The nomenclature of the battles in the far East will operate, for a time at least, against the historian who shall undertake the work. But the next generation will in time become familiar with the names which now puzzle and distract. We do not even know the geography of that country yet. We now speak of Pultowa as readily as we do of Gettysburg, but when the former battle was fought I imagine the name was a jawbreaker to all except the natives. “The Japanese, as we all agree, are marvelous fighters, but will they ever give us their side tf this war? You may depend upon it, the Russians will never tell their side. Who will be the historians of this greatest contest of the world? “It will be possible to obtain certain data. We shall know the numbers en gaged; we shall be told, in a general way, bow many were Haim But it j will be a long time before we shall have any such histories of the strtig gle as we have had of other wars, j The Franco-Prussian war had the quickest history of any conflict, but then it was quickly fought. “Historians and others were writing about our civil war for more than a quarter of a century alter the surren der at Appomattox.. Then came the spat we had with Spain. 1 am as gixxl an American as live-, but when wo think of the war which has niadt Jap an the wonder of mankind we forget the spanking we gave Spain, and have to go back to the civil war to find any thing in our war history worth talking about. The American Revolution dots not look very big now, does it? “The historians who wrote about Napoleon's retreat from Moscow gave us the most dramatic incidents in war history. I don't know how many were true. I used to believe with all my heart that Marshal Ney did fire the last- gun as he crossed the Beresina, and that he did enter the tent of bis master, powder-stained and ragged, and that he really exclaimed when Na poleon asked him who he was: ‘1 am the last of the rear guard of the grand army.’ And 1 also believed that Na poleon embraced him and said: ‘Bet ter is an armv of deer commanded by a lion than an army of lions command ed by a deer.’ “Historians of the Abbott sob el re corded these incidents, and they and other incidents sold hocks for fifty years. “But all that has been wiped out in the last few weeks. It has hurt my business. I picked up Victor Hugo's description of Waterloo the other day and tried to read it. Maybe my pre {\ige---ted breakfast food was not up to the mark, but I threw the book aside and found myself reading the pitiful fragments