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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1906)
I THE NEWS IN NEBRASKA. ■ OVER THT STATE. A great religious revival is on at Union, Cass county. Mrs. n. M. Folsom, of Ashland, died last week, aged 90 years. Ninety-eight thousand dollars in im provements was added to Merna in 1905. Three prosperous banks in Saunders county have made substantial in crease in their capital stock. The farmers living northwest o( Beatrice have arranged to hold an other wolf hunt February 22. The new depot at Valentine has been completed and is much appre ciated by the citizens of that place. Fire of unknown origin destroyed twelve stalls at Linden Tree park, Beatrice. Loss, $1,000 fully insured. Lincoln jobbers and dealers are planning to have a number of trade excursions run into Lincoln in the neat future. The Kearney creamery which has been in existence for the past twc Spars )ias been sold to the Fairmont Creamery company. The midwinter farmers' institute oi Cage county, will be held at Virginia February 9 and 10. A fine program has been prepared. Fire destroyed two frame business houses on the north side of the square at Fairbury. They w'ere the property of George H. Turner. Foot ball enthusiasts at the state university are startled and alarmed at i he proposed gridiron changes at the Chicago conference. Oscar H. Anderson of Oakland, has received the appointment as mail weigher by the government. His run will be between Scribner and Oakdale Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Sharpe of Grand Island, celebrated their golden wed ding and received the congratulatory calls of a host of friends and citizens. At a meeting of the stockholders of the Nebraska City driving park asso ciation it was decided to have a race meet during the coming summer ot fall. A daring piece of work was the theft of sixteen head of fat hogs from the yards of August Schultz, a well known former living a few miles north ol Humboldt. The supreme court will take up the matter of Hyland and Coney, both ot whom want to be county superintend ■ent of Wayne county, on February 6 and attorneys have until January 26 tc file briefs. The farmers of Merna and vicinity nwt to complete a farmers’ co-opera tive grain association. Five thousand dollars has already been taken in stock. A *5.00 elevator will be erect ■ed at Merna. Geo. Thompson of Hastings, a la borer, has been sent for by his father who is a resident of the state of Wash ington. and who is nearing his end. to come and get the estate which is worth *100.000. - D. W. Fraker of 1144 Washington street. Lincoln, declares that robbers have entered his house and looted his savings hank. He had accumulated SI4o in bills which he had stowed away inside his pillow. •T. L. Dudek. a painter, was found trozen to death on the roau two miles north of Springfield. Dudek was last seen alive when he left the residence of John Hickey, where he had beeu employed to go to Omaha. Mrs. Frank Hodapp. a widow living a few miles south of Humboldt, fell through an open trap door in hei kitchen and suffered some severe bruises, but no broken bones, although the distance was nine feet. In a corn husking contest in Custei county, last tor two hours. Joe Snaw went against the Custer "whirlwind,' Ed. Sweeney, for a purse of *50. Shaw iiusking thirty bushels and five pounds and Sweeney twenty-eight bushels and twenty pounds. Rev. William Suess of the German Congregational church of Crete, died last week. He was about 65 years ol age and had retired from the active ministry. For many years he was pas tor of a church in Highland precinct Lancaster county. Anthony McDonald of Saunders county, was found near the Roman Catholic church about eight miles south of Fremont, with two bullet wounds in his head and unable t< speak. cannot live. The wound was ’•-inflicted. The state banking board has grant ed a charter to the Farmers Stats bank of Big Spring, Deuel county. Ths capital stock is $6,000 and the incorpo rators are H. J. Babcock, E. C. Woll and E. D. Hamilton, cashier of ths Commercial bank of Grand Island. Mrs. Hugh Rutherford of Humboldt received word from the prosecuting attorney at Topeka. Kas.. containing information that the courts of that citj had sentenced her son. Julius Pritch ard, to the state penitentiary for £ term of twenty-one years upon i charge of rape. Following is the mortgage reeorc for Johnson county for December 1905: Number of farm mortgages filed, 17, amount $43,265; number re leased 15. amount. $23,670. Number o1 town and city mortfiages filed. 6 amount $2,981; number released 9 amount $4,343.83. A. W. Bowen filed a claim agains: Adams county for $303 fees he re ceived for performing $101 marriagt ceremonies while county judge. Mr Bowen alleges in his claim that at th< time he turned these fees over to th* count! tteasurer he did so under du ress and threats of prosecution. The state checker tournament wil be held in Lincoln beginning Februari 7 at 10 a. m. Notices of the meetini have been issued by Secretary C. G Hurlburt of Utica. Mr. Brookings o Funk, won the honors at the las tournament. Messrs. Christian and Lang of Tork importers and breeders of Aberdeen Angus cattle, received an importei Trojan Erica cow, bred by R. G. Dov of Elgin. Scotland, whose 12-month ' old calf sold recently for $325, and t Blackbird cow named Blackbird o Woodlawn, whose 5 Vi-month-old cal sold recently for $305. ■ I TEST OF GRAIN ASSESSMENT Appeal of Central Granaries Involves System of Valuation on Elevators. LINCOLN—The Central Granaries company has appealed to the supreme court to contest the co lection of taxes levied on a $10,000 assessment made against its grain said to have been in its Lincoln elevator when the assessment was made last spring. The company contested the assessment in the district court and lost out, and this morning appealed the case. In its brief the company claims that asses sors throughout the state assessed elevators on the average capital in vested during the year, and that this j was done in the case of its fifty or more elevators. The grain which it had on hard in Lincoln it contends j was in transit and had already bean (assessed ou. in the state. The decision will in all probability pass upon the plan of assessing grain men on the average of the capital in vested during the year, a plan figured out by Secretary Bennett of the State Board of Equalization and Assessment, and which v.’as followed by the count •• assessors under the direction of lha secretary of the board. BIG LEAD FIELD IN NEBRASKA. High-Grade Ore Underlying Hundred Square Miles. FA1J..S CITY—Rich deposits of a high grade lead ore. underlying a ter ritory of 10b square miles in Richard son county, are the discovery of the past few weeks, and it begins to look as if Richardson county farms will ere long be abandoned for the greater wealth that lies beneath them. A couple of months ago three or four local men associated themselves with L. N. Laurence of Dead wood. S. D., to prosjiect and drill in the hills lying east of Falls City and see if the surface indications of mineral depos its were supported by what they could find. They leased 900 acres of land about three miles east of town and started to work. The first prospect they put. down was wet and they were forced by water to abandon it. They moved a little south and farther down the hill and put down a prospiect hole there, and at the depth of 100 feet they struck a six-foot vein of lead ore that is as fine as any ore produced by the Joplin district. They have sunk a number of holes, and every one shows pay ore in big bodies. EMPLOYEES TOO GRASPING. Plan to Secjre Ten Days Extra Inter est or Warrants is Knocked Out. LINCOLN—It has been customary for some years to pay off the state house employes and officers along anout the 2'>th of the month by war rants issued by the state auditor. This practice, however, will not be continued to those employes who are in the habit of registering their war rents. By getting the warrants on the 20th the employe heretofore could reg ister toe same and draw interest for ten days, when as a matter of fact the state had paid for services yet to be rendered. Deputy Auditor C’ook stated that those who registered their war rants would t ave to wait until the last day of the month to get them. • Find Coal in Boyd County. NORFOLK—Coal has been discov ered in Boyd county on the farm of Joseph Kiasan. four miles west of Gross. It is said that the vein appears to be a paying-quantity one. and it is hoped by the citizens of that sec tion that the prediction will prove tru.e Coal has been found in other sections of that county. Tobacco Users Not Favored. PERU—The committee on recom mendations for teachers of the Peru normal will not recommend any grad uates known to be users of tohacco. President Crabtree himself says: “I would not knowingly recommend any of our vourg graduates who use to bacco for positions in the public schools of Nebraska. G. A R. Changes Date. The date for the annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic has been changed to May 1C. 17 and 18. This change was made necessary be cause National Commander Tanner cannot get here until the 16th. Claims Loss of His Wife. NE13RASKA CITY,—George W. Walker has filed a suit in the district court against Wulliam Loy asking for judgment for $15,000 against the de fendant for alienating the affections of his wife and depriving him of her society. I.ast week Mrs. Walker be gan suit in the same court against her husband, George Walker, this plaintiff, praying for a divorce from him on the grounds of non-support. Booming Western Nebraska. The labor bureau is getting in some fine pictures of harvest scenes in western Nebraska, to be used in its forthcoming bulletin. This bulletin, lor which statistics are now being collect ed will be devoted to the western por tion of the state. Are Searching for Oil. AUBURN—A company is being or ganized for the purpose of prospecting for coal, oil and gas in Nemaha coun ty. A number of substantial farmers are interested in the venture. History of Bonds Corrected. State Treasurer Mortensen was noti fied that the history of tbe Idaho bonds, whiea the state expects to buy. would be properly corrected and cer tified to and would be forwarded tc . the slate within a few days. The executive committee of the State Teachers association, in session at Lincoln., selected Lincoln as tie . place of the next meeting of the asso : ciation and December 26. 27 and 28 is ' the time. The treasurer reported a balance at f850 on hand. ■ ■■I ■ II——————1^—^ Brazilian Warship Recently Destroyed The Aquidaban, sunk by the explo sion of its magazine at Jacarepagua, seventeen miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro, was a duplicate of the ill fated Maine of the United States navy, except in size and in details of gun equipment and boilers. The dis aster. the cause of which has not been ascertained, resulted in the loss of 212 officers and men. During the last rebellion the vessel was the flagship of Admiral Mello. NEW AFRICAN RAILROAD LINE. Will Traverse Country Capable of Great Development. To the Red sea. not in Pharaoh's chariots, but in steam cars, is what the people are to do early in the new , year. Most of the constructive ma terial and locomotives have been sent from Glasgow. The line extends front Saukim. the present sea termi nus. 232 miles into the interior, trav ersing first northward and then as cending the plateau 3.000 feet high, which runs parallel with the coast. Stretching fifty miles across the wa terless waste of desert it reaches the Atbara river, twenty miles below its confluence with the Nile. Skirting the river it ultimately joins the Khar tum- Wady-Halfa railway north of the Atbara bridge. The new line will cost about $10, 000,000 and will include extensive bridge works. Saukim may cease to be a great port, as the new terminus, j now known as Port Soudan, forty-five ! miles north of Saukim. already has developed greatly and has a popula tion of 2,000. The country traversed is capable of great nevetopment. Cheap Taxdodgers in New York. There are fifty demigods of wealth who keep domiciles along Fifth ave nue at least six months in the year, ; yet when the taxman comes around they sneak out of their obligations by claiming residence in Newport or Vir- ' gi::ia or on Long Island. This year the vasion of taxes by millionaires ! has been particularly scandalous. The worst part of it all is that these per- j sons get the greatest benefit from police protection for their properties: I they are enabled to evade jury ser vice: they for the most part refuse to vote and are altogether a poor lot of critters, judged by the best stand ards of good citizenship. Yet when a poor devil who may happen to own j a piano grumbles about personal prop erty taxes they call him an anarchist. Of the 120 boxholders in the Metro politan Opera house only six pay taxes on a valuation of $100,000. The whole business is a cheap, un patriotic swindle fit to stand with the insurance frauds and certainly deserv ing to fall with them.—Pittsburg Dis patch. Balfour Rarely Loses Temper. Mr. Balfour, the British statesman, who. with his party, has gone down to defeat, has marvelous self-control and never was known to be even ruf fled by the bores who continually har ass public men. One evening when he was being terribly "heckled" at a pub lic meeting in Manchester a sympa thizer called out: “Don’t lose your temper.” Mr. Balfour smiled easily as he replied: “I have lost many things in my time, but I never lost my temper.” Even on the golf links he does not rise to the mildest pro fanity at a streak of bad luck. Churches to Honor Lincoln. The American Missionary Associa tion is issuing an appeal to Congrega tional churches to observe Sunday, Feb. 11, in recognition of the ninety seventh birthday of Abraham Lincoln. The association expects that the Methodist denomination will unite in the observance of the day. it ap peals to other denominations to do likewise. Rev. Dr. C. J. Ryder, corre sponding secretary of the association, is in communication with Grand Army posts, literary societies and many patriotic organizations to join in the celebration. Casts of Sculptures. Owing to the mutilation of a val uable antique head of Minerva, pre sented in 1860 by the composer Halevy to the Beaux Arts, a proposal to have casts made from all important sculp tures in France belonging to the state has been made. In the pres ent instance the nose has been knocked off and the head so dam aged that repairs are out of the ques tion. The possession of perfect casts of all the statues in the Louvre would at least minimize the loss in case of fire. Foreign Firms in China. According to latest statistics, the ! number of foreign commercial firms in the principal treaty ports and in the large cities of China open to for eigners was 1.297, and the number of foreigners residing there was 20,560. ; England heads the list with 420 firms and 5.662 persons: Japan comes next, with 361 firms and 5.287 persons. Ger many has 159 firms and 1,658 persons: j the United States, 114 firms and 2.542 persons. France comes fifth, with 71 firms and 1,213 persons. SCIENTISTS HAVE NEW SCHEME. | Aim to Utilize Forces of Atmospheric Electricity. Franklin's bolt never has been \ snatched from the skiejs and harness ed in human service. But M. A. Brey- ; del. a Frenchman, thinks it should. Exporations of the atmosphere have proved that large differences of po tential exist in it at points not widely separated. It has been found that a difference of potential of 100 volts per , meter has been measured, and even values as high as 300 volts. A con ductor might be placed with Its ends at two points where the difference of ; potential is 10.000; or under favorable conditions it might reach 30,000 volts, j There should be some means of util izing these enormous forces of atmos pheric electricity. It is suggested that a possible method of collecting the energy would be to send up bal loons surrounded with a network of conductors. It is thought that by means of a transmission line carried up a mountain so as to give a differ ence in latitude of about 800 meters between the upper and lower ends, that this should make available a po tential of from 10,000 to 30.000 volts. Remains the question how this high tension is to be converted to pressure suitable for commerce. _ AUSTRALIA A COTTON COUNTRY. Preparations Made to Undertake Growth on Large Scale. Australians are expecting to be cot ton growers. The suitability of soil and climate for cotton growing in the greater part of Queensland, northern West Australia, and the vast north ern territory of South Australia has long been placed beyond dispute, but the paucity of population, apart from other considerations, hitherto has been an obstacle to the development of cotton growing. In the northern territory the cotton plant has diffused itself without man's help, and may al most be regarded as a part of the North Australia flora, no less than seven out of the eight known species flourishing there. Some years ago a cotton mill was established in Queensland, but failed for want of capital, .low prices, and lack of experi ence. This discouraged the farmers, i who turned to dairy farming. Things 1 are different now. The farmers have faith once more in cotton growing, and are ready to undertake it on large j scales if assured of sufficient labor in packing season. It is said that an average farmer's family could work out an area of from five to ten acres, besides doing other farm work. Great in Physical Contrast. Two Illinois delegates to the min ers' convention in Indianapolis have ' been called “the long and short of it.” They are Steve Smith of Percy and Alexander Robertson of Murphys- 1 boro, both in the eleventh subdistrict. : In his bare feet the former stands just 6 feet 6 inches, while Robertson \ measures up 4 feet 9%. The two are j great friends and caused much amuse ! ment at the convention, being seen together constantly. Fund to Lay Dormant Long. In emulation of Benjamin Franklin j Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston has donat- | ed $1,000 to form a fund that is to accumulate interest for 100 years, to i be then expended for purposes which will in the opinion of the managers composing the board at that time best serve the interests of humanity. Worthy Owner of Great Name. The earl of Elgin has a name known half over the world. His fa ther was plenipotentiary to China and a most successful viceroy of India: his grandfather was ambassador at Constantinople and collected the j world-famous Elgin marbles. The present peer has been treasurer of the household, commissioner of vrorke . and finally a most tactful and popu lar viceroy of India. He was presi- j dent of the royal commission which was appointed to report on the war in South Africa. Wild Coffee Plant. A French botanical explorer has discovered in Central America a new coffee plant, with fruit of superior quality, to which he has given the ; name coffee excelsa. The tree grows wild and attains at great height. At ; five years specimens are twenty-five feet high and older trees have been discovered that were sixty feet high. The coffee seeds are small, rounded, and according to analysis and expert opinion are among the best sorts know RUSSIAN INVENTION OF VALUE. Uralite Makes an Excellent Fireproof Material. In case of fire, get uralite. a com paratively new material and little known. It is usually supplied in flat, thin sheets of asbestos fiber, com pacted with a mineral glue, probably j a silicate solution. Hence it is an ex cellent fireproof material, and may be j used for the panel filling of iron framed buildings or for partitions and doors, for i* will not warp with heat. It is not affected by damp, acids, or any other ordinary destructive agency, and is, moreover, easily rendered wa terproof by means of paint, and may j be used for the roofing of factories, ! etc. It also is a good non-conductor j of heat, and so is suitable for pipe | covering and cold storage work. It 1 is easily sawed to shape, and gener- j ally presents itself as a light and safe 1 construction material. A Russian is said to have invented It, and has made it both in a hard and soft var iety, in sizes up to six feet by three feet, and from a sixteenth of ar. inch upward. When one-eighth inch thick | it weighs 9% ounces per square foot foot in the soft variety. The hard variety seven-sixtv-fours of an inch | thick weighs lltj ounces per square j foot. Japanese Surgeon to Lecture. Baron Takaki, surgeon general of I the Japanese navy, has arrived in ; San Francisco and will proceed to the Atlantic coast. He will deliver at Co i lumbia college. New York, and Jefi'er- j son .Medical college, Philadelphia, a ! series of lectures on military sanita tion. His son is studying finance and commerce in the University of Penn sylvania. The baron is credited with : having arranged the admirable hos pital methods which were so conspic uous in the war with Russia. He dis covered a method of preventing beri beri many years ago. Usefulness of Congressman. Congressman Olmsted of Pennsyl vania. expresses this opinion: “It takes a man about four terms in the house to familiarize himself with his office. A district that intends keep ing a man in Washington for only two terms migh almost as well send a clerk here, because the member never learns more than the performance ot the routine duties before he is called upon to give up his office to another, who will go in the same way.” Income $1,000,000 a Week. Albert Beit, the South African min ing king, is said to be richer even than Rockefeller. Half the mines in South Africa belong to him, includ ing the fabulous wealth of Kimberly's diamond output. The aggregate of his wealth can not be stated, but a rough estimate places it at $1,000,000,000. His yearly income is $52,500,000. which means that he gets $100 every min ute of his life, or, to put it another way, $1,000,000 a week. Veteran Southern Statesman. Judge Andrew J. Harlan of Savan nah, Mo.. 91 years old and a contem porary of Clay. Webster. Calhoun and Benton, has been in Washington en deavoring to secure the appointment of his granddaughter as postmistress of Savannah. Judge Harlan was elected to the thirty-first congress in 1848. Until California was admitted to the union he was the youngest member in the house of representa tives. Production of Coal. The world's production of coal In 1880 was 370,000,000 tons, and the United States furnished 20 per cent of the whole. In 1890 the share of this country was 28 per cent of the world's total of 563,000,000 tons, and in 1900 it had risen to 32 per cent of 846,000.000 tons. For the present year the world's output will exceed 1.000,000 tons, of which this country will produce 39 per cent. The Unit ed States this year has mined more coal than was produced in the world in 1880. Diamonds in Sultan's Teeth. The young Sultan of Johore po j ssesses one great peculiarity. Many years ago an accident with a horse resulted in nearly the whole of his teeth being knocked out. These have been replaced by teeth of solid gold, in each of which a large diamond has been inserted; and. as they be come uncovered, even in the t.et of smiling, the effect is most weird one to beholders—more especially when the sun catches the stones and makes them flash like fire. P08ITI0N FOR LUKE E. WRIGHT. Tennessee Man to Be Ambassador to Japan. Luke E. Wright of Tennessee, gov ernor general of the Philippines, is to be the next ambassador to Japan. Gov. Gen. Wright is a democrat. He was for eight years attorney gen eral of Tennessee. His father. Archi bald W. Wright, was chief justice of the state. Gov. Gen. Wright will be succeed ed in office at Manila first by Henry C. Ide. now vice governor, and when he retires on June 1, by James F. Smith, a member of the Philippine commission. Commissioner Ide has been Philip pine commissioner for six years, and, being well along in years, desired to retire and tendered his resignation to take effect June 1 next. Both the president and Secretary Taft felt that his service merited the honor of hav ing for a time at least held the actual rank of governor general of the Phil ippines. Mr. Smith was colonel of the First California regiment of volunteers, and served in the Philippines. In April; 1899, he was appointed associate jus \ '^wv f f Gor-jaer-f- sk&gvt tice of the Supreme court of the Philippines, and on Jan. 1. 1903, he was appointed a member of the Phil ippine commission. HOSPITAL CAR IN AUSTRALIA. Innovation Has Demonstrated Its Ma terial Usefulness. A hospital on rails speeds across the southern Pacific continent, a luxur ious car equipped with a ward of eight double berths, operating rooms, baths, and surgeons' apartments. The berths can be locked in any position and placed at any height. They can be lowered to the level of the floor and the springs and bedding removed, and the cot with patient placed direct ly on the frame, thus making it pos sible to avoid any unnecessary hand ling of the injured. Berths not in use can be lotvered out of the way in to the floor, and iu their place set easy chairs which are stored below the floor when the berths are in use. The car is held on a special side track at the railway company’s hos pital. A trained nurse and cook are regularly assigned to it to see that it is always ready for instant service. In case of a call as many physicians and nurses as may be necessary are immediately transferred from the hos pital, and off they go on their errand of mercy. Guarding the Public Eyesight. There is a controversy in England between the doctors and the opti cians, who have been increasing their scientific equipment and prescribing at a much lower price than the ocu lists. while general practitioners as a rule know little about optics and the prescription of glasses. It is a curious thing that there has been no organ ized crusade by the profession against allowing the public to select its own spectacles from the exposed stock, as has been the practice ever since glasses came into use in the seven teenth century, though this is obvi ously more injurious. But now that the opticians have undertaken to prescribe the doctors want that for bidden by act of parliament, leaving the public free as before to choose its own spectacles. The opticians have prepared a counter bill, providing for j opticians' diplomas to be awarded by a central council of the whole trade.— Springfield. Mass.. Republican. Ministerial Profanity. A New York clergyman some few weeks ago was playing golf on the links of the Mount Airy club, near Philadelphia. In the course of the game he drove into a bunker, where- \ upon his partner heard him exclaim: “Croton!” The latter did not under stand, but said nothing. Shortly after ward. upon slicing his ball into the long grass, the clergyman again ejacu lated: “Croton!” "What do you mean by the word ‘Croton.’ Mr. R?” inquired his partner. “It sounds like an exorcism.” "No.'' said the rever end gentleman, "but it expresses my feelings exactly.” "How so?” "Why. it represents the biggest dam in the world.” Author Not Fond of Books. Guy De Maupassant despised liter- j ature as a profession and gave to al most any other topic of conversation j the preference over books. "There j are so many other things of so much greater interest to talk about,” the novelist would say. Of yachts and the sea he could talk delightfully and he was rather proud of the fact that some time previously he had rescued 1 from the waves at Etretat the Eng- 1 lish poet Swinburne, who. Bryonlike, i a magnificent swimmer, had for once outswum his strength. Will Help Kaiser to Celebrate. Stephen Hesse and wife have start ed from Wichita. Kan., for Germany, ! upon special invitation from Ewperor | William to join in celebrating ms sil- i ver wedding anniversary. Hr. Hesse j is a sculptor. Twenty-five years ago j he was a sergeant in a German in- j fantry regiment in which the pres- ' ent kaiser was captain. When the ! prince was married Feb. 23. 1881, the ! members of his company were guests j erf honor. Surviving members are to ! be honored again at the anniversarv i -T"H lifer OSTRICH FARMING IN AFRICA. Census Shows Presence of Nearly Half Million Birds. * The ostrich census in South Africa shows 457,970 birds in the colony. There are two sorts of ostrich farm* ing, the one grazing them on fields* under irrigation, when five birds ti» the acre can be kept, and the other letting them find their own food in large camps up to 3,000 acres, and re quiring from ten to twenty acres to a bird. In the first ease the great drawback is the great cost of sand laid down with lucerne and under per-i manent irrigation, it running from $200 to $500 per acre. In the second case the drawback is the greater loss of birds from accidents and getting lost, and the cost of feeding them in severe droughts. Oudtshorn is the great ostrich cen ter for the irrigation method, one quarter of all the birds being found there. The other method is mainly carried on on the west coast of East London and up the large river val leys. The chick feathers usually are pulled when the bird is 8 months old, then six and a half months after that the primary feathers are cut. and the tails, blacks, and drabs, pulled. This gives nearly three pluckings in two years. Birds should average one to one pound three ounces of feathers a plucking, or about a pound and a half a year. LEADER OF BRITISH WORKMEN. James Keir Hardie Will Shape Their Policy in Parliament. James Keir Hardie. who will be the labor leader in the new British parlia ment, was firs: elected to parliament in 1892. He was born ah Lochnorris. in Ayrshire. Scotland, forty-nine years ago, and worked in the mines from the age of 7 until he was 24. When 12 years old he was unable to read, but he managed to educate himself, and now is the proprietor and editor of the Labor Leader. Mr. Hardie is an advanced reformer, and favors socialism, and it is said "disguises his strong, simple and resolute char acter with some surface eccentrici ties.” He has traveled extensively, If ' and is a frequent contributor to Brit ish magazines and reviews. His po litical opponents hold him in the high est respect. Trade Figures That Amaze. The statistics of the foreign trade of the United States last year, attain ing new totals, are amazing in their magnitude. The exports aggregated $1,626,962,343, while the Imports amounted to $1,179,358,§46. The ax cess of exports over ImportB was $447,603,497, or a good deal over a million dollars a day. If we hadn’t become calloused to big things dur ing this recent period of the abundant life these figures would stagger us by their immensity. The United States long ago quit being a billion-dollar country. Last year it was a $2,806,- • 321.189 country. This year it is likely to be a three-billion dollar country.— Hartford, Conn.. Times. What War Cost Japan. The failure of tne rice crop and that of the silk crop are mentioned as causes of the famine which now pre vails in northern Japan. It would be interesting to know how far the famine is connected with the war which look so many men from home. A clew may be obtained from one sentence in a recent statement to the effect that soldiers returning from the war had found their entire families gone to other provinces to seek work. The famine covers three provinces and almost 750,000 people appear to be starving.—Hartford, Conn., Times. Would Teach Women to Shoot. Every woman in Jersey City is to receive an invitation to learn how to shoot a revolver. Jersey City if the plan of Rev. Dr. John L. Scudder, the "fighting parson" of the First Congre gational church and manager of the People’s palace, is successful will be come the warmest city in the United States for burglars. Dr. Scudder pro poses to install a shooting gallery in connection with the People's palace as soon as it is completed. He an nounced that he will issue an invita tion to every woman in the city to practice revolver shooting. France Honor* Ex-President. Casimir Perier, who resigned the French presidency, has just received a rare decoration, the gold medal of the Assistance Public, which is vast ly more rare than the Legion of Hon or has become in these later times. Since his withdrawal from politics into private life Casimir Perier has devoted himself with great energy and devotion and almost exclusively to works of benevolence, and the gold medal conferred upon him is a tribute earned by years of work and example. - Fine Hair of 'Society Women. Elihu Root’s daughter has a splen did head of hair—one of the finest ev er seen in Washington. Her dark brown locks are of the silky quality seldom seen in curly hair and when loose they reach below her knees. She usually wears then braided and wound closely around her head. Bar oness Von Sternburg has hair thjat many an actress would envy. It is Titian red, curly and abundant. She wears it in the low Greek coiffure, ai «covs without adornment.