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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1906)
ONE TYPE OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTIONIST Many are Freebooters and Cut-lhroats Eager for the Oppor tunity of Plunder. A significant word from Cuba since Secretary Taft went there in effort to briug about amicable settlement of (be revolution is' that in many cases (he insurgents are becoming restless, (he discipline is bad and many are breaking up into bands for the pur pose of independent movement with view to plunder. The fact of the mat ter is that many of the revolutionists are what might be called freebooters and cut-throats, and have welcomed the present state of disaffection in Cuba as affording them an opportunity for their lawless deeds, such as they enjoyed in the “good old days” under Spanish rule when murder and rapine Were events ot every day occurrence. From its earliest history there has existed in Cuba such lawless class of people. At one time a few genera tions ago, they infested the coast as pirates, swooping down with their lit tle sloops or schooners upon all un armed vessels which chanced their way, and as such they were only final ly suppressed by the British, who as late as the '203, drew a cordon around the island outside of the three-mile limit, which with little hesitation they reduced to suit their convenience when it came to the matter of pur suing a susoicious craft. These crafts methods, which multiplied with each fresh outbreak of an insurrection, that inspired the Spaniards to commit many of the cruel deeds attributed to them .during their struggle to main ta'D their grasp upon the island. The Spaniards called these outlaws “bandidos” and always pursued them with more or less relentless vigor, but their buccaneering methods were such that neither the Spanish Guardia Civil nor the Spanish infantryman was very effective against them. They, like the buccaneers of old, lived off the coun try, and the country supplied all their immediate necessities, whether their depredations were carried on in or ganized bauds or by roaming individ uals. In. the fertile tropical land of Cuba the life of these freebooters is com paratively easy. As a matter of fact, after these Cuban gentry hgve tasted of it, it is hard for them to relinquish it. They live in a land of eternal sum mer, where in ncrmal times cattle, honey and sweat potatoes abound. Why should they work when God has given them so much? The peaceful farmer of the interior, no matter how little he labors in the field, produces a great deal more than he can con sume, and he is ever ready to share Kind of Country in Which the Freebooter Thrives. were chased into some one of the numerous coves or hays which indent the coast of Cuba, and when their crews were captured they were taken to Jamaica for trial, where it was a short shift between there and the hangman's noose. Frequently the ves sels were driven ashore by the Eng lish cruisers, anil the crews of the pirate ships, making their escape, be came pirates on land like the old-time buccaneers of Hispaniola, with the dif ference that they rarely made war upon the country people, who almost invariably stood in with them. The remnants of these pirates, or freebooters, have existed in Cuba to the present day, their ranks having been recruited from time to time by the country people who, finding them selves in some difficulty with the au thorities, preferred the free, careless life of the freebooter to going to pris on. It can scarcely be claimed, ex cept in rare instances, that the pres ent day semi-lawless set in Cuba is formed of the descendents of the orig inal pirates, although their methods and manner of living are about the same. Occasionally an individual may be found who will tell you unblushlng ly that his father or grandfather was one of the pirates. As a rule these people are without religion, laws, or sacred traditions, and when the op portunity has occurred they have com mitted deeds of shocking ferocity, scarcely equaled by those of the sav age Indians on our frontier when they wrere upon the warpath in their most palmy days. In some respects they are worse than our savages, for the Indians made war only upon their enemies and were always true to each other, being bound together by their own laws and traditions. But it is not so with these Cuban freebooters, and it was owing to their treacherous it with whomsoever comes along, anil consjquently the roving freebooter, who would be a simple tramp else where, finds subsistence easy. He may be a fugitive from justice, and then he learns to look upon all those who are rich or in government service, either as civilians or soldiers, as his enemies, and he only awaits the opportune moment when a leader steps forth to organize him and others like him into a formidable band. After the insurrection was over and ; the brief war with Spain had been fought out the country was so com I pletely devastated that such of these ] ex-freebooters as remained were obliged to come into the towns and ! cities, where they jiosed as patriots and came in for their share of loot in the way of Red Cross supplies issued to starving reconcentrados. Then there was that pay which the Ameri cans ceded to Gomez to pay his sol diers, when as a matter of fact his so-called army had been practically exterminated before the beginning of the war with Spain. They came in for some of that. The supplies and soldiers’ pay | quieted the turbulent spirit of those former outlaws for a time, although during the occupation of the islands there were many examples of their capabilities. Dear Girls. I “Yes,” said Tess, “Mr. Goodley gave i me this ring. I accepted him last | night.” “Did you?” replied Jess. “I’m so | glad.” “Are you really? He used to call ! on you, didn't he?” “Yes, and I was beginning to fear I’d have to accept him.” I FOR ANALYSIS. Mrs. Newedde—'“Certainly you may take some of those biscuits to your friend. Is he hungry too?" Weary—“No, mum. he’s a geologist! The Rhine Falls. Several times it has been rumored that the water-power of the magnificent Rhine Falls at Neuhausen, in Switzerland (near Schaffhausen), are to be utilized for electric purposes, and that the cataract, which is the largest in Europe, is being spoiled. Up to the present, however, the falls have undergone no change and it would indeed be a matter for regret if this noble creation of nature were to become a victim to the modern materialistic spirit of industry. MANY DIE ON RAILROADS. TRAINS KILL 26 PERSONS D<ULY, SAYS GOVERNMENT REPORT. Greatest Number of Casualties Are Among Employes—Interstate Com merce Body Tells of Year’s Earnings of Carriers. Washington.—During the year end ing June 30, 1905, according to a state ment issued by the interstate com merce commission, an average of 26 people were killed and 238 injured every day in railroad accidents in the United States. The total number killed during the year was 9,703, while the injured numbered 86,008. The greatest casualties were among the employes of railroads, as follows: Trainmen, 1,900 killed and 29,853 injured; switch tenders, crossing tend ers, and watchmen, 136 killed, 8S3 in jured; other employes, 1,235 killed, 36,097 injured. The casualties to em ployes coupling and uncoupling cars were: Employes killed, 230; injured, 3,542. The casualties connected with cou pling and uncoupling cars are assigned as follows: Trainmen killed. 217; injured, 3,316; switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen killed, 6; injured, 128. Other employes killed, 7; injured, 99. The casualties due to falling from trains, locomotives, cars in motion, were; Trainmen killed, 407; injured, 4,646. Switch tenders, crossing tend ers, and watchmen killed. 12; injured, 126. Other employes killed, 60; in jured, 559. The casualties due to jumping on or off trains, locomotives, or cars in mo tion were: Trainmen killed, 119; in jured, 3,798. Switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen killed, 4; in jured, 111. Other employes killed, 49; injured, 628. The casualties to the same three classes of employes in con sequence of collisions and derailments were: Trainmen killed, 679; injured, 4,736. Switch tenders, crossing tend ers, and watchmen killed, 8; injured, 37. Other employes killed, 85; in jured, 750. The number of passengers killed was 537 and injured 10,457. In the previous year 441 passengers were killed and 9,111 injured. There were 341 passengers killed and 6,053 in jured because of collisions and derail ments. The total number of persons other than employes and passengers killed was 5,805; injured, 8,718. These figures include the persons trespass ing, of whom 4,865 were killed and 5,261 injured. The total number of casualties to persons other than em ployes from being struck by trains, locomotives, or cars was 4,569 killed and 4.163 Injured. The casualties of this class were: At highway crossings, passengers killed, 1; injured, 10; other passen gers killed, 837; injured, 1,564. At stations, passengers killed, 24; in jured, 90; other persons killed, 381; injured, 571. At other points along track, passengers killed, 6; injured. 37; other persons killed, 3,320; in jured, 1,891. , The ratios of casualties indicate that one employe in every 411 was killed, and one employe in every 21 was injured. With regard to train men—that is, enginemen, firemen, con ductors, ' and other trainmen—one trainman was killed for every 133 em ployed and 01 e Injured for every nine emi loyed. In 1905 one passenger was killed for every 1,375,856 carried and one in jured for every 70,655 carried. For 1904 the figures show that 1,622,267 i passengers were carried for one killed and 78,523 passengers carried for one injured. The interstate commerce commis sion has also made public statistics of railways in the United States for the year ending June 30, 1905, based on reports of the railroads as required by law. These show that on June 30, 1905, the total single track railway mileage in the United States was 218, 101, or 4,196 miles more than at the end of the previous year. The oper ated mileage for which substantially complete returns wTere rendered to the commission was 216,971 miles, in cluding 7,568 miles of line used under trackage rights. The aggregate length of railway mileage, including tracks, of all kinds, was 306.796 miles. The reported number of persons on the pay rolls of the railways in the United States on June 30. 1905, was I 1,382,196, an average of 637 employes per 100 miles of line. The par value of the amount of rail tray capital outstanding on the date named was $13,S05.258,121. Of the total capital stock outstanding $2,435, 470,337 paidf*no dividends. The number of passengers reported as carried by the railways was 738, , 834,667, being 23,414,985 more than in 1904. The number of tons of freight re ported as carried was 1,427,731,905, ex ceeding the tonnage of 1901 by 117, 832,740 tons. The gross earnings from the opera tion of 216,973 miles of line were $2, 082.482,406, or $107,308,315 greater than for 1904, and for the first time exceeding the |2,000,000,000 mark. The operating expenses were $1,390, 602,152, or $51,705,899 more than in 1904. The income from operation, or the net earnings of the railways amounted to $691,880,254, this amount exceeding the corresponding one for the previous year by $35,602,416. The amount of dividends declared during the year under review was $23S,046,S97. leaving as the surplus from the operations of the year $89, 043,490. A HOOSIER MONOPOLY. TWO TOWNS WHERE ROCK WOOL IS MANUFACTURED. Yorktown and Alexandria Favored by Nature in Location of Mineral De posits—Product Supplant ing Asbestos. Alexandria, Ind.—Two cities in In diana have been siugularly favored by nature in the placing of mineral deposits, giving them an absolute mo nopoly of the manufacture of rock wool and its other products, the cit ies being Yorktown and Alexandria, where comparatively large areas, cov ering a mile square in the aggregate, are underlaid with a peculiar kind of stone, largely composed of natural glass, which when fused and blown from a blast furnacg produces a per fect imitation in appearance of cot ton, but. absolutely non-combustible and a perfect Insulator from heat, cold and electricity. It is rapidly supplanting asbestos and is useful in many more ways than that product, whose mines in Canada and Italy are rapidly being exhausted, no new deposits of asbestos stone hav ing been discovered since 1850. The Alexandria plant recently shipped 12 car loads to the Philippine islands for use in the cold storage plant the government built there, while its use, like asbestos, extends to the manufacture of fireproof the ater drop curtains, clothing for fire men, acid workers, lampwicks, stokers’ gloves, etc. It is called by scientists both fibrous and crystalline, and is designated as a mineralogical vege table. Charlemagne is credited with the first public uses of it, when he made a tablecloth which he cleaned by throwing into the fire, but its real application to commercial purposes date back only 56 years. Thirteen years ago the deposits at Alexandria and Yorktown were dis covered by scientists, since which time extensive mills have been making the varied products into which it can be turned, and now that the stone in the Nicoson quarries, covering 80 acres at Alexandria, has been found of the exact quality required a new company has been launched at Wind fall, Ind., to build a plant, the second at Alexandria, and engage extensive ly in the manufacture of this odd and useful product of nature’s labora tory. The company is headed by Senator Mock, of Tipton, the promoting stock holders being Every A. Mock, Mont gomery McKay, Benjamin F. Legg, Wilbur C. Legg, John M. Summers, L. D. Summers and Jefferson R. Hill drup, all prominent Tipton county business men. The company is cap italized at $75,000, and the new plant is to be built at Alexandria. It is significant that the two fac tories in the United States alone which are running and wh!< h have the only crude material from which this rock wool can be made are pros perous, and are always behind their orders. Finds Horns of Irish Elk. Dublin.—While cutting turf on a bog in County Limerick, a laborer came on the horns of an Irish elk, and. carefully digging, exhumed the head and antlers of a magnificent speci men of this great deer, where it had lain for centuries, preserved by the peat. The horns measure from tip to tip eight feet two inches. It is in a wonderful state of preservation, con sidering the period of time which had elapsed since these animals existed, a3 no authentic time or satisfactory theory is forthcoming when they lived or what caused their extinction. Ire land was, undoubtedly, its home. Pays One Cent, Gets $10,000. London.—The heirs of one of the victims of the Grantham railroad dis aster have received $10,000 insurance, which was effected at a cost of one penny. The insured was a regular subscriber to a London penny weekly which insures its readers against ac cidents and death. The day of the disaster he sent his valise, containing a current copy of the paper, duly signed, to the hotel at Retford, where he expected to pass the night. With in a few hours of his death the claim was examined, allowed and settled. TRYING NEW “SMOKELESS COAL.” Pittsburg Official Experimenting So as to Abolish Nuisance. Pittsburg.—In the effort to further the movement for the abolition of the smoke nuisance, Director of Public Works J. W. Clark is experimenting with “smokeless coal” and is hopeful of getting satisfactory results which will lead to its general adoption for the production of steam. No preference is to be given to any special brand of smokeless fuel, but during the past few days a number of tests have been made under his pro duction of an article mined in the cen tral part of the state. The boilers of the Park building, the Annex hotel and the Arbuckle building were em ployed for this purpose and the results have been highly satisfactory. Mr. Clark says but little smoke is pro duced and believes it will be possible to avoid even that little with care. The coal is described by Mr. Clark as dull in appearance and so soft that It crumbles easily in the hand. At the same time it produces an intense heat and Is highly appropriate as a boiler fuel. It Is said that a chemically treated coal is also to be tested, and that the results of all the tests will be made known to owners of boilers so that they may choose among those offered, with the experience of the city to guide them. The early adoption of an antismoke ordinance is regarded as a foregone conclusion, so that all the information which can be obtained in this manner will be of great im portance to users of fuel. Railroad Employe’s “Nerve." Railroad detectives at Chickasha, searching for lost tools taken by shop men. found that one employe had hauled away a locomotive cab and at tached it to his house for use as a kitchen.—Kansas City Star. Bacilli Survive Cooking. It has been established that ordin ary cooking does not kill bacilli, or deprive them of their infective char acter, if they are situate in the deeper portions of the meat, or in the inner i layers of a butcher’s “roll ” FOUND BY A PHOTOGRAPH. Father and Daughter United After Sep aration of Twenty-Six Years. Carmi, 111. — Believing each other dead, Joseph G. Holt, an old soldier of this city, and his daughter, Mrs. Ma lissa Smith, suddenly met the other | day after a quarter of a century sep ‘ aration. I Twenty-sis years ago Holt lived in Henderson county, Kentucky, and moved here upon the death of his wife. He left his infant daughter in care of relatives, and was later told that she had died a few weeks after he had left. j Holt went to Mount Vernon, Ind., 1 and while on the streets was accost ed by a young woman, who asked his name. A cherished photograph, kept since childhood, had so engraved the likeness of her father upon her mind that she thought she. recognized her | father in the stranger. It was so, i and the long lost daughter ended her i quest for her missing parent by throwing her arms about him upon the 1 mention of his name. At the National Capital Interesting Gossip by Our Washington Correspondent—People's Lobby to Be Established—Senator Smoot Will Urge Reestablish* ment of the Army Canteen. WASHINGTON.—Everybody except the pe» pie seems to have a lobby whenever any import ant Interest Is affected by legislation. Now it is proposed to locate here a bureau, headed and managed by men of unquestionable character and repute, whicfc shall watch legislation with only the public interest in mind, analyze it, report on it, publish the facts about it, and employ such proper means as may be required to induce con gress to legislate for the popular in teres, rather than for special interests. The lobby was proposed originally by Henry Beach Needham, of this city, and has been taken up by such men as Mark Twain, Lincoln Steffens. Benjamin Ide Wheeler and William Allen White. The People’s lobby will have facilities for watching and studying legislation. Competent, lawyers will examine and ascertain what the “jokers" are in legislation. Skilled observers will keep In touch with the operations of lobbying representatives of “interests. The results of all these inquiries will be given to the public. Publicity U to be the one weapon of the organization. The managers believe it is the most effective weapon, and potent to accomplish all the results. The lobby will give the people opportunity to be heard, If its plans prove its practicability. It isn’t going to undertake anything sensational or start ling. It will be a sort of watchdog of popular interests. It will not get tired when popular interest wanes; it will keep on at its work even when there is not at the White House a president with the disposition to wring things from congress. This is in outline the plan of the people’s lobby. The letters which have been received, following the first announcement of the plan, indicate a notable interest in the movement. Ex-Gov. Garvin, of Rhode Island; State Senator Colby, of New Jersey; Gov. Deneen. of Illinois; Winston Churchill, of Now Hampshire, are among those who sent appreciative responses to the appeal for cooperation and support. SMOOT TO FIGHT FOR CANTEEN. While the senate is deciding whether Senator Smoot, of Utah, shall retain his seat in that body the senator himself will be urging upon his col leagues the passage of a bill providing for the re establishment of the army canteen, which he intends to introduce early next December. “I have little reputation to lose among the women of the country,” the senator says, "so It seems that I may as well be the champion of what each and every representative in congress believes should he done. I think they all agree with the officers of the army that the anti-can teen law is unwise. But because of public senti ment they all are afraid to come out and urge its repeal.” Any well defined effort to secure the repeal of the anti-canteen law is certain to bring down upon congress an avalanche of protests from the women of the country. It was the women who ' fwy compelled me abolition or the canteen, and It Is woman s influence that lias deterred the congressmen from doing anything in the direction of its restitu tion as recommended by army officers. POLITICS MAY SPLIT LABOR LEADERS. Officials of the American Federation of Labor believe that after election a distinct breach will be opened between President Samuel Gompers and John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers, and vice president of the Federation. Friction between them that will develop into a breach is regarded as inevitable for the reason that Gompers Is jealous of the growth of Mitchell as a political factor. Mitchell adheres to th< Roosevelt school of politics, while Gompers is with the other faction. There is no question among neutral mwo bers of the official body of the Federation but that Gomper’s activity in this campaign is due ti the fact that Mitchell made a success of his fight in behalf of Roosevelt. Mitchell’s prominence in the labor field made him the man among organ ized labor most consulted by President Roosevelt and other Dublic men. Althomrh fionmpi-s wa the head of the organization, he was seldom consulted. It was always Mitchell, the vice president, who was called in to express the views of the Federation He was called to the White House, took lunch there, and on one occasion was a dinner guest. Gompers, so it is said, saw his opportunity to come to the front in this congressional campaign by bringing forward the fact that con gress had ignored the recommendation of the Federation, while the president und leaders in congress had given ear to Mitchell. That fact, it is believed, inspired the sudden activity with respect to the eight-hour law and the anti injunction bills last spring. Mitchell is so closely identified with the Republican organization that activity on his part would have brought him into conflict with many of his closest friends. HUMORS OF RURAL DELIVERY SERVICE. The establishment of new rural free delivery routes in various sections of the country is fre quently attended with laughable incidents, and the narration of these tales from real life has been known to afford material for more than one alter-dinner speaker. One such story has been related by members of a party of Washingtonians recently returned from the environs of Bucksport, Me., and those responsible for telling the inci dent claim now to be in full understanding of the reason for Denman Thompson choosing his char acters for "The Old Homestead” Irom this old fasnioned region in the shade of Mount Katahdin. It seems that a rural free delivery system was recently started with Bucksport as the cen ter. and on one of the routes a member of the “Smith” family was among the first to put out a receptacle for his mail. The box happened to be a beehive, and Mr. Smith cut a slit in the top for 'B.SMnflJ k*‘ fl*. letters ana papers ana nauea me wnoie on :ne upper step or an old stepladder. On the face of the “letter box” he inscribed his name in this fashion: “l:' S Mith”—and so stood ready to receive communications from his friends. Un fortunately it happened that Mr. B. Smith had borrowed the beehive from a neighbor some two years before, and it goes without saying that the owner was not slowr in claiming his property when it thus came to light. New ‘B. S Mith" is without a mail box, but It is stated on'good authority that he has never been known to receive a piece of mail oftener than once in six months and that only an advertising circular. WIPING OUT THE GOVERNMENT DEFICIT. as. WEfiSURY Probably the happiest man among the de partmont officials in Washington at tbis time is Assistant Secretary James B. Reynolds of the treasury. Mr. Reynolds is a Massachusetts man. and his duties as assistant secretary give him especial charge of the customs branch of the government. Under the direction of Mr. Rey nolds, the customs revenues are collected, and the intricate details of the operations of the tariff law are directed, in order to bring the greatest possible returns and safegnard the public inter est, as well as domestic industries, from the at tacks of ingenious and ambitious foreign traders Assistant Secretary Reynolds is of the opin ion that his branch of the government is prettv nearly the whole thing at this time. The much abused tariff law, under the direction of the cus toms experts. Is producing revenues sufficient to save the nation from a deficit. Last year th.> treasury balance on the right side of the ledger was a few millions, and this result was achieved following a year in which the balance on the wrong side of the ledger was upward of $30,000,000. Starting with the present fiscal'year a deficit of $6,000,000 or $7,000,000 showed up within a month as a result of an extraordinary draft to pay congressional appropriations. This deficit hits already been practically wiped out and the indications are that Uncle Sam will have a snug balance at the end of the present fiscal year. It is the customs business that is producing these desirable results. The duties upon imported commodities have brought into the treasury within a IH tle more than two months $10,000,000 more than came in during the same period a year ago. This is the fact that causes happiness to Assistant Secre tarv Reynolds. He is able to show that while other receipts of the govern ment have increased only two or three million dollars, a handsome showing is made by the customs branch under his management. BEST FOR A COLLAR The furrier was taking his stock out of the mothproof cold storage-room. It came forth frozen stiff, and coated with glistening white frost But there was one beautiful skin that, though just as stiff as any of the others, had no frost on it. “It is easy to talk about furs,” said the dealer, “but I want you to look at this skin. It is the kind that the richest Russian grand dukes aud so on,v have their overcoat collars made of. “It is a sea otter’s skin, and it is so expensive that often one coat col lar of it will cost $300. It is unques tionably the best skin in the world to mal e coat collars of. "Why? Look at this one, and you'll see. All the other skins are covered with frost, while on this fur no trace whatever appears. And that's the rea son why sea otter skins make the. best coat collars. The breath, top some unknown reason, doesn't freeie on them.”