Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (June 18, 1908)
Loup City Northwestern J. W. BURLEIGH, Publl«h«r. LOUP CITY, • - NEBRASKA, Rats—A National Pest. Hats cost the United States nearly $56,000,000 annually, according to the biological survey of the department of agriculture. At this amount the government scientists estimate the damage done by the rodents and after exhaustive experiments it has been de termined that the pests cannot be ex terminated. All that science can hope to do is to hold them wi'Iiin bounds, and to do this nothing more satis factory has been discovered than the old-fashioned rat trap, says Tech nical World. Inoculation and all other methods, it has been established to the satisfaction of the scientists who have studied the situation, are not equal to the trap in the work of de struction. The amount of damages given by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, chief of the survey, is conservative and doubtless below the figures. While he estimates that $1,000,000 of the fire j loss of the country is traceable to rats, j the underwriters place it at 15 times that sum, of which $1,000,000 is due to the gnawing away of insula tion on electric wires. Special atten tion has been given by the govern ment investigators to conditions in ' Washington. The whole underworld ' of the capital city, Mr. Merriam says, is populated with rats—millions of j them. Washington loses each year from rats, aside from the fires for [ which they are responsible, $200,000 in damage done in markets, shops and j department stores. Some of these places employ professional rat catch ers. with ferrets and small dogs, but this method Dr. Merriam finds is un satisfactory, since few rats are killed, and the expense is great. The Doctor Habit. One of the tendencies of ill health Is to make one morbid. People who are constantly thinking about their ailments, worrying about their trou bles. suffering pain, often develop a morbid passion for sympathy. They want to tell everybody of their aches and pains, to describe their symptoms. Have you ever known a woman who has acquired the doctor habit, a wom an who loves nothing in the world quite so well as an opportunity to tell the doctor of her ailments? says Suc cess Magazine. She has poured them out to unwilling ears, to forced lis teners, till she longs for some one who can really appreciate it all, who sym pathizes with her in her troubles, so she sends for the doctor, or goes to see him. This becomes almost a mania with some women, who have few outside activities to divert them. Their minds naturally revert to them selves, and they think of their unfor tunate condition until they become saturated with the poisoned thought. Great interest has been taken by all who are studying the problems of employment and labor in the compul sory arbitration laws of New Zealand. For a time the new system worked finely. A law which made both strikes and lockouts punishable offenses, which sent every question between employer and employed to a labor cour.t and made both parties to submit to its decisions—such a law seemed to promise an ideal condition. But of late there have been several serious strikes, and the men refuse to be bound by the court decisions. The most recent strike arose because cer tain mine-owners who proposed to reduce their force, having themselves selected the men who were to be dis missed, refused to reinstate those men and pay them for the time lost, and to allow the union to designate by ballot who should be discharged. The employers were willing to arbitrate the question thus raised, but the miners were unwilling, and when their demands were refused they struck. The government, through the de partment of agriculture, is making a series of experiments to show what effect automobile travel has on roads —the theory , being that they are road destroyers. Results of the investiga tion will be submitted to the interna tional road congress which will meet in Paris next October. If it is proved that the vehicle really injures the roads to the degree charged it is thought that the various states will take steps to compel their owners to Pay a larger tax than now—this is to be used for the purpose of repairing the roads. This inquiry seems, on the whole, to be rather unfair in view of the fact that automobile owners every where are enthusiastic promoters of the good roads movement. A man in Connecticut applying for a dog license was given a marriage one instead, and to his great surprise found himseir a benedict. In all the proposed experiments of trial mar riages this is probably the first to sug gest its being “tried on the dog.” Secretary Wilson is the only cabinet officer who, after serving through four administrations, wants to retire. Oh well, even the most successful old farmer likes to abandon agriculture and move to town. People who lament the seeming pre ponderance of fiction in the printed matter of the day should cheer up. Last year 876 books on religious sub jects were published in this country, and It was net regarded as an espe cially good year for religion, either. Rumors of combinations to nom inate Gov. Johnson of Minnesota for vice president on the Democratic ticket are denied at Johnson head Quarte-s in Washington. The Emperors Thro/ve AGL/MP6E , or \T/£m/N cr TAtE C&A/GUE 2KIXG.—A Chinese dinner of 47 dishes, a glimpse in to a Chinese theater and a visit to a popular lecture hall—the latter not one of the least significant evi dences of a remarkable educational purpose be hind the workings of the Chinese government—end ed our visit in Tientsin with an evening of great interest. Tnanks to the constant at tention and companionship of Mr. Rob ertson. Y. M. C. A. general secretary in Tientsin, and Mr. Fay, a Chinese resi dent. and a Mr. A. of Yale, the most progressive city under Chinese admin istration was opened up to us in a manner that fairly illumined its edu cational, social and religious prob lems; and I want to put before you a few facts that group themselves about three things: The broad and wise pol icy of the local Chinese government under the greatest of its men. Yuan Shi Kai, the terrible borderland be tween the Chinese city and the foreign settlements and the strategic position occupied by the Y M. C. A. To say that China is awakening or will awaken is a false statement of the case; to say that China has awak ened is a platitude. It is self evident and stares you in the face on every corner, in every block, on every street. Just as we judge the possibilities and the quality of a man's mind by his best work, so we must judge of what China not only is capable of doing, but will do, by what her best men are accomplishing and have accomplished. Tientsin is the product of one man’s mind. That man. Viceroy Yuan Shi Kai, is now prime minister, or practi cally that in Peking for the purpose of working out his same plans for the whole empire as he has done for his own city. Therefore what Tientsin is to-day China will be, and wdll be very soon, for I believ. Mr. Robert son knows what he is talking about when he says that the conviction that China must have progress and the determination to change has seized upon every official of high standing from one end of the empire to the other. And I believe that every one who knows the Chinese agrees that where the Chinaman has the will he will find the way. That China is progressing by leaps and bounds is true, but that the same charge of carelessness and super ficiality in method may be brought against her that is brought against the Japanese educational leaders is not true. The Chinese educators have proven in their work in Tientsin that they can apprehend the seriousness of a great problem and grapple with it swiftly and strongly. Kindergarten, primary schools, middle schools, col leges, a university and again normal schools for the training of Chinese men and women teachers, are in opera tion. all purely Chinese, some managed by the government, some by private individuals. The board of education is under fearful pressure; a great cam paign of education must be carried through all over China within ten years if the nation is to be saved. As a result, teachers must be trained in a hurry. Instead of turning out sec ond grade teachers with superficial training, the following method is adopted to "get-results quick:” A normal school, for example, for women is established with a complete dormi tory system, the entire expenses of the scholars is borne by the govern ment and ten dollars a month is paid to each student besides her expenses. thus placing a premium upon this method of preparation. On the other hand, examinations are held in the different provincial centers, and those students are selected and admitted to the school who have the highest standing. I went through such a school myself and talked to the teachers, who were Chinese, of course, but who spoke English. There were about 140 girls preparing for teachers. An apparently inexhaustible treasury has been de voted to the equipment of the schools, which surpasses anything I have seen in Japan in the way of scientific labor atories for chemistry, physics, biology, physiology and engineering with its various branches. An industrial school, again with a complete dormitory sys tem, where some 700 men and boys were hard at work learning trades, showed that the interest in academic education had not blinded the educa tional department to tne value of in dustrial education. We visited but one industrial school and one establish ment under government supervision for the promotion of home industry, an "iron works,” but there are many such enterprises. The Chinese government is surely doing its best. Gambling has been prombited within the city on pain of ten years’ imprisonment—gambling in m£ EXFCEF/l/F FELfiCF OF FFF EXFFFOF. every forin. A search ior an opium den proved the efficiency of the law, and inspection wiped them out of ex istence. Perhaps the least said about the out rageous doings of the foreigners in Tientsin the better. It is a subject that people do not like to discuss and do not wish to have brought before them. It is true, nevertheless, that in the foreign settlements the Chinese are finding endless opportunity for the gambling which is prohibited by their government in their own city, and is nevertheless openly coun tenanced by several consuls of for eign nations in spite of their agree ments with the Chinese government. "The China Times,” a Tientsin paper, is waging an open war against houses of ill fame and places of amusement of outrageous character which are act ually protected by the representatives of foreign powers. The papers are full of it. One paragraph I will copy, for it is suggestive and can stand by itself: “The Alhambra & its Pic tures: Mr. Pratt, British vice con sul, sat in the British consular court on Saturday morning to hear a charge against Mr. A. Harper of the Alhambra Russian concession of exposing indecent pictures. . . . The consul for defense: The first one he thought was undoubtedly coarse, as to the second and third that were called indecent, that, of course, was a matter not of indi vidual opinion so much as of opin ion of the court trying the case. It was rather a stretch of the imag ination to say that~ one of the reasons for objecting was that the Chinese went there, and that it did not look well for Chinese to see what foreigners did in this way. He had no doubt foreigners did lots of things the Chinese did not ap prove of. If these pictures were permitted in London he did not see why they should not be permitted here.” People have a way of saying that “There ain't no Ten Command ments" beyond Suez, and then dismiss ing the matter with the feeling that they have made a rather clever and telling observation. Do they realize, I wonder, that in some Chinese ports the term American woman is 'synonymous for woman of ill repute—or prostitute? Thank God it is not so in Tientsin. The American and British governments are acting so far as Christian nations in this city, even if the individual American men and Britishers are showing themselves anything but Christians. The Chi nese government, is not going to “stand for this” long. There will be a day of reckoning if the foreign con cessions go on putting a premium on vice as they are doing now. Men who have lived in Tientsin for years do not hesitate to say that matters must come to a crisis soon. It is in the interest of the people at home and of the United States, it seems to me, to understand what is going on. This brings me to my third point, which includes a kind of summary of all the rest, namely, the important po sition of the Y. M. C. A. in Tientsin. A record of some of the activities of my »very good friend Mr. Robertson will be most conclusive in showing that the Y. M. C. A. is a power for edu cation and' for righteousness needed and esteemed by the Chinese educa tors. On one side Mr/ Robertson comes in contact with a vast number of school boys. He has several classes in various schools in physics, and takes his students to all the cen ters of the city, such as the Western telegraph station, telephone building, power plant, etc. He also is manag ing a regular athletic campaign, has introduced the games of association football, coaches the teams and pro motes the truly western idea of "be ing a thorough sport.” Through the efforts and personality cf Mr. Gailey and Mr. Robertson the Y. M. C. A. is in a position where it can have a tremendous influence for | sound education and righteousness if | the wheels can only be ailed with a i little mor« monev. MAINLY MEANT FOR WOMEN. Fair Sex Charged with Accumulation of Odd* and Ends. Eli Smith, who on a wager crossed the continent in a wagon drawn by Eskimo dogs, said the .other day in Philadelphia: "The secret of good traveling is to travel light. Don’t accumulate a lot of rubbish. On the contrary, sort £ over your gpods every day, and throw away the surplus. “This is the spring house-cleaning season, and I’d like to throw out all that junk In the closet at the head of the cellar stairs. What good is the old stuff? It has been there for years. It is plastered thick with cobwebs and mold. “I once saw my uncle help his wife clean house. Every closet they came to you’d hear some such dialogue as this: "Uncle holds up a rusty tea kettle. ’You don’t want this?’ “ ‘Well, It might come in handy for a flower or something,’ aunt falters. "Into the ash barrel it goes, and uncle holds up a pair of old shoes. ’Why, these old shoes must have been lying here five years! What have you been saving them for?’ “ ‘Well,’ says aunt, ’if we ever wanted to make a pair of hinges—’ “ ‘I remember a pair of leather hinges I once made,’ says uncle, bit terly; and Into the barrel fall the shoes on top of the kettle. “Then he holds up a hat. ‘Here's this old hat of mine I wore to the Philadelphia centennial. Better throw it away, hadn't we?’ “ ‘Well, maybe so,’ says aunt, ‘I've often thought of giving it to some poor man, but I forget it every time a tramp calls. I gave it to one tramp, and he went off and left it on the front gate post.’ ”—Philadelphia Rec ord PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT CORNERED CORN MARKET .lames A. Patten, who distinguished himself on the Chicago grain market a few years ago by a corner in oats, has just completed a cor ner in corn in which he is said to have cleared all the w'ay from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. In his former effort in the cornering line, Patten bought in all the oats that were offered at an average price of 28 cents, and at one time he had as much as 10,000,000 bushels on hand. When the trade required oats for actual use, Patten would be quite willing to dispose of some of his holdings at 44 cents; and several million bushels changed hands at that figure. He was continual]} buying, too, and whenever the mar ket began to sag he would buy a few hundred thousands or a million or two as seemed to be necessary. He had sized up the situation and. being convinced that there would be a shortage, he was not afraid to he left with an immense amount of grain on hand. Even when the government re port showed a crop of 80.000,000 more than Patten had estimated he did not lose faith, but kept on buying. Tlie slump in prices served only to make him more eager. In January came another slump caused by a Kansas City dealer being unable to keep up his margins and being obliged to let go. Prices fell five cents in a few min utes. One of Patten's brokets rushed to him in un excited way shouting: “The market is going to pieces.” “All right," replied -Mr. Patten, calmly, "buy 100,000 bushels more.” A few more purchases of like amount and the presence of Mr. Patten himself in the market, calm, confident and smiling, put an end to the slump in a very short time, and no one would have realized that he had lost half a million in paper profits in those few minutes. Mr. Patten is a man of imposing appearance. He has iron nerve, and noth ing seems to affect his composure. If he were caught in a burning building he would probably be making his way out quietly while the others were trampling one another to death in their panic. He began life as a farmer's boy at Sandwich, 111., but that was too tame for him. and he moved to Chicago. His uncle, who was state grain inspector, took him into his office, and from that moment he has been connected with grain in one way or another ever since. With his two brothers, George and Harry, he formed the firm of Patten Bros., and in ;he 25 years they have been in business they have made several millions. And by all appearances they are destined to make several millions more. j WOULD LICENSE LAUNDRiES J. Hampton Moore, congressman from Phil adelphia, shortly before the adjournment of congress, introduced a hill providing that all laundries in the District of Columbia shall be licensed, and -prohibiting ihe use of acids and ' violent" machinery by these business con cerns. He was angry because two of his $1 shirts were ruined and he was compelled to make another purchase before he could attend a banquet. Mr. Moore is a small man physically, but for years he has been a politician and tighter. He can be counted on also not to refuse an in vitation to attend a feast, he having established a record of 103 banquets in as many days ‘ When a man buys a brand new shirt and sends it to the laundry it is returned to him like a flag frayed by the breezes," said Mr. Moore. "It's simply awful.” Mr. Moore is a master at delving into details and grubbing out the pith of a complicated matter, a trick he learned while covering the court route for a Philadelphia newspaper. He knows how' to "size up" men and moot them tactfully. That is why in 1905 President Roosevelt appointed him chief of the bureau of manufactures in the department of commerce. Mr. Moore's' ability in handling important affairs expeditiously was first driven into him while he was assistant city treasurer and came easier when he occupied the more dignified and less strenuous chair of the treasurer proper. From time to time he has been president of the allied Republican clubs of Philadelphia, president of the Union Republican club and president of the National League of Republican clubs. He was born in Woodbury, N. J.. but early went to Philadelphia, where, after leaving school at 13, he began life as s messenger boy. He read law. drifted into politics and did effective work on the stump iu city, state and na tional campaigns. Mr. Moore has marked bis laundry bill “urgrtit necessities." He says the laundries are as bad on linen as "the bulldog or billvgoat." YOUNG MAN IN BRITISH CABINET Walter Runciman, tile new president of the British board of education, who has just made his appointment good by rewinning his seat in parliament at Dewsbury, has anything but an easy task ahead of him. His predecessor at the post, the hard-hitting and aggressive McKenna, who has been promoted to the admiralty, left as a heritage for his successor many enmities, and in successfully smoothing these over the new minister will be earning his $10,000 a year. His biggest task, of course, will be to effect some sort of a “compromise with honor" on the edu cation bill of the government, which has aroused so much opposition among the clergy of the country. With the exception of Winston Churchill. Runeiman is the youngest member of the new liberal ministry. He was born in the latter part of 1S70, so he is not yet 38 years of age. Runeiman is one of the most popular members of parliament. He is an excellent speaker and one of the best campaigners in the liberal party. His skill and wit at repartee is widely known. Runeiman, besides being a shrewd politician, is a sharp business man. He comes of a renowned family of shipowners, the members of which are "big guns" in Neweastle-on-Tyr.e and that neighborhood. His father and grand father were owners of the great "Moor" steamship line, and Walter Runeiman himself is managing director of the company which now controls the busi ness. Just how much he is worth is noi. known, but it is safe to say that he is several times a millionaire, so. you see, he doesn't have to lie awake nights thinking about the comparative meagerness of his official pay as head of the board of education. in the Campbell-Bannerman ministry Runeiman was first parliamentary secretary to the local government board, over which John Burns presided and still rules, and afterward parliamentary secretary to the treasury, of which Mr. Haldane, the lawyer and philosopher and especial friend of H. H. As quith, the new prime minister, is the1 head. It is said to be due to the enthu siastic recommendations of both of his former chiefs that Runeiman was ad vanced to full cabinet rank when the work of reconstruction was made neres sary by the death of the late premier. LEADS WORLD-WIDE REVIVAL John H. Converse, leader of the movement for a wor'd-wide evangelistic campaign to be be gun by the Presbyterian church, rose from an employe of the Baldwin locomotive works. Phil adelphia, to the head of that great concern. When Mathias Baldwin began to make locomo tives three-quarters of a century ago it required almost one year to build the famous “Old Iron sides." To-day 100 locomotives a week is th'1 record under Mr. Converse's supervision. He was born in Burlington, Vt., in 1840. anu still retains his loyalty to his New England an cestry by serving as one of the members of the New England Society of Pennsylvania, of which he has been president for several terms. He left school at the age of 21 and entered journal ism, giving it up for a position with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. Two years later ne went to the Pennsylvania Railway Co., and wmrked in the Altoona shops of that concern. Four years later be went with the Baldwin company. In three years he had demonstrated his ability as a mechanic and a manager of men sufficient to attract the at tention of the owners of the Baldwin shops, and he was invited to become a partner. This was in 1S73. Since Mr. Baldwin’s connection with the works it has become the locomo tive builder of the world, having shipped engines to Germany, France, Rus sia, Africa, Japan. South America, Mexico, Australia, and in 1899 it built 70 locomotives for English railways. , Mr. Converse is as prominent in religious, educational and financial cir cles as in that of locomotive building. He is a director in several banks and financial institutions of Philadelphia, and a notable example of the type of man he is was recently furnished by his contribution of nearly a million dol lars to reinstate the Real Estate Trust Co. of Philadelphia, which had oeen wrecked by the reckless speculations of its cashier.
