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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1909)
Empresses of finance are figures of mighty im portance in the industrial scheme of the twentieth century. In the United States their hold is strongest. The grip of feminine im perialism has been vastly enhanced by the recent succession of Mrs. Mary M. Harrington, wife of the late rail road Napoleon, Edward H. Harriman, to practically complete control of $100,000,000, representing holdings over almost the complete railroad skeleton of the United States. She is now the world's wealthiest woman, and in the etiquette of the court of doHar marks, she marches to the van of an auriferous galaxy of money queens. The female sovereigns of history who ruled and" practiced despotism over millions of subjects, declared war. surrounded themselves with pan oply and display, and through caprice caused the death of thousands, had no such amount of power for good or evil, as these modern women mon archs. They w«ield sceptors over mul titudes of industrial workers with even more completeness of authority, so far as the aim of bread-winning goes, than the debt-ridden queens of old who measured force by a count of swords and lances. THE stupendous figure $36S,000,000 sums the resources of a dozen of America’s wealthiest widows. It is impossible, of course, to give the exact figures. The public statements are not to be relied upon, always, and it is believed the estimate here given would fall under instead of over the mark. A dozen other names might !*■=* added to the list, almost doubling its totals. it is hard to imagine what could be ' done with this stupendous sum of money. The mere figures are too great to be grasped. It is only when com parisons are made that one may un derstand what $368,000,000 means. •These 12 widows could buy all the re&l estate of Chicago at its assessed valuation of $344,399,927, and have a * trifle of more than $20,000,000 left : with which they could place a gold . wire fence around the great city in .order to keep out the trespassers. •They might, if they owned the city, legally evict all its inhabitants and turn the metropolis into a deserted village—unless such an extreme ex .ercise of the privileges of ownership ‘should create a revolution. At six per cent, interest as a total income on their combined fortunes they could keep the city running, in i eluding the fire and police depart ments, and have houskeeping money left without intrenching upon their capital. The expense of operating all the schools in the city would hardly take their pin money. t •P GETTING away from Chicago, and seeking a broader outlook, out of their estimated income these 12 women could with ease shoul ;der the interest on the national debts of any of the following countries: New Zealand, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Roumania, Uru I«uay. They could assume the total debt of this combined array of nations: Switzerland. Bolivia, Nicaragua, Sal vador, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Persia, Peru, Siam, Venezuela. Their wealth is greater than the whole of the real estate property and improvements in any of these states in the union: Vermont. Delaware. Indian Terri tory, Idaho. Wyoming. New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada. They could purchase all the man ufacturing machinery, tools imple ments and equipment of the great manufacturing group of New England states. With the exception of New York, Chicago and Philadelphia this combination of woman-controllel wealth outweighs the value of the manufacturing product in any city in the country. St. Louis, fourth in the list, measures barely more than ha.f this feminine total in its manufactur ing output. THE queens of old maintained bands of men a* arms whom they hurled at rival powers for gain and glory, as well as using them to keep their own subjects in a humb’.e mood. But what an army and navy could be retained by these empresses of to-day! See what Holland accom plishes for scarcely more than one half the annual income of these worn- i en. It maintains an army which has a war footing of 68,000 men, and a navy of 72 ships, manned by 10,7;50 sailors. In the cause of mercy and peace the energies of these women mostly are directed, and the above estimate is offered only for purposes of compari son. This court of sovereigns could launch a publicity campaign in the cause of peace and disarmament such as the world has never seen. They could erect temples for the propaga tion of peace with greater facility than Andrew Carnegie built his wide spread libraries. In time of war, com bined. they would be the greatest fac tor in supplying the needs of both land and sea for the hospital corps. In the name of charity they would be the most powerful combination on earth. It is quite likely that they fying their soul yearnings for Paris gown creations is unlimited as space itself. The hand-painted, gold-thread ed glories of their dress opportunities would thrust into shadow all the at tributes of a female Aladdin. Not all of these women nave butter fly inclinations. Mrs. Hetty Green is the star exception. Her fortune is largely self-built and was not inherit ed or deeded, as is the case with most of the 12. A cumber of them manage their possessions under the careful su pervision and counsel of trained ad visers. A few, including Mrs. Potter Palmer, deem the cares of sordid busi ness a minor feature of life, and turn to the signing of checks and docu ments only when such matters are pressing. Society represents their world, and the financial tumult beyond its purlieus has no interest for them. Mrs. Russell Sage, perhaps, is better known than the rest for her activities along charitable lines since the death of her husband left at her disposal wealth amounting to many millions. Mrs. Phoebe Hearst also is widely known, particularly in California,,for her benefactions in the aid of higher education. ALL EYES now are turned on Mrs. Harriman, who has mounted the throne left vac-cant by her hus band and holds the reins of his power almost completely. Mrs. Harriman was Miss Mary Av erell, daughter of the late W. J. Aver ell, a banker of Rochester, N. Y. She has railroad antecedents, for her fath er built up his tidy fortune in the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Rail road Company. The Harrimans' 36 years of married life was ideally hap py. Mrs. Harriman brought her hus band financial aid in his early strug gles in the market. It was assistance which came when it was most valua ble to him. He never needed it again, for his administrative ability soon won him the support of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., the National City bank and the powerful Standard Oil clique. There after the help of his wife did not lie FOUR OF THE RICHEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD. I YW.&. \Zm>s r~ \\Z?JETTr’ ^ Mistresses of Millions of Dollars That They May Expend as Their Fancy Dictates. have done more individual good in this line than any other dozen per sons now alive from the strictly finan cial standpoint. THE mind totters at the unlimited opportunity presented to these women to indulge themselves in the foibles of their sex. They could corner the millinery output of the world. They could swerve the fash ions of the planet to suit their own individual complexions and prefer ments. The amount of ribbons and furbelows they could purchase might reach to the moon and back. The leeway they possess for satis In the line of financial assistance. On Mrs. Harriman’s shoulders now will rest the management of the 43, 000 acres of the Arden estate, the com pletion of the great house on which Harriman had spent J2,000,000 without living to see it finished. It is possible that Mrs. Harriman will carry out in detail those plans of public benefac tion—parks, forests and reservations —which it is known Mr. Harriman cherished, though he makes no men tion of them in his will. It has been pointed out that, by making no bequests to children or rel atives. Mr. Harriman avoided a large share of the enormous inheritance tax &®©©©©©©£$©$<5©i£©©®©©©©©©©© £ ESTIMATED WEALTH OF 4 X 12 AMERICAN WIDOWS. j| £ Mrs. E. H. Harriman..$100,000,000 ^ 'X Mrs- Russell Sage.. 70,000,000 X X Mrs. Hetty Green... 60,000,000 X X Mrs. Wm. B. Leeds.. 30,000,000 £ X Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. 30,000,000 £ X Mrs. Jas. H. Smith.. 18,000,000 X X Mrs. G. M. Pullman. 15,000,000 $ X Mrs. Cornelius Van- $ X derbilt, Sr. 15,000,000 f X Mrs. Morris K. Jesup 10,000,000 X £ Mrs. Wm. K. Thaw 7,500,000 © X Mrs. Potter Palmer. 7,500,000 A X Mrs. H. H. Rogers.. 5,000,000 « X ' y X $368,000,000 X £ Assessed Vaiua X tion of all Chica- £ X go real estate for £ X 1908 .$344,399,927 $ which, under the laws of New York, otherwise would be imposed. Mrs. Harriman's dower rights are subject to no tax whatever, and the remaining two-thirds of the estate to a tax of only one per cent., as against a graded classification which in some instances runs to five per cent. Besides Mrs. Harriman, those who survive the railway king are Mrs. Cor nelia Gerry of Newport, R. I. and Misses Mary and Caroi Harriman, daughters; and William Averell and Edward Roland Harriman, sons. IT IS interesting to view the extent of Mrs. Harriman's railway holdings which place her well at the head of the world's rail magnates. In the ab solute control of the Harriman estate are the Southern Pacific system, the Union Pacific system, the South ern Pacific of Mexico, the San Pedro Los Angeles & Salt Lake, the St. Jo seph & Grand Island, the Illinois Cen tral and the Central of Georgia. Dom inant interest is held in the Baltimore & Ohio: Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day ton, and the Delaware & Hudson. In terest of importance is maintained in the Erie, the New' York Central lines, Wheeling & Lake Erie and the Wa bash Pittsburg terminal. Minor hold ings are retained in the Atchison, To peka & Santa Fe, the Chicago & Northwestern, and the Chicago, Mil waukee & St. Paul. The extent of the Harriman money empire further includes securities in the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, and the Wells-Fargo Express Com pany. The latter corporation now has the largest individual express monop oly in the republic of Mexico. The real estate holdings of the Har riman estate measure less than $5,000, 000. Most of this is represented in the great estate at Arden. It is expected that this galaxy of the world's wealthiest' women will go on in much the same old way, further ing their financial interests, climbing the rungs of society, or alleviating the sorrows of the world, without giving a thought to the extravagant possibil ities of the aggregate of their for tunes. Wins the Prelate’s Prize. Archbishop P. J. Ryan of this city owes the children at the orphanage maintained by the Altoona diocese of the Catholic church a treat of candy and they are impatiently waiting for him to return here so he can buy the best. The archbishop, who was there at tending the ruby jubilee of Bishop E. A. Garvey, was taken to the orphan age at Cresson by the bishop, and de lighted the little folks with his fa mous stories. “Why is a stick of candy like a horse?” he suddenly asked. “I know," piped a bit of a lad. “ Cause the more you lick it the faster it goes.” The joke was on the archbishop, and he graciously promised to send home the candy as soon as he re turned home.—Philadelphia Record. Fine Brazilian Orchid. lirazi) is the land of orchids. Plants of eight leaves are sold for nine cents apiece: of 15 leaves for 18 cents: 20 to 30 leaves, 32 cents. Above 40 leaves special bargains are made. This sea son a remarkable plant of 206 leaves was brought to market strung on a pole and carried 40 miles by two men. Such a plant has a blooming capacity of 500 flowers. It was sold in Per nambuco for $5; value in the United States, $150. NEWYORK 1 cJifc&GG | PHILADELPHIA I -sr. lows SIpAY IN MERE WANTONNESS Birds, Wolves and Others Animals Seem to Delight in Butchery of Weaker Brethren. ____ # While usually our carnivorous ani mals kill to supply their immediate wants, still there are some species which often kill for mere sport and there are a few kinds of which some individuals do not at some time kill wantonly. When 1 was a boy and there were wolves in Maine I have known four or five wolves to kill over 40 sheep in a single night. Some birds also kill for sport. All orpithologists know of shrikes hang iing up birds and mice which they do not need. I have several times seen sheldrakes kill scores of small fish just for fun. They bit them, dropped them and passed on. I once saw the skins of a mink which a. loup-cervier had killed. The person who had It said that there was a light snow, so he could see every motion. The loup-cervier had appar ently met the mink by accident on the \ ice. He had bitten it through the back, dropped It and walked on. Red squirrels will kill more young birds than they can eat. I have known an otter to pile up a large lot of suck ers which he must have caught just for sport. Lately a mink got into a bait tank near here and killed nearly all the live baits. The owner estimated that there were several thousands. House cats often kill birds which they do not eat; they also often bring in moles, frogs and snakes, which they kill for the fun of killink. I have no doubt that sable and fisher would kill poultry just as mink and raccoon do if they had the same opportunity. Goshawks kill for sport I have known a goshawk in one morning to kill five ruffed grouse and leave them after tearing them in pieces. Last winter a goshawk was given ine which had just killed two large Plymouth rock hens. It seems as if many animals and birds take as much pleasure in killing things for mere sport as many ot our sportsmen and fishermen do.—Forest and Stream. HOW MUCH OF US IS ALIVE? Scientists Have Discovered That a Great Deal of the Human Body Has No Vital Quality. Everybody knows that not every part of the living animal is alive. Bones, horns, tusks, teeth, hoofs, ■claws, nails and hair are more than half dead. The bile and digestive juices are dead fluids. Milk, chycle and blood itself are dead, despite the Scriptural utterance that"*the blood is the life thereof.” The ‘Dfood cor puscles are truly alive, but the plasma in which they float is as inert as any other chemical substance. The lymph and all the special fluids of the body ilack the vital quality. The cells alone live. The cells do not surely die when the Individual dies. In the Popular Science Monthly for September Dr. A. F. A. King notes that the liver con tinues its functions when the man has ;ceased to breathe. The skin of “dead” persons, their internal organs, bones and joints may be successfully trans planted into the living. In such cases "the prevelent error that everything must be either dead or alive, with no intermediate gradations, becomes pro nouncedly manifest,” Dr. King says. What is life? Dr. King rejects Spen cer’s definition, "the continuous ad justment of internal relations with ex ternal relations,” and defines life as a temporary bundle of atoms or ions capable of generating electrical en ergy for its own uses. Dr. King be longs to the school that points to the phenomena of the electric fishes, such as the torpedo, the electric eel, and the skate, which shock and capture their prey by their organic electrical apparatus, and who think they have evidence of electric currents that pro duce the contraction of the muscles and explain all phenomena of life in motion. But Spencer’s definition of life will serve to account for the con tinuous adjustment of groups of cells within the body after it has, as a' whole, ceased to react upon its envir onment. Aeroplanes lie low when the wind blows, but they defy wet grounds. COACH OF MICHIGAN’S FOOTBALL ELEVEN Fielding H. Yost, who shows the Ann Arbor boys the proper way to play the gridiron game, adopted a new system in practice this' year. Formerly “Hurry-Up,” as he is known in the athletic world, did not put his players through any scrimmage be fore the middle of the first week, but this season, with several hard games ahead of the eleven, Yost decided to take no chances and used his best ef forts to prime the men for the work they have to do. He expressed ap proval of the way the men showed up in the first attempt at trick plays, and predicted a successful session. GEERS A QUEER CHARACTER1 Veteran Reinsman Says to Pick a Horse as You Would a Friend. ‘•Horseman” takes rank with ' bank er” or "merchant” in one’s mind after talking with Edwin F Geers, the greatest driver of racehorses of all time. His appearance ignores chan ticleer ties and strident trousers. His speech is straight Noah Webster, soft ened by a slight southern accent. And his manner is the outward expression of a man wholly absorbed with the work he chose ’ because he loved it. You never forget Ed Geers, once you meet him. A man of medium stature,* whose gray eyes look out from a ra diant rim of squint furrows. Geers, who stands out among the famous horsemen of the country be cause of his splendid driving and the fact that he will not stand for any “fixing” of the day’s schedule, was returning from a day’s work. His best horse. The Harvester, is valued at $40,000. .“The only way to pick a horse is just the way you’d pick a friend,” he said. “Beauty doesn't count. You look him square in the face, and if he has a good head, full face, a fine eye and a good natiired ear, he’s all right. If he looks like a convict let him alone.” “I was thinking of the horse that gave me my start,” he said. "He was as hairless as a mangy dog, and his tail was a scraggly affair, but 1 coached him for a race and I sold him for $225 more than 1 bought him for. CRAWLEY OF THE MAROONS. Considerable apprehension was felt at the beginning of the season when Crawley, the right half-back of the Chicago university eleven, was hurt in practice. It was feared that the in jury to his foot would keep him out of the big games. He was forced to miss the Purdue game, but the injury mend ed more rapidly than expected and ti.e star was again if the Uno-ut when the next game came on A Fairy Story of To-Day. They were going to the theater. He had reached home at 6:30 o'clock, and an hour later was ready to start There was just time to reach the play house by eight. She had had nothing to do all afternoon except to dress, yet it was 8:1 when she came from her room with her hat and coat on. "I am afraid we shall be late," Bhe said. “You look so lovely," he replied, kissing her, “that it would have been worth waiting another hour for yon.” GREAT PLAY BY COLLINS His Feat of Throwing Out Three Men on One Batted Ball Never Duplicated. Billy Purtell, Lee Tannehill Harry Sleinfeldt, Jimmy Collins and several other big league stars are high-class third basemen, but it is a cinch that not one of them ever accomplished the feat chalked to the credit of one Jimmy Collins. Collins performed the wonderful feat of throwing out three men at the plate on one batted ball, which is something never before equaled in the annals of big league baseball. Ft all happened in the year 1902 when Collins was a member of the Boston team. The scene of the feat was the Boston American league park and three Cleveland players were the vic tims. Bradley was on second and Jack McCarthy on first, when Goch nauer sent a short single to left. Collins got the ball and shot it to Catcher Farrell a yard ahead of Brad ley. McCarthy was scooting toward third at this juncture, and Farrell threw back to Collins to get Jack. The toss was poor and McCarthy tried to score. Jimmy proved a good retriev er. He chased the ball to left, recov ered it, and spun it home in time to get McCarthy. Goclinauer, who had been having a nice time on second all this time, now started for third, and again Farrell's throw was poor. The coacher at third took a long chance and waved the ' go home” signal to Goch. Johnny kept on, if going at the speed he used to travel can be called “keeping on.” “Make it three,” yelled the crowd, and Jimmy did. He found; the ball somewhere out in left field, and by a long and accurate throw to Farrell retired the third and last Cleveland: runner. SPORTING ITEMS Abe Attell, the featherweight cham pion of America, had the better of Charley Miller of Philadelphia in six rounds at the Douglas Athletic club. Attell had not trained any for the bout. Robert Millington, manager and half-back of the Pottsville high school football team, was fatally Injured in a fottball game with the Shamokin high school eleven at Shataokin, Pa. The University of Wisconsin base ball team lost a chance to tie the Keio university nine at Tokio, when the visitors went down to defeat in the fourth game of the series, three of which have been won by the Japanese. Col. W. H. Mosby, the well-known trainer of the Valley Farm stable, died at Hamilton, Ont. He was re lated to Col. Mosby, who fought on the side of the south during the Civil war. Rube WTaddell is still crowing over the hold he retains upon the Ameri can league fans in Philadelphia. On the day he recently pitched against the Mack men a crowd of 8,500 turned out in the face of a threatened down pour. Ordinarily the attendance would have been less than 5,000. The Phillies were the only team in the National league to lose a game by forfeit in the season just closed. The players, following the benching of Moren and Dooin, refused to resume play. Umpire Mullen gave the game to New York. In winning the Future stakes at the Southern Circuit meet in Memphis, Blank S., a Missouri pacer, established a new record for the track—a mile in 2:06. No. they were not bride and bride groom. They had been married ten years. But what is the use of telling you any more? As you can »ee by this sample, you wouldn’t believe It, anyway. Miss Knox—What was It you aald about Miss Gidday? Mr. Goodley—I said .her age sur prised me greatly. She doesn't look 30, does she? Miss Knox—No, not non-. I suppese she did, though, at one time.—-Stray Stories. 1 POSSUM OF ' i Lord Northcliffe Says Germans ^ Are Getting fleady. _ » ' Most Powerful of British" Peers De* Clares England Sleeps While Kais er’s Country Is Arming for an Emergency. Chicago.—Lord Northcliffe; other wise Alfred Harmsworth, publfsher of the London Daily Mall, and London Times, the Overseas Daily Mall and 41 other important publications in the I English language, favorite of King Ed ward VHL, and perhaps the most in fluential man in modern* British thought, in an interview in Chicago, declared Germany Is preparing for possible war, while England sleeps. “The Americans are so busy with the affairs of their own gigantic con tinent that they have not the time to study European politics. "There is an impression in this country that some hostility exists be tween the peoples of Great Britain and of United Germany. “I know the Germans intimately. Prom childhood I have traveled ex tensively thoughout most of the Ger man states. I have many German family connections, and I venture to say that, outside the usual body of Anglophobes one meets in every coun try,. there is little hostility to the British on the part of the Germans. And, on the other hand, there is in England no dislike of Germany. Au contraire, our statesmen are adapting German legislation to our needs, and if imitation be the sincerest form of flattery the Germans must be pleased with our proposed reproduction of their workingmen’s insurance, their labor bureau, and a great many other legislative improvements that it ap pears to me, would be just as vital to .-A the United States as they seem to be to Great Britain. “Why, then, if so happy a state of affairs exists between the two na Iv X\\ I I Lord Northcliffe. tions, should there be any section of people in England to suggest the pos sibility of war? Turn back to 1869. Was there any friction between France and Prussia? There was no hostility on either side. But any reader of Bussche's Bismarck, or oth er standard authority on the great German empire binder, will acknowl edge there was immense preparation on the part of Germany—a prepara tion that was kept secret as far as possible and which also, as far as pos sible, is being kept secret by Germany . to-day. p “As to that which is transpiring; in the German shipbuilding yards, wo more or less know that by 1912 Ger many, in ships of the super-Dread naught class, will be the equal o€ Eng land. “If we were in your position, able to grow our own food on our own acres, it would matter little to us if we had merely an ornamental navy sueh as Ambrose Bierce describes this month , in Everybody’s Magazine—an article i which every American ought to read. I But how few Americans realize that our food is brought to us from Aus tralia, Canada, much of it from this city of Chicago and your western wheat fields, from the Argentine re public—nearly ail of it from over the _ sea. — two or tnree days ago i was at San Francisco, where your govern ment has spent an immense sum of money in fortifying the Golden Gate against an imaginary Japanese attack Throughout the greater part of your Pacific slope the Japanese, depleted as they are by a great war. Infinitely Inferior as they are to you in popula tion, situated an immense distance from you, with no coaling station oi> your shores, are looked upon as a dangerous opponent. “Even if It were possible for them to cross the Pacific to attack you—a more than ridiculous assumption, hav ing in view a hundred and one con tingencies, including the Anglo-Japan ese alliance—what damage could they do? “I see it suggested in the Ameri can papers that there is some kind of a scare in England. I wish there were. Our public has been warned by the prime minister, by the minis ter of foreign affairs, by many of our leading men, such as Mr. Frederick Harrison and Lord Roberts, by prom inent journalists, including Mr. Stead, and by others, but they have not yet. as you say, begun to sit up and take notice. Australia Seeks Meeting. . The meeting of the British Associa tion in 1913 will in all probability be V f held in Australia. The effort is being \ made by the officials of the University , of Melbourne, who are now in corre spondence with the various education al and scientific bodies of the south ern continent. Appropriate Decoration. ‘‘I see where ‘Cook hats’ are to be all the rage this winter, f wonder how they will be trimmed.” “I should judge with'wreaths of the ice plant.” -