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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1913)
—-S^TLNSOUT TO.CELLBRATt -1 HE HIS LARGEST CRACKER e ice experieure ui years is repeated the an nual celebration of the signing of the Decla ration of Independence this year will cost 200 lives. No more serious results, as far as casual ties are concerned, could be expected from a considerable bat tle. For though the number of dead will be relatively small, the list of wounded will be very large. Probably 20,000 or more will be seriously hurt in one way or another by explosives. Of these more than 100 will lose one or both legs. Nearly 100 boys will receive injuries in the right hand from toy pistols, from which they will die in a lingering and painful manner from lockjaw. In the palm of the human hand there is a plexus, or network of nerves. When a toy pistol explodes, or shoots backward, as it is always liable to do. the wound inflicted is usually in the palm; there is laceration of the net work of nerves aforesaid, and lockjaw Is likely to follow. The estimate of 20.000 wounded does not include the slight-hurt, who will make a much longer list. But taking the figures given, and leaving out of consideration all destruction of property by fire. It would seem that the nation's bill for its Fourth of July celebration is a pretty heavy one. The property loss by fires due to careless use of explosives, will amount to at least $500,000. Possibly it may run up into the millions, but the es timate here given represents merely an average Fourth of July. People will throw firecrackers into places where they are likely to start confla gration. and skyrockets, which excite such enthusiasm when they go up. have a deplorable way of coming down upon roofs and making mischief. Then, too, many of the modern kind of fireworks, such as the bombs, which rise 1,000 feet in the air and explode, liberating beautiful showers of vari colored stars, contain considerable quantities of high explosives, and are proportionately dangerous. Only last Fourth of July, it will be remembered, many people were killed and wounded by the accidental setting off of a quan tity of such bombs which had been put in readiness for a fireworks ex hibition. Some, probably a dozen, shops that contain large stocks of fireworks will be destroyed by the accidental setting off of the combustibles, incidentally endangering much property in their neighborhood. Few finer and more striking exhibitions in the fireworks line are given on the glorious Fourth than are furnished by such impromptu displays, but they cost a great deal of money. If grown people are satisfied to risk life and limb in playing with the high explosives contained in many kinds of fireworks, it is nobody’s business but theirs. Unfortunately, some of the in struments of celebration placed in the hands of children are loaded with small quantities of similar deadly materials. Naturally, the little ones like best the torpedoes which make the loudest noise, and those are the ones that con tain fulminate of mercury (an exceed ingly dangerous substance) and some times even dynamite. Just why the police do not take the necessary pains to suppress the sale of such torpedoes nobody can say. To of fer them for sale is against the law, but ordinarily the regulation is not en forced, and little Bobby or Johnny walks innocently about the streets on the Fourth of July with enough dyna mite in his jacket pocket to injure him seriously, or possibly kill him, if a mis chance should set off bis package of torpedoes all at once. Parents are not acquainted sufficient ly with the danger that lurks in some kinds of torpedoes. If they were at all aware of it. accidents of the kind would be less frequent, and public opinion would bring about the proper enforcement of the law which forbids the sale of these bombs—for bombs they are, though only small ones. Of _ ArrtR the explosion j*#. course, most torpedoes are entirely harmless; but some of the small ones, round and very hard, about the size of a marble, which go off with a report j like a pistol-shot, are in the deadly ! class, containing as they do fulminate of mercury. Years ago, as most people will be able to recall, there was a dreadful Fourth of July accident in Philadel phia. A large quantity of torpedoes, of a kind whose sale had been ex pressly prohibited by local ordinance, was exposed on a street stand, kept by an Italian, on one of the busiest down town thoroughfares. Exactly what 1 caused it nobody ever knew, but appar | ently a stone thrown by a boy struck ; the torpedoes, and all of them went ofT together. They were loaded with dyna mite, and the explosion was tremend ' ous. Seven children were killed, while a number of others were more or less seriously hurt. A great many of the Fourth of July accidents are caused by children's mis chief. A boy will throw a firecracker at a girl, for example, burning her 1 seriously. Then there is the deadly ! cracker that has failed to explode, and J which must be examined and relighted. I the consequence being an unexpected i report and possibly the loss of an eye. The large crackers, some of which are ' a foot or more in length, are really dangerous bombs, and should not be put in childish hands. No prudent fa ther would allow his bo7 to use a toy | cannon, with loose gunpowder, which ! is likely to become ignited with dis astrous results. Indeed, the list of killed and wounded would be enor mously diminished if parents would take the necessary pains to keep toy pistols, raw gunpowder, and giant fire crackers out of the hands of their chil dren, reserving to themselves also the business of setting ofT the fireworks in the evening. If we must have a Fourth of July celebration, let us try to be more sen sible about it, and so cut down the number of slain and injured, as well as the serious property loss of bygone Fourths. Guns and pistols are not suitable playthings for children. The little boy who picks up his toy gun and playfully says, “I'll shoot you,’’ should be taught that even in play he must not point a weapon at another, for it is in just such ways that respect for life is lessened and involuntary manslaughter is the result. Thoughtful parents will not give chil dren such toys. It has been the cus tom for many years to celebrate the Fourth of July with noise and fire works. Children did not originate the prac tice. It is the method shown by their parents, and so each year we have a slaughter of th<» innocents equal in number to the loss in a great battle, and, as in the days of old, when hu man sacrifices were laid on the altar, we sacrifice to the nation's glory hun dreds of its embryo citizens. The man who takes his life in his hands and goes to battle for his coun try's protection gives his life to a worthy cause, but the children whose lives are sacrificed to celebrate the na tion’s birth have given their lives to little purpose. Is it not time that parents should think of thi6 subject, and see if they cannot devise other methods of cele brating our national holiday that will not entail such sacrifices of life and property? Is it not time that in an age when peace and arbitration are in the air. and when the great nations of the earth are steadily advancing toward the day when disputes and differences will be settled by arbitration, that we should begin to teach the children higher ideals of patriotism than noise and shooting? STILL AMONG THE LIVE ONES : Woman’s Fear That Husband Had De parted This Life Proved Altogether Unfounded. “I beg your padon. If I disturb you, } sir,” she said to the keeper of the morgue, ‘‘but my husband has been I gone two days, and I fear that he may have been killed on the street and brought here.” "Husband missing, eh?" queried the official. "We may have him in her. : What sort of a looking man was he?” “A short, thick-set man, sir, with ' side whiskers and two front teeth gone.” "Um. Side whiskers, eh? Two front teeth gone? Was he a man likely to 'get in front of a cable car?” "He was, sir. If he thought the car meant to bluff him, he’d stand . on the track until he was run over." "How was he on dodging hacks?” “He never dodged one in his life. He used to carry half a dozen rocks tied up in a handkerchief, and the backman who tried to run him down got his head knocked off.” "Been gone two days, eh?” "Two days and a night, sir, and you don’t know how worried I am.” "Yes, 1 suppose so,” absently re | plied the man. “I wish I could say he was here, and thus relieve your anxiety.” "Then he isn’t here?” “No’m—not unless he shaved off 1 those side whiskers and went to a dentist before he was brought in. I'm sorry to disappoint you. but we are just out of short, thick-set men with side whiskers. One may be brought in any hoar, however.” “If not here then, he is still alive?” suggested the woman, as the look of anxiety left her face. "I should so infer, ma'am—should so infer. In fact, ma’am, I am quite sure your husband is alive and well.” “Thanks, sir—thanks! You haven’t seen him?” "I have, ma’am. Less than half an hour ago he asked me to drink with him in that saloon over there, and from this window you can now see him standing up to the bar, side whis kers and all.” “Thank heaven, and I will go over and take him by the neck, and— and—’’ “Glad to be of service to you, ma'am. If I had a short, thick-set man with side whiskers and two front teeth out on a slab inside, I would admit you with pleasure, but as I haven’t, you’ll have to take, up with the live one over there, and make the best of it. Good day, ma'am. Call again if you happen this way, and I may be in better luck.”—Philadelphia Record. Not That Way. “I heard my husband say the other day there are laws against barkers.” “So there are. The practice is near ly stopped.” “Is it? Just listen to those dogs!” JUDGED OTHERS BY HIMSELF Small, Persistent Jibber Imagined Col ored Man Had B^en Punished In the Customary Way. There are no negro settlers In the portion of the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas traversed by the St. Paul branch of the St. Louis & San Fran cisco railroad. Accordingly many children grow to the age when they attend high school before they see a colored man. Little Johnny had been a resident I of Combs, Ark., all his life. He was an adept at fibbing and to break him of the habit his mother painted a little spot on his hand with ink every time she caught him fibbing. The result was that some days he would have several black spots on hiB hands. A new railroad is building from Combs south, and some of the grad ing contractors imported negroes to drive teams. One day Johnnie ran to his mother very excitedly, and ex- j claimed: “Mamma, I have seen the biggest liar in the world. His mother must have used a whole bottle of ink on him: Come and see him!" The mother went to the door and Johnny pointed to a negro driving by with a team of supplies.—Kansas City Star. Call Me Early. "Why do you call that drummer the Queen of May?” "Because he leaves such early calls,” explained the hotel clerk. Thinking of Himself. Two IriBh soldiers stationed in the ■West Indies were accustomed to bathe daily in a little bay which was gen erally supposed to be free from sharks. Though on good terms with each oth er, they were not what might be call ed fast friends. One day as they were swimming about 100 yards from the shore, Pat observed Mike making for the land as hard as he could without saying a word. Wondering what was the matter, Pat struck out vigorously aft-, er him, and landed at his compan ion's heels. "Is there anything wrong wid ye!" inquired Pat. feelingly. "Nothing—nothing at all," replied 1 the other. “Thin what did ye make sich a sud- 1 dint retrate for an’ lave me?" con tinued Pat. “Bedad,’ answered Mike, coolly, “I spied the fin of a big shark about 20 feet ahead, an' I thought while he was playin' wid you it wud give me time to rache the shore!" Suffering Impressions. “If inanimate objects could feel, photography would be a cruel busi ness”. “Why so r “Just think of some of the faces re corded on sensitive plates.” Their Habit. “Women can get along very well with a comprehensive ballot.” “Why*" "Because they are used to folding things of a blanket type.” __ TnEMTTLE lJ DLLIKIXS Dear: So you want to know how I spent the Glorious Fourth? Was I sane and sedate, comport ing myself in a manner be fitting a brand-new college graduate, or did I run ofT and romp with Brother Tom's kiddies, as usual, forgetting all my recently acquired dignity? Alas, my dear: I must confess that my Fourth was far, far from sane, and that instead of recoverng my sanity I’ve—But there, my studies in prose style should teach me better than to jump at the conclusion of my story like that! I'll begin at the beginning. It was Independence day. The sun was shining in newly awakened splen dor, when the casual observer might have discerned a solitary female form gracefully scaling the stone wall be tween the luxuriant back gardens of the F^endersons and the ditto ditto of the Bartletts—Tom and his family are staying with her mother, you know, next door. This feat accomplished, our heroine (that’s me!) proceeded up the Bart lett lawn, collecting dewdrops on her trailing cheesecloth draperies and, in cidentally, getting her new white shoes deplorably damp. FFer slender form was draped also tn a large American flag, and her raven curls were surmounted by a fillet of silver stars. This Goddess of Liberty effect was the result of a promise to "dress up” for the two adoring and adorable nephews, Bert and Bob. Arrived be neath the window of the room usu ally occupied by the nephews, the Goddess of Liberty proceeds to the time-honored ceremony of saluting them; this she does by setting off ten packs of small firecrackers, followed ’ by a "spck dolager” of a big one. No joyful acclamations follow. Aunt Peggy is frankly puzzled; clearly, the boys are oversleeping, and she bursts into song, rendering the “Star-span gled Banner" with dramatic effect, marred only by a breathless squeak Gracefully Scaling the Stone Wall. on the final “Land of the free." Still no Bob and Bert. Our heroine shies a bit of turf at the window, with a command, “Wake up, lazybones!" and as the window sash begins to creak responsively she begins to carol Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom ”J at the top of her very healthy lungs, for Aunt Peggy has no foolish dig nity when it’s a question of amusing the kiddies. At last the window opens wide and, looking up, she sees— Polly, what do you think? Instead of two little white nighties and two tousled.curly heads, there was a man! A strange young man, my dear; blonde, blue-eyed, immaculate in a beautiful duck suit and gazing at me with what seemed to be mild horror, mixed with amusement, as though I were an escaped lunatic. I felt like one, I assure you, all the more so be cause he was awfully good-looking and well groomed and correct; and I couldn’t Imagine who he could be. However, it seemed to be up to me to do something, so 1 drew myself to my commanding height of five feet four inches and begged his pardon for dis turbing him, explaining that my little nephews usually occupied that room, and that they were expecting me over to celebrate the Fourth with them— but it all sounded like perfect non sense. Just then, to my mingled relief and annoyance, Tom appeared at the window, too, with a fiendish grin, as he sized up the situation and my cos tume. “Been serenading you, has she, Archie?" he asked affably, while 1 boiled with helpless rage. “You mustn't mind It, old man; it's the day we cele brate, you know, and our patriotism still runs so high that even the girls seek out peaceable English visitors and taunt them with our independence. Quite the usual thing.” Then, as “Archie" and I preserved a helpless silence, Tom sobered down and intro duced us in proper style, and as soon as I heard the name I remembered that Archie Vane was Tom's chum in London, when he was over there set ting up some machinery. He had just landed and Tom, running across him iff New York the night before, had in sisted on his coming home with him to spend the Fourth—all natural enough when Tom explained it. So there Fd been bearding the British lion in his den with militant American noises on the anniversary of a day ig nored by all good Englishmen; and here was the British lion looking at me with his ingenuous blue eyes as if he was trying to decide whether I'd bite or not. “I warn you,” Tom added, in his tactful little way, "that Peggy is a rabidly patriotic person, so I wouldn't advise you to start any discussions on international issues. This Columbia getup is quite in character, so be ware!” Alice and the boys came out on the porch just then and wanted me to stay to breakfast; but of course I declined with dignity and went home— via the front gate, however, instead of the garden wall. When I turned to latch it that Englishman was still look ing at me in a dazed sort of way. The plot thickens. After breakfast my beloved kiddies rushed over to beg me to go with them on the usual fam ily picnic to the pine grove, and I hadn't the heart to disappoint them. I wore my most sensible clothes, and I tried hard to be haughty and distant to Mr. Vane; but he kept developing such nice qualities that somehow I couldn’t keep it up, especially as he ig nored my crazy performance of the morning so successfully. He was a Tom Appeared at the Window, Too. positive genius when it came to chas ing cows, fixing hammocks, unpacking luncheon and all the regular picnic stunts. The boys adored him, and he was simply angelic to the old folks; and by the time we went home I couldn’t scare up a resentful feeling. Yes, Polly. I know; you needn't re mind me of all the hateful things I've said about Englishmen and the times I’ve vowed I couldn’t, and wouldn't care for one, not if he asked me on his bended knees. Yes, and I've demon strated often that no one but an American man was a fit companion for an American girl. I've said heapB of perfectly ferocious things, and I sup pose I meant every one of them. But that was before Archie— Polly, dear, do you know, he says It was all over with him from the first moment he saw me—and in that circus-parade rig! Isn’t it absurd—and lovely? And, just think, it’s only a week since we met. though we both agree that it seems like years. And you should see my ring—a quaint, old. old one, that be longed to his great-great-grandmother! And his people live in a lovely old Elizabethan house, in a regular Cran ford town; and his mother's a dear little old-fashioned soul with side curls, and idolizes him. Please don't remind me of anything I ever said about effete tradition, will you, Polly? I'm not going to England yet awhile, though, for Archie’s here indefinitely, to learn American business methods, in Tom's line of work. I really have a little spark of American pride, I guess, for I am glad he’s only a younger son, with no title within reach, though I don’t suppose I’d mind that, or anything else. Because, Polly dear. I'm not shouting the battle cry of freedom nowadays. Somehow it gets all mixed up with “Rule Britannia.” Do come up with me soon and discuss the new Anglo Saxon alliance with your bewildered but blissful PEGGY. Fashions in Journalese. Fashions in the newspaper use of language rise and fall, and are often indefensible. It has come to be a common practice to say that some thing has been ‘‘forecasted,” when “forecast," the long-time form, is much more to be desired. Now we are frequently told that a bill has been “reported out" by the committee of some legislative body, when the old “reported” covered the case much better. The list might be multiplied, but these examples will serve to make the point. Directness and simplicity are always to be aimed at. Even edi torials are not always free from the offenses complained of. Patriotism. “My father was wounded in the Spanish-American war and my grand father lost an arm'at Gettysburg." “How did you get that scar on your chin?” “Trying to tie a bunch of firecrack ers to the tall of a bulldog.” Often the Case. "Every happy married couple wants something to call ‘baby.’ ” “Yes; sometimes it’s a canary and sometimes it's a bulldog." Hopeless. “Is Bligglns a man of his word?" “Yes. That's the worst of it. He really means all the unreasonable things he says." ROADS COUNTRY ROAD IS ACCURSED Automobilist and Farmer Take Turns in Swearing at Poor Construction of Thoroughfares. Everybody takes a whack at the country road. The automobilists that trundle their machines over it curse its makers. The farmer that hauls his load to market over it swears a blue streak over its bumps and chuck holes and wonders why somebody doee not know enough to fix it so it will stay fixed. The legislator lounges in the leather chairs in the state capitol and delivers profound dis courses on it and its uses and abuses, and the best way to fix it and keep it fixed. The board of supervisors meet and look wise and talk their heads off about the way it should be taken care of, and how the care-taking ex penses should be met. And still the county road slumbers on and never gets much above the mud except in dry summers or very cold winters, j when the traffic can skat along on the_ ice, says the Northwestern Stockman and farmer. The country road is an or phan and usually a friendless orphan. Like the Arkansas house, it can't be fixed while it is raining, and when it doesn’t rain there is no need for fix ing it. It is a public domain where poll taxes may be worked at leisure, and with the least possible efforts by the party that is segregating himself from so much of his valuable time for the good of the commonwealth. Its surface is marred here by a hole dug by an unruly plow, there by seven scraperfuls of dirt dumped in the mid dle of it just prior to quitting time. There are useless trees bordering it | that shut out the sunlight and keep off the wind so that its surface shall ; remain the consistency of putty the longest possible time. It is a bone of contention for neighborhood rows over who shall be "joad-boss" and how the poll taxes shall be “worked." I am not trying to solve the country road ' problem, but I am endeavoring to call attention to it The country road problem Is too deep and complicated for one man to j solve. It will require the best and most conservative brains in the state to settle upon some plan that will make the country road what it was^ intended for—a highway for traffic with the least possible resistence. Agitate good roads brethem. Keep the matter before the public. Don’t let up until something definite and j proper is done to give the state of Montana good permanent highways at a minimum cost. ! FIELD DRAG IS VERY USEFUL — Aside From Leveling Ground Imple ment Can Be Used for Transport* ing Stones and Stumps. I find a field drag a useful tool. As ide from leveling the ground it can be used for carrying stumps and stones, writes C. C. Marshall of Bethel Springs, Tenn., in the Missouri Valley Construction of Drag. Farmer. In winter It can be utilized to shelter potatoes or other vegeta bles that have been hauled up. and j when set up slanting it forms a pro tection for the bed of a brood sow To make the drag take a section oi log 5 or 6 feet long and split until the sections are 2 or 2% inches wide Lay these sections side by side and on top of either end nail a 2 by 6 inch runner. Construct Market Roads. Ohio is about to embark on the con struction of what it calls a system of market roads which is to cover the entire state. It figures that by the ex penditure of $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 a year for ten years it will be able to bring the system to completion. If it does so, it will have to be luckier or wiser than New York state has been. General Road Work. The state statute on roads reads that all- general road work should be done between the first of April and the firet of October. Weeds Interfere. The split-log dra* will never make good roads while overgrown with weeds in the fence corner. Problem Solved. The earth road will doubtless be jsed in rural communities for many years, because of i»s low first cost. The ever-recurring pioblem of upkeep ?n such a road can Se solved very largely by the use «f the split-log drag. ——————.^—_ Early Marketing. When mutton can he produced at the same or less cost per pound than beef, the fleece is clear additional profit; as with all food animals, the greatest profit is in early maturity , and early marketing. Unprofitable Business. The dairyman who keeps a cow sim ply because she gives a large quantity of thin milk regardless of what it costs him to feed her is engaged in an unprofitable business. How Herman Quit. The painful duty was thrust upon me recently to select an office boy. The line was well formed, and upon look ing them over a young voice piped up: "Don’t forget me, mister!" A little later this lad was before me and I said to him: "What is your name?” He replied, "Herman Mallowitz.” I then asked him where he worked last, and fter he told me I said: “Herman, were you fired?” He hesitated a moment and then spoke up: "Veil, I didn't exactly get fired. I just told ’em to go to h—1!"—Ex change. “A Dig Hit” There is nothing makes a bigger hit with a hungry person than to know the digestion is working properly and that your meals are going to benefit you. If you are not in this class take HOSTETTER’S STOMACH BITTERS It is an excellent medicine for all Stomach, Liver and Bowel Ills; also Malaria. Try it now. When a man gets all the thinks he needs he has a large surplus. Mrs.Winslow’s Soothing Syrup for Children teething, softens the gums, reduces inflamma tion.sUsys pain,cures wind colic,25c a bottle-M> Suitable Retreat. “Where do you suppose the dove of peace goes when it is frightened away?” “I suppose, to some pigeon hole.” Water in bluing is adulteration. Glass and water makes liquid blue costly. Buy Red Cross Ball Blue, makes clothes whiter than snow. Adv. Modern Art “This is a picture of a straw stack in a tornado, isn't it?” “Sir, that is a painting of 'Jacob Wrestling With the Angel,’ by a distin guished Cubist. Wouldn’t Take Chances. A Chicago lawyer found a new sort of therapeutic treatment His in structor told him that if he retired into the silence, breathed rhythmic ally, and said certain words he would be able to cast off all his bodily ail ments. He tried it and it worked. Then his three-year-old child got measles and he worked it on him. He was all puffed up. Later his prize set ter contracted the mange. He sum moned a veterinary. Then a friend expostulated. “Your system worked with yourself and It worked with youf child,” he said; “why don't you try it on the dog?” "That dog cost me $100 when he was a mere pup,” was the an swer, “and I can’t afford to take any chances.” Great Defense. The great advocate—let ns call him Mr. McSweeney—was defending a man in a murder case. The case looked hopeless, and McSweeney sub mitted no evidence for the defense. So the public prosecutor, believing that conviction was assured, ended with just a few perfunctory re marks. Then, in a quiet, conversational tone, the famous McSweeney began to talk to the jury. He made no men tion of the murder. He just described in vivid colors a pretty country cot tage rung with honeysuckle,-a young wife preparing supper, and the rosy youngsters waiting at the gate to greet their father on his return home for the evening meal. Suddenly Mc Sweeney stopped. He drew himself up to his full height. Then, striking the table with his fist, he cried in a voice that thrilled every bosom: “Gentlemen, you must send him back home to them!” A red-faced juror choked and blurt ed out: "By George, sir, we’ll do it." —London Opinion. , BANISHED Coffee Finally Had to Go. The way some persons cling to cof fee, even after they know It is doing them harm, is a puzzler. But it iB an easy matter to give it up for good, when Postum is properly made and used instead. A girl writes: "Motheh had been suffering with nervous headaches for seven weary years, but kept on drinking coffee. "One day I asked her why she did not give up coffee, as a cousin of mine had done who had taken to Postum. But Mother was such a slave to coffee she thought it would be terrible to give it up. "Finally, one day, she made the change to Postum, and quickly her headaches disappeared. One morning while she was drinking Postum so freely and with such relish, I asked for a taste. “That started me on Postum and I now drink it more freely than I did coffee, which never comes into our house now.” Name given by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. Write for booklet. “The Road to Wellville Postum comes in two forms. Regular Postum (must be boiled.) Instant Postum doesn't require boil ing, but is prepared instantly by stir ring a level teaspoonful in an ordinary cup of hot water, which makes it right for most persons. A big cup requires more and some people who like strong things put in a heaping spoonful and temper it with a large supply of cream. Experiment until you know the amount that pleases your palate and have it served that way in the future^ ‘There's a Reason" for Postum.
