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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1916)
They care more for trivial ditties, even facing death, than solemn, patriotic hymns. What’s going to be the song hit of the border guards? *-.---- --— ..- ■ ■ ■ ■ i |L < • • - > ' ' - -• ••-r-.vr4 ^ v .. WW ' -'JI &S&£^jL r&gjfr££Jj< -Jiflki*. S AtlErnst IS IK vonrs niro I II ago. the American army of invasion moved forward from its Base on the sandy beach before Manila and, a 7 few hours later, the flag of Spain Ijad floated for the last time i over the Philippines. Au incident of that day which still dwells in the memories of those who witnessed it— though it may have no place in the pages of history—occurred when a 'olunteer regiment, charging the ene my trenches, came suddenly under a lteavy lire from n Spanislt force con cealed on its flank. For a moment, the regiment wavered. Quickly, how ever, it recovered, changed jts front slightly and went on. Brief though that period of hesita tion was, there was time enough for (lie regimental bund, still carrying its Instruments, to detach itself,..by whose order no one : ?emed to know, from a part of the line to the rear, swing sharply out into the open, halt aud begin to play. A fair target for the enemy’s flanking lire, the musicians stood unsheltered and. calmly, at the word from their leader, broke into the familiar strains of the song of songs of that campaign—"Thoro’U Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight." AlMJve the crack of the rifles and the deeper note of the artillery, the baud made itself heard for a quarter of a mile along the American line. And the soldiers, pushing forward, an swered with a cheer, caught up the re frain and, singing it as they charged, forced the Spanish line backward and captured the intrenehments. It seems, in a way, to be a charac teristic of the Anglo-Saxon fighting man to prefer trivial, tripping meas ures and a brisk, almost flip^mt live liness in their battle songs to anything suggestive of stateliness, a marching rythm, but, aside from that, whether it possesses any other virtue, the An go-Saxon soldier neither inquires nor cares. More than 100,000 American soldiers have assembled along the Bio Grande. No doubt, by common con sent. on common impulse, coming, no one knows whence this army will adopt a “song of songs” of the cam paign. It would be decidedly unusual if it did not. “Yankee Doodle” is our heritage in the way of song from the war of the revolution. From the war of 1812, we have the “Star-Spangled Banner." From the Civil war our heritage Is greater, and, unquestionably, richer. From the Spanish war, we must make t 'he most we can of “A Hot Time.” Singularly enough, though, there Is very little recorded about the song sung most commonly in the Mexican war. The soldiers of ’46 marched and camped and fought to the words and { h""1 of "Green Grow the Rushes.” And for the adoption of that song, they hud no more reason—sensibly speak ing—than their fathers had when, in Revolutionary day, they lifted their voices In the lightsomu measures of “Yankee Doodle.” As a song, it an swered their purpose, filled their need, came trippingly to their tongues and ttiat sufficed. l.he Civil war was more productive of genuine war songs than any other war in our history and, possibly, more productive in that respect than any other war in the history of the world. l*rom it we have at least one real war song that measures up to the highest standards of campaign and war songs l_ —•'The Buttle Hyimi of the Republic.” That, as everyone knows, had its genesis in "John Brown's Body.” But wliat was the genesis of “John Brown's Body,” is something that no one knows. It was first sung, so far as information runs, by the Twelfth Mas sachusetts regiment. And, it seems, those who sang it borrowed it from a campmeeting melody. As for the camp meeting melody, its origin is clothed in mystery. Possibly It came as a re sult of oi*‘ of the queer musical in spirations characteristic of the old fashioned campmeeting. singing of an tebellum days. The popularity of the “Battle Hymu” was immediate. Already the army knew rhe tune—a tune singular ly suitable for masculine voices—and it took quickly to Mrs. Julia Ward Howe’s stanzas. A few weeks later. East and West, wherever the blue coated soldiers of the Nortii were in the field the new soDg was sung with an enthusiasm and fervor that were Irresistible. Words and music were both Ameri can, reflecting in a way that defies analysis, yet unmistakably, the soul and spirit of America, not only of the sisties, hut of today as well. It was the first song of national significance, moreover, that was wholly American. “Yankee Doodle’s” words were set to British music and, American though they were, many even in Revolutionary times refused to sing them because of the origin of the music. But, if there is doubt about the Brit ish origin of the “Yankee Doodle" air, there is none about the origin of the tune to which Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” is sung. It is British beyond nil question. In Balti* more, in 1814. “Anacreon in Heaven,” despite the fact that it hailed from London, was the popular song of the day—as it was abroad. It is hardly the sort of song that would attain popularity in these ragtime days, but it struck the fancy at any rate of our forefathers, and Baltimore knew it well on that fateful September day when the British fleet opened fire on Ft. McHenry. Aboard the enemy ship Mindeen, Francis Scott Key, a young American attorney, was forced to witness the 25 hour bombnrdniqnt. In the twenty-fifth hour of the bom bardment, the British commander sud denly Issued the order to cease firing. It was dark, and, peer as he might, Key could not make out through the darkness whether the order came as a result of surrender or not. Only the coming of the dawn would disclose whether the flag still fluttered from tlio staff of the defiant Ft. McHenry. As the dawn advanced, he saw the flag still flying. He lias made the world realize what the words of “The Star-Spangled Banner" mean to us. In the Civil war, both federal und Confederate troops had a wide reper tory from which to select. On the northern side, for instance, ihe boys In blue could sing not only “John Brown's Body" or “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” but such songs as "When Jolmny Comes Marching Home Again,” "The Buttle Cry of Freedom,” "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching,” "Just Before the Battle, Mother,” “Babylon Is Fallen," and “Marching Through Georgia.” "Dixie,” with "Maryland, My Mary land,” was the favorite song of the confederacy. Of the latter, nowudays, we hear little, but “Dixie” Is played as frequently as any other song of the stormy days of the Civil war and no less in the North than In the South. Indeed, its vigorous, impelling strains, wherever played, North or South, are invariably^ greeted with applause If not with cheers. No patriotic celebra tion, regardless of the Mnson and Dix on line. Is complete without it. Southern uoops were fond, also, of singing "Lorena,” a song notable, as was “Just Before the Battle, Mother,” especially for its note of plaintiveness. Certainly about neither Is there any suggestion of martial characteristics. Both were the favorite melodies of soldier quartets auu were distinctly camp songs. ‘‘Dixie” can hardly be looked on as a war product. "Maryland, My Mary land,” however, In words though not la music, was inspired by the great conflict. James R. Randall, a native Mgrylander, In 1861 was in Louisiana when word was received of the attack In Baltimore on the .Massachusetts troops. That night, alone in his room, he wrote the words, and they were published a few days later in a New Orleans newspaper. A Richmond pa per copied the verses and a group of Richmond young women, reading them, were impressed, and began to sing. them to the German tune of “Tunnen baum, O Tannishbaum.” So, like “The Star-Spangled Banner,” this song of the Confederacy borrows Its music; from a foreign source. Still no survey of the past, however comprehensive It may be, will serve to inform us what the new army, assem bled on the border, will rnnke its cam paign song. The only thing so far evi dent is that the troops of 1910 are slower than the troops of '61 and '98 In adopting and popularizing a song for the camp and for the inarch. “WORTH A KING’S RANSOM” Orinin of Widely-Known Phrase I* Traced Back to Medieval Days. The expression “king’s ransom" has been traced back to the distant days when all murders were punishable by 8ne on a sliding scale, and even kings went cheap at from $100 to $200, a London Chronicle man writes. It Is more probably a dim popular remi niscence of the heavy taxation of Eng land to pay the ransom demanded for i our Richard Coeur do Lion when he was kept in captivity by some of our present enemies. The expression “worth a king’s ran som” more probably refers to that paid to a king. In early times, when armies received practically no regu lar pay, and the soldiers’ reward was the booty taken from the vanquished, each soldier had a right to the bodies as well as to the goods of the prison ers he captured. The conqueror might slay his prisoner, sell him to slavery or set him at liberty on payment of a ransom. But though it was the com mon practice in feudal times for the Individual captor to receive the ransom for prisoners of low degree, those for princes or great nobles were always paid to the kings, hence a ting’s ran som. A spring motor driving a flexible shaft enables the operator of a new motion picture camera ter follow ob jects as readily as with an ordinary hand camera. YOUNG MAN HATES ROUTINE Hardest Thing to Get Used to When Youth First Goes to Work. The hardest thing for a young man to get used to. when he goes to work, is routine. We bate to be machines, because deep down In our hearts we know that something in us is superior to mechanism, even while we accept It. People today object to doing the same thicgs over and over again in the same H way. In art this movement is called , Futurism or Impressionism. In poetry it is called free verse. In politics and philosophy we call it anarchism. In religion it chiefly manifests itself in objection to form and ceremony. We all want to be original. But we forget what “original” means. To be original is not to go forward at all. It is to go back, to the origin of a thing. It Is to be true to your real self. It is to trust that real self. It is not so much to let yourself go as to find yourself out. Going forward is a good thing. We must progress or decay. But the all-important thing is to know in what direction, or on what lines, to progress. Perpetual motion is not progress. It is the earth’s revolution around the sun that gives iw the seasons, while yet all the time the earth seems to be motionless. So it may be when you seem to yourself to be standing still that you are really advancing.—Wal lace Herbert Blake. A condor can exist without food for 40 days and an eagle 20 days. Manhood Alone Is What Counts Vj J. G. HOLLAND. Labor, calling, profession, scholarship and artificial and arbitrary distinctions of ail sorts, are incidents and accidents of life and pass away. It is only manhood that remains, and it is only by manhood that man is to be measured. When this proposition shall be comprehended and ac cepted, it will become easy to see that there is no such thing as menial work in this world. No work that God sets a man to do—no work to which God has specially adapted a man's powers—can properly he called either menial or mean. The man who blacks your hoots and blacks them well, and who engages in that variety of labor because he can do it better than he can do anything else, may have, if he choose, just as sound and true a manhood as you have, not only after he gets through the work of his life, but now, with your boots in one hand and your shilling in the other. There is very much dirtier work done in politics and sometimes in the professions, than that of blacking boots; work, too, which destroys manhood, or renders its acquisition impossible. Aeroplane Has Outstripped Motor Car in the Rapidity of Its Recent Development. “The aeroplane In Its developed state would decide many of the prob lems we confront today, provided the plane were fitted to living conditions and commercial requirements," says a writer. "The war has perfected the aeroplane in this short time to a greater degree than the motor car was developed in any ten years of its growth. “Several years were taken to prove to the public that the motor car would run at all without a horse in waiting. Years were taken to educate tlio%pub lic to two cylinders as against the single, or to four ns against the two. Years more were spent in educating the buying public and developing the six, and now we are preaching eight an? twelve. It has taken years to develop the light-weight idea in motor cars. The public lias held back the development of the motor car. "Tlie aeroplane, in contrast, has been developed by governments under war conditions. Motors of today for aeroplanes are of twice the horsepow er of those used n year ago, while planes have been built up to 1,000 horsepower iu five motor units. These machines land at under 30 miles per hour and travel well over a hundred in the air.” ; Her Stockings. ji ’ A tiny pocket on the side of a * “ pair of silk stockings provides a , ! place for carrying the liandker- | [ chief wlille dancing. This pocket . • is just a nice height above the ] [ ankle and on the outer side of < ' > the right stocking. ' I ’ Opal spangles ornament some • [ > stockings; others are decorated 1 | with beads or rhinestones, and * > for every variety wo have the ] ’ band-painted stockings with | • stalks of blooming plants form- . ! itig the “clocks" and gay butter- ] [ flies fluttering over tlie instep. > . Imagine the truly poetic effect ] . J of three lace butterflies (with • ! > wings upraised so that they flut- ] | ter bewitchingly) on the front of ^ > tier stockings, one above the nth- 1 [ er, from instep to shoetop ] • height! Of course, these are to . . lie woru only with dancing slip- ] j " pors, or similar ones equally low. . | What Women Are Doing. Policewomen are now being appoint- | ed all over Germany. Many Filipino women catch and sell fish for a living. Woman agricultural workers iu Spain number over 775.000. Female employees in California are allowed to work only eight hours a day. Over 23,000 women are employed in the hardware Industry in England. The more wealthy women of Turkey now discard their veils when receiv ing guests. Nearly all the light machine work in the British munitions factories is car ried on by women. Nearly 30,000 women are employed in the factories supplying the needs of the army in Germany. Nettle Weed Supplants Cotton. In their quest for material which can be used as a substitute for cotton. German scientists have discovered that the troublesome nettle weed contains a long fiber which can be woven into a durable cloth. The difficulty to over come was to separate it from the woody splinters which scratch and Irri tate the skin. An ammonia process was first used, but this was expensive. An inventor named Richter 1ms now devised a water process by which the irritating particles are separated from the fiber, and considerable quantities of the nettle cloth have already been woven. It is nearly water proof, ab sorbs dye readily and is a coarse, strong cloth suitable for many pur poses. ••••••••••••••••••••••••a* : A Few Smiles. : • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••• The Mystery Explained. i . 11. i . ii i3 li Jf IO 1L, queried the strang er within the gates, “that so many of the men in this vil lage seem to have L an ingrown grudge I against the minis ter?-’ ' "Well, it's like this, stranger,” an swered the post master, “lie's been here for nearly lif lv vpnrs anil lias performed the marriage ceremony for most of them.” Deserves It “There goes a pious man.” “Everyone says so.” “A mansion reserved for him in the skies.” • “I truly hope so. I overheard him just now in a real waste office plead ing with his lari?E->rd to patch his roof.” Facts in th* Case. Said He—Were they divorced be cause of a misunderstanding? Said She—No; because they under stood each other too well, I believe. Good Singing. "This quartet is splendid.” "Yes," answered I h e low-browed ( person. "It’s great. I thought once or twice the bass was going to be a few seconds late with that comedy stuff, but he was right on time.” ( Ambitious Plans. “Are you prepared to do anything for the heathen?” asked the mission worker. “I should say we are:” answered the eapitalist, proudly. “We've sent some of our best salesmen to China, and I predict that in a short while hun dreds of well-to-do Chinese will he en joying rides in the best motor car made in America.” SUNDAY GREATER PLAYER THAN COBB, SAYS VETERAN Evangelist Could Run Bases and Field Better Than Ty, Declares Eagle Eye Jake Beckley. There’s at least one ball-playing per son who refuses to make It unanimous about Ty Cobb being the greatest ball player of all time. And that’s old Eagle-Eye Jake Beckley, who played the game nearly as long as Nap Lajoie and is now an umpire, living in Kan sas City. A quarter century ago old Eagle-Eye was in his prime, one of the hardest hitting first sackers the game ever knew. “You can have your Ty Cobbs and your Benny Kauffs,” Jake Beckley says; “I’ll take Billy Sunday for my ball club right now, and I said the same tiling back in ninety. “He’s fifty-two years old today, but lie’s running bases and sliding every day in that pulpit just ns he did back Billy Sunday. in the old days. If he'd stayed in the game Cobb never would have been fa mous. "He was greater than Ty Cobb ever dared to he iu three departments of the game. "Everybody thinks Cobh can run bases. I'd spot him a second against Billy Sunday and then watch Bill score first. "They think Cobb rovers outfield ter ritory. They should have seen Sunday in his prime. “And throw—say. he could throw strikes from center field just as easily as Tris Speaker. “Batting was where Sunday was weak. But in another year or so he would have overcome that weakness. He was just that kind. “He had more fight In his heart than any man I ever saw.” Feeding the Sea. The rivers of tiie earth carry 6.500 rubie miles of water into the sea each year. This means a column ten miles square and sixty-five miles high. PERILS OF NATURE By DR. SAMUEL G. DIXON. Commissioner of Health of Pennsyl vania. Our streams, once undetiled by man, ran from the mountains to the sea in ity. Tliey ran through our val leys and meadows in all their pris tine beauty and offered to all ani mate nature that which would Inno cently quench the thirst of man and | beast and help i them live. Today it is not so. In that with which nature lias en dowed much of our territory more richly than many other countries, we now find lurking poison so hidden that in some cases it is to tie seen only by the aid of the microscope. In the season when we travel through the country to be happy and lay up energy and strength for the toil of the comiug winter. The want of intelligence and care makes us deaf to the teaching of preventive medicine, and we quench our thirst at the stream we run across, regardless of its purity, and often the sparkling tumbler of water is only to be com pared with the draught of the deadly hemlock. The parched lips hnve been moistened and the thirst satisfied, but In the Sewing Room A sewing room should have a good light by day and a convenient adjust able artificial light for work that has to he done late in the afternoon. A small chest of drawers or a dresser or chif fonier should be In the room to keep all the new materials or delicnte trim mings which require protection from dust. Here, too, one can keep a supply of thread, needles, tapes, clamps, col lar wire, finishing braid nnd nil rem nants of silk or chiffon that may be of use later on. Patterns should be kept in a box, hnmper or bag. and should be looked over carefully at least twice a year. Buttons should he kept in sep arate containers. The floor of the sew ing room should never be carpeted or covered. If not of hardwood, the (loor should he treated to a couple of coats of green paint. If the windows have curtains they should be of a material to admit every possible bit of light A cutting table with measurements Is a necessity in a sewing room, nnd care should be taken that the chair to go With It Is of the proper height. A low rocker with a fo>stool will be found restful to the worker. The sewing ma chine should, of course, be placed where it will get the best possible light. Conveniences for pressing and spong ing should also be provided for in the sewing room. America’s First Canal. America’s first canal was dug at South Hadley, Mass., when Washing ton was president. It was completed 120 years ago. That little waterway gave De Witt Clinton his idea for the canal across New York state—the the greatest single Impetus ever con tributed to the upbuilding of a large city. It was the Erie canal that gave New York the needed speed to pass Philadelphia as the metropolis of this continent. Resting on Its Laurels. “You say this town has turned out two famous baseball pitchers?” “Yes," replied the disgruntled citi zen. “I’m afraid the effort was too much for our town. It hasn’t moved a peg since.” tin* day of judgment too ofteu comes, bringing the development of typhoid fever which in years past we could onlj compare with some of the plagues that ravaged our ancient cities. Those of us who collect, tabulate ami have ever before us the statistics that show the suffering and sorrow that still continue front typhoid fever, beg you to awaken to that which causes so much distress. By proper care it can be avoided. Never drink out of an unknown surface stream. When traveling see that pure water is carried along, as well as food, otherwise the harvest of sickness and death will follow. Boys Weaker Than Girls. In view of the number of men killed by the war, the result of a study now being mnde by an English physician is rather pessimistic ns regards the future masculine supremacy of the race. For a period covering nearly five years his study Indicates that the mortality of boys under a year of age has been from 123 to 123, as compared with 100 for girl babies. Notwith standing the fact that at birth boys have the advantage of four to five ounces of weight over the average girl baby, they have less resistant power and are therefore less able to throw off disease. The reports upon babies horn since the war ace Incomplete, but they indicate that while the number of boys born is considerably in excess of the girls; the number who survive their first year is so much less that there is no hope of the men of the next generation etjunling the number of women. Great Aeroplane Nearly Done. The great hydroaeroplane ordered by Itodnmn Wanamaker for a flight ucross the Atlantic ocean ft almost completed and the details of the greatest flight yet attempted in the world nre iwm- be ing arranged. The machine !s the larg est yet built. It certains six 12 cylin der motors of 300 !torse power each. It can attain a speed or lot) miles an hour and carry six passengers. Its de sign includes a nuirber »f patents not found in any other machine, and It I" confidently believed by those who are familiar with It that unless some un foreseen condition developes this hy droaeroplane Is fully capable of com pleting the passage of 30 hours. No Nervoua Strain. Crawford—“The elephant sleeps only five hours out of every 24." CrabsJww —“Very true; but just stop und Con sider that the elephant doesn't have to attend lectures or the opera, listen to sermons or war talk, or lend an eur to some fellow’s description of his new est baby or car, and you will realize that he has n pretty soft time of it, tuaen ull tu nil.”—Life. ♦ROAD* BUILDING MONEY FOR IMPROVED ROADS Sixteen Million Dollars In Auto Fees Spent for Building and Mainte nance During 1915. (Prom the United States- Department of Agriculture. J Ninety per cent of the registration and license fees paid in 1915 by uuto niobilists to the states, or $16,213,387, was spent for the building and main tenance of county and state roads, *«; - cording to a compilation just published by the office of public roads, U. S. de partment of agriculture. In all, 2,445, 664 motor vehicles were registered in that year and their owners paid :t to tal cf $18,245,713 for registrations and drivers' and dealers’ licenses. Tills is an increase of $5,803,700 over 1914, and an increase of 734,325 in the number of vehicles registered. Automobile fees now defray nearly 7 per cent ol the total amount spent on rural road and bridge building, whereas in 190*' the income from this source was less than three-tenths of 1 per cent of the total expenditure. The growth of the volume of fees and registrations is noted by the fact that In 1901 New York, the first state to require fees, collected only $954. In 1906 only 48,000 cars were registered throughout the entire United States. By 1915, however, the number had jumped to the figure given, so that there is slightly more than one motor car registered for each of the 2,375,000 miles of road outside of the incorpor ated towns and cities. The relation between cars and road mileage varies widely in different sec tions. There is only one motor car for every six miles of rural road in Ne vada, but nearly six motor cars for every mile of such road in New Jersey. There is an average of one motor car registration for every 44 persons in the United States. Iowa apparently leads, however, with one motor car for every 16 persons, while only one for every 200 persons Is registered for Ala bama. It must be understood, however, that the figures of registration do not ne cessarily represent a total number of cars, as some of the states do not re quire annual registration, others group pleasure and commercial cars and mo torcycles in their accounts, while still other states do not require registra tion of motorcycles. There is great inequality in the reg istration fees charged by the different states. The average for the United States was $7.46. The state of Ver mont, however, secured in 1915 a gross revenue of $18.10 for each motor oar. while Minnesota received only about 1 Patrolman Cutting Weeds on Road. nu cents annually lor eacn car. in Texas and South Carolina no annual registration fees are collected, the only requirement being a county fee of 50 cents and $1 respectively for perennial registration. Most of the states, how ever, also levy annual taxes on motor vehicles and (his adds importantly to the public revenue contributed by the owners of motor-propelled vehicles. In the use of fees, however, there seems to be a general policy of apply ing the major part of the money col lected from automobilists directly to road betterment. In 42 of the states of the Union uli or the major portion of the motor-vehicle revenue must bi expended for the construction, im provement, or maintenance of the pub lic roads, or for the maintenance of the stute highway department. In 2d states, all or the major portion of th< net motor-vehicle revenues are ex pended by or under the supervision or direction of the state highway depart ment. In seven states one-half to one fourth of the state motor-vehicle rev enues are expended through the state highvvay*department, and the remaind er by the local authorities. Many states, in addition to applying license fees to road construction expend for this purpose a large part of the fines and penalties collected from owners. In the number of registrations New York state led in lb 15 with 255.242; Illinois was second with U41.S.52; Cali fornia third with WtUOT; ami Penn sylvania fourth with tdiviST. • Wants Highway Commission. Texas, which is «vw> of the few states without a highway commission, has been stirred to action. The next ses sion of the Texas legislature is expect ed to pass a law creating a state high w ay commission iu order to receive fed eral approprhitious for good roads. Cut Down Expenses. Transportation from the farm to market is one of the big items in the farmer's expense account, and the best way to cut it down is by building good rouds. Increase Team Power. Team power can lie increased best by increasing the size of the horses rather than by adding to their num ber. Plant Forage Crop. Plant a few acres to some good for age crop. If you can’t get Sudan grass seed, then try alfalfa or sweet clover. Deadly Foes to Turkeys. Dampness, lice and filth are dead ly foes to young turkeys.