4
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The Commoner.
Oct. 3t ipoa
icertainly a lottery with many "blanks." To bo sure,
monox isn't the only "thing conducive to happiness,
tmt tho experience of this one woman oven added
to the experience of other unfortunates is of no
value when confronted with tho very largo num
ber of instances in which marriage has shown
itself not to bo a failure.
ABIT OF UNWRITTEN HISTORY RELATING
to the recent state convention held by tho
republicans of Wisconsin is provided by the Wash
ington correspondent of the Des Moines Register
and Leader, a republican paper. This story re
veals, if indeed revelation was necessary, that tho
tariff reform idea is very strong among tho rank
and file of republicans and that in many states the
greatest skill on tho part of republican loaders is
necessary in order to keep democratic doctrine out
of the republican platform. The Washington cor
respondent of the Register and Leader says: "It
appears that Wisconsin republicans came very near
totally eclipsing their Iowa neighbors upon the
subject of tariff modification resolutions. It is a
matter of inside history that the committee on
resolutions practically without a dissenting voice,
voted to adopt as a part of the Wisconsin platform,
a plank touching the tariff modification proposi
tion far more radical than the Iowa plank, indors
ing the policy and endeavors of Congressman Bab
cock. In fact the plank specifically declared for
action by congress. In view of tho somewhat un
fortunate condition of the party upon questions
strictly local in their nature, it was deemed ad
visable not to bring into the platform national is
sues of any sort, but to confine the platform dec
larations exclusively to state issues. However,
this was merely a matter of party expediency from
a local point of view; not that there was any hesi
tation on tho part of the Wisconsin republicans in
assuming whatever responsibility the declaration
would involve. The local situation was such that
it was thought best to emphasize party effort and
concentrate upon questions involving only local
affairs. It is understood Senator Spooner was un
equivocally in favor of the tariff modification plank
and so expressed himself at the time."
IOWA'S TEMPERANCE EXPERIMENT WILL
bo watched with a great deal of interest
Hereafter chronic drunkards are to bo treated as
insane and confined in asylums until pronounced
cured. The procedure seems to be the same as in
case? of insanity. Upon complaint the party com
plained of is brought before a board and examined,
and if the facts warrant is sent to the hospital for
treatment It is said that good effects have al
ready been noted, many steady drinkers quitting
the .habit through fear of- being incarcerated and
given a thorough treatment
A NOBLE WOMAN PASSED FROM EARTH
when Mrs. J. G. Lemen of Council Bluffs
la., died. She was matron of the Christian Home
at Council Bluffs, of which her husband, J. G.
Lemen, is manager. For years Mr. and Mrs.
Lemen deyoted their lives to caring for unfor
tunate little ones, and their sacrifices and their
devotion to their work stamped them as zealous
Christians. Hundreds of little ones have been
rescued from misery and saved from lives of sin
by the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Lemen. During all
the years of their management of the Christian
Home they never asked a dollar from the public,
but depended upon the free and unsolicited offer
ings of those who understand the work they were
doing. And it is a credit to the Christian fellow
ship of the generation that the faith of this good
nan and wife has never been shaken, and that
their prayers have been abundantly answered.
The death of "Mamma" Lemen, as she was affec
tionately known to thousands, is a great loss to
charitable circles.
PEOPLE INCLINED TO BE SUPERSTITIOUS
are pointing to the fact that Presi
dent Roosevelt started upon his New England trip
on a Friday, the trip resulting in the Pittsfield ac
cident, and that he started upon his western trip on
a Friday, the trip ending with a surgical operation
that prevented any further touring.
THE BASEBALL SEASON IS ABOUT TO GIVE
way to the football season. The baseball
season has been unusually successful from a finan
cial point of view, despite the war between the two
major leagues. The race for the pennant in tho
Western League was one of the most exciting in
tho history of the game, and when the season
.closed the three highest clubs were so closely
bunched that experts had to figure it out Kansas
City won -the pennant with Omaha so close be
hind that if Kansas City had lost its last game and
Omaha won its last game, Omaha would have cap
tured the coveted streamer. In the American
league Philadelphia will be the winner of the pen-
nant, and in the National league Pittsburg had tho
pennant won soveral weeks ago.
THE COSMOPOLITAN CHARACTER OF CHI-
cago is evidenced by somo statistics taken
from the government census. These statistics show
that Chicago has more Gorman citizens than any
city in Germany except three, more Irish than
any city except Dublin, more Swedes than any
city except Stockholm, more Norwegians than any
city except Christiana, and more Poles than any
city in Poland. The census gives tho following fig
ures for tho city of Chicago. Men. Womon.
Native born 655,558 555,905
Foreign born 307,850 279,262
Native parentage ....... .181,670 172,769
Natives of foreign parentage 358,023 369,318
Colored 17,315 14,120
The latter Includes, Chincso, Japanese and Indians.
THE MIXTURE OF RACES IN THE UNITED
States is fairly well shown by tho matri
monial alliances contracted by one family in Ne
braska. In this family, whoso ancestry is traced
-back through tho American lino for nearly 300
years, there aro three married sons and
two monied daughters. One daughter married a
Scotchman and tho other daughter married an
Irishman One son married a Norwegian, anothor
son married a Bohemian and tho third son mar
ried an Irishwoman. Tho father says that ono
unmarried son is engaged to a Canadian girl.
THE ROSTER OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF
the city of Chicago shows that more than
one-third of the aldermen were born in that city.
Twenty-six of them claim Chicago as their birth
place. Four others were born in Illinois outside of
Chicago, twenty-ono were born in other states of
the union, three were born in Ireland, four wero
born in Germany, four were born in Scotland, ono
was born in England, two wero born in Canada,
two were born in Bohemia, one was born in Poland
and one was born in Sweden. Thirteen aro law
yers, seven aro saloonkeepers, thirty aro busi
ness men, eight aro tradesmen, five aro classed as
"politics and no occupation" and six aro classed
as belonging to "miscellaneous occupations," what
ever that may mean.
IT IS SHOWN BY THE CENSUS REPORTS
that the two cities having the largest negro
population are Washington and Philadelphia. Ono
of the gravest problems connected with the race
question is that of preventing the negroes from
flocking to tho largo cities. The negro population
of tho cities is growing rapidly at the expense of
the agricultural sections, and this influx of un
skilled labor is having a blighting effect on tho
labor market from the wage-workers' standpoint
Leaders of the negro element of our population aro
exerting themselves to the utmost to persuade their
people from deserting the farms and plantations
for the cities
IN 1818 SOME AMERICAN MERCHANT VES
sels were .seized rind destroyed by Spanish
war vessels. After a long diplomatic correspon
dence Spain and the United btates agreed to leave
it to a neutral tribunal and abide by the result
This tribunal made an award In favor of the. United
States and in a treaty ratified in 1834 Spain agreed
to pay indemnity in installments. A few weeks
ago tho treasury department at Washington re
ceived $28,500 from Spain as one of the annual pay
ments of indemnity due under tho treaty and tho
money is now being distributed. The continuation
of these payments Is regarded as a marked evi
dence of the high sense of honor cherished by
the Spanish people in meeting an obligation.
MENTION HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE IN
this department of the international conven
tion of the Disciples of Christ, which meets in
Omaha, October 15-23. The indications point
strongly to this being tho largest convention fcof a
single church organization ever held in tho United
States. The Disciples church numbers 1,350,000
communicants, the majority of whom live in Ind
iana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, IoWa and Missouri.
Tho fact that the majority lives within easy trav
eling distance of the "scene of convention will go
far towards insuring the success of the meeting.
Railroads have mado a one-fare rate from all
points and arrangements have already been made
for special excursion trains from nearby cities.
AN INTERESTING REPORT AS TO THE Ex
tension of the- work of circulating the Biblo
in the Philippine islands was recently made public
by the American Bible society, an organization
strictly unsectarian in character and founded for
the sole purpose of circulating the Bible without
note or comment This society has translated tho
scriptures into the different languages, and it
recent report, tho olghty-aixth, shows that It lift
issued 70,077,225 volumes of tho scriptures In near-,
ly 100 languagos and dialects. In tho Philippines
about 71.000 copies havo boon distributed slnco tho
American occupation of tho islands. Tho eocloty
has nine colporteurs who travol alono In tho most
desolato country, and havo undorgono great hard
ships and dangers,"
TWO OF THESE COPORTEURS GIVE AN IN
teresting account of somo of tho difficulties
to bo met with in tholr great work. They say:
Whllo canvassing St Thomas on Monday wo
heard of a 'fiesta' that was to bo hold at Rosario.
Wo inquired about transportation and found that
tho only way wa3 by ox cart; tho distance some
seventeen miles over the mountains. Wo had can
vassed all day and wero weary, but thought wo
would bo ablo to sloop on tho cart as it rattled
along. So wo startod, but had not mado threo
miles beforo tho ox began to show signs of being
tired, and tho driver insisted that If wo wished to
reach our destination wo must walk. After a four
hours' tramp wo halted at a group of shades on
tho mountain side and changed tho tired animal for
a fresh one. Tho road began to bo rough and
steep, and wo needed a suro footed and steady
beast, and found wo had juBt tho opposite. As we
would start down a hill into a gulch tho ox would
go his own gait and give us a most uncomfort
able Jolting. Finally wo reached a high rldgo
with a steep decline on tho other, with a bridge
over tho stream at the bottom. As usual, wo wont
down with a rush, and a sharp turn on to tho
bridge was too much for tho cart, and over It went,
scattering our boxes down tho gulch side. It was
dark, and we woro obliged to make a light and
gather what wo could of our books together. If
there had been water in tho stream it would have
been a total loss. Wo woro delayed about two
hours and started on with a broken axle. This wo
had tied up with strips of cane, and it held until
wo were within two miles of Rosario. Then tho
driver went on to borrow another cart while wo
threw ourselves on tho ground and slept We
made good sales in Rosario tho first day. On tho
second day tho padro camo and, wo sold less.
When we camo to tho presldonto for transportation
to tho next town ho sent runners out into tho
hills, and they brought in somo Igorrotea (wild
hill men), who carried our boxes while wo trudged
on. After traveling somo nine miles wo succeeded
in finding a cart and sent tho Igorrotcs bade"
I"N CONNECTION WITH THE REQUEST OF
tho Cuban president that tho United State
withdraw all American soldiers still in tho Island,
a special dispatch to the Chicago Tribune from
Havana gives somo interesting particulars of tho
work accomplished in tho island during these four
months that tho republic has existed. President
Palma is reported as expressing great satisfaction
over tho work of tho young republic. Speaking of
tho presence of tho Amerfican troops still in tho
island, the president Is reported as saying: "It
will bo a source of gratitude and rejoicing for tho
Cuban people when tho American troops aro all
withdrawn, and I hope they will be soon. They aro
not needed. Their presence has a bad moral effect
It looks to somo of us as though the United States
government has no confidence in the ability of the
Cubans to maintain peace and govern themselves.
I don't want to be misunderstood. Wo aro grate
ful to the Americans, but our people cannot feel
free with American soldiers all around them. They
are not needed to protect us from outsiders, and if
they ever aro they could bo quickly dispatched
here. Our artillery force, when increased to 5,000
men, will be sufficient for tho country." As to tho
question of reciprocity, President Palma said ho
hopes for favorable action by tho United States
senate in the coming session, regarding as a good
omen the insertion of a Cuban plank in several
political platforms. Ho declares that the Cubans
want a reciprocity measure that will be of equal
benefit to both countries.
npHE RETIREMENT OF SPEAKER HENDER
,1 son will occasion an interesting fight for the
speakership in the event that the republicans
should win the- next bouse, Tho candidates "so
far announced are Littlefield of Maine, Cannon of
Illinois and Hepburn of Iowa. It Is not at all
likely that Mr. Littlefield would bo the choice of
the powerful Influences that dominate republican
councils. Tho republicans havo never been cer
tain of winning tho next house, and Mr. Hender
son's sensational retirement makes republican vic
tory all tho more Improbable. It Js therefore un
likely that wo will hear much of the strifo among
tho would-be speakers on the republican side un
til after election; and after election there may be
nothing, so far as republicans are concerned, to
struggle over.
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