Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1902)
raEZEEQ t ') ' V n "r'lH" fcm The Commoner; 16 Vol. z, No. 4a. ,. Itf ? . Don't Overheat the House. 'As tho city health department points' out, this is the season when diseases of tho respiratory tract are to be ex pected. Diphtheria and pneumonia are 'spreading. It Is a time for tho exor jciso of care in tho matter of keoping the feot dry and of wearing proper 'clothing. There is one very fruitful source of throat and lung trouble which is worth 'especial notice. That is the overheat ing of schools, residences and offices. 'Nino houses in ten aro kopt at a tem poraturo which invites throat trouble. The same thing can be said of most offices and public halls and churches. As soon as there is a faint chill in the air steam is turned on or furnaces fired up and people sizzle in an atmosphere heated to 80 dogroes or thereabouts. , Such a temperature is an invitation to tho bacilli which make trouble in the air passages. It congests tho mu cous membrane and prepares a,-field for the operations of the microbes Which produce pneumonia, diphtheria and kindred diseases. Those micro organisms are innocuous so long as tho tissues are in a normal condition. It Is only when tho linings of the air passages aro irritated and inflamed by excessive artificial heat or other cause that they produce disease. Few "bad colds" aro tho result of low temperatures. They almost invar iably occur as the sequence of perspira tion sensible or insensible sudden ly checked. A man wearing his winter clothing will sit in an office heated to a temperature of 75 or 80 degrees. He will perspire more or less inevitably. Then he will go out on the street to cool off and he will throw open hiB coat, and tho next morning ho has a "cold" without knowing how ho got it If his throat is inflamed he may have tonsilitis or he may go down with pneumonia. The fault is not with the. low tem perature outside, but with the high temperature indoors. People should regulate the indoor heat to the weight of their winter clothing just as they adjust the weight of their clothing to encounter the lower outdoor tempera ture of autumn and winter. In that way they will avoid many "colds" and minimize the peril of more dangerous respiratory disorders. Chicago Chronicle. cause they .happened to be in the pos session of small craft which might bo of use to tho United States was cer tainly not a consistent course of ac tion and should not bo uphejd by a court" Neither Is It a consistent course of action, for that matter, for tho gov ernment to deny, as it has on all pre vious occasions, that tho Filipinos were rqeoived as allies by Dowey, anti laterto declare that they wore treated "as friends and allies." A supremo court decision, in accordance with the government's latest contention, would hardly please the champions of Im perialism. Philadelphia North Amer ican (top.). Pertinent Questions. Says tho Journal and Tribune of Knoxvillo: "Tho labor leaders never go on a strike; they always manage to hold on to their jobs." How about the trust officials? Do they ever re duce their salaries for tho benefit of tho stockholders as long as labor can be held down for that purposes Memphis News. The Humor of Things That Happen. It was Soame Jennings, as Lord Macaulay observed in one of his es says, curiously opined that one of the greatest joys of the angels and the blessed in Paradise would be derived from their sense of humor in observ ing tue puppet show here below, with the vain perplexities of men and wom en and their needless apprehensions through ignorance of future events. While it is impossible for men to attain to this oddly enough imagined humorous enjoyment of angels, there ate funny things continually happen ing in current events which, if they were all gathered together, might serve to supply a comic journal in which the jokes would all be true. As an example of the humor of jokes that are true, take the story of the old man whom Algernon West found having a fit as he climbed up a hill near his house in London. "Hi mostly 'as fits climbing hup a 'ill," the old man explained. Mr. West con gratulated him on his journey home ward being mainly downhill. "Hi hal ways pitches on my 'ead going down 'ill," the old man lamented He had been out in that hilly country all day for o. day's pleasuring. The journey to Santiago of veres chagin; the Russian painter, to study the foliage of a red-leaved tree for his Officially Declared Allies. After the persistent denials of im- ?2SB &?L,ihL?lt?l battle picture of San Juan Hill is a funny thing when it is considered that and less vitally necessary business liko that of running grain elevators the United States supremo court sustained tho validity of an Illinois statute reg ulating the service given and fixing tho prices. The supremo court stated tha main principle as follows: "Property does become clothed with a public in tercst'when used in a manner to make it of public consequence and affect tho community at large. When, therefore; one devotes his property to a use in which the public has an interest he in effect grants to the public an interest in that use and must submit to be con trolled by the public for tho common good to tho extent of tho interest he has thus created." The court said that the statute simply extended a well known principle of law to meet a new development of commercial progress. Winter is near at hand. An arctic wave may sweep down upon the coun try before the close of the present month. Coal is a public and private necessity. It is essential to life and its lack for a single day might bo mur derous. The coal operators, in order to pile up huge profits, have allowed the season to drift by without ac tion. They have not viewed the sit uation as involving a public responsi bility or calamity. They have merely looked forward to marking up the price of all fuel to any figure they choose to exact. It is not yet clear how the rights of the public will be on forced, but their vigorous assertion is now unavoidable. A conspiracy to fill the land with suffering for the sake of obtaining a fivefold or tenfold profit is a terribly grave offense against so ciety. Tho people must protect them selves and those In authority must guide their steps within the law. Noth ing more outrageous has ever been seen in any form of public business than the cold-blooded indifference with which the coal operators have planned and waited for the existing conditions. They knew what would happen and hoped that it would mean a vast store of gold for them, though entailing mis ery and want on millions. If the rem edy applied should be a severe and permanent warning to the organized sharks the people of the United States will bo thankful in a high degree. Ex. upholders that Admiral uewey ever treated the Filipinos as allies, it is rather surprising to see the govern ment's attorneys submit a brief to the United States supreme court in which they declare quite the contrary to be true. This remarkable reversal of the government's policy is caused by the necessity of trying to keep Ad miral Dewoy and his officers and men from collecting the prize money claimed by them because of the seiz ure after the battle of Manila of a number of Filipino canoes and flat boats. Thib is the language of the govern ment's brief: "Ab soon as the present libellant's forco was able to land and establish itself on shore it entered Into friendly relations with the Filipinos and pro vided them with arms for offensive and defensive operations against the Span iards. To treat some of the Filipinos as frlonds and allies and to treat oth ers of tliem as enemies merely be- he has painted. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in. command of Rough Rid ers and regulars as well. It is much like the picture in Senator Lodge's committee room of Senator Lodge ad dressing the senate with sublime elo quence on the occasion of the passing of the appropriation for the Spanish war, which the Congressional Record shows went through without debate. The consultation of President Benja min Ide Wheeler, of the University of California, by the citizens of Los Alamos, on tho occasion of tho recent earthquake In their city, is a funny thir. President Wheeler is a pro fessor, not of geology, but of Greek, and is the author of an excellent his tory of Alexander the Great These aro but a few Instances of tho amusing things that happen out of which a comic journal might be made. Houston Pt3t poor policy, to got loafers to spend your money that way for you." "Has it ever occurred to you that there may be more truth than poetry in the oft-repeated rumor that Mitchell gets from the soft coal operators a fixed sum of money on every ton of coal mined by them as long as tho strike continues? That would be a good business deal, would it not, with prices booming as thoy now are?" One of tho four cartoons in the new "labor" paper represents four men en joying an automobile rido and puff ing cigars, while in the background miners' wives and children pick coal from the culm dumps. A second car toon is labeled "Contrast" One-half depicts three happy looking men sit ting at wine and cigars and the other shows a bare and cheerless miner's home. The cartoon on tho last page represents the strike leaders ambling toward buildings ostentatiously la beled "gin mills" and "gambling dens." Nothing in tue publication reveals who the publishers are and no office address is given. Pittsburg Ditspatch. Strike Your Gait. WANTED Active canvassers male and female, whole or spare time, for the sale of Mr. William Jennings Bryan's new book, just published. It is a splendid seller and we allow lib eral terms. A big commission to those "who want to earn money. Address, The Abbey Press, Publishers, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Public Claims on Coal. The coal sharks are about to dis cover that they have public obligations to fulfill. They have been proceeding on the supposition that the ownership and conduct of their business are en tirely and unconditionally their own affair. This opinion shows ignorance of existing laws relating to quaslrpiib llc service. Even in a more limited Bogus Labor Paper. A new weapon has been introduced in the operators' fight upon the min ers a rather insidious sort of weapon, a kind of "confidence man's jimmy," meant to pry into the hold the strike leaders have on tho confidence of the miners. The new weapon Is an al leged newspaper called the Interna tional Reform Labor Leader. No. 1, vol. 1, is an eight-page publi cation dated from New York "Octo ber, 1892," and has the "sub-title of "A Journal for Thinking Leaders of All Classes." The price is 5 cents, but so far, as can be found all are sample copies distributed free in tho mining regions. In fact, thousands of copies have been strewn throughout the an thracite region with the evident inten tion of weakening tho confidence of the miners. The same article and para graphs aro repeated in all the lan guages spoken in the anthracite re gion. Tho first page of the International Reform Labor Loader is filled with editorial paragraphs under the head ing "Thought on Mitchell." Here are some of the "thoughts:" "Does Mitchell really play poker and lose large stakes at the gaming table occasionally? They say he does; wo don't know," "Is it'rlgtit that your wives and chil dren should go half naked, sick and hungry, while, your leaders live like gentlemen of leisure?" ' "Settle tho strike by going bade to work and joining the new labor reform movement. , . . If money is to be spent for drink and the like all tho fun I there is in it (is) for yourself. It Is Some men have splendid fortune in the midst of all the strife Which we must needs engage in as we work our way through life. While some of us are plodding, others often pass us by And leave us tolling onward, while to -greet success they fly. We marvel their good fortune and the race thus quickly run The treasures they have gathered and tho prizes .they have won. And yet we often notice that the man who' strikes his gait And holds it to the finish, always gets there soon or late. Thougli some caprice of fortune yields great plenty to your friend, Give little thought to envy. Run tho race unto tho end. The race is not the running for what profit has the soul That, starting with rare fleetness, fails at last to reach the goal? The laurel wreath Is waiting for the man who nobly tries, Though he may finish second to the one who wins the prize. How often do we notice that the" man who strikes his gait And holds it to the finish, always gets there soon or late. Success will follow effort made by all along the way As surely as the shadows yield to lances of the -day. Some may achieve it quickly through some happy circumstance, While others toil and struggle ero they note Its smiling glance. For aye success is waiting with re wards that seemeth sweet For those .who make haste slowly and for others who aro fleet And hence it is we notice that the man vihn strikes his trait And holds it to the finish, always gets there soon or late. St. Joseph Gazette. ITEMS OF INTEREST. North American reindeer usually se lect an old doe for their leader. Tho puffin is tho most punctual of birds in the matter of its annual mi gration, . Thousands of caribou, or Norm -merican reindeer, are to be found m Newfoundland. Newfoundland caribou make two an nual migrations south in the fall and north in the spring. The most familiar examples of. mi grant birds aro swallows, swifts, White-ears, plovers and curlews. . Warm feet have much to 00 ww white hands. When feet are babitual ly cold tho hands are always red on J blue.