Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 15, 1903)
i, w a'jyifsmjyt wam "--""r "" "WTn rr j-TWfPwjfw1 T 'vr - -y jf The Commoner. MAT 16, 1903., xir-r- pjrr wrn , emdnow tho onco hidden "9" appears as dis .. .. it tlnctiy as tno otner numerals. ( THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL AT-WASHING-ton is being repainted, and tho Washington correspondent of tho Philadelphia Public Ledger,, in describing the event, says: "It is nine years since the huge structure was painted, and the -work is being done as much to protect the iron from corrosion as to preserve its whiteness. It takes 1,000 gallons of paint to cover the dome." DURING THESE DAYS OP STRIKES AND labor disturbances, not the least interesting is the account of a strike that recently took place .in Athens. Tho Kansas City Journal gives an in teresting account of the event in these words: "Fifty young women, wearing the picturesque costume of nurses, marched in. procession through the principal streets and finally went to tho gov ernment palace, where they asked for an audience with the mayor. They were the nurses employed in the foundling hospital, and they had gone on strike because they had not received any salary Gince the beginning of November. When the mayor received them they told him they had sent a formal petition to the manager of the hospital, but that he had paid no attention to it. The mayor, in reply, assured them that if they would return to work their salary would be paid without further delay. They toojc his advice, and ' that evening they received the money duo them. The incident made ,a great sensation in Athens, and an immense crowd followed the nurses dur ing their march through the city." THE WASHINGTON POSTAL AUTHORITIES were recently much interested in a story of genuine feminine pluck, in connection with the rural free mail delivery service in northern Wis consin. The -heroine of the story is Mrs. Nellie Clapp, whose husband was the carrier on a route that is twenty-five miles long, serving 125 famil ies daily and about 600 persons. Near this route is another traveled by another carrier, who was too infirm to face the weather during a severe blizzard that recently raged in that country. Mrs. Clapp insisted tLat her husband cover the latter route while she took her husband's route with which she was familiar, and this was done, the route covered in safety and the mail delivered. Mrs." Clapp has received an official letter of thanks from Washington. PAUL BELLONI DU CHAILLU, WHO DIED on May 1 at St. Petersburg, at the ago of 8 years, has been before te public nearly half a century in the character of explorer and it might also be said of a discoverer. The St. Pet ersburg correspondent of the St Louis Republic gives an interesting account of the life and work of this great explorer and author, saying: "Mr. Du Chaillu was the son of a merchant, and his birthplace was New Orleans, and not Paris, as it was once believed. When scarcely 20 years of age he fitted out an expedition at the French settlements on the Gabbon river, in Africa, where his father had a consular appointment In 1855 he explored territory on the. west coast of Africa, on both sides of the equator, accompanied only by natives. Ho made' a journey of 8,000 miles in sl country which was practically unknown, and, although he made no pretensions as a scientist, he added sixty species of birds and twenty of ani mals to the then known zoology of Africa. His most important achievement in zoological re search, viewed in the light of developments, was the discovery of the gorilla. His vigorous descrip tions of the ferocious apes called down upon him many attacks, and, although there were persons -who compared him with Bruce, the Abyssinian traveler, an,d with Baron Munchausen, he insisted that the gorilla existed, and wrote a book to prove It" A LONDON CABLEGRAM TO THE CHICAGO Inter-Ocean makes the interesting state- "ment that the recent earthquake in Palestine Which took place on March 30 seems to have been most severe in the Valley of Jordan and around the Dead sea. The level of the Dead sea has fallen considerably, and now, according to re port, the Jordan pours Its waters into the lake from an elevation, wherea3 formerly it was nearly on the same level. Evidently the bottom of. the Dead sea must have subsided during the earth quake. The whole region of the Valley of the Jordan near the sea is volcanic. CONTRARY TO THE USUAL ORDER OF things, there is an asylum for indigent old people near Paris that is. haying difficulty in. ob- tainlng inmates. A dispatch to tho Chicago Inter Ocean under dato of Paris, May 2, says: "A curious stato of things is reported from Chalon-nes-sur-Loire, where, with tuo money left by a rich landed proprietor, an asylum for indigent old people has been built Everything is now ready and the asylum will bo opened this mentis The prefect and all tho local authorities had ar ranged to bo present, and a high functionary from Paris was to grace the inaugural proceed ings. Only one thing was wantingthe Inmates. Although every effort has boon made to find old people who will accept tho hospitality of tho asylum, tho institution is still without thoso for whom it was built, and it is now feared that tho opening ceremony will have to bo indefinitely postponed." 9 JC ANOTHER THIRTY YEARS' WAR HAS been ended by tho Dutch conquest of tho ancient emplrd of Atjen, which lies in the north ern isthmus of Sumatra. Tho war raged up to the beginning of this year and has cost enormous ly In both men and money on both sides., Tho sultan of Atjeh n,nd his son recently surrendered to the military governor of the province, General Van Heurtz, and in grateful recognition of his services in bringing the war to a close Queen Wilhelmina has conferred upon him tho highest distinction that can bo conferred upon a soldier. This war has drawn heavily upon the resources of the Dutch government, it being said that there is scarcely a family in the land that has not had some relative either in active service in tho Dutch Indies or lost during tho long struggle. A NOVEL AND PLEASING GIFT WAS RE cently made by tho German emperor to tho empress. According to tho Berlin correspondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, the empress has ex pressed so much delight over this gift that she declares she will wear it to her dying day. Tho Berlin correspondent says: "It consists of seven discs of solid California gold of the purest qual ity, each disc being about the size of a silver 25 cent piece, but three times as thick. Tho discs bear enameled portraits of tho imperial children, each disc being enclosed in thickly set diamonds Hanging from the bracelet is a heart of solid gold weighing about two ounces, on which is a portrait of the emperor." AN INTERESTING STORY OF A 'TES.T RE cently made of the endurance and flying capacity of birds was recently told. The Borlin correspondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean says: "A Warsaw journal relates the following story of an experiment made by a Polish nobleman to as certain how far storks migrate during the win ter. He caught a stork and attached a plate to its neck on which were inscribed tho words: 'Haec ciconia ex Polonia' (the Stork comes from Poland.) In the following spring the same stork wasfound in the nobleman's park with a bundle round its neck, containing several precious stones of great value, and the metal plate with these words on the other side: "India cum donis re mittit Polonls" (India sends him back with pres ents to the Poles)." THE NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT OF THE Chicago Record-Herald writing to his pa per recently, made the statement that it is ex- pected that by July 4, In connection with tho opening of the new cable to the insular posses sions of the United States, an effort is to be made to circle the globe in forty seconds. Tho message will be sent from the main office of the company in New York, and it Is hoped will be received on the opposite side of the room within forty seconds after tho operator sends it on the other. This feat will immediately follow tho exchange of messages between President Roose velt and Governor Taft at Manila. The message will probably travel over only two lines. These will be the land and ocean wires of the Postal and the Commercial Cable company, which may be considered one, and those of the Eastern Tele graph company. The message will go from New York to the Pacific coast by the land lines of tho Postal, and thence to Manila by the Commercial Cable lines. At Manila it. will be taken up by the Eastern and hurried on to London, where it will be again turned oyer to the lines of the Commercial Cable for transmission under the At lantic. To make the time calculated on there will have to be instant communication between the various relays. THE VILLAGE OF JASPER, N. Y- WILL probably soon be known to fame as the seat of a new educational institution "known as the McKinley memorial collpge. ""This -institution will be operated somewhat after the plan of the Tus- Icogoe normal Instltuto, Booker T. Washington's famous school in Alabama. Its object Is to glvo ' an opportunity to young men and women to ob tain a college education by "working their way." THE PROJECT OF CONNECTING BUENOS Ay res with Santiago and Valparaiso in South America with a railway lino that will nec essarily have to cross tho Andes mountains, is as suming activo shapo according to a report re cently submitted to tho stato department by Con sul Mansfield stationed at Valparaiso, Chile. A bill was passed by tho Chilean congress which ad journed in February, providing for tho construc tion of this lino. Tho Argentine government has already begun tho work of building a railroad from Buenos Ayres which will connect with tho lino from Valparaiso, and It Is expected that tho lino will be completed within a fow years. AS AN INSTANCE OF THE GREAT CARE that Is taken in Franco to protect trade secrets against all foreigners, tho Paris corre spondent of tho Chicago Tribune cites a law that is In force In that country. This correspondent says: "A law still obtains In France, according to the Patrle, under which any workman who di vulges Information regarding a secret process prac ticed In any Industry to"tt foreigner, or even to a Frenchman resident abroad, commits a penal of fense, and for such Is liable to a sentence rang ing from two to ftvo years' Imprisonment and a fine of from $100 to $4,000. Ho Is furthermore sub jected to from five to ten years' police supervi sion after his release from jail. Even the com munication of such information to another Frenchman resident In Franco is punishable, though the sentence In this case Is not so severs, tho sentence varying from thrco months' to five years' imprisonment, accompanied by a fine rang ing from $3 to ?40. On tho other hand, a French employer is ontltled, without reserve, to any in vention or discovery made by a workman In his employ that is within the scope of tho work un dertaken at tho factory." A NOVEL MEANS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION was-recently 'recorded In England. A Lon . don cablegram to the Chicago Tribune says: "A coroner's inquest at Shrewbury this week revealed a remarkable case of suicide. Mrs. Roberts tho buxom wife of a small farmer, died In the Shrew bury infirmary. A post mortem examination re vealed the fact that the deceased had swallowed thirteen darning needles, two ordinary needles, twelve pins, five safety pins, a hat pin, a boot protector, a button hook, two screw nails, twelvo wire nails, eight short nails, thrco tacks, a piece of the stem of a clay pipe, two bits of colored chalk, a Manx coin, an English farthing, twelve fragments of glass, and other articles, 122 in all." AN INTERESTING POINT IN LAW WAS RE cently brought out in an Alabama county, according to the Kansas City Journal. Two weeks ago, runs tho story, a negro was hanged for murder in due process. The body was cut down and pronounced dead by the physician at tending, and was then turned over to tho rela tives, who took it away. They observed signs of life In it, whereupon a physician was called in, who applied restoratives and the man came back to his former existence, In which he now abides in health and strength. The question Is whether the law can again lay hands upon him for that crime, since officially he has paid the full pen alty, and stands as dead In the legal records of the case. At any rate, nothing has been done looking to his rearrest DURING THE YEAR 1902 THE NUMBER OF immigrants who left Irish ports was 40,401 or 9.1 per 1,000 of the estimated population. This was an Increase of 531 over the emigration of 1901. The Dublin correspondent for the Phila delphia Press says: "Of the total emigrants 40, 190 were natives of Ireland and 211 were persons hnlondnc to other countries. The number of males was 18,893, and the number of females 21, 508, and nearly half the emigrants were between twenty and twenty-five years of age. The United States received, 33,249 of the emigrants, Canada , 732, Australia 496, New Zealand 74 and Great Britain 4,718." IRVING M. SCOTT, WHO BECAME FAMOUS as "the man who built the Oregon," died at his home in San Francisco April 28. Mr. Scott was sixty-six years of age. He was born in Bal timore" county, Maryland. He has been in poor health for. many years. ft 1