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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1905)
fev Hi - IK 6 placo tlio year's production of anthracito coal at 57,000,000 tons, of which moro than ono-half Is still In tho hands of coal operators and their agents. There Is no contention that one ton of this supply has hcen mined al a loss to the ope rators. They do not do business that way. It is a certainty that tho price at which coal was selling last Juno was sufficient to cover all cost of pro duction and leavo a margin of profit to the mine ownors. Commencing with July 1, however, the coal combine has added 10 cents a ton on the first of each month to tho price of anthracito, thus placing an additional tax to tho consumer of GO cents on each ton of coal held by the operators on December 1. This would make a little matter of somo $18,000,000 of profit on tho basis of 30,000,000 tons of anthracite, tho amount estimated to havo been In tho hands of tho mine owners and opera tors on tho first day of tho present month. Al lowing tho most liberal reductions from tho sum to cover interest on tho investments, storago charges, Interest on wages paid during the summer and other incidental expenses, there will bo a sufllclcnt sum left to assure tho coal barons a morry Christmas and a happy New Year. And the consumer pays tho freight." CLAIMING to have lo3t his fortune of $80,000 as a result of Thomas VV. Lawson's attacks on tho Wall street intorests, Frank D. Austin, aged 42 years, made two attempts on January 17, to throw himself from tho Brooklyn bridge. An Asso ciated Press dispatch from New York says: "Austin was prevented from jumping by Captain Devaney of tho bridgo police, who grappled with him and after a long struggle, in which ho was helped by two detectives, placed him under arrest. Captain Devanoy was warned that tho 'man was to make an attompt on his llfo by a pawnbroker whose placo of business Is near tho Now York end of tho bridge. Ho told tho captain that tho man had just loft his shop after pawning some jewelry, with tho remark: 'I guess tho only thing left for me is to jump off the bridge.' With the two detectives tho captain found tho man and followed closely behind as ho rodo out on a trolloy car on the way across tho bridgo. Tho car had just passed tho Now York tower when Austin sprang into tho roadway that separated him from the bridge rail ing. Tho officers sprang after him and ho was subdued after a hard struggle. He was put on anothor car and sat so quiotly that, the offlcers be lioved ho would make no nore trouble. Suddenly, howover, ho jumped from the seat and was half way across tho roadway before tho ofllcers over took him. Then followed a most violent struggle, in which three policemen wero hardly a match for him. Several women in tho car were in tho vergo of panic when Austin finally was subdued .and led back to tho car. 'I wanted to ond it all,' ho told his captore on tho way to the police station. 'I havo lost $80,000 in Wall street all on account of that frenzied financier, Thomas W. Lawson.' " THE record of Mr. Cad Burba, a clerk in tho general customs olllco at Louisville, Ky., puts that of tho ordinary economist to shame The Louisvillo Times says: "The constant use of one pen point for fourteen yoars, a penknife eighteen years, an ordinary indelible lead pencil five years and a key ring nineteen years to tho ordinary per son sound? incredible, but such is the case with Cad Burba, a clerk in the general customs office hero. Mr. Burba, who was in the drug business at Now Hope lor more than ton years, is now using constantly a pen point he secured second-hand while in tho drug business, and since he has bee at work for Uncle Sam he lias continued to use it preferring It .o any other. During that time ho has worn out two penholders, but tho point is still in tho prime of condition, kept so by the care be sowed upon it by its owner. A fellow clerk was discussing the matter of care of pens yesterday when Mr Burba remarked that any ponor aJticfo of any kind, would last for years if given the proper care To prove his claim he drew from s pocket a knife which he had carried elghteenTears The blades gave evidence of numerous whetUngs but not a gap or break could re seen The kniS' W. had done a fulflLre of vrk ttneo he nad owned It, and Is good for many yeai forth " i e?hlU Ung th0 lmif3 Mr- Burba drew forth a key ring bearing the date of 1885 It if I souvenir of tho Louisvillo exposit on, was nm chased as such by Mr. Burba during the fi", occasion, and has since done constant qprvin.?1 .Burba has a special pocket for Sf A V,c!; Mr and they may alwas'be foU, d th re He T' never breaks the point from n .' G says ho- it it that o srnrz toTt The Commoner. that it does not get away; nover leaves the pencil, key ring or knife lying on his desk, but replaces thorn in their respective pockets when not In use, nnd by such inviolate system and care lie always has them about him." THE recent impeachment proceedings against Judge Swayno of Florida has occasioned a research of the various impeachment cases in tho history of this country. Tho Pittsburg Press says: "Impeachment proceedings against United States officials havo not been rare, though only two con victions havo been found. The first impeachment case tried by the United States senate was that of William Blount, senator from Tennessee. He was accused of conspiring with British agents to or ganize a western force for the seizure of New Orleans and all the Spanish territory of the south west. Ho was acquitted on the ground that a sonator is not a 'civil officer' of the United States. The first conviction was that of Judge John Pick ering of the United States district court for New Hampshire. He was accused of drunkenness, pro fanity on the bench, and making decisions grossly contrary to law. Insanity was pleaded in his be half, but on March 12, 1803, the senate voted him guilty and the penalty was expulsion from office. The other successful impeachment was in 18G2, Judge West H. Humphreys of the United States district for Tennessee, 1 ad refused to resign after accepting a confederate judgeship. He was con victed by a unanimous vote." THE most famous impeachment case in tho history of this country was that of President Andrew Johnson in February, 186. He was ac cused of high crimes and misdemeanors cited in eleven articles, and the house voted Impeachment by a great majority. The trial in the senate lasted three weeks and conviction failed by onl-y one vote. Another impeachment famous in its day was that of Justice uamuel Chase of the United States supremo court, in 1804. From it sprang a national scandal. Political feeling in those days ran to extreme rancor. When the federalists in 1800 felt tneir grip upon power relaxing they passed a law creating district judgeships and pro ceeded to fill them with stanch federalists. Presi dent John Adams, on the day of his retirement, is said to nivj worked until midnight appointing judges. President Jefferson, on coming into office, found all the judgeships filled witn federalists for life. He sought to have tha law creating them re pealed, but failed. Then he resorted to impeach ment. Pickering was impeached. Chase was at tacked, and many others were marked for slaugh ter. But an obstacle was encountered in Vice President Aaron Burr, who, although of the same party as Jefferson, presided at the Chase trial 'with the impartiality of an angel and the rigor of a devil.' Political feeling was sifted out of the evidence and the charges failed. In 1830 Judge Peck of the United States district court for Mis souri was tried by the senate on an impeachment which crarged arbitrary and improper conduct in punishing for contempt of court an attorney who had published a criticism of one of Judge Peck's decisions. A majority Z the senate voted to ac quit after a brief hearing, ihe It impeachment previous to the present Swayne case, wa3 that of William W. Belknap, secretary of war, in 187G He was accused of accepting money for the ap pointment and retention of a post-trader in office After the house had unanimously voted his im- Steop?eTnt reSignCd and thG procee(iinSS MRS. HOWARD GOULD recently made an in teresting pmvhas. in Paris. It is a tinJ chess table used ,y Marie Antoinette which ho unlucky queen used in tho Louvre. The Now vi Press, speaking of the tabl- saW- n Y,Tk bit of furniture-precisely ' the Soit ?? QUal?J expect 'the Austrian woman' to use The X naturally, is that of the Louis. Quinze for I I ' new when Marie Theresa sent it acro t a Was he daughter, and ai tortUme evervtl wAlpS to taining to the Fifteenth Louis was ?JWer" though the throne of France wa StS? n eVen foundations. For Louis was on nl Hng on its curving and carving of The L a The the cabinetmaker's art They garo minVnd,ers of inlaying of mother-of-pearl and silver ? With rare delicacy. The top i iho ?able te of i?'80 f wood, vith alternate squares inlai, ?n ,ne r0Se" as sbo ,3tea RX rXTuSl VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2 Mrs. Gould declines to say what she paid for th table, but it is whispered the price ran well inf the tens of thousands of francs, at any rate." MARSHAL OYAMA, the fearless soldier in thn Japanese army, furnishes a beautiful ex ample of tho truth thai "the bravest are the ten derest." Recently the marshal said: "My idea of happiness is to dispose of everything I possess that belongs to the practice of arm3 and go fn? into tho country with big boxes of books to read for the rest of my days; books that tell of happi. ness and progress, and not of the terrible deeds of war. And I would rather gather about me my best old friends and little children. Then, in the sunny days, all would be happiness." TAMES' S. METCALF, dramatic editor of "Life" incurred tho enmity of the theatrical managers' association because of criticism in his newspaper An order was issued barring Mr. Metcalfe from a number of theaters. Mr. Metcalfe purchased a ticket to one entertainment and sought to enter, but tho doorkeeper denied him admission, saying that he was instructed by his employers so to do. Litiga tion will probably follow. The New York Times says: "It was a cartoon in Life after the Iroquois theater fire that started the trouble. Klaw & Erlanger sued the publication for libel, and when the suit was lost Mr. Erlanger told Mr. Metcalfe if he used his name any more he would beat his face to a pulp. Then followed the action of the manager's association. WvLIAM H. LEE, of Schobonier, 111., claims to be the sole survivor of the Black Hawk Indian war of 1832. The Des Moines Register and Leader says: "With the difficulty which Iowa is experiencing to find traces of its Mexican war sur vivors, it is hardly probable that any survivor of the Indian war, fourteen years earlier, will bo found in this state. Mr. Lee is now in his nine tieth year. The story of his life shows many hard ships, but the pioneers on the frontier a half or three-quarters of a century ago, were inured to hardships. Mr. Lee was brought west from New York when he was three years old. The party made its way oh two rafts and a ilatboat construct ed of logs. The emigrants took all of their live stock with them in their passage down the Alle ghany and Ohio rlvera, landing at Shawneetown, from there going to Salem, and finally to Vandalia, at that time only a small village. At this place Lee grew to young manhood under the hard les sons of frontier life, assisting his father in his grain treadmill and in sawing lumber. THE story of Mr. Lee's participation in the Black Hawk war and subsequent life is told by a correspondent in this way: "When the Sac and Fox or, as it was known, the Black Hawk, war broke out in 1832, William H. Lee was only sixteen years old, but he possessed courage equal to the hardy training ho had received in his Illinois pioneer life. After the nloso of tlio won hn i i, lul trips to New Orleans by boat, which in those days was considered a feat of unusual importance, each time taking large loads of grain. In 1850 he succumbed to the California gold fever, making an overland trip to that part of the country. This tr p was followed by two others. On each of tho trips large numbers of cattle were taken along as an investment. The party was attacked by In dians on the first trip, but was successful In de feating the red men. On the second journey the party lost all their livestock. The third trip was thoroughly successful. Returning to his farm in Illinois, Mr. Lee has remained there in active charge until within the last few years, when ho turned the active management over to other hands. None of his children are living." IT IS explained by the writer in the Des Moines Register that: "Tho Black Hawk war was closely associated with the early history of Iowa. It was near Fort Madison that Black Hawk's fol lowers rendezvoused to take up the war trail and to cross the Mississippi; it was across tho river from the very northeastern point of Iowa that tne (massacre, hardly to be dignified by tho name or nattle, of Bad Axe occurred and ended the short lived war. It was to Iowa that Black Hawk and SS?Wm,8U1TJ,vor8 returned when the war was S ?hGT,Slack Hawk war figured more prom ptly in Illinois history than" in that of Iowa, this st t 'an Important chapter in .the annals of MUMjgrtaaAi.