Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1898)
v r THE .TIED CLOW) CHIEF. L m w m w Why Do Kill Jfc In Washington Inst week It was re ported Hint a young gentlewoman, Mrs. Thomas F. Lane, ilaHghter of Senator Blackburn, had nttcmptcil sulcltk. Sub hequcntly the occuirenee was attrib uted to an accident, and the report de nied. The Incident may, therefore, be dismissed, lint a text remains. A month ago Miss Leila Herbert, daugh ter of the former secretary of the navy, threw herself from 11 window. A fort night later Miss Mary Walt.', dnughter of the ex-governor of Colorado, took poison. Meanwhile Miss Wells put a bullet through her brain. Anteriorly Miss Kato Bayard killed herself; so, too. did Mln3 Daisy Garland; so, also, did Miss Bessie Hlllycr. Miss Uayard waB the daughter of tho secretary of Btate. Miss Daisy Garland was tho daughter of tho attorney general. The father of Miss Hlllycr Is a millionaire. These young women moved In what It Is colloquial to term tho best set. In dividually their deathn are recent. Knch Is without apparent motive. All occurred In Washington. Why? That question It Is the purpose of this nrtlclo to consider. By way of preliminary, a definition or two may help. Mme. do Staol a lady whoso graces Hyron described as not those of the person commended suicide. She declared It to bo Urn act of one who hag conquered even the fear of death. Suicide, however, Is little else than assassination driven In. Those who want to die usually do so because others don't. When they happen to liavo another reason It Is more often than not because they really want to live. What they don't want are the miseries attendant on their own par ticular existence. Abolish them and they will swear by Methuselah. "I do not know," said Voltaire, "what life eternal may be, but I do know that this one Is n very poor joke. Happi ness," he added, "Is a dream. Only pain Is real. I havo thought so for eight odd years, and I havo hit on no better plan than to resign myself to the Inevitable and reflect that 11 lea were born to be devoured by spldera and man to be consumed by care." Voltaire's views were not original. They have been running about the bookshelves ever elnco books were shelved. Through them tho theory or iginated that a bo ing superior to man could not exist. With higher Intelli gence ho would re fuso to put up with what we have 1 Misery manifestly is Immedicable. Life Is a valo of tears. Wo resplro, aspire, perspire and expire. Solomon told us that; other things, too. Hut ho was un acquainted with modern society. Theio is the reverse of tho medal. Society is an elixir of bon-bons. It represents tho Joy of being alive, tho presence, of beauty, usually of birth, occasionally of brains, but always .alth, and with it every opportunity for fastidious delight. Urcathed through tho newspapers.tho ntmosphcro eeeras a trifle heady. One fancies It to be tho real air of the heights, a com pound of tho exhllarant and the seda tive, the mixture of osclllant suavities, ambient harmonies and exalting refine ments fused luto one. When it does not happen to bo otherwise such is tho case. Society is the happy hunting ground of tho elect. Society In New York, In Doston, In .Philadelphia, and In Ilaltlmoro Is rela tively tho samo. It constitutes a frco masonry of which tho lodges vary but In location and Importance. They dif fer In degrees. Tho object of each Is Identlcnl. That object Is tho enjoy ment of life. Tlicso premises admitted, It becomes Important to determine what thero Is In tho Washington chapter which can ho defeat that object as to Induce 0110 young woman after nnothcr to kill her self. Without entering Into personali ties, and putting aside tho cases recited, )t may be noticed that suicides of. tho .mimm,,, A VO3 wx f jtrmwti 'Uin M 0- x v-i 1 "sca' .uv jxiL -" jmss.MUJMUf .'r. .! J mV 0.. T ' . . . t. jr - niiin tit. ub -x ell r w a . r i i . ifc !.- ' St .tlf It M TM II I J . tV3 Hk XAeishington Belles Themselves? character which havo occurred there arc duo to a pathological condition of a ! morbld type. Hut It should he noted, too, that whllo now and again men of position kill themselves, the suicide of n girl of position is so unusual that when It comes to a siuves-don of them, six, one right after tin? other, the cir cumstance ceases to lie unusual, It be comes unexampled. In tho history of ntnilatod cities, In tho social chronicles of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, nothing of the kind Is to be found. Washington, however, Is an other kettle of fish. New Yorkers. Bos tonlaus, Ualtlmorcans, Plilladclphlans particularly Phlladelphlans speak of their good old families. A good old Washington family Is a thing which genealogy has to hear of yet. Society there is heterogeneous and conglom erate. Composed of women from all over the globe, them Is none as varie gated. There Is none as unstable. It Is In process not of constant evolution, but of constant transformation. The origin of the members Is elsewhere. It Is not u home, It Is an Inn one, par enthetically, which, conducted on the European plan, lacks Kuiopcau re straints. Tho young girls whom the varldus administrations gather there bring their beauty and sometimes lose their heads. That Is natural. In the diplomatic act thoy encounter men who differ entirely from those of their race. Tho girls, too, differ from any whom these men have met. It is tho it-hashing of platitudes to state that society as it is constituted on the other side differs radically from society as constituted here, but tho re hashing Is necessary for tho conveni ence of tho point which is sought. Over there the young girl Is a ncglectablo and neglected quantity. Practically, until she niarrle:", Mie can't be said to exist. Hor parents, guardians and rtfOStKLKe mi "'. nwtKT mt , ) "--id spiritual masters Interfere. Tho du enna Is forever at hor side. Even with her brother alio may not walk alone. She might bo seen by third parties, who, knowing him, but not knowing her, would take her for what sho Is not. At tho entertainments scvcrnlly known as tho "five o'clock" and the "white, ball," she may flirt If she likes, or, rather, if sho knows how, but ohc does ho under tho noso of all. Thero la no getting her away, taildng in her ear and examining tho lines In her hand. It Is tho married women who enjoy such attentions. Tho young girl passes from tho schoolroom to tho al tar, delayed at most but by a surrep titious squeeze. Tho passago la mado as opportunely as her pcoplo can man age. Sho la dowered and married In season, Tho custom Is not admired here, but It has Its advantages. Do that 113 It may, tho foreigner who lands In Wash ington finds a collection of demolaellci who aro not only prettier far than any he has seen, but who possess all the liberty, Bometlraes much more liberty, WmM , c JHiHtfik I mjm BMihmkWm PI icw ! ,.-, ct vwTvmz&mjiMat i - a.-MWcuii rii wir .vw . i?iiu ' SKWifcTer; ' -L iimmgmr. jf to to to than Is enjoyed by tho married at home. The fact surprises, and no won- dor. Then, presently, beforo the sur prlso can subside, It has occurred that without effort, almost without knock ing, ho finds himself admitted Into the Intimacy of a young girl's heart. Before him arc candors such as ho has no.vor piesumed to approach, op portunities for Investigating them such as ho has never known. Ucforc ncr is the easy glitter of suggested scones, ovoratlons of sumptuous courts; tho ro mance of the i emote, the spangle of a title, perhaps, and, with It, tho reso nance of a sonorous name. Such things affect a girl. In their absence there arc the tcrrlblo chaps, fiom the departments of tho Navy and the War. Tho sword Is yet to bo forged that can work swifter havoc than the gleam of brass buttons, tho sheen of gold braid and shimmering blue. Such things affcet a girl also. But not Infrequently tho foreigner Is preferred. In addition to other attrac tions, Washington provides htm with a background of political thimblerlg gcrs and provincial scum. It seta him off. There, too. a title can be divided. A count makes n countess. There is a magic In that. It has happened, how ever, that the title has alre.uly been divided. It has occuned that the own er Is not dividing just then. Tho In evitable does not necessarily ensue. There Is an effect that does. That It should lead to suicide Is pathetic. It Is worse. There Is nothing as dis mal as a young girl's death. Sho has lived so little. In her heart Is the longing and the dream of beautiful to-morrows. "Wait for me," alio crl:s "I am coming." When a malady pounces and carries her off what Is It but one of Death's assassinations? Yet, when, instead of tho unexpected, tho unnatural supervenes, when tho dream of tho morrow retreats, and the long ing subsides, when the future narrows I Into a blind alley, when some form less thing she knows not what conies to .-rtuwtriK'wri,,.. . ffsrw i" mF ii 'i if:. -w her, plucks at her sleeve, sits by hor, whispers to her ami Incites her to hide herself from life, then It is not death alono which bus passed that way; It lu tragedy. In another city In which such things can occur thcro must bo something wrong. The Individual cases recited belong to tho domain fllof private life, anil as such exempt themselves from examination. It Is tho society that produced them which la serviceable to consider. Apart from tho conglomer ate and t'oo foreign, thcro must bo n screw I0030 somewhere. If it la not tho heterogeneous that Is at fault, It must bo tho climate, unless, Indeed, It bo possible to regard Washington as ono regards Monaco a resort to which curious passions converge, and to which tho aulcldo gravitates. Tho sup position would bo tenablo wqro tho other acx concerned. It would be oven satisfactory. Tho elimination of a few political thlmble-rlggera, tho evapora tion of a llttlo of that scum and tho country would not deteriorate. Wash ington would oven Improve. But It t young girls that aro concerned, In view of which, tho only conclusion do ductule from tho premises Is that a so ciety conducted on tho European plan but without Europoan restraints, must In certnln natures produce a patho logical condition of which suPIdo Is tht climax. EDGAH SALTUS. Minor In tlm HrltUli Armjr, More than half tho lufantry recrutta of tho British nrmy for tho past year liuvo been under 18 ycaru old-. SAND SET TILEiL FKEE. SOLDIERS GAINED LIBERTY A PECULIAR MANNER. IN Where tlm lilnt I'ninr from A I.ltllo lMcci. of Ni'TMnprr I'limlliiK on tlm SurfiMC of 11 htrruui lu! Olio of llir Moll Hie Suircmtlon. "When wo were s'.atto icd at Port Conway, below !'rodcilcksburg a si out ing patt of our people had what might bo called a vriy narr.nv escape from .in Involuntary trip to Ulchmoud as priFOiHMs," remarked a sergeant of the 5th Pennslvnnl.i cavalry, who, with other enlisted men, was relating his expel lcnets to a Philadelphia Time ic porter. "You see," said he, "we had been sent out by Gen. Hayard to see what the enemy wcro doing. Wo mini ucroit all told thirty-six men, under the command of a lieutenant, and our In structions were to go as far an the old wart houses on tho river below us, and then return the way wo had gom Eorythlng went right until about I o'clock; we hadn't seen any of the enemy and were marching to camp again, when the lieutenant thought ho'd sec what was In a house over on our right. When wo arrived nt the hcuse wo found no 0110 at home but an old woman, two young girls, and halt a dozen female slaves. Wo dis mounted and asked for something to eat. There wasn't a mouthful of any thing In the house; the women were fed b 11 son-in-law over by Port Con way. There wasn't a horse or other animal to be seen about tho whole place. "Aro there no men about?" asked the lieutenant. " 'Not one,' leplicd the lady with dig nity. 'Thej are all In tho confederate a: my. If yon are after them you'll lme to go where they aie to find them.' " 'Thanks,' laughingly replied the nontenant, 'we hao no particular wish to go on the other side of the river nt present.' " 'Perhaps you may go,' said the lady, 'without any desire.' "Wo mounted and were soon on our wny to Port Conway, distant about six miles. Aa we rode along I thought over what the lady had said. Did sho mean a threat or was It only woman's talk? 1 rode up to the lieutenant and was jur.t about to mention tho thing to him when from a clump of bushes there sounded such a shout as 1 had never heard before. Our men were scattered over about half a mile of road and thero was no chance to get them to gether; as It was, I don't believe any effort was made, for each man seemed to bo taking earn of himself. As I pulled up I saw about a dozen John nies making toward me. " 'Surrender, yon Yankee , or we'll fill you full of holes.' I could do nothing, so thought discretion tho bet ter part of valor and pulled up where I stood. " 'Dismount:, cried a big fellow, aim ing his gun at mo. ' I dismounted and was led Into the woods, where I found a number of our men who had been previously captured. Thcro was another sergeant beside my self and I asked him how many there wore of us. Ho told mo that nine 11 been captured with him. Wo did not halt long In tho woods, but were soon taken over the river, thero to wait until the others came In. Only three men wero left to guard us, but as wo were without arms that was quite enough. While wo wero sitting on tho river bank bemoaning our fate I no ticed a little piece of newspaper float ing on tho surfaco of tho water. I played with it awhile, then drew It forth. Glad to do anything to pas the tlmo I eat down nnd looked it over. Down in ono corner I read tho story of a woman throwing vitriol nto an other's eyes. "When you have given up In despilr, when nothing but a rebel prison stands beforo you, your thoughts aro j-ome-what lively. Mlno were, at nny rate, and I prayed for an ounco of vitriol nt that moment. Hut tho prnyer was in vain; I bad no vitriol and nothing to take Its place. Wo wero sitting lu tho sand and the guards wero talking to us llke'old friends. All nt once I start ed up. I had an Idea that looked feas ible. What's tho matter with csnd? If wo could manage to get a handful of sand In each guard's eyes wo might escape. It was an inspiration. The more I thought of It tho more feasible It became, and I got so nervous th Ing over It that I couldn't alt Btll ilnk- lC 1 sat down and got up. I walked as far as I dared and sat down again. Wo ) prisoners wcro all together and I thought of somo plan by which I might communlcato with tho others. The guard surrounded us nnd It looked to bo Impossible. I mado sly motions to tho other sergeant, but ho was so much taken up with his own nffalrs that he couldn't understand, and I gave up the Idea of attracting his attention. Right next to mo was a little York county Dutchman. I'd try him. 1 whispered that If wo could only cast n handful tho others would get In ua soon ns thoy saw tho point. "Wo had been waiting for half nn hour and tho guards wero becoming rofctless. They stood about and talked of sand Into each guard's oyes wo might escape. Ho was a cunning Utile duck and Instantly grasped tho Idea and signaled that It was all right. I saw him look for innd right away. Then I whispered to another man and ho signaled that ho understood and ho looked for oaud. In this way I man aged to communicate the Idea to tho others and in a little whllo I had six men In the secret. I had no doubt fiat to each other and to ua. Then I on- invu iiiiw u wu ri riiiit u mi iiirui about tho war and saw tho York coun ty man gather a double-handful of wind, then some of tho others did tho same and ono would havo thought that ua Yanks were niud-plo makers with out doubt had they seen tho industry of those men. I hail not got my sand yet, but I determined to bo In It and soon left the guard and collected my nand. Tho other men wcro sitting about thinking of their trip to rebel lion!, when I suddenly nrnso as If to depart, which caused my guaid to look about. The next Instant 1 had dashed a handful of sand directly Into his eyes and ho was swearing as only a trooper can. 1 looked about and saw that the. other guards had been taken care of by our fellows and wore scam pering about nibbing their eyes like madmen. We were not long In dis arming them and making them pris oner; it was ull over lu less than two minutes. When wo had nhared their sabers, pistols and carbines among us and wcro masters of the situation wo walked them down to the river and as sisted them to get the wind out of their eyes. Then we took theJr lariats and tied them. "Thus far there hadn't been n loud word spoken, except when we dashed the sand Into their eyes. They sat for a tlmo in stoical silence; then, as If tho comical side of the affair had Just occurred to them, they Bet up a laugh, in which we all Joined. '"You all got us this time, Yanks,' said one of them. "'I've often beard that the Yanks were ciinnln'. but I su'ar If this wasn't tho ('uuiilu'("U thing I ever heard of.' Mid nnothcr. 'How in did you ever think of such a thing?' " 'That gave met the Idea,' said I. and 1 showed them the piece of paper I had fished out of tho river. " 'It ain't much,' said the first speak er, 'but it dono tho business, didn't ItV" FREEDOM OF BURMESE WOMEN. TIiIiikh Aro Str.iiiK'l' Ui'ti'rm'il III Tluit t'omilry. Women In Hiirina aro probably freer and happier than they arc anywhere else In tho world, says the Philadelphia Ledger. Though Htirnia Is bordered on one side by China, where women are held In contempt, and on the other by Indian, where they nre kept In tho strictest seclusion, Hurmc30 women have achieved for themselves and have been permitted by their men to at tain a freedom of life and action that has no parallel among oriental peoples. The secret Ilea, perhaps, In tho fact that the Hurmese woman Is active and Industrious, whllo the Hiirnieso ninn Is Indolent and often a recluse. Becoming, thetefoie. both by tnsto and by habit, the money earner, tho bargainer and tho financier of the household, bho has asserted and obtained for herself the right to hold what sho wins nnd tho respect duo to one who1 can and doc.i direct and control. Things aro strange ly reversed lu Burma, for hero wo see n man as tho religious soul of tho na tion and woman Its brain. Hurmosn women are born traders, and It Is moro often tho wlfo than the husband who drives the bargain with tho English buyer for Hie paddy harvest, or, at any rate, sho Is present on tho occa sion and helps her easy-going husband to stand firm. So highly Is trading esteemed that a daughter of well-to-do parents, and oven a young married wo man, will set up a booth In tho bazaar, and, dressed in n bright silk taniuln (skirt) nnd whlto Jacket, with a llowcr jauntily stuck Into her colled black tresses, sho will start every morning with a tray of sweetmeats, fruit or toys on her head, and, with a gayety and grace bom of tho sunshine nnd the bouutenusuess of tho laud, will push n brisk trade all thiough tho short and sunny day. Tho earnings thus made aro tho woman's own, nnd cannot bo touched by her husband. MAKING RATS WORK. St. I.oiiIh I'lriu (Set It Dr.itu I'lflO Clcituril (Iriitla. There aro 150 men In North St. Louis who defy nny ono to dlsputo the fact that Tom Magulro Is a genius, says the St. Louh Post-Dispatch. Mr. Magulre Is a yard foreman nt a gas company's plant. Tho enthusiastic proclalmers of his genius aro his fellow-workers In ;ho big yard. A sower pipe leading from ono of tho buildings to the river bank, ICO foot away, became clogged. Tho pipo la sixteen feet below tho surface. It was not known Just where tho ob struction wns, so arrangements wcro mado to open tho trench. Then Ma gulro brought Into play what proved to bo the trump card viz.; rats. Ho had been thinking about tho plan for several days. One night, by tho aid of generous hunks of fresh cheese, ho mnnaged to entrap two big gray ro dents and these he determined to put Into tho sewer. They were taken to tho mouth nt tho river bank and re leased. Tho opening was then closed securely behind them, leaving tho anl mals with only one chance of life. That was to go straight ahead. And they did. Several more rats were caught, each succeeding day nnd turned Into tho sower, until a dozen fine specimens wero gnnwing away In tho pipe. Tho morning nftcr the last detachment joined tho main rodent army water commenced to trickle from tho pipe. Iron rods and steam wcro applied. In ton minutes the bewer wns clear. Drllnltlon. Tommy Paw, what sort of a fighter lo a "cyjdone fighter?" Mr. l'lgg I don't know much about lighters, but I suppose he Is ono who goes blowing around. Indianapolis Journal. A person should never go out waiktag In a driving rain. FRENCHMAN SAW ONE TRAIT, - ... .rUil. . . .i- - .- iihiirni. finfB' in 4iiiinurn mi 1-iiw Hiniillrnt Onc, lln yy. l'rom Invention: A Ercnch cnglncet who has been on a tour of Inspection In, the stale, was not Impressed by tho big t.'liiRU of tho country. "I shall report to my government," says ho, "that tho biggest things In America aro tho llttlo things. The French pcoplo nro cspcrta in domestic economy, and llvo comfort ably by saving what avcrago families In tho states throw away. But Amer icans nre, on tho other hand. expcrtB In Industrial economy. Thoy make monoy by saving wnstago In tho business and lose some of It by wastage In domcstlo economy. Tho attention paid to small details lu big works Is amazing to mo; I have visited somo establishment where I bellovo that tho profits nro mado not In tho manufacture proper, but In tho saving of materials and labor by close attention to dctnils that aro with us unconsidered trifles. For ox n tuple, I biiw a grindstone In opcrntlon at a big works automatically sharpen ing lathe and planer tools. This ma chine costs probably as much as 100 ot our ordinary grindstones cost, but I rcb that It automatically grinds nil tho tools for 300 hlgh-prlccd mechanics, and It only works a few hours each day. The skilled mechanics In our country frequently stop their regular work to grind their own tools, and then do It Imperfectly. In tho states tools nro all accurately ground to tho best shape by the machine, so that they do more and better work on this nccount in a given time. I believe that that ma chine has brains the brnlns of tho Inventor- and It has no doubt 1 evolution Ized work of this kind In American ma chine shops. This Is but ono enso out of many that I havo noted." Tho vis itor correctly defined a peculiar charac teristic of American inventive genius. The gieat engineering undertakings, tho immense manufacturing establish ments and the leviathan ninchlncry nro, of course, most conspicuous nnd Im pressive, hut these big things a. com paratively few In number, whllo tho novel Improvements In llttlo things usually classed as "yankee notions' are legion, and each ono contributes Its mlto toward tho general sum of pro polity of the business of tho country. 1 FOR ARCHITECTS TO LEARN. llcnlcnlui; mill Hood Tusto Cannot H tiliiclit. Sound and ready knowledge of bul1il Ing, dextrous readiness and somo ap proach to excellence na n free-hand draughtsman and somo skill ns a mod elerthese aro tho three thlngi vhlcli tho students should bo taught, saya tho Atlantic. All else is a part i,f his high er education, of his training as a man rather than as an architect. Tlmo was when there existed no such distinction; when thcro wero living traditions which tho young architect had to learn, which ho would learn naturally ns nni apprentice (cxactly as tlio apprentice painter picked up his nit of painting naturally and ground his master's col ors and swept out his master's work shop tho while. Those days are gone Thero Is no tradition now which ought to be learned, because thcro Is no tra dition which Is not that of somo school or coterie, nono which binds the world of building men. There Is no tradition now which should not bo avoided, be cause thero Is no tradition which lu not tolling against n healthy growth of tho flno art of building. Tho tra ditions now aro of the most mischiev ous character, and nothing can coma of a familiarity with them but pro longation of tho sterile years, the ycarB ot the lean kino, through which the European world goes starving In spirit for food of tho solid nnd wholcuoma sort known to men of old. Designing cannot bo taught; good taste cannot be taught, and yet It Is well for tho ar tist In nny department to learn what other artists have done, nnd to learn how they designed nnd to seo what they accounted good taste. , ODDS AND ENDS OP FASHION. A striking visiting gown Is of red silk checked with alternate squares ot black-and-whito satin nnd trimmed around tho hips with a scroll design. In black satin ribbon, this trimming being repeated on tho bodlco, whera It outlines n white satin vest tucked. A black cloth dress has a skirt made with a flounce nt tho back, a plain front scam, nnd bands of cloth, elab orately hemstitched, extending their Influence from tho front round to tho back. There Is scarcely any fullness In the flounce nt the back, but It gives just that sweep which makes for grace. A beautiful yet simple evening gown has n skirt of shot gray and white silk, with a surface like Terry velvet, and tho bodlco ot Ivory llsso set into many tucks, striped with pale-yellow laco and edged with chinchilla. Round tho waist of this Is n belt of pale-blua moire, fastened with diamond buttons; In regard to underskirts red Is a very popular shado In which theso, for day wear, nro shown, whllo pink and yellow hold the field for evening skirts. Red Is, Indeed, becoming almost at popular as It was last season, d la beginning to supersede the beaittlfu-1 violet shades, of which, however, w cannot but bo rather tired now. Boeing how much they have been overdone. Every garment, more or less, la as sisted to its effects by chiffon. Even ing capes ot tho short order, which nre still in favor, by reason, no doubt, of tholr usefulness, havo second short er capea, or panels, or .Vandykes, .all ot which are profusely flounced with tho ever-dccoratlve chiffon; whllo the opronB of party-going gowns are out lined again with frills and ruchlnga of tho same, which, brought up over the hips, aro continued In wide sashea to the end ot tho skirt at back. "Do'cs-VourUbum'p'atcl. eions?" "No, she Jumps at bargaku.' 1 ' H ' ? 1 S m 1, i f 1 M r 1 t ,3 t . t.L n , vn: MEjjjaBgs36