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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1910)
fv... . - Copyright, 1910. by MoClure Newspaper Syndicate. Copyright In Canada ana Ureat Britain. All rights reserved. ji CHAPTER I. BOMB riOIlTlNG THAT THE JEFFRIES FAMILY DID BEFORE HT TIME. TT ERE at the start 1 wont to say M that I am an American all the way through. I was born In America, and so were all of my forefathers for two full centuries ahead of me. - The original stock of the Jeffries family was Scandinavian or Norse GEOFFREY KILLED A BEAR WITH BIS SWORD AND SAVED THE LIFE OF RICH' ARD COEUR I'E IJON. viking. It has been traced back to Normandy In the year 000, or Just about there. In 1000 my ancestors went to England on a fighting trip wltb William the Conqueror. The family's name was spelled according to the owner's taste In those days. At first It was Godfrldus, then Godfrey, Oodefrey and Godfrey. Iater It went through new changes Gaefferoy, Jet- ferey, Jeefferrey. Jeffreys, Jeffrey, Jeffrls and Jeffries, with a few other variations. There Is a tradition that a certain Geoffrey fought in the crusades and once saved the life of Richard Coeur de Lion, when he was attacked by a bear In the hills near the city of Jaffa, killing the bear with bis sword. This old Geoffrey may or may uot have been a u ancestor of mine, aud I'll uot try to fill these pages with records exteudlng back a thousand years. I'll start with the first of my family who came to America. lie was Robert Jef fries, named after some Norman Eng lish ancestor away buck in the year 1108, whose name was spelled Itolf Godefroy. This Robert Jeffries was born In Wiltshire, Euglaud, lu 1050. II came to America in the year 10S1 and settled ut Uplands, now Chester, I'a, where he died In 1730, leaving large family. Several of his sons aft erward moved to Virginia. My great-grandfather, William Jef fries, settled in Fairfield county, O. It was a wild country then. My grandfather, James Jeffries, for whom I was named, was one of the children who made the Journey from Virginia In the sis horse prairie schoon r. lie was renowned for his prod I glous strength. When he was six years old be could drive a four horse team, When he grew up be was six feet and two lucbes tall and weighed 220 pounds, and no one lu all thut country could equal his feats of lifting. He was noted, too, for the fact that he never drauk, smoked, swore or lied in hla life. My grandfather stayed on his fa tber's farm until he was twenty-four, when he married Mary Bunadum, the daughter of another frontier farmer, and set up a home of bis own. In tbelr log cabin, sixteen feet square, 1 tbelf fourteen children were born. The fourth son received the highly ro mantic name Alexis Cehon Jeffries. Tbla was my father. He grew big and powerful like all the other men of the Jeffries family. When my futher married he and bis wlfn went twenty mllea away from tbe I3 mf LIFE ?y JAMES J. JEFFRIES old folks to a home of their own on a half cleared farm of 160 acres not far from Carroll, O. There they built a log cabin of two stories. My father was a devout churchgoer for many years, but finally turned evangelist and preached In the open Ir. declaring thut churches were a use- ss expense and that the money spent on them should be devoted to the poor instead. I was born In the old log cabin on the Ohio farm, like my brothers and sisters. So I suppose if I hadn't taken p fighting as a profession I might have bud as good a chance to become resident of the United States as Abe Lincoln. James Garfield and other log cabin men. On my mother's side I descend from the earliest Holland Dutch settlers In this country. My mother's home was In Boyertown, Pa., and her name was Rebecca Boyer. Her father was Christopher Boyer, nd be was a strapping big fellow too. He was a natural fighter, and they say that when he died over fifty years ;o he carried the. scars of many a hard ring battle fought with bare fists. He was the champion of his part of enusylvsinia and fought for the fun of It. So 1 suppose fighting Is In my blood nd I come by the fighting instinct uuturally. At any rate, having a few fighting ancestors has always furnish ed me wltb a good argument and a good excuse at home. When I was. born In the old log ubiu my lighting weight was Just fourteen pounds. My parents never suspected ut the time that they were bringing up the future world's cham pion of 1 he ring. To develop me gradually they start ed by inuking a strong, healthy farmer boy of me. my father always contend ing thut to round out a natural life a man should work hard until forty rears of age and after that should turn to the cultivation of the spirit. On this theory he has never given up hope for me In spite of my ring ca reer. I've always been grateful for the right kind of a start, for if I'd been brought in- in. a city like some boys, with no he.'iKby aud natural out of door life. I uii;,'ht not have been worth much i'.s a tighter. It mil Id 1KS1 that my father took his family to California, where we settled down on a ranch Just outside the cil.v of Los Angeles. Father built fine fourieen room house aud laid out ninety s.-ven acres of fruit trees. Our place u:is at Arroyo Seco canyon Arroyo Seco means dry river. This was a grand home for us. There were my two oider sisters and one younger. Lizzie. Alameda and Lil- He, and my brothers Cal. John, Tom and Charlie, afterward known as Jack. I don't think any of us sfsnted our growth working on the ranch. When father went away to town !n the morn ing he'd send me out to do some work In the field. After a little while the sun would get up and the sand would bo pretty hot. Then I'd go back to the house and tell mother it was too hot 1 . FIFTEEN OB TWENTY MILES THROUGH SAND AS HOT AS THE TOP OF A BOILER. to work. I'd explain that the sand was too hot to stand in barefooted and I didn't want to wear my shoes. Then I'd get out my shotgun and stuff a lot of cartridges into my pock ets and start for a bunt. I'd walk tfteen or twenty miles barefooted through sand and gravel as hot us the top of a boiler and over rocks and brush and come home with a few quail or some nice fat doves. Father would be at home. He'd look at me severely and say: "Jim. I suppose you finished your work this morning?" "No, sir. It got too hot." "Was it too hot to go hunting?" "No. sir; not lu the shade." "A-hum!" he'd say. "And did you get anything?" Then I'd go out to the kitchen and bring lu the game. He'd frown a little to show he hadn't forgotten telling me to work in tbe field, but then he'd smile, for be was a man very fond of game, and he couldn't resist the charm of a brace of plump quail. '1 At the worst I could always depend upon my mother. She could never see anything wrong in what ber boys did. The Styles of Summer MODERJJ CLOTHES" Qtcmbeact Kfrcaife Ss Go. ' tao shom AT UTICAXX IN MEN'S WEAR we have se cured the finest lines of Summer Clothing ever offered to the discrimi nating buyers in Lincoln. We desire to call especial attention to the elegant dis play of these lines made in our windows. Nothing better in fit, style, color, make or appearance has ever been of fered in this city. You need but to look at the garments thus displayed to get a clear index of the superb stock we have to offer you. The very best makers have been located in order to secure the splendid offerings we have for your benefit. We desire to especially call the atten tion of union men to the unusually large and well selected stock of T T . j . Union-made Garments we have laid in for their convenience and benefit Of this stock we have every reason to be proud the style, fit, workmanship and "seasonality" being so marked. The union man who outfits at this store will carry away with him, in addition to the satisfaction of being outfitted in union goods from head to foot, the satisfaction of knowing that on the very threshhold of the summer sea son he has secured his outfit at the bargain price offered elsewhere late in the season, when the selection is gone. Union Outfitted from Head to Foot This is possible for the union men who patronize us. Union-made clothing, hats, shirts, collars, shoes, etc., at prices that will fit the worker's purse and the same time afford us a fair margin of profit. We aim to make this store the profitable place for wage earners hereabouts. SPEIER & SIMON 10th and O Streets On the Corner On the Square CHAPTER II. KILL MY FIRST DEER AND HAVE MY FIRST BIG SCHOOLBOY FIGHT. WAS only eleven years old when I killed my first deer. I hud the first rifle my father gave me, and. It wasn't any toy rifle picked out for a boy. My father didn't care for fancy outfits either for hunting or for fishing. So lie gave me a 45-70 Win chester. That gun was big enough to THE SNAKE WAS AROUND INSIDE THORNS. CBAWLINQ SLOWLY THE HEDGE OF kill elephants with, and when I tried it on a quail it didn't leave anything but a cloud of feathers floating In tbe air. I snapped at a jack rabbit run ning away from me across the sand, and the whirling bullet took him end on. All I found was his hide and bis ears and bind legs. One fine day a road runner went along tbe smooth trail ahead of me like a sprinter until be disappeared, and I looked around to see if be had built in a rattlesnake anywhere. Often lu the desert or the mountain valleys I have found traces of a road runner's work. A road runner Is a long legged bird. He likes smooth ground where he can take a long ma nlng start, and the way be can make those bony legs fly Is a sight A rocd runner's chief business is killing rattle snakes. When be finds one asleep he gathers a lot of cactus thorns. Then he builds a circle of thorns all around tbe snake lying there asleep In Its coil, turns all the points carefully In to ward the center, steps back a little and begins to make a racket. The snake wakes up, sees the road runner, looks the hedge all over, finds tbat be can't get through it anywhere and makes up his mind '.o die on the spot. He strikes himself with bis own fangs, and In a few minutes it's all over for the snake. Then the road runner squawks a cou ple of times, clears away the cactus thorns and has a rattler for lunch. This particular bird had disappeared. But as luck would have it I happened to find bis victim out In the middle of a clear patch of sand. The snake bad just awakened, 1 guess, for be was twisting aud crawling slowly around and around inside tbe hedge. Now and then he'd lift his head high and start to slide across, but as soon as his neck touched tbe thorns be'd draw back quickly and go squirming around again. There weren't any openings In the fence. To hurry matters a little I picked up a switch and tapped the rattler over the bead with it. He got into a great rage, and in a minute or so be turned deliberately and struck his fangs Into his own body down near the tail. He pulled the fangs free and struck again and again, slowly and heavily. I didn't waste any more time waiting to see him die. He was practically a dead rattler then. I didn't want his rattles, because they always said it was bad luck to cut off the rattles of a rattler that had time to strike himself before he died. His blood is full of poison, and if you happen to get it on your knife blade and cut yourself afterward there may be trouble. I was- up in Big Tahunga canyon now, keeping my eyes open for deer. And, sure enough, not long before sun set I ran into two does and a fine buck. They were standing in a group in easy range, right In a little gully. TJp came the 45-70 Winchester to my shoulder. I drew a fine bead on the buck and pulled the trigger. A puff of dirt flew up into the air from the bank just behind my buck, who lit out up the bill. I could hear him crashing through the thickets. The two does tore off into tbe brush and disap peared. For a moment 1 stood there tbe most disappointed boy In tbe world. I bad been cocksure of dropping my game, and all I had done was to raise tbe dust beyond bim. I followed bis trail for a little way in the dusk, then gave it up. He was badly scared at least, and there wasn't a chance that he'd stop running for miles. When I got back my big brother met me. "Well. Jim. did you get a deer?" he asked. "No. I had a chance, but I missed," I said gloomily. "Are you sure you missed?" I told blm all about it "Jim." said he, "I'll bet you hit that buck. .We'll go out in the morning and get him." I didn't feel very optimistic myself, but early next morning my brother and I started up the canyon. When we got near the place where I bad seen the deer there were two or three vultures sailing in lazy circles over head. Looking around, we could see others, high up in the air, coming to ward us. "You got that deer," said my broth er. "We're just in time." Sure enough, we followed up his -trail and found him without much trouble. He was hit a little way back of the shoulder. My father used to tell stories about our fighting ancestors every now and then, but not often enough to excite too much interest. "Tbe Jeffries fam ily was heard of In the Revolutionary war and in the Indian wars," he used to say. "and let me tell you, though they were a quiet and peace loving people, they never allowed themselves to be whipped." That was the principle 1 tried to follow. I never picked any fights, but If one started in spite of me I took great Joy in not allowing myself to be whipped. The surest way to prevent that was to pound the other fellow until he gave In. When I was a small boy In the Ar royo Seco school, near our home ranch, there was a bigger boy in tbe school named Fred Hamilton. Fred and I had some rivalry, although at that time I hadn't grown very tall. He was nineteen years old and weighed about 195 pounds. I weighed about 140, but 1 was stocky and broad and strong even then. One day Hamilton and I got into an argument After a few words he reached over and hit me. Now, my father used to say, "If an enemy smite thee, turn tbe other cheek." I thought that was ail right but If he hit the other cheek, too. whatever followed was his own fault Remembering the Bible lessons at home and these precepts always laid down by my father, I turned the other cheek according to rule. "Just bit me once more," I said, "and I'll get mad." He did it And then things began to happen. I might not have had a chance wltb him when we were both on our feet, but I caught blm with a hip lock-at the first rush and threw blm flat on the ground. Before he could wriggle away I was on top, hammering wltb both bands. I. didn't know anything about fair stand up fighting In those days and didn't bother my bead about ring proprieties. Everything went Hamilton couldn't throw me off, and I gave bim a fierce beating. His eyes were blackened, and his face braised when I got through. Then I let him up and went back Into the schoolhouse. He followed. Of course there was an Investigation on the spot. "Did you do all this damage?" asked the teacher after taking a good look at Fred. "I did," said 1. The teacher looked at the big fellow and laughed. The difference In our sizes made it seem ridiculous, I guess. At any rate, teacher wouldn't believe that little Jimmy was the guilty party and refused to punish me. Hamilton and I had many a good laugb over it years afterward when I I GAVE HIM A FIERCE BEATTNO. had grown up to a man's size, and he didn't mind tbe Idea of having been beaten by me. On another day a teacher threw a ball at me and hit me on the bead. I picked it np and threw It back and hit him on the head, but much harder. I wasn't punished for that, for it was just tit for tat and no favors. , All through ray school days I had lit tle scraps, like other boys, but none of them serious. My brother Charles (or Jack) did more real fighting. On one occasion be fought a big boy for a full hour and fairly massacred him. It was a fair fight, ail arranged before It be gan. The other boy bad a second, and I seconded Jack. He was a game kid. At first tbe fight went against blm. but he stock it out until be beat the other boy to n pulp, as tbe sporting writeis always say hi tbe newspapers. Profit In Ancient History. A gentleman who was visiting one of the public schools In a Scotch town asked a bright looking boy: "What profit is there in the study of ancient history?" . "About 18 pence, I suppose," was tbe reply. "What?" "Well, the teacher makes as buy tb books from him, and we have to pay 3 shillings. I think be gets them for 19 pence apiece, so be has a clear profit of IS pence, according to my calcula tion." London. Standard- THE BARBERS. Colorado Artists Set Good Example For Nebraska Brethren. - On Sunday, June 5, the State Asso ciation of Barbers of Colorado will meet at Denver to perfect a state or ganization. Representatives from every local of the Journeyman Bar bers' International Union in the state will be present The object Is two foldit will look after social matters and will also look after the securing of some needed laws protecting the trade and Its followers In the Cen tennial state. It is also expected that the association will be able to organ ize a number of towns that now have no locals. This is an example thai could be profitably followed by the Barbers of Nebraska? The trade is organized in Lincoln South Omaha, Fremont and partly in Omaha, Columbus, Kearney, Grand Island, Beatrice, North Platte, McCook, Fairbury, and several other towns ought to have strong locals. A state association would be a ma terial help in this work. The Lincoln local met In regular semi-monthly session last Wednesday night with the usual 95 or 99 per cent of attendance. The assertion is vol unteered that the Barbers' Union has a larger percentage of its membership present at every regular meeting than any other union in the city. This may explain in part the splendid progress the organized men have been able lo make within 'the last year. "NUTS" POST SUES JOURNAL. Indianapolis, Ind., May 18. C. W. Post, the millionaire food manufactur er of Battle Creek, Mich.,' who has made war for years in favor of the open shop,' brought suit here today against the Typographical Journal, or $50,000, charging libel. He avers that the Journal published an article charging that the products of the firm are adulterated.