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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1905)
tags e Qfe Nobrachc Indopondcnfl SEPTEMBER 7, 1905 u o o o IN WORLD OF OGRESS I 6 THE PR A concert given for the Inmates of the Dunn ing, Illinois, asylum recently demonstrated the effect of music upon these patients. Four hun dred insane men and women listened quietly from the first number of the program until the conclusion. Patients who, in the wards are con tinuously restless, sat quiet and subdued. In the words "of Dr. Podstate, general superintendent, the. music was better than barrels of medicine, and much more . effective than straps or strait jackets would have been." , . The most serious news in regard to yellow fever near New Orleans comes from Bayou LaFourche, where a hundred or more cases have been reported. This is a scattered camp, at the mouth of a bayou on the gulf coast far to the south of , New Orleans. There is a mixed popu lation there and the people eke out an existence by fishing. It is In this part of the parish that the lepers have congregated and there are many of them to be found along the bayou. It is alleged that many of them are victims of the fever and in their case it Is folly to hope for recovery. The German Atlantic Telegraph company is just laying out a new telegraph cable between Constantinople and Constanga, on the Black Sea. Thi cable' is to be connected in Constantinople with the existing aerial telegraph lines between Berlin and Constaotinople. In addition to the German-Turkish telegraphic traffic, this new line is to be used for communication between the states of western Europe on the one hand, and Turkey, Asia Minor and Greece on the other. The new line is supposed to assume a high im portance for the economical interests of Ger many in Turkey and Asia Minor, while greatly accelerating the transmission of telegrams be tween Berlin and Constantinople: A report on forest planting operations being carried on within Pike's Peak forest reserve in Colorado has been forwarded to .Washington. It shows very satsifactory progress along all lines: In Clementine gulch, near Clyde, Colo., 40,000 western yellow pine and 10,000 red fir seedlings were planted last spring under direction of the forest service at an elevation of 9,300 feet and, though the season was a very unfavorable one for tree growth, the result was encouraging. Fire lines fifty feet wide have been cleared around the planted area and all dry brush and dead trees have been piled and burned. Nursery work has progressed at - Clyde, Rosemont and Bear Creek. Large numbers of seedlings will soon be ready for transplanting to various points within the reserve. Figures only to be described as staggering are dealt with in a return that has just been Issued by the postal union for the year 1903, and the mind fails to realize what is contained in the statement that in that period of twelve months 2,597,000,000 of . letters were posted in Great Britain. The correspondence of all other countries is, of course, tabulated. In regard to postcards Germany heads the list with 1,161, 000,000, to be followed by the United States with 770,500,000 of such missives, Great Britain tak ing the third place with 613,000,000. That, how ever, is a striking "total and is a good evidence of the popularity of the picture card, which, of course, has, been a largely contributing factor to the vast mass. Germany it is interesting to note, has the fourth place in the world's em ployment of postcards and used about 487,500,000 during the same period. i Three died in Custer, S. D., the other day one Ruf us H. Pilcher, one of two survivors of the Black Hawk war. Had he lived until the 15th of September he would have reached the ripe age of 101 years. At the last state census he was one of the three centenarians of South Dakota. He was one of the early captains on the Missouri river in the days when it was the DTPat avfnilP nf tr.lrtA for tho mlAMa waet TTti, life was a rugged one, filled to the brim with -excitement and work. He served his country in three ' different wars, the Mexican, the Black Hawk and the civil war. Nothing but 'his ad- va-nt'aA '-iiiro nrnvonfarl Mo rrincr n-ItVi (tin ai. r? the boys at' the time of the' Spanish-American war.- His 100th anniversary-was celebrated the 15th of last September at St. Louis. He held a reception in the afternoon at the South Dakota mining exhibit and in the evening was enter tained by his friends at an extensive banquet at one of the hotels. Many telegrams powed in upon him that, day from friends all through .the states of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. He was very well known in Indianapolis, where for many years he was a conspicuous and well known figure. While Chicago was still a city of frame huts he made it his home, and has seen it grow to the greatest city in the west. He has seen changes in all the avenues of trade, and he helped materially in these changes. Until the last two years, or until he reached the age of 99, his health was remarkably good. He was strong and vigorous and a great walker. He first went to the Black Hills in the pioneer days of '77, and since then has always spent more or less time there. He was interested in mining ventures and traded considerably in grounds. The principle of municipal ownership of street railways has been definitely adopted in Berlin, and there will be no more franchises to private parties. cablegram to the Chicago Daily News states that municipal transportation projects involving an expenditure of over $100,000,000, and intending to give the city complete control of the traffic situation, are now engaging the attention of the Berlin government. In addition to the fine surface system of electric railways whihe has already been decided upon, the city's engineers are working out a plan for extensive underground, elevated and suspension railways. These will traverse Berlin in all directions and link up with it the suburbs anJ surrounding towns. The lines of the Great Berlin Street Railway company, the existing privately owned traction system, will not be paralled, as those lines fall into the city's hands in 1917, at the expiration of the present franchise. , There is general belief in navy circles that, as a result of the Bennington inquiry, it will be demonstrated that the navy reorganization scheme adopted some years ago has failed in the respect that the engineering work Is neglected. Under this reorganization the old engineering corps was abolished and the engineering work- was placed in charge of officers of the line, and a part of their duty was to see that the engineering is done. Under this arrangement it is possible for these officers of the line to shirk engineering duty for things more pleasant. Secretary Bona parte has referred the report in the Bennington case to Captain Diehl, judge advocate general, and it is expected that a determination shortly will be reached regarding the recommendations at the court of inquiry. At the time of the dis aster the president informed Secretary Bonaparte that he desired a report from the secretary upon the subject, and it is the Intention of Mr. Bonaparte to forward to the president such a report within three of four days. This report will cover the general conditions and probably will comment upon the working of the naval personnel law and its relation to the steam en gineering department of the navy. The remarkable growth of Japanese foreign commerce during the first six months of this year,' especially of imports from foreign countries, is shown in the June monthly return of the for eign trade of the Empire of Japan, a copy of which official publication has just reached the department of commerce and labor through its bureaus of statistics. As compared with the six month's figures for the previous year, the im ports show the remarkable increase of 5C.9 per cent, from $90,952,000 to $142,659,000, while ex ports for the same period show a relatively in significant growth of less than 4 per cent, from $68,458,000 to $71,098,000. It is of interest to note that, while the largest increases in imports are credited to the United States, the United Kingdom, and British India, the largest in creases in exports occur under the head of China, United States, and Korea. Thus imports from the United States for the first six months of the year 1905 were $31,921,000, as against $13,328,000 during the same period of 1904; imports from the t Unite Kingdom r ;were ; $32,623,000, . -.as, -against $16,982,000; imports from British' India were $34, 034,000, as - against $21,092,000; while imports from Germany are stated' as $10,794,000 for the first six months of this year, as against $6,985,000 for the same period of the year 1904. As regards imports from other countries, they have in creased at a much lower rate, or else show de creases. The exports during the same periods were largest for China, which is credited with ' $21,932,000 as compared with $14,953,000 during the first six months of 1904. The United States ranks next among the countries to which Japa nese products are destined, the figures for the first six months of, 1905 being $20,304,000 as against $19,910,000 for the previous year. In the third place now stands Korea, with $5,852,000" as against $3,840,000 for the same period of 1904. The exports to France, one of Japan's large cus tomers of silk, have fallen from $7,117,000 dur ing the first six months of 1904 to $5,401,000 dur ing the first six months of 1905. The exports to the United Kingdom have likewise decreased from $4,343,000 to $3,335,000, while exports to' Germany have fallen from $1,098,000 in 1904 to $1,045,000 in 1905. The leading position of the United States in Japanese foreign commerce is seen from the fact that this country furnished 22.4 per cent of the total imports during the first six months of 1905 as compared with 14.7 per cent of the total imports during the same period of 1904, and is credited with 28.6 per cent of the total domestic exports during the first half year in 1905 as compared with 29.1 per cent of the total domestic exports of Japan for the first six months in 1904. Great Britain is preparing to benefit its mil lions of inhabitants by applying the principles of municipal ownership to the telephone system of the nation. Six years hence the National Tele phone company, "the monopoly of monopolies," with an issued capital of over $45,000,000, will be bought by the nation at its present valua tion, and the postoffice will commence its am bitious and difficult task of providing cheap telephones. How huge the business is may , he gathered from the fact that the company haa 326,017 "stations,? of instruments, "which bring in an annual revenue of over $10,000,000. In London there are 73,783 of these stations. The business of the postoffice is a baby business by the side of that of this company. The last annual report of the postmaster general recorded 15,632 instruments in London and 6,874 in the provinces. It will be the gnat swallowing the camel indeed when the postoffice takes over the business of the telephone company, which employs a staff of nearly 15,000 persons and pays over $3,000,000 a year in salaries, wages and general adminis tration expenses. But the agreement which the government has now made with the company the postoffice subscribers will 'Obtain free inter communication with the company's system, and to" two undertakings may for all practical pur poses be regarded as one. Not until after 1911, however, can the real "cheapening" process commence. The Portsmouth conference is one of the shortest on record. There are precedents for the waiving of monetary indemnity, the United States having done so in the Spanish war. Among great peace treaties which have consumed so much time are: The treaty of Paris, January 14, 1784, in which the independence of the United States was recognized and peace between Great Britain and her erstwhile colonies restored, took' fourteen months to negotiate. The treaty of Washington, May 8, 1871, admitting the Alabama claims to arbitration, had been under discussion since November 20, 1862. The seven weeks' war between Prussia and Austria, which culminated in the battle- of Sadowa. was terminated by the treaty of Prague, August 23, 1866, which was seven weeks negotiating. The treaty of Zurich, which ended the Franco-Prussian war of 1859, was four months in being ratified. The treaty of Frankfort, May 10, 1871, putting an end to the Franco-Prussian war, had been - under discussion since January 28, 1871. The treaty of Con stantinople, December 4, 1cj7, ending the war between Greece and Turkey, took almost three months to arrange. The treaty of Washington, August 12, 1898,. ending the war with Spain, was signed in less than three weeks, but it left a number of points to be decided by a peace con gress,.. which, jnet- later, '.in Paris. The treaty of . Vereeniging, ending the Boer war, was in process of making from March 22, 1901, to. May 30, the same year.