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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1907)
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT JNlTAH3T31,.t3Sr UP-TO-DATE ITT ONNECTICUT is usually regarded I4J as a safe and pleasant place to live In, and yet It had forty-three mur ders in 1906, where Maine had only two. To be sure, Connecticut has more people than Maine, but not so very many more; it has fewer than 1,000, 000, while Maine has 725,000. It is fair to state that it was an unusually bad year for the old nutmeg state In this respect, as its forty-three murders are more than it ever had before in a single year, and seventeen more than the annual average for tho last decade. "You know how a soldier traitor is put to death," said the colonel. "The traitor stands blindfolded, and half a dozen privates shoot at him sim ultaneously. But perhaps you don't know that each of these privates, though he take the most careful aim, may afterwards say, without fear of contradiction, that the traitor's blood does not stain his hands. "This is the reason: "Two of the rifles for the ghastly shooting are always loaded with blank cartridges. Then they are shuffled, and no one knows which the harmless ones are. The executioners draw, and each is as like as not to draw a harm less gun. "So when they shoot, they can solace themselves for their unchristianlike work with the thought that maybe they are only shooting a blank cart ridge at the poor, blindfolded wretch before them." Mrs. William II. Taft, the war sec retary's wife, has given 20,000 acres of land and $5,000 toward the construc tion of the projected Nueces Valley railroad in Texas. Her Catarina ranch (200,000 acres) will benefit by the road. China now , has a railway mileage of about 9,000 miles.' Of this, 1,330 miles is in operation and the rest under construction, except 930 miles "in abeyance." Last year the Chinese im perial railways, 526 miles, paid 26 per cent on the capital outlay. Among the many curious and un usual animals which have been found by Sir Harry Johnston, the African explorer, in the Uganda protectorate, is i the whale-headed 6tork. The bird re 's sembles the common stork in every j thing but the head, which is anything I but beautiful. The beak is enormous and gives the stork a peculiar, whale j like' appearance. It is rather a puzzle to scientists to discover the reason for ! this enormous pendage. The whale's mouth is built to catch a multitude of small fish, and possibly the stork's beak may have been evolved by the same agency. Trypsin, the remedy now on trial for the cure of cancer, Is one of the secre tions of the pancreas, says the Lon don Globe. It is a powerful ferment. If the whole amount secreted for di gestion were absorbed into the circula tion unchanged, it would digest the body itself and so cause death. Tryp sin disssolves otherwise insoluble pro tcids, converting them into peptones. It is also able to split up these latter bodies. The use of trypsin in cancer was first suggested by Dr. Beard of Edinburg. It is stated that several cases of cancer have been cured or much Improved, by Injections of tryp sin. A statistician, whose calculations may be taken to be as trustworthy as statistics usually are, estimates that the money given yearly In tips In France amounts to nearly J75.000.000, over $20,000,000 being bestowed in Paris alone. Ills calculations are based on the assumption that each ln Itbitant In Paris spends seven -twelfths of a penny, and each Inhabi tant of the provinces one farthing a day In tips. There are people who say that they never can enjoy a hot bath because the hot water always makes them faint. This trouble, according to Sub urban Hlfe, may b remedied by the simple expedient of placing a towel which has been wrung out In cold wa ter on the head and retaining It there until the bath is over. It Is possible that case of drowning have occurred at a result of falntness while In the bath, so that this precaution becomes advisable. According to the Jewish Outlook the Jews of the United States are rejoicing too much over th recent elevation to high offloe of some of the people of that fru(4.dun. "There I a certain In congruity in the fact," a.ys the writer, "that in the- United States, the freeM country ef the glob and the oldest republic, the Jew do not, occupy, at leant not politically, the position they do In old European una. The tmm bcr ef Jkw In the United State cm frrea t smalt, when compared with the number of Jews in the parliaments of other nations. Even in Russia there were in the last douma proportionately more Jews than are in the congress of the United States. The same is the case in Germany, Austria-Hungary and France, where in the parlia ments Jews are prominently in evi dence. In Italy, with her small Jewish population, there is a large number of Jews in parliament, and the most Important positions in the Italian cab inet of ministers are held by Jews, who, moreover, take interest in Judaism." There Is in London a cafe much fre quented by diamond merchants, and known appropriately as the African cafe, where It would seem that a ro mancer might find good material. Stevenson, for example, might well have laid a scene in "The Rajah's Dia mond," there. It was farce, however, in stead of romance that blossomed forth the other day, when an American dia mond merchant, whose name was sup pressed, but who may be identified by the description "tall and handsome, with a prominent nose" sprang to his feet declaring that he had been robbed. There were fifty other diamond ex perts in the cafe, but he barred the door, and declared that all must be searched. Luckily, when the police ap peared, he searched himself first, and the missing stones came to light, whereupon he made a handsome gift to the police orphanage, and clapped his diamonds into his safest pocket "Snow is a well known meteor, formed by the freezing of the vapors in the atmosphere." This is from a scientific treatise of eighty years ago, and the London Chronicle makes an odd mistake in laughing at it: "We have long since ceased to think of snow as a 'meteor.'" It is simply a question of terminology. Meteors are literally "things in the air," and the term was formerly applied to all at mospheric phenomena, as when Bishop Hall calls hail "an ordinary meteor." This use is still preserved in the word "meterology." The specific use of ""meteor" for shooting-star, which tends to increase because "shooting star" is an entirely inaccurate term, has naturally curtailed the use of "meteor" in a more general sense, which is rather a pity, because "at mospheric phenomenon" is a clumsy and poor equivalent. It would be awkward, for example, to get on with out "meteorology," and it would be convenient t? keep in practical use a term to express the subject matter of that science, which is precisely the Greek "meteora' There is a strange jostling of the medieval and the modern in the story which comes from Italy of the con troversy over the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius. This miracle, which takes place several times a year in Naples for the edification of large numbers of people, was imitated some time ago by Prof Giaccio, and he has now been challenged by two Catholic professors of chemistry in Rome to re peat his experiment under conditions prescribed by them the material to be prepared in their presence and then shut up- till next May in a safe with three locks. The phenomena to be pro duced in May under these conditions are variations of temperature within the limits of 66 to 86 degrees Fahren heit; variations as to the time required for the liquefaction from one minute to several hours; variations In volume and weight. Professor Giaccio has ac cepted all tho conditions except the last, which he holds to be not merely contrary to the law of the Indestructi bility of matter, but to rest, in the case of the Naples miricle, upon very slender evidence. It Is to be noted that the "Ameri canism" "jail" is creeping Into English use, much to the indignation of pur ists. The London Chronicle, for ex ample, has admitted it to Its columns, though an editorial paragrapher finds it necessary to protest: "This Is one of the commonest of Americanisms used day after day, and tho reason for Its popularity Is perhaps to be traced to the fact that many people are apt to mispell 'gaol' by 'goal.'" The facts In the case, of course, are that "Jill" la not an American t m at all, but one of two variant English forms, "Jail," from the old French "Jalole," and "gall," or "gaol," whkh should be pro nounced like "gale." It never la, ex cept by unlnstructcd Americans who come upon It In print, und the reason for this anomaly N that the archaic form "gaol" (which wan, by the way, formerly spoiled a'.so "goal," as bid spellers, according to the Chronicle, Pll It still) w;w preserved a. a print rd frm In England by law books, tho i'ojv.s'rvtitlJru of which I .-4 proverbUl, and which naturally had much o say about "gaol.," Hut In speech the "Jar form triumphed, and England rni now to bo mltmg the upelhng to the word ft America did long ago. Hut for that nutter, there wn the best of precedent) In English u for thti so talletl ArnertcanUtn. MIHon used It, and I'ope, vhl! Addtnon came a-s close to it .1 "Jvjf L" SHORT STORIES. Cri HERE are many stories told of the yy Queen of Italy's acts of kindness io her poor subjects. The following, however, shows that even the good intentions of queens are not always IILLUUCU. TT - 1 . ner majesty recently noticed a pleasant faced little girl and spoke to her.. There was a. short mnvprsaUnn and the queen asked the child what sne couid ao in the way of needlework. i can Knit stockings, signora," re plied the girl. "Do you know who I am?" continued me queen. "Yes, signora; you are the queen." "Well, then, make me a pair of siocjungs ana send them to the pal ace." A few days afterward the articles arrived, and the queen, in return for the gift, sent the child a beautiful pair of silk stockings, one filled with sweets, the other containing money. Next day the queen received a letter from her little friend, as follows: "Signora, your gift has caused me many tears. My father took the money, my big brother took the sweets, ana as ror tne stockings, why motner tooic tnem ror herself." Apropos of misses and masters, the "only child" has always been pitied because he is lonesome; and because ho has been pitied he has al."?o been petted. Petting is not good for any body and, consequently hundreds of reasons have been advanced in support of the theory that large families were preferable to small and that children should be "taught their place" and have the selfishness drummed out of them by other children a trifle older and stronger. However, the hero of this story put in a new plea for a numerous progeny when he returned the other noon from an institution of learning for beginners. He was evi dently in abysmal spirits. "What's the matter with you now?" queried his mother. "Mi s in arith metic again, or did you get your hem stitching and clay modeling wrong?" "Nope," he replied dejectedly. "I ain't got nobody to catch anything from. It's funny I can't have no brothers nor sisters like the rest of the scholars. Richard Lafln, who sits in the next seat to me, has caught the measles from the twins in his house; he's got 'em double and he ain't got to go to school for two weeks." She was reading a paper before the mothers' club. "And here I will insert," she said, "a half dozen questions of the sort my little boy asks me every night before he falls asleep: '"Why does Santa Claus give chil dren skates when there ain't any ice?' " 'When I drink water, why don't It run down into my legs?' " Is It his very best medicine that the druggist has in them big green and blue bottles?' " 'Why is it I breathe out smoke when I'm cold, and not when I'm warm?' " "Who cooked dinner when all the big folks was little boys?' " "Speaking of the objection In con gress to adding legislation to measures when it is not germane reminds me that there are more curios combina tions than are found in congress," said Senator Knox to one of his associates. "I was riding along a country road beyond Yonkers one time and came across a little frame dwelling on which was displayed this sign: "It struck me that this was going beyond anything I ever noticed before in stretching the application of the word germane." A traveling man says that he once had occasion, while In Maryland, to make a business call upon the proprie tor of a "general store" in a town on the eastern shore. Now, this proprie tor was known on all sides as Illiter ate. Nevertheless, he would never con cede the truth of tho general Impres sion. The traveling man says that, whet, ho entered tho store, the proprietor was engaged in a business conversa tion with a customer, who, as he turned to go, said: "My the way, I believe I owe yoj some money, don't I?" "Just a minute," answered the pro prietor, turning to a slate on tho wall. Iteverslng it he carefully scanned the marks thereon. "You owe me for a cheeee," he finally said. "A chee? repeated tho customer, "why, I haven't bought a pound of chej off you for months. There inuu bo some mistake." The utort-kei pt-r gave gUnco nl the reverxe side of the slate. 'That's no." he exclaimed, with a smile. "It was a grindstone. 1 dlu't it the dot over the T In the middle. Tha chief of the party had Indulge.! In one of their harmony dinners, rind the editor of the Dal y I tread wa look' in over the account of the nfflt that had been turned In by the mporter : Bull Pups and Violets for Sale, : "There were a lot of speeches made, wasn't there?" he asked. "Yes, sir," answered the reporter. "Was Colonel Corey's speech the only good one?" "Oh, no, not at alL" "Then why have you reported his talk in full and given only a brief synopsis of the others?" "For the reason that when It came his turn to speak the banqueters were too far gone to be able to understand it, and I thought they ought to have a chance to see what it was." rThe old time darkies may twist the long words which are their delight, but they always make themselves intelli gible. The Atlanta Constitution says it is one of their curious characteristics. : "Aunt Dilsey," a young Richmond lady recently said to her 'mammy,, "what has become of young Tom Phil lips?" "De Ian' sakes, Mis3 Baby," Aunt Dilsey replied, with uplifted hands and eyes like saucers, "he done run off to de great imposition out west, but we aiift heard from him, nary line, 'cept'n 'tis one o' dese sump'n n'er pic ture cards; an' I jes believe, Miss Baby, dat he's done been catnipped!" WANDERINGS OF A PARAGRAPH. New York Sun: A reporter on a Louisville newspaper wrote a few weeks ago a harmless fake story, and his paper printed it the next day. It told of a Kentucky man who had been aleep for twelve years. Since that time the pleasant bit of fiction has been earning bread and but ter for people all over the land. Thu we read several days after the thing was published: "A man in Kentucky has been asleep for twelve years. When he wakes up he should be assured of a permanent Job as juryman." ' Chicago made that up. In fact, most of the Chicago papers commented in one way or another upon the somno lence of the Kentucklan. The St. Joseph (Mo.) paragraph ma handled it thus: "Down in Kentucky a man's been asleep twelve years. Won't he be mighty glad to find out all his debts are outlawed." Somebody in Denver has evidently had experience In Kentucky, because the next time the newspaper waif shows up it is in a Denver paper, thus disguised: "A veteran Kentucky citizen has been sleeping for twelve years. Prob ably only snoozing off a real old Ken tucky Jag." A spirit of envy may have inspired the next text on the subject It comes from a New Orleans paper: "A Kentucky man has been buried in a sound sleep for the last twelve years. Most : likely he started in to read one of Marse Henry Watterson's editorials." Hot on the heels of this unkind cut comes the deliberate insult of a Detroit newspaper: "See that a Kentucky man has been asleep for twelve years. Don'; blame him. That's r.bout all there is to do nowadays if you have to live in Ken tucky." There is probably some allusion to local conditions in this from St. Louis: "A Keutuckian of some standing has been asleep for twelve vears. In all likelihood the gentleman is dead, and some of those highly efficient ambu lance surgeons have made one of their usual hurried diagnosis of his case." Still hurying on ;ts way, the scrap of intelligence slip into Columbus. O., editorial room, where the man takes it 8nd hurls it back in this shape: "There's a man In Kentucky who's been asleep for twelve years. As long as he keeps his eyes shut and lies still It's all right. He's a blamed sight honester than a lot of other Kentuck ians who have been walking around sound asleep for twice twelve years." One might be Inclined to wonder sus piciously about the habits of the Har rlsburg man who fixed It up this way: "We learn with interest that a Ken tucky man has been asleep for twelve years. Ho rrobablv earn- tn at j a, to. too muddled to make excuses to his wife, and norr he's simply sidestepping the morning-after explanations." When the Cincinnati writer aiarta In wo see how far a man dare go for a pun: "Thai Kentucky chan who has been quietly sleeping for the lost twelve years must have filled himself full of still" whisky." llttshurg shows It still mansges to kwp an eye on literary affairs: "A Kentucky man went to sleep twelve years ago and ha's asleep yet. This shows us the terrible effects f reading one of Henry J am cm' novels." The hand. in of the theme In (leve l.uul shows a tendency to get g:iy with the police. The paper says: "A rest In Kentucky hs br t asleep for twelve years. This ntur ally brings up the pertinent Inquiry: 'Why ln t he on our notice force V