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
