The Religion of China.
Buddhism is the principal religious
faith of the Chinese. Long as this
religion has existed , it Is little under
stood by Americans. Its founder ,
Buddha , was born 623 years before the
Christian era. His theory of deity
embraced a trinity , known as the
Three Precious Ones. The moral code
of the religion contains ten prohibi
tions killing , stealing , lying , selling
wine , charging interest on loans ,
speaking false of others , self-praise
and back-biting , parsimony and scof
fing , uncorrected anger and reviling
'the ' Three Precious Ones.
The Buddhist church in Thibet has
Its pope , its cardinals , its bishops ,
priests and nuns , exactly as has the
Roman Catholic church. And more ,
it has infant baptism , confirmation ,
candles , sacred water and processions.
The teachings of Buddha were re
duced to writing 93 B. C. The entire
canon of the faith was compiled in
A. D. 400. In this Buddha is described
as coining from heaven , being Dora of
a virgin , welcomed by angels , re
ceived by an old saint , presented in a
temple , baptized with water and later
by fire. He is described as astonish
ing the doctors with his understand
ing , was later led into a wilderness ,
where he was tempted by the devil ,
and thereafter he went about doing
wonders and preaching. He was a
friend to the poor.
It seems doubtful when Buddhism
. was introduced into China. It is re
corded , however , that in the year 63
A. D. the emperor , Han-Ming-Ti , had
a vision wherein he saw a great gold
en image around whose head was a
halo , and 'it was believed it meant
truth. The emperor's brother , Prince
Tsu , having heard of Buddhism from
India , said the vision was nothing but
the great Buddha. A mission was sent
forth , which returned after some years ,
bringing back a wooden image , a
counterpart of the golden one , one
book and a Hindu priest.
The great temple at Pekin , called
the Yung-Ho-Kung , or the Lama
temple , is a Mongol Buddhist monas
tery , in which , there are some 1,200
acting priests. Here the dogmas of
Buddhism are taught under the con
trol of a Gagan , or living Buddha.
The studies comprise a course of in
struction in metaphysics'ascetic du
ties , astrology and medicine.
Many Chinese are Confucians. These
follow the teachings of Confucius ,
which are the worship of ancestors.
One of the provisions of this creed isi
that no son shall live more expensive
ly than his father < or mother.
Chinese Doitlcs.
Contrary to general supposition , the
deities of the Chinese are not mythi
cal. Each of them is supposed to be
patterned after and to embody the
noble traits of some man who has
lived in the past Confucianism is
now well understood , and both Bud
dhism and Taoism have been so thor
oughly explored that it is hard to be
lieve that anything of Importance re
lating thereto is to be discovered. At
least one more book upon this topic ,
however , remains to be compiled
namely , a Chinese mythological dic
tionary. Such a work should contain
an account of all the principal divini
ties actually worshiped by the Chinese ,
with authentic details of such as are
historical , together with a record of
the steps by which many of them have
been promoted in the Chinese pan
theon , until , like Kuan-TI , the god of
war , from very humble beginnings
they have become "adjuvant of
heaven. " The number of these divin
ities is very large and includes many
that have been continuously worshiped
for over 1,000 years. Whether the
Chinese have ever at any time in their
long history had perception or con
ception of one true God , "Father and
Creator of all things , " is a question
that has been long and learnedly dis
cussed by scholarly students of their
classical writings. It is still an open
question. But there is no doubt at all
that for many centuries past they have
worshiped the sun , the moon , the
stars and a host of ancestral deities.
All the gods of China may be said to
have been dead men , and , by the right
of ancestral worship , It may be
affirmed that in a sense all the dead
men of China are gods. Temples are
constantly erected , by the consent of
the emperor , to men who , while living ,
have in various ways distinguished
themselves. It is impossible to say
that any one of these men may not , in
the slow evolution of ages , rise to the
highest place among the national di
vinities. There can , therefore , be no
doubt whatever that PS & nation the
Chinese are polytheistic.
Chinese Superstition.
Similar in some respects to the cele
bration of Christmas in Christian
countries is the observance of the
devil's birthday in China. On this an
niversary many costly gifts are laid
upon the altar of the evil one. There
are many other superstitions current.
In sending the kitchen god to heaven
every year , the Chinese housekeeper
has to burn it and let the fumes as
cend. It reports on. the good deeds of
the family for the year and brings
good luck. Before burning it the
housewife dips her finger in a jar of
molasses and smears the upper and
lower lip of the idol , so that when he
arrives at ihe pearly city he may tell
a sweet tale on the family and thus in
sure benedictions. A family , when
gambling , will cover the eyes of the
idol until the card playing is through.
A woman in Luhoh city went to the
temple to pray for the recovery of her
son from smallpox. He recovered , but
was marked with the effects of the di
sease. She returned to the temple in
a great rage , put "a coil of rope around
the idol's neck and soused it several
times in the river , saying : "I'll teach
you to lose your benign influence , you
rascal. "
Cessions to Foreign Powers.
Each conflict in which China has en
gaged has resulted in a loss of terri
tory. The principal cessions made by
tlie Mongol government as the price of
peace have been the following : The
Island of Formosa was ceded to Japan
in 1895 , after the war with China. In
1897 Germany seized the port of Klou-
Chou on the east coast of the Shan
tung peninsula , her excuse for so doing
being a massacre of missionaries
which had taken place there. Two
months later she received from China
a ninety-nine year lease of the port
and district. In 1898 Russia obtained
from China a twenty-five-year lease
of Port Arthur , Talienwan and their
adjacent territories and waters. The
lease can be extended by mutual
agreement. The same year the Chi
nese government gave permission for
Great Britain to occupy Wei-Hai-Wei
for as long a period as Russia shall
hold Port Arthur. To compensate
France for the concessions given to
Great Britain and Russia a ninety-
nine-year lease was given her of the
bay of Kwang-Chau-Wan , on the
coast opposite the island of Hainan ,
and last year two islands at the en
trance of the bay were definitely ceded
to her. Hong-Kong was ceded to
Great Britain in 1841.
The Chinese Treaty.
The treaty between the United
States and China negotiated in 1S58
and proclaimed in 1860 provided that
the Chinese government should guar
antee protection to the American min
ister in his journeys to and from Pe
kin , and should protect him and his
suite while in Pekin. The treaty of
1868 , negotiated by William H. Seward
and Anson Burlingame , provides for
the protection of American citizens ,
American property , and American
trade. In article 1 it is declared :
"Nothing in this article shall be con
strued to prevent the United States
from resisting an attack by any hostile
power or party upon their citizens or
their property. "
technical draining.
One of the best testimonials to the
value of technical training as fitting
a young man to become a successful
wage-earner immediately is found in
the report of the Georgia School of
Technology. The school , which is in.
Atlanta , was established in December ,
1897. The legislature appropriated $10-
000 on condition that friends of the
school would add $10,000 more. This
was easily raised , and in 1898 about
$20,000 worth of machinery and $13,500
of material was given it. The textile
department , which is said to be one of
the best in the country , was a new.fea-
ture of education in Georgia , and ono
that became popular at once. Instruc
tion is given in manufacture of all
grades of cotton goods , in manual
training , chemistry , dyeing , design
ing , and engineering. The report of
the Institution states that of the nine-l
ty-four living graduates all but nine
are employed in pursuits for which !
they have been fitted by their training
at the school. They are mechanical ]
engineers , superintendents of cottod
mills , in machine shops , chemical
tories , oil mills , and other establishments -
ments of the same kind , nearly all
ing in positions of authority and
manding good wages. No better evin
dence of the practical value of practi
cal training could be asked than this.
The Late Senator Gear.
The late Senator Gear was one of
the most familiar figures at the capi
tal , having been a member of the Fif
tieth , Fifty-First and Fifty-Second
Congress , and a senator for the last
six years. He was re-elected to the
Senate by the Iowa legislature last
winter , but the present term will not
exnire until next
March. He wa
also assistant secretary - !
retary of thetreas
ury under Presi-1
dent Harrison , aft
er he was defeated'
for re-election to
the Fifty-Second
Congress. In the
House of Repre
sentatives he was
one of the most
benator bear.
. industrious
mem
bers , and also one
of the clearest-headed business mem
bers. He was a member of the ways
and means committee in the Fifty-
First Congress , which framed the McKinley -
Kinley tariff bill , and his knowledge
of business affairs made him one of
the valued advisers of Chairman McKinley -
Kinley , who intrusted to him the fram
ing of the free-sugar clause in that
work. The sobriquet of "Old Busi
ness" given to Mr. Gear while gov
ernor of Iowa followed him to Wash
ington , and in the House and in the
Senate he was familiarly called "Old
Business. "
The franchises of nearly 1,000 cor
porations in Texas have been revoked
because of their failure to pay the
state taxes.
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ONE OF THE STREETS OF THE NATIVE QUARTER OF PEKIN BURNED BY THE MOBS OF FANATICAL CHINESE.
Judge Munger of the Federal Court
Ruleto This Effect ,
REDUCTION Of RATES RESTRAINED
Encouraging ICt-ports Tram Counties
Throughout the State ICt-giiriling Crop
Outlook Kur.-il ITreo Delivery Service
in Nebraska Miscellaneous Kotos.
Say * the State llourd U Dead.
OMAHA. July 20. Judge Hunger
lias Isued a restraining order prevent
ing Attorney General Smyth and the
putting in effect a reduction of freight
rates upon certain commodities. The
Burlington road has asked the re
straining order. In his opinion Judge
Munger held that the state board of
transportation had no legal existence.
He ruled that the title of the act of
1897 creating the state board as
signed by the governor , was not adopt
ed by the legislature.
Confesses to Cattle Stealing.
man had been eating.
About the State Encampment
LINCOLN , July 19. The state mili
tary board considered plans for the
next annual encampment cf the Ne
braska National Guard. As the funds
available will not pay the expenses
of the encampment it was recom
mended that the officers and men ac
cept 50 per cent of the per diem in
the same manner as during the en
campment of 1896 , and that the matter
of encampment be submitted to the
officers and men on these conditions.
Free Delivery for Nebraska.
WASHINGTON , D. C. , July 20.
Rural free delivery service wilbe es
tablished in Nebraska on August 1 , as
follows : Blair , Washington county ,
one carrier , length of route , twenty-
five miles , population served 829 , num
ber of houses on route 182 , carrier ,
Joi n L. Tracy ; Decatur , Burt county ,
one carrier , length of route twenty-
three and three-quarters miles , popu
lation served 921 , number or houses
on route 184 , carrier , John C. Barlow.
Nebraska Corn Crop.
OMAHA , Neb. , July 18. With the
bounteous rains throughout Nebraska ,
Elkhorn railway headquarters gives
out an estimate of 300,000,000 bushels
of corn in sight for this year. The
same road also furnishes these figures
for the past four years :
Yield in 1899 was 224,373,000 bush
els ; in 1898 it was 158,754,000 ; in 1897 ,
241,268,000 , and in 1S9G , the banner
year , 298,000,000.
Jiulsre Post Starts for Alaska.
COLUMBUS , Neb. , July 20. Ex-Su
preme Judge A. M. Post started last
night , via Seattle , Skagway and Dawson -
son , to Eagle City , Alaska , which will
be his headquarters , as one of the
three attorneys for the territory , to
which position he was appointed by
the president early in June. He will
return home in September in time to
escape the freeze-up , and will not go
back until warm weather comes again.
"Wealthy Farmer Drops Dead.
FRANKLIN , Xeb. , July 20. Wil
liam T. McClure. a wealthy farmer
and stock breeder living about seven
miles south of this place , dropped dead
while at work at his home. Word was
sent into town at once for a doctor ,
but to no avil. He leaves a large fam
ily of small children and a wife. He
will be buried at this place next Sat
urday.
Stabbed With a Knife.
GRAND ISLAND , Xeb , July 19.
O. M. Crawford , Birmingham. 111. , a
brother of E. E. Crawford , well known
in this city , is dangerously ill suffering
from a knife wound inflicted by a bully
whom he was trying to prevent from
harming a friend. The wound is in
the region of the heart.
Et-Kegister Kelley Dead.
FRANKLIX , Xeb. , July 18. J. E
Kelley , an old citizen of Bloomington
and formerly register of tne United
States land office at this place , died
Saturday night from a stroke OL paral
ysis.
T\ro Hey * Dro\vned.
PIERCE. Xeb. . July IS. The two
sens of John Pelt , aged 10 and 14 , re
spectively , living north of Hadar , were
drowned in a fish pond in the pasture.
Their bodies were found.
Killed by Lightning.
BOELUS , Xeb. . July 1C. At 8 o'clock
last night a 19-year-old boy was killed
by lightning on the farm of Hans Hansen -
sen , four miles east of here. The boy
began work Friday. Name not known
positively , but supposed to be son of
John Cullough of Ansley , Xeb. He
c
was milking cows. Hansen was
stunned.
HEID fOR STEALING CATTLE.
A runner Itoapectoit Citizen In 1111 Un-
plcaiiiint rrrdlruinrnt.
SIDNEY , Neb. . July 22.Vllllam ,
Wntklns of Angora , a small station
on the now Burlington route , wua
bound over to the district court , the
bond being fixed at $8,00o. which was
quickly furnished. The examination
took place today at the county court
house and the building was packed
with stockmen , who had como more
than seventy miles to assist in thu
prosecution. Attorney Robert Noble
man of Alliance assisted County At
torney Henry Capon in conducting the
prosecution. Watklns is charged with
the killing of two head of caitlo be
longing to the Carey Cattle company
and the hides were found buried in a
lot of rubbish near ins home ranch.
Watklns has always oorne an excel
lent reputation and his many friends
are surprised at the charge against
him.
Hiivo it Kick Coming.
OMAHA , July 21. Train men and
employes of the operation uepartment
of the Union Pacific are causing quite
a stir over what they consider hard
ships Imposed by the company on
them. The rigid physical examinations
imposed on the men , and the fact that
It Is usually oldest employes of the
road who are hardest hit. After such
examination many of the old employes
have learned that they were not need
ed longer by the company , and this
fact has caused much of the ill feeling.
Besides this the employes are required
to go to Omaha to be examined , and
this causes them much loss of time
and Inconvenience.
Pounded by Hall.
HEMINGFORD , Neb. , July 21. A
severe hail storm visited this section
Saturday night. The hail stones wore
as large as goose eggs and fell thick
and with terrific force. , passing
through shingled and roofed buildings
and in some instances coming through
the plastered ceiling , and breaking
showcases in stores. The siding on
buildings were broken and splintered
into kindling. Board awnings were
shattered , thus affording little protec
tion to the glass store fronts and near
ly every building i ntown will have
to be re-roofed and sided on the west
side.
Incendiary "Work at West Point
WEST POINT , Neb. , July 22.- The
fire bug whose intention it seems to be
to burn up the town was abroad ; again
Ifere. Two attempts were made to sot
fire in the center ot the city , in the
midst of a district filled with frame
buildings and within a few feet of a
lumber yard. ' 1 he coiucr.ts of a shed
in the rear of a barber shop on MMU
street was set on fire abour u o MorK
but speedily extinguished. About
twenty minutes thereafter the frame
barn occupied by the team of County
Superintendent Manning was discov
ered in flames and the fire department
again called out.
Says lie Needs a Guiirdiun.
COLUMBUS , Neb. , July 21. County
Judge T. D. Robinson handed down
his decision in the Barnum case , de
claring it his belief from the evidrm-e
that a guardian is needed for the aged
Hon. Guy C. Barnum , his large prop
erty interests not being safe in his
own hands while there is at least
doubt of his sanity. Gus B. Speice , ex-
clerk of the district court , for whom
Mr. Barnum had expressed a prefer
ence , was named as the guardian.
T.rons Creamery nobbed.
LYONS , Xeb. , July 22. Some person -
son or persons broke into the Lyons
creamery , entering the building by ono
of the north windows by prying off
the window fastener and sliding bar-k
the iron bolts of one of the back doors.
They took ten tubs of high grade but
ter , weighing COO pounds , valued at
$100. It is thought by those in charge
of the creamery the theft was dom > by
parties who have been camping near
town in a covered rig for several days.
( Jood Wheat Yield.
DAVID CITY , Neb. , July 10. Frank
Coon , who lives on his farm one milo
south of town , has just threshed twenty -
ty acres of wheat which averaged thir
ty-five bushels to the acre , mar-him-
measure. The wheat is of excelk-nt
quality and will test more than this.
nirl Attacked hy Ilulldo - .
CHEYEXXE , Wyo. , July 18. The
little 13-year-old daughter of Henry
Hoffman is dangerously ill at her
home as a result of injuries rerr-h-pd
from two buldlogs. They jumped upon
her , and before she could be rescued
her hands , arms , legs and face had
been lacerated in a terrible manner.
The dogs were killed immediately. The
girl will recover.
AVheat yielding We.ll.
SEWARD , Xeb. , July 21. Many of
the farmers are threshing their wheat
and rye from the shock. Wheat is
yielding well , much of it going from
thirty to forty bushels per acre , and
is one of fine quality. Cats harvest
is about over , and is a light crop.
The recent fine rains have greatly
benefited the corn and the prospect Is
good for a big crop.
Knd d UN OWTII Life.
BLAIR , Xeb. , July 22. Mr. Iliia-
bauh. a blacksmith running a shop
at Vacoma. a small country place
twelve miles northwest of Blair , shot
and killed himself with a musket
which ho kept in his shop. He had
returned home after a ten days' spree
in Blair. He was a fine v.-orkraau and
did a good business wh ° n sober.
Sued for Insurance A'.i
FREMOXT. Xfb. . July 22. The Ne
braska Mutual Hail Insurance com
pany of Omaha has brought suit be
fore Justice Hinman against a num
ber of farmers of this county who had
certificates in the concern for assess
ments varying trom ? 12 to 327. Sev
eral , others who were insured in the
same company1 have paid up in order
to save expense , but these six will evi
dently resist payment of their asess-
ment on the ground that tne company
exceeded the powers given it by law.
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