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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1907)
Shoveling Gold in a Siberian Mine The above picture was made at the Troitzk mines which are the most im portant and richest of the whole district Women are largely employed in the mills and on the surface works It was curious to watch them hard at work shoveling up the rich ore as it came from the shaft as though it were so much coal or rubble writes a correspondent Wages are ridiculously low as compared with what is paid in other mining camps I have visited 2 shillings a day for miners and general laborers while women and boys get even less Yet there is always an abundance of labor to be got at these rates The Troitzk district is nothing more nor less than a huge gold producing industrial center and presents a startling contrast to the dreary vista of endless forest or steppes one has to traverse to reach it The ore is crushed by what is known as Chilean mills No convicts are employed in these mines M M UM- INVESTORS PARTIAL TO AGRI CULTURAL PROPERTY Life Insurance Companies and Banks Favorable to This Class of Se curities Few Mortgages Foreclosed Chicago The attractiveness o farm loans in the middle west is hav ing a decided effect on Chicago capi tal according to bankers and brokers Considerable activity is manifesting itself in this direction and many of the leading life insurance companies are acquiring first mortgages on farms in Illinois Iowa Missouri Kansas Oklahoma Nebraska Colorado Min nesota the Dakotas and the country adjacent The present holdings of the insur ance companies considerably exceed 200000000 in these securities Farm mortgages in the country mentioned net five five and one half and six per conk They are limited as a rule to ODD GIFT 10 BRIDE FATHER GIVES WEIGHT IN SOAP AS DOWRY London A valuable wife in the present state of the soap trade must he the woman M Le Blanc a Parisian lias just married The bride who was the daughter of a hairdresser in a large way of business not only re ceived from her father a handsome dot in money but her own weight in the best toilet soap As she weighed close to 140 pounds the couple will possess sufficient soap to last them for some years to come When askeu by his prospective father-in-law a flourishing West end to bacconist to name the gift he would Jike to receive on his wedding day the young man suggested a few boxes pf cigars as being of more use than the usual presents presented on such occasions Very well you shall have jipy daughters weight in cigars said tthe other He was as good as his -words The bride weighed 128 pounds Mile Mane Brie the niece of a Marseilles confectioner re ceived from her uncle on her marriage three years ago an eccentric gift in the form of her own weight in chocolate Perhaps the worthy patissier had in mind when making the present the custom which prevails in Peru There on the mar riage morn the bride is actually -weighed and after the ceremony the bridegroom is presented by his wifes relatives with her weight in sugar A Yorkshire coal merchants pres ent to his daughter on her marriage ias to be regulated by her weight for every pound of which she is to be the recipient of a ton of the best coal His intention which he communicated to her on the day she became engaged stirred her as she was a young wom an of frugal mind to emulate the fat women of the fairs so that during the six months her engagement lasted her value went up ten tons Doubtless she would have made further inroads into her fathers store had not that worthy merchant hurriedly married her off at a loss of only 172 tons The father of a girl living in the town of Koniggratz offered to present anyone who should become her hus band with her weight in silver cur rency As she was well favored and of a build -which although not excep tionally stout promised an amount ample to make a good start in busi ness more than one claimant ap peared The most eligible was at length selected and the wedding duly solemnized Then came the most im portant function the weighing of the bride who to her husbands delight was found to weigh 155 pounds or 13 J500 kronen an equivalent to 2812 Ad skki i JZ AAstl icCSAfc Mfc HIIHt FARM LAWS ATTRACTIVE productive farms and are made on a basis of 40 per cent of the land value closely appraised and not including the value of improvements Bankers point to the remarkably few fore closures of farm mortgages in this sec tion The number scarcely exceeds one tenth of one per cent As compared with other invest ments based on lands in cities the bankers of the middle west favor the well placed farm loans which they declare contain every element of at tractiveness A farm -loan is regard ed as a quick asset whereas the con trary was true not much more than a decade ago Many trust companies now include a separate department for the purchase and sale of farm loans Chicago has a number of firms dealing in them and it is estimated that close to 15000000 in such securities is held by Chicago investors A large increase in this class of investment is predicted Statistics show that the value of Missouri real estate for example is P V- 2000000000 while Kansas has real property worth 1000000000 Okla homa real estate Is estimated at 358 000000 Missouri has 204000000 invested in live stock 32000000 in farm im plements 92000000 in manufacturing machinery and 310000000 in rail roads Oklahoma is a land of homes Out of S7000 families in 1900 more than G0O00 owned their homes The peo ple are engaged chiefly in agriculture The cash value of the farms is esti mated at 233000000 The 190G corn crop amounted to 125000000 bushels representing 37500000 The cotton crop has a value of 15000000 More than 27000000 bushels of wheat was harvested in 190G and 23000 tons of broom corn cut Fruit of all kinds is raised in abundance Farm lands in Oklahoma range from 18 to 0r an acre or an average of about 30 PREACHES BRAND NEW RELIGION New Yorker Plans to Establish Com rade Kingdom on Earth New York John Augustus Wall has promulgated the newest of new l religions Mr Wall formerly lived in Valley Stream L I His new religion was launched at the Berkeley lyceum amid the applause of 100 enthusiasts To prove that his religion is really brand new Mr Wall sent forth a cir cular calling the meeting in which the names of Jesus and Moses Moham med and Washington Jefferson and Lincoln Roosevelt and Emerson Ed win Markham and Elbert Hubbard Ella Wheeler Wilcox and Darwin Huxley and Paine Ingcrsoll and Bryan Hughes Hearst and Brisbane are coupled The circular roads in part Do you believe In Moses lesus Mohammed ct al as above stated Are you an atheist infidel moralist spiritualist Jew Christian or ethical culturist Are you living in a secluded fur nished room a palace a tenement or a brown stone residence Are you married single young or old rich or poor Do you believe in the new thought Christian Science or just the old way that mother and father taught Mr Wall explained to his audience that the church is to be known as the National church and that through it he hopes to establish a comrade king dom A branch of the church will be es tablished in every assembly district Among things the new prophet hopes to accomplish is the establishment of department stores hotels bowling al leys laundries insurance companies and skating rinks in connection with each branch WWPfWfWWWlvffffWW Harem of the Shah at Teheran rx i m m mi imiii in TOTfTTm wffMin Infant Death Rate Reduced Novel Scheme of an Englishman Les sens Mortality London Alderman Benjamin Broadbent M D the retiring mayor of Huddersfield England has just an nounced the result of the two years test of his novel scheme for the pre vention of infant mortality in his na tive part of the borough Longwood On taking office as chief magis trate two years ago Alderman Broad bent offered five dollars to the parents of each child born during the period of his mayoralty that reached the age of 12 months Instructions to mothers some of which were suggested by the princess of Wales were sent out and the mothers were visited by voluntary women visitors who reported prog ress The Huddersfield rate of infantile mortality had averaged 139 for ten years and in Longwood itself the av srage for ten years was 122 In Mayor Broadbents two years 112 babies received the promissory note card for five dollars Of that number 107 had actually received the gift he had offered Out of the five left four had died and one had been removed from the district and he did not know whether the child still lived or not If he counted only the four deaths the figures were 35 per 1000 and if he counted the missing baby as dead the figures were 44 These figures compared very strikingly with the previous figures of 122 per 1000 for Longwood and the average of 139 in the whole town of Huddersfield The experiment has reduced the death rate to much less than half His own estimate of the result was that it was astounding For exactly 12 months from October 9 1905 to October 9 190G not one of the babies on his list died under the age of one year The babies belonged to all classes and there was no selection some living in places hardly better than slums Very great general interest has been taken in Alderman Broadbents experiment and inquiries including one from President Roosevelt have been received from municipalities all over the world Blind Man Becomes an Inventor Iowa Falls la Charles Abbott the blind piano tuner of this city has turned inventor and is exhibiting the working model of a heat regulator for a chicken incubator on which he has applied for patent The regulator gives the alarm when the heat In the incubator becomes too high or too low The regulator is set for 103 degrees and when the heat varies a few de grees above or below this mark the regulator rises or falls and breaking a circuit rings an electric bell until the owner regulates the heat to the proper temperature Mr Abbott has been blind all his life Eat Sand for Dyspepsia West Chester Pa A number oi people in this place who are suffering with stomach trouble have taken tc the sand cure and are taking il every day The sand comes from Mississippi and is packed in bags con taining a couple of quarts It is taken in doses of a spoonful and as often as the patient has an attack of the trouble When any animal has an at tack of stomach trouble argues a pa tient it goes at once to the ground for some clay or sand for a cure and why should not a man i GHOSTHAUNTSROAD MERRYMAKERS DISTURBED INCONSIDERATE SPIRIT BY Apparition Wandering on Highway Be tween Butte and Rocker Mont Believed to Be That of Recent ly Executed Murderer Miles Fullers ghost haunts the road between Butte and Rocker and its first appearance was made as a party of merrymakers was on its way from Crystal Springs to Butte says the An aconda Standard The night was a dreary one and clouds cut off tho lit tle starlight that would otherwise liave been in evidence The time was just midnight that popular hour when graves are supposed to yawn The tally ho had just topped the little raise below the Sunrise saloon when the horses stopped snorted in terror for their eyes had caught the gleam of something white An instant later it came out of the darkness and the sight was so appalling that the pas sengers actually fell out of the carry all and fled shrieking toward Crystal Springs The horses were petrified with terror for a moment and then fled panic stricken through the dark ness the driver in his fright being unable to control them The tally ho was almost completely wrecked and the driver and horses escaped serious injury only by a miracle As soon as the passengers arrived at the springs they told of the fright ful vision they had seen and the dan ger in which the driver had been placed Immediately a party was formed to hunt up the driver and lay the ghost The driver was found be fore going far for he had swung the horses towards the springs and he still had control of them although the wagon was wrecked The poor brutes were actually wringing wet with sweat of terror and were trembling so their teeth rattled I have the horses all safe said the driver Go up there and see what has frightened them and the rescuers hurried on only to see a shadowy phosphorescent object disappear over a hill towards Rocker One of the men who saw the ghost is positive it is that of old Miles Ful ler who was hanged in Butte a few months ago Fuller used to be a resi dent of that section of the country and the people there say there is no doubt that his spirit is now haunting the road The sight was a terrible one said one of the passengers When the driver stopped his horses fLnz f I looked out and coming directly to ward us were two people on horse back One was a woman shrouded in white and riding a white horse She was leading a horse so black that he only made a faint shadow against the darkness and upon his back was a figure bound in straps and with a black cap tied over his head He sat on that horse like a soldier We only took one look and then we fled but we searched our souls for screams to tell how frightened we really were and we were not content until we got into the shelter of the hotel at the springs Many of the residents of Rocker corroborate the truth of the ghost story It may be that some one is playing a practical joke but that is not believed by the superstitious and a number of schemes are being planned whereby tue ghost will be laid to rest again Why Fullers spirit should be accompanied by a woman is a mystery which his best friends cannot solve as he was classed as a woman hater during all of the year3 he lived in Montana Rails Are Evener The fact that within the past 20 years two thirds of the unevenness in railroad tracks has been done away with on certain lines was discussed at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Sciences The improvement has been brought about principally through new de signs and methods of manufacture of rails A track indicator car travel ing 20 or 30 miles an hour sums up the inequalities the ups and downs in the rails for each mile traversed Formerly the total inequality per mile amounted to six or seven feet even for tlje best roads nowit has been reduced to only IS or 20 inches and this remnant is said to be due to dents in the rails It has been pointed out that the improvement which may be carried farther brings with it heavier locomo tives and cars longer trains and high r speed - I ON THE WESTERN RAILROADS Big Locomotives Smoothly Overcome Some Remarkable Grades That the cost of operation of one of the big western limited trains is an enormous item may be conjectured from the fact that in tho -2309-mile run from Lake Michigan to the Paciilc coast these heavy trains must sur mount an altitude of nearly 7200 feet from a height of 586 feet above sea level to Chicago the initial point This climb may be realized when it is learned that the Pennsylvania rail road in crossing tho Alleghanies has to ascend not more than 2000 feet from an altitude of 700 feet at Pitts burg and almost every one knows what the grade is on the famous Horseshoe curve When tho trans continental train reaches Los Angeles it has descended to a bare 26G feet above the level of the Pacific Small wonder it is then that the eye of the connoisseur in mechanics gazes in ad miration upon the monster locomo tives of the latest Pacific type turned out by the Baldwin shops for the draught of these heavy trains across the Rockies and the Sierras and even the amateur in railroading can see from the observation car as the train speeds along that the roadbed is perfect the grades and curves as easy as they could possibly be made the ballasting all that could possibly be desired and the locomotion as even as though the train were propelled along a glassy surface smooth as a tranquil pond Yet the 2309 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles are covered with an average of about 35 miles to the hour Of course this comparison suffers with the 50 miles per hour maintained by the lS hour trains of the Pennsylvania and Lake Shore railroads between New York and Chicago but it must be remembered that these roads have reached the utmost perfection in rail road equipment Their right of way for a long distance is occupied by four tracks and none of it by less than two that the distance on which the speed is maintained is approximately but 900 miles against the 2300 miles of transcontinental roadway under discussion and of the 2300 miles by this route only 4SS of it is double tracked But they are learning fast how to railroad in the west EAGLE CHATTERS HIS TEETH U S Consul Says Pan American Rail way is Only a Dream Our former consul to Para grows almost hysterical when any one says Pan American He coruscates puns He even provides the American eagle with teeth The great Pan American railway is a beautifully taking conception he sarcastically exclaims in Colliers The American eagle shivers in every pin feather and his teeth chatter with de light at the mere suggestion But however glorious this may be for the great American eagle when the average American citizen proposes to send his own private ten dollar eagles a railroading especially a-pan-railroading he wants to know how it is going to pan out and where the pan is going to dump after the scoop is made and where the eagle is going to light when he comes down Except on extensive plans the rule of railroad building is to follow the water courses where nature has al reaay done all the necessary grad ing The Pan American railway dreamer proposes to shove a railway more than 5000 miles lengthwise through moun tains from Panama to Patagonia cut ting at right angles every valley and hill for thousands of miles through a nearly uninhabited region the great er part of the distance It is perfectly safe to predict that no railroad will be built along that route very soon A continuous line of railway may some time in the far distant future be in operation from New York to Bue nos Ayres but it will never be used for carrying through freight between those points As long as half an ounce of coal can be made to move a ton of cargo a mile on the open ocean no born Yankee is going to send his freight by rail to the Amazon valley or to Rio or to Buenos Ayres Doggone Little Timber Ora Miller of Des Moines chief dis patche of the Rock Island told the following story recently While making a trip over the Northern Pa cific we stopped at a station in the attractive valley of the Yellowstone river Several of the passengers sought the right of way for a oreatl of fresh air and a limbering jaunt alongside the train The mountains could be seen in the distance a rugged setting to the almost treeless landscape Presently a member of the party addressing a passing citizen in the garb of a cowboy said What is the name of this town my friend Well pard I low its Big Tim ber Montana Big Timber repeated the in quiring gentleman with some surprise Id a thought theyd a called it Little Timber and doggone little of it Landslip on Siberian Railway As the result of continued rain storms the Trans Baikal railway has been washed away and damaged at several points while the railway run ning around the southern end of Lake Baikal has suffered very much from great landslips between the stations of Baikal and Slyuryanka Two trains have been overwhelmed by these landslips two soldiers were killed several of them were injured and many of the cars were wrecked Scientific American iimwi ninao DISH LIKED BY ALL MANY WAYS OF SERVING THE POPULAR POTATO Easy to Avoid Common Mistakes in Preparation Three Recipes That Are Used in Public School Classes More than half the ilia that tend tho middle and latter part of Ilf itro due more to erroneous habits of diet than to the use of alcohol great as 1 know the latter evil to be Sir Henry Thompson After the first potato lesaon says Mrs Mary Williams instructor ir do mestic science tho girls have learned what mistakes are commonly made in the cooking of this vegetable and how to avoid such mistakes They will not serve potatoes that are soggy and waxy instead of mealy They know that potatoes should be left un covered to allow the steam to escape instead of recondeuslng and soaking into the starch The practical work in the second lesson on potatoes has to do with va rious ways of serving this vegetable Potatoes appear on the table so often that this variety in serving is most important The girls learn that with little trouble and expense they can prepare creamed potatoos equal to those served in the finest hotots The use of starch in thickening liquids for sauces and gravies is explained when making white sauce for the creamed potatoes The important point iu this is to keep the starch from lump ing when it is used as a thickeuing material There are three vays by which the lumping may be avoided First by mixing the starch with a lit tle cold water before adding it to the hot mixture second by rubbing the starch with the butter or other far before adding the liquid third b mixing starch and sugar together Before leaving the subject of pota toes it will probably bo of value to housekeepers who dearly love reci pes to give some potato recipes which are used in public school classes Creamed Potatoes Cut freshly boil ed or cold boiled potatoes into one-half-inch cubes put them into a sauce pan nearly cover them with milk and cook gently until nearly all the milk is absorbed Add white sauce stir for one minute sprinkle with finely 2ut parsley and serve White Sauce for Vegetables But ter two tablespoonfuls salt one half teaspoonful flour two tablespoon fuls pepper one eighth teaspoonful milk one cupful Rub the but ter and flour together with a spoon In a small saucepan Add the milk and stir steadily over a moderate heat until the sauce boils Add salt and pepper For richer white sauce US part cream Cream sauce is white sauce made with all cream instead of milk Use one and one half teaspoon fuls of flour to one cupful of creazi Mashed Potatoes Mash potatoes in the saucepan in which they were cooked using a fork or a wire pota to masher When free from lump add one third cupful of scalded mi it in which has been heated one tab spoonful of butter one half tf a spoonful of salt and one eighth t a spoonful of white pepper Beat al together until light and cream Heap in a dish without smoothing the top or it may be put into a baking ulish the top brushed viTh milk and browned in a hot oven Riced Potato Press boiled pota toes through a strainer or vegetab press into a hot dish Serve pota toes uncovered Spinach on Toast Is an excellent luncheon dish A half peck of the vegetable is boiled in salted water until tender Draic and chop fine To this add thickened milk Into a saucepan put a table spoonful of butter to which whe melted add an even tablespoonful of flour Rub smooth Stir in slowly j cupful of milk and let boil and thicker before mixing with the spinach Serve hot on squares of toast Brussels sprouts may be served in the same way and if thoroughly cooked are both palatable and digestible Nut Wafers Butter the inside of a granite pan then put into it a cupful of lighr brown sugar a cupful of granulated sugar and two thirds of a cupful of sweet cream Cook until the mixture forms a soft ball when tested in cold water add a cupful of chopped nu meats of any kind flavor with vanii and stir until of a creamy consistenc and commencing to harden Reheat over hot water until melted stirring constantly then drop in small pas on buttered paper Good Way to Broil Chicken Anyone who has broiled chicken knows how hard it is to cook ir through without burning outside so wish they would try this way Splr and wash chicken and put in a shal low pan with a little water in it and place in hot oven for about half an hour then put on broiler and brown well on both sides take the water i pan and make a butter gravy and pou -over chicken serve hot Steamed Eggs Have a cup containing one halt spoonful of butter setting in a dish of boiling water Into the cup break one egg beat slightly with a fork add two tablespoons of milk mix thei cover the dish tightly so that the steam will not escape The egg win puff up to the top of the cup a3 i cooks and is soon thoroughly don A delicate appetizing dish served Yritii toast V -