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About The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1897)
MJS 5wasMagigJLiftaiuaittVMuwfMi Mwmwgiwniwaii 9 ta A MODERN FABLE A fable old for a modern rhyme Yako or leave as youve wish or time A uMitfec vine in a forest grew Putting out tendrils two by two She crept to the oak so tall and green And Highcd May I on thy bosom lean The voice thai quickened the soul in me Said I was only a part of thee AuI T was never alone to stand Or siuk deep roots in the motherland A creature of light of love of air Z should have no part in the rude worlds care Dul over thy breast austere and old My warmth and beauty I should enfold While lh i no to shield me from all alarms Ami daunt the storms with thy mighty arms But the 01 k replied To me it seems You tire much inclined to idle dreams Folks seem to think I can work and work Just to let you hang around and shirk Til let you love me Ill hear your song But you must hustle and help along And belittle vine replied Flltry Int her leaves drooped low she hnd to nigh t Ami deeper deeper without a moan She braced her roots and she stood alone The wind blew hard and unhelped at last She loosed her hold and she faced the blast Then cried the oak Alack alas That tfiich a tiling should come to pass Tfu vine has from my shelter fled Ami U mnts a wicked sauey head But then complaining soft and low She blushed I did not wish to go I tnd alone you know I trust Not cause I would but cause I must Oh km so Journal fMKvUS ON BOAED MrH Melhursts compliments sir and would you please come down to her stateroom immediately I had just shut myself into my little onio on deck having run through the ships amounts before turning in that QiKhf I hsid scarcely got my accounts fairly in baud when I was interrupted by a sligiw tap at the door I arose nt onct awl opened it and there stood Mrs ftfth units Canadian maid with flush ed fare and nervous agitated munner I h witched off the electric light lock ed the door and hurried away after her When I got to Mrs Melhursts BlaUroom I saw at once that something had occurred to cause her serious anx iety The berth the couch and even the doors were littered with the con tours of cabin trunks and hand bags In the midst of the confusion stood the Jady herself looking decidedly perplex ed and araoyed This is very singular Mr Morse she mi id pointing to an empty jewel cane which lay open upon the upper berth My diamond ornaments are missing low did it happen I ennnot possibly tell you At din aer bis evening I happened to men tion lo Mrs Latimer that I had picked up a certain crescent shaped brooch on tin continent She expressed a wish to see it When the bibles were cleared I came iu here took out the brooch and led ibe jewel case lying on the berth but when T got back the case was em My LFow long were you absent Mot more than half an hour Yau are sure you had the key oi your cabin in your possession all the tiiuctV Positively I never let it out of my hand while I was in the saloon I examined the lock carefully but then was absolutely nothing to show Unit it had been tampered with I bad just got to the head of the sa loon stair when I heard some one bounding up after me three or four litcjm at a time I turned and saw Mr Garter who by the way had made Sev ern voyages with us on previous occa sions I say Mr Morse he said taking me confidentially by the arm youve got some queer customers on board this - trip HUnw SO Why someones gone and walked off with my silver cigarette case a couple Oi rings and a pair of gold Tell me exactly what has hap pened M dear fellow how can I It is enough to puzzle a Philadelphia law yer Vou see I went to my stateroom utter dinner I can swear to that and remember slinging my cigarette case lingH ud a pair of gold sleeve links on the upper berth Then I put on my dreatittg gown stretched myself upon the couch and had a downright good t - puooze When l got up aoout nve min utes ago I found my trinkets had van I loat no time in Hunting up the cap ita nad made him acquainted with the slide of affairs lie was just as much puzzled as I was myself We both questioned the lady closely but her replies did not tend to throw any Ifgbt on the singular occurrence For the next few days we had no further complaints The thief was evi dently lying low waiting until tran quillity wasi restored before making a fresh attempt Meanwhile I kept my eyes open We happened to have a passenger on board a Brazilian named de Castro Vrtio was a bit of a mystery to me all through the voyage But for the fact conclusive evidence to show he could not have been directly con cerned in the robberies for inquiries proved he had remained on deck the whole eveuiug he certainly would have been treated to a private inter view in the captains cabin Nothing further occurred to excite suspicion until the last day or two of the voyage Then one evening aftei dinner word was brought to me that three other staterooms had been rifled In the same mysterious manner When the alarm reached me I hap pened to be standing in my deck office I had in my hand twenty sovereigns I didnt wait to lock up the gold I sim ply placed it on my desk switched off the light and hurried away I had no fear for the safety of the sovereigns my door having a particularly intricate lock in which I took care to turn the key before leaving I remained below for an hour or so but as in the other cases I was utterly unable to make head or tail of them Vexed and bewildered I went back to my office unlocked the door turned on the light and my little pile of gold had vanished Then I managed to pull myself to gether and took a look around my lit tle cabin In the course of my observa tions my eye happened to rest upon the porthole which stood wide open the weather being oppressively hot f went outside and thrust my arm in through the opening but my hand did not reach within fully two yards of the desk Still it struck me as being the only way by which a thief could get the money and I determined to put my theory to a practical test I went straight up to a young Ameri can gentleman who I knew had a great many trinkets in his stateroom and was rather careless too in the way he left them lying about Dont show any surprise I whis pered glancing around at the other oc cupants of the saloon but might I ask whether your stateroom is locked It is And the porthole open I should say so I dont want to find the place as stuffy as the engine room when I go to turn In Well just pass me your key I want to try a little experiment Wait till Im gone and then stroll up on deck Let yourself be seen on the low er deck particularly but dont pay too close attention to anyone you may no tice loitering there I went and shut myself in his state room crouching down so that I could just keep an eye on the porthole over the top of the lower berth Suddenly as I glanced up at the port hole my blood ran cold and in all my life I never had such difficulty to keep down a yell In the dim light I saw a long thin hairy arm thrust in through the opening The next moment a small black hand had fastened upon a leather case lying close to the window and withdrew it as quick as thought al most I dashed up the saloon stairs and made for the lower deck There just about the spot where I judged the stateroom to be situated I came face to face with the Brazilian De Castro Suddenly a happy thought flashed through my mind I turned round and sprang down the saloon stairs run ning full tilt against the chief steward who was standing at the bottom Get me a handful of nuts quick I cried The Brazilian had moved away a lit tle toward the stern I went close up stood right in front of him and then began deliberately to crack the nuts Presently I saw a corner of the cape drawn aside and behind a pair of small gleaming eyes fixed greedily on me It was enough My suspicions were confirmed The moment I laid my hands upon him I heard a vicious snarl under his cape it was pulled suddenly aside and out flew a monkey When searched Mrs Melhursts dia monds Mr Carters cigarette case and rings and a miscellaneous collection of other valuables were found on him In his stateroom we discovered a perfor ated box apparently intended for the use of the monkey who was evident ly quite as accomplished as his master Elinira Telegram Why the Soldiers Were Too Short Just at the time when vague reports were beginning to creep abroad that Germany was meditating fresh exten sion of her frontier at the expense of Holland a Dutch official of high rank happened to be visiting the court of Berlin and among other spectacles gol up to amuse him a review was organ ized at Potsdam What does your Excellency think oi our soldiers asked Prince Bismarcs as one of the regiments came march ing past in admirable order They look as if they knew how to fight replied the visitor gravely buJ they are not quite tall enough The Prince looked rather surprised but made no answer and several other regiments filed past In succession but the Dutchmans verdict upon each was still the same Not tall enough At length the grenadiers of the guard made their appearance a magnificent body of veterans big and stalwart enough to have satisfied een the giant loving father of Frederick the Great but the inexorable critic merely said Fine soldiers but not tall enough Then Prince Bismarck rejoined These grenadiers are the finest men in our whole army may I ask what your Excellency Is pleased to mean by saying that they are not tall enough The Dutchman looked him full in the face and replied with significant em phasis I mean that we can flood our country twelve feet deep London Tid Bits Our Average Weight The weight of the average sized mac is 140 pounds of the woman 125 pounds UNCLE SAMS FISH COMMISSION Important Branch of the Government of Which the Public Knows Little The work of the United States Fish Commission is perhaps as little under stood by the people of the country gen erally as any branch of the govern ment While it is not a division of any one of the nine great departments it is created by the President of the United States its officers are appointed by him and the work it is accomplishing is of great importance to several indus tries of the country In order to supply the demand for food fish culture must be resorted to in every thickly populated country for with the utmost protection the demand is always greater than the supply un less nature is aided in its production of fish Benjamin Franklin and other prominent Americans were strong ad vocates of fish culture and practiced the transplanting of fish in the closing years of the last century but it was not until the early 50s that much at tention was given to the matter in the United States At about this time the scientific men of the country began to investigate the American streams and they were not long in discovering that they were being rapidly cleared out They expressed grave fears that the coast waters might also become deci mated of their finny inhabitants Steps were very soon taken by the different States to prevent such a catastrophe in 1865 Massachusetss appointed the first fish commission in 18G8 New York appropriated 1000 for the same pur pose Gradually the other States have followed suit until now almost every one has its fish commission and since its first appropriation New York has spent over 350000 for this object In 1870 Prof Baird then of the Smith sonian Institution fitted up a station at Woods Holl on the southern coast of Massachusetts at his own expense and maintained it for two years mak ing many valuable demonstrations of what could be done with a hatchery mall which is designated as Armony square and is a plain tall brick build ing without a suggestion of exterior or namentation The basement floor is filled with aquaria in which is running water and growing plants and ited with all lands of fishes the west part of this floor is finished like a deep grotto and the hanging vines and mosses over the glass cases in which the fishes are swimming make the illu sion perfect It often happens that the cars in which fishes for propagation are sent to the stations over the country are standing on the side tracks near the building and when this is so it is very interesting to see the manner in which the fishes are carried from place to place The government owns two steamers the Albatross and the Fish Hawk which are fitted up magnificently for the purpose and which are used ex clusively for deep sea explorations Tlf are manned with men of known scientnfe attainments who have added immensely cM store of the worlds knowledge of th Inhabitants of the briny deep - v rS fi LADIES BRASS BAND CF OREGON WHOSE PLAYING IS FAMOUS Hcppner Oregon has a unique musical novelty in the character of a ladies brass band made up of the maids and matrons of the most prominent families in the town whose social standing is pitched with the bon ton The band was or ganized a year ago and was to be a self supporting organization entirely As soon as organization was perfected ways and means were canvassed by which funds could be raused for uniforms and instruments It was decided to give a concert which proved v grand success financially at which the band made its first appearance in public The audience mildly enthused over their playing it was so much better than was expected The Ladies Baud was a success Then when the pres idential campaign opened they were at once in demand The Ladies Band became the fashion and no candidate ever thought of making a speech in their neigh borhood without first having secured their services as an attraction Their popu larity led them into church socials picnics etc until now they are famous throughout the entire Northwest The ponds for fish culture at Wash ington are not far from the Washing ton monument on the mall and they are one of its most attractive features Rare specimens of fish are brought and careful experiments are made to accli mate them and here too are hatched vast quantities of the eggs of the fish of commerce which are sent to th various stations all over the country Duck Farming in Virginia One of the largest and decidedly the best equipped duck farms in the United States is located at Riverton Warrer County on the Southern Railway John W Morgan four years ago com menced raising ducks at Riverton on a small scale and his business has grown until the output this year is about 5000 ducks and he is enlarging his plant and expects next years output to bo about 15000 ducks Mr Morgans plant occupies two acres of ground and this area he will increase The plant consists of an incubator house a feed room a brooder house home for em ployes a wareroom yards with shelter for the ducks and water supply outfit including bath ponds with running water for the fowls The proprietor is now adding to this plant In the busy season there are fed to this farm 125 3 gallon buckets of mixed feed each day This farm marketed many thou sands of ducklings the past season a large number weighing 7 to 8 pounds per pair at seven weeks of age Alex andria Gazette Girl AVho Shams Religion Ruth Ashmore writing of the Shams of the Modern Girl in the Ladies Home Journal and of the sham that is worse than all others th religious sham says She is the one who is most conspicuous in speech and some times in work but in her heart her re ligion is simply a means to a very earthly end She is prominent in the Sunday school because she thinks she can in that way become acquainted THE PONDS FOR FISH CULTURE AT WASHINGTON The matter of a national fish commis sion was brought to the attention of Congress and the President many times before anything was done about it but in February 1871 Congress passed a joint resolution which authorized the appointment of a commission of fish and fisheries Prof Baird was ap pointed and entered at once upon his duties and his efficient service won for himself the title of the first fish cultur ist in the world and placed the Amer ican fisheries in the front of all others At the present time there are stations located all over the country The headquarters of the commission is at Washington it occupies the old ante bellum arsenal in that part of the with some people she would like to know She is ever ready to get up and express her creed at the prayer-meeting because she thinks that her ability will be recognized She rustles Into her pew kneels for a long time and then settles herself comfortably to look at the congregation She consid ers it respectable to go to church Be yond that she gives no thought She forgets that unless religion is of the heart it is of no value She has never understood that it is not the loud prayer nor the wordy prayer which makes an impression on God but that it is the sincere cry from the soul ap pealing to Him to which He listens The religious sham can usually give you a description of all the costumes worn by her set in church She can tell you of the amount of money put in by each member as the plate is passed along She goes to church to observe the outward visible sign and never in any way troubles herself about the in ward spiritual grace A Curious Superstition Among the superstitions of the Sen eca Indians was one most beautiful one When a young maiden died they imprisoned a young bird until it first began to try its powers of song and then loading it with caresses and mes sages they loosed Its bonds over her grave in the belief that it would not fold its wing nor close its eye until it had flown to the spirit land and de livered its precious burden of affection to the loved and lest one St Nicholas Women may supersede men in many pursuits but the field in which a brin dle cow grazes is barred to th femala i in red A I iifl1 irtifrtflSwt EUROPES PEACE MONARCH Obcar Kiiis of Sweden Who Stands Six Feet Three In climbing the mountains and breathing the pure salty breezes of the KING OSCAR velopment by peaceful means are the order of the day Yes some wanted matters to move faster but sure is bet ter than fast There he stands every inch a king Oscar II is six feet three tall is in good flesh JS years old but his gait is that of a young man He wears a full gray beard trimmed quite short and looks very much like his portraits He was dressed in dark colored sack coat a white vest and carried his white tour ist and sailor cap in his hand No sol dier no body guard no detectives around that king His Majesty walked about in the hall spoke with everybody it seemed sat down a minute here and a minute there was all joy and sun shine to his friends and subjects and looked for all the world like one of our own most popular Presidents onlj more democratic more friendly than nuy public man of note that I have met in America The King has been busy with Cabinet meetings these days but was gracious enough anyway to allow me a brief audience which I appreciated very much He well remembered Bethany College His Majesty has been the friend of that western institution for many years and our gratitude which I personally expressed Is deep and sin cere Oh how King Oscar loves dear old Sweden He asked many questions in a hurry concerning my impression of the conditions obtaining in his king dom in general and about the great exposition at Stockholm An expression of his Majesty I will never forget it is so characteristic of him and his reign Here I live in peace and joj with my people There stands the King the peace monarch on the shore as our steamer leaves land waving good by to his three Cabinet members on board and lo all and everyone of the passengers in general Long live King Oscar and many well wishes for his happy reign and king dom Christiana Letter to the Topeka Capital Bees in Warfare On two historical occasions bees were employed as weapons of war The first is related by Appian of the siege of Themiscyra in Pontus in connection with Lucullus when he was engaged in his war against Mithridates Tur rets were brought up mounds were built and huge mines were made by the Romans The people of Themiscyra dug open these mines from above and through the holes cast down upon the workmen bears and other wild animals and swarms of bees before whom the enemy fled precipitately The second incident was seen at the siege of the Danes and Norwegians up on Chester when that city was de fended by the Saxons with their Gallic auxiliaries The Saxons threw down the besiegers all the beehives to be found in the town and the bees so mal treated the enemy that they are obliged to desist and soon left the city in ueace Cut Postage Stamps in Hair Sometimes we find that people have cut stamps in half when they want one of half the denomination said the red headed postal clerk in charge of the oddities of the mailing matter as he entered in his unmailable list eggs bacon cucumbers an entire goose a rats head and some bug poison You would expect that the people who do that would be immigrants with the odor of the steerage still clinging in their clothes It is by no means the case Now here is a letter bearing the J kS 385V - JiMtr aigEWwnKMJi half of a 4 cent stamp showing an envelope addressed in such a precise hand that it indicated a New England origin I notified the sender by the address in the corner of the envelope that her letter was being held up and sea were a splendid preparation for when the next day I saw a little white our supper at S pm We hurried some- fcaire3 0ia iatjy jn black come briskly what as there was to be a soiree at jn i guessed correctly that she had S30 at which the King was expectedcome for tujs letter When I told her to be present I had never seen the that it had not gone because of a King and was very anxious to see his Majesty of whom I knew and had tilated stamp she looked surprised even when I showed her the envelope In a heard so much We succeeded in get- sweet gentle but protesting way she ling good places on the gallery and in a few minutes his Majesty King Oscar three members of the Cabinet and oth er distinguished guests walked into the hall King Oscar is the peace monarch of Europe His reign will be twenty five years of duration next month and that period of time has been one of growth development and increased prosperity for Sweden but not by arms or war but by more vigorous indus tries increased popular education and business principles applied to every day life The King is the most learned monarch living an eloquent speaker a most entertaining conversationalist a poet of note but also a diplomat and astute business man But he is something more He is the nearest and dearest friend of his peo ple It seems that he has not an enemy in Sweden No nihilists in that Luther en and educated country The Kings ear is open to everybody that is the reason Reforms and progress and de- insisted that the stamp was not muti latedthat having no 2 cent stamp she had cut a 4 cent stamp in two and sho added reproachfully that she was sorry that there had been any delay I If you had a 10 bill would you ex pect to tear it into tenths and have the pieces each buy a dollars worth of dry goods She paid her 2 cents with the air of the woman forced to keep dress goods she has soiled when she knows she can got the same thing for less money across the street but said scornfully This must be a dreadfully unaccommo dating postoffice I pity Chicago people Down East they make no such fussy requirements Chicago Times-Herald ORIGIN OF TABLE UTENSILS Even During the Middle Agres People Ate with Their Fingers The use of the fork dates back oniy to the seventeenth century The old Greeks although their civilization was much advanced ate with their fingers as gracefully as possible Plutarch mentions the rules to he followed when eating with the fingers and this is one of the most interesting passages in his description of antique customs In the middle ages people still ate with their fingers It is true enough that ablu tions took place before and after a meal but still that custom was any thing but clean Each of the guests at a dinner was first offered a basin and a pitcher of water and it was bad form to help ones self to any of thoiviands before having carefully washed hands and face Goldsmiths finally invented forks but at first they were objects of luxury and were used only at times when they might just as well have been done with out The first mention of forks is made in a document dated 1300 which says that Pierre Gaveston the favorite of Edward II possessed three furohes tes forks for eating pears cheese ana sandwiches It was more than 300 years later before forks were used for fish and meat Albont the second decade of the sev enteenth century a picture of the Royal Prince of France shows that he carried a case containing a kuife a spoon and what looks very much like a fork Glasses and drinking cups were first first made of wood or tin In the fif i teenth century Venice manufactured the wonderful glassware which re placed on the table of the Siegneurs the heavy oaken or metal cups formerly used Egg cups were not known pre vious to the fifteenth century and even in the sixteenth century they were rath j er scarce and had no distinct namei They were described as an article in which to place and hold an egg or a silver thing to place an egg in Salt cellars also date from the fif teenth century Goldsmiths excelled in making artistic salt cellars and the one modeled for King Francis I of France by Benvenuto Cellini was a wonderful work of art People in gen eral did notknow the use of salt cellars and even among wealthy families it was the custom to break a piece of bread and to place the sait for each individual upon the bread Philadel phia Record Blue Inside Why are these envelopes made blue on the inside asked a Star reporter looking at a specimen which a whole sale stationer held in his hand For a very simple reason was the reply One of the most important re sults in making envelopes is to prevent transparency Many white papers are so transparent that by careful scrutiny the contents of envelopes made of such material may be determined For in stance let us put a sheet of paper with writing on it into this envelope Let us also Insert a bank check We will now seal it and hold it to the light thus There you cannot only see the ank check but you can also read many of the words on the sheet of paper This can be prevented either by getting a very thick and high priced envelope which is not transparent or scarcely transparent or by taking a cheaper grade of paper which is blue on one side We sell thousands of packages yearly of blue envelopes thatJs envel opes which are blue on the outside but most people do not like them on ac count of their color So to get over the difficulty and still make an envelope that will hide the contents and not be high priced the manufacturer uses pa per which is blue on one side and white on the other One factory in New York turns out over 1000000 of snch envel opes every day and their sale in large cities is enormous Washington Star Her Nose Vindicated The report of the finding of the big gest nugget of gold yet discovered in the Yukon country appears to have been forwarded by the first newspaper Correspondent of the female sex to ar rive in that country The woman In journalism thus again vindicates her nose for news Boston Herald Alaskan Insects The whole Yukon region is afflicted by clouds of bloodthirsty mosquitoes actoinyuiutju u a v muiciive any in the shape of a poisonous black fly We sometimes think that people do not die of okl age they ivorry then selves to death r JJmiwmmi i I r 7 4 5 l K C m w est I
