The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, November 11, 1897, Image 6

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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
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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
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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
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