THE VALENTINE DEMOCRAT
1 JM. KICK , Pub
TALENTINI3 , NEBRASKA
tPhe merger's the thing , and Pierp. he
the merging.
The money paid to the Bulgarian
bandits may be charged to the adver-
erpensc account.
It fe probably safe to say that no
titled European will be able to marry
"Hetty Green for her money.
"One of the poets announces that "Our
> Mt thoughts are In words we never
Mjr.w The poet Is not a lady.
The Congressional Record is to be 11-
aistrated. Later it may add a colored
supplement and give a paint box with
pach copy.
Andrew Carnegie says wealth does
-pot bring happiness or satisfaction.
there's nothing left for Andrew to try
bat heaven.
Bnssell Sage still eats 10-cent lunch
es , and smiles when spoken to about
big lessee In real estate. Russell loses
nothing not even sleep.
A correspondent wants to know If a
man can be a Christian on $ o a week.
TJiat would depend largely on how
much money his wife had.
The death of Dr. Talmage deprives
the world of one of its most cheerful
Bptlmists. An optimist is a blessing
both to himself and to mankind.
A New York chess player laughed so
hard at a funny story that he died.
Chess players should always be careful
to avoid anything as violent as hiugh-
Jng.
The rich old man AVUO had only $10
ta his pocket when he was married al-
* ways thinks his daughter deserves
omething much better than her moth
er got.
The collar-buying fiend , who usually
buys one shirt collar at a time , and
.soils Tialf a dozen others with his dirty
hands In the operation. Is coining in at
-last for his share of public denuncia
tion.
A man who used to be King of Spain
ias jecently died , reminding the world
of the fact that it is very easy even for
one who has been a king to be forgotten
when he's gone from the throne a few
years.
Martha Washington , who enjoys the
distinction of being the one wife in all
the world to whom a husband never
told a He , is about to be made still
anore famous by having her picture on
e postage stamp.
Professor Beggs , the Denvec public
school official who said he believed that
.hell in the hereafter will burn more
fiercely for the sinning women than for
the sinning man went out of his way to
look for trouble. He found it.
President Schwab of the Steel Trust ,
* bought a paper from a blind newsboy
Jn New York the other day and gave
him a $5 bill for it. We will venture
11 to say that Mr. Schwab never had
ii
more real fun for $ r in his life.
"Wliat to do with the surplus is likely
to perplex the politicians once more.
Treasury officials say that it will prob
ably amount to one hundred million
dollars during the pi'esent fiscal year.
Jt would puzzle most of us to decide
iow to spend that sum of money , so
we should be patient with any Con
gressmen who may make foolish prop
ositions about it. We might not do
much better than they.
A small matter , but one which will
.prove a convenience and which shows
consideration , is the order issued by
-the. Postolfice Departmentdirecting
tlint all mail-matter for officers and
civws of United States vessels shall
lie carried at'domestic rates of postage.
Xo matter where the ships may be.
whether in China or Europe or Samoa
or South America , 2 cents will carry
any letter weighing less than an ounce.
Although feuds .still prevail in certain
regions , nnd some family hatreds aug
ment with generations , yet the enmi
ties of modern civilization tend on the
whole to die out An American dining
rffenrty in an English house was at-
trartt'd by a dialogue between two
TOung men on the early history of
5oul Africa. It concerned the case of
a jrorc rior ! of that province who had
iK'pn recalled by the Colonial Secretary
of the day. The discussion was con-
- ducted with , great ability and knowl-
< -dge on each side. At last one said to
Hie other. "May I ask how you come to
know so much of an ohscure incident ? "
\Vhy. " replied the other , "the governor
Teas my grandfather ! " "He was ? "
I'jaciilaled his opponent "The Colonial
"Svrretary was mine ! "
The two Dakotas are having a boom
*
of tiie healthiest kind. North Dakota's
Imputation increased " t per cent in the
* Ja. < C ten years. Last year 150,000 iiu-
' j-.KiTrants fouiul homes there , and this
'I
jf = r it ts estimated 200,000 more will
JTJ tlTcre. South Dakota Is faring al-
i' well. The productiveness at
wl iw a great attraction for fariu-
Tlio Dakotas are not only the
* jrrnit wheat fields of the world , bat
y arr suitable for diversified farm-
iT. The corn crop is large. The flax
sjbrgfitlian Ihe crop of the en-
; : < -d > 't : lcs has been , hi recent
aud ivill be more than half the
country's crap this season. North Da
kota has a grass area of forty million
acres , and'over this whole area the
average rainfall is seventeen Inches
The farmers'of the Dakotas have paid
off their mortgages and are accumu
lating money. As a rule two seasons
will clear off iucuinbrances and pay
all running expenses and the purchase
price. This is the reason why there is
such a rush of farmers from Iowa , Illi
nois , Wisconsin , Indiana and the Mid
die West , just as years ago there was
a' rush of Eastern farmers to the then
"
Western States. The Middle West
may yet have its old home festivals
as the East Is now having them.
An Eastern newspaper has discover
ed that the parlor has all but disappear
ed from the average American home.
Come to think of it , that is so , and it
can well be spared. The parlor that ii
passing was about as cheerful as a
cemetery on a rainy day , and attached
to it was a faint odor th.it can be found
In no other place except a prison. The
blinds were kept closed so tightly that
no curious ray of sunshine could lay - .
golden bar on the stiff furniture , or
take the color out of the carpet. There
was mosquitto netting over the pictures
of grandfather and grandmother , and
the few books on the table were cer
tainly never meant to be read. Nobody
entered this parlor except when com
pany came. To the children , closed it
was a mystery. Open , it meant the
wearing of Sunday clothes that scratch
ed and tickled , aud the donning of com
pany manners , which are seldom natu
ral. You sat in agony , wishing thatj
shoes had never been iuveuted , and out
side the sun and wind , the birds aud
the trees wore all singing "Come out )
and play , " while you. miserable parlor
prihoner , were saying : "Yes. uia'aui. I
like 1113' school , " and stumbling and
stuttering till "mother" said : " 1 can't )
see what ails Willie to-day. lie is gen
erally so bright and natural. " And com
pany was trying to appear interested
and thinking : "If I had a freckled boy
who didn't know any more than this
one , I'd be tempted to drown him. " Re
member all that ? Of course you do ,
and the scene of that tragedy is fading
away. The parlor of thirty years ag < J
will .soon join the dodo and the great
auk and other prehistoric things. It is
because people are learning how to live.
The rich have their drawing-rooms.
The poor and those with small incomes
have discovered that home means ; i
place to live in. to enjoy life in. Just
enough rooms and no inoi'e. Light ! Peo
ple can't net too much of it. It ranks
next to pure air in its health-giving
qualities. Rooms are to use. not to look
at. There are co/y corners , curtains
pictures , books , easy chairs , a piano
perhaps. d < z < M > s of little articles that
mutely say : "The children are welconm
to this house. " aud an atmosphere o
pleasure and home enjoyment that is
good to see. So. ood-by to the parlor
of olden times and greeting to. the
practical homes that are made with a
sole view to the comfort and cheerfm-
less of those who live in them ! Let us
lope that when the carpenter irets
through there will be enough of them
tv < ro around.
NOVEL GOLF CLUB.
A novel head for a golf club is on
the market Whether expert golf play
ers will approve of it or not remains to
be seen. In the head of the club is a
slot , and in the slot K a weight which
is so adapted that i.t will move toward
and a\vay from the striking face of tin
head. As a result , when the ball is
struck the weight conies inoutact
with the wall of ihe slot next to the
strikinir face , and thus an additional
impetus is imparted to the ball. It is
i-lalined that a player usin a club of
this kind would have an advantage1
over another player UMUJ ? an ordinary
L-Iub.
AVroiijj Kind of Turk.
At a meeting of a society , the mem-
ler * of which are exceedingly loyal to
heir native country sind to each other.
> ne of the after-dinner speakers told a
tory of something which happened in
me of ( Jreat Britain's Eastern posses-
Ail English soldier saw a bis : . raw-
Turk on his hands and knees.
Irinking from a brook. The'soldier , in
Hire wantonness , gave him a kick. The
I'urk jumped to his feet , and without .1
vord struck the English soldier .square
in the fae. . felling him to the ground.
Three other English soldiers made for
he silent Turk and prepared to take a
land ; but two IrLshinen came up , and
eeiug that the fight was uneven in * i.st-
d on fair play. The Turk whipped two
f the Englishmen , and , i > he nave the
hSrd one a fiiiNliing touch , exclaimed :
"Now. ye villains , whin yj ? tackle a
I'lirk ajain. be sure he Moe n't conn. '
roni Tipperaryl"
The Knobs Were There.
"I've got to get myself a pair of
ilioes. " said Miss Bunyou. "aml I'm de-
ermined to have a real nohby pair. "
"Why. my dear. " sweetly replied her
est friend. "I'm sure any pair of show
on would wear would have to b
y. " Philadelphia Press.
"I think , " said a feeble old man of
f
0 to-day , "that I have a touch of the
; rip. " Death Is knocking at his door ,
et he says , "I think I have a touch of r <
AN ACROBATIC BOARD
x
State Board of Equalization First Declares it Refused
to Assess Franchises ; Now Says it Performed
Its Full Duty in the Manner Provided
\
by Law
PROUT AS RINGMASTER--WESTON A'S CLOWN
Two Snap Shots Showing the Flying Leap Over Rosey , and the Double Back
Summersault
THE FLYING LEAP. THE BACK SUMMERSAULT.
"Respondents further answering "And said board did then and
aver that . . . Edward Rosewater there enter upon the consideration
made demand . . . that the said of the valuation of the properties
board assess , in addition to the . . . and thereafter . . . did assess
tangible property of said . . . com the value of all the properties of
panies , which had by said board said railroad . . . companies in the
already been assessed , the FRAN MANNER PROVIDED BY LAW.
CHISES of said corporations , . . . That in arriving at the valua
which the respondents . . . RE tion . . . said board considered
FUSED TO DO for the reason that said companies . . . were act
that under the statutes . . . it ually engaged in using and oper
doubted its right to do so. " ating all their properties in the
Prayer. performance of the duties incum
"Wherefore , the respondents ask bent upon them . . . by law to per
this Honorable Court to place a form . . . and each of the prop
construction upon the constitu erties . . . waa valued AS A UNIT
tional provision above quoted and for said purposes of assessmem
the sections of the statute herein and taxation. Said respondents did
cited and instruct the respondents not believe . . . the board had au
as such board whether or not it thority to value and assess EX
has the power . . . to VALUE and TRA CORPORATE FRANCHISES
ASSESS the FRANCHISES of the . . . separately and apart from
corporations named in the affidavit their tangible property. "
of relator , and if so , to announce Prayer.
some equitable rule by which the Wherefore , these respondents
value of such franchises may be Bubmit to this Honorable Court
ascertained.FRANK that said state board of equaliza
FRANK N. PROUT , tion performed its full duty in the
Attorney General. Bearing , consideration and assess-
Verified and sworn to by ent of the different properties of
CHARLES WESTON , A * -he several companies , railroad ,
Auditor. telegraph , and sleeping car , doing
business in the state of Nebraska.
F. N. PROUT ,
Attorney General.
Verified and sworn to by
CHARLES WESTON ,
Auditor. *
When the people of Nebraska elected
the present republican state officers ,
they did so with full knowledge that
every man jack was a full-fledged cor
poration tool. So when the attorney
general threw away his opportunity
to put the finishing touches on the
Standard Oil suit which had already
been won by Attorney General Smyth ,
except securing the final judgment
the people of Nebraska had no cause
to complain ; or , at any rate , those
who voted for him had not.
That the present state board of
equalization would not make any ma
terial raise in the railroad assessment
was a foregone conclusion. The ques
tion of assessing lailroad franchises
was presented to the board in a letter
from M. F. Harrington , and orally by
Edward Simeral ; and the board had a
very clear idea of what is meant by
assessing franchises and how to de
termine their value. The law on this
subject is not clear , although the con
stitution says in no uncertain lan
guage that "the legislature shall pro
vide such revenue as may be needful ,
by levying a tax by valuation , so that
every person and corporation shall
pay a tax in proportion to the value
of his , her or its PROPERTY and
FRANCHISES , the value to be AS
CERTAINED in such manner as the
legislature shall direct. " The legis
lature evidently did not understand '
the matter as well as it is understood
today or was under the usual railroad
hypnotic influence so common in ra-
publican legislatures and the stature
law for ascertaining the value of fran
chises is very vague and. prior to the
decision in the Omaha tax cases , was
contradictory and unconstitutional.
But since the Omaha tax cases were
decided , the law is sufficiently plain
to justify the state board in assossu
railroad franchises. This the board
absolutely refused to do , notwith- ,
standing the arguments of-Messrs. !
Harrington and Simeral.
On the 20th day of May , 1902 , at
the instance of Edward Rosewater ,
Mr. Sirr.pral filed' in the office of th--
ulerk of the supreme court affidavit
and motion for a writ of mandamus ,
setting up the facts and praying for i
writ to compel the board to reconvenj
ind reassess the railroads , etc. , de
termining the fair value of the "prop-
? rty including franchises. " An alter
native writ was issued at once , but
jovernor Savage , Treasurer Stuefer ,
ind Auditor Weston had fled from the
nty and service and officer's return
, vere not made and filed until May 2S.
3n the same day the board made an
swer to the writ , quotation from which
ippears in the first parallel coiumu
ibove. At that time the board zn-
jwered the court tne same as it li.id
mswered Messrs. Harrington. KOSP-
vater , Simeral and others : that it
vould not assess franchises because
t believed it had no right to do so
mder the statutes in force. That an-
iwer evidently was made without con-
iiilting with the railroads : it was a
ruthful auswei. but a tactical mis-
ake from a railroad point of view.
On the 3rd of June , M. F. Harnng-
on asked and obtained leave to file r >
lotice and application to intervene
n the case as one , of the relators
.long with Rosewater and the Bee
Juildiug Co. This was a shrewd movo
m Harrington's part , because It ren-
> red Rosewater powerless to dismiss
he case after the republican conveu-
ior is over .something he might hav
one if the political situation seemed
o demand it.
The barefacedness of the board's
ruckling to the railroads is well il-
ustrated jn its action last Fridny
June 6) ) . Even the State Journal
adn't the nerve to make any excuses
nd told the story in the following
inguage :
"Following a meeting of railroad at-
3-s with members of the state
oard of equalization. Attorney F. N.
'rout ' filed an amended answer in the
upreme court yesterday in the case
f the Bee Publishing Co. against the
oard. A writ of mandamus is asked
ir to compel the board to , assess rail-
sad franchises. The board filed an
nswer May 28 admitting that it had
tfused to assess franchises , giving as
reason that the law does not confer
: ich power on the board. The amend-
1 answer contains a new statement
f facts as to what the board did do
hen it n\et as a board of equalization.
This statement indicates that fran
chises or intangible property and the
earnings of the railroad companies
have already been assessed by the
board. The amended answer contin
ues by asserting that the board did
not believe that under the law defin
ing its powers it had authority to as
sess "extra corporate franchises' sep
arately and apart from their tangible
property. The board insists that it
did its full duty under the law.
"The meeting of board members and
attorneys was held at the office of
Governor Savage. J. E. Kelby of
Omaha for the Burlington road , J. N.
Baldwin of Council Bluffs for the
Union Pacific , Ben White of Omaha
lor the Elkhorn road and Attorney
Frank Ransom of Omaha were pres
ent. The board members are Governor
Savage , State Treasurer Stuefer and
Auditor Charles Weston. These were
also in attendance. Attorney General
Prout was the last to come into the
consultation. Beginning at 11 o'clock
the conference lasted two hours. ,
Attorney Kelby is quoted as assur
ing the uoaid that the defense ouc-
lined could not embarrass the l.oaid
as he thought no one not even a mem
ber 01 the board , couid say that the
board had not considered franchises
when the assessment was made. That
he believed was the chief ground upon
which the application for a writ was t
based. "
The amended answer is intended to .
tie the hands of the court so that the
writ will be denied ; it affirms that tiie
board did all things required of it by
law and that it assessed the railroads
"in the manner provided by law. " If
this is true , of course , there is no
ground for a writ. But this is a mat
ter of fact to be determined by com
petent evidence the same as any otner
fact. It really looks as though the
amended answer would necessitate the
appointment of a referee to hear testi- I <
rnony and report findings of fact , if
it should turn out that way. The Incle-
Q
pendent hopes the court will be more
fortunate in its selection of a referee
than it was in the Standard Oil case.
It would seem that a gleam of light
ought to strike through the aching
vacuum in the head of the dullest of
n
mullet heads. The board answered at
first in a truthful way , and defer : dt-1
its failure to assess franchises by
doubting its right to do so and asking
the court for information. That didn't
suit the railroads , for it meant a rais"
in the railroad assessment. So a co-
terie of railroad attorneys called upon
the state officers and read the riot act
to them. A special meeting of the
board was hurriedly called , and the
three members , Governor Savage , ,
Treasurer Stuefer , and Auditor "Wes-
(
ton , together with four railroad at
A
torneys. and "Necessity" Prout , talker1
Lwo long , weary hours over the mat
ter. Then came the filing of the
amended answer which in eifeet says :
bi
'We did our full duty now do your
fc
\v-o-r-r-s-t. " but mullet fcw
\ - - - - - Nobody a w
iiead could fail to see that the board
ind attorney general are owned , body iscl
ioul and breeches , by the corpoiations. a. _
a
4 ta
"Extra corporate franchises. "
tl :
Whooh ! That's fully up to the "full
linner pail" and "let well enough
bi
done. " The people of Nebraska'will
to
> e mighty lucky if the railroads pay
as
i fair tax upon their plain , every-
ca
lay franchises , and allow the "extra caw
: orporate" kind escape altogether ,
tt
" /allied as a unit. " That's good. The
d
ndependent has been urging all along
' tii
hat a railroad'should be valued as an
it
mtirety and not as a scrap-heap of
ails , ties , and section tool houses.
Evidently the railroad attorney who
[ rew the amended answer has been
eading The Independent to some pui-
lose. But the "unit" business ccr- de
ainly didn't apply to the Burlington de
: nd C. , St. P. . 1. & 0. , for these roads
nade no report of their earnings , etc. . Jn
s did the others. The board couldn't th
: now whether these two roads had ar
.ny "extra corporate franchises" or us
ommon , old-fashioned ones.
The people of Nebraska are wateh- Se
ng the outcome of this suit with much 30
nterest. It is the first skirmish in a cr ;
attle royal between the public ser- cc
ice corporations and the public itself th
s to which shall rule. da
-C. Q. De France , in Nebraska Inde sti
pendent , Lincoln. da
. The Harriman Railroads
<
Readers of The Independent Inter
ested in the subject of taxation ami
wEo is not ? may find some food lor
thought in a study of the Harriman
railroads. In 1901 the Union Paclflc
secured possession of a strong work
ing control of the capital stock of the
Southern Pacific , says the Brooklyn
Eagle. But the latter is now and will
continue to be worked as a separate
company. The Southern Pacific had
previously secured control of the Cen
tral Pacific , 'extending'from Ogden to
San Francisco. In November , 1900 , a
majority 'of the stock of the Pacific
Mail Steamship company was acquired
by the Southern Pacific. The Union
Pacific , in addition to its own line ,
owns 99 per cent of the stock of the
Oregon Short Line railroad. The Ore
gon Short line .controls by ownership
of stock the Oregon Railroad anil
Navigation company.
These lines , with the Kansas City
Southern and the Chicago & Alton ,
furnish a complete system from Chi
cago to the Pacific coast , giving a
choice of three route's. The entire
mileage is 16,376 miles , capitalized at
$1,558,819,399 , or nearly ? 97,000 per
mile. A short statement of statistical
information regarding the different
constituent parts of the Harriman sys
tern follows :
Union Pacific
Miles of road 3.033
Common stock $104,051,400
Preferred stock 99.537,800
Bonds 191,508,003
Net earnings , 1901 * 22.172,001
Surplus on hand * 13,597,709
including earnings and surplus of
Oregon Short Line.
Ine market price of Union Pacific
stocks and bonds on June 3 , 1902 , was
as follows :
Bonds ( at N. Y. ) 4s 1061-8
Bonds ( at N. Y. ) conv. 4s 1075-8
Common stock ( London ) 107 7-S
Preferred stock ( London ) 901-2
At these figures the value of the
Union Pacific on that date was : ,
Common stock $112,245,447
Preferred stock 94,560,910
Bonds ( at lowest ) 203,237,805
Total $410,004,222
This would make the value of the
Union Pacific at the rate of S135.190
for every mile of its line. The road ,
in fact , was selling on the New York
and London markets at that price ; yet
of the 944 miles of Union Pacific In
Nebraska , 467 was assessed at the rate
Df $9,800 per mile and the remainder
at $3,000 to $3,500 per mile. The main
line was assessed at a trifle over 7
per cent of its actual value ( including
property and franchises ) while the
branch lines , which are a constituent
part of the system and covered by
the capitalization which is selling at
135,000 per mile in the markets , es
cape by paying taxes upon about 2 1-2
3er cent of actual 'value about one-
"ortieth.
A PECULIAR SITUATION
3alroifls ! of Nebiaska Driven Into Baying-
Space in Their Own 1'apers for the
Purpose of Discussing th
Tax Onestion
Last Friday morning the State Jour-
lal had on its editorial page a scare-
iead article , "Nothing To Hide Ne-
> raska RailroadsVill Turn On the
Searchlight Tax Matters to lie
Drobed Statistics-Compiled to Show
[ "rue " State of Affairs Correct Figures
'rove Home Roads Are Xot Escaping
taxation , But Paying Full Share. " A
areful reading of the . .icle shows it
o have been prepared by some lail-
oad man ; it sounded much like the
iulcet tones of J. H. Ager lobbying tor
. stricter game law or against some
ailroad Dill. The next day the Stace
ournal announced that the article
; as a , paid advertisement ; that tlia
ailroads expect to continue the wori :
f "educating" the people on this tabc
uestiou through the public press , pa -
ng regular rates for the piivilege of
ULing to the dear people , etc.
Now , that's decidedly rich. Has
tie State Journal slipped the railroad .
sash ? The Independent will be glad r
3 publish the railroad articles free
f charge , if manuscript is fuinished
; in plenty of time so that the fi-
res may be verified and a reply given
3 each article as it appears. It has
ever asked , and does not now ask ,
lat the railroads shall pay a cent
lore than their share of the taxes , it
ould much prefer that there was no
iich thing as railroad taxes in other
ords , that the railroads were public
roperty , operated by the government ,
ad , of course , exempt from taxation , t !
ut until this shall come to pass ,
icy must in future pay their snare.
; has no patience , however , with any
rivel about railroad "philanthropy"
nd the great public benefit they are ,
ad so on , ad lib. No business , un-
iss it be absolutely vicious in cnar-
iter , can help being a public benefit ,
clothing store is a public benefit ;
at the owner runs it for the private
K
rofit of himself. A newspaper is a
.iblic benefit if it isn't absolutely
id but its owner runs it primarily
his own benefit. It is the same ir
ith a railroad ; the public could hard- '
get along without railroads , and
othing stores , and newspapers , and
thousand , other things ; but if bein < ;
public benefit is the foundation for tl
x shirking , and a justification of it , tl :
en most of us will escape taxation. tr
It shan't cost the railroads of Ne- trdi
aska a red cent to tell their story sc
readers of The Independent. All we
; k is a chance to reply to what we
nnot agree with. If the railroads
int their story to be read among lieTi
e farmers of Nebraska. The Indepen- Ti
nt will guarantee twice the circula- ec
) n of the State Journal and print Is
without money and without price. st
flr
The Fourth District fe
n
Eric Johnson , editor of the Saun-
rs County New Era , writes The In-
pendent as follows :
"On Board Train , June 10 , 1902.tvi
st returning from the meeting of
e congressional committee at Sew-
d today. The democrats outvoted
by one vote , and set the congres-
> nal convention for the 23rd inst. at
ward. We populists voted for the
th inst. The object of the demo-
its is to forestall action of the state
avention by nominating Stark and n
= reby remove him from the candilu
cy for governor the populists'
ongest and most available candi- . ' 01
te. "
ic ;
L i3 !
DETECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY ,
Has Como
Cases in Whicn the Camera
to the Aid of Justice.
Photography is every year proving
of justice
its usefulness as a Wend
writer in Tit-
and enemy of crime. A
Bits describes a case of diamond theft
in Calcutta , in which no evidenca
Vainst the arrested person could be
with the
found. A policeman familiar
artifices of the native criminals sug
gested that an X-ray photograph be
taken of the man's throat. The test
revealed the hidden diamond. By a
'trick which Hindu jewel thieves learn
after severe practice , the fellow had
"side-swallowed" the stone.
A little more than n year ago some
evidence that smugglers In Buenos
Ayres were receiving geins thrqugh the
mails put the authorities on the watch.
Postal matter in transit could not be
legally opened , but on suspicion sixty-
six registered letters and parcels were
examined by the X-ray , and found to
contain twenty thousand dollars' worth
of precious stonds. The dishonest traf-
; fic was stopped , and a large sum was
Saved to the customs revenue.
A person taking long-distance views
from one ofi. the upper windows of a
tall building in Rochester , N. Y. ,
caught the picture of a passing mar
ket-wagon with a man behind in the
act of lifting a tub of butter from the
load. The thief got away with his
booty unnoticed by the driver or any
one on the street , but the photograph ,
when sufficiently enlarged , identified :
and convicted him.
A marine view taken by a passengojj-
an a foreign steamer in the harbor of
Rio de Janeiro included a small yacht.
Two men , Graysou and Linares , had
gone out in the yaeht that morning.
Only Gray son returned alive. He said
his companion had fallen from the mast
and been killed ; but his story was not
believed , and he was tried and sen
tenced as a murderer. The trial had
been pretty fully reported in the pa
pers , and one day it occurred to the
photographer to apply a powerful glass
to his picture , in order to discover the-
character of a small dark mark on the
sail. Under the magnifier the spot on
the sail proved to be the figure of a
falling man. He reported his discov
ery , and as soon as it had been offi
cially verified Gray son was released.
A similar timely discovery was made
after the village tragedy known as
"The Cooper Murder. " in Lancashire ,
England. Cooper , apprentice to Mc-
[ venna , a blacksmith , was found dead
> ii the floor of the hitter's shop , and
the coroner's jury brought in a verdict
> f suicide. An amateur photographer
ivho had been through the village tak-
ng "snap-shots" on the day of Cooper's
loath , developed his films , and one of
: hem showed the smithy with a par-
: ial view of the interior throuirh the
> pen door , revealing evidence which
laused McKenna's arrest and his final
ionfession of the murder.
Complaints jire heard against the
'amera ' as a nuisance , and undoubtedly
he owners sometimes abuse their privi-
pge , but eases multiply in whifh its
ise is beneficent , and even its accl-
'
lental work proves valuable.
Dogs are to be used as river police
n the Seine in Paris. Twenty New-
oundlands , warranted to save the ap-
arently drowning , are allotted to as
iany gendarmes , and it is hoped that
a consequence the i ite of suicide will
ecrease in the French capital.
Giraffes in zoological gardens seera
3 be aware of their pecuniary value
nd ready to take advantage of It. Fail-
ig their natural diet of leaves , which
icy strip from the trees with th'eir
mg , black prehensile tongues , thev eat
uly the finest clover hay. Moreover ,
icy are lazy , wasteful brutes , spilling
e hay on the floor of their paddock
nd rarely troubling to recover it. For
lis reluctance , however , their prover-
ial fastidiousness may be partly re-
xmsible. Only an occasional onion ,
pple or lump of sugar pleases them
part from their hay and there is eveW
belief tin-it , fond as a giraffe is ol'a
hole apple , nothing will induce it to
it one from which its keeper first
kes a bite.
An instance of the possibility of liv-
iir under a snowdrift is
recorded dur-
? severe storms in England. On Dec
a large flock of sheep belonging to a
ittle dealer of Garsdale
were out on
ie open moor. The shepherds with
eir dogs collected
the sheep and drove
em to a more sheltered locality ,
eading a threatening storm wh ,
on followed : One
sheep
, however ,
caped and made its way back to the
isture where it was overtaken
by the-
avy fall of snow and imbedded "in it
iere it remained
until
the snow melfr
, when the shepherds
were aston-
Hed to find it
alive
and well. It had
ayed under the snow for twenty-two
ys. On its release it
was found
per-
ctly able to
walk
home
, a distance of
mile and a half , it te curlous to uot&
at this same animal had undergone a
nllar burial in
November
" , wnen it
is "snpwed up" for ten days.
Defense ol Mosquitoes.
defender of-the
- mosquito savs the-
pS f ° f mos ! toes 'never
te e ther human
blood or that of
y Animal not having the opportun
. They live
upon
vegetable juice
i decomposing animal and vegetable-
itter , found in the localities wber
> y are most numerous
, and thus per-
m a valuable
service '
as nature' *
.vengers.