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About Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1903)
THE VALENTINE DEMOCRAT I. M. RICE , Publisher. YALENT1NE , NEBRASKA Whew ! CE1H , Brazil ana Argentine have combined against Europe. Recent floods in the semi-arid regions have not swept away the irrigation fund. Some men achieve vacations. Others have leaves of absence thrust upon them. Vanity is the effort to make other people believe you amount to some thing , and egotism is believing it your self. Patrons of the Roman amphitheater never knew what they missed by liv ing before the automobile was in vented. "Is poverty an obstacle or an oppor tunity ? " asks a contributor to one of the current magazines. Poverty is usu ally a necessity. A New York man lost his voice re cently when he had his tooth pulled. He will doubtless be wanting to take his wife around to that dentist now. Next to having a 5-cent cigar named after you the surest road to fame these days is to announce that you want to make up Booker Washington's bed. bed.A A man named Hainm and another named Bacon are rivals for the affec tions of a Miss Frye at Odessa , Mo. There will doubtless be some egg- throwing , no matter who wins. Dr. Hillis thinks that a man with an income of $50,000 a year is necessarily going to the devil. The doctor ought to have his salary cut by his good-natured congregation so as to keep him in the right path. It is pretty hard to work up much sympathy for the American girl who thinks she has married a titled foreign er , and then finds that he is a first- class waiter or has an honorable record as a coachman. Mrs. Langtry says that one of the rules of her perpetual youth is this : "Never bother with anything which other persons can be hired to do. " This is the Invaluable rule that the Weary Walker applies to labor. A steamer for the use of the missions to seamen was recently launched in England. The wife of the Bishop of Durham broke upon the bows of the vessel a bottle containing pure oil , and named it the Good Hope. ' Mrs. Eddy says : "I am rated as standing eighth in a list of twenty-two of the foremost living authors. " Yet she has not written a single historical romance. She is always reasonably sure , however , of advance royalties. A man who has recovered his sight after many years of blindness says that with his sight returned also his desire to smoke , which he had lost during his blindness. In other words , a man wants to watch his own smoke. Down in Texas the other day a man named Whele married a Miss Barrow , and the editor of the local paper had no more sense of the fitness of things than to print his account of the wed ding under the head of "Whele-Bar- row. " Dr. Helen Bradford Thompson de clares that she has found men to be more emotional than women. The con clusions are based on experiments cov ering twenty-five men and an equal number of women , a proportion to the whole of mankind which makes further inquiry unnecessary. Cod liver oil has lately been quoted "t a price nearly three times as high as it commanded a year ago. The ex planation of the advance is that prac tically the entire supply of the oil used for medicinal purposes comes from the Norway fisheries , and the cod have been destroyed or driven from their feeding grounds by predatory seals. Let us not judge the seals too harsh ly ; perhaps they needed a nutritive stimulant. And anyway , they have given the American cod a fine chance to prove that he is good for something besides fish balls. Dr. D.epew says in answer to the charge of Rev. Dr. Hillte that "the pampered sons of the rich are rotten before they ore ripe" that "the greatest danger comes to country boys who go to the city to make their fortune. " It is these unfortunates who ore to be pitied more than the millionaires' sons. The hall bedroom is not an agreeable home and the saloon and poolroom be come their places of resort , their clubs. "The conditions are all against them , " as they are all In favor of the boys in wealthy homes. The point seems well taken. The country boy In town has need of a fortitude and a firmness of purpose to overcome the loneliness and the idleness that make any acq\aint- ance a friend in need and to resist the temptations into -which chance ac quaintanceship leads. He is far more apt to go wrong than a lad reared in surroundings ofwealth. . The development of the trolley sys- .pin in New England , -where it has made the greatest progress , is begin- ning'to attract wide attention , especial ly as it promises to become a danger- cus competitor with the steam railroad sj'siem. Already rails of the same weight are used on the electric as on the steam roads and well nigh equal speed is made in rural districts , -while greater speed Is made inside city lim its. The cars are being made nearly as barge If not so heavy as those on steam roads , and In nearly all country places malls and light freight are carried as well as passengers. Trolley lines are connecting country towns which could only be reached by wagons , and by bringing them into communication with railroad stations are developing their business. Nearly every State in New England can now be crossed , north and south and east and west , by electric cars and in some cases cities as far apart as Portland , Boston , Prov idence , Hartford and New York have been connected by "the broomstick train. " One of the latest developments of the S3stem is the use for the first time by a steam and a trolley road of the same track. The New York Cen tral is to use a stretch of track neai Oxford , Mass. , about five miles from Worcester , for delivery of coal to a section it cannot now reach esaily. This track was laid and is used by the Worcester and Southbridge Street Railway. The fact that a locomotive and freight care can run upon rails originally laid for trolley cars Is open ing up a wide field of speculative pos sibilities among railroad people. The Boston Advertiser says that "the New Haven road has already done some thing in the way of 'third rail' connec tions with steam road track , and of course everj-body understands that the time will come when steam and trolley ; roads will be run as parts of one sys-i tern , the street railways acting as feed-1 ers to the main line of steam track. " Nostalgia that is what the doctors call it. In ordinary phrase it is known as homesickness. : It is a real disease. Strong men die of it in the Philippine Islands. To all ordinary diagnosis they are well. No organic trouble is apparent. The patient is literally sick for home , ajid unless he is sent home he grows worse and often dies. Officers of the army , private soldiers , civilians , old , middle-aged and young- all these are subject to the illness. It is no boy's malady. It is an American disease. The Englishman is not trou bled with it. He goes to India and lives there for years. It Is not a matter of climate , for the climate of India is as enervating as that of our achipel- ago. There is no nostalgia , or scarcely any , in India. AYhy is this ? Well , for one thing the nerves of the American are not as well covered as those of the Englishman. The American soldier will stand more strain of fighting than any other soldier in the world. In bat tle his nerves are taut as fiddle strings. But he is peculiarly susceptible to pulls , on his emotional nature. His affections- are acute. He lacks the stolidity of the Englishman. And then , the Ameri can , though he is descended from wan derers and conquerors and emigrants , , is not a good cosmopolite. He is es sentially a home body. He will travel- but he will return home. He flourishes only in his own soil and latitude. He seldom expatriates himself. The Amer ican in the Philippines is like a fish out' of water. Edward Everett in his "Man AA'lthout a Country" shows us how hardly an American can give up Amer ica. There Is so much to get homesick for ! After all that is claimed for heredity and environment is granted , it is still generally admitted that a man pretty largely makes himself morally. And it can be as truly said that he also makes himself physically. Scientists and philosophers are coming to the conclusion that no man has a good right to be an invalid. Most illness is self-inflicted. Could we all cease to be slaves to appetites and passions and were we to give half the care to the needs of our minds and bodies that we give to money-making and money- spending , most of the ignorance , im morality and Invalidisin would disap S' pear from the world altogether. A : few years ago Harry Bennett Wein- burgh , of Hartford , Conn. , was a bed ridden cripple , well advanced toward hopeless invalldism , brought on by overfeeding and other thoughtless in dulgences. He was induced by an en thusiastic Y. M. C. A. gymnast to un dertake a fight for his life and health , employing only the resources that lay within his own mind and body. In a a few days he could move his Joints ir without aid ; in four months he could irb irr walk ; in a year his health was almost b perfect He faithfully continued this k care of himself and In two years after : he had begun It he entered a New- f York contest for a prize offered to the c most perfectly developed man in h America , and won it la two years hf he had , by his own intelligent care of himself , transformed a hopeless , bed ridden cripple into a physically perfect man. There were no drugs and no doctor. He learned to eat properly , u to breathe properly , to bathe properly. to exercise naturally and correctly In la short , to study and live up to and In IE accordance with the few and simple IEai rules that nature herself has estabai lished. That is what one nran has tc done. It is no more than all men is could do In greater or less degree , if they would. Few think it worth while. We carelessly shatter our health by cc over-eating , over-drinking , overworking ing , loss of sleep , and a thousand and one daily injuries and neglects , and then make ourselves and all about us M miserable for the rest of our broken lives , whining and complaining against 01hi fate. hih h < Device. 01 "She's interested In things. " AAai "Is she so unattractive ? " ai When we go out to dinner -we like to si [ eat and run. te m. ' * r&r ' > Feedine Fodder. There are almost as many ways of feeding fodder to advantage as there ire feeders. One very convenient meth od of making a feeding rack for fodder has been sent us by a subscriber that Is constructed around the fence in such 4. way thtit the cattle can reach Ihrough between soue strong poles to Obtain the fodder. The remainder of rhe rack is made of common one-inch lumber. A rack of this kind will pre sent waste , is easily filled from the r rA - * * . * * > -i-Vr52 ' . - ' . outside of the fence and the stock can- hot get in or break the rack if it Is properly constructed. A more elaborate hick is shown in this illustration , Which consists of an ordinary hay rack around which has been constructed a puard made of strong poles. The f od der is put in the inside rack where the etock can reach it and the outside rack prevents waste by catching the pieces of fodder that are pulled out by the 0E Block. A great many like this rack Very -well. Another contributor sends us a very good rack as shown in the accompanying illustration. This cor respondent has fenced in his fodder yard with an ordinary fence on two sides. The other side is made of two 2x6 pieces aud a common board at the . bottom. The cattle reach through between r tween the cleats and eat the fodder from the ground as it Is thrown .with in , their reach. This place is kept pro- vlded with fodder all the time. The vt of all these racks will depend on the : amount of stock to be provided for. Iowa Homestead. Apple-Tree Borers. There are several borers of the apple tree the flat-headed , which bores un- 3cr the bark and sometimes in the wood ; the round-headed , which bores Into the tree , remaining in the larval state three years , and the twig borer , which enters just above the bud. Dig DUt the borers with a sharp knife or probe into the bores for them with a sharp-pointed wire. Scrub the trees ind apply early in .Tune and July whale oil soap ( or soapsuds ) , with a little carbolic acid added. Burn all twigs attacked. The soapsuds keeps the moths off. The digging out of the round-headed and flat-headed - - borers must be done effectively. The borers ire about an inch long. A sharp wire Idlls them in the tubes made by them. New England Farmer. Cover for Sap Bucket. During rainy and stormy weather in sugar season there is always a great leal of trouble from rain in the san. Some farmers have covers for their buck ets which dispense with any devices which may be suggest ed. Among the many ways suggested the following proves to be very profitable. Take piece of board or shingle about 14 aches long and one-fourth inch thick ; ound one end out to fit the roundness if the tree. This may be done with a : nife or small saw. Then fasten a oed stiff wire at the end rounded outer or < the tree with small staples or leate. ! Bend the wire so that it will told tight to the tree. This will af- ord adequate shelter. Epltomlst. Silage for Dairy Cows. Answering a correspondent , Hoard's ) airyman says the amount of silage equlred by forty cows will depend ipon the amount fed per day and the lumber of days it Is to be fed. In this itltude ( Wisconsin ) the careful dairy- aan estimates for feeding 200 days t least and at the rate of not less than n average of thirty pounds per day 0 each animal. More and more also he beginning to provide some extra or use during the summer drought nd does not consider four tons per ow any too much for a year's supply. Teaching : to Back. GE. . F. wants some one to tell him ow to teach a colt to back in harness. ly way is to stop a load of any kind n a side hill. Don't drive up a long 111 , Just a few steps up , and let him old it ( with a horse you can depend n to back or go ahead when told ) . Vhen he looks tired , ask him to back nd at the same time give him a short , uick jerk with the reins , always while tting in the wagon. Then loosen the eins whether he steps back or not After sitting a few seconds give an other jerk. Always loosen the reins and give him lots of time to think whether it is not best to let the load go back and not hold it. If you suc ceed in getting him to take a few steps back , then go a little farther up the hill and give him lots of time to hold the load , then try as before. If you get him to back , don't ask him to back un less 3rou know the other horse can back the wagon alone. W. H. Riker in Stockman and Farmer. The Clover Crop. A year ago pessimists were predict" ing the disappearance of clover as ? profitable crop. A previous dry sum mer followed by a hard winter had practically killed old seedings and also those of 1901. Farmers , after spend ing a mint of money in clover seed that failed to result in a stand , had come to regard the great legume as permanently enrolled on the "has been" list. But this spring another tale is being told. King Clover is him self again. All over the land he is do ing well. Hundreds of thousands of acres of clover hay will be cut this year where last season there was none. The area in clover in 1902 was unusu ally large. Much of the crop was ruined by a wet harvest season , but the catch of clover was all that could be desired. This summer there will a large decrease in oat acreage , but a vast increase in clover. Thus even the disadvantages of a water-logged season have their offset. This year's crop of clover will have a feeding value not easily estimated , and its effect in re storing fertility will have a percepti ble influence. It is a significant fact that alfalfa sown last year in the corn belt invariably made a gcocl catch ; more proof positive that conditions un der which clover will do well are ad mirably suited to its relative , alfalfa. Live Stock World. Ventilation in Snmmer. It is very important that good ven tilation is provided for the fowls dur ing the hot months , months when the nights are oppressively close. Fowls will crowd together , no matter where they roost , and unless they bo given pure , fresh air disease of some kind will likely make its appearance. A house , inexpensive and comfortable , may be arranged so that the sides and ends are entirely open. It matters but little how open the house is during the- hot months. What the fowls need most is a dry place , with plenty of fresh , pure air. An open shed does nicely for the summer mont'ns , but , of course , the fowls must be made comfortable before the chill winds of autumn be gin to arrive. One thing , though , that we should guard against is the common practice of allowing the fowls to roost in the tree tops. There is nothing more dan gerous. They injure themselves by flying out , and often cannot be broken to go to the house until after they have contracted colds from the fall winds and rains. Keep them in the house , but arrange it so that they will have plenty of fresh air , yet not be subject to the many dangers of a roost on the fence or tree top. Home and Farm. Farm Notes. A prominent English poultry breeder : will make a large display of Old English - lish game fowls and Dorkings in the poultry exhibit at the World's Fair. Ten acres of small fruits will often make a man more truly prosperous than ten times as much land In wheat or corn. He may not be worth as much in actual capital invested , but he will be getting a larger net income , and doing it with less severe toil. Thu small farm well tilled , whether U bo In fruits , dairy , vegetables , etc. , is al most always the most satisfactory. The principal capital needed to start such a farm is a level head and knowl edge of the business. Mildew is one of the greatest obsta cles in the way of gooseberry growing in most parts of the country. A grow er of experience has found that salt hay spread over the whole surface of the ground to the depth of three inches is a preventive. Common coarse hay or bog grass , soaked in brine , would possibly answer Just as well. On ac count of the manner in which the salt absorbs water from the atmosphere , the mulching , and consequently the vines , are kept at an even temperature. In an experiment made to determine the absorptive powers of milk there was Inclosed In Jars a portion of milk , and In different Jars , but not in conn-ac tion , different substances , giving off flavors. At the end of eight hours a portion of the milk was drawn from near the bottom of each Jar , by means of a plppette , so as not to disturb any part of the milk. In every one of fifteen trials the milk had absorbed the flavor to such an extent that it had penetrated the very lowest stra tum. tum.When When the grass is allowed to produce seed it exhausts the soil more than when a crop of hay Is cut before the seeds are permitted to appear. When seed heads form then the plant has fulfilled its mission and has stored in the seeds a larger proportion of the mineral elements than remains in the stalks of the plants , in many cases , as the green plants , when cut down early , consist largely of water. A grain crop and a crop of seed from grass deprive the soil of a proportion of all the fertilizing substances existing ' therein. A minister who was called In to com fort the wife of an old Scotch caddie assured her that while John was very weak he was evidently ready for a better world. Unexpectedly , however , John rallied , and said to his wife : "Jenny , my woman , I'll maybe be spared to ye yet. " "Na , nn , John ! " was the reply ; "ye're prepared , and I'm resigned ! Dee nee ! " When a shot was fired in the wings of the Tivoll Opera House during the third act cf "Carmen" on Zelie de Lus- san's opening night , a disappointed spectator , who considered Tennery's Don Jose about "the limit" remarked , with a sigh of relief , "Thank God. " Those about him. who shared his feel ings , snickered sympathetically. But their s-miles were turned to peals of laughter when Don Joe presently bobbed up serenely , and the talkative wag exclaimed tragically , "Ye gods , her aim was bad. She missed him ! " J. T. Trowbridge , in the course of his remln sconces in the Atlantic Monthly , tells this story of Oliver Wen dell Holmes and Longfellow : One afternoon , in the years of which I am writing , I chanced to call upon Mr. Longfellow just after he had received a visit from Dr. Holmes. "What a delightful man lie is ! " said he ; "but he has left me , as he generally does , with a headache. " AY hen I inquired the cause , he replied : "The movement of his mind is so much more rapid than mine that I often find it difficult to follow him , and if I keep up the strain for a length of time a headache is the penalty. " It is related that one morning Guy de Maupassant lay in bed reading a comic paper in his modest atelier in the Latin Quarter. After a little time , De Maupassant , to his horror , heard familiar and ponderous footsteps at the bottom of the wooden stairs he was four Uights up. It was a severe creditor , who had threatened him with all soils of punishments if he did not settle his debt In an instant , De Maupassan- out of bed and seized a sheet of paper , on which he wrote : ' "M. de Maupassant , having died on the ! lGth , all having claims against him must apply to M. M. Blanc , " at some [ false address. He expected money [ that day and intended to put matters .straight in the afternoon. He stuck his notice outside the door , locked him self in again , " and was back between the blankets. Fortunately the. old gentleman ascended slowly , like a hip- .popotaruus. When he reached the landing , there was a sound of mutter ing. Then down he went again. De Maupassant breathed freely. In a lit tle while up tripped Marie , a pretty maid , who was in the habit of flirting with the writer. After a few words , she departed. Soon De Maupassant recognized her steps again , and pres ently there was another rap on the door. When he opened It , there stood his old creditor , panting like a steam engine. He had come up in his stocking - ing feet. The old man had kept his eyes open. CHARACTER IN SMOKING. iclcaa of Woninn Who Has Been an Observer. According to a man's manner of smoking you shall know him is the 'opinion of a keen observer of habits and characteristics. Let him gnaw at the end of his cigar and roll it between his lips and you may depend he is cynical , likely to j look always on the wrong side of huI I j man nature , and not to trust any one 11 I completely. j The man who smokes with his cigar , ; tilted upward has the traits that make for , success , is brisk , aggressive , and likely to triumph over interference with his wishes. The smoker who guards his cigar jealously and will smoke it almost up to the point of charring his mustache or burning his nose is a tactician , scheming , self-seeking , and with an jntense desire for power. The cigar tilted toward the chin de notes the day dreamer , -the person who may have Ideas and ambitions but seldom - dom the practicality to carry them out 7 The cigar held steadily and horizon tally Indicates a callous , calculating nature , strong traits , but poor princi ples , the sort of man who could be t brutal with indifference should occat sion arise. Men who let their cigar go out and then try * to relight it , also those who , after smoking for a while , let the ci gar go out and then throw it away , are likely to be Irrational and without the capacity to put their powers to " use. g Men of quick , vivacious temper hard- T ly touch the tip of their cigar with their teeth and after taking two or three whiffs will remove it and hold j it in their hand In absent-minded fashT Ion. They are men who change their j opinions and ambitions often and require - y quire the spur of novelty or necessity o to make them exert their best powers. & The man who , after lighting his ci gar , holds It not only between his teeth and lips , but with two , three , or four fingers of his left hand , is fastidi ous and possessed of much personal pride. Such a person will often re move his cigar and examine the light ed end to see if it Is burning evenly and steadily. Such actions indicate carefulness , sagacity , and a character worthy of confidence and esteem. The smoker who sards forth smoke to j from both corner of the mouti In two different puffs la ewchety and hard to get along with , though he may ; have good mental faculties. j The spendthrift , sometimes the nd1- venturer. Is declared by the act of bitIng - [ Ing off the end of a cigar. Lack of " "judgment dislike to pay debts , and not overniceness of habits are declared by this practice. The pipe smoker who grips his pipe- so firmly between his teeth that marks are left on the mouthpiece is mettle some , of quick , nervous temper , and likes to be tenacious of his opinions * one way or another. Many smokers , no matter how many cigar cases they have , carry their ci gars In the upper left-hand waistcoat pocket. This habit indicates a love of self-Indulgence and disinclination to make the slightest exertion other thar * absolutely necessary. These observations. It should he re membered , are those of a woman who has been observing men who smoke. . Chicago Inter Ocean. BRAIN-EATING OCTOPUS. Hideous Creature * that Kill Men ami : Devour Their Urnins. A Belgian officer just returned from * the Kongo Free State reports that i the caverns of the Uelle River there- Iwells a species of octopus that pre sents a grave danger to all who navi gate a river in small boats. The- strange beasts are called "megwe" by the natives and are numerous in the neighborhood of the station of the Amadis , owing to the number of rock * and caves in that region. They at tack the native canoes , capsizing them , easily with their tentacles , and , ac cording to their state of hunger , seiz ing one or two men. The octopus drags- ills human prey to his cavern , and there , without inflicting the sliglitesC- external wound , feeds on his victim's- brains by inserting the points of hi ? tentacles in his nostrils. He generally keeps his prey fifteen hours and then- lets the body float out on the river. "I was an eyewitness of a disaster of this kind , " says the Belgian , accord ing to the New York Tribune. "A ca- n-.e was capsized in the river and one of the three occupants disappeared. When the survivors swam ashore they told us that an octopus had turned their boat over and carried off their companion. The next morning about 0 o'clock the body was found floating , and no trace of any wound could be found , while the only abnormal ap pearance was the swollen state of the nostrils. On examination It was found that the brain had been extracted. The ? natives of the Uellc all dread the 'meg we , ' while those of the Itimbri know nothing of its existence. " The Boy of Fifteen. We may as well admit that at 15 a boy is a trial of the nerves to various people who love him. His self-impor tance , his crudity , his air of knowing- whatever there is to be known , his im perious willfulness , the passion of his- desire for sport , the apathy of his ef fort to study , are each and all suffir ciently provocative of reprobation. But through this seething , boiling mess of contradictions one may discern hope fully a glimpse of the strength and sweetness that are to follow , says a writer In Good Housekeeping. The boy's individuality Is struggling to ther front. Climbing by the stepping stones- of his own mistakes , he will arrive at a safer , broader plane of vantage by and by. The lad needs time. Educa tion , with its shaping processes , wili transform him imperceptibly. Social opportunities will rub off his angles and soften his asperities. Next to what a boy's own sisters can do for him are- the amenities which come from com panionship tc tI I with the sisters of his- chums. One of the very best things- that can happen to a boy in the first dawning of his manhood , the transi- torial years which bridge over the period - riod from 15 to 21 , is that he shall be- a i welcome guest In families where there are girls of the same age with himself. Indeed , the comradeship off" girls Is so precious and so valuable to boys that he Is a short-sighted parent who puts the slightest stumbling block * In its way. Unmitigated Severity. Parson Wilklns was the gentlest min ister the church of Cranford Center- had ever known. It was apparently as difficult for him to lose his tem per as for many of his parish to keep- theirs. One day one of the deacons went to him -with a complaint about the boy who had been apprenticed to the deacon to learn the carpenter's trade. "He's BO lazy and ungrateful , added to everything else , " said the deacon at the end of a long list of grievances , "that I've lost my patience , and I'm afraid to talk to him for fear I shall display anger. Now I want you to speak to him severely , parson very severe ly. " "I will , deacon , " said the minister , . . "I will certainly speak to him with great severity. " A few days after ward he received a call from the ap prentice. "Now , my boy , " said the minister , laying , a calm hand on the graceless youngster's shoulder , "I have heard from the good deacon of the things , you have been doing and your neglect' of your proper work , and I wish toj- say that I think you have been doing } very poorly ; that if you persist In this } , course of action I shall be forced , ' \ here the minister assumed the ah ofi- one administering a rebuke almost too stern to be endured "to lower my } ' opinion of you ; to lower It considerably - ' ably , my boy. " The success of some people Is unac-i countable , considering that they neverj had a baccalaureate sermon preached * them.
