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About Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1904)
Opinions of Great Papers on important Subjects. § > td # d r 4V dg * g0 # & ti'pVpV J &pVpV .Q4 &pVppt t ? & t t * jp The Hired Men. | T is important that the hired man on the farm should be sociable and "chipper. " That lesson ( protrudes from nearly every page of the Inter- > sting government bulletin on "Wages of Farm Labor in the United States. " The relations of the hired man and his employer are per sonal and sentimental , and democratic to a de gree found In few other occupations. If the farm hand has a likely tongue and a cheerful manner , the employer may do any number of things for him that will not figure- in the contract He will let him cut firewood from the wood lot , raise as many hens and pigs as he chooses on the farmer's land , graze a cow or two , have a horse and buggy whenever he wants to drive into the village , and if he Is married , occupy a house and garden patch , rent free. It pays to be agreeable on the farm. And it pays every farmer to have as diversified crops as possible , particularly if he is hiring help. The one-crop farmer , be his product corn or cotton , crowds into about four months all the work of the year. If he uses his acres at other seasons for dairying or lumbering , he could profitably employ a good part of his own surplus time and energy and those of his sous if he has any , or of his hired man if he has engaged one. As the government bul letin intimates , the season of idleness on the farm , when there is none or little employment of labor , as contrasted to steady employment in a factory , constitutes "the great est difficulty In procuring help for the farm. " The hired man's wages are highest in the States where the farms are well wooded , lowest in the treeless prairie States. The farmers of the country earn a pretty penny every year over $100,000,000 from the product of their wood lots ; the annual value of sawlogs cut for the lumber business ex pressly is only $50,000,000 more than the farmer receives as a side Issue from his winter's work with the ax and saw. New York Mail and Express. Why Forests Are Useful. BT us take two hillsides of identical slope and exposure , one being forested , the other cleared. The rain falls on the canopy of trees In the one Instance and drips softly from leaves and branches and trickles down the trunks. The [ soil beneath is soft and loose ( even in winter It does not freeze hard ) , a composition of disinte grated rock , decaying leaves and twigs and even logs , nud all tied together by a dense mass of roots and rootlets. The rain comes upon this forest soil so softly through the trees that the ground is not compacted and hardened or gullied as it would be if the rain fell directly on the soil. The loose and spongy earth takes up the water as fasi as it falls , and that which is not seized by the roots for the nourishment of the trees is carried away into underground basins , from which it slowly percolates and eventually conies out upon the surface again as springs. So slowly 'does this filtering go on , the spongy soil holding the water back , that the springs are given a constant and almost , steady supply. Even drought will actually dry up but few such. Snows also melt more slowly in the forest , there by preventing disastrous spring freshets. In the other case , that of the treeless slope , the rain falls directly on the bare ground and pounds It hard and impervious. The water for the most part runs off. super- licially as from a roof. Not enough water sinks Into the ground to help feed constant springs. The surface run-off of a hard rain on a bare hillside is moreover conducive to gullying and washing of a most destructive nature , and the waters being poured immediately into the stream beds cause freshets. The freshet waters quickly rush by , wreak ing havoc with fields , bridges , mills and the next week the streams are nearly run dry. Boston Transcript Economic Independence. T is probable that $100 per capita is a moderate estimate of the value of the food annually con sumed by the people of the United States. In other words , the grocery and provision bill of this country approximates $8,000,000,000 a year. | The impossibility of ascertaining with accuracy the money value of these sources of table sup ply in which no commercial transaction is involved the farmer's kitchen garden ; the fish and the game of those who eat what they catch and shoot ; and the beef , mutton THE LAZIEST PEOPLE Koreans 3Iake Tlieir Women Beasts of Knrderi S = oul a Filthy C ity. Broadly speaking , it is hardly an ex aggeration to say that the Koreans are the laziest people on earth. All day long they lay about the streets smoking their gigantic pipes ( a native pipe is a six-foot length of bamboo with a metal bowl , and is carried tucked into the neckband and down the trouser leg ) . All work , of very nearly every land , is done by the wo men , who occupy , perhaps , the most degraded position held by the sex of any nation. The unfortunate female population is collectively a beast of burden , and denied even the most ele mentary recognition as human beings. A Korean girl has no name ; she is merely known as "Daughter of " During the first moon of each new year the Cho-senese throw off their inordinate laziness and allow their naturally quarrelsome proclivities full play. This is the period permitted by law when anyone and everyone may fight in the public streets , or any where they choose , with impunity. And full advantage of the license is taken ! Now are family disputes , which have been seething for a whole twelvemonth , settled in the most prim itive fashion , and often half the town is drawn into the brawl. The creditor , catching his debtor abroad , may thump and pound him to his heart's content , and no one may Interfere. For fourteeen days a veritable pande monium reigns , and as a method of "clearing the air" It Is certainly not without Interest for the spectator. . Seoul , the capital , on the Hang-Kang river , is an untidy , ill-built city , sur rounded by twenty-foot walls. The curfew system , common to feudal England , still prevails as In most Korean towns. A great bell Is rung at eunset and the gates are immediately closed , not to be reopened until the and pork killed and eaten by those who raise the animah leaves any statement of the cost of feeding the nation a matter rather of estimate than of known amount Some idea of our absolute economic independence , sc far as food products are concerned , Is obtained by a reall zatlon of the fact that about 97.5 per cent of the $8,000.- 000,000 grocery and provision bill Is supplied from domes tic sources. If the remaining 2.5 per cent obtained bj importation , be analyzed , it is seen that a half dozen Items , such as coffee , tea , cocoa , sugar , spices and tropical fruits , represent more than three-quarters of the foreign supply. The importation of articles which might be 01 even could be raised In this country is probably less than one-half of one per cent of the total value of our annual food consumption. Not only does our actual domestic supply of aliinentarj substances exceed In Its percentage that of any other natior or people rightly claiming to be civilized , but there is th < further fact that in point of variety our menu is almosi unlimited. The question of cookery Is a side issue depend ing on Individual t'iste. But the fact remains that w have the food in limitless quantity and infinite variety , the product of American farms , gardens , fields , orchards forests , rivers , lakes and oceans. In addition to this generous supply of our domestic needs , we sold to other countries , last year , about $900 , 000,000 worth of surplus crop. It may be remarked that w also have a few acres of land not yet under cultivation. New York Sun. Your Shore of the Public Debt. OUR father can remember when a 7 per it-n government bond served as a sort of intcresl standard. Of course , it was a gilt-edged securi ty , but 7 per cent for money was considered about the proper figure. That was not verj long ago. It was In a day when the public debt of the nation , measured by the resources of tht people , was a heavy burden. Now we have 2 per cen ( bonds. In fact , more than half of our bonds are 2 pel cent securities. In the face of a thousand alluring Invest meuts , Including farm mortgages and municipal bonds , tht government can have all the money it wants at 2 per cent Your share of the Interest on the public debt is 34 centi annually. Your share of the Interest-bearing debt Is $ jJ. . We piled up millions of liabilities during the Spanish war , and yet the total of the public debt Is less than tin capital of the Steel Corporation ; less than the total amounj of life insurance credited to at least two concerns. Th interest-bearing debt on Dec. 31 , 1903 , was $901,747,220 , Eleven dollars per head. In Great Britain the debt is $73 per capita , and in Holland it is $90. France has a national debt so great that each inhabitant owes $150. The raj of sunlight there Is the fact that France has borrowed fronj the people , and there is no danger of foreign creditors fore closing a mortgage on that country. Argentina owes $125 per capita , and Australasia $203. We talk much of our natural resources , our loyal people and our new navy. Don't forget that one of our greatest items of strength in foreign lands is our financial stand- ing. The nation with unlimited credit , with a big treasur chest , is in a position to command and direct and Influ ence. Financially , the United States has no competitors. St. Louis Chronicle Too Many Railroad Accidents. ITI-IIN a month 125 people have been killed bj railroad accidents in the Eastern and Middle States , and more were Injured It may be ar gued that this is hardly more than a normal amount of destruction in so large a populace jas ours , but there is no normal rate of violent lent death. If accidents continue in the same proportion , it will mean that whole regiments of our citi zens will be exterminated by trains in the course of this year , and that is entirely too many. Our authorities are always lenient toward the people who are primarily re sponsible for these slaughters , because presidents , super intendents and directors are not personally cognizant of defects which caused the slaughters ; but if we were to acquire a habit of holding the officers of railroads to an account , they in turn would exact more faithful and ade quate service of their employes , and there would be a les sening In the number of accidents as a result Brooklyn Eagle. following sunrise. No lights may then be carried in the streets , and no one may go out of the city , with one rather startling exception. All funer als , by immemorial custom , tike place only at night , and for this purpose there is a special exit called "The Gate of the Dead. " Between the hours of sunset and dawn , no male is allowed to be abroad in the streets ; these hours are sacred to the women , and constitute their only privilege. They usually employ the time in paying vis its. Up to a few years ago , any mas culine philander found out after dark was beheaded , but since the Eu ropeans have introduced their own customs , the entire system is in danger of revolution. Seoul is one of the filthiest and worst-kept towns to be found in all the east The idea of drainage has not yet entered the official mind , and that pestilence has not made there its abiding home is proof of a benefi cent Providence. During the writer's sojourn some years ago , It was not an unusual occurrence for the agile leopard ( Korea's most common "wild fowl" ) , to scale one of the walls , and entering the 'nearest house , carry elf a child in the darkness. To-day , however , they have changed all that ; but Seoul's greatest need , from a western point of view , is still a de cent hotel. The native dwelling- house is an impossibility to all but a salamander. The flooring , in most cases , is composed of neatly-jointed flat stones , over which mats are laid. Underneath is a hollow space , in which firewood is laid in bundles and lighted. The paper doors are then slid into their grooves , excluding all air , and soon you find yourself in a Turkish bath. The average new comer only tries it once. A new baby looks like a lobster. This will make mothers mad , but'it la true. We have a right to say so , hav ing once been new , and a baby. RANK POISON IN THE BODY. Generated in the System It Frequent ly Causes Disease and Death. The body Is a factory of poisons. If these poisons , which are constantly being produced in large quantities iq the body , are imperfectly removed or are produced in too great quantity aa the result of overfeeding , the fluids which surround'the brain cells and alj the living tissues are contaminated with poisonous substances which as phyxiate and paralyze the cells and so interfere with their activity. This fact explains , in part at least , the st'ipidity which is a common after-dinner ex perience with many persons. When food is retained in the stomach beyond the normal time , either because of its indigestibility , the taking of too large a quantity of it or a crippled state of the stomach , these changes are certain to take place. This fact explains a very large share of the myriad symptoms which afflict the chronic dyspeptic. The giddiness , the tingling sensations , the confusion of thought and even partial insensibility , which are not infrequently observed a few hours after meals in chronic dys peptics , are due to this cause. Here is the explanation of the irascibility , the despondency , the pessimism , the inde cision and various other forms of mental perversity and even moral de pravity which are not infrequently as sociated with certain forms of gastro intestinal disturbances. London Fam ily Doctor. Thawing out an Oil Pipe Liine. An eight-inch oil pipe line from the Bakersfield region to San Francisco haste to be heated at intervals so that the oil will flow. When a number of poor cooks get together , what a lot of blame you will' hear given the flour ! A man naturally believes in the sur vival of the fittest as long as he lives. KOREA PM "FT. " Farm hands in Norway receive $40 to $80 a year. In New York city schools 1,000 chil dren have trachoma. Trust company deposits now amount to over $1,500,000,000. This is an in crease of $1,000,000,000 in the last five years. Chemulpo , the port of Seoul , the cap ital of Korea , looks out over a vast shallow bay , where the tide rises thir ty feet. Hetty Green sometimes rides in a $12,800 automobile , but it is owned by her son , Edward H. R. Green , of the Texas Midland Railroad. Since the campaign entered upon by the health authorities against the hordes of rats at the London docks , 255,372 have been destroyed. The whistling by switch engines which -work all night In the railway yards in and near cities is permitted In no country other than America. One hundred and sixty dollars was paid recently for the pen used by the Emperors of Prussia , Austria and Rus sia in signing the holy alliance treaty. James Stillman , president of the Na tional City Bank , of New York , com monly called the Standard Oil Bank , Is a director of fifty-two corporations. A German physician recommends soap as a cure for sleeplessness. The soap lather must be allowed to dry on the skin before the patient goes to bed. bed.Lord Lord Kelvin's estimate of the age of the -world is : "Not so great as 40- 000,000 years ; possibly as little as 20- 300,000 years ; probably 30,000,000 years. " If the deposits now In the savings banks of this country -were divided per capita , every man , "woman and zhild would receive $417.21. The total sum is $2,935,204,845. There were 144 German domestic servants last year who were awarded : he servants' golden cross for having ived forty years with one family. Only ) ue was found in Berlin. As a protection against consumption , t is proposed to inoculate every calf u Germany with speciallly prepared : uberculosis bacilli , on the plan of vac- ? inatiou , in order that the animal may lot contract tuberculosis later. Chuang Kuei Tl , the leader of the juurd of the court at Pekin , has stated hat his trops are unable to sh c be cause they have never been supplied , vith ammunition , and so are quite uu- iccustoined to the sound of the rifle. Nine-tenths of the external trade of he Bahamas , which amounted to $1- 575,000 last year , is with the United States. The principal exports of the slands are pineapples and sponges , iiid the imports flour and earthen and glassware. The school savings bank system is low in practice in 797 schools in eigh- y-five cities of twenty-one States. The mpils have saved over $2,000,000 , of vhich $1,500,000 has been withdra-wu. Che exact balance due depositors Jan. . was $521,900.83. Since Alaska passed into the hands if the United States the Government las received $9,095,822 through its va- ious departments there. The expenses if administration have been $8,690,780 , o that the Government has made a trofit from its investment. The Dogs' Protective League has ar- anged with veterinary surgeons hroughout England to set aside a. cer- ain hour in each week when poor per- ons may present their dogs for advice .nd treatment. The league also trains turses for attendance on dogs. The Canadian Pacific Railway offi- ials have announced that the company las been condemned by a British judge n Hong-Kong to pay the Chinese Gov- rrnment 96,000 for running down a Chinese gunboat with one of Its steam- ihips , the Empress of Japan. In a German factory , which employs ,107 men , making agricultural imple- nents and traction engines , 25 per cent ret 71 to 95 cents a day , 59 per cent get 15 cents to $1.31 , and 16 per cent get Lbove $1.31. This does not include , oys or apprentices , and is for a nine- ind-a-half-hour day. BELIEVE IN MANY OMENS. of West Indiana Gives the Planters Decided Advantaze- . The French Islands have two super- ititions which are not to be found in i > me others of the West Indies. These ire a belief in some sort of werewolf r vampire , which lives on the blood of ivayfarers , upon "whom It leaps when : hey are abroad In the night time , or > f sleepers -whom it finds in lonely mt& ; and , second , & belief lawhat is known in the British Islands as the "rolling calf , " a monster -with blazing eyes , which prowls at night , clanking a chain suspended from its neck , and at whose touch men die. The follow ing description is given of the typical obeah man : "There is something so indescribably sinister about an obeah man's appear ance that he can always be picked out by one who has had much to do Avith his class. Dirty , ragged , unkempt , de formed , there is yet about him an air of cunning authority. His small , piercing eyes peer viciouslj * at the wit nesses arrayed against him in court , for all the world like those of a cor nered rat. Black men may be seen to turn as gray as ashes under the terror of that baleful gaze , and often it is only -with difficulty that incriminating evidence can be dragged out of them. The wizard's awesome presence , how ever , does not appall an unsentimental British judge. He orders him "twelve , months' hard" and a sound flogging. Frequently the obeah man appeals against this sentence to the higher court , and in Jamaica it is not ai all unusual for him to get off on some technical point , owing to the defective drafting of the law. Of course , he tells the ignorant negroes that he pro cured freedom by his magical powers and thus their superstition Is strength ened. British law punishes obeah with flogging and imprisonment. Neverthe less obeah is practiced by the -white planters almost as a matter of neces sity in order to frighten the negroes and prevent them from appropriating the produce of the plantations. You may -walk through your friend's banana plantation and notice a skull stuck on a top of a stick , a small bottle full of dead cockroaches tied to a branch , or a miniature black coffin placed on a little mound. "Hello , old man ! " you say , "working obeah eh ? I'll come and see you flogged at the jail" He tries to laugh it off shame facedly , saying there is really no other way to make "those Avretched natives" keep their hands off the crops. That is true. It is needless , however to go to the trouble of placing these things about your plantation. If some night prowler has stolen your bananas all you need do Is to say next morning in the hearing of the natives : "It's all right , I don't care. I've got the foot print. " You will see them whisper among themselves in an awestricken way and presently one -will come up to you , nearly weeping with terror , and confess himself the thief. The super stition is that if you dig out the earth upon which the robber has impressed bis foot and throw it into the fire he will waste away and die unless he ? ives himself up and takes his punish ment. New York Commercial Adver tiser. American Made Dolls. There is a big factory in the United States now , in New Jersey , -which makes dolls , very perfect and durable anes , of sheet steeL They are light ind strong , so strong they cannot be jroken even if stepped on. Their smile Is the kind -which will not come off , ! or their complexion Is of baked enam- jl , not to be rubbed or scraped away , mys Good Housekeeping. They are jtartlingly lifelike , these babies from NTew Jersey , for they have ball and socket joints , even for their ankles , and strike all sorts of chjldish attitudes , rhe hands can be fitted -with gloves , ind the eyes are removable , to accom modate little girls -who have decided preferences as to brown eyes or blue. Fhe hair can be removed for a shampoo pee or a change of complexion. They Evill ta.lk even , if one cares to pay for i phonograph attachment. Altogether , Lhis pioneer American doll Is charae- : eristically smart and good-looking. The Care of Umbrellas. More umbrellas are spoiled through careless treatment than wear out from ictual hard work. One great mistake : hat many people make is to leave an ambrella standing on its point to dry ifter it has been used in the rain. This s most harmful , as all the water .rickles down and settles in the folds it the narrow end of the silk , and this lot only causes the silk to rot , but the ; vire frame to grow rusty. The right to treat a wet umbrella when t Into the house Is to open it vide and -wipe it as dry as possible , Jien half close it and leave it standing ) n its handle to drain. Wet umbrellas mould never be put near a fire ; this ilso Is likely to cause the silk to split Chose a Suitable Text. "Dr. Thirdly is certainly an up-to- late clergyman , " said Fosdick. "So ? " said Keedick. , "Yes , sir. One of his parishioners Evas killed by the explosion of his lutomoblle and the doctorvtook for the ; ext of his funeral sermon the biblical iccount of Elijah going to heaven in. i chariot of fire. " Smart Set FITZ TO HIS SORROW. Unexpected Deznonatratlc of 111 * llittinsr Power. Bob Pitzslnnnons gave an ed demonstration of his physical .the other day in a downtown sporting goods house. The big fighter drops Into this establishment frequently and edi fies the clerks and whatever customers may be about by his skill at drumming the punching bag. He rarely fails to perform his old trick of knocking tha bag lose from its bearings , and on thW occasion , after a hard blow had tora the bag loose from the string that held It , one of the otiicers of the concern who Avas loklng on and who knows Fitz well , remarked to the pugilist : "Oh , I don't think much of that stunt , Fitz ; that piece of rope was an old one and it wouldn't take much of a blow to break It It toot you soma time to get that bag loose , and my opinion Is you are getting to be a back number. If you couldn't land on Cor- bett any harder than that he'd trim you In jig time. " Fitz didn't say anything in regard to the guying , but the mention of Cor- bett's name made his face take on more determined expression. "Then , " said the business man la telling of the incident "I got a brand. new piece of stout sash cord , nearly thick enough to lift a horse and rigged up the punching bag -with this cord. 'Now , ' I said to Fitz , 'there is som © . thing yon could not knock loose In a hundred years. ' Fitz lammed away a < the bag viciously for a while , but didn't knock it loose. I stood there guying him some more , telling him how hc' < J gone back and nil that , and then 1 walked away about twenty feet "I turned around to see how Fits was getting along , and as I did so 1 saw his arm shoot threugh the air s fast it was only a blur in the air , and the next thing I knew the bag waa shooting through space like a bullet "It was coming straight for me , too , and at such speed that I didn't hav time to dodge it It cleared an inter vening show case , and the next Instaut I was wondering whether I was In thq ring or In the hospital. The flying balj caught me squarely over the eye , and I surely thought I would have to tak < the count The blow dazed me for a moment and nearly put me out "I guess Iwas the one that was l Ing guyed all the time , but In any event between the kick of a mule and a , man who can drive a punching bat twenty feet through the air and hart enough to almost knock you down , th mule for mine. I don't think Fitz 1 * quite a candidate yet for the home foi superannuated old men. " New Tort Sun. Trees in Ohino. Tree planting in North era China li being strenuously enjoined by the an thorities , not only as a productive 1 dustry for the people , but alike as a means of strengthening the river era * bankments against floods and of check ing drought Of late years trees nan been cut down wholesale for agriculi tural purposes , while the peasants d4 not take the trouble to plant fresh ones , because the soil is so loose thai - they must dig down very deep for a satisfactory foothold. So vast tractt - of fertile land are left barren , whih in the northern provinces especially the influx of sand carried by higft winds from the Mongolian desexl threatens to fill up the unoccupied ground. So in the important Province of Chill , which contains the capital , Peking is a government proclamation notify Ing the "eight directions for tree plan tation" most minute instructions aj to the kind of trees required , tin depth they should be planted and thf fertilizers to be used and the "tes benefits to be derived from the same ; ' ' such , among others , as the sale of tln > ber and fruit , the beneficial influenet of trees in attracting rain , preservinf the just equilibrium ofwind Influence and purifying the atmosphere , whili "travelers and families will find shadt and rest under the branches. " a poetb truth for conclusion. Golden Penny. New Type ol" Engine. From Germany comes news of i locomotive worked by steam and ye * Independent of fire of its own. Ti * engine has just been completed at thi Hohenzollern works at Dusseldorf an < is of a type designed for shunting b ] explosive factories. Instead of carry ing fire in its own boiler it is filial with steam from stationary boilers , and when so charged is capable of sen eral hours' work. The first warming up occupies half an hour , and subsa quent recharging can be done In I quarter of an hour. The apparatus i | so simple that an unskilled workmaj Is able to look after it The absence oi fire in a place where dynamite or gun powder is being handled is the reasoj for the invention of this type of en sine. Equal to the Kmercency. The old sexton approached the pul pit "Parson , " he exclaimed in a hears whisper , "the church is on fire ! " "All right , John , don't get excited , ' rejoined the good man as he stoppet abruptly in the middle of his sermon "You pass down one aisle while I g * down the other and we'll quietly wakt up the congregation " Ansvrered. "When does a girl reach the * maa riageable age ? " "When her father's purse has reach , ed the marriageable size. " Detaroi Free Press. When a leap-year girl proposes it' | up to the young man to lose his seit possession. Never crack a joke on delicat Around.
