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About Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 1905)
It Is stated that in bis next annual tliiesnage President Roosevelt will rec ommend that the balance of $22,000,000 due this country from China"as in demnity for the Boxer outrages be re leased from payment on condition that -China devote the money to education. The claims for Amencan missionary .property destroyed , amounting to $2- 000,000 , have been satisfied , and the -cost of our expedition to Pekinwas not 'Over $1,000,000. An award of $25- 000,000 indemnity to the United States was felt to be excessive , though na larger in proportion than the amount agreed on for the other nations that xnarched to the relief or foreigners in Pekin. But the idea of taking the amount awarded is distasteful to this country for several reasons. It is far too much , under the circumstances , and China's helplessness appeals to sympathy. The plight of the immense Chinese empire excites compassion. Its territory is a battle ground for other nations , and the neutrality of fts har- fcors is violated by belligerents. Non- resistance is a terribly poor national policy. On the part of the United States there is a sincere wish that China may be able to claim a place among nations in whicn it can not be wantonly imposed upon. To hand the $23,000,000 to China without conditions might be construed as a criticism on the countries that take all the indemn ity awarded them. But China can ac cept our share as a girt to an object which it holds in high esteem , that of education. Americans do not want the money as a windfall. They wish for China better times and national se curity , a position in the world where it can respect itself and command the re- .spect of others. The relinquishment .of the $22,000,000 will strike the peo ple of the United States favorably. From the United States Census Bu reau has recently come the report of the first complete census of the Phil ippine Islands. Nearly eight thousand people were employed in gathering the -statistics , and all but 125 of them -were native Filipinos. This census , therefore , is the first in modern times vhich a tropical people have made of .themselves. Many interesting facts 'were disclosed by the canvass of the islands. In the first place , it was found that the population numbered " 7,600,000 ; that near 7,000,000 possessed some degree of civilization and pro fessed the Christian religion. It was also discovered that almost the whole population live in villages , as there are nearly 14,000 villages with an av erage population of 500. Of the larger towns , 35 have 5,000 population each ; -four have 10,000 ; and Manila has 220- OCO. The people own the houses , or "huts , " in which they live only 0 per cent of the houses are rented And the farmers own their farms. About 4,000 children are enrolled in the schools , and they are said to be -eager to learn. The night-schools in Manila , 21 in number , have an enrol ment of more than 4,000 adults who -are studying English. The Cuban minister , Senor Gonzalo -Quesada , says that in some respects Havana can give Washington a few points on the management of schools , writes a correspondent from the capi tal. Some months ago the municipal authorities of Havana introduced a system which is gradually becoming popular in every part of the United States. It is called the "School City" and the system means simply govern ing the school as a township , electing a Mayor , a Board of Councilmen , and every officer needed for general govern ment , even to that personage who com mands the respect and admiration of the small boy in every part of the -globe , the policeman. The poor urchins of the Cuban capital ire enthusiastic over the plan , and the schools are filled to overflowing. Mr. Quesada is author ity for the statement that nothing in troduced since the Spanish departed has so aroused the pride and good -qualities of th juveniles. A new carpet has been purchased -for the United States Senate. About -300 yards of material is required , and the cost of the carpet is a trifle over $2,000. Carpet concerns all over the country had their agents in Washing ton in the hope of landing the con tract Colonel Ransdell , sergeant-at- = arms , chose a green Wilton carpet made by a New England firm. The average life of Senate carpets is four years. _ * * The Panama railway board of direc tors has decided to double-track the road across the isthmus to accommo date the increased business due to the construction of the canal without in terfering with the ordinary freight "business. The chairman of the Canal -Commission has been made president of the railway company. * _ * Fourth Assistant Postmaster Gen eral DeGraw has made public a report .on the rural free delivery service in the United States , showing a total of 30- 'OS2 routes in operation May 1 , with -4.70S petitions for the service pend ing in the postofflce department On April 1 last there were 29,996 routes in operation and 4,521 petitions pend ing. Of the 4,708 cases pending , 884 "have been assigned for establishment either May 15 or June 1 , leaving 8,824 - petitions unacted on. ON LAND AND SEA What the Contending Busso-Japanese Forces Have Been Doingr. An official French message from Saigon last week announced that Ne- bogatofT's squadron had joined Rojest- vensky. No locality is named , but In order that definite information should come through Saigon Rojestvensky must still be close to the Indo-China shore. From St Petersburg we aro told that Rojestvensky's fleet will now be divided into three squadrons , with Voelkersam in command of the bat tle ships , Enquist In command of the cruisers and Nebogatoff in command of a scouting force. ! At last , one would think , Rojestven sky must be ready to start on the final stage of his adventure , whether his In tention be to seek out Togo directly or to endeavor to make Vladivostok af ter evading a battle. And yet an Im mediate sea fight has been so often predicted , even in quarters where the Russian plans are presumably best known , that again a chance for delay may be found. It is close to a thousand miles from the Indo-China coast to Formosa. It is another thousand miles from there to the Straits of Korea. To Vladivostok is , say , 500 miles further. A round about course to the east of Japan would increase the distance to Vladivo- stock by probably 1,500 miles. From Formosa northward Japan possesses a continuous series of small islands , from which torpedo boats could carry on raids should Rojestvensky pass that way. Unless Rojestvensky steers out to the open sea a pitched battle may be fought in the Straits of Korea. The neutrality discussion has occu pied the leading place in the "war news" of the week. It has been vol uble , but not satisfying. France has had the last word by declaring that her neutrality is different from any other neutrality in the world a statement which no one will feel disposed to dis pute. The rest of the world , however , may have difliculty in comprehending the niceties of French neutrality. One fact is apparent The Russian fleet , under friendly shelter of the French harbors , has been enabled to prepare itself for battle with Togo or to prey upon Japa nese commerce. Without the friendly assistance of France the Russian fleet could not have rounded the Cape of Good Hope or reached the Island of Madagascar. It could not have crossed the Indian Ocean. It would not have waited four weeks for the arrival of reinforcements. The "raid" of the Vladivostok squad ron , which a week ago promised some diversion , came to naught. The Rus sian torpedo boats sunk several small Japanese merchant steamers and scurried back to Vladivostok. The ad venture was hardly worth the coal it cost. Two larger Russian ships are re ported to have been sighted near the Tsugari Straits , but the surmise of naval officers that they are cruisers sent from Vladivostok to scout the Pa cific along the eastern coast of Japan is yet to be realized. The land campaign In Manchuria ap parently is developing rapidly , and there are indications that Oyama ia about to begin his turning movement to the eastward in order to drive the Russians out of Kirin and Isolate Vla divostok. The military situation Is similar In its conditions to that just preceding the battle of Mukden , 'rhe two armies are face to face along a front of near ly 100 miles , both astride the railroad. The extreme Japanese right is in the mountains to the east while the left stretches across the railroad to the plains of the west Since May 5 the armies in Manchuria have indulged in a number of skir mishes , but there is no indication that a Japanese advance in force has be gun. Apparently the Russians retreat ed further than was necessary after the battle of Mukden. Oyama's ad vance lines are from 30 to 50 miles north of Tieling , with his main force probably at Tieling or south of it The extreme extension of the lines is about 100 miles east and west. Oyama has been following his old plans , building roads , constructing de fenses and repairing the railroad , so that he will have full facilities of trans port and will be assured of a safe po sition for resistance in the contingency of a reverse. No sign of a land move ment against Vladivostok has yet de veloped , and the reported movements of Russian troops in northern Korea have no material significance. Oyama's strategy is not of the kind that can be fathomed. The tactics of Mukden were not those of Liaovang , although Kouropatkin thought they were. Strawberries Gone to Waste. Last week there was a scarcity of strawberries in northern markets and conseqently enhanced prices ; at the same time at Chadbourne , N. C. , more than $200,000 worth of the berries rotted be cause of the lack of shipping facilities. Northern commission men were on the ground ready to give $3 a crate for the berries provided they could ship them , but means for this purpose were denied and many teams had to be engaged to haul the berries to the river , where they were dumped. All Records Broken. Tuesday , in New York , all records for the immigration of aliens were broken. Nearly 15,000 immigrants were in the port of that city , and of that number fully 7,000 passed through the inspection gates at Ellis Island. The balance re mained on board their respective ships until the next morning. The facilities at the Island for taking care of the in coming aliens were swamped. Those who passed through the gates were han dled with the greatest rapidity possible under the circumstances by an augment ed force of only twenty-two Inspector * . "fr * * . * - . , , C. COURAGE FIGHTING TOUTING Billy lay face to the earth in a tent , With a guard passing by. The lust of the liquor within him was spent And what was there left but to do ? He was willing for that , but not , not by the shot Of his comrades to fall. Nor his proud name erased from the roll by a blot And dishonor the sum of it all. Fighting Billy lay face to the earth in a tent , With a guard pacing by. But court-martials waited , for battle had rent A rift In ihe black of his sky. He lifted his head as an officer passed ; "One favor , sir , one ! One favor , the first I have asked and the last ; Release for the day and a gun. " The old colonel halted. "Well , Billy , my lad , You'll flnd old Pap Thomas Is looking for fighting to-day , good or bad. Go ! die , or come back ! it's a promise. " Chlcknmauga was raging and Billy's blood leaped Like a tigerish thing. He filliped at length where the dying were heaped , He offered his breast to Its sting. But the shell turned away and the bullet sped wide. Till there came an advance And a brother-iu-arms whispered close at his side , "Hey , Billy , my boy , here's your chance ! "Charge ahead at the word and forget to come back. A dozen good men Will swear you were 'captured while lead- Ing attack , And a fig for the court-martial then. " For a moment the blood smothered close at his heart And deserted his face , As he fought the temptation which rose at the smart Of the thought of his waiting disgrace. Then "Forward ! " and wildly he led the at tack. And then ? Did he lag ? Did he throw down his gun ? Or who was it brought back An enemy's shot-tattered flag ? He was there when the court-martlal's ver dict was read. "Guilty ! " That was the word. "On every count guilty ! " The hard thing was said , And a murmur of sympathy stirred As Billy stepped out and surrendered his gun , Grained prit through and through. "There is only one thing I regret , sir. That one Is that 'Guilty , ' God help me ! is true. " And then came the sentence. "The pris oner must. Till his service shall end. Be as valiant in arms and as true to his trust As to-day. For the rest we commend "The pardon his soldierly conduct has earned , And his colonel requests. " And never was lesson more thoroughly learned As he proved In a hundred tests. And when men would boast of the blood v affray And the daring attack. "I was brave only once in my life , " he would say , "And that was a time I turned back. " Edmund Vance Cooke. * IN THE SWEET SOUTHLAND. BY JESSIE JULIET KXOX. > t A blue sky , the breath of springthe song of birds and two young hearts. It was Decoration Day , and in the sweet Southland flowers were being strewn upon the graves of dead soldiers , while th , music swelled and thrilled the hearts of the listeners. la the vast crowd which filled the National Cemetery there were two who on that day lived the initial chapter of their lives. Was there ever so blue a sky ? Did ever sunbeams fall so softly upon white marble ? We met by a soldier's grave. Rex and I. I was a young girl , just out of school , and he what poor words of mine could describe one who seemed to me a god ? His dark. Southern face , the great sad eyes which aro like no other eyes I have ever seen were not these sufficient to thrill the warm young heart which then beat in my bosom ? After the graves had all been strewn with flowers , and the perfect day was growing older , the crowd departed , and we two were left in the sacred silence of the place. There was no one else in all the world for us then , and as we sat there his eyes flashed into mine a regard so sudden and subtle that its fire swept over me like a wave. Suddenly he caught my hands and kissed them his own were burning. The shades grew more dense. We spoke but little what need was there for words ? He drew me closer his lips touched mine. Ah , in such a time , why cannot the lips we love kiss us forever ? After that , life for us was the color of the rose. Spring grew into summer , and more than a year passed. When the snow coverod the earth we were forced to say good-by for a time but only for a time. Such true lovers could not be long sepa rated. Fate was to take me to a far country , and Rex would soon follow. Before I met the man who was the world to me there had been one who had cared for me , not with the pure and no ble devotion which would sacrifice any thing for the object of its love , but the fierce passion of the wild beast. I could never have loved him , even if I had not met the other. But one cannot be wholly blind to such fierce idolatry , and a wom an's soul turns to flattery as the flower to the sun , and so I had listened. My heart was not touched , but as a cat plays with a mouse so did I play with the heart of this man. It seemed a pleasant way to pass the time , and he was so in earnest ! But when Rex came and looked at me with his sad brown eyes , all was changed. My warm , impulsive heart has his , and O forgot that I was causing an other to suffer. What was that to me ? I had never suffered. I did not know. Nothing in the whole throbbing , happy world mattered then , for I loved and was beloved. When it was known that I must go to a distant country a land of perpetual summer the man I had forgotten came to me and poured forth his love with an intensity of passion which almost fright ened me , and said : "I ask you once more : will you be my wife ? * ' "No ! " I said. "A thousand times no. - / With a cruel look he muttered : j "Yes. it is because you love that other , Well , you shall never wed with him. I will have my revenge. Wait ! " I laughed in his face and left him. For then it must be a century ago I knew not what it was to suffer. Now I have learned. With a carelessness only possible to one who has never known real sorrow I dismissed him from my mind , and gave all my time to the man from whose lov ing arms I was so soon to bo torn. The world was cold and gray when at last we said good-by. We thought it fit ting that we should part where we met , by a soldier's grave. It was a "day fit only for farewells ; the wind moaned through the leafless trees , and tho snow fell upon us as we clasped hands and vowed to be true. As we came through the gate we met a woman , carrying white roses to place on some snow-co\cred grave. Our wedding day was to be in June , and as I sped away to the land of trop ical bloom my thoughts were busy with happy anticipations. Letters , white- winged messengers of love , sped between us , and all went merry as a marriage bell until the revenge came. The man I had forgotten still remembered me. He had gone to Rex , and with one black lie ruined two lives. If I could only once have spoken to my love , or looked into his eyes , all would have been well ; but the ocean lay between us , and he believed the other one. I was both blind and deaf in that time of despair. I think when one plucks a rose from its stalk and throws it away to wither in the sun , the poor flower must feel as I did in all those weeks and months ; only the rose dies and is at peace , while I lived on through all my youth , but my soul was dead within me. Ah , heaven , the world is weary ! What beauty will the dawn bring for me ? In this summer land there will be forever silence , for love has gone. Is this a dream the message that comes speeding over the sea after long years ? "N is dead , and has confessed that he lied. Wait for me. Forgive ! "REX. " Once again I smell the perfume of the flowors , and I see that the sky is blue , and I hear the birds sing. My senses break from , the lethargy of years , and burst forth with a marvelous buoyancy. He comes , and with a cry clasps me in his arms and holds me close in the soft darkness how many moments I know not. not.On On Decoration Day in the sweet Southland , men and maidens are strew ing flowers on the graves of dead sol diers ; but the traitor sleeps. To Prognosticate Storms. By means of a delicate instrument called the ceraunograph , Rev. Freder ick L. Odersbach , professor of chemis try in St Ignatius' College , in Cleve land , Ohio , is able to foretell many hours the numerous summer storms which come up , often on bright , warm , clear days , with startling rapidity , and with dire results to the small craft along the sea coast and on inland waters. The action of the ceraunograph is simple and easily understood by any one acquainted with an ordinary tele graph system with relay. The initial action precedes the advent of the storm from one to thirty-six hours. As the electric disturbance advances tne coherer is very busy , soon produc ing a continuous band record , while the decoherer keeps up a constant clatter , which finally becomes deafen- ing. Memorial Day. It is the lives that we revere In beauty of the May , Love's gift of reverence sincere For our Memorial Day. * They are alive In all our hearts , ' - The while with tears we pray , ' Yet thought of heaven its bllss'lmparts And hallows our Memorial . Day ! * " - " * * * * * * * * ' * + f " - - -T Unusual Land Deal. The J'cgents of Kansas university have purchased fifty-one acres adjoin- inf the campus on the west. The terms fire a little peculiar in ths.t no fixed price was established. The seller , an elderly person , is to receive an annu ity of $ GOO during her life. The first payment was made by a popular sub scription contributed by the citizens of Lawrence. The legislature will be asked to make provision for future payments. Find Petrified Grain. The drillers at work in a new deep well at Junction City , Kan. , are find ing all sorts of odd tilings. Recently ' the drill penetrated a stratum of wha't appeared to be petrified rye. The grains were surprisingly like that cereal , and some one has suggested that an ante-glacial elevator or store house has been discovered. He who would be a great soul In the future must be a great soul now. B. W. Emerson. Kind Neighbor * . When Miss Jenkins , after spendlnj fifty-six years in the city of her birth , decided to buy a small farm in ttn country , she determined to miss noni of the d-slights - of farming life. "I'm going to have a steady horsa and two cows and some hens , " he an nounced to her brother , to whom sh proudly displayed her new property. "The Adams boy from the next house will help me about everything. He'll drive the cows anil milk , and teach m how to harness , and of course I shalJ feed the hens and the little pig. " "The little pig ! " echoed her brother. "Do you propose to keep a pig ? And where. I should like to know ? " "There's room for a small pig pen back of the barn , away from the road , and everything , " said Miss Jenkins , calmly. "Mr. Adams has some cun ning little pigs , and that is what I wish. And I asked the Adams boy if he thought when the pig had outgrown the pen I could find some one to take him and give me another little one in exchange , and he seemed sure I could. You've no idea , brother , how obliging the people are here in tha v.ouutry. " Modern Enterprise. Smith Hill , the real estate man , la certainly an enterprising chap. Jones What's the answer ? Smith lie is offering a hand-painted house with each lot as a special induce ment to purchasers. Railroads and Progress. In his testimony before the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce at Washington on May 4th , Prof. Hugo R. Meyer of Chicago University , an ex pert on railroad management , mado this statement : "Lot us look at what might have happened if we had heeded the pro tests of the farmers of New York and Ohio and Pennsylvania ( in the seven ties when grain from the west began pouring to the Atlantic seaboard ) and acted upon tho doctrine which the In terstate Commerce Commission has enunciated time and again , that no man may be deprived of the advant ages accruing to him by virtue of hia geographical position. We coultf not have west of the Mississippi a popula tion of millions of people who aro prosperous and are great consumers. We never should have seen the years when we built 10,000 and 12,000 milea of railway , for there would have been no farmers west of the Mississippi Riv er who could have used the laud that would have been opened up by the building of those railways. And if wo had not seen the years when we could build 10,000 and 12,000 miles of rail way a year , we should not have to-day east of the Mississippi a steel and iron producing center which is at once the marvel and the despair of Europe , be cause we could not have built up a steel and iron industry If there had been no market for its product. "We could not have in New England a great boot and shoe industry ; we could not have in New England a great cotton milling industry ; we could not have spread throughout New York and Pennsylvania and Ohio manufacturing Industries of the most diversified kinds , because those industries would have no market among the farmers west of the Mississippi River. "And while the progress of this coun try , while the development of the agri cultural west of this country , did mean the impairment of the agricultural ralue east of the Mississippi River that ran up into hundreds of millions of dollars , it meant incidentally the building up of great manufacturing in dustries that added to the value of this land by thousands of millions of iollars. And , gentlemen , those things were not foreseen in the seventies. The statesmen and the public men of this country did not see what part the agri- eultural development of the West was going to play in the industrial develop ment of the East. And you may read the decisions of the Interstate Com merce Commission from the first to the last , and what 13 one of the greatest rharacteristics of those decisions ? The continued inability to see the question in this large way. "The Interstate Commerce Commis sion never cr n see anything more than that the farm land of some farmer is decreasing in value , or that some man who has a flour mill with a production of 00 barrels a day is being crowded out. It never can see that the destruc tion or impairment of farm values in this place means the building up of farm values in that place , and that that shifting of values is a necessary incident to tie industrial and manu facturing development of. this country. A.nd if we shall give to the Interstate uoninierce Cojnmission ower to ream- late rates , we sialTuo longer have rates regulated on the statesmanlike basis on which they have been regu lated in the past by the railway men , who really have been great statesmen , who really have been great builders of empires , who have had an imagination lhat rivals the imagination of the great est poet and of the greatest inventor , and who have operated with a courage and daring that rivals the courage and daring the greatest military general , But we shall have our rates regulated by a body of civil servants , bureau crats. whose besetting sin the world over is that they never can grasp a sit uation in a large way and with the grasp of the statesman ; that they nev er can see the fact that they are con fronted with a small evil ; that that evil Is relatively small , and that it cannot be corrected except by the creation of evils and abuses which are infinitely greater than the one that is to be cor rected. " _ African epicures consider the tongua of a young giraffe a great delicacy. Th meat of the animal Is aaid to taste what Ilk * veal