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About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1907)
5X!j;- i w--'- ;-rfv-.----J''-"- -y--A- jf y-- VJi -'Vi-V .- - ' v 2-T V'-JJT ' i- v " " 4l ! t ( I Pitiful Appeals Sent from China i i m ' Incredible Scenes of Hardship -Disease Adds Its Horror to that of Hunger-Many Months of Suffering and Death Ahead -America Appealed to for Aid. "1 SBBBBBBBBSBnUBBBBBS 1 COW Jm ""'" If jp tvat:ti J& -vai WY ) . S aT,. The Kingdom of China The Shaded Portion of the Map Indicates the Ter ritory Stricke n by Famine. Frightful famine has its clutches on two lands. Owing to the drought and the failure of the crops in South Central Russia, 30,000,000 Russians in 27 provinces have seen their means of subsistence swept away. Men, women and children, huddled in their miserable villages on the steppes of the Volga and the 'Caspian sea, are face to face with starvation. It is feared that ten per cent, may die before new crops can be gathered. The flooding of 40,000 square miles of lowlands in northeastern China has rendered 15.000,000 homeless. It is believed that fully 4,000,000 of these may perish. So pitiful are these calamities 'thaX the voices of the starving peasants have been heard around the world. America has been among the first and most generous in appreciating the dire need and in giving of her prosperity. But all that has been given as yet has scarcely touched the fringe of the famine-stricken districts. New York. The climax of the great Chinese famine is at hand. In the seaboard provinces 4,000.000 men, women and children are starring more than the population of Manhat tan. Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and IUchmojnd. According-tov the latest reports, the situation is much more serious than that described in these columns a few weeks ago by a cor respondent in Shanghai. Since early in the winter the 4,000,000 refugees have been homeless and destitute. Ac cording to the viceroy of Kiangsu. it is ten times worse than any famine kuown in China in the last 40 years. In point of mortality, it is the worst calamity that has befallen mankind since the beginning of the new cen tury. The end is not yet As the Chinese winter reaches its height, more and more people must succumb to hunger and exKMire. It is not a question of surviving, but of how many thousands must die. That the famine will last for months to come is a certainty. With all the generosity of other civil ized nations, the relief is inadequate. 40,000 Square Miles Flooded. The messages received from China last December told of the beginnings of the famine. For 40 days and nights it rained constantly. The great canal, extending TOO mlies from Tien Tsin to Hang Chan, close to the sea coast in the provinces of Chekiang, Kiangsu, and Shan Tung, burst its banks ond 40.000 square miles of low plains were flooded. Fifteen millions of people in five provinces were more or less affected. Of these. 8,000.000 lost their property, including their buildings and food supplies. Four mil lions were left absolutely destitute. -To these beginnings, nearly three months cf unspeakable misery have since been added. The intermediate stages were, in some respects, pecu liar to China. The dwellings and farm buildings had mud walls and roofs of thatch. The walls melted like paper as the water leaked through them. The peasants were forced to abandon them and wade through water up to their armpits to reach dry land. Stores ef Grain Lost. These Chinese farmers were a fru gal people living on millet, rice, pea OVEER FOODS GLADLY MADE USE OF BY SHIPWRECKED Shipwrecked persons have been keat alhre on the most repugnant aad wawhblesome of foods. Probably the hardest fare that six strong men and a boy of 15 ever kept alive oa was the daily mean of the Windover's sur vivors, who were cast ap oa the Irish coast aear Kilsegg not long ago. They lived 1C days on stewed rone yarn. When they took the skip's small boat they had water eaoagh for a month, but only a small amouat of provisions. These lasted only four days.. After having nothing at all to eat for the following two days they tried boiling lengths of tarred hemp rape iato palp ana swallowing it. They had a keg? of paraMa wax, which they bailed to add to the nour ishment . The .sickness they experi enced as result of the diet, says nuts, sweet potatoes, maize, and wheat. At the beginning of the win ter their store of grain was swept away. The horses, cattle, and even the dogs that survived were sold. Hunger reduced thousands to a diet of gruel made ofbeaas,' when they could be found, and sweet potato leaves. Then came reports of pitiful epi sodes peculiarly oriental in their na ture. So intense did the suffering be come that many sought death. Par ents killed their children by throwing them into the water, then took their own lives. Aged people are being drowned, or poisoned with opium, to prevent their slow death by hunger. The viceroy in one of the flooded provinces tells of a family consisting of a father, mother, and two children, all of whom perished in a single day. The mother left the house in search of food. In her absence the father drowned the children. When the mother returned, she asked where the little ones ' were. Her husband re plied that he could not bear to see them starve to death, and as there was no chance of feeding them, he had thrown them into the water. The distracted woman followed her chil dren. The father, in utter despair, took his own life. Sell Their Children. In some parts of the provinces of Honan. Kiangsu, and Anhui parents are selling their offspring, the girls for three dollars and the boys for two dollars Mexican, which means about one-half those amounts in Amer ican money. A correspondent de clares that in the Sinchow and Pat chow districts the starving people have been reduced to eating human flesh, and that it Is being sold secretly among the famine sufferers. Early in the new year, the famine situation changed. The starving peas ants flocked to the nearest cities in their quest for food. They are living in great camps, where the pitiful con ditions are intensified a hundredfold. There are aow fully 800,000 refugees at nine cities Tslngklangpu. Husian, Yanchow. Yaowan. Hsucbou, Suchi en. Ihslen. Chiakiang, and Nanking. One of the largest gatherings is at Tslngklangpu. on the edge of the fam ine district. Here there are five camps ww ' ""''VYTVTTwvvwuinnnAAiuui What-to-Eat. was only temporary and they landed in comparatively good health. Capt Maboly of the foundered steamer Gwalior and his second offi cer created a record less than two years ago by llvina for 17 davs on boot leather and a pint of water a day each. Of coarse no teeth can tear cow hide boots; they have to be cat ap and shredded with a knife and tbeJ shreds chewed and swallowed. Boil ing, even whea possible, it is said, does no good, but takes from the noundshmeat of the boots. A diet of boots and shoes is one of the commonest of last resource foods, aad though it is hard for a well-fed person to imagine that anyone could masticate aad digest the leather, a pair of leag aea boots will keep a man alive for a fortnigkt If he has a little water. Two men who went to a small island off the Irish coast not long ago kept themselves going for ten days on a. diet oi probably worse than this. each with at least 10.M relegees, or three times as maay atone potmt as there were Caban recoacentraaoa fa 1898. The flour aad beaa shops of tha city have been closed. There are foodstuffs available. All are dopead- ent on charity. In a large camp at Aatung the sVssuVl tute peasants are also facing deaths The Chinese officials acknowledge! their helplessness, and say that the only feasible coarse is to let one kali the people die and endeavor to obtain seed and scanty food for those whore-j main. In Suchlea, 10 per cent of the peo ple nave oeen living oa gruei iot weeks. All the cattle have been seMi and the donkeys, sheep, hogs, ana even the dogs have been eaten. Pitiful Scenes in Refugees Cameo, In these camps the starving people find shelter in flimsy huts of matted) grass and strip the bark from trees, devouring them ravenously to allay the pangs of their hunger. In the bet ter camps the people are fortunate) if they receive a scanty tea cup of rice a day. This is usually supplied at the kitchens established by the relief coat' mittees. Some of the most pitifnl scenes in the camps are enacted an the crowds of refugees, emaciated, dla eased, and in rags, besiege the hitch ens for the dole of food which their lives. e J. L. Rogers, American consul of the district, who is acting as the spe cial Red Cross representative the famine sufferers, visited camps at Chinkiang and Nanking re-, cently. He was told that these were infinitely better than the other camps along the canal, yet he found thn wretchedness, miser:, and appalling? horror of the sight almost indescrib able. There is no attempt at sanitation, he says. The mat huts are crowded together, and each contains many men, women, and children, who are clothed in rags and are disheveled: beyond description. To make matters worse, smallpox and other diseases' have appeared among them. Widespread Measures for Relief. The famine will continue for five more months, or until the crop of spring wheat is harvested. Each suf ferer needs little yet in the aggregate the requirements for their relief are formidable. It is said that ten cents a day will save a family, and $100 will relieve a small community. Assum ing that the total number of destitute is 4.000,000, the relief fund must be $20,000 a day for five months, or at least $3,000,000. The relief thus far has been trifling in comparison with the need. In all parts of America parse strings have been .loosened by men, women and even little children to save their kind from the pangs of hunger and death. The contributions range from five cents to " $1,000 or more. Nearly every State Is repre sented. Fund for Sufferers. A fund, started by contributions of $100 each from President Roosevelt and Secretary Root, is being raised by the Christian Herald of this. city. From this fund $35,000 has beaa seat to China through ,the state depart ment at Washington. The' newspaper has promised to raise $50,000 a month additional for February. March, April and May. The Red Cross Society has raised about $60,000. Of this $45,000 has been sent to China. Several weeks ago 300 tons of foodstuffs were shin ped from America' to the famine disV tricts. The California Kea cross ee ciety was also instrumental in send ing 2.500 bushels of seed wheat from San Francisco two weeks ago on the Siberia, free transportation having been offered by the Pacific Mail Steamship company. Five thousand bushels of seed wheat have been given to the Red Cross at Portland; Ore., and it is being gathered at Seat' tie for shipment. There are two relief committees in China. One is composed of Chlaese, Europeans and Americans, at Shang hai. The other comprises missionar ies exclusively. They are sending food into the districts where the greatest suffer! g prevails, but hava brai unable to do more than retteva the starving peasants that are neai at hand, owing to the lack of funds. As early as possible in the famine the American Missionary society load ed 3,590 bags of millet and rice on boats and sent them up to the great canal to the starving peasants. An other consignment of 20.000 bags fol lowed soon after. Thus far fully 16. 500 more bags of grain have been dis tributed, making 40,000 in all. The Chinese officials realise that the crisis Is at hand, and have taken extraordinary measures to aid their starving fellows. Taxes in the affect ed provinces have been abated. Many officials have had their salaries redan ed. the saving being devoted to re lief. The mints are running overtime to coin cash. The acute sufferers la some of the districts are reeelvlaf three cash (a sixth of a cent)' a day for a month. It is also proposed to re open old canals aad rebuild old roads, and thus afford the starving an oppor: tunity to earn a living. MMHiaaMaiwiMtaMiMaMiaMaaMv They landed in a boat which was" smashed by a wave oa their trying to relaunch her, aad they were kept oa the bare rocky islaad without food. Fortunately there waa a spring oa the Islaad, but nothing to the way of sea gulls, which they coaM catch, and nothing with which to make a fire as a distress signal. There ware not even any shell flak, as there waa a beach, aad the pair hat to eebalst am1 tea days oa cold, raw seaweed washes ap by the tide. The best known aad moat aeefel of starvatloB diets for wreaked, eaetairar people, however. Is that of Three Englishmen and n crew of cars who had beaa Soreed to the flailing vessel North Star a few months ago kept themselves more than a week oa The worst of this aiet m that the sarnacles give one iatemal riaasja and caase aa tasafferahle thirst, has they do aoariah the frame. Toa hava to reach aaaer. the vessel's atse aaal pall ehem off, .taking earn net ta leave the test an ef them sticking to the. PlaiV ' HOME VS. THE CITY THAT IS WHAT THE HOME-TRADE PROBLEM AMOUNTS TO. WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? If Yeu Are Sending Year Dollars te .he Mail-Order Houses Yeu Are Battling Against the Home Town. (Copyrighted, by Alfred C. Clark.) A far seeing, provident business man will not pursue a policy which is subversive of bis best interests. He will not destroy his own house, neither will he jeopardize his busi ness. He will observe the golden rule, not only in theory, but in prac tice, and its practical observation was never more needed than at the pres ent time. Men dream about the "Golden Age" and yet, ofttimes pur sue a policy which renders the dawn of that age an impossibility. Within the horizon of every coun try resident there exists an evil which is yearly assuming greater propor tions. We refer to the mail order business which last year amounted in money sent to Chicago alone to $200,000,000. Two hundred million dollars diverted from its legitimate channel. Two hundred million dol lars sent out to enrich those who were not needy, while those at home sorely in need of support were passed by coldly; the local trade was im poverished just to that extent. This golden trade reviving stream should have remained within its own chan nel, thus enriching its own soil, and causing desert places to bloom and blossom. Many unemployed would have been engaged at living wages, households The batteries of the catalogue houses are carrying destruction to the smaller cities and towns. Are you helping in this work of hurling destruc tion at the local schools, churches and industries? Are you assisting in the distribution of mail-order literature and sending ammunition in the way of home dollars with which they will continue the campaign? would have been cheered and hearts 1 off the limb upon which he sits. Dis- warmed; but no, it went to swell the dividends of surfeited, boastful city concerns. The live and let live doctrines was overlooked; its old-fashioned whole- someness was utterly aisregaraeu. The country merchant would have been engaged in his daily struggle, instead of battling at long odds J against ostracism, adversity, big bills land meager receipts. Think of $200,000,000, ye who cause the catalogue houses to flourish as the cedars of Lebanon, and the green bay tree; remember that their prosperity is at the expense of your brother, the local merchant, and local progress. Then ask this pertinent question: Can we afford to play the game longer; can we longer stultify local interests? This great evil affects every farm er, teacher and work hand, every home, every school, every church in every country community. It also touches the interests of the physician, preacher and pedagogue. It really robs the country merchant before his eyes, in a heartless way. He sees the freight yard crowded with consign ments to individuals from great cata logue houses, and sadly does he look at his country store with its stock accumulating, for want of trade, and thus decreasing in value every day. Sadly too does he look at the refuge of bankruptcy hourly being hastened because his townsmen prefer the cata logue house with its ubiquitous cir culars. Those train loads of goods were bought with money that should have found its way into the honest hand of your local merchant, who has the good of your locality at heart, and who is expected to contribute liberally and continuously to very moral and benevolent institution in your midst. Then likewise remember this, that of all the millions thus sent to swell the coffers of houses in great cities, not one cent will ever return to bless your community; to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry or to educate the ignorant! This is certainly a misguided, ill advised policy; If self preservation' Is the first law of nature, the fact just stated should cause lovers of this country to think.. Continue this policy and' what follows? The value of real' estate decreases, local improvements. cease, material ' progress stops, the whole country suffers. The money of a community'' repre sentsia a baetaeas sense jest so much possibility, and every honest occune that is injured in proportion as that is withheld or sent elsewhere. la a certaia rural community, this official order and warning was issued: "Unless had roads are fixed there will be no rural delivery at all." It la impossible to put roads In repair with out money. This lack of meant can not' he traced to poof crops, for the harvest jast gathered, la kaa been superahendant. Men cannot support' and build ap business concerns in dis tant cities without sacriacing the local good. Is it fair-ta establish the city by depriving the country of its port? Maay hold forth the idea that the country is tbelfeeuer""of the city. This is onlypartially true. , That doc trine has been preached till the tex is threadbare. 'It would be much wiser for men. to get a new text aad talk aad' work -the country up, then allow the- city, including Its mail 'or der Octopus, to work its own prob lems awhile. This instead of being selfishness, would be the finest order of- common sense. A more marked feeling of brotherhood interest is saidly" needed in. the country oa this particular point r t ' The rural population complain ol lack of facilities and conveniences; in order to obviate this, let $200,000,008 this comingyear be disbursed among country merchants, among the hum bler storekeepers, then observe what will follow. The improvements would be marked. Social conditions would be greatly Ameliorated. A new order would maintain in the home and over the broad acres of the farm and best of all. the social spirit of brotherhood would be felt as never before. Listen to these thoughtful words from Gov. Folk, of Missouri: "We are proud of our splendid cities, and we want to increase in wealth and population, and we also want our country towns to grow. We wish the city merchants to build up. but also desire the country merchants to pros per. I do NOT BELIEVE in the mall order citizen. If a place is good enough for a man to live in and to make his money in. it is good enough for a man to SPEND HIS' MONEY in. Patronize your own town papers, build them up, and they will build your town up in increased trade and greater opportunities." These are the words of wisdom and foresight from a prudent, patriotic man. As it is to-day, these words are expressive of the opposite of what should be in many a country district. The mail order citizen may think he is gaining; the truth is he is sawing aster only can follow. The mail or- aer citizen manes his money locally and scatters it abroad in a field where it is not needed; this is unfair to both the town and to its merchants. This shortsighted citizen complains of the size and character of his town paper, at the same time he pursues a policy which tends to destroy both. Then, publishers ought to be careful how they exploit and give publicity to the mail order houses; even if they are paid well for the space, it reacts dis astrously on the town's best pros pects. Let men stand by the local mer chant, let them protect his interests, for they thus further their own. The town that made the man should be made by the man. This is fair to all. Let men ponder well this truth, that we are all interdependent; that the vein of brotherhood underlies the en tire social and commercial fabric. That together we stand or fall; that the good of the country demands loy alty and practical cooperation. ARTHUR M. FROWDEN. Father's Fond Hopes Dashed. "Times are changed," said Mark Twain, speaking of Washington. "I doubt if nowadays a man of Washing ton's unswerving integrity would be able to get on. "A rich lawyer after dinner the other night went into his den for a smoke. He took down from his piperack a superb meerschaum, a Christmas pres ent from his wife, but, alas, as he started to fill the pipe it came apart in his hands. The bowl had been broken in two and then carelessly stuck together. "With loud growls of rage the law yer rushed from bis den and demand ed to know who had broken his new meerschaum. His only son. a boy of 11. spoke up bravely. " 'Father,' he said, 'I can not tell a Ue. I did If "The lawyer praised the lad's Wash ingtonian veracity, but that night on1 his pillow he groaned and went on terribly about the incident. " 'Heaven neip me he said, it had been my life's dearest wish to rear up my son to my own profession, but now alas alas ' " Fortunate Men ef Prominence. Admirers of great, rich or famous people often bestow their wealth upon the objects of their regard. The Ger man emperor heads the list of lucky oaes so favored. His receipts la money and real estate during the last ten years would. It ia said, make a millloaaire envious. Following prece dent, a Hamburg merchant prince left more than $1,000,000 to the emperor's chancellor, whom Kaiser William im mediately created "Prince' Bueknr. William Jennings Bryan recently came by wealth ia the same way. Ia England Lord Allertoa tan received $lM,aea from an admirer of has public career and Dr. Jameson inherits a sum one-fifth larger under the win of Mr. Belt. Queen Victoria waa vary for tunate la, her admirers, of whom the wealthiest was NieW, who bequeathed to aer the sum of $l,25v.vt. - ! Lincoln Letter .Current Goaaip from the STATE CAPITAL legislative and Otherwise U.- li i 3 -i The passage of the aatL-pass bill by the senate has caused : noma v talk among the house 'members-about the disposition of the-.measure when-.it reaches the house. The senate evi dently intends that the house shall pass the senate bill. Members of the house have few objections to this, but they will make a strenuous endeavor to amend the bill before they will pass it For instance, the provision that bona fide employes may use passes :s not satisfactory. Some prominent house members wish to insert tho the amendment "whose time is prin cipally employed by their duties with the railroads." They think this pro vision will exclude the surgeons and attorneys who are not specifically mentioned in the senate bill, but whom the house greatly desires to seo prohibited from using transportation. The fear has been expressed that the railroads will make some small mone tary arrangements with this class of persons that will still permit them to use transportation unless the bill is made more stringent. The senate spent nearly an entire day considering the pure food hill, S. F. No. 64, by McKesson of Lancaster. The result was that the bill was rec ommended for passage as first ap proved by the committee of the whole, with the exception of section 9, whicn was stricken out and a new one in serted in its place, giving immunity to druggists from prosecution if they can establish a guaranty signed by a wholesaler or manufacturer from whom goods are purchased that the same is not adulterated or mis branded. The liquor dealers and man ufacturers who sell goods containing alcohol or containing certain poison ous or harmful drugs did not get off. They must give full weight and mea sure and if the goods sold contain anv of the drugs named in section 8. tho packages or bottles must contain the names of such drugs. False or mis leading statements on brands are made unlawful. The state senate retraced its trail at the request of the governor by re considering the vote whereby the anti lobby bill, H. R. 18. was indefinitely postponed. The bill was returned from the house, before the reconsider ation was taken and after some dis cussion it was committed to the judi ciary committee for amendments. King of Polk desired it to be advanced to third reading without delay, but McKesson of Lancaster asked that it be sent back to a committee for amendment so that he could vote for it. This action annuled the amend ments that had been proposed by the committee of the whole and also an nuls the recommendation of the com mittee of the whole that the bill be indefinitely postponed. Governor Sheldon has signed the employers' liability bill. The bill as amended by the senate judiciary com mittee was passed by tne house with out amendment. It repeals what is known as the fellow servant law of this state and permits juries to decide as to the comparative negligence in case of accidents which result in in juries to employes. It applies only to railroad men engaged in the operation of trains. It provides that the con tracts issued by the Burlington relief department may still remain in force, but that such contracts shall not be a bar to suits in court tor damages and that the amount that may be paid to an Injured employe on such a con tract may be deducted from the judg ment rendered by the court. One of the important amendments to the l-mill levy bill for the state university was that providing a revolv ing fund of $5,000 to be used for the purpose of buying text booxs for the students at wholesale prices and sell ing them to the students at this price. Many students have bees trying to get the regents to do this for a num ber of years, as the cost of books in Lincoln was so high it made it hard for working boys to get through school at all. The new arrangement will save students much money. President Saunders of the senate won a battle and obtained the rever sal of the report of the committee on soldiers' homes, which recommended that Bis bill S. F. 439. be indefinitely postponed. He explained that the bill not only permits the governor to ap point the commandant of the soldiers' home, but gives him power to appoint the employes. The commandant mest be aa ex-soldier. Aldrteh of Butler fa vored the committee report on the ground that the senate had passed one of his own bills. After a determined e fight in the house the bill which provides for go ing back to the old preciact system of assessorship was recommended by the committee of the whole for pas sage. The bill was introduced by Johnson of Saline and abolishes couaty assessors ia counties of tea than 20,000 popumtioa. In every c runty, whether there Is a couaty as sessor or not, it provides for the elec tion of preciact assessors Instead of for their aaaoiatmeat by the county assessor aa at preseat. - The effort to strike oat section 8 was defeated. The house railway commission bill was given a boost towards final pas sage whea the senate committee of the whole recommended it for engross ment and third reading. The senate speat the greater part of two sessions oa It, much time being necessary to correct small errors and misspelled words. One of the most important changes made ia the bill by the sen ate was to iaclude under the jurisdlc tioa of the railway commission street car companies. This was done by an amendment offered by Ashton. The final futile attack earn taxation in tke senate wai the 15th. aad resulting la a doable victory for Ue hill, which waa aaaaa by a vote 'of 23 to fc Sibley of Uaeohi' county led in the fight against tha bill, as he did when it was an far consideration ia committee of the) whole, but after he had beaa defeated he voted for the bill, explaining ha did so because of an amendment he un derstood woald be made ia tha The bill will be seat to tha so that it may be read the first time Monday aad may to considered la con nection with the Clarke bin. which is a duplicate of H. Tha failure of the railroads to carry the seaate waa a disappointment, as It had been ly boasted that n majority of the ators had promised to vote for Sibley's motion to recommit the bill to tha committee oa revenue. When tha roll was called on this proposition It stood 11 to IS and victory for the bill waa assured. The measure was at oace placed upon its passage aad weat through as before indicated. H. R. No. 132. permitting the ofiteia. ballot at elections to be printed in twa or more columns, instead of ia a sin gle column, was indefinitely postponed after a thorough debate. It was urged that the bill would give country prin ters a chance to print the ballot In stead of giving the metropolitan print ing offices a monopoly on the "shoe string" type of ballot. Aldrich. one who opposed the bill, said the conven ience of the printer was not the sole question. He said the people had be come used Ho the present form of bal lot and a change should not be made unless its advocates were able to show that an improvement would be the re sult. Sackett. who -moved to indefin itely postpone the bill, believed that maay voters would stop after voting the first column of the proposed ballot and would neglect to vote the second column. A quietus was put on the Sunday base ball agitation in the legislature when Aldricn's bill. S. F. 230. was in definitely postponed without so much as a discussion of Its merits in com mittee of the whole. A week or two ago the house killed its Sunday bsse ball bill and the action or the senate ends both the bills, which were intro duced to enable the playing of the na tional game in Lincoln oa the first day of the week without the aid or consent of anyone. The senate bill had been changed by amendment, but was still acceptable to the fans who were be hind the movement. The summary ac tion headed off what promised to be a lively debate on the merits of tho bill. Without a single dissenting vote tha railway commission bill passed tha house. Ten members being absent, the vote stood 90 to 0 on the bill. As the vote was being taken the an nouncement was made by fusion mem bers in the form of an explanation of their votes that they believed the leg islature should enact a set of com modity maximum freight rate laws for the purpose of bringing Nebraska rates down to the same basis as those charged shippers ia the neighboring states. The senate decleared itself la fa vor of the enactment of a child labor law by recommending Clarke's bill. H. R. No. 9, for passage. At first some of the farmers opposed tha bill for fear it would interfere with chil-' dren doing chores about the farm. Amendments to exclude agricultural pursuits, with the exception of beet growing, removed all objections, how ever, and brought about a favorable report on the measure. The inability of the supreme court as now organized with only three members, to care for the big volume of legal business in the state, has re ceived attention at the hands of the senate. That body has passed Senator King's bill calling for seven supreme judges at a salary of $4,500 a year, and also increasing the salary of the district judges from $2,500 to $3,000 n year. Chairman Burns of Lancaster of the insurance committee reported three bills to the senate with the recom mendation that they be indefinitely postponed. All three reports were overriden by the senate and the bill3 were placed on general file, after con siderable discussion. After several lengthy hearings on the jail feeding proposition as it ex ists in Douglas county, the committee on fees and salaries of the house has decided to recommend a bill which will allow the county board of Doug las county to let the contract for feed lag the prisoners in the county jail to the best bidder. State Superintendent McBrlen and the various educational interests of the state have begun a hard fight against the house roll that ia iateaded to make the free text hook law of tha state optional instead of mandatory. Gibson's bill to prohibit brewera aad distillers from havinaj any Interest in saloon or saloon licenses received favorable action ia the senate cam mittee of the whole. The hill pre vents manufacturers from having nay laterest. direct or indirect, ia any sa teen or salooa license or from owe lag or Ieaslag property for saleaa ear noses. Thomas of DonrJaa tried ta have the latter provision etrichea oat, hut his aaMBdmaat waa voted dawn Gibson declared thirty-six of tho eighty-six aalooas ia 8oath Omaha were owaed by a brewing company. Secretary of State Juakia ia making aa effort to secure aa accurate roster of the soldiers aad sailers ia this state ia accordance with aectioa It, chapter 52a, compiled statutes. Ia a letter to county aeaeaeors, he uaye: "We would urge yon ta tastmct your deputies to do this WsttTvery aaar ough. as we roaatemfJayaanhaadne; a roster from sheae letnrat If tha nanv her of names eetataad1 wUI janttfy the expease. Please inafnt ihat tha blanks are all property fined aad. tha names legibly wriiten and correctly spelled.'' K. :ktAdii6Mmmm i& .?r . i vt-if. . .w5c.' , -vftN . - V y-- . - .JKJB ? " SEW ... .. . - -rt . . 3!S&?.-.V- - t.'? - . - rl.l. .- If'