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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1898)
14 The Conservative * Bird Murder and Women's Hats. lu spite of the crusade that bnmniio and sensible persons bavo been waging for years against what has sometimes boon dubbed "murderous millinery , " the ceaseless destruction of birds of nil distinction goes on unchecked. The gradual diminution of song birds and others of great service to the farmer bas been widely recognized. Massachu setts indeed bas passed a law punishing the shooting or trapping of other than game birds with a heavy fine. But , in spite of all attempts to lessen the mur derous tribute exacted by fashion and feminine vanity , the war against the feathered tribes proceeds more remorse lessly than over before. This is true abroad as well as in America. Not long ago a London auction room sold a sin gle consignment of nearly 500,000 birds , which had been gathered from different parts of the world. A late fashionable item in a Paris paper an nounces that "birds are worn more than ever and blouses made entirely of feathers are coming into fashion. " Wings no longer suflice , but women carry on their pretty but cruel and thoughtless heads whole charuel houses of beaks and claws and bones and feath ers and glass eyes. Fashion never yet demanded a more wicked and absurd sacrifice on its altar , always smoking for fresh prey. All the considerations involved in the question its wasteful ness in the economy of nature , the evil and cruelty involved , the injury done indirectly to the interest of the farmer , the blow struck at the aesthetic enjoy ment of country life have been fre quently presented , and yet feather brains will insist on wearing feathered hats. The value of precious stones entered in the appraiser's ofiice of New York for July surpassed the showing of the preceding month by $12,143 , 95. People ple don't buy precious stones unless money is plenty , so one is jubtificd in deducing an agreeable business ouieu from the sign The British-American Boundary. It seems singular at first blush that down to the very present the exact line separating Canada and the United States has never been accurately chart ed. It is one of the questions which will bo acted on by the joint commis sion at Quebec. Disputes over such un certainties have often endangered the peace of nations. It came within one of plunging us into war with England when the quarrel over the Oregon boundary reached an acute stago. The battlecry ran through the country , "Fifty-four forty , or fight. " Not very long ago the situation became grave in the matter of the Venezuelan line , which also involved this country as the defender of the Monroe doctrine. These issues lie dormant perhaps for a long time and then suddenly spring into an alarming activity. Wo shall now have this open question forever settled. The parts of the boundary which are to bo arranged are the division between. Alaska and northwestern Canada'th'e portion which crosses Lakes Erie and Ontario , and the secti in marking the boundary between St. Alary's river aud the Lake of the Woods. In the first of these cases the survey ors of Canada and the United States have so far come to an agreement that the basis for an understanding is clearly defined. The rich golclfields of the region through which a prospective line passes have spurred prompt aud definite ac tion. There are less accurate data for determining the line westward of Isle Royale , in Lake Superior , extending to the northwestern shore of the Lake of the Woods. The country up to this day even has been imperfectly studied , and the description of points of departure in a zigzag course as laid down in the treaty of 1842 proves to have been the merest guesswork , some of the small lakes specified being known not to exist at all. The old maps in existence are quite vague and unreliable. It would seem that a surveying party should have gone over this ground in anticipation of the work of the commission. What ground of accurate knowledge there is in this case it is not easy tosee. . The old line established by the treaty of Ghent and the Webster-Ashburtou treaty of 1842 , cutting Lakes Erie and Ontario , is known by the late reports of army engineers , published by the hydrographic - drographic olHce , to bo quite incorrect. In both sections of boundary some ap proximate decision only can bo reached. But with a desire on both sides to put the matter out of future question there will not bo much trouble in finding a basis. The disposition of a few hundred square miles of laud and water is unim portant to either country. It is only when two peoples wish to quarrel that their commissioners would split hairs about such a mutter. The most readable of all books , books which never grow stale , are memoirs of eminent people , full of personalities and gossip. Wo like to know the weak nesses perhaps of celebrated men and women. It consoles us for our own in feriority. This may be the reason why Tiuth and The World of London and their congeners in other countries are BO successful. An interesting economic sign is perceptible coptible in the aation of those cotton spinning masters at Fall River , Mass. , who have refused to limit their produc tion in co-operation with others who wish to lesson loss by smaller output. The progressives believe that by fitting their mills with looms of more ingenious pattern they can produce prints and the more costly cloths which their rivals with cruder methods and less skillful operatives cannot make. This is the , j sound principle of manufacturing to do that which can bo done most effectively under a certain sot of conditions , and not to continue in time liouored blun dering. The conservatives , oven of every productive center in the north , where the raw material is" far away , will be ultimately driven to that class of prod ucts where the chief cost is that of highly skilled labor and the best ma chinery The movement started by the Kansas farmers to present some substantial memorial to .Too Leiter , whoso specula tion in wheat put so much money in their purses , has an element of humor iu it. They can raise big wheat crops , but not crops of "Joe Leitors" so phil anthropic as to give millions to the horny handed sous of toil at the ex pense of his father's millions. Dr. Domingos Freyre of Rio Janeiro has conducted some very timely experi ments with soil taken from a cemetery near Rio which had been removed from the graves of victims of the yellow fever. His series of cultures with the resultant fluids produced conditions in animal bodies exact counterparts of those cre ated by yellow fever. From the same cultures he also produced a fluid , to be used as vaccine is , with the effect of propagating , a perfectly safe form of the dreadful disease. The statement that the soil in tropical cemeteries is so apt to bo germ laden suggests interest ing hints for sanitary measures to ho used in dealing with tropical pests. The Egyptian sirdar , General Herbert Kitchener , is only a practical soldier without political pull. His great geuiua , however , as shown in the Egyptian campaigns , makes it probable that ha will yet be iu command at the Hers * * guards. Ho and Lord Roberts are with out doubt the most gifted soldiers in kho British service. The investigation held before oho in terstate commerce commission recently , regarding the American status of the Canadian Pacific railroad , made the public acquainted with some curious facts as alleged relating to passenger rate schedules. It was stated that the Canadian Pacific had forced companies to reduce rates from New York to St. Paul and other western points to 1 cent a mile , and that this cut had resulted in the loss of many millions to the United States The new America'soup challenger , Sir Thomas Liptou , is not satisfied with a sporting ambition. Ho is willing to bo known also as a philanthropist , for he has just sent a check for 100,000 to the Princess of Wales , who is desirous to organize a system of dining rooms for the poor where they can get a good uieal for a trifle. Wo think the more of the sporting baronet for his generosity , but none the less we shall keep that America's cup to drink his health in.