E- .
Conservative. 5
i ;
THK INDIAN LKGKND OF NKUUASKA
CITY.
This was very long ago. A party
caino across the river to limit buffalo. I
don't know where they came from ; it
was very far away. May be they came
down the rivor. The Pawnees met
them and fought with them ; they killed
all the strangers but one man. Ho was
a great warrior ; they were afraid of
him. Ho shouted so that their arms be
came weak , and his eyes were awful.
They stood aside and let him pass.
He was wounded and on foot. He
started back toward the river ; it was
very hard. After a long time he came
to a village of the Otoes on a bluff by
the river ; he was weary and sore and
his head was dizzy. They were cruel
people ; they took him and tied him , and
sent runners to the other villages. They
thought they would torture him next
day and have a feast. They laid him
under an oak tree for the night ; they
pegged him out. In the night the squir
rels came and cut his ropes , and some
birds brought him food. I don't know
what they brought him ; haws and paw
paws may be. Then he slept a long
time , and his animal , or guardian spirit ,
came to him in a dream and brought
him strength. In the morning when he
awoke he was a different man. He sent
the Otoes away ; they were very much
afraid. He said to them : "You are
wicked people. You are too cruel ; you
are not fit to live in such a place as this.
Another people will come and build their
village on this hill of yours , and nobody
will remember that you wore over hero. "
That was before the white men came.
Then he called the squirrels and the
birds , and said to them : ' 'You helped
me , and now you and your children
shall have a home here forever. So long
as this hill stands , these oak and walnut
trees shall be here for you. "
He had an enemy , and this enemy
came to kill him and tear up his trees.
He caine from the southwest , in a great
cloud full of smoke. He had one foot ;
he jumped a mile , two miles ; every time
he tore a hole in the prairie. The In
dian heard him coming ; he was fierce
and bold. He sang his magic song and
drew in his strength ; he sprang up to
meet his enemy ; ho reached to the
clouds. The enemy feared him and
wont around. Then the Indian drew a
line about his hill , far back in the
prairie , and said : "No storm shall ever
cross this line to harm my trees. "
Then the enemy sent fires across the
country to burn the trees. They burned
all the gross off the prairie and the trees
off the other hills. The buffalo and the
antelope and the Indians fled before the
fires ; many of them were burned. The
fires were terrible. The Indian saw
them gathering about him ; ho took his
pipe and filled it with tobacco. Ho had
such tobacco that only a very mighty
sorcerer could smoke it and live. Ho
blew the smoke north , east , south and
west. Ho laughed. Then ho blow it at
the fires , and they wont out. They had
not touched his trees. Then ho took his
finger and drew it where North Table
creek is , and said "While this stream is
here , no fire shall cross it to harm my
trees. " Then ho drew South Table
creek and said "While this stream runs ,
no fire shall cross it. "
Then the enemy sent the river against
him. Ho called the Platte and the Yel
lowstone , the Milk and the Mussolshell ,
and they all came together. They cov
ered the plain ; there was no more land.
They came pulling at the hill in front.
The Indian did not know if ho would
conquer ; ho put forth all his magic
strength and made himself big as a
mountain. Ho called a rocky hill to
help him and they fought the rivers. It
was a terrible fight , very long ; in the
end the rivers were tired and drew back.
Then ho set the rocky hill in the edge of
the river below his own hill and said to
it : "So long as men come and go they
shall see you here , and you shall be a
landmark to them. "
He came to be a very old man. When
he knew that he was going to die , he
went and sat under an old crooked tree
at the top of his hill. He saw the river ,
which was blue , the plain golden , and
the hills brown ; he looked at them a
long time. Then he smiled at them ,
and said to them : "So long ashmen sit on
this hill to look at you , you shall give
them back my smile , and they shall be
comforted. " _
Y ° fk
A _ . .
WRONG. ( NY - ) Chamber
of Commerce gave
a banquet last mouth to a noble lord ,
and the first toast drunk was to Queen
Victoria , the second to President Mc-
Kiuley ; and the Irish press have not
been so worked up in a long time. They
are quite right , of course , and the event
in question , happening in the Irish me
tropolis itself , has all the air of a studied
discourtesy. The correct order of drink
ing would have been : first , the reign
ing sovereign of Ireland ; second , Presi
dent McKinley ; lost , if at all , Queen
( so-called ) Victoria. We regret that at
this moment the name of the rightful
occupant of the throne of Fin MacCool
escapes us ; will some one set us right ?
The distin-
IION. AVII.LIAM
guishedNebroskttii
. . .
T lilt x AN * ,
who has recently
resigned command of the third Nebraska
regiment at Savannah , Georgia , has been
welcomed home to Lincoln and the state
by many friends and admirers. His
outspoken antagonism to expansion and
annexation , as advocated by leading sup
porters of President McKinley lifts him
above mere l(5-to-l ( politicians. Separated
from his peculiar views upon the coin
age question , and the functions of the
federal judiciary , Mr. Bryan is an at
tractive and worthy character in the
public life of this country ,
There are two
1IY
whom the state
supports. The most generally known is
that class of unfortunates who have
neither health nor wealth , nor capacity
for success. The prosperous paupers ,
the class not generally recognized , are
none the less a tax upon the state , none
the less maintained by the public funds.
This class are the political paupers.
As between the class of proportyless
paupers , who sick and discouraged be
come a public charge , and the principle-
less political pauper who foist them-
solves upon the public and billet themselves -
selves upon county , city and state
offices for a maintenance , the former are
the least evil and the least expensive.
The plain people , as some pneumatic
orators call all American citizens not
holding or running for an office have
been too long indoctrinated with the
idea that the dn ties of the state to them
are unlimited , while the duties of citi
zens to the state are naught. Privileges
for the individual and paternal duties
for the state have been taught and
eulogized for more than thirty years in
every part of this republic. As a con
sequence of such pernicious education
the plain people seldom inquire when a
party presents a candidate for their bal
lots : What has this man accomplished
for the community ? After thirty years
have seasoned a male human being ho
should begin to radiate an influence in
the community where he lives for good ,
for the development of useful things in
social and industrial life. After thirty-
five , if that male human being cannot
show that , by his efforts , his industry ,
his thought , some other human being
has been bettered in life , some com
munity been improved and advanced
along social or industrial lines some
spot of ground has been made more use
ful or beautiful , he has not served his
fellows efficiently and should not have
their votes for any office whatsoever.
lu all political parties at nominating
conventions these questions should be
asked : What has this man , who seeks
this office , done for this people ? What
town , city or county has ho practically
assisted in developing ? What man ,
woman , or child , in the world is bettor
off for any public or private act or enter
prise of this man ? Under what obliga
tions to this man are the farmers , the
manufacturers , the mechanics and
laborers generally ?
Why should the voters vote for men
who have never in their lives accom
plished any good materially , mentally
or morally for the masses of the Ameri
can people ?
Are men forever to bo estimated by
what the voters have given unto them ,
or will American citizens finally become
enough enlightened to value men and
character , and life-work , by what they
have given to their countrymen and to
the state , the republic ?