tTbe Conservative *
Helleu vs. Anderson , n case tried at the
Inst October term of the appellate court
of the state of Illinois , First district.
And from it Tin : CONSERVATIVE extracts
the following :
"Appellant has with much interest
examined the fourteen pages of appel
lee's brief herein , and soliciting the
favor begs to say : It reminds him of
the Nebraska farmer , who mixed saw
dust with his chicken feed , and imagin
ing the results satisfactory , discontinued
the use of grains and meal altoget her ,
and fed his poultry entirely ou sawdust.
Soou after adopting this novel scheme
he set a hen with fifteen eggs. In due
time she brought off fourteen chickens ,
thirteen of which had wooden legs , and
the fourteenth was a red-headed wood
pecker. "
There is som °
iioaus WISDOM. ,
bogus money
afloat in this country most of the time ,
but there is bogus wisdom current all of
the time. There is punishment for pass
ing counterfeit coins and currency , but
there is no penalty for circulating bogus
wisdom.
This is a misfortune to all mankind.
It is particularly a misfortune to the
United States mankind and specifically
disastrous to Nebraska mankind just at
this time.
The state suffered from the bogus
wisdom which pertained to money , its
functions , and value , in the years 1895 ,
1890 and 1897 , and pervaded and tem
porarily tainted many of the citizens.
Bogus wisdom , like bogus money , is ,
however , finally detected , though not
with the ease and celerity that catches
counterfeit currency. Bogus coins do
less harm to a people than bogus wis
dom. The former debase commerce
and defraud men of material things.
The latter degrades intelligence and
cheats men out of the truth. Bogus
money is generally set afloat by men
tally deformed or morally dwarfed men.
Bogus wisdom is scattered by the same
class of unfortunates. The mint of the
United States is emulated and simu
lated by the counterfeiters of metallic
money. And the wisdom and learning
of the schools and universities are imi
tated by presumptuous dullards and
numskulls who circulate misinformation.
Without thought , study , or the acquire
ment of any special knowledge , the
makers of counterfeit wisdom flood the
country with all sorts of heresies.
Just at the present moment in No-
braskn this class of "shovel's of the
queer" information are attending to
health matters generally and the medi
cal profession particularly as to its
duties and proprieties in handling and re
pressing smallpox.
Jouuer himself and all the experiences
of a century of vaccination are de
nounced. The slight illness , nausea
and loss of time caused by inoculation
are decried as a remedy worse than the
disease. In the face of millions of facts
against their truth , statements are made
of the ineflicacy of vaccination and the
ill results which follow it. Bogus wis
dom in parts of Nebraska during the
last three months has cost communities
hundreds of thousands of dollars in
money , much annoyance and terribly
endangered the public health.
The present legislature ought to give
Nebraska a good sanitary code an effi
cient system of health laws. And
among them should be compulsory
vaccination , compulsory sanitary ven
tilation and drainage for all schoolhouses -
houses , theatres , churches , courthouses
and other public buildings. And there
should le ) penalties for the violation of
any health law. That penalty should
be severe. There is no function of gov
ernment equal to the preservation of
the health and life of the citizen.
Many years ago
TIIE CONSE -
TIVE saw a man
break through the ice on the Missouri
river and whirl under the cold currents
and out of sight in less than a minute.
But an intrepid and experienced river-
man flung a log pole over the channel
and when the unfortunate emersionist
came to the surface he grasped and held
thereunto until safely pulled ashore. As
soon as speech came to the irrigated and
refrigerated gentleman he proclaimed
his everlasting gratitude , declared the
riverinan the savior of his life and the
to-be-recipient of his largest generosity.
Soon he was taken into the house and
dried and warmed. Then he began to
aver that he believed he could and
would have gotten out alone and that
really ho had saved his own life and was
under obligations to nobody.
The republican party was in deep
water going under the ice ; McKinley ,
Hanna and all in 1896. Gold democrats
saved them from political drowning.
McKiuley and all the rest immediately
gave thanks and recognized their de
liverers. But they are dry and warm
now. They' declare they saved them
selves.
THE JttANNEK IN WHICH INDIANS
DISPOSE OF ClUIMINAL , OFFENCES.
Indians have an unwritten law relat
ing to murder , and it is as rigidly ob
served , as the laws of the Medes and
Persians. If one Indian kills another of
his , or her , own tribe , the one nearest re
lated to the murdered may kill the mur
derer , if ho or she can bo found within
ten days. If not found , the next nearest
relative may bo killed instead , and so on
in like relation while subjects can be
found.
These offences , however , are more fre
quently than otherwise , compromised in
several ways. If a man be killed leav
ing a widow , a new husband may be
substituted if mutually agreed to ; and
vice versa a now wife for a widower. A
mutually agreed upon number of horses
can bo given in liquidation. Or an ac-
ceptible feast given the whole baud of
which the murdered individual was a
member , either by him or her the of
fender ; or their friends , will settle the
; roublo. Often one or more children are
offered and accepted as a recompense.
CntaiU
NASTY HAVANA. ?
wilting in the Jan
uary Century of the destruction of the
Maine , saj-s that the water of Havana
harbor is so foul a fluid that articles
; hat were recovered after having been
submerged in it could not bo handled
with safety. Clothing was burned or
given to the ( acclimated ) poor , every
thing of metal , including the big guns ,
was washed with antiseptics , and the
utmost care had to be taken of the
liealth of the divers. It has always
been understood that both the harbor
and city of Havana were in an indes
cribably filthy condition ; but anyone
who wishes to know the details , can
find them distinctly set forth in an
article in the January Forum by the
late Colonel Wariug's private secretary.
There is an impression that a Spaniard
at large in a row-boat on the Atlantic
would neglect the sanitary privileges
offered by the ocean ; this idea seems to
be confirmed by what the writer tells of
his observations in Havana. He calls a
spade a spade , and makes it perfectly
clear that the town would bo pretty
offensive to ordinarily delicate senses.
It has not been so long since our people
ple emerged from the same stage , that
we need be particularly indignant with
the poor Cubans ; where our interests
come in is in the fact that the putrid
refuse of this city is the source of the
world's supply of yellow fever. This
has always been a danger to us , even
with the limited traffic with Cuba that
has heretofore existed ; as it is probable
that this will be enormously increased ,
and that immediately , by both com
merce and pleasure-travel , it is evi
dent that the matter must be dealt
with , or we are directly menaced
with a terrible visitation for the sum
mer of 1899. Furthermore , the enter
prising young northern men and women
who are sure to flock to Havana to take
in hand the development of the island
along its new lines , will simply bo tak
ing their lives in their hands BO long as
the sanitation of the city remains un-
roformed. Yellow fever is a fearfully
fatal disease to people of our race. It
gained a foothold in Memphis in 1878 ,
and of the whites who were unable to
escape from the city , no less than 70 per
cent died. Of 55 physicians who came
from other places to help , 54 were
attacked , and 88 died. Colonel Waring
himself furnished the supreme proof of
the correctness of his conclusions , for
he died of the fever on the fourth day
after his return -to this country.