V
12 Hbe Conservative.
THE ONWARD TRAIL.
[ In The Indianapolis Journal James Wliltcomb
Riley pays the following tribute to the late
Myron W. Reed , of Denver ] ,
Just as of old with fearless foot
And placid face and resolute ,
Ho takes the faint , mysterious trail
That leads beyond our earthly hail.
We would cry , as in last farewell ,
But that his hand waves , and a spell
Is laid upon our tongues : and thus
He takes unworded leave of us.
And it is fitting as ho fared
Hero with us , so is lie prepared
For any fortuning the night
May hold for him beyond our sight.
The moon and stars they still attend
His wandering footsteps to the end-
He did not question , nor will we ,
Their guidance and security.
So , never parting word nor cry
Wo feel , with him , that by-and-by
Our onward trails will meet , and then
Merge and be ever one again.
January CO , 1899.
E. E. Blaclnnan ,
QUIVKKA of Roca , Nebraska ,
LEGENDS.
is doing a splendid
work for the commonwealth by writing
in a most attractive manner and pub
lishing Quivera legends.
THE CONSERVATIVE has now in hand
No. a , issued February 17 , 1899 , and
commends the same to the attention uud
patronage of every man , woman and
youth in this trans Missouri country.
Mr. Blackmail is giving more intense
satisfaction to all those lovers of
that mystic lore which sheds an
uncertain light upon the Spanish ex
plorations of the Republican valley
than any other writer in the state.
At another tifno THE CONSERVATIVE will
make a more extended notice of the
Quivera legends and reproduce beauti
ful passages from them in its columns.
Meantime send for them to their author
at above address and remit the subscrip
tion , twenty-five cents a year.
A NORMAL SCHOOL.
THE CONSERVATIVE has indulged in
pome correspondence as to the possibil
ity of establishingnormal school at
.Nebraska City. It is not , however , pro
posed to do this by getting an appropri
ation from the state nor by merely put
ting up a lot of buildings. If the pro
ject is to bo seriously considered and
finally made to materialize in a needed
institution of learning more will bo said
about it in a few weeks.
The school , if founded at all , will be
based upon Normal principles and
placed under the control of Mr. John E.
Pesler , who says that :
1. Correct methods of teaching may
be acquired at the same time as a
knowledge of the subject to be taught.
2. If there is any merit in special
methods of teaching any study , let all
"classes of learners have the benefit. Do
not limit its benefits to the compara
tively few who make a business of teach
ing , and do not deprive them of the
benefit until their school course is over.
8. The power of a teacher is not
measured by the amount of knowledge
ho has acquired , nor yet by the knowl
edge ho is able to impart , but rather by
the love and desire of knowledge he can
awaken and guide.
4. The school course is valuable , not
in proportion to the length of the curricu
lum in subjects or years , but in proportion
tion to the power it gives , and to its
adaptation to the needs of life.
5. The government is best which ap
proximates most nearly to self-govern
ment. That is the highest nppeal which
appeals to the highest motives. An ap
peal to fear is debasing ; to hope for re
ward is little better ; an appeal for
right's sake makes the thing done most
laudable.
6. Memory is dependent upon : 1st ,
the intensity of the impression ; 2d , the
relation of the impression ; 3d , the fre
quency of the impression. The method
of presenting a subject which looks
toward intensity of impression and har
mony of relation is obviously preferable
to that which depends upon mechanical
repetition.
7. The object of an education is to
give power , develop capabilities , make
thinkers , movers , doers , not to store the
mind with the useless lumber of a mass
of unsystematized knowledge. One dollar
lar , and the ability and opportunity to use
it , is better than a * million on Crusoe's
island. One idea with the ability and
the will to use it , is better than a thous
and backed by no self-control to direct
the use thereof.
WHO INVENTED THE MARINE STEAM
ENGINE ?
[ W. Chirk Russell , in April Pall Mall Magazine. ]
The invention of the marine steam
engine has a vast number of claimants.
One looks around the crowd bewildered.
If I may , with the utmost modesty , ven
ture an opinion , I should say that the
first man to give practical and useful
form to the idea of driving a wooden
hull by steam machinery was Syming
ton , who , in 1801 , fitted up a steamboat
at the instance of Lord Dundas for the
Forth and Clyde Canal company. She
towed two vessels of an aggregate bur
den of a hundred and forty tons , at the
rate of three miles and a quarter per
hour , in the teeth of a strong breeze.
Justice should bo done to John Fitch ,
however , an American , who so early as
1784 , had obtained rights to run steam
boats on the waters of Virginia and
Maryland. His partner was one Rum-
soy. Afterwards the states of Pennsyl
vania and New York granted Fitch ex
clusive rights in the use of their waters.
His boat was of nine tons , and his en
gine drove her five miles au hour. He
failed for the want of money , and died
by his own hands in 1798. One who
know him says he could think of nothing
but his steam boat , and he fell into nigs
and broken boots through wandering
about talking of her. The same auth
ority says tnat ho met him at the house
of a boat-builder , a man named Wilson ,
with whom was associated his black
smith , Peter Brown , where , after in
dulging himself for some time in his
never-failing topic of deep excitement ,
he concluded with these memorable
words : "Well , gentlemen , though I
shall not live to see the time , you will ,
when steamboats will be preferred to all
other means of conveyance , and especi
ally for passengers ; and they will be par
ticularly useful in the navigation of the
river Mississippi. " He then retired ; on
which Brown turning to Wilson , ex
claimed in a tone of deep sympathy ,
"Poor fellow ! what a pity he is crazy 1"
" ' LITERATURE. "
"THE WORLD'S 1JEST .
The project to publish a work which
should enclose within its covers "a
Library of the World's Best Literature , "
was not entirely novel when it was un
dertaken by the "International Society"
a few years ago. The manner and ex
tent of the achievement , however , have
had no parallel in the making of books
even in this book-making age.
In selecting Mr. Charles Dudley War
ner for editor of this work the publish
ers gave the best possible guarantee that
it would be worthy its name , and this
assurance was strengthened by securing
as his assistants and advisers the most
eminent professors of literature in the
universities of America.
In two years these editors , assisted by
many other eminent scholars and
specialists and backed by abundant cap
ital , have produced a work in thirty
volumes of about 700 pages each. It is
not extravagant to call this "a library , "
for it is one , and its completeness is
something surprising considering the
vast field which it attempts to cover.
The work is not merely a cyclopedia
of the literature of all ages , giving more
or less elaborate reviews of thousands of
books and long extracts from many hun
dreds , but it is a dictionary of authors ,
giving biographical sketches and fine
portraits of many hundreds great authors ,
\vhile thousands more are given suffi
cient space for a biographical sketch of
appropriate length. The whole work is
arranged alpbabetieally so as to bo of
ready reference value and it is illus
trated and illuminated by thousands of
pictures in all the arc of the best illus
trations.
If one has a fine collection of books
the Warner library will bo its crowning
glory , and if one. has no library the
Warner library will constitute one.
This novel is perfectly -
i > AVID HARUM.
fectly natural and
entirely American. There is in it a
truthfulness of description which
charms , a wit that pleases , and a tender
pathos that warms the reader to the
heart's core. No recent fiction by an
American surpasses it and its popularity
is assured.
The country banker and horsetrader
will never bo bettor pictured than in
David Harurn.