6 'Cbe Conservative.
HOWARDMERCER.Dave Howard ,
HOWARD-MERCER.
'who defeated Ed
gar Mercer for congress , is now editing
asiyteen-to-one-anti-writ-of-iujunction-
and-pro.initiative.and referendum-plain-
peoplo's-pnper at Golnmbas.
Edgar Mercer is petitioning congress
for a subsidy for a line of steam plows
to ply between the Missouri river and
the Rooky mountains. Mr. Howard
thinks subsidies for those who plow the
lea are equally as useful and constitu
tional as the subsidies that go to those
who plow the sea.
The agricultural
S. A. KNAPP
SEED SEEKER. department once
employed Rev. S.
A. Knapp to seek rare seed in Europe
and subsequently as an observer of the
possibilities of agriculture in the
Philippines.
The Reverend Knapp was formerly
connected with the institute for the
blind in Iowa. He was superintendent
of that establishment for six years and
then made a paradise out of the agri
cultural school at Ames , after which he
became a planter of an Iowa colony in
Louisiana. The Reverend Knapp is an
interesting character with a biography
which ought to be published.
THE CONSERVATIVE
STATE HORTICULTURAL
. TIVE has received
TURAL SOCIETY.
the annual report
of the Nebraska State Horticultural
Society .for the year 1900. The volume
contains much useful information.
The imprint upon it is : "Lincoln ,
Neb. , Published by the State-1900. "
The state ought to be ashamed of the
book. The paper is a cheap No. 2
"print" and not worth to exceed two
and one-half cents a pound. From a
mechanical standpoint the book is not
up to the work done on the Washington
handpress in territorial days , when
lampblack and wagon grease were
frequently used for ink. The proceed
ings of the society are valuable and they
are worth preserving in decent volumes
on good paper.
A luxury of poverty is that no. one
steals its children for a ranson.
If the Gudahys had been charged a
bigger ransom something the size and
political style of the Hon. Frank Ransom
all Omaha might have been proud to
have aided in delivering the same.
No law to punish the abductor and
extortionist in Nebraska , says the wise
man. But the justice of the peace who
when boys were arraigned.before him
for pouring vinegar in a neighbor's
churn said : "There aint no law in
Nebraska pervidin for punishin a feller
as vinegarizes a neighbor's churn , " was
brother to the wise man who now finds
no law under which to punish the
Oudahy boy's captors.
POPOCRATIC , takes the
CONSISTENCY. Pj fen
stand that , be
cause Benjamin Harrison had twice
been honored by the republican party
he was justified in not lifting his voice
in protest against an un-American policy
when it was advanced by the republi
can party.
Of course/no one expected'the Des
Moines Capital to take any other stand.
It demands that all republicans swallow
anything advanced with the brand re
publican at the peril of being called
traitors and copperheads.
Patriotism must play second fiddle to
partisanship if standing is maintained
in the g. o. p Omaha World-Herald.
According to the World-Herald , it is
for ex-President Harrison
a patriotic duty -
son to differ with his party , but for ex-
President Cleveland to assert his politi
cal independence is a most unworthy
act , an unpardonable crime. Grover
Cleveland , like Benjamin Harrison , is
an anti-imperialist and a believer in the
gold standard for money. Wherein does
their patriotism differ ?
. Order number
A SERMON. . . _ ,
eleven of General
Tom Ewing drove all of the white
people , federal and confederate , out of
Jackson county , Missouri. Many of the
refugees came to Otoe county , and Ne
braska City , in 1863 4 , became an
asylum for scores of exiles from the
neighborhood of Independence. Promi
nent among them was Aqnilla Lobb , a
Kentnokian by birth , who had settled
in Jackson county soon after the Missouri
compromise of 1820. Mr. Lobb was a
plain , rugged , honest man. He was six
feet in height , well proportioned and
weighed about two hundred and twenty
pounds. His hair was iron grey , his
eyes steel blue , full of kindly light , and
his manner gentle and winning. His
sympathetic nature wasv constantly
shaken and pained by the distress and
sickness of many of his old neighbors.
Some of them were here in Nebraska
and others had drifted into Illinois.
And on a bitter cold day in January
word came that of one family , who had
gone to a point near Quinoy in that
state , only two young girls remained.
The father first , then the mother , and
last the only brother had died of mili
tary banishment and homesickness.
And with this sad news Mr. Lobb was
so impressed that nothing else could
command his attention. His sole
thought was of those orphaned girls , the
children of neighbors , on a farm adjoin
ing his own , whom he had known for
more than thirty years. He talked of
them to all whom he met that day , and
at his request the writer drew up a sub
scription paper and headed it , for the
purpose of providing funds for those
lonely and homeless ones.
That night a blizzard swept across the
plains. The snow in fine , sharp , sand-
. _ , , , . like particles sonr-
A Blizzard.
ned and whirled
in blinding eddies and stung the face
like flying needles. The wind shrieked
and howled and the panes in the cottage
windows rattled with the sash , while
the piercing cold crept in at every
crevice. While we were listening to the
blast , and wondering whether any poor
mortal was unhoused against its tempest
uous fury , a step creaked and crunched
upon the ice and snow of the piazza and
then came a knock upon the doer. It was
opened ; and covered with snow , great
icicles hanging from his beard , in came
Mr. Lobb.
As soon as he was warmed and could
speak he said : "You see I couldn't
_ , „ , . sleep.sir , for think-
His Errand. .
ing of those two
poor girls in a strange land and no.father
nor mother to look after and care for
them. And after I left you today , you
know , I raised a hundred and seventy
dollars to send them. But I doS'H know
how we can get it to them. They know
nobody in Quinoy and nobody inQnincy
knows them. And I came up though
it is after nine o'clock to see if you
could devise any way of getting the
money , sir , into the hands of those
poor wandereri. "
"In is noble devoted
Qninoy a woman , a
voted mother , the wife of Col. William
A. Richardson
* 0 , . . _ _
How to Send It. , ,
who succeeded Mr.
Douglas in the United States senate ,
and we can get a draft to her order for
the amount , send it to her and send the
girls a letter introducing them to her as
the persons whom we wish to benefit
and tomorrow morning we'll attend to
the whole matter , " said the writer in
reply. But the old man could not
defer. His heart was anxious. And
so , at his insistence , the letters to
Mrs. Richardson and the girls were
written then and there. When all were
finished and the old man had resumed
his great coat , his tippet , muffler and
gloves , standing in the northeast room
of Arbor Lodge , and with a look of
sublime faith in his eyes and a serene
satisfaction warming every lineament
of his benignant face , he broke forth in
speech. His voice trembled with
emotion and sincerity sanctified every
word. He said :
"This is just as I was sure it would
be. I have known their father and
mother more than thirty years. They
were honest , generous , law-abiding ,
good people. They never wronged any
human being. They told the truth and
this had to be just as it is and the money
had to come and go just as we have
it fixed , for in the good book I read
long , long ago , 'I have never seen the
righteous forsaken nor his seed begging
bread. ' "