Conservative.
did ho keep the pledge of that record.
Through nil the eight years following
ruiis n straight line of purity and right
eousness , iu his senatorial career. One
could hardly wish a better test of what
was wrong , than what Senator Caffery
opposed ; and that was a good deal. Ho
was probably fallible in his judgments
of such things , like other mortals ; but
ho seemed rather less and less , than more
and more so , with increase of acquaint
ance.
One of his latest prominent appear
ances before the country was wholly
thrust upon him , or rather attempted to
be , in his nomination by the third party
in New York last September. Of this
occasion one of his family remarked :
"We were against it , and I felt some un
easiness , for they came trying to per
suade him that it was his duty , and I
knew that if ever that got into his head ,
nothing on earth could ever turn him
away. " A leading public man of his
state described him indeed as a queer
fellow , citing as instance , that there had
once been a sharp opposition between
them on some local question , aud when
shortly af terward this gentleman wished
endorsements for a certain position , he
was astonished by a particularly strong
one from Senator Caffery. This absolute
rectitude , seemed the key to all his grasp
of public matters ; the clearness of judg
ment , the almost unerring sense of the
better part and the worse , the weighty
comment , all appeared to flow from that
one pure fouutaiu ; his large knowledge ,
his diligent reading , and all his public
opportunities , being so many tributary
streams. At any rate , for one who know
that such were his main springs , it was
interesting to see what ways they would
impel him , under all his conditions , as a
public man. The ways proved to bo
inflexible opposition to silverism , pro
tectionism , imperialism , subsidism ; sup
port of the present administration by a
clear though narrow margin ; genera
views of his country , bound up as he is
and identified with his own section , ye
easily transcending all mere partialitiei
and limitations of any section.
Whenever his manful stand iu the
time of his party's great eclipse is re
called , there comes with it the figure o
the steadfast angel :
So spake t > Boraph Abdiol , faithful found
Among the faithless , faithful only he ;
Among innumerable false , unmoved ,
Unshaken , unseduced , untorrifled ,
Nor numbers nor example with him wrought
To swerve from truth , or change his constant
mind ,
Though single , from amidst them forth he
passed ,
bong way through hostile scorn , which ho
sustained
Superior , nor of violence f pared aught ;
And with retorted scorn his back ho turned
On tho&o proud towers , to swift destruction
doomed.
The foregoing may have a little the
sound of an epitaph , as is natural ; but
it is responsible , and moreover , not with
out hope oven in tin's life. Halo as one
of the majestic live-oaks that hang their
mossy streamers round his Southern
home , he could not if ho would estrange
himself from the interests of the coun
try ho has served so well.
Owners of the ouriouswork _ published
in 1870 under the above title , edited by
General Brisbin , will be interested in
ho following note from Governor
Furuas , of Brownville , concerning the
'adventurous ' white chief , soldier ,
muter , trapper and guide , " Boldeu ,
'rom ' whose manuscripts the book was
professedly compiled. According to
Belden's narrative , ho ran away from
iis home in Ohio at the age of thirteen ,
came to "Brownsville , " Nebraska , then
a small hamlet of log houses , induced
us father and family presently to f ol-
.ow him thither , and embarked in the
publication of a weekly newspaper , the
Nemaha Valley Journal , " which he
characterizes as a sickly affair. Then
iu the course of two years brick houses
sprang up , "buffalo , game aud Indians
wore gone , " the sickly paper became a
daily , and young Belden felt constrained
to depart for less metropolitan fields.
The lack of buffalo can hardly have
been felt at Brownville , for according
to the journals of early travelers , they
were not seen east of Port Kearney for
many a year before this time.
Governor Furnas writes that this ac
count is "highly colored. George
Beldeu came to Brownville with his
father and family. Not before. George
was an adventurous boy , which iu the
end cost him his life. Ho was a mem
ber of my regiment , the Second Nebras
ka Cavalry , in our northern expedition
against the Sioux Indians in Northern
Dakota in 18013. He was a writer of
merit , and kept for me the diary of that
expedition. After that service was over ,
he ventured alone into that country and
was killed by the Indians.
"There was a small , short-lived daily
paper once published in Brownville , for
which young Belden did some writing. I
do not think George was interested iu the
paper. His father only leased the ma
terial for the printing office. "
In running away from homo for the
second time , the young man laid his
course for Nebraska City , riding fast
and furious and never pulling rein until
he reached his destination ; but then re
member that there was telegraphic com
munication with Brownville , and fear
ing lest he" should be overhauled by
wire , he pushed ou over the prairie and
reached Omaha the same day ho started.
But his recollection of this matter must
have been confused , or else he did not
come to Nebraska so early as one would
suppose ; for the first telegraph .office
in Nebraska City was opened only in
the fore part of November , I860. The
office was two doors east of the Morton
House. A. T. R.
THE CONSEUVA-
A WISE RECOMMEN- v E commends
DATION. Governor Dietrich
for opposing un
necessary duplication in the construc
tion and equipment of public buildings.
In a special message to the legislature he
has made a sensible recommendation in
regard to the lighting of state institu
tions located at the capital city that deserves -
serves the approbation of our law
makers. Ho suggests that money be
appropriated for the building of a com
mon lighting plant iu conjunction with
the electrical plant of the state univer
sity. As the governor points out there
would be a two-fold advantage in the
proposed arrangement. It would result
in an annual saving to the state of
$10,490 , or fifty per cent. And iu ad
dition to this economy it would equip
our state university with one of the best
leotrical plants in the country and give
; he electrical department , a rank second
; o none.
Relative to the cost of the proposed
plan the governor says :
"Tho cost of instituting such a plant
as is proposed , including all the wiring
and material needed , would not exceed
$50,000so that the amount saved the state
ach year , to say nothing of the advan
tages in the way of adequate lighting ,
ouveuionce and education , would in
less than five years be sufficient to pay
the entire original cost.
"The proposed plan contemplates the
enlargement of the electrical plant at
the university. Prof. Morgan Brooks
of the department of electrical engineer
ing at the university , who very kindly
at my request , investigated into the
matter and from whose estimates these
deductions are drawn , says that for
$50,000 or possibly less , the university
plant can bo enlarged so as to furnish
light for all of said buildings day and
night and the necessary power to operate
the machinery at the penitentiary and
furnish such power as is needed at the
asylum together with necessaiy motors.
This plan also provides for the use of
exhaust steam for heating the university
and the expense of rearranging the heat
ing plant to that end is included in the
foregoing estimate. Conditioned upon
such an improvement in the facilities
for teaching and demonstrating work in
electricity it is possible if not probable
that the board of regents will agree to
defray the expense of rearranging the
heating system out of funds of that in
stitution and thus make a corresponding
decrease , approximately $2,500 , in the
cost to the state.
"There are many reasons why such a
plant as is proposed should be located at
the university. It means that the
machinery will have close inspection
and bo under constant supervision of
expert electricians at all times without
additional expense. It means a saving
in the cost of a boiler house aud a stack.
And it means and this is a most signifi
cant feature , considering the part elec
tricity promises to play in the future as
a ooucomitaut inventive genius that the
university of Nebraska will be equipped
with as good a plant and be as well prepared -
pared to educate on the subject of elec
tricity as any of the great colleges of
this country. "