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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 4, 1901)
; * 'Cbe Conservative. The strongest ' . YOUTH. and most beauti ful thing on earth is youth , but time steals it from all who live , and Death sometimes calls it away from the aged in the person of a loved son. Grief touches youth , but leaves no scar more than a passing cloud mars a landscape. But bereavements to the old are like strokes of lightning on gnarled and aged oaks ; they shatter , they wither and destroy. The Reform SOUND CURRENCY. Club , of New York , has just is sued the June number of its quarterly , entitled "Sound Currency. " It is an encyclopedia of useful monetary knowledge. It contains all the banking laws and all the statutes relative to coinage and currency in the United States. It should be in the hands of every business-man in the country. It is the best and most useful reference book on finance extant. * ? . Chairs carry CHAIRS. character and teach history in every permanent household. There is an ancient hickory chair at Arbor Lodge which , in the closing of the eighteenth century , rocked the Sterlings at Lyme , Connecticut , and later on at Adams , Jef ferson county , New York listened to the lullaby which sweetly soothed to slum ber the infant that became the great- grand-mother of our grand-children. This old chair has journeyed until now , without ever losing a legend or dropping a single tradition , it silently occupies its corner at Arbor Lodge which , for forty-six years , has been the Home of tnat brancn or tne lamuy to wnion ic belongs. It is a straight , stiff-backed choir. It is unyielding in its attitudes , and never changes character , constitu tion or tenacity of fibre. . It has served seven generations , and is an illustration of the Westward trend of men and things in the United States. More about chairs another time. The American BRED TO TROT , trotting horse illustrates per fectly the possibilities of breeding do mestic animals for a specific purpose and with an intelligent regard for the law of heredity. Forty years ago , the best record was a mile in two minutes and thirty seconds. But by careful at tention to the selection of sires and dams , horses that trot a mile under two minutes and ten seconds are not now very rare. If citizens of the United States would exercise as much judgment upon the breeding of men and women as they do relating to horses , cattle , hogs , sheep and poultry , the American race of human beings would improve as swiftly as have ; ho lower order of animals in this coun try. But , with an'all-embracing and automatic system of public schools , the average citizen has come to believe that any breed of humanity can be devel oped , intellectually , to an equality with those who , by transmitted traits , are born superior. But Cicero , though a heathen , forcefully and truthfully said : "Natural ability , without education , aas oftener raised man to glory and vir tue , than education without natural abil ity. " Are not standard-bred thinkers as possible among humans as standard-bred trotters among horses ? Who will furnish a text-hook for the schools on Heredity ? PIONEER SETTLERS' REUNION. A reunion of the pioneer settlers of Otoe county , Nebraska , will be held , at Nebraska City , on September 2 , 1901. Invitations have been extended , through a committee composed of J. Sterling Morton and Paul Jessen , to all old set tlers of the county , and the following letters have been received : An Old Settler. J. STERLING MORTON AND PAUL JES SEN , Committee , Etc. : GENTLEMEN : Your kind invitation to attend the annual reunion of the pioneer neer settlers of Otoe county , at Nebraska City , September 2nd next , has greatly pleased and gratified me. Believe me , I shall be there in person , if no unforeseen circumstance prevents. Should I be unable to come , I shall , at least , send a reminiscent paper ; but I expect to have the pleasure of being with you in body , as well as spirit. In full appreciation of the honor done me by your invitation , I am , Sincerely yours , H. P. BENNET. Denver , Colo. , Juno 24 , 1901. Another Old Settler Heard From. EDITOR THE CONSERVATIVE : Your kind invitation to attend the annual re union of the "Old Settlers' Association of Otoo County , " to be held on the 2nd of September , prox. , at Nebraska City , has been received ; and I am exceedingly sorry I am compelled to deny myself the pleasure of that occasion. I , with all my family , am going abroad and will not return until about October 1st. This arrangement has been made some time , and we cannot sail on our return until the 21st of September. These chil dren of mine , like yours , were all born in Nebraska , and there is where "my heart is turning ever" the homo of my young manhood. I am entitled to be a member of your society , for I was one of the earliest settlers even a little ahead of you , my friend. I went up the Missouri river from St. Louis in the early spring of 1854 , and landed at the ; rading-post landing of Peter A. Sarpy , St. Mary's , opposite Bellevne , in Mills county , Iowa. The Territory of Ne braska was not yet opened , mid I became a "sooner. " I immediately be came acquainted witli Colonel Sarpy , who became my friend , and remained so until the day of his death. He was one of nature's noblemen , eminently. So hunted me up a claim out on the Papillion ( Papyo ) , of 640 acres , and gave me a pony to trade to the Indian chief who was selling those claims. That same fall , after the opening , I sold the claim to Silas A. Strickland for $600 in gold , but Mr. Sarpy refused to take a cent for the pony. How well I remom- 3er when you , with your beautiful and accomplished young wife , came to Bellevue - vue , and lived in the old , log , Indian agency house there and entertained a lot of us. Mrs. Morton , with the aid of an Indian maid or two , often set up a big dinner to a doz n or more of us. I remember one occasion .par ticularly. 'Mrs. Morton , with her own [ mnds , served a most luxurious dinner of a Sunday , at which were Doc. Henry , Hollister , Judge Ferguson , Bonnet and others , and how pleasant and winning were her ways , and how cheerfully she adapted herself to that rough life and surroundings. I thought then she was the most beautiful woman I had over seen. Then my memory jumps to a year later , when we got together at Nebraska City , and formed the law partnership of "Bennet , Morton and Harding , " you having a magnificent law library , after ward destroyed in the great fire there , May 12 , 1860 ; how you induced me to take that claim adjoining yours on the north , which I pre-empted ; or , rather , which Theo. Van Horn pre-empted for me. as I had another claim. Oh. wo early settlers had nothing small about us in the matter of claiming land ! I be lieve the offense is now barred by the statute of limitations. How well I re member the building of Nebraska City and of Otoe county , but it is too large a subject for me to go on with in this let ter. O , Morton , how steadfast yon have been ; sticking to the good , old place , so new then. I have wandered about a deal , but have been blessed with health , and youth in old age , and with enough of this world's goods to suffice. Please convey to the Old Set tlers' Association the regards of one of the new settlers of old , and I hope at an other time , if I am spared , I may be "wid you. " HORACE H. HARDING. Carthage , Mo. , June 26 , 1901. INTEREST IN TARIFF ISSUES. As showing the interest the tariff is sue is now exciting throughout the country , the New England Free Trnde League has had over fifty new members join it the last month , and is receiving from seven to ten requests daily for its tariff-trust articles , most of them , as also the new members , from the West.
