; * '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.
