The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902, September 12, 1901, Page 12, Image 12

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12 Conservative *
vehement , and their dependence upon
legislation increases commeusnrately.
Such laws wither self-reliance in the
individual. They make the demagogue
who prescribes for the populace the
doctrine of constant law-making for the
cure of all the ills of the body politic
appear , in the eyes of the multitude , a
great statesman. Thus the American
voter becomes the easy mark , the nat
ural prey of the pseudo patriot who
poses as a public benefactor for offices
and emoluments only. It is not the busi
ness of government to help any one class
at the expense of all the other classes.
MORE ABOUT ANCIENT MINES.
Quoted by the Nebraska City News of
April 30 , 1859 , from the Wyoming Tel
escope :
"Nebraska , although one of the
youngest of the territories , lias her
signs of antiquity , that will furnish
material for many brilliant volumes ,
and will put the most learned and ex
perienced antiquarians and geologists
to their "brown studies" to account for
the strange and marvelous freaks of
Nature and art , which appear in our
new and flourishing territory.
"One of the most unaccountable of
these signs of antiquity is found in our
stone quarries in Wyoming and vicinity.
"About four feet above high' water
mark , on the banks of the Missouri
at our levee , is a stratum of lime rook ,
two feet and a half in thickness , and in
the top of it , from one end of town to
the other along the levee , near a mile in
length , its whole surface is literally
filled up with tracks of wild animals of
various species and sixes , among which
are the tracks of the mink , the otter ,
the fawn , the deer , the bear , the ante
lope , the buffalo , and various other
species. These tracks are deeply im
bedded in the rock , many of which are
scored along by the animals slipping
along for several inches on what was
then undoubtedly a smooth clay or
soapstone , and the tracks are as plain as
any fresh ones that are made in a simi-
ilar 'substance.
"Immediately above this rock there is
a stratum of Joint Clay , or Soapstoue
about six inches thick ; then a stratum
of mixed Sandstone about one foot or so
in thickness ; then a stratum of pure
limestone twenty inches thick ; then a
stratum of clay , and above that a stra
tum of scaly , rotten limestone mixed
with clay ; above which the hill slopes
gradually back to the summit , the
height of over 100 feet from the top of
the rook at a half mile distance from
the river ; which bed of earth is com
posed of a stratum of tough clay ; next
is a bed of pure sand ; then a loam , and
on the surface a black vegetable mould ,
three feet deep , of the richest fertility.
"These tracks are not confined to the
yjpjsjfy of the river , but wherever the
game''strata ' of rock is found , the same
* 11' " ?
series of tracks are plainly imprinted.
"It will be seen by the foregoing that
there are four strata of rook , and over
100 feet of earth above this rock ; also ,
there ore the fossil remains of the ter
rapin , the tortoise , the weasel , the
prairie dog , the snake , the gopher , the
mink , the badger , the otter , the snail ,
and many other species of animals and
insects , and many species of roots , to
gether with shells , undoubtedly of salt
water origin , deeply imbedded in the
solid rook , and in the earth above the
rock. These are all distinct and unmis
takable.
"There has also been discovered , by
persons making excavations , broken
pieces of earthenware , iron , human
bones , petrified Buffalo horns , and
many fossils closely resembling the
sweet potato in formation. All of these
remains have been found at a depth of
from ten to fifteen feet beneath the sur
face. "
The editor then propounds six very
deep conundrums , which it is not likely
that any of his subscribers answered ,
and continues :
"Another wonder in Nebraska an
tiquity is the ancient mines of the
Weeping Water Valley , which have
been lately discovered.
"About six or seven miles from
Wyoming , commences the most exten
sive operations of ancient mining that
has ever been discovered on the conti
nent of North. America. For miles in
extent , the whole country is literally
torn up and thrown into the most fan
tastic and promiscuous ridges , hillocks ,
gutters , trenches , shafts , etc.
"There are the remains of furnaces ,
chimneys , stone walls and earth houses ,
the fragments of jugs , glass bottles , and
many other things too numerous to
mention. There have been rooks drilled
and blasted , evidently with gunpowder ,
stone dressed with the hammer , and
every evidence of these operations being
carried on by civilised men , and not by
the savages that now prowl over the
prairies and rove from place to place in
quest of game.
"Old California minors , who have
visited these mines , say that it would
perhaps cost millions of dollars to do
the work that has been done there , and
the appearance of the surface is similar
to the placers of California where the
miners have been at work. It is evident
that these miners found something that
would pay them for their labor or they
would not have toiled and labored to
such a vast extent.
"What the mineral was , it has not
been fully ascertained yet. The gen
eral impression is that it was gold or
silver,1 perhaps both , as Nebraska
abounds in these metals. "
This last statement sounds queer , but
in 1869 the gold fields of Colorado had
just been discovered ; Kansas and Ne
braska extended to the Eocky Mountains ,
and it was commonly believed that the
Cherry Creek diggings , at Denver , were
in Nebraska.
The editor closed by expressing his
belief that "South Nebraska will event
ually be one of the greatest mining re
gions , and the most celebrated for its
antiquities of any part of the conti
nent. " . A. T. E.
The September folder of the Burlington - "
ton Eoute contains the first official an
nouncement of train service on the new
Toluca-Cody branch now being con
structed into the Big Horn Basin of
Wyoming. Trains are run as far as
Bowler , a distance of seventy-three
miles from Toluca , Mont. , the junction
of the main and branch lines. New
track is being laid at the rate of a mile
a day , and it is expected that Cody , the
town built by Buffalo Bill , will be
reached sometime in October. The
Mormon settlers in the Meeteetese and
Grey Bull valleys , who have made the
trek from Utah , are assisting in build
ing the new road , and developing what
promises to be a wonderfully rich ptock
country.
Languages Taught by Mail
with the aid of the phonograph. Only successful
. method. Specially written I. O. B. ! -
e
/Ka k Textbooks teach * * * *
you to read and
understand the language. The
A tlve teacher's voice , through
jthe Edison Standard 1'liono-
* ymiph , teaches the exact pro-
fnunclatlon. French , Spanish V/3
or German. Circular tree.
Intrrnitlonal Cormpondrnrc
< Behooli. Hoi lal/U , 8tr nton , P . „ |
who neither sands |
his sugar nor' '
waters his milk
who believes in
the best , and is particular to
please his patrons.
That's the grocer who recom
mends and sells
lion Coffee
Coffee that is coffee unglazed
unadulterated.
Rain and sweat
have no effect on
harness treated
with Eureka Har
ness Oil. It resists -
sists the damp ,
keeps the leath
er soft and pli
able. Stitches
do not break. \
No rough surface - \
face to chafe
and cut. The
harness not
only keeps
looking like
new , but
wears twice
as long by the
use of Eureka
Harness OiU
Sold
everywhere t
In cans
all sizes. \
Made by
Standard Oil \ \
Company