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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1901)
Conservative. 3 FROM THE GUESTS AT THE INN. The Princess came to Bothlehcm'fj Inn ; Tlio Keeper he bowed low ; Ho sent his servants hero and yon , His maids ran to and fro. They spread soft carpets for her feet , Her bed with linen fine ; They heaped her board with savory meats , They brought rich fruits and wine. The Merchant came to Bethlehem's Inn , Across the desert far , From Ispahan and Suninrcantl , And hoary Kandahar. Rich orient freight his camels bore ; The gates flew open wide , As in ho swept with stately mien , His long , slow train beside. The Pilgrim came to Bethlehem's Inn : Wayworn and old was he , With beard unshorn and garments torn , A piteous sight to seel He found a corner dim and lone ; He ate his scanty fare ; Then laid his scrip and sandals by , And said his evening prayer. The Beggar came to Bethlehem's Inn ; They turned him not away ; Though men and maidens scoffed at him , They bade the varlet stay. "The dogs have room ; then why not he ? " One to another said ; "Even dogs have earth to lie upon , And plenteous broken bread ! " Maid Mary fared to Bethlehem's Inn : Dark was the night and cold , And eerily the icy blast Swept down across the wold. She drew her dark brown mantle close , Her wimple round her head. "Oh , hasten on , my lord , " she cried , "For I am sore besteadl" Maid Mary came to Bethlehem's Inn : There was no room for her ; They brought her neither meat nor wine , Nor fragrant oil , nor myrrh. But where the horn6d oxen fed Amid the sheaves of corn One splendid star flamed out afar When our Lord Christ was born. Julia 0. R. Dorr , in the December Atlantic THE AMERICAN NAVY. When we contrast the tedious , va cillating and uncertain action of the English army in the Boer war , its manifest blunders , its failures on many occasions , not from lack of bravery , but from lack of brains , what Ameri can can fail to have a feeling of pride in the celerity and completeness with which the Spanish-American war was brought to a close ? England is weeping and wailing yet , not only over its deac and wounded which number up into the thousands , but in the fact that with all their blood and training , the war is still going on , and the English man is constantly touched in his most vital spot ; his pocket. We are no decrying the Englishman's love of his country. He will "pay , pay pay , " and he will stand up and be 'shot with an obstinacy and a determi ' Uation that in ninety-nine cases in a hundred will' ' win out. ' ' In contrasting the two wars we can not help thinking that the main ele ment that broueht our Spanish-Ameri can war to so quick and successful a conclusion , was our glorious Ameri can navy. The thorough annihilatibu of the Spanish vessels and gunboats at Manila by Dewey , was an act which was greater from its effect than in the act itself ; because as a matter of fact the vessels that wore conquered were 1 small fry" affairs. But no one can question but that the Santiago action was well done , which stands promin ently in the minds of the American people as the most brilliant act of the Spanish war , and one which brought it to so successful a conclusion. It is a little unfortunate that a con troversy should have arisen , which re flects seriously upon the Navy De partment , as to who is entitled to the most credit for the glorious results obtained by our ' ' water dogs' ' on that occasion. But take the whole history of the action of that fleet. The tre mendous passage of the noble ' ' Ore gon" under the gallant and fearless Olark , all around Cape Horn , ready at all times , as he says , to tackle the whole Spanish fleet single-handed a trip of 14,000 miles , with not a break in the machinery , not a faltering on the part of her commander ; who was responsible for everything ; the get ting into the Santiago fight , ( the Oregon being with the Brooklyn the two swiftest ships ) and heading ofl the escaping Spanish fleet ; it is a noble record and one we can all fee ] proud of. It is a mystery to us , however , how Captain Clark who seems to be mak ing no complaints , has apparently re ceived no reward whatever for his gallant services. We have informa tion from one of his intimate friends , that the strain on his nerves , of bring ing the vessel on that enormous jour ney , successfully to Santiago , was such that for nearly a year after Santiago he was disabled from ner vous prostration ; but he did not stop to think of thisnor did he lose a day's time ; until the enemy were safely out of the way. Capt. Olark for four years was stationed at Chicago as Light House Inspector on the Lakes ( some ten or twelve years ago ) and while there made many friends among the western people. Some action should certainly be taken by the Navy Department or congress , or by the president ( or al three ) to give him at least a vote of thanks. He should certainly be promoted meted to Rear Admiral. A friend o : his , who has taken pains to correspond with the members of congress on this subject , has found that out of the en tire number who answered letters 01 the subject , there was but one dis senting voice on the opinion that he should be made a Hear Admiral a once. CHRISTMAS TREE TRADE. fi LiJ A writer in Country Life in Amori'v ca retells the story of one Mark Carr , a jolly , sturdy woodman living among the foothills of the Catskills , who , about fifty years ago originally con ceived the idea of sending Christmas trees to the Now York market. Thqn the Christmas tree was a custom most ly celebrated by foreigners. He had heard or read of celebrations in the metropolis , when churches and houses wore adorned with pine , hemlock and holly. It occurred to him that the stately young fir trees , covering the mountain side about his modest home , might bo made profitable. The chop ping and transportation would com prise the whole cost of the enterprise and it could be done at a season when he had little else to do. So , early in December , 1851 , Mark and his sons drove two ox sleds loaded with young trees , through the deep snow to the river at Catskill , whence the father started with them for the city. One old-fashioned silver dollar se cured a strip of sidewalk on the cor ner of Greenwich and Vesey streets , and there the long-sighted mountain eer set forth his forest novelties. Customers speedily appeared , soon buying all his wares at prices that seemed to him positively exorbitant. Highly elated , Mark enjoyed a few days of town life and returned home , but the next year he came again with a much larger stock , and from that time to this the business has continued to increase until now hundreds of thousands of trees are yearly sold from Mark Carr's old corner. FABLE OF THE BABBLING BROOK. Once upon a time a fish , hi search of adventure , came to the broad mouth of a brook which emptied itself into a great river. He turned into the smaller stream.ascended its current and listened to its constant babbling as he went leisurely along. As he proceeded he noticed that the brook became very much narrower and shallower. Yet it kept up its babbling just the same. Finally he reached its head and found it to be very insignifi cant. "Brook , " said the fish , "never in my life before have I seen such a large mouth and heard so much babbling with so little head behind it. " Moral The head cannot be judged by the mouth. Conundrum What peerless publicist reminds yon of the babbling brook with an inferior head and superior month ? J. Sterling Morton , always enthusi astic for tree planting , is just now urg ing that the custom be established throughout the country ot planting a tree on the birth of every child. It is a very beautiful and appropriate idea and should be adopted. It is said that it is one cf the excellent customs of Switzer land and certainly this country is in need of all the sentiment that will pro mote tree planting. Norfolk News.
