Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1902)
Conservative * 11 fw earth , " save in poetic fancy. It is al ways victorious. When an individual of duo intelligence comes in contact with facts , ho believes" the facts. Be lief is an involuntary act. It depends , first , on the ability to understand , secondly , on the manner of contact. Love is involuntary. It depends on the ability of one to appreciate the qualities of another , and on the at tractive qualities of the other. Hence , it is irrational to command one to be lieve or to love. When I tell you the paper on which I am writing , is white , you believe it , not because you desire to believe , but because you are convinced that I have spoken correctly. If you were commanded to disbelieve , on pain of eternal punishment , you might assent that it is not white , but your mind would remain true to your understand ing. When I tell you that nuggets grow just beneath the surface of the earth that are more valuable than those dug from the deepest mine , I speak the truth , but it is clouded in metaphor. When it is fully understood , it makes an impression on the mind. If yon go away without understanding , the im pression is false. Facts are not so pre sented in nature. By much argument and clouding of reality , men are led into the error that gold is worth more than potatoes , notwithstanding all know tnat millions of lives are pre served every year by the latter. The value of the former is almost entirely fictitious. The value of the latter is wholly intrinsic. Diamonds are fit only for scratching glass ; yet two nations , professedly Christian , - practically cally pagan , are trying to throttle each other on account of gold and diamonds. "Gold ( and diamonds ) , many hunted , sweat and bled for , gold ( and diamonds ) ! " Nature , true to herself , has placed the valuable gifts near the surface. A fundamental truth is never hidden in a maze. The reason men do not readily apprehend is because they look for it in the dark corners. Steam-power was first discovered in the boilibg of a kettle. Gravitation manifested itself in the falling of an apple. Electricity was decoyed by a kite. Some time ago railway companies offered a reward for the invention of a car-coupler that would avoid danger to the operator. The one accepted is an iron rod bent like a man's arm while drawing or re placing a coupling-pin. It is the same in mechanism as in natural phenomena , truth , like grandpa's spectacles , is in plain view. The person who pursups falsehood is like a child trying to catch a shadow or reflected light. As he approaches , it is seen in another direction. When he lays his hand on it , it is gone. Ho has nothing but the excitement of the chase. A superabundance of bounty , or of truth , is , for the time , a useless accumu lation. If it be imperishable bounty or fundamental fact , it may be stored for future use. However , second-hand goods are not considered very valuable. It is best to apply knowledge as soon as ob tained. Higher research may be utterly useless except in regard to fundamental ideas. Men are sometimes honored for doing that which would better be left undone. Solomon built a temple for the purpose of keeping his people united , by attract ing them to meet once a year. In doing so , he destroyed the beautiful timber that made the land humid and fruitful. He wrote many beautiful truths , but his life was a continuous falsehood. The beautiful temple is numbered with the things that were. The land is a desert His people are sojourners in foreign countries. JOSEPH MAKINSON. Holdrege , Neb. , Febr. , 1902. LEWIS AND CLARKE. "Thursday , 28th , (1805) ( ) . The day is clear and pleasant. Sixteen men were sent out to examine the country for trees suitable for boats , and were suc cessful in finding them. Two of the N. W. traders arrived ; they had like wise a root which is used for the cure of persons bitten by mad-dogs , snakes and other venomous animals ; it is found on high grounds and on the sides of hills , and the mode of using it is to scarify the wound , and to ap ply to it an inch or more of the pounded root , which is to be renewed twice a day ; the patient must not , however , chew or swallow any of the root , as an inward application might be rather injurious than beneficial. "Mr. Gravelines , with two French men and two Indians , arrive from the Ricaras with letters from Mr. Anthony Tabeau. This last gentleman informs us that the Rioaras express their in teution of following our advice and will remain at peace with the Man dans and Minnetarees , who they are desirous of visiting ; they also wish to know whether these nations would permit the Ricaras to settle near them , and form a league against their common enemies , the Sioux. On men tioning this to the Maudans , they agreed to it , observing that they al ways desired to cultivate friendship with the Rioaras , and that the Almahaways and Miuuotarees have the same friendly views. 1' Mr. Graveline states that the band of Tetous whom we had seen was well disposed to us , owing to the influence of their chief , the Black Buffalo ; but that the throe upper bauds of Totous , with the Sisatoons and the Yauktous of the north , mean soon to attack the Indians in this quarter , with a resolu tion to put to death every white man they encounter. Moreover , that Mr. Cameron , of St. 'Peter's , had armed the Sioux against the Ohippoways , who have lately put to death throe of liis men. The men who had stolen three of our horses wo found to bo all Sioux , who , after committing the out rage , said that they had hesi tated about killing our men who were with the horses , but that in future they would put to death any of us they could , as wo were bad medi cines and deserved to bo killed. The Ricaras wore displeased with their conduct , and refused to give them anything to eat , which is deemed rho greatest act of hostility , short of actual violence. " SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. A long and "vigorous breath at fre quent intervals is the preventive for sea sickness that Prof. Heinz , of Erlin- gen , regards as .infallible as simple. The explanation is that the extra oxygen added to the blood lessons the sensitiveness of the lobe of the brain that produces sea sickness by reacting on the stomach. In his ton years of experiment at Paris and Lille. Dr. Calmette has made his autiveuomous serum an effective remedy for snake bites when injected within four or five hours ; and it is now supplied to such coun tries as India , Australia and tropical South America where the victims number tens of thousands yearly. The preparation of this antidote re quires the venom of many serpents. Cobras and others are kept alive in a special hot-house , and once a fort night the doctor and an assistant ex tract the venom from each by holding its head in the hands and compressing the poison glands. The snake , which seldom eats in captivity , is then forc ibly fed by pouring two or three raw eggs through a glass funnel into the stomach. The poison , dried for keeping , is used in solution for innooulating horses and dogs , and at the end of six teen months a horse is made capable of receiving safely a dose that would kill 200 unvacoiuated horses. From each horse may then bo taken every two or three weeks from six to eight quarts of blood , containing two or three quarts of active serum. The serum is bottled in single doses about a third of an ounce. Lampblack seems to have formed the basis of ancient ink. The con tents of two bronze cylinders from Roman ruins in Franco have boon found by M. Loidie to consist of lamp black containing traces of copper , tin , iron and chalk , and this was undoubt edly ink. It must have been much like the Indian ink of today.
