Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1902)
"Che Conservative * In Mexico de- MEXIC AN nomina t i o n a 11 y , FINANCE. money is the same as iii the United States ; that is to say , it is counted in dollars and cents , the first being called "pesos , " and the latter "ceutavos. " This system was established by a law which took effect iu 1890. Paper money in circulation in the republic of Mexico is in notes of the National Bank of Mexico ice , the state banks , and the notes of the banks of London , Mexico & South America , all passing at par. However , there are exceptions as to some of the state banks beyond the limits of the state where it is issued , but then at only a slight discount. American national bank notes and greenbacks are always at a premium in the republic of Mexico. Exchange on New York commands a premium , and exchange on London commands a bigger premium. One of our party during a recent sojourn in Mexico had exchange on London which brought far greater premium than was paid for exchange on New York. The rate on letters from Mexico to the United States and Canada , is 5 cents for each half ounce Postage. or fraction thereof. To all points in Mexico the rate is 5 cents ; to all other countries in the Postal Union , 10 cents. Registration fee is 10 cents. Rates on newspapers is 1 cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof ; other printed matter 1 cent per ounce and three-fourths pr fraction thereof to the United States and Canada , and 2 cents to European countries. The limit of weight of printed matter is 4 pounds. In the larger cities there is a regular system of delivery by carriers , and a letter with its proper address will be de livered promptly. Many have rushed VIVISECTION. to the defense of vivisection , with out , however , answering the main criti cism. It is by no means certain but that where a new theory is to be tested and where a trial must be made before a physician or surgeon would dare to apply the principle in his practice , vivi section of dumb brutes , humanely con ducted , is justified ; but in ninety per cent of cases this is not the object of the butchery. Animals are tortured by thousands each year in the colleges , simply to demonstrate that the lecturer is telling the truth which no one has any reason to doubt. Nerves are sev ered , eyes removed , joints dislocated , brains exposed , spinal cords "tapped" and lungs pierced , not to establish or to controvert any new theory , but simply to show the students that the professor knows whereof lie speaks , and for the further doubtful purpose of making the lectures "attractive and interesting. " This is not scientific research ; it is simply illustrating a lecture by the em ployment of living , suffering animals , instead of inanimate drawings and models. The facility with REDUCING which Colonel Bry- THE LISTS. an reduces the list of possible candi dates for the Presidency in the ranks of the democrats is most admirable. It is however only fair to state that the edi torial assassination of Hill and other prominently named candidates from day to day is not alphabetically arranged , because of personal considerations for those whose nomenclature is initialed by the second letter of the alphabet. The Massachus- DECLARED etts democrats have THEMSELVES , cast free silver in to Boston harbor , to weigh down the obnoxious tea dumped there by their ancestors many years ago. The same principle of cast ing off the galling yoke placed upon them by a dictator applies to this recent Boston free silver party , as was shown by those who attended the Boston tea party , more than a century ago , for both events were the beginning of the end of an over-bearing ruler's reign. Nebraska now BIRDS. protects birds which are "attractive in appearance or cheerful in songs. " From a sentimental point of view this protec tion extended to the bird which pleases the eye or the ear , seems delightful , but research establishes the fact that there are useful birds which are worthy of protection simply because they aid the agriculturalist and ar boricultur alls tand casting aside all sentiment , are entitled to the utmost consideration on account of the good work they do in destroying insects. Prof. F. E. L. Beal , B. S. , assistant ornithologist of the biological survey , has examined the stomachs of 3,000 birds and determined their virtue as promoters of agriculture from the number of insects contained therein. Results prove that the birds about the average orchard are worth as much to the owner as is the average hired man. It is interesting to note that many birds formerly in disrepute , are proven to beef of the utmost value to mankind. For instance of the pugnacious "King Bird , " or "Bee Bird" as he is some times called on account of his supposed appetite for honey bees ( which by the way has been proven to be a base slander ) Prof. Beal says : "The insects that constitute the great bulk of the food of this bird are nox ious species , largely beetles May beetles , click beetles ( the larvte of which are known as wire worms ) , wee vils , which prey upon fruit and grain , and a host of others. Wasps , wild bees , and ants are conspicuous elements of the food. During summer many grass hoppers and crickets , as well as leaf hoppers and other bugs , are also eaten. Among the flies were a number of rob ber flies insects which prey largely upon other insects , especially honey bees , and which have been known to commit in this way extensive depreda tions. It is thus evident that the king bird by destroying these flies actually does good work for the apiarist. Nine teen robber flies were found in the stomachs examined. A few caterpil lars are eaten , mostly belonging to the group commonly known as cutworms , all the species of which are harmful. About 10 per cent of the food consists of small native fruits , comprising some twenty common species of the roadsides and thickets , such as dogwood berries , elder berries , and wild grapes. The bird has not been reported as eating cultivated fruit to an injurious extent , and it is very doubtful if this is ever the case , for cherries and blackberries are the only ones that might have come from cultivated places , and they were found in but few stomachs. " When Senators SWEET DREAMS. Mauderson and Paddock forced through a bill to admit the machinery for the Nebraska sugar factories free of duty , they played upon the patri otic feeling of the country , more par ticularly Nebraskausby assuring them that with the beet sugar factories once established , and properly pro tected , this country would shortly export sugar to the uttermost parts of the world. The fact is that the sugar interests never intended to make beet sugar as a business ; that machinery was imported not to gather sweetness from the beet , but to manufacture protection and bounties for the sugared interests. Of course the thought that we were to sweeten the world's tea , coffee and cakes was a pleasant one and the farmer's dream of raising fabulous amounts of beets and selling them for equally fabulous sums , while the ships of all nations came in an unbroken procession to bear away their granulated burdens and leave instead a cargo of gold was with no attempt at facetiousuess a sweet one , but the cold , hard fact of the matter is that beet sugar making was never instituted for any other purpose than that of arraying the people upon the side of th'e sugar coated concerns by leading them to believe that a little "protection" would make this country one vast lump of sweetness with the volcanoes spouting taffy , and syrup running in rivulets from the Rook-candy Moun tains to the granulated plains below. But' dreams go by contraries , and af ter years of protection and feeding upon bounties , we find the beet-sugar still an "infant" , and a puny one at that , but it has served its purpose by leading the farmers of the west to the polls to favor the "protection" of sugar which was all that its promoters meters intended.
