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THE NBBRASKAN.
Vol.. V. No. 20
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, FEB. 26. 1807.
Prick 5 Cents.
LUD OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN
p, J. Jewell, a Former Studont, tolls
0f His Experiences, Prospecting.
THERMOMETER SIXTY BELOW
TMWlitiK '" ,no Norln Country on Foot
oinl by Sledge Fund Started for
Miintnlnlng a School Cus
toms of tho Pooplo,
Kxini'i" from i loiter wrltlun by P.
j jcWri 1 student of tho university from
fUo'M. ,unv nl Circle City, Yukon rlvor,
AUcltn
We arrived nl Circle City, Sunday even
in?, Sopi- tuber 23, '04. For nonrly ft ml!o
I . j tin rlvor Imnk, enhlua wore spring
Ins P 11,0 magic, 80 thnt '" town on)'
four months olil, lmtl more than 2.V) lnhnb
Hunt.". Wo Immediately began erecting
i cabin and Inside of two weeks, wcro
inuRly ensconced In n wnrm twelve by
fourteen foot cabin.
Soon after In eompimy wllh seventeen
other men. 1 went to Ft. Yukon, eighty
mllci. for additional supplies. The fort
U InsiKb the Arctic clrelo, nnd on both
wghU ibli'li we onenmped thore. tho dis
plays of the Aurora Horenlls were superb.
The trip up the rlvor wns anything but
pleasant. Snow fell nonrly every night,
cold winds were blowing, forming Ice
nearly all ihe time and wo were constant
ly wt from handling the tow lines. It
as necessary to tow the boats all tho
nay, to contend with sweepers (trees over
hancltiR the water), high cut banks, sldo
channels nnd swift currents. Sowrnl
times w- had to double up to pull a boat
over the rllllos, nnd In one Instnnco It
took ten or twelvo of us to pull a slnglo
boat over. We covered Iho eighty miles
In fix days. Two days Inter the Ice be
gan running In tho river. If thnt had
caught us. we should have been obliged
to sled our effects to 4ho city. On Febru
ary 20. when the temperature was 38 do
grccs below zoro, my partner nnd 1 start
ed for in. mines, llfty miles nwny, arriv
ing there March 7.
We fnlKhtcd our entlro outfit out; thoro
were flv. loads vnoh, necessitating our
golnB ovir the trail nlno tlmos. mnklng
the equualmt to a straight pull of 450
miles, iiddi'd to this we pulled tho sleds
another loo inllvs onch, to got wood, lum
ber, etc . to the claim wo opened.
We took a claim to prospect on Dond
nooJ for iivo-thlrds Intorost, and all we
could take out tire first season. It didn't
ray us ver well, averaging only about
ten dollars a day. Some claims abovo us
were Rood, yielding as high as $100 per
day. Oik- yung man cleared J6.000 for his
summer's work. Mastodon ercok, the
largest ami richest creek known In this
district, produced a large amount, $40,000
being tak. n out of Discovery clnlm alone,
and It Is .siinuited that 250,000 was pro
duced In this district the past summer.
The original creeks discovered wore;
Squuw, Mastodon, Millor, Mammouth, In
dependence, Dendwood and Switch.
Last fill and summer several other?
were dl-ruvored; Green Horn, Boulder,
Bonanza K.igle. and Harrison; but too
late for ..n thing but hurriedly prospect
ing, but -eral of thorn bid fair to rival
the firs, mentioned creoks. Tho discover
er of Or. . n Horn creek, while digging a
drain loo i. it long for the purpose of pros
pectlng iln ground, panned nnd picked
out over tioo Jn dust and nuggets, one of
which i.is worth llfty-sovon dollars.
in company with two other men I own
the third Halm ubove 'this rich ground,
tot whii d we paid $1,000; but whether or
not then is any gold In our ground, time
alone cut) tell.
I am building no air castles, simply let
ting i-v.nis HiiiitHi their own course.
8hould m.nnmon see tit to smllo upon mo
next summer, I shall spand the "Winter nt
home, ind if possible, should he vory
mueh pl.used to meet you then, 1 could
Pln some great yarns for you.
Towurd the latter part of last Soptom
ter, 'fc, i came to town for ordering my
outfit. After a weok of sight seeing. I
took a seventy-pound pack of provisions
a3 blankets on my back and started to
the mines, reaching my claim at tho end
of tho third day. I remained thore hunt-
iS and cutting wood until tho last of Oot- j
Mr, when I liamo In with two sleds and
about 2oo pounds' load. The sixth of De
cember, with two othors, I started out to
d ome prospecting on Green Horn, and
returned the 2Cth. On 'tho way out -we
had to break trail fifteen miles and were
"x days and a half in covering that dis
tance The days were bo short, scarcely
'our hours of light, nnd that wa3 neces
Bary 'to select u good trail, so we made
low progress. TVe camped out every
night without stove or tent, and did our
cooking anil sleeping by rousing camp
lire mailo of dry pine logs. Wo did but
little prospecting.
Deuoinber 22, with u temperature of 35
degrees below, wk started on our return
to the ully. Soon after going Into camp
that evening, the ihorinomotor registered
40 degrees and growing colder .ill Iho time.
Wo out an Immense pile of wood for the
night. Hour nflor hour we hovered
around the tire droadlng to turn In. Kin
ally, about midnight nnd after eating ft
second supper, wo crawled Into our blank
ets. I froze oui In about two hours, al
though 1 had u double 10 oz. oanvas, a
boar skin and four blankots under mo,
and double canvas and eleven blankots
over me The next morning It was only
t7i degrees below zero. It was so Intensely
cold that although I had been sitting
within three feet of tho camp lire (and
not an Indian tiro either) most of the
night, Ico that formed on my beard tho
preceding day, had not all molted off by
morning. On tho 23rd, wo had nbout
twelvo miles to go, to reach tho Junction
houso, put up, and especially to accom
modate men traveling on tho trail. It
was 5 o'clock, fully throe hours after
dark when wo reached it, stiff, cold, hun
gry and almost exhausted. Tho ther
mometer was down to 47 degrees And tho
next morning, tho 24th, It was down to
SI degrees below. Willi but ono excep
tion, all tho men who woro stopping at
tho Junction, decided to stay over for tno
day; but on Christmas morning It was
only 40 degrees below, nnd at 7 o'clock
wo started on tho trail for tho next house
twenty-two miles away, which wo in
tended to reach that night and at 3:30 wo
woro 'there. The entlro distance was mado
without food or drink nnd I took the
dray rope from my shoulder but once, al
though tho day was bitterly cold, so that
quicksilver was frozen solid all day. I
frosted my nose, all my fingers and left
car which had already peeled four times
this winter, began freezing more thnn u
dozen times. Tho proprietors of the
twolve mile house which wo reached
Christmas evening, charged us $2:50 each
for suppor, breakfast and lodging; but I
did not feel that It was exorbitant for
with the cold and exertion, we wore rav
enously hungry. The next day we reached
town, fourteen miles In fivo and n half
hours, and since that time 1 have done
little else but rending, writing nnd loaf
ing. The tomporature continued to fall until
Sunday morning Jnnuary fi. It was 64 de
grees below, when It began to modorate.
It Is almost impossible for ono to concolvo
whnt C4 degrees below Is, until he hns the
experience. To lnhnlo such air through
the mouth strangles ono; and tho breath
exhaled through tho mouth roars like
steam escaping from an engine, and hot
water thrown Into tho nlr, hisses and
roars, giving off a perfect cloud of steam.
The nlr Is so full of pnrtiolos of frost,
that everything seems enveloped in a light
fog. and at short intervals, low heavy re
ports aro heard from the ice cracking in
the river.
Last spring 1 killed two caribou and so
had all the fresh meat I craved for; and,
at last, 1 can report the killing of a bear.
In September I got on the trail of a bear.
I tracked him to his don and shot him,
putting two bullets through his head,
about nn inch apart. As this was the first
wild hear 1 had ever seen, I did not know
Ills size until I had dragged hlrr. out of
his den; and as my primers failed on the
first trlul. enolt time,. I think without
wishing to appear egotistic that I did
protty well. Bruin proved to be a small
black boar, meusurlng five feet, six Inches
from the end of his tall to tip of nose, six
feet sprond of fore arms, dressed about
150 pounds, and was vory fat, in some
places one nnd three-fourth Inches thick.
His fur is Jet blnok, and I intend to keep
the pelt. The flesh of a young bear, fat
tened on berries, Is simply dollclous, the
best substitute for fresh pork I ever saw.
No doubt you would be interested to
know that I have beon so fortunate as
to get a glimpse of the midnight sun.
Theoretically it cannot be r-een unless one
Is on or near the Arotic circle; but al
though the mines are sixty miles south
of this circle. I was of tho opinion that
the elevation of a high mountain near our
cahln. would more than make up for the
distance south, so I left my cabin on tho
evening of June 21, armed with a rlflo,
hunting knife, a pencil, note book, com
pass and watch for the summit of the
mountain, throe miles away. Following
up tho crest of a spur the timber line was
.soon readied, and at 10:35 I was on the
summit. Boblns, the great northern fly
catcher, and several other varieties or
birds were singing merrily as I Jeft the
TO' ABOLISH FRATERNITIES
A Bill Introduced Into tho Legislature
with that Intent.
MR. HYATT, OF PLATTE COUNTY
Tho Clcntlcn in from the West Who Is the
Author oi the Measure, Tells a No-
brasknn Hoiwrtor his Motive
Text of tho Hill.
One of the latest additions to the Im
mense number of Mils Introduced Into
the house, Is a incisure to prevent stu
dents of the state university from becom
ing members of Greek letter fraternities.
The bill, house roll number 521, Is for an
act to amend seetUn 16 of chapter SG, of
the compiled statutes of Nebraska, nnd to
repeal It as It now stands. This section
refers only to tho question of who shall bo
nllowed to enjoy the privileges of the uni
versity, and the amendment Is simply an
addition to It, without cutting out any of
Iho original section.
The bill was Introduced by Hyatt of
Platte county. To tho orlglnnl section ho
proposes to add tho following:
"No person ahnll be allowed any of thu
privileges of this Institution who shall 1o
or become a member of any secret Greek
lotter fraternity or society."
Tho bill hns been read tho tirst time and
ordered to second tending. Mr. Hyatt,
tho author of tho incisure had this to say
when asked by a Nebraskan reporter as
to his motive for tho action. "By thetr
close organization, the members of frat
ernities gain a conildcrnble power over
tho students who do not wish to belong
to such societies, or aro not able to pay
the necessary expenses. In public meet
ings of the students, the fraternity peo
ple who are so closely organized can gen
erally run things to suit themselves and
have an unfair advantage over those who
aro not organized. If such fraternities
woro done away with, all tho students
would have nn equal Jjaow, and be placed
on a level footing."
It was thought from the gentleman's
rcmaiks that perhaps he might have a
son in the university, hut such Is not the
enso. He satii tnnt no nao nan no uireui
connection with tho university.
Mr. Hushnoll snld that the pooplo of
South America worn often looked down
upon and despised by tho pooplo of the
United States. There Is no reason for
this as they are a naturally bright and
lutelllgont people. Although not up to
our standard of civilization, they are pro
gressing rapidly In this direction nnd es
pecially since the Columbian exposition
which brought them Into closes eontaut
with tho most civilized and modern meth
ods of living and administrative government.
RESULT Ob' SUGAR EXPERIMENT.
The result of the sugar experiment
which was given In chapel about two
weeks ago, was announced on last Tues
day morning The experiment It will bo
remembered, wiu' for tho purpose of de
tei mining tho difference It there Is any,
between cane and beet sugar. Samples
of each kind were given to the students
and members of the faculty who were
asked to distinguish between the two and
If possible, tell which was tho sweeter.
In announcing tho result, Professor
Nicholson said tho experiment Involved
a question of morals as well as chemistry.
In this connection the faculty was put In
rather an unfavorable light, for out of the
packages of sugar distributed to them,
tnly S3 percent were returned, while tho
students returned 94 percent of the num
oer given to them. Seventy-eight percent
of the faculty wore of the opinion that
the cane sugar was the sweeter, while
22 percent could detect no difference. The
students were more loyal to the Nebras
ka product, and 55 percent declared beet
sugar tho sweeter, while only -44 percent
decided In favor of cane sugar.
In regard to the correctness of the an
swers given, the members of the racuity
showed thnt their Judgment or rather
their ability to guess correctly, was no
better thnn their morals, while the stu
dents showed that they were far ahead of
the faculty in this respect. Ono hundred
percent of the nnswers given by the fac
ulty were incorrect. Of the replies re
ceived from the students. 43 percent were
Incorrect, 46 percent were correct, while
11 percent made no decision.
TALKS TO THE ELECTRICIANS.
THE ORATORICAL CONTEST
Tho Dato Has Been Set and Judges
Selected.
WILL BE SIX COMPETITORS
The Manuscripts llavo licoti Handed in
and They nio Ready for tho Hattlo
to be Held In Chapel on Noxt
Friday evening.
Tho annual contest of the local orator
ical association will be held Friday
March fi. In the university chapel. Un
usual Interest lsmnnlfcsted by tho numbor
of contestants. Six orators representing
some of the best talent In tho university
will compete for the first prize of fifty
dollars. The place of oratory in our uni
versity which according to tho version of
some has been on the decline, Is certainly
assuming Its due place among tho stu
dent Interests.
Tho contest promises to be ono of tho
most closely competed for in the history
of the university. For this reason tho as
sociation bespeaks from the students the
mosi liberal patronage. Every student
should attend to cheer the winning ora
tor, and encourage him for the coming
light In tho state contest which will be
held March 26.
The Judges chosen on manuscript are:
Dr. H. K. Wolfe. W. O. Jones, and Dr.
Johnson: on delivery arc; V. J. Bryan,
Judge Field, and Senator Wm. Doerlng.
The contestants are: C. O. Brown and
J. D. Denlson from the Dellan society,
G. K. Hagcr from the Union, R. C. Roper
from the Palladlans, nnd A. L. Deal.
JOURNALISM IN SOUTH AMERICA.
(Continued on fourth page.)
Tho class hi Journalism on Inst Tuesday
morning had the pleasure of hearing a
lecture by I. M. Bushnell, a formor editor
of tho Call, on tho subject of Journalism
In South America. Mr. Bushnell, as a
newspaper man, made quite a study of
South American newspapers while travel
ing in thnt country a few years ago. He
said that one of the most noticeable diffor
orences between tho newspapers of South
America, and tho newspapers here, is
the amount of local news which Is printed.
South American papers care vory llttlo
for local news and a reporter Is almost
an unknown quantity. The principal news
given by them Is European. They espec
ially keep closo watch on European mar
kets as the greator part of their trade
was with Europe. Mr. Bushnell here took
occasion to say that these countries had
been neglected by the United States, for
what reason, he could not say as they
would certainly afford a very valuable
market to American shippers.
South Amorlcan newspapers are always
but four pages in size and of these at
least three are filled with advertisements.
The advertising man on a paper which is
a warm supporter of the government, has
an ensy time to get advertisement;. One
roason or this Is that the women partic
ularly those of the rich classes, are Invet
erate shoppers, and hence pay a great
doal of attention to advertisements. An
other roason Is that the merchants are
In a moasuro forced to advertise. Should
a dull season come along, tho merchant
doslros to rotrenoh, and generally hogins
by stopping his advertising. Of course
this makes a hardship on the newspuper
and if bettor times do not speedily re
turn, the editor complains to the govern
ment that Ids paper is not being properly
supported. The government then sends
a man to the delinquent merchants, who
suggests to them that it would be advls
ablo for them to continue advertising.
Tho hint is generally sufficient and the
desired "ad" is soon orthcomlng.
Although the newspapers are thus nldod
by the government, they are put under
great restrictions as well. The right of
free speech, as we know it, would not bo
tolerated and the slightest unfavorable
comment on the policy of the government
Is considered sufllclont cause for suppres
sing the paper. For this reason the edi
torial page does not amount to much and
many papers have none at all,
The olectrlc.il engineering society held a
special meeting last evening nt which the
chancellor gave a short address.
Preceding the address, a business meet
ing was hold and a vote of thanks extend
ed to all professors and others who had
asslstec" the society in the recent exhibit,
by the use of their rooms and- apparatus.
Somewhat later than expected the chan
cellor appeared and bolng introduced by
the president, excused himself for his tar
diness by stating that he had been spend
ing some time with the legislature and
thought that the university appropriation
would bo favorably considered.
He brought the good news that Edward
Everett Hale was to be commencement
orator, and said a few words about this
noted man.
The resolution drawn up by the regents,
thanking tho society for tho interest taken
in the promotion of the university by the
exhibit, were then read by the chancel
lor, who presented a copy to the society.
Ho then sioke of the effects of such a
demonstration by the students.
Before coming to the university he had
heard of these exhibitions which had deep
ly Impressed him it thoy showed a spirit
of free will labor which was always ben
ellclal, and this Impression had not been
changed since his arrival here.
Our university has shown a tendency
to pay students for small service and free
will offerings of labor will be a powerful
factor to remedy this.
Educators he said were consecrated peo
ple and literary culture is appreciated as
much by scientific students as any.
After a. few words by Mr. C. C. Griggs,
tho president of the society, Professor
Owens was ealled upon, who expressed
himself as strongly agreulng with the
chancellor in the culture value of a tech
nical education; and ho thought the pub
lie appreciated these exhibits and inter
est in eleotrloal matters was certainly
awakenod by them.
Tho ohancel'ir was then voted In as an
honorary member of the soolety and in a
few words commended the praotlce of rec
ognizing our distinguished guests both in
the past and future, by this honorary
memhorshlp; and the custom might as
well bo folic wed by other institutions.
Mr. Browne, our new instructor waff
called upon and spoke of the electrical
societies at Johns HopklnB and his inter
est in this one out west.
. UNIVERSITY AGAIN VICTORIOUS.
On Tuesdny evening the second game
of basket ball between tho university and
Y. M. C. A. teams was played in the gym
nasium. Play Began, promptly at 815, with
rather small but "enthusiastic attendance
In the gallery. "Captain Hill of tho Yi M.
C. A. team, won tho toss nnd chose the
cast goal. After a few minutes piny, Dog
ny was left free for a moment and seized
the opportunity to throw a goal from tho
field, scoring two points for his side. The
next goal from tho field was made by
Denlson. scoring two polt.ts for the uni
versity team score now two all.
The first foul was called on Trompen for
holding, but no goal was thrown by Steb
blns. During the first half four fouls were
made by tho Y. M. C. A. team but no
goals were thrown. In the same time the
university men made the same number
of fouls and Lewis threw one goal. In
the first half, Dogny managed to score
three more goals from the field and Steb
blns and Placck each scored one in addi
tion to that of Denntson, so that at tho
end of the first half the score stood 9 to 6
In favor of the delegation from the Y. M.
C. A.
At this time It was evident that tho uni
versity boys would have to take a brace
or get beaten, and brace they did, for as
soon as the ball was put In play by the
referee. Morrison caught the ball and
threw' it to Stebblns who scored a goal
before the ball had touched tho floor. But
almost immediately Lewis threw one for
the Y. M. C. A. chaps, and then another
was thrown by Stebblns before a foul
was mnde on eltner side.
During the second half four more fouls
were made by the Y. M. C. A. and three
goals thrown by Green. The university
boys only made two fouls and Hill threw
one goal. In the second half Stebblns
threw four goals from the field, Placek
two and Morrison one,, for the university,
und for the Y. M. C A., Lewis thrw one
and Bently one. the lat half ending with
the score 23 to 14 in favor of the univer
sity.
This is the second game which the uni
versity team has won from tho Y. M. C.
A. Near the end ot the second half, Den
lson had his eye slightly Injured and sur
rendered his place to Burks. Following
are the players and their positions.
Lnlversity Position Y. M. C. A.
Placek 1. f. ..E. C. Hill
Gutleiben ....r. f Trompen
Green center A. Bently
Denlson 1. g E. Bently
AVarfleld r. g ,..Stillson
Stebblns 1. c Dogny
Morrison r. c Lewis
Referee;. , Swearlnger. umpires, F. E.
Clements and Dr. John White. Score
keeper, E. T. HJU; tirno keeper. C. C Culver.
Thd Camilla Urso concert at the Lans
ing March 5. is the third in the popular
course. Ticket holders may reserve soats
at the box office Wednesday March 3.
DR. HALE ACCEPTS.
Word has been received that Dr. Ed
ward Everett Hale has accepted the invi
tation of the senior class to deliver the
commencement oration,, June 10.