Thk Ii.llsikaiii) Bee.
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Omaha." '
Pen and Picture Pointers
A1 n''vl':" ''''
yY I I ft P ' 1 r-iuti.l much pf tl,,. ,,ih
iry wot or Indiana treeless
Saving ni; tl,,. water i iMirHrs
v. hose Minding way across tlii
prairie was nuill!,i, l,y n growth i,f In
digenous Inch, r. ill broad plains stretch
Ihg away frntn oi-t nf th" Mississippi
river In tin. It.eky tni:' i:l i;ih w,r
without tri'i s. W Io n Hir Mi is mrl In, I
r "
?' $
.'v.... '
I1F. LATH JAMKS M. IIACKKIt. A
I'lONKHIt O0 N K M A 1 1 A COl'NTY
NKHHASKA.
'Towd the natlv,. timber dwindled
w.v to almost nothing. t was
evidently not due to natural causes for
the Roll on the uplands was as favorable
to the growth c.f timb. r as that. ,r thi river
bottom. Foresters have classified ,ativ
different varieties of forest trees In tn!.
region, and as nil conditions for natural
propagation and growth existed except
within the area Known now as the sorni
arid zone, the logical eoneliislon Is that
the growth of tr.es had been prevented
ly artificial means. .1 :iHt what ,,rm this
took Is still n matt, r of s uiati, . I,.
the most ecmmeiiiy hit, pi, , ih,.,,rv N ,h.lt
lie. star-ing In the grass that grew so
luxuriantly on the alluvial nl.nltw
til one,. a year -he tender sprouts and
pnventid the tree.-! from getting started
These fhis n ay hive ha I their i t 1-i n in
lightning strokes ,r upontan,., us mmhus-
' r '"i-y have he. n s t l,y ,,r; Val
hunt. ra. It is only certain mat the fire
did not Marl fn,tn the sparks . f a locomo
tive. Now. the usis f sinnditg tiniher
nd Its value t ugt i.-ul i ure were gradu
ally borne in upon the tiller ,r th,. soil on
the broad prairies if these stalls, and hen
Kid there Individuals t cut and gave nt
tcntl.n to small grovis. Sometimes as
windbreaks, sometimes f, r ornament, but
always supplying the want, until the ens
loin, through the energetic agltallcn rf i,nc
ninn Hon. Julius Stilling Merlon, wh sr.
mono is "Plant Trees" became neral and
dually crystallized into Arlu r day. F, r
many years Arb. r day was i bserved in a
haphazard serf or way. until about a dec
cade ago the sever il states tie M can, , Tiled
ennrted laws designating dales suited to
the climate as Arb. r day. setting aside one
day on which all good citizens are a,lli,r,.,t
In plant at least one tree rath. In No
hraska this day falls in April -"2. Ile-ults
of the obsorwit.lon of Arb: r day are visible
all over what was but a few years ago th,.
treeless regb n (f the west. It is no b tiger
possible to ride for miles without peeing
brewing timber large enough to make a
walling stick. Instead, majestic clusters
of umbrageous ft rest kings Invite the way
farer to the grateful seclusion of their
bosky depths, and, assisted by the energy
of man, nnltire has taken en not only the
appearance but the life of well ordered
variation of woods and plain. In older
Ktntcs. where the pioneer with ready axe
THE ILMJSTKATKD HKE.
and firebrand, "like the base Indian, cast
away a pearl richer than all his tribe
Arbor day Is observed i, a measure as a
Penitential fe.-.st. wh. rein the present Is
trying to atone for the mistakes of the
past, and b intell.gent reforestation to
make amends f, r the outrage on nature
ignorantly committed by the men who de
nt royed acres of walnut, oak, hickory and
other valuable timber that they might
br. ak gr, u'ld on which to raise corn, wheat
and potato, s. Arbor day Is distinctively
a day marking the advance of humanity in
w isdotn.
Spring vacation doesn't always mean vaca
tion for the s h.ol toa,hrs. On the con
trary, the w, ek . f idleness i the school
room is generally a week of mm h activity
anicng the tutus, who gather together at
th'-ir association meetings, win re an inter
ehaiRe ,f Mcas and experiences gives them
new view - and a bnnder outlook In their
profession. It is only by keeping close in
touch with inch other tint the teachers
an hi Id themselves abt st the progress
that is mad" in metheds ,.f imnnni,.
knowlelge t the children. Attendance,
theieroie. en a session of a tea, lure- as
social ion is not wholly a holiday. Rather
it Is when, the keen edge of the teacher's
wit is renewed by contact wiih the wit of
otheis. where ideas are brightened by at
trition and where zeal is given fresh
z st through eoiupirlseti of results. Teach
ers barn fruit each other and the occa
sional gath, rhms of the teaching corps of
file or another if ibe pevi rat sections of
th- state always result in an advance for
the schools.
April UO,
School Superintendents Honored by Teachers
II K. Mason. Stanton. Nib., Presi
dent North Nebraska Teachers'
Associat ion.
While the teachers ar- exchanging their
hits of wisdom the pupils are also given an
"l'lorl unity for trying n what thev have
"'" auLdit. and. by actually test'lng In
the lire of eoiiipi..tin, deternilning the
value and permanency of their ncc,.t.,..i;.t.
iii. in. i nis
of debates or
Hons siifli -i. ntiy exact to warrant the con
'1'ision that this result Is due to the
natural advantages of the sex In the matter
i f ability to express language in words, bul
It is a cinch that the boys were lacking In
some respect,
James M. Hacker, who recently died was
one of the pioneers of Nemaha county coni
ng there In lSfiS. He was a native of Ohio
W spent his years of manhood In the west'
first a citizen of Iowa, then of Nebraska'
tlien of Kansas, hut returning shortly to
Nebraska, where for forty years he was
honored among his fellow citizens as a man
of Integrity and ability. He was a civil
engineer by profession and held the office
for many years. He also held other offices
ir trust and responsibility in m ...
nerally takes en the hn "L J' Mn,k,r married, a wife
eent, sts , f or,,, , v , . , " ' nv" 'n 1 ,,r' n surviving him.
mation. Ore of the f,atr.s or school life rn(1. A .
is still "rhctorieals" and boy and girl , , ,? frm ,hp s"brt '"r peren-
. rators are still being developed During , '1"s''"?sinn. hl" Ro little actual progress
the recent Raster i,..i,.i ,u . "i,fl ,,prn niade mi to the time nf hiii
' ka High School Declamatory assocla- !!!. T,r"nsmfisssIPPl Exposition at Omaha
, seemed to he of almost no
avail. Hon. Martin Dodge had been ap
pointed chief of the rtlvll --.
,,j - "" uiiiuiry
"nder the secretary of agriculture, and he
NebrcMva High School Declamatory assocla
11 "s f'ompetltlnii at Norfolk and
every prize was won by n girl. Not
enough data Is at hand to enable deduc-
I
I " :
' . :: v- ''"a,,. ' ',
t
Sdliml PiH. V1 lr .. . apiculture, an(J he poorest of country ro
" " " 1,0,,0rS ",C i:Pn f the Nor,,, xcl,raska Declamatory Association
I'll ul N. (loss, Orel. Neb,, New Presi
dent Central Nebraska Teachers'
Association.
by his own persistence had drawn at
tention to the work that should be done
and actually was being accomplished. With
his exhibition of good r.iads at the Omaha
exposition he gave people an object lesson
and set the public to talking mote than
ever on this topic, lloud roads conventions
were held and Ideas began to crystallize,
until the good roads train was started ou'
about twu years ago on its errand of
practical missionary work through the
southland. It merely gives object lessons
in methods and results, but it has accom
plished a great deal of good by showing
the people what can be done with the ma
terial at hand and what an assistance it
Is to have thoroughfares that are prac
ticable in any sort of weather. In the
more progressive regions of the west and
north the reople have not yet been called
upon by Mr. Dodge's missionary workers,
for they are constantly being spurred along
by the demands of competition. The good
roads movement is growing faster than
surface Indications seem to suggest, and
there is ground for Ihe hope that the first
cpiarler of the new century will see the
neglect of the past atoned for In a large
measure by the American people, who ar
now noted for being satisfied with the
pooreft of country road3.
Miss Delia Clark of South Omaha,
First Prlzo In Dramatic Class.
Miss Jessie Krcldler, Fullerton, Sec
ond Prize In Dramatic Class.
Burglary Made Easy
by Electrical Torch
1
( v
L .
-Miss Klizabctli Hale of Haul,
' recK, Mrst in Humorous Class
II. K. Funk. Fullerton v...- i..
dent North Nebraska Declamatory
i.-nui lillion.
mHK Treasury deparlmcnl will buy
no more of Ihe expensive safes
uuu ror ytars have been supposed
to be of Bulllclent strength to
resist the selentllle hiit-fbii- 11
will In the future ndopt a system of auto
innlle electric belbi ntnl redouble the siifo
guards that ran be privlded by private
watchmen, one keeping check on Ihe other.
All of this is because there li no longer
a burglar-proor safe, n ports the St. I, mils
Republic, An Invention by Julius R
Haschke, a Chicago electrician, will en
alle Ihe ninn npplylnn It In cut through
Ihe hardest ateel plate as a boy with a
knlfo would cut SI. Lawn nee county cheese.
Armor plate, such as Is used on the I'nlted
Stales battleships, can be perforated as an
auger would bile Its way through a plank
of northern pine.
Mr. Hnsihke calls his Invention a carbon
point. He did not produce It for Ihe pur
pose of aiding the dark lantern fraternity
to open bank safes. His object was to sup
ply a nieuns of cutting steel and Iron bars
In lh construction of buildings, brblgea.
etc. Hut all (he same, the burglar who
gels into a bank with Mils apparatus. If he
be an xpert In its use. ran get access t
the strongest safe, between the hours of
i!usk and midnight, and possess hlms. ir rf
IH contents. Similarly. If the burglir
should be captured, his confederates, usinvt
ihU Invention, rould cut asunder the bun
ncrcss his ce'l window and pi ice him at
liberty.
The first public exhibition of th e Inven
tion was niad,' not long ago In Milwaukee
An enormous boiler foundation waa to be
lemovcd from Ihe basement of a building
11 Was ImiiCKsihle to vet this rrct nia
, . . , j ,u,o lit - a
of metal out of the building, a It lay. with
out tearing down a portion of Ihe walls.
And II was seemingly Impossible lo cut
Ihe plate Into pieces. Someone men
tioned the new process of cutting steel like
soft butter, and Ihe Inventor was Invite 1
lo go lo M lwaukee and make a test. The
Inventor ensconced himself In a little eteel
house, placed two pairs of blue spectacles
i n his eyes, and, after connecting his car
bon p-inl with an electrical current,
touched the steel plate.
Spectators saw a brilliant (lame shoot up.
It was a white light, producing extreme
heat, and nearly blinded the onlookers.
The operator was well protected and did
Ihe work with apparently little discomfort.
At Ihe rale of a foot In five minutes, cut
llii'j; it burning a wide space In Ihe plate.
Ihe carbon point with Its wonderful power
worked along and in a short time the
enormous mass of steel had been reduce I
lo fni'iments that could be easily handled.
The matter was reported lo bankers of
Chicago and Milwaukee and they Investi
gated It carefully. They at Hist found
some comfort In the belief that the value
of Ihe carbon point as a criminal agency
was virtually nullified by the fact that
considerable voltage w is required and that
a bright light Is caused by the carbon poln'
when It Is in operation This comfort,
however, has Mure bei n removed by ex
periments whhh have been conducted by
the inventor himself and by an Investiga
tion which has been made by Treasury de
partment experts.
These experts in their report have
reached the following conclu dons, which
ar- en file In the office of Assistant Secre
tary Taylor:
First That the best type of safea or
Miss llessie Smilh of Schuyb r. First
in Oratorical Class.
vaults are not invulnerablo to the attack of
the expert burglar.
Se:ond That the ordinary or obsolete
typi of safe or vault constructed relatlv, ly
a few years ago are not Invulnerable to the
attacks of the tyro or amateur burglar.
Third That should, by any combination
of circumstances, sutllcicnt ipporlunlty he
afforded expert cracksmen, any safe or
vault can be opened.
Fourth That a satisfactoiy f, rm of elec
trical protectlin Is both obtainable and
desirable for all vaults and safe wherever
applicanlc, and constitutes a form of pro
tection superior to that a IT, r.b.l i.v th,.
censtructicn ol the vaults or safes them
selves. On the point made by some bankers that
high oItage is required and that the bright
light would give notilication of any bur
glarious attempt, the Inventor himself
makes the statement that his apparatus Is
simple and can be operated by a current of
only fifty volts. Such a volt.-me on. i...
obtained by tapping the w ires of alnv s
any large building. The neslern office
building is alive with electric wires, and
a tdirewd operator could easily And a' sur
face main and git from It all of the power
needed to use his carbon point. The In
ventor, however. ha obviated the neces
sity of tapping wires by constructing a lit
tle storage battery which he uses in con
nection with his work. This battery has
twenty-eight cells, and the imenior gets
just as satisfactory results with this as
with a direct or alternating cut rent. Tin
power contained In an ordinary electric
automobile would be sufficient to do th-work.
Assoclatln
Practical Jokes and
Impractical Jokers
MS
. . . ,,ij,iry mulcted wan
I . I ':'"ly " "ot vnra e to any
ning like Ihe degree (hat a prac
tical Joke at his expense will. A
i r.nch ( bserver of mankind af
firms that man lakes more pleasure in the
thought that he is not a dupe than in any
-l"ial,.y of ,(,. enre np 11(liKnan( f
ft the man who has been trapped. In the
freshness of the wound to his self-esteem
he would make practical joking a capital
crime.
Last week a young woman of flrooklyn
visited a New Jersey town ar,A n,.,..
cWved the Idea of a capital Joke on her
family. She sent a telegram announcing
her own sudden death and instructing her
brother to come for her with an under
taker. Her parents were prostrated with
grief. The Joking young woman met her
hrother and the undertaker at the door and
went into convulsions of laughter. When
the father learned the truth, which re
vealed the brutal hea t tlessness of the girl
he exclaimed: "My daughter's joke breaks
my heart!" Jokes of ,his Kind perpetrated
ty others than blood relations are not un
common. A woman who had gone to Eu
rope for her health was recently brought
back to this country on the first ship by a
fraudulent cable message which announced
the sudden death of her brother. Such
tupid wickedness is proof that there are
depths of idiocy hitherto unexplored and
unsuspected.
More In the nature of a joke, yet very
serious to its victims, was the trick played
. ag wno estimated correctly
the ignorance and cowardice of some of his
fellows. It was known to them that he
had been bitten by a dog and they had
speculated on the probabilities of his hav-
..juropnoma. Filtering a saloon where
na,rLdWirkee',,",Kt'!i',," "' Krow,ed
barked like a dog, ran about on all-four
frothed at the ,ou,h (by m.ans of soap
and made furious attempts , bite every
body in reach. Although i, has been ex
planed by medical men a thousand times
In the newspapers that the person who Is
affl c.ed with hydrophobia does not imlu e
a dog, the Joke was an eminent success
The men were panic siricken and conducted
themselves In a way to make them blush
at the memory to their dying days
It Is notorious that the confirmed prac
'l Joker Is the least tolerant of Jokes at
, " ' "-". ,ie is never able to see
ny fun n being duped. This adds much
to the enjoyment of those who manage to
l lT,. ?,ne f he " .he
HulTalo exposition the hotels were forced
to make new arrivals double up. A drum
mer who was an Inveterate practical Joker
Proposed to have a room and a bed to him
self He suggested to his friend, the clerk
hat sbouia any applicant for half his bed
Prove persistent he should be told that the
drummer was Just convalescent from small
pox The drummer was aroused from his
.!,?,!'efP by 8 nian nto the
fed. Hold on. there!" he cried; "didn't
the clerk tell you I have smallpox?" "Yes "
replied the newcomer, drawing up the
covers "but that's all right -I've got It
f"rom ,b b a
n the hall and spent the night in a chair
longing for the morning so he could get
himself disinfected. In ,he morning l
d scovcred that the other man was a Joker
T'k J"6 drumni"r infuriated by
such shabby treatment.