THE OMAHA DAILY I1F.E: TtTCfiPAY. DECEMHKn 22.- 1003. UJ fHiE Omaha Daily Bee IS. ROSE WATER. EDITOR. PfULISIfED EVERT MORNINO. terms ok urnacRirTioN. . tn!!y He (without Sunday). One Year..$15 IiHtly Hee snd Sunday, Onl Tear 6M Illustrated I.-e. One Year JJ") Sunday I'.ee. On Year J 92 f tiirdiy Bw, One Yenr ' Twentieth Century Farmer, On Year.. 1U0 DKLIVERED BT CARRIER. Pally We (without Sunday), per copy.... ie Pally Up (without Sunday), per tk-..- K Pally lire (Including Sunday), per week..l7o Sunday Hee, per cpy . Kvenlng Ho (without Sunday). tf wees o Kvenrng He (Including Sunday). Pr week ... )Oc Compl'7n'ts''of 'VireirYiinrUies in delivery should he addressed to City Circulation Pe iartment OFFICES. . , , Omh The rip Building". ' Booth Omaha City JUall Building, Twen ty -fifth and M Street. Council BlufTa 10 Pearl Street - ' lilo igo lG4y Unity Building. New York-MiS Iark Row Building. "Washington nl Fourteenth Btreet. ' CORRESPONDENCE. Communication relating to news snd edi torial matter should be addressed: ' Omaha Be, Editorial Department. REMITTANCES. Remit by draft, express or postal order payable to The Bee Publishing Company, Only i-oent stamps accepted In payment ui mall account. Personal checks, except o,t Omaha or nstern exchanges, not accepted. THE UKK PUBLISHING CUMl'AJN I. STATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. Stats of Nebraska, Oouglns County SSJ Oenra-e B. Tsarhuck, secretary of The Be Publishing Company, being duly worn, says tnat Uie actual number 01 tun ana cumi."; Punter' b printed durtn"ii5 month of November, lfltft, was as follows; 1...., , TO Sea .89849 t i. MMMtO Bee1 BT.400, I i, 80,030 1 5W,7 it....... ao.ioo is a,40 is....- so,ano ... o,a A nA n............."0.00 n.i .....ST.lTO ts.... soobo M ao.iso 16 , .80,000 M i ai.iso T .........81.T60 , I...... JtOJtOG . s.,,.........so,i90 10.. ...... .sooo - 11. ...j. ..,28,800 12...... 20,040 ' U. ...... ....... 40,905 . 14ssaw4s20r9'4O ao,os 17 B1.02O AO.IOO a. STc023 1 $o ao,aoo Total......,...,..; ; 32,935 1 Less unsold and returned oopl,.J. lo,za Net soul sales..:..'. ..aa,T I Net wvra sale..... ao,780 OEORQE B. TZSCHUCK. Subscribed in my presence and swora tit tefor me this Qth day of November, A. D 14. 1 M. B. HUNGATB, (lieaJ.) , Notary Public Bosnia haa Japan's answer and ap parently that's about all It ever will Sot I " Berlin was to smoky yesterday that light were kept burning all over the d'." Tell it to rittsburg. ' Even after so short an absence, Corf- ul Davis notes quite a chahge In the ap- pearanco of AJczandretta. ... The weather man seems to be hesita- ting whether to give ua a green Christ- mas er a wain iroin reinaeer lana. . I South Omaha is getting gay. It wants an opera house when a theater with a danca hall annax might do just as well. The, most ' active and profitable In dustry In Omaha Just now is the issue of marriage ' licenses and connubial Spain purposes marrying King Ajfonso 4 to rrtneess Maria of Bavaria. The lat ter ia aged 13 and haa begtm to tire of her dollsv - ' i .. . t 1 '.. 11 ij Omaha attorneys want a law library and they want it bad, and they don't care who pays for it for them, Just so they get it , The railroads of the west and south ' have a secret suspicion that the wreck "hoodoo is working more houra than the union allows. umcago physicians said Murderer 1 "lcek was only feigning his Insanity. Yesterday he hanged himself Just to I how he wasn't Joking: . The Chicago alderman who has been sentenced to six months in jail will at least be mured tUo embarrassment of going In among total strangers. The Chinese monetary commission has declded to -'recommend the coinage of silver fit a ratio of 32 to 1. And Bryan In St Petersburg trying to hobnob with the cxarl la Sioux City a surgeon yesterday ook out a piece of a man's broken neck. The man. lived and now every Christ mas turkey In Iowa ba plucked . up aome hope of pulling through. . The chief trouble with the working- men who want to answer Parry la the public prints la that they are almost as ' long-winded as Mr, Parry and know ' no better when to stop. Some one at Dubuque has aent the secretary of the treasury a conscience contribution of $30. . Such aucrlfice ao bear Christmas should be sufficient atonement -for almost any old sinning. It might not be out of order for. Gen eral John L. Webster to do a little mis sionary work with Colonel Ernest E. Hart, the republican national committee man from the kingdom of Council Bluffs. The railroads have again put In their special holiday rate and are busy per- suudjng the wayfaring mortal that It is cheaper to eat Chrintmas dinner at home than to pay for it at hotel or restaurrtut price. - September SO is to be "world's fra ternal congress day" at tho St Louis exposition which means that upon that date the habitual "joiner" may wear all his lniilguia st ouce and prove to his wife that he really spends his eveulngs where he says he dues. The TurkUh sultan will relieve his strained rt la tlon with Uncle Sam by tendering auutner apology, ouijr this time it will be done by proxy v through the governor, of Alexsndretta, who is to ba held responsible for the lustilts to the American consul tliei-e. When it I conserve the public interests la tiie ques-couis-s to apologizing the sultan and his tlon to be considered and that it would orfi. ll sLitu are experts from long and frenent trustee, WO BRSAKtRH AtlKAD. Undor this caption, ,tho New York Cornmprcisl, a pnppr which, an Its name iniplloa, is In clone touch -with the financial and commercial Interests of the country, points out that there I" nothing in existing business conditions to Justify apprehension, but on the con trary much to warrant confidence. It remarks that a fact which cannot be im pressed too forcibly or too frequently on the tmslness mind in these day is that stock-market investments and .stock market incidents are of steadily dimin ishing importance' as aids in determin ing; the general business sentiment in this country, or the real conditions and prospects in trade. ' ' This fact, snys the' Commercial, has had Illuminating- illustration within the past twelve month, , "With bumper crops, congested railway traffic, normal activity in construction and general trade, heavy exports of natural products and manufactures, large imports of gold and fourteen-cent cotton, the stock mar kets of the country have been for weeks at a time at different periods the only 'soft spots' in the whole business situa tion." It adds that the anti-panic man lfestatlous are nearly ail absent, that money market shocks which once would have precipitated crises have recently come and gone .without leaving hardly a scar, and that all signs point-toward a continuance of Prosperity-for every legitimate .and properly managed busi ness. There la unquestionably sub stantial ground for this lcw. The country is not a dollar poorer because of the firlnknge of stock prices, which had been enormously Inflated. But there has been a vast addition to natlonn assets in the abundant crops and the output of mills and factories. The count try is very much richer than it was a year ago and such alight changes as have taken place in conditions furnish no sound reason for apprehension. We fnre gtm the most prosperous people In the world and so .far as feuman wisdom can discern there, are "no breakers ahead." A PCHPLEXIHO QVKSTlUlUatXTLtD. Not the least of the perplexing ques tions with which the government bad to deal In the Philippines was that of ar- ranging for te withdrawal of the Span- ish friars and -the purchase of. their lands. It wrs found that the people generally were extremely hostile to the f rial a, whose policy, it was charged, had been one of extortion and oppres sion, and our government decided hat they must withdraw from the arfhlpel ago and sell their lands, this being deemed absolutely necessary to the res- toratinn and maintenance of nonce. This decision . was submitted, to the Cothollc .othorltles at Ilome and after Bome m,c,iB8lon was accepted, the late Pope 1eo ng the expediency of I "withdrawing the- friars. Since then ne gotiations have. been going on for the pnrchaao of . the friar lands, pnder an thorite givep hy ,congles to. the rhtlip- pine jjrivernmehf, . and recent report ,tated ' that 'n ;Bre'"9ent had boen, reached by,, which the friars will re ceive . f 7,250,000 for 403.000 acres, thaH sum bejng about one-half .what they bad asked. They are said to be some what dissatisfied with the amount to be paid them, but of course will have to accept it. How many of the friars are still in the Philippines Is not reported, but all to whom objection 'has been made will leave and be replaced by others, so that the interests of the" Cath lie church In the Islands will suffer no detriment. BTRtxuTBtH ins vummihsiok. -The business lntetestsVof the country demand that the powers t the. Inter- state Commerce commission' be strength ened. Tbey have been urging this upon congress for years and a renewed appeal is to be made to the present emigres. A bill has been introduced in both the senate and the.' house further defining the dutle8 nJ Pwer" 01 the commis- sion and it will be pressed for cousidera tlon and action. It is not a radical measure, lta simple purpose being to re habilitate the commission with authority to WennIne, after fall hearing of all parties in interest what changes shall be made in a rate complained of, or any practice affecting the rate, for the transportation of persons or property, found to be discriminative or unrea sonable, such determination to be im mediately operative, subject to suspen sion by a circuit court of the United States upon review on application of the carrier. ' ' This authority was exercised by .the commission for a period of ten years after its organisation, when it was de cided by the supreme court of the United States that the authority did not exist because it was not expressly con ferred by the provisions 'of the Inter state commerce act It is poluted out that without this authority the commis sion Is powerless to remedy wrongs found to exist in interstate transporta tion, its present authority being limited to the determination of fte fact whether or not a rate or practice complained of is Just and reasonable, and, if found otherwise, to notifying the carrier to cease and desist from IJs continuance, the carrier , being free to make as slight a chauge therein as it may see t Thus the bill introduced in congress proposes to give legal effect to authority formerly exercised by the commistilou. I to the general satisfaction both of the commercial and the railway interests of the country. There does not appear to i be any valid reason why the railroads should object to such legislations. If they formerly found satisfactory the exercise of the authority which it is how propoaed to confer upon the com mission It Is reasonable to suppose hey would do ao again. The railroad view of it, however, should not be the I weightier one with congress. Will It do so seuis unquestionable.' I In Us aanuul repotf the .conmdion speak of the beneficial results of the legislation of the last congress amenda-1 tory of the interstate commerce act and j expresses the belief that never before in the railroad history of this country have tariff rates been so well or generally observed as they are at the present time. Yet there are still preferences and dis criminations effected in ways that the commission has not the power to rem edy. The report soys that while the latest amendatory legislation -greatly aids the observance of tariff charges It affords no remedy for those who are in jured by such Charges, either when they are excessive or when they are in equitably adjusted. The correction of this is contemplated in the proposed legislation. CLAIM ALTOQtTHtR TOO MVClf. When It comes to claiming everything St Louis Is not much behind Chicago. The recent selection of t . Louis as headquarters of one of the reorganized army divisions impels the St Louis Globe-Democrat to point out the fact that St Louis started' the first exploration of the west ever undertaken by the United States government by Captain Lewis and Captain Clark. We are told also that . General. Pike had St Louis for his headquarters when he made bis qaest of 1805-6 for the source of the Mississippi and again when be was on his exploring tour along the Arkansas andk Red rivers. All these expeditions were military affairs conducted under military discipline and regulations. Again, in 1823, Colonel Leavenworth selected St Louis aa his base for con ducting . the campaign against the Arikaries, far np on the Missouri.- In the expedition that fitted out in St Louis in 1832 Abraham Lincoln, Jeffer son Davis and others, who became fa mous later on, took part . Last but not least St Louis claims to be geographically and phy Biographies 11 y .great strategic point, located nearer the geographical center -of the United States than la any other place of any Importance. Besides the advantage of location, it Is claimed for St Louis that it is near the confluence of 10,000 miles of navigable waters in the great Missis sippi valley. , , Air of these claims of the vintage of 1S03 are too musty to be taken seriously In 1903. . The exploits of - Lewis and Clark cut no more figure on the military map of the twentieth century than does the explorations of Fere Marquette or the expedition of Fernando De Soto. The St Louis of 1850, With from one hundred to one hundred and fifty steam boats lined up daily, on its levee, trans porting passengers and merchandise over 1,000 miles of waterway, Is not the St Louis of today, with less than two dosen steamers doing the business on the waterways now reduced to' about 3,000 miles for the purposes", of com merce. ' , Without disparaging the" advantages enjoyed by St Louis, Qirmha modestly claims, and has a right to claim, to pos sess superior facilities for the d'rtriou tlon of army supplies and troops to the military posts now existing along the transcontinental lines of traffic and travel. Omaha is by several, hundred miles nearer the center of the United States on the railway map from New York to San Francisco than is St LoulS or any other mid-continent city. But Omaha will gracefully yield the palm to St Louis as division headquarters of the army Just because it cannot help Itself. A few days after the recent fire that cost four precious lives of the fire fighting corps, assurance was given by members of the city council that proper safeguards against a recurrence of simi lar asx'identa 'and accidents by explosives Btored in or sold within the city limits would be taken at an early' day by an ordinance providing for the inspec tion of all buildings used for storage. For some unexplained reason np steps have yet been taken in this direction, The question naturally presents itself. Where is the bitch? Secretary Root wants )t distinctly understood that he stands by the pro motion of General Wood from first to last and he Intimates that there is, not another officer In the army who would not like tovhave the same reward for similar service. It is'charged that the promotion of General Wood is . purely personal and political, but It Is certainly nlaln that the opposition to his con firmation Is admittedly more persona than political. ' , The anthracite coal combine Is again engaged In the patriotic work of bus pending mining operations temporarily for fear the coal supply might get ahead of the demand and thus force reduction of prices. Having gotten the consumers accustomed to. the figures set during the strike period the coal barons do nqt want to run any risk of having the price level lowered tr fear It cannot easily be raised again. Under the plans and specifications made by the army general staff we will rely on the marines to protect ' Ameri can interests at the isthmus for the present but we will also have a . re serve of regulars in convenient read! ness to reach the vicinity of the canal In the event that more vigorous action is delred. The Colombians are entitled to this advance information as a tip to avoid trouble. Our German and British cousins are fighting the battle , or Waterloo over again to determine whether Biucher or Wellington was the real hero. It is harmless battle and history win not be changed even if one side accomplishes the improbable feat of convincing th other. . - Latest telegraphie advices from Pin Kidge are to the effect that Bed -Cloud, the famous ex-Sioux chief, is dying. liUHinii'h lV Bed Cloud has been on tho p-.t of i" ill rr at ldt two, years. the announcement that he is still dying la not very startling. The final report of the relief fund for the families of the four firemen killed while on duty shows that Omaha's geueroslty can be counted on whenever the occaslod requires bjut please let us ave no more such deplorable occasions. Most of the members of congress will go home for the holiday recess, although affords no chance for another con gressional 'mileage grab. It Is cheaper to ride home on a pass than to pay board at Washington for two Veeks. ' A Jylca Oat look. . Indianapolis Journal. " Emdoyes of the Steel trust will not b unduly extravagant In the matter of Christ. mas gifts this year. The stock, for which many of them paid 182.S0, la now worth tu, and on top of that they all have been noti fied of a 10 per cent cut In their wages. Limited Relate for Roarars. ' San Franolsco Chronicle. If the president succeeds In broadening treaties with foreign powers to Include the extradition of those who are charged with the crime of bribery Canada will ceaa to bd an asylum for that class and It will be no longer a safe refuge for ex-Captatn Car ter's confederates in the Savannah frauds. Greed's Auailni Deaeeat. ' New Tork Sun. Th Philadelphia. Christmas tree dealers who saturated 4,000 trees with oil and then burned them In order to keep prices tip by more limited supply deserve to be hanged on the tress that are left till they almost gasp for breath. Are there not 4,000 fami lies In Philadelphia that can't afford to buy Christmas trees at any price? , Grata OanMUf IXbta. ' Philadelphia Press. ' Peter Jan Men of Nebraska has escaped th payment of ' his notes for $10,000 by pleading tlfat they were given to a Chi cago firm for losses Incurred by speculating In grain options. The Nebraska supreme court held that such speculations were mere gambling and that the debt could not be collected. The Chicago brokers had pay ail of that loss excepting their commmlsslons. This is hard on them, but would be a good thing for. the publlo if every state were to hold such transac tions as gambling and the contracts con cerning them unenforcfbley law. t Roll of Hoaor. ' ' New Tork Bun. There were 996,646 pensioners on the rolls on -June 80, 1903, and the pension bureau estimates that there are 200,000 survivors of the civil war who hav not applied for pensions. This number Includes some not entitled to' pensions under the present law ana some wno ao not need or are too proud to accept aid. The death rate of this "unknown army" la estimated at 4 per cent for this year, and about 14,000 of its members .W1H .apply ' for pensions. The bureau estimates that in ten years the 'unknown. army" will cesse to be a factor In the transaction of the nation. 1 - ,, aeeesafnl Tkosrh Peer, Everybody's Magaslna. We have fallen under a universal witch craft. A sens of the power and luxury in money beyond ail the wonder tales has sud denly come to ua. , It has turned our fashionable society into a materialism which Is no longer ashamed of Its poverty of Ideals. It is hard and merciless of heart; Is skeptical of iinworldly motives; , Its Smartest relish is for tae strokes and ruse of the manipulator of finance. In times like these it Is good to remember Agassis, who refused to lecture at $500 a night because he Was too busy to make money; Charles Sumner, who declined to lecture at a price because, he said, ks senator, all his time belonged to Massachusetts; Ppurgeon, who refused to come to America to. deliver fifty lACtllre Af XI nfln tits'! mirlnr ha ftmilrl do better he could" stay In London and try to save fifty souls, and Emerson, who stead fastly declined to increase his income be yond 11,300, because be wanted his time to think. Such stories of fine haughtiness did not seem quixotic to the young men In col leg thirty year ago. A generous Idealism was abroad and It was unashamed. HIfa Finance and Valvar Wealth. January Century. Lt us see what has bwm, gained. Th debauch of prosperity has been exposed by the revelation of the reckless methods In ''high finance." Captains of Industry have been seduced to the ranks, and Some of them deserved to be drummed out of camp. , "The water has been squeezed out" of ( aot a few highly diluted securities. though also In the, process, alas! out of many tearful eyes those of the widow and the helpless snd tiged whose trust in trust has been so sadly misplaced. Great IS the conservative vatu of this long-ex pected arrest in the, mad rush for en or mous wealth. It has set th country think ing, snd jthlnklng Is about the only thing th country has. riot lately done in ex cess. It wlU be" well if the thinking goes deep enough -lewer' than the 'mere consideration of the financial distress caused by the traders In publlo confidence; and down to the philosophy of happiness as related to wealth. We are bold enough to believe that through the sorrow that makes us wise we are likely to reach reaction from the vulgarity of high-piled luxury (now no longer rare enough to give distinction to its votarie0 to a "new goa pel of simplicity and genuineness baaed en the things most worth having. Mean while' th power of pretentious wealth can never seem to us so real or awe-In spiring as It did before the recent revela tions of toy finance. .,- FI"1KEN-CENT SOLDIERS. Eaetera Kdltor Jeaaps a tae Ooaa ElStrlarstl, ' Brooklyn Eagle. lie who contemplates seriously ..the formally announoed United States army experiments to discover Whether able bodied men can do hard wprk and keep In good condition on meals costing i cent each, may see in his mind s eye every United States camp and barrack a Do-the Boys hall, and every field campaign a wild revelry of hungry foragers. The outlook not alluring. The United 8tates Is proud Of the American soldier, ss a manly Amer ican cltisen. , The nation haa no use for lS-cants-a-day persons In uniform. . It Is probably true that men can live tand work, and even think on three S-eent meals a day, sufficiently prepared. But the grood old English expression, "having stomach for a fight" will mean nothing to such men. Energy, the habit of quick de cision, capacity for the Initiative, cannot be expected of them. And If iron set their namelea longings adrift In aa enemy' oountry It would be a ease. of "how the turkey , gobbled that our commUsary found" and "how the sweet potatoes fairly started from the ground" from start to finish. - The chaap eoldlar is the bad soldier, th world around. It Is the "five-meal, meat fad men" of Kipling who are worth baying. Uncle Oass'ls neither a pauper cor a skin flint. He can afford to give his boys bat ter en tketr bread. Dmldea, the beat wa to supprees militarism Is to make It ex. Denstve. Luckily .the - nation Is able to faOrly eastuue that thee Omaha esperl aue&t Uave only aa adadwnlo algnuiuanoa. THE ARMY. Tread of Affaire Gleaned frem 1b Army aadh Navy Register. The Army board of. ordinance snd fortifi cation has not taken up the question of further allotments for the benefit cfV the Lang Icy flying machine. That Inventor ban not made request on the War dcpartmrtit for additional funds, though he my do so Ins'much as neither he nor any of his assoclnte experts regards the solution of mechanical flight as Impossible. The three attempts which have been mad and which finally resultd In J he destruction of much of the mechanism are said to find Prof. Trftngley with no diminution of enthusiasm, hope or confidence. The disasters have been unfortunate, but they do not dispose of the question by any means. An Innovation will be Included In that staid and sedate 'volume, the official Army Register, when It appears on the 1st of February, 1904. The ages of each officer of the active list wlH be given In the In dividual record. This will sppear In the form, of the respective dates of birth In the column where appears the name of the place of nativity. The new . feature will be a great convenience.- It Is also probabls that a page will be added giving the pros pective statutory retirements for the suc ceeding year. Plrnnl officers of the army are much en couraged by th Success of thelrexperl menta with wireless telegraphy between forts on' Long Island sound, where cod and other messages have been sent for a distance of ninety-seven miles. The dis tance between Fort St. Michael snd Nome, Alaska, is only eleven miles greater than this, and there is therefore much, reason to hope that messages will be successfully exchanged between these two places, where xfp to the present time only signals can be gotten across. However, the signal offi cers have found that a system that will work admirably at ono place -will fall at another. Further, It Is thought that the Ice which forma In the waters between Forf St Michael and Nome has some deterrent effect upon the transmission of wireless messages. Arrangements have been mads with the United States geological survey so that certain desirable military Information shall be added to the maps of that branch of the government. The details, of the plan have not been., perfected and It Is not known just how this purpose will be ef fected. Th geological survey maps arer of course of most accurate compilation and with the military information added will be of great Importance to the War depart ment These additions will probably j be incorporated on a special, confidential map which will not be accessible to the public, being added to the arohieves of the mili tary Information division. There is a possibility that General H. Ct Corbln will be appointed permanently to the grade of major general In th army on January I on the retirement of lieutenant General Young and the promotion of Major General Chaffee. This would make Oeneral Corbln a general officer and In line of suc cession to the place of chief of staff. The vacancy In the position of adjutant general will accordingly be filled by the promotion by means of detail to that billet of one of the colonels of the corps, the choice rest Ing between Colonels Hail.Jietstand and Wagner. The first-named officer ia the beneficiary of a bill Introduced this week There will be several colonels of civil war record appointed brigadier general and re tted and a list of such Is now In the po ssession of Secretary loot ' A good deal of interest attaches. toth situation ,wh!ch, wll) prevail In the War department when .Governor Taft succeeds Secretary Root. This will pVobably be about February 1. It has been said that the relations of Governor .Taft and Oeneral Chaffee, who will by that time be chief of staff, are not of the most cordial char acter, due, to the difference of opinion which prevailed when General Chaffee was on duty In Manila when there was much conflict of authority and clashing of views between the military snd civil authorities In the Philippines. It may be aothorlta tlvely staged that no such uncongenial re latlonship exists. Of course there' were differences of opinion between the military and civil officials and there were several passes between Governor Taft and General Chaffee, .but the personal relations be tween the two men are very pleasant, and General Chaffee. Is too good a soldier to create any lack of harmony. Apprehen sions of any disturbances In the equanimity of the ' War department and Interference with army legislation ar altogether pre mature and- unwarranted. 'The genera! staff of the army has before It a number of changes in army uniforms recommended by -the quartermaster gen. eral. These include th cloth cap of col lapsable form for use In the garrisons and on board transports when the campaign hat Is not altogether required. Another innovation is that which provides a leather thong, by means of which the campaign hat may be secured to its Swssessor. Still another, change Is that which contemplate brown cloth for us In th chevrons of field uniforms. It has been decided to abandon the project of a metal chevron as being too conspicuous . and cumbersome. The cloth proposed would be a darker shad than the khaki of the "garment and wlth the insignia on the collar will suf&e for the purpose of identification. There, fa not likely to be sny remount system In the United States army, no mat tcr what Jnay be the report received from General William H. Carter, who is making sn exhaustive personal Investigation of the European method. There has been some question at the eapltol of tke value of any Inquiry along the line of Oeneral Carter's nranent Investigation. The main objection to the remount system Is that of expense. It will not be long. It Is foreseen, before there Is a cry for a radical pruning of estimates and appropriations, and any .DroDosltlon which would require the ex pendlture of a large sum of money would have to be promptly shelved. Bo far from a-Wlna Its approval to the remount Idea, congress will not consent to sn appropria tlon of less than $100,000 for the establish. ment of farms for the raising or army horses. This Is a plan which has been suggested 'a an economical method for nrnvtitinr animals' for military us. Th army Is likely to get its horses by pur- chsse under contract, as it nas oeen aomg. Asarrlca'e l'ala Distiaetloa. . Baltimore American. Denmark rlaims a point of superiority over the 1'nlted Btates by Insuring old maids. But then, the United State has no old maids. That forlorn, dependent and despised class of the human specie la extinct in ini country, n i uun Is old, every woman Is Independent and ail women are aaaertiv to a degree that no man In his sober senses would dare to condemn. , ' . ' - Get a Haaaaser, ftatekl Cincinnati Enquirer. Tills S about the time -ol year when the Ineffably mean man talks patronls- Ingly about having to pay for the things which -liis wife presents to him on Christ mas. Jut as If his wife were not st )?kholder in the establishment WH trust th lady will be amart anough to buy clears , that she would aot permit him to sruok la the house. DOISUS 1 PERSONAL ROTE. A special session of the Louisiana legisla ture haa been called to consider the boll wevll evil. Meantime the bug In question ia holding no legislative sessions at all; his work Is purely executive. Waldorf Astor, the haughty young son of William Waldorf 'Astor, the self-expatriated American, has gone back to London, car rying with him his stony British stars and a vast deal of other Impedimenta. Mrs. John J. Ingalls has been sked by the Kansas exeoutive council to go to New Tork to Inspect th clay model of the bust of former Senator Ingalls, which la to be placed in the Capitol at Washington. A strange coincidence Is the appointment by Postmaster General Payne' of a name sake, Henry C. Payne, to a position In the Zlon City (III.) ros to ftlcs, - The latter Is not a relative to the postmaster general snd Is a Dowlolte. Edwin F. Jones, former lieutenant gov ernor of New Tork state, but best known to fame as "Jones, He Pays the Freight" has become a novelist His novel, "Richard Baxter," compares Tavorably with many of the novels of rural American life. - Wu Ting Fang, formerly Chinese minis ter to this country, has been sppolnted vice president of the newly "created Io- psrtment of Commerce In his horns govern ment. It will be his province specially to look after the foreign commerce of China- It Is reported the Standard Oil-company is too poor to glv It employe the cus tomary turkey this Christmas. The com pany hasn't mad a raise within a week and Its melancholy condition suggests that the great American knocker ' is taking a vacation. ' One of the senate employes was seated comfortably reading a newspaper In a quiet comer of the chamber,, with his feet cocked np on a projection from the wall. Senator Kean of New Jersey happened along and said with mock severity: "Take you Teet down. ' This Is not the house of representative." Chicago club women have started a move ment for the reformation of men's trous ers. For ages past this garment has Irri tated mankind,'- provoked domestic war, rent nations and filled Gehenna with lost souls. A glimmer of hope nowvjooms up, giving promise of brighter days and happi ness for man. Bagged and buttonleas trousers must go. Club women Bay so. That settles It" Charles McKeen Dursn. president of the Hardin County bank of Eldora, la., holds a remarkable record for oontlnuous service In different positions of trust. He has been, with the bank named thirty-five years, treasurer of th city of Eldora con tinuously for twenty-Ove years, clerk of the First Congregational church of Eldora for over thirty-five years and treasurer of the Eldora Cemetery society for twenty- one years. He Is one of the trustees of Iowa college at Grlnneli and takes a great deal of Interest In that educational Institu tion. . HB DIDN'T HEED IT. Governor Earning- a4,000 a fear Re- terns a Disability Pension.' -', .Portland Oregonlan. Governor Bliss of Michigan has recently come to the conclusion that he doesn't need the pension of 111 a month granted him ay th United States government for disability. - In his letter to the commis sioner of pensions he says: 'I relinquish the pension only because I doubt ths propriety of continuing as a pen sioner when I am not In need. My dis ability was fully determined by two exam inations, one under Commissioner Evans and the second under your administration, eiich conducted by ' two' competent phyii. clans, tesultlng in aa 'order placing me 'on th rolls at ill a month. My intention was to donate this money to the work of the Grand Army of the Republio, and this I have done." ' , .. The disability from 'which the governor suffers has not prevented him from earning $4,000 a year as governor of Michigan. Nevertheless, be has been drawing pay from the United Btates as a disabled sol dier. As to his pretense that he only drew th pension to give it to the Grand Army of the Republio, ths . New Tork Sun has this to say: "Governor Bliss was mors than able to pay 11 a month out of his own pocket to the Orand Army of the Republic It is diffi cult to resist the impression that he has been generous st the expense of a too generous government. And it has taken him some time to find out that he could live without the pension." . - - This is a severe but just comment on the conduct of Governor Bliss, who has probably concluded to give up his pension In order to set forth the fact as a political advertisement. Ths pension roll if full of rich pensioners like Governor Bliss, who sre perfectly able to pay for their con tributions to the Grand Army of the Re publio out of their own pockets, without obtaining a pension from the government which they "did not need" ( If Bliss did not "need" a pension, hs was not in moral equity ensiled to a pen. sion except under a gentral te-vlo pension bill, which haa not .yet been enacted. A man who is an energetic, active politician and successful man of business, who Is competent to earn $4,000 a year. Is not en. titled to a pension for "disability" simply because he cannot perfdrm severe manual labor In consequence of old-time military services. A pension Is not a bounty." A pension belongs only to those veterans who "need" It, and an able, forehanded, rich man who can earn $4,000 a year ought to be ashamed to. draw a little pension from the government on the pretense that h only did It' in order to give It to the Grand Army of th Republic, . 11 DID.VT KNOW A THING. Gaeat Flnancler la Receptive Mead for "told Bricks. ' New York Evening Post A certain severity toward "Wall street throughout the covintry should change- to sympathy wherever Mr. Steele' testimony before the shipbuilding inquiry is really pondered. And the more It Is considered the more Indefensible will seem the general Impression that our great financiers ar monster of cunning tand duplicity. Take the sale of the Bethlehem Iron works, for example, for which. In part, stojk of the Shipyard trust was prdd. Mr. Steele Velng asked what he, as seller, knew about that stock, answered. "Nothing." Being pressed' to say why, then, he had been willing to accept it In payment, for a valuable going concern, h remarked that ba thought It was good stock! people had told him so; he had ven expected dividends snd expressed some regret fhat then had never beta forthcoming. It Is this wholly trustful attitude which brings great banking houses very, near to average human nature. The western farmer who haa a gold brick in his pest or the Yankee who haa taken stock In a get-rlch-qulck concern, will see that be and the great! financier are knit tnnihar bv a common liability to error end a common proclivity to believe what ver,they ar tuld. Such disclosures of the h Lima a . neerueai ununr iu tmiwi,, walotooat of high finance ar moat salu. .tary.-- A Kaawt rraaaaet. Louisville Courier-Journal. If eotton oontlnnea to go up perhaps we shall yet gat "poor wsuliais" when w pay far thaia. , HOW, MAST MEALS A,DAVI J Tople for PrnfltaMe llaeaaslea Over , fh Dessert. Boston Transcript Have you ever taken time to reckon the multiplicity of the theories nowadays with regard to the number of meals that should fill out the day's far and the hoars at which they should be eaten? If you have done this, the probability is that you emerged from the study In arithmetic con vinced that It makes precious little differ ence what a man Is doing ss long aa he Is possessed of a sufficient amount of faith In the line he Is following1. For ypu can easily call to mind half a dosen, df your acquaintances who say that their health ha Improved 100 per cent since thsy can celed their breakfasts and took to eating a rather hearty luncheon. And within sound of your voice are as many other persons who declare they never knew what perfect health meant till they cut out the midday meal altogether, allowing a satisfying' breakfast and a not too late dinner to cover tho amount of food consumed through tho day. Then come to your mind th lusty exponent of th theory that flv meals a day are none too many t keep ths boy In fuet, and another set who gloat over the robust condition they have wooed and won through clinging to a regimen that allows but one square meal a day. ' And if you feel to take a firm stand for or against any one artiole of food or drink and are looking for examples to help yon to a decision, you get quite a much con fused In any attempt to decide who has th right of the case with him. One) will tell you he oannot drink coffee because It alTeots him In such .and such a way, while an other will tell you that he never could get through his' day's work without its gently stimulating Influence, snd that he knows It benefits him beoause hs always sleeps Ilk a baby after drinking it late at night. Going through the lint ef things thst men eat and drink you will find the earn pro and con apply, and It becomes fearfully bewildering before you get half through. th list -So If you car to search the records of food causes that medical journals hav champlorfed, say, for th last century, you Will find that what was blest In one deoade was decried in the next And then you know you aren't the only one who has al most been swamped by contradictory evt- ri,tiM In tit mu nt tiA Ttnnle Vtt food. When, however, you get where you are convinced that soms great occult moral principle underlies these differences, whioh are, after' all, only Superficial, and then undertake to study this principle snd It ramifications, you are bound to hav your first real. -satisfaction from the problem, , though you probably will not be abl to get off the fence In your cogitations oa this aspect Of it ' . ' PASSING PLEASANTRIES. - Madge They say she got that gown ah Is wearing at a bargain. Dolly i shouldn't be surprised. It looked aa It It was half off. Towu Topjoa. She I don't caret I just know you're wrong. He O come, now, dear,-why do you per sist In saying that? v Bhe Because you won't admit It Phils? delphla Press. First Cltisen (Indignantly) I am surprised that young longhead would lend himself to any such scheme. tiecond citizen Lend himself Why, man! he was bought Judge. "Hare is an Item," said the man at th copy desk, "about a young fellow that broke Into a Boston man's house and eloped with his daughter. Ulv m a head for it" "Head It, 'Work of an Iceburglari' " said the night editor. Chicago Tribune. ' "Tou hold my future happiness," h told the girl. . . "Why don't you hold It yourself f she asked coyly. And she wasn't so heavy that ha couldn't do it easily .Chicago, post ,',.v . ,:. "Tou have omitted two of th very most important from this list of Christmas hooks." "What are theyT" "The pocketbook and th checkbook." Detroit Free Press. "People do not take Into proper account," said the broad-minded man, the nervous strain under which we live. It is necessary to make allowances for some of our pubilo officials." "That's th Idea," rejoined Senator1 Bor-, rhum. "And liberal allowances, too." Washington Star. ... He Didn't ' you know that you Were standing under the mlrtletoef , She Why.no! I didn't feel anything Town Topics. . A MORAL TALES, Carolyn Wells In the Reader. Bald Santa Claui, " "TIs Christmas vi (The animals looked pleasant). And each of you will now receive Ills yearly Chilslmas present . Put I'd be glad if every guest Would mention what he'd Ilk the best.k Tha Tapir said: "That please me,v l" state succinctly, therefor,. . If I may be so bold and free. Thn only thing I csre for v. Would, be those matches oa the shelf. With which I'd like to light myself." His wish was granted. Then upspak A llmlil llltla AdriM! , ' "Hr, but a trifle It will tak To make my Christmas gladder; A slate and pencil, if you please, ' Would let me do my sums with ease." ( The Reindeer said: "Tou may belteva I'd b a happy fellow. . If I were aura I would recelv A good-slsed nmhrellow: And, also, Td like four goitsh- Es and a rubber mackintosh." The Pig a fountain peri desired; The t ow, tin horns requeetsJ; The Horse, for a new hat acquired. His gralitude attested. . The Caterpillar saM: "I sni Proud of my cMerjillarsham," Sgo all of them weregay and glad, And hey were happy, very; They liked th preaents'that -they had And m'sxed exceeding merrv. Pear Humans, at your Christmas f oast a Pray take a lesson from th beasts. There is no specific for consumption. The nearest approach to a cure is right living and Scott's Emulsion. No matter what the treat ment may be Scott's Emul sion will prove a valuable addition. It has often turned the scale of' health the right (way. Because Scott'a Emul sion contains the pure- cod liver oil it furnishes heat and fat The hypophosphites pro vide tissue-food, bloc-tood and marrow-food. The com bination of the two represents a wonderful form of nourish ment and one that can be readily taken and retained at any stage of the disease. Scott's . Emulsion gives best results when used most reg ularly. Made a part of the consumptive's regular diet it will invariably afford .relief. Occasional use of , Scott's Emulsion is a test unfair to the Emulsion and the patient We'll y aunpl tree epse nana! aCOTT A BOW MI, wParltnattfTrs.