n
TIIF. OMAHA DAILY I!.
SATURDAY. JULY 4, V.m.
Tiik Omaha Daily Bee
Ki.it. ND ED BY KJJWARD nOSEWATER.
VICTOR RUBEWATER. EDITOR.
Kntere.1 t umaha poetoffice as second
class matter.
TKK.M9 OH" HLHSfRIPTION:
I tally Hee (without Sunday), one yaar..M ")
1 tally Hw anrl Hundsy. one year 0
Sunday Hee, one ytar 2 Sl'
haturday lire, one year I W
DELIVERED BY CARRIER:
lallv Hee llncludlng Sunday I, per week.. 15c
Daily Hee (without Sunday), per week..Pc
Kvenlng Pe (without Sunday), per week tic
Evel ina- Hee (with Sunday), per week. ...10c
Address all complaints of Irregularities In
delivery to City Circulation Department.
, OFFICES.
Omaha The Bee Building.
South Omaha City Hall Building.
Council Hluffs 15 Scott Street.
Chicago 154ft Marquette Building.
Nw York Kooma 1101-1102, No. 34 West
Thirty-third Street.
Washington 726 Fourteenth Street N. W.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Crtmmunlratlona relating to news and edi
torial matter should be addressed: Omaha
Bee, Editorial Department.
REMITTANCES.
Remit by draft, express or postal order
payable to The Bee Publishing Company.
Only 2-cent stamps received In payment of
mall accounts. Personal checks, except on
Omaha or eastern exchanges, not accepted.
STATEMENT OF CIRCULATION :
Elate of Nebraska. Douglas County, is :
Ue'irre B. Tsschuck, treasurer of The
B'-e Publishing company, being duly sworn,
savs that the actual number of full and
complete copies of The Dally, Morning,
Evening and Sunday Bee printed during
the month of June. 19. was as follows:
1 80,830 16 38,490
8 38,740 16 38,490
3 38,030 17 35,990
4 35,800 18 39,110
5 35,760 19 36,460
0.... 35,860 80 35,890
7 85,900 81 36,760
8 35,960 88 36,480
6 36,910 83 36,099
10 85,970 84 38,340
11 36,350 85 36,600
18 ...36,080 86 36,070
13 36,890 88 , 35,830
14 38,060 89 36,500
15 36,080 30 36,330
Totals 1,089,090
Less unsold and returned copies., 9,677
Net total 1,079,313
Dalley average 35,977
OEOROK B. TZSCtfUCK,
Treasurer.
Subscribed In my presence and sworn to
before me this 1st day of July. 198.
M. P. WALKER,
Notary Public.
WHKSf OtTT OF TOWIf.
Subscriber leavlo tne city fan
porarlly afcealaj have Tkt Bee
walled to these. Aaareae will be
changed as oftea aa ree.aesfea.
The day we mutilate.
Mr. Dell of California will toll the
keynote at 'Denvei".
Now, all together, for a nonmani
aral Fourth of July.
Aa-a' hi'atter of fact, the original
cbeath skirt was worn by an Indian
woman.
Two big borseahoe mills in Pennsyl
vania have resumed work on full time.
Good luck.
The man who is "a little hard o'
heurtn' " may look upon his affliction
aa n blessing on .luly 4.
An Atlanta man dropped dead while
making fun of a Merry Widow hat.
These hats are killing.
New York has furnished nine vice
prrtldents of the United States. Mr.
Sherman will le the tenth.
Mr. llryan says he Is going after the
Rootevit vote. He will probably be
fis far eftcr it as he was In 1900.
The campaign will not begin to
by warm up. much until Mr. Taft gets
menconifortahly settled at Hot Springs.
"7 i j
for Roger Sullivan .is annoyed at the
J rrentlon of his name in connection
witb the vice presidency. So Is Mr.
Rrynn. .
Mr. Hope has been nominated by the
prohibitionists for governor of Kansas.
It promises to be another case of Hope
deferred.
While on (he subject of railway leg
islation it might not be a bad plan to
past) a law against taking straw ballots
on a train.
Theodore Hell, slated for temporary
chairman of the democratic national
convrptlon. ha also been twice de
tented for office.
Mr. Taft will doubtless be surprised
to learn that about a million men in
the country remember that they went
to school with him.
Among his other claims to recogni
tion as a vice presidential possibility
"Jerry" Sullivan has been twice de
feated for governor of Iowa.
It transpires that the late Grover
Cleveland drew his own will. It is to
be hoped that be did a better job than
did the Iat Samuel J. Tilden.
About half the planks of the demo
cratic platform of 1904 will be omitted
from the Denver platform. Very few
democratic issues live for four years.
President Castro has been suffering
from insomnia ever since he woke up
to the fact that Mr. Sleeper, the Amer
ican legation secretary, bad left Venez
uela. Mr. Bryan saya that Mr. Sherman's
nomination is "a distinct advantage to
democrats." Mr. Sherman has long
contended that Mr. Bryan's no ruin a
tlon ia always a distinct advantage to
republicans.
Acting on the Biblical injunction to
return good for evil. Mr. Bryan tells
Mr. Hearst that he ought to support
him notwithstanding the throw-down
which Mr. Hearst encountered at the
bands of Mr. Bryan four yearn aeo.
BIO AFD LITTLE.
Colonel Hryan, through bis Com
moner, qualifies his demand for pub
licity of campaign fund contributions
by advocating an exemption for all
such contributions not "above a
reasonable minimum." In other
wprds, campaign fund publicity in
Mr. Dryan's opinion Is a good thing
for the big fellows, but a bad thing for
the little fellows. If ten men give $10
apiece the law should enable them to
"keep It dark," but If one man gives
1100 his generosity must be subjected
to suspicion.
The peculiar line of argument by
which Mr. Bryan would Justify his dis
crimination is that exposure to the
public view of small political contribu
tions might involve the donors in
harassment, especially if they were
wage workers differing In politics
from their employers. Dut he would
have the contributions of employers
heralded forth from the housetops so
that he might array one against the
other. He wants a law that will ena
ble him to point out to the employes
the position of their employers and
persuade them that their divergent
Interests make it necessary for them
to vote the other way.
Mr. Bryan thinks that the same
argument that is made In favor of the
secret ballot applies In favor of
secrecy as to small campaign contribu
tions. Mr. Bryan's illogical logic
would Justify withdrawing the secrecy
of the ballot from employers and prop
erty owners and restricting its protec
tion only to men dependent for em
ployment upon others who might seek
to Influence ther votes. It would
justify one law for the rich and an
other law for the poor in all the vari
ous obligations of citizenship.
If publicity of campaign contribu
tions is desirable, how can there be a
half-way station where publicity
should stop and secrecy begin? The
untenable position which Mr. Bryan
has Just taken on this subject is a fair
sample of the contradictory inconsis
tencies In which ho constantly trips
himself up.
THE ABUSE l)F ASYLUM.
The federal authorities have insti
tuted the first case, under a law passed
two years ago, to deprive a naturalized
citizen, now living abroad, of his nat
uralization papers. The law provides
thivt-any foreigner who takes out nat
uralization papers in this country and
then elects to live in a foreign country
may have hla naturalization cancelled,
unless he takes the precaution of reg
lsterlnn with the nearest American
consul. The law was enacted to stop
the abuses of American citUenshlp by
foreigners who came to this country
merely to become naturalized and then
returned to" their native land, claiming
the privileges of American citizens and
the protection of our government.
In the case in question, ADranam
Moss was naturalized in this country
In 1892. He left In a . few months
after securing his papers and has since
been living in Pretoria, South Africa.
He became involved 1n serious trouble
with the South African government
recently and promptly appealed to the
State department at Washington for
protection. The authorities; after ln
veBtiBatlns: the case, began suit in the
Pennsylvania district, where Moss has
been admitted to citizenship, for tna
cancellation of hW naturalization pa
pers. Abuses of this kind have been
numerous in the last few years ano
the government has made the com
mendable decision to put an end to
them.
THE HEARST FABTi rLAKS.
Official announcement is made in
New York that the national independ
ence party is to hold its convention in
Chicago on July 27 and 28 and put a
ticket in the field, regardless of what
may be done by the democratic con
vention at Denver. This program was
formally announced some time ago, be
fore Mr. Hearst went to Europe, and is
now repeated by Melvln G. Palliser,
the manager of the party in Mr.
Hearst"s absence. In his statement
Mr. Palliser saye:
Besides putting a national ticket in the
field there will be Independent tickets
named In every state In which our party
is organised. The Independence party will
poll more than l.OOO.OHO votes at the next
election, and that mean that Bryan will
not have a ghoot of a (how of winning.
He Is a hackneyed candidate, and if he Is
nominated it will mean not only the break
ing up of the solid south, but the break
ing up of the democratic party. I don't
mean by that that the democratic putty
will lone its name, but It will mean that
It will be reorganized by the adoption of
new principles.
This reiterated statement of the
Hearst plans does not bolster up those
who have been talking possible fusion
between the Hearst and democratic
forces. Mr. Hearst has denounced
fuBlon and says he has been a "sullen
and reluctant convert to fusion in
times past" and will have no more of
it. He proposes to make this fight
without entangling alliances and
convinced that the democratic ticket
will be third in the running in several
eastern states. In that event, he nat
urally hopes to take a seat at the head
of the council tables of democracy
when reorganization comes, as it
would come after Mr. Bryan's third
defeat.
The Hearst strength must not be un
derestimated. When he ran for mayor
of New York in 1905 he polled 124.
929 votes, being defeated by a small
margin. In 1906 he was defeated by
Governor Hughes by 67,898. but all
the other candidates on the Hearst
ticket were elected. This was in a fu
sion deal with the democrats, in which
the Tammany faction knifed Hearst.
Mr. Bryan's strength In New York has
always been below the normal demo
cratic vote. He ran 23,000 below the
'tate ticket in New York in 1896 and
25.000 below it in 1900. Mr. Bryan
has also failed in each of his cam
paigns to poll as many votes In New
Jersey as were cast for the democratic
candidate for governor at the same
elections. Afr. Cleveland carried New
Jersey in 1892 by 15,000. Bryan lost
It in lS9fl.by 8S.000 and in 1900 by
67,000. Judge Parker lost New Jersey
In 1904 by 81,000. In New York, New
Jersey and perhaps in some other
states in the Atlantic coast group Mr.
Bryan's chances of success at the polls
In November will be decidedly below
par with a Hearst ticket in the field.
THE tUTUBE HEAT SUPPLY.
Secretary Wilson of the Department
of Agriculture has dispatched a special
agent to Europe for the purpose of
securing, If possible, new forage plants
that will grow in the semi-arid regions
of the west. The secretary Is con
vinced that some forms of the grasses
that grow in Siberia and other parts
of northern Europe can be trans
planted successfully and used to im
prove the ranges in western Nebraska,
Wyoming, Montana and the Rocky
mountain states where the rainfall la
limited.
The secretary has for some time
been urging upon the stock growers
and the experts In his department the
necessity of further protection and im
provement of the ranges. Unless this
Is done, he contends, the time will be
not far distant when meat will be a
luxury to be habitually enjoyed, here
as In European countries, only by the
well-to-do. The statement would ap
pear to be much exaggerated were it
not supported by statistics showing the
constant increase in the price of meat,
the actual decrease in the number of
meat-producing animals in the coun
try, the constant reduction of the
range area and the rapidly increasing
demands for home consumption. The
United States Is stfll an exporter of
meat and meat products on a large
scale, but can continue to export only
If something is soon done to Improve
the ranges.
The price of meat naturally de
pends largely upon the cost of grain
and forage. With ample ranges of
good quality beef could be produced at
prices much lower than now prevail,
but there will be no lessening in meat
prices so long aa cereals continue to
rule high. With corn at 60 cents a
bushel on the farm, the stall-fed beef
comes very near being placed in the
list of luxuries. Farmers hesitate to
raise much hay or other forage while
grain crops bring more lucrative re
turns. The ranges are steadily
deteriorating and their capacity to
sustain animal life growing less. The
west and the entire country will be
greatly benefited If the search ordered
by Secretary Wilson results in the dis
covery of some grass not now grown
here which will increase the country's
output of forage.
A VOTED JOURNALIST GOXK.
The death of Murat Halstead takes
away another noted Journalist of the
old school. While Halstead fell short
in newspaper measurement of Greeley,
or Dana, or Medlll, he yet achieved a
rank as a special correspondent and
editor that placed him in the forefront
among the best-known and influential
newspaper writers of his time. He
was, possibly, a little more prolific in
literary output than he would have
been had he kept up to the standard
of his best work nil the time. For
many years the name of Murat Hal
stead was as generally recognized by
newspaper readers as that of any other
active journalist. His death at the
advanced age of 79 accentuates the
rapid extinction of the generation of
brilliant men brought into prominence
and power during the period of the
war of the rebellion.
ThE WEST AKD THE OR1EKT-
The detailed review of American
commerce for the fiscal year 1907, Just
issued by the bureau of statistics, con
tains further, proof of the fact that the
Atlantic seaboard cities are gradually
losing their trade supremacy so far
as foreign commerce Is concerned. For
many years the bulk of exports to
Asiatic countries has gone through
Atlantic ports, but the last few years
this commerce has been shifting from
the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. Prac
tically 60 per cent of the shipments
to oriental countries in 1907 went
from Pacific coast ports, as against 40
per cent carried by that route in 1901.
In the meantime tho exports to Asiatic
countries have about doubled in the
eight years. Exports to all of the
Asiatic countries were larger in 1907
than for any year in the national his
tory, with the exception of exports to
China, where a marked decrease was
noted, due to smaller Chinese demand
for American copper for coinage pur
poses. A big increase is also shown
In the exports through Gulf of Mexico
ports.
The only occasion for surprise is
that this change in routing has been
so slow in accomplishment. Habit has
evidently been followed in commerce,
and for years the grain and live stock
of the great west have been sent across
the contlneut by rail for water ship
ment from Atlantic coast points, accu
mulating heavy freight rates, which
might have been saved by using
shorter and more direct routes. In
creasing trade following fuller devel
opment of the resources of the west
and middle west will cause a greater
demand for better and cheaper trans
portation facilities to tidewater.
Through this will coma a potent im
petus to the movement or the improve
ment of inland waterwayg and the les
sening of the burdens on shippers and
producers. Nebraska and other west
ern states are deeply concerned in
every movement of this kind that is
calculated to open new channels of
trade and give the producers and ship
pers the benefit of the competition that
conies with choice of routes.
Roger Sullivan is said to be plan
ning to offer a plank for the Denver
platform favoring government owner
ship of railways for the purpose if
having the convention vote it down by
such an overwhelming majority that
Mr. Bryan will not have the nerve to
dig it up again. That is a great
scheme of Sullivan's, but the Joke
would be on him if the convention
should take Bryan at his word and
adopt the plank instead of voting It
down.
V- --
The new president of the National
Educational association Is said to owe
his position to the activity In his be
half of the agents of the so-called
School Book trust. The National Edu
cational association has more than
once been charged with being a Teach
ers' trust, so that merger with the
Book trust would not be out of the
ordinary.
It is to be noted that "the only
democratic congressman from Ne
braska" has issued no bulletin
enumerating what he has achieved in
the national legislative halls. He Is
on record with a confession of lm
potency to do anything except to dis
tribute garden seeds.
The Denver ticket will not be Bryan
and Johnson, because Mr. Bryan has
traveled enough to know that the ten
der should not be placed in front of
the engine.
"Truth Is mighty and must prevail"
everywhere except In Idaho, where the
self-confesBed monster has had his
death sentence commuted to life im
prisonment. "Corns That Kansas Farmers Have"
Is the title of a pamphlet issued by the
Kansas department of agriculture. No
real cure has ever been found for the
plural of corn.
Democrats enroute to Denver are
duly warned not to lay over at Omaha
or at Lincoln on Sunday unless they
have brought their bottled refresh
ments along with them.
It is well to take out an accident
Insurance and reserve a cot in the
emergency hospital before granting
little Willie's wish as to the kind or
fireworks he -wants today.
Senator Gore of Oklahoma is blind,
but he thinks he can see the true in
wardness of the eulogistic resolution
on Grover Cleveland which Alton B.
Parker proposes to present at Denver.
Something of a Root.
Pittsburg Dispatch.
Trie odds are certainly as much aa 16 to
1 that the sacred ratio will not be affirmed
at Denver, .vyont that be another "re
.... ' - '
Santa Old Game.
Washington Herald.
We auppose we shall have the aame old
unsafe and Insane Fourth of July, not
withstanding; the friendly warnings handed
out by the physicians and surgeons of the
country.
An Old Friend Mlsslne;.
Loulslville Courier-Journal.
During the excitement in Mexico our old
friend, Geronimo. may be wondering why
the white man s brand of civilisation is
called superior to that of the cactus plains
variety of Indian.
"This fa So Sadden."
Washington Star.
The manner In which a nominee receives
the notification committee should never for
an Instant betray the fact that he has been
Ittlng for days and nights with his ear at
the telephone receiver.
A War Dear in Danger.
Indianapolis News.
Considering the condition of the national
finances which would confront the demo
crats if they were successful at the No
vember election, It seems barely poslhle
that Richmond Pearson Hobeon may fall
to get Ills greater navy plank Incorporated
In the Denver platform.
Torchlights on Life's Hlaaway,
Wall Btreet Journal.
Let us not delude ourselves with the
thought that, when a strong man lays down
this mortal burden, we have really lost
anything of the actual man. The real man
lives on in the few or the many with whom
his career In the flesh has counted most.
We partake of one another's nature aa a
lit torch passes on Its light to an unlit one.
Vnlqae Symbol of Peace.
Baltimore American.
The first Spanish warship to enter the
harbor of Havana since Cuba passed from
the rule Ot Spain was preceded by a flock
of doves released from the vessel. The
symbol of peaces so prettily suggested was
heartily responded to. and the Spaniards
found themselves greeted as guests aa they
had never been as masters. So happily
has ended one Important epoch In the his
tory of Independence In the new world.
CONCEHMXO KX-FHKSIDENTS.
Retired Kaeeatlvea Grow Scarcer as
the Hepabllo Ages.
New York Evening Post.
The question of what to do with our ex
presidents Is never so pressing as it mlgtfit
be, owing to their scarcity. In the earlier
days of the republic there were more; for
instance, in the beginning of John yulncy
Adams' administration there were alive
John Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Mon
roe. During Taylor's brief administration,
there were for a time three ex-presidents,
as undur Pierce. There were, again, four
during the administration of Buchanan,
but the high-water mark was reached dur
ing the beginning of Mr. Lincoln's first
administration, when there were alive Van
Buren, Tyler, Fillmore. Pierce and Bu
chanan. Van Buren and Tyler died In 1SW2,
so that when Johnson took office there
were but three ex-prestdents. At the be
ginning of Mr. Cleveland's administration,
Hayes. Arthur and Grant were enjoying
thtlr retirement. Since that time the num
ber has steadily decreased. Only ten presi
dents have survived their retirement from
office longer than Mr. Cleveland. Millard
Fillmore was an ex-president for twenty,
one years. Madison and John Qulnry
Adams for nineteen. Van Buren for twenty,
one. Mr. Cleveland's death leaves no ex.
president a situation that has arisen twice
before, on the deaths of Washington In
Ki and of Johnson In July. 17. During
Mr. Cleveland's second term there was but
one ex-president. Mr. HairUou.
FW STAR IX THE FLAG.
Old f.lory as It Looks Today and Its
K.arly History.
The forty-sixth Mar In the field of blue
of the American flag, representing the
statehood of Oklahoma, today becomes by
law a fixture In the Stars and Stripes. The
event Is another milestone In the develop
ment of the union of states and the trans
lation of a large area pf the progressive
west from territorial childhood to the ma
turity of statehood. There remains now
only three territories which may eventu
ally become states New Mexico, Arizona
and Alaska. It Is only a question of time
and political expediency when these terri
tories become states, each adding a new
star to the field of blue, a total of forty
nine, leaving I'orto Rico, Hawaii or Cuba
candidates for the honor of the golden star.
One hundred and thirty-one years ago
last month the congress then In session In
Philadelphia officially designated the flag
as we know It today. The field of blue
contained thirteen white stars representing
the thirteen original states. A bulletin Is
sued by the War department a few yean
ago states the origin of the flag as follows:
The American congress, In session at
Philadelphia, established by Its resolution
of June 14. 1777, a national flag for the
t'nlted Slates of America. The resolution
wag as follows:
Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen
t'nlteil States be thirteen stripes, alternate
red and white; that the union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing a
new constellation.
Although nearly a year previous, July 4,
1776, these thirteen t'nlted States had been
declared Independent, this resolution Is the
first legislative action recorded relating to
a national flag for the new sovereignty.
The use of thirteen stripes was not a new
feature, as they had been Introduced (In
alternate white and blue) on the upper left
hand corner of a standard presented to the
Philadelphia Light Horse by Its captain In
the early part of 1778. and, moreover, the
union flag of the thirteen united colonies
raised at Washington's headquarters, at
Cambridge, January 2, 1778, had the thir
teen stripes Just as they are this day, but
It also had the crosses of St. George and
St. Andrew on a blue ground in the cor
ner. There Is no satisfactory evidence,
however, that any flag bearing the union
of stars had been In public use before the
resolution of June, 1777.
The flag remained unchanged for about
eighteen years after Its adoption. By this
tlmo two more states. Vermont and Ken
tucky, had been admitted to the union,
and on January 13, 1791, congress enacted
that from and after May 1, 1795, the flag
of the United States bo fifteen stripes, al
ternate red and white, that the union be
fifteen stars, white in a blue field.
This flag was the national banner from
1795 to 1818, during which period occurred
the war of 1812 with Great Britain. By
1S18 five additional states, Tennessee, Ohio,
Louisiana, Indiana and Mississippi, had
been admitted Into the union and therefore
a further change In the flag seemed to be
required. After considerable discussion in
congress on the subject the act of April 4,
1818, was passed, which provided:
"First That from and after the 4th day
of July next the flag of the United States
be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red
and white; that the union have twenty
stars, white In a blue field.
"Second That on the admission of every
new state Into the union one star be addd
to the union of the flag and that such
addition shall take effect on the 4th day of
July next succeeding such admission."
The return to the thirteen stripes of the
1777 flag was due in a measure to a rever
ence for the standard of the revolution,
but It was also due to the fact that a fur
ther Increase of the number of stripes
would have made the width of the flag out
of proportion to Us length unless the stripes
were narrowed and this would have im
paired their distinctness when teen from a
distance.
It is not known to whom the credit of
designing the Stars and Stripes is due. It
is claimed that Mrs. Betsy Ross, residing
on Arch street, Philadelphia, was, the
maker of the first flag containing the
Stars and Stripes. This claim originated
some fifty years ago, based on affidavits
of descendents to whom Mrs. Ross related
the supposed facts, and on the strength of
these assertions the story has gone into
school histories, the Arch street home has
become a revolutionary shrine, and Mrs.
Ross is classed among the patriotic women
of the republic. But her claim to eminence
In making the first flag of stars and stripes
is now vigorously denied by Philadelphia
antiquarians, and a pretty quarrel is the
result. There seems to be no question but
that Mrs. Ross made some flags In the
early daya of the revolutionary war, and a
treasury record shows she was paid for
"making flags for the Delaware fleet," in
May, 1777. But these flags were not the
Stars and Stripes. A Philadelphia com
mittee engaged In determining and making
historic sites preliminary to a celebration
planned for next October, has denied the
claim of the Betsy Ross home on Arch
Street. The chairman of the committee,
William J. Campbell, says:
"The story Is nothing but a foolish tra
dition. Betsy Robs never had an Interview
with George Washington: she no more
planned a five star flag and. in fact, prob
ably never gave a thought to how many
stars were on any flag. Betsy Ross was
no more than an ordinary seamstress, and
no doubt was glad to get a day's work
sewing on any flag, five stars or other
wise." John 11. Fow. a local historian of repute,
supports the conclusions of the committee.
He says: "The Betsy Ross claim la a fake,
pure and simple. In all of my researches,
aided by others, have we failed to connect
her either by documentary or record evi
dence. The house on Arch street now
claimed to be the flag house, where she
resided. Is not the house; she was married
three times and lived In a number of plaree
The reason why state, municipal and na
tional authorities have not recognized the
claim la for reasons furnished by myself
to the committees having the matter In
charge."
Another local historian. Martin I. J.
Griffin, who lias devoted his life to re
searches of early American history. Is
equally emphatic In declaring there is no
evidence to support the Betsy Ross claim,
as the maker of the original Stars and
Stripes. He states the case in these words:
Mrs. Ross made flags. That may be Con
ceded. Washington, on January 1, 1776, on
the establishment of what was at the time
called "the new army," raised over the
camp at Cambridge a flag of thirteen
stripes. The canton was of the English
ensign. We have nil been made fsmlllnr
with this form of flag since the enter ntal
of 1876. It la sometimes railed "the flag
of Washington," or "the Union flag." It
did not. however, get Into general us.
Flags of various design continued to be
used by military detachments and naval
forces. Preble's "Origin of the Flag" gives
Illustrations of fifteen devices used as flags.
On Ftbiuary S a rattlesnake flag was pre.
sented to congress as "a standard such as
Is to be used by the commander-in-chief
of the American navy." But when Com
modore Ilupklrs sailed the following
month he carried as the standard of the
fleet the Union flag, or flag of Washing
ton. Mrs. Roes was paid for some of these
fUs. None of them, however, was the
Stars and Stripes. There la a widespread
error concerning the flag. Now It Is hon
ored, almost worshiped. It Is generally be
lieved that the crflonlsls after Its adoption
were enthusiastic over It. that Its use be
came general and that the revolution wns
fought under It by regiments and com
psnhs carrying It Into battle and ship
flying It. Just as In our time. That's all
Imagination. The flags of the army that
have Come down to us are not the Stars
snd Stripes, but state deflsns and other
devices. But one flag with stars and
stripes, one carried by a Maryland rent
ment. Is known the solitary Instance. The
war was not a national war in the e-nsc
we now understand national. It was a war
of states, free and Independent, agalnnt
Great Britain. The Idea of a nation and
of Its flag had but little force on the publ c
mind. That waa one great weakness which
prolonged the war. We have got to to love
the flag, especially since the war between
the states, that We have built up a lot of
romancing "stories" about it. this Betsy
Ross tale being the foundation."
However, the great and Imposing tact re
mains unchanged: They flag Is "still
there.'
THOIGHTS OF THB DAY.
A line ot "first aid to the Injured" helps
some.
A bomb in the bush Is safer than one In
the hand.
Distance lends enchantment to the voice
of the cannon cracker.
A lacerated hand Is fine reminder of the
day for some time after.
If you must make a noise, shoot off your
mouth and pound a tin can.
Do not monopolize the noise. There are
other patriots on the beach.
The giant firecracker that falls to go off
'phones to the physician all right.
The pistol and the dynamite blank cart
ridge expose the vacant upper story.
Small boys learned their part from the
elders. Fathers have no klok coming.
Go forth late and come home early. You
will twitter with the birds next morning.
A line of accident and fire Insurance
policies often serve as a balm for burned
patriotism.
Telling "Johnny, get your gun," Is need
less. Johnny is onto his Job every minute
of the day.
Sense and sentiment lasts through the
year. The patriotism of punk sputters
and dies in a day. !
If not for your own, be carefu! for the
doctor's sake. He wants a day off and
doesn't need the money.
The evil that men do oft lives after them.
The Chinaman who Invented flrecrakers
never achieved a monument.
NEW FORMS OF REBATE.
Co arts and Grand Jarlea Looking Into
the California System.
Philadelphia Press.
Trials and Investigation on ' railroad
rebates on California fruit and lumber, oil
and export rates mark not a relapse, but
the advance made in giving all shippers
equal rights in transportation.
Not one of these rebates la of the sort
once In vogue, where a favored shipper
was given special rate or received part
of his freight back as a rebate. These
graver forms of discrimination have almost
wholly disappeared. The successive ac's
for equal rates from 1TW7 to 1908 have driven
out what was once the rule.
The freight rate sheet waa once only a
basis for bargaining. It waa the point
from which shipper and road reckoned
their final agreement The new form of
rebate takes the published rate as the end
of controversy, accepts It and adds to It
or takes from it by special charges.
In California, where a federal grand
Jury has Just found Indictments against
the Southern Pacific, concessions were
made by the railroads on a "State rate"
in "assembling" eastward shipments at a
central point and then the Interstate rate
came into play on fruit and lumber. The
export rate merged rail and ocean charges
from Chicago to English ports and the rail
rate waa so low as to raise question whin
published separately.
These are all survivals of the past. It
will be long before It Is clearly understood
that no allowance can be made and no
concession granted. The habit of rebates
waa pretty well established by a generation
of constant practice. The main stem is cut
away. There remains only evasion and
doubtful concessions.
In time these will be cut away and no
one will expect a concession on a freight
rate any more than on a postage stamp.
This la the only Just method and the
Interstate Commerce 1 commission makes
ateady progress in securing this by its in
vestigations, decisions and prosecutions.
HONESTY OF PRESIDENTS.
"Personal Integrity Has Ever Bees a
Distinguishing Trait."
New York World.
Grover Cleveland waa reputed to be a
very rich man when he left the White
House. It was charged by populist and
Bryan orators that he had accumulated a
fortune of fully tf.OOO.OOO while In ofdee.
That he died comparatively poor effectively
refutes a slander as persistent as It was
malignant.
Personal Integrity has even been a dis
tinguishing trait In presidents of the United
States. There have been twenty-six oc
cupants of the high post, but against none
of them has an accusation of dishonesty
been preferred which had a more substan
tial basis than wild rumor. The charges
were rung on Grant's alleged connection
wtth the gold ring, but the evidence as
sifted by historians acquits him of any
complicity 'in that attack on the nation's
credit. From Washington to Roosevelt the
line of succession In unswerving Integrity
remains unbroken.
Presidents have been Intemperate, they
have not been exempt from human weak
nesses and they have committed number
less mistakes In executive policy. Party
calumny has not spared their morals. But
that they have used their position for per
sonal profit la yet to be proved. Not one
was ever shown to have added a dollar
to his fortune by the illegitimate exercise
of powers for influencing legislation such
as reside in no other chief magistrate.
Their record in this respect is unparal
leled In any other nation. It Is particu
larly In contrast with that of the execu
tives of other republics, elevated ofttlmes,
as with us, from obscurity and poverty to
high place, but less fortified by charac
ter against Its temptations.
RAILHOAU STATISTICS.
larreased Mileage and Capitalisation
far Past Year.
Philadelphia Record.
Poor's Manual, which appears rather
earlier than usual this year, shows the
total mileage of the steam railroads of the
United States to have been 228.12a on De
cember SI, 1907. representing an Increase
of trackage for the year of t.38? miles.
The total capital liabilities at the
date mentioned amounted to tl6.til.41S.aj9.
showing an Increase of 1907,864,112, of whr-h
S-161.717.K) la represented by stock. The
bonded indebtedness, which generally rep
res'nts actual borrowings, was Increased,
therefore, by about rtt.000,00uan amount
10 per cent greater than that which James
J. Hill declared the railroads would need
to borrow every year for ten years If their
equipment should be brought up to a stand
ard comformabl to the requirement of the
country's trade. Most of this is now an old
story; the confirmation theory by so high
an authority as Poor Is a matter of Inter
est, however.
FINNY FIZZES. "
'Mrs Irons." complained the boarder SI
the foot r tii table, "this mutton has
woolly taste."
"I tu Kind It ha." snapped the landlady,
"The Ust time 1 gave you mutton yov
said It whs horse meat." Chicago Trlbuna
"You marry my daughter!" cried the rlrr,
old nwn, "why vou're a beer gi'rsler. sir."
"Yes. but after my msrriHio I d stop alt
that. I expect to be able to afford wins
then." Philadelphia Press.
"Can ynvi work this graft V aked th
master hand
"It s a peach." responded hi assistant.
So thev went to wurk. but as thev were
only gardener, the police ilid not Interfere
with the srlf-ronfessed gratters. Baltimore
American.
"Why Is It that American youth Is so
Iscklng In reverence for mature people? '
"Perhaps." answered Mis Cayenne, "It I
because mature people permit themselves
to be lured Into trying thene new munch
which youngsters play so much better."
Washington Star.
"Old chap, where are you going for your
vacation? '
"All over the country In fact, I'm tak
ing it now readlnir summer resort litera
ture." Chicago Tribune.
Mrs. Dash I can remember the day when
you begged me to nay tlie word that would
make you happy for lite.
Mr. I'axh-1 know but yog said the
wrong word. Brooklyn Life.
"Some of us crltteis here below," sai.i
Uncle Eben, ' prides ourselves on de hi :
ness of our voices an' some of 'is in ,1
purposes In w'llcli dey is applied. i'.it
one cliff reife leiween a inula ait' a niock
ln' bird." Washlngtcn Star.
"Jim's boy Is home from college and he s
that smart nolhtn' or nobody flustrntes
him." said the boy's aunt, adminiiKU .
'The other day when old Mrs. Fluster
avked him whai caused such unusual he.n.
he said right off It was due to a aurplua
of caloric In the atmosphere." Ualtlmore,
American.
"What do you Intend to give to our cam
paign fund?" u.'ked the political expert.
"It's hard to decide" answered Mr
Dustln Stax. "The amount must, of course,
be big enough to help the cause, and at
the same time small enough not to start a
scandal." Washington 8tur.
THE DAY WE It 1,1; 11 II ATE.
T. C. llarbaugh.
Old Glory is waving on land and on sen,
The hope of the nutlon, the pride of tna
free;
Our tleets bear It outward to harbors afar.
And dear to the eye Is the gleam of each
star;
In beauty It floats over hemlock and pint
Adown to uur orange-fringed tropical line.
Our fathers beneath It were willing to die,
And new luster it gets on the Fourth of
July.
The Old Continentals! mcthlnks that the
come
Out of the past at the tap of the drum,
Their swords are aloft and their bayonets
shine
And Washington rides at the head of the
line;
There Sumter and Schuyler are fighting
again,
And yonder la charging "Mad Anthony"
Wayne!
They fought and they fell 'neath the un
ion's blue sky,
And gave to Columbia her Fourth of July.
We reach out from ocean to ocean afar,
A nation of freemen all matchless In war.
Our eagle's a-wing, of his grandeur un
shorn, For never by foe has his plumage been
torn;
And woe to the hand that would fetter his
flight,
Or sully the banner he guards In hla
might;
He watches our land from his eyrie or
high.
And our flsg waves for him on the Fourth
of July! .
Our forefathers gave us this home of tho
free,
And tenderly guarded young Liberty's
tree;
Undaunted In battle heroic thev stood
And nourished the soil with 'the best of
their ' blood;
Blow, blow the wild bugles, but not for
the fray,
The morning has dawned upon Liberty's
day ;
Unfurl the proud emblem that kisses th
sky
For this is the world's only Fourth of July.
The rollicking drums! let them sound In
their might.
And rally the people, but not for the fight;
The land Is aflame, and the rocket's fierce
fire
Will show where our eagle mounts higher
a n ,1 h I.S'r m '
And listen! o'er Brandywlne's historic plain
The Old Continentals are swarming again;
With the tread of the brave and the) sol
dier's true eye.
They march, as it were, to our Fourth of
July.
The Past Is our pride and the cycles of
fate
Await us .Inside of the Century's gate;
We dress to the colors that flutter snd
shine.
While Liberty stands at the head of the
line;
Look up at the Flag that will never grow
old
As long as the tale of our fathers Is told'
As long as our land Is our home may It fly
To crown with Its glory each Fourth of
July.
fntense Itching Eczema Drove Him
Nearly to Despair Chief Surgeon
of a London Hospital Called It
Worst Case He Had Ever Seen
Got Little or No Relief Until
CUTICURA STOPPED HIS
UNBEARABLE TORTURE
"About four years ago. In London, I
was troubled by a severe itching and
ary, scunr skin
on mjr ankles and
feet. The same,
in a few days,
was the case with
my arras and
scalp. I o o u I d
hardly keep from
oratcblna. which.
1 need hardly
) say, made it
'worse. Then
large red patchea
appeared, with
inflammation
and soreness.
After ten dars.
thousands of small red pimples formed.
On beooming dry, thns caused Intense
itching. I waa advised to f o to the
hospital for disease of the skin. I did
so and waa an out-patient for a mouth
or more, the chief surgeon saying: 'I
never saw sue? a bad ceae of ecaema.'
But I got little or no relief. Then I
tried many so-called remedies, but I be
cam so bad that I almost gave up la
despair. Co oomtng to this country I
beard so many accounts of ourea by Cuti
cura Iteinexiie that I resolved, aa a
lait resource, to give them a trial. This
waa after suffering agonies for twelve
months, and right glad am I that 1 did
so, for I waa relieved of the almost un
bearable itching after two or three
applications of Cuticura Ointment. I
continued it use, combined with a
liberal use of Cuticura Soap and Cuti
cura Resolvent Pills and am mora than
thankful to say thai after uatng three
sets of the Remedies, I was completely
cured. I can only add that, should any
one be suffering as I did, I hope that
tbey will do as I did, and I am sura ot
the reaulu Henry bearle, 3023 Cross
U.L I it IU Unfit Ark .. tint. It asisi IO '(IT
OoBriat Ciwrsst sse Istxrnl T -siirl I
Brrarr buwir of lot&uu. I.tit4in. mmm aouns
nwra m lunrori v ' vm I to hmmmm l a.
VMieur tricioiMit u.i 10 Heal H skia
vvuew luaoiraai itu i, (or is im dm oirv
Caolot! Mil, Uc par MI ol SO I u uf'ty lL
cms throush.! um aona. rtwr iMiaj a
I n " Prooa.. Smib Mam.
arsUiMd ttm. Cutwwa sal aa I
FOLLOWED
1
0 AIM
I
1
