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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1909)
f I) THK OMATIA ITuKmAY HKE: MAY HO, 1000. Butler County Where Peace and Plenty Follow the Plowman's Trail v .ri':.: 'yy ;Vf i - : : K Ji-if'."'',. 'A . . . . , ......... , . .. s i iK r muSrj' i'Jwi"-r Wi in TMMit , DAVID CITY HIGH SCHOOL. HB early pioneer Btrurk Butler T county Just when the Hudson Uny Fur company failed In the lino of eettlement and clvlllza- tlon. One carried In the trap- per and the trader, the other, the home maker and hl wife. One hla Bone creek, and Gardner's Ranch, on the traps and rifle, the other his seed wheat site of Savannah, the first county seat, and plow. Oho shot an Indian for killing a This ranch was established by David R. beaver out of season and the other paid Gardner In 1859. The year previous Shlnn's bounty on the wolf and the coyote. One Ferry was established, whlrh is about ten hunted and traded for what he could carry miles due north of David City. The "old out of the county, the other planted and Government trail," or "Military road," en budded for what he could leave In It for tercd the county near the line dividing his children. One counted hla munkrat Skull creek and Oak Creek townships, and nosts and the other bin hills of corn. One wound In many a devious way along the hla bale of furs, the other his bushels of divide to a point In what Is now the Krsln. In short, the fur trailer puddled town Of Oak Creek, the site of "David his boat r. i vny nlr-am and drove his Reed's ranch," at which point it became dog nam over i-wi; trail ai.ins the Platte one with the Mormon trail. Reed estab ! river, to brliiK out furs snd peltries, while llshed his place In 1862, and operated It for the American emigrant hauled In with his about five years. Along the line of this prairie schooner the twentloth century Inst trail were scattered several ranches: civilization. Morning In David City dated MeCabe's, on Deer creek, established In from that time. 1HB9; Thomas Bissau's, on Kim creek, corn It Is generally the opinion that the ex- menced in 18fi0, and Simpson's, afterward plorlng expedition under the command of Ora.nfs, established In 1&9. John C. Fremont, "the Pathfinder," was The first attempt at a settlement In the the first Visit Of the white men to the ter- county was made In ltttf by the Waverly rltory now comprised within the limits of Town company of Plattsmouth on the Butler county. The Mormons In their 'banks of Skull creek In what is now the transcontinental march from Nauvoo to township of Platte. Messrs. Hultslcer, Utah passed thtough the county, leaving Barker, Garrison and nine others were the a plalr.ly marked road, well known to the Pioneers In this movement, but owing to old settlers aa the "old Mormon trail." ... . .v,,.,.,,,, iiiiii. This entered the county in the southeast- era part, what Is now Richardson town- ship, on the east, thence following un nn of the continuous divides to the table land, and from there, round Its northern edge! to the point where Deer creek leaves the hill, from which It descended to the Tlatte bottom. During the excitement attendant on the discovery of the preclou. metals at Pike', thousand of adventure pawed through thl part of the state m !. - ,'. - . . --s. " : 1 v. " 4. . - . - ' ,. . ;-. - . . . - . Gossip and Judn-lul Kxperienco of Taft Family. Bl-JLIKVE It la true," write President Taft la McClure's, "that I am the only success ful candloat for the presidency 1:Jf5S who ever had extended Judicial J" experience. Mr. Van Buren l.ud been a surrogate or probate judge early in his career, and Andrew Jackson, I believe, did serve a a Judge of the su preme court of North Carolina, but It was a very unimportant part of hi life, and hi service did not bring Into the Issues of his cainpaigu any discussion of hi work a a Judg. "Judge Parker, a far aa I know, 1 the only other candidate who had been for any number of years on the bench, and wh.le there was sumo reference In the campaign to his judicial opinions, they did not involve any ivvuti made In the plat form utid were not givea special promt iei.ee 011 the slump or to political di tuiiuls. t "In 1X4 the judgment of the supreme court in tliu Income tax cu was made a subject of heated discussion, and sug gestions that the court might be increased it one parly was successful, so aa to bring about it reversal of the decision, were not wanting, bllll, I think it may be truly said tlmt iu no campaign sine the beginning of t(.o government has there been directly in vuivid a au Issue a question considered J decided by one of the presidential cau ilitiuu aa a Judge. "It is not the first time In my family thai a Judicial decision has played an Im portant part In the political fortune of the Judge deciding It. While my father was a Judge of tho superior court of Cincinnati the question arose whether the school board of the city had the power by resolu tion to change U10 rule under which schools were opeiud in the morning by the reading of ihe King James version'' of the Bible. Two of the Judges of the supreme court be I J that tliia was beyond the power of th nchool board, while my father, the third Judge, disputed. The case, proceeded to th supreme court, and that court, in a unanimous Judgment, approved the view of n.y father a a dissenting judge In the court Ueluw. Notwithstanding this result, l'i thieo gubernatorial campaigns my father Wd defeated jii republican convention on the ground of his decision in the Bible c. but it never fell to his lot to be nonu nta as a laty cardidalo and to firil It neccry tJ u uiiou Ui sluuiy to y.ui J! - 1 ' S n their way to the new dlerfrtngs, traveling- by what was known as the "Fort Kearney road," or, "Pike'a Peak trail." The old California trail, also, closely following the Platte, passed through the old ults of Waverly, on Skull creek; Ellsworth, on tne plk0 Peak excitement of 1SED. the set - llemenl w" soon aDanoned. in 1858. arter tne exoJu" tn Waverly people, Solomon B - Garfield and James Blair came to the countv nd mB18 settlements with their famlUe8 ,n what ,B no tle township of latt0 and were- therefore, probably the fl"t, Pf manent settlers within the limits ,. "V.r. county' In 1859' Thompson Bis- L "TZ lL." .everal other, made settlements within .he boundaries of the county. In the year I860 but two pioneer settled here. The, were ik THRESHING ON KOVAR FARM, EAST OF DAVID Stories About Noted People or defend hi decision. I think I may say that my experience In tola respect ha been truly exceptional." Marse Henry' Memory. Ou Thomas wa spending an evening with Marse Henry Watterson in Louis ville, relate the New York Press, and around 2 a. m. they began to feel tired. By 3 they were exhausted. By 4 they were all In and had to quit, separating and going their different way. Thomas tumbled out of bed the next afternoon at dinner time and looked up Marse Henry, so they could go to break fust totrether. ) "Colonel Watterson," said Thomaa, "where did we go after 2 o'clock last night f" "I don't know. Ous," said Mars Henry. "What did we doT" "I don't know, Ous." "When did we go homer "I don't know, Ous." "Colonel Watterson." asked Thomas, 'who took me homeT" "Marse Henry's face cleared brightly from the gloom of previous ignorance. "Qus," he said, with confidence. "I took you home, sun." Hall Calae ou 3O0 a Year. Shortly after Rosetti death, writes Hall Caine In Appleton s, I took two rooms (I called them "chambers") In the old, now demolished Clement's Inn, and there de voted myself to my work as a Journalist, which consisted chiefly of my work on the Liverpool Mercury. If it were uecessary to dwell on my do mestlo life I could perhaps tell curious stories of my days in chambers, for with my income of luO pounds a year I had to be my own cook and housemaid, making my own bed and breakfast, as well as my own politician and prophet, regulating for the people of Liverpool affairs of vtale, and discussing for the world In general the laws if the universe. It may be enough to say that I wa rather poor and very lonely, having few friends in London, hardly any houses to call at, and little to live for except my family, who were far away, and my work, wliieh was always with ma Later, when my friend were more plen tiful, my editor discovered that at the moment of the unexpected death of a celeblrity he wa omet;me hard pressed for an adequate obituary notice, and there fore resolved to have a k.--nd bot'v of surh tulAle nei-ared and 'i .ulitlej in ad ii ii mihi iii mm nimii ! i iai in iirnmii iiiniiiiiiiiMimiii mm - " - ; ' - '--i"' - '- ' "- - NORTH SIDE OF SQUARE, DAVID CITT. William Butler and S. D. Shlnn, who both Independent, ond while they yet reside on located In the vicinity where Savannah was their farnn they are takln life easy. afterwards laid out. Most of these and their successors In the following years located on the bottom lands hear the Platte river; close to wood and water, the prime necessities of life. A few made settlements each year there- iier, uui uunng me civil war tneir num- ber wss quit small, but on the cessation of hostilities the tide of emigration again commenced to turn thither and each year saw the population of Butler county con- slderably increased. During the early years the settlers experienced many hard- CITY NATIONAL BANK. -win- n.-Hn,,!..!. ,V. k. , ---- ' ''' came nd devoured everything in sight. Since then a new Nebraska had developed and Butler county haa done it share In this development and has also shared in the beneficial results therefrom. That farming and Its allied Industries Is profit- able Is no longer a question that can be 'lLC.T1? The. of ce7sf. l i77h i.T tZ them who eight, ten or twelve vears were In moderate circumstances are now CITY. vance of the time when they would be re quired. In this work of preparation my service were engaged, and I wrote numberless obituary notioes of people still living. In cluding nearly all the literary friends with whom I used U dine and smoke. I called these my post-mortem examinations, and, making no aecret of them, I sometimes engaged the co-operation of my subjects themselves In preparing the substance of what wa to be said about them after their death. Tolstoy at Home. A German tourist who recently visited Tolstoy writes: "The venerable man makes beruic efforts to disregard the pain which Is the natural accompaniment of the mal ady from which he Is suffering, and when he can do so he take long walks, know ing full well that the next day he must pay the penalty In his armchair. His industry 1 unchecked. He Is writing a history of the revolutionary movement of luutJ-'OS and labors diligently on his book entitled 'Chil dren's Wisdom', which consists of ques tions asked by children of their elders and the answers. He Is writing also a treatise on Confucius and a book on India. Hi correspondence 1 tremendous, but he di rects it personally and enjoy doing it" Plarklng a Lover. While on a business trip to Amarillo, Tex., last January, Alexander Quist, tw years old, a retired farmer of Rock Island, 111., met Mrs. Julia Johnson, 13 year old, of Nashville, Tenn. Friendship ripened lino love and the couple planned to get married In Kanaa City. The couple arrived February 20 and Mr. Quist got a marriage license. He gave his fiancee $100 to buy wedding clothing. She did so, but advised him to return to Rock Island until the clothe were mad. She went back to Amarillo. On May IS Mr. Quist passed through Kansas City, gut his fiancee's trousseau and bought ber a pair cf $& diamond earring and a $3X) diamond ring. The couple returned to Kansas City to get married on the original license. Still Mia. Johnson was not prepared and bor rowed $.W mora from her fiancee to shop. hue did not return. At T o'clock Qulat found a note from her at the hotel, say'uig that "time has shown me that we could not live lit-nuly together, so 1 muat leave you." A few years ago the grade or breed of cattle was not a question; now It Is different. Farmers are constantly searching for the finest and most perfectly bred cattle and horses; In fact, stock of all kinds that can be procured. As an Illustration of what cnn and has been done In this line, a few weeks ago State Senator C. H. Aklrteh held a sale of Hereford rattle. Forty-four head was sold at an average price of more than 100 per head. Sixteen of those were less than months old. One cow sold for JS30. Most all of this was bought by farmers 1 L-fc i K .'nw?rlW!.:t CENTRAL, .. ..uing in uuner county. The last report shows Butler county haa within her borders, live stork a nw Cattle. 22,364 head; sheep, 1,636 head- hogs 31,574 head; horses, 10,277 head- mules 993 head. The various products raised In' the county in the year 1908, are as follows- Corn. 8,731,787 bushels; winter wheat 1 841 1 bushels; -PHn. wheat. 1642 bushed; i."4,O00 bushels; barley. 2.258 bushels; L r.,,VV potatoe8' 91-696 bushels; TJ?'! i0nBi W,Id hay' 43,638 ton8: awaira, 6.6W tons. Butler county has seventeen banks, three imuunai ana rourteen state, the combined capital of which Is $364,000; surplus, $146,000; deposits, $2,467,000. That the mortgage In debtedness is on tho decrease Is evidenced by the following, copied from the report for the years 1906 and 1907: 1906 farm mort gages filed 2S2, released 24; average rate of interest 5 per cent; 1907 farm mort gages filed 198, released 279, average rate of Interest. 5 per cent; 198 city mortgages filed eighty-one, released eighty-nine, av erage rate of interest S per cent; 1907, city mortgages filed seventy-six, released 108, average rate of Interest 7 per cent Farm lands have Increased In value at a rapid rate, the average price being from $100 to $150 per acre. A further evidence of the rapid develop ment and Increase in wealth of the county Is In cities and villages. Of those there are seventeen, all railroad stations. David City, the county neat, located within half a mile of the center of the county, and has a population of more than 2,600. With Its natural and railway advantages and the enterprise of Its citizens, it prom ises to largely Increase In the future and assume Importance among the larger citlu W. J. CRUSEN. North Plane, Neb. r--:----- ygrar.-,jB. .: ' of Nebraska. The Union Pacific, Chicago A Northwestern, and Burlington and Missouri river railroads all cross Its limits and have depots. It has three hotels. The Perkins, built by a stock company, la the largest, being a three story brick structure. The original plat of the city, tho property of Phrbe W. Miles, laid rut by W. T. Rich ardson, was filed for record June IS, 17S. To this have leen added about sixteen additions. The city was legally incorpor ated March S.. 1S74. The court house, lo cated on a block of ground In the center of the city. Is a structure second to none In this part of the state. It was built m ii I .yj ., ... NEBRASKA NATIONAL BANK. about twenty years ago at a $58,000. cost of All kinds of business Is represented and the merchants all seem to be prosperous. Two department stores are doing business here, and each employ a large number of clerks. Three national banks, with abundant capital, are doing a profitable business. In the manufacturing line, there are two flouring mill with a combined capacity of 225 barrels per day and a brick yard' emPlo'ln elshteen men and turning Out 3 .000. 000 brick annually. ' Is,, we-"' I SCENE ON FARM f n Wm 4 . Engineer Crusen Turns Evangelist in His Old VTA? yte i . ' . . :y-- vxw j ... , ; K"('i " 'w.a--c,w.ii,,tiiif t r,i ' r : ' . .3 BUTI.FR COUNTY COURT HOUSE5. The David City public schools, three Bralnard each support newspapers, 'acB buildings, employing fourteen teachers, arc them having a large subscription list, crowded to their utmost ei.paolty. There The ninety-two school districts of Butler i. . r,.nhmi honl e.iH.lovlne four county employ 148 teachers, twenty-sit teachers. That the cltlsens of the city are religiously Inclined, Is evidenced by the fact that four Protestant churches and one Catholic are maintained, all attended by large congregations at all services. David City has fourteen fraternal organisations, each with a largo membership. A new hospital was constructed about a year ago at a cost of $10,000. Two newspapers, the Tcuple's Banner, tepubllran. and the But ler County Press, democrat, tako care of the local news. David City has a system of water works, and Is Just completing a ystem of sewer age. The city Is lighted by electricity, the plant being owned by private parties. It also has two telephone systems, and a large majority of tho farmers of the county have telephones In thulr homes. entry of land, which was made by J. W. Besides David City, sixteen other towns Seeley. In 1869. the United States govern are located In the county. Hellwood on the mrnt granted 97.000 acres of land to the north. Rlslnit City on the west. Ulysses on the south, and Bralnard on the east, taeh having a population of about 750, are thriv ing villages. Bellwood has one bank, Rising City two, Ulysses two and Bralnard two. Brainard also has a steam flouring mill of 100-barrel capacity, and an eloctrlc light plant. Ulysses has a water power flouring mill. Other villages In the county, all of which are good markets for nain and live stock, are: Loma, Yanka, Foley, Garrison, Llnwood, Octavla, Millerton, Sur prise, Dwlght, Bruno, Able and Nimburg. Surprise has a water power flouring mill Bna bank- Garrison, Llnwood, Octavla, Dwlght, Bruno and Able each support a bank. Able, thriving little village In the east part of the county, also has a steam flouring mill with a capacity of 100 bar- rain. Rlalnir Cltv. TTlvauo tiaIIu.,1 an a : " ' rAVv . .... a . v. : v. X - n u:4; " r! OF ALFRED KNAPPS, SOUTHWEST n.lLLUM J. CRUSEN, a retired W Union Pacific engineer, Is spend ing the closing years of his life seeing what good he can do for his fellow-men. At North i'latte, where he lives, and all along the Union Pacific he is known as the engineer preacher. Pensioned by the Union Pacific railroad, he is now a local preacher with the Meth odist Episcopal church and gives his time and talent for tho good of mankind by helping pastors in revival work. Since he guv e up his engine and entered the serv ice of the church as a volunteer he has been connected with meetings where over 1,500 souls have been converted. He has Just finished a revival meeting at Curtis, Neb., where 130 were converted, and before that at Kavena, where seventy-five were converted. Crusen holds the respect of all the Union Pacific trainmen and the officials of the road and people all along the line know and respect I'rusen, the enxluetr preacher. He was a good soldier for L'ncle Sam dur ing the civil war; he was a good engineer for the Union Pacific and for the other roads he worked for prior to that lime, and now he Is doing the best he can for his fellow-men. On March 19, 1-40, on a farm In the Lick ing valley in Ohio, twenty-six miles up the stream from Z:inegville und fujr miles from Newark, Crusen was born. At the age of b he attended a country log school and for five years gathered a little knowl edge of the three lis, when he was forced to give up school and help out on the farm. For three years he did the best a boy could do to help grow the crops and he then started out to make his own way in the world. He soon secured employment in a hardwood sawmill as fireman und engineer, a position which required toi.ie iklll and to which he had to exert his best efforts. This engineer then had to do his own filing and cut his own wood from the slabs from the mill as a side div 1 tiioii. He kept this Job for one year at truths for which few youi.g men would lubor today. Cm-sen gave up his Job at the mill for a position as fireman on the Central Ohio railroad, now the Baltimore & Ohio. He ran from Belalr to Columbus and continued In the ervlce of the railroad for three years. The mutterlngs of dlscension had changed to the stern realities of war and hs en listed for three months when Lincoln Issued bis first call for 75.000 men, paying hi own far ISO mile to enlist In Company L, male and 126 female. Wng.xs are com paratlvoly good, the highest paid In th country district being $65 a month; lowest, 115. There were 1M eighth grade graduate last year. The county haa a flourishing teacher's association. The educational tea ture of the year ) the educational con ventlon held each vap towftrd thA taut tit jIarcll In 1867, the county owned one lor school house. In 1X76 It possessed fifty-four, of which forty-eight were neat and oommo dlous frame structures, well finished. The first teacher's certificate was Issued to Allen Jllson, October 29, 18G9. The first school district was formed December 6, iscs. In 1S5S Mahala City was made county seat by special act of legislature. August t, i860, a patent was Issued following the first Lnlon 'acmo Kaliroad company. April 10, 1X71, and April 14, 1872, are remembered as the days of the great snowstorm and 1872 Is marked aa the year ef the great pralrlo fire. David City town site was surveyed In ls73 and the 'I1 bouse built wa. th court house, in the same year. Rev. Wil liam Worley of the Methodist church, or ganized the first circuit in the county and preached hi. first sermon in a grove on the Blue river. The Butler County Press, a weekly Journal, Issued Its first number September 25, 1873. This Is a homestead county and for a lovely country, with orchards and vrovsa and hedges, with productive field of corn and other grain, with sleek, well fed cat- tie and lusty swine, with prosperous farm. ers antt their happy wive. It certainly uio. uk .ii o..tin 9I FROM DAVID CITY. Days Twelfth Ohio volunteer. At the end of that tlrno It was seen that the war would prob ably drag on and Crusen enlisted for three years more In the same regiment. Hi regi ment received a sound drubbing seven day after Crusen Joined the rank. He served through the War for three year and then ran a locomotive for the government at Nashville, Tenn., until the war ended. Ho then secured a position as engineer on the Terra Haute & Richmond road. W. R. McKeen, father of W. R. McKeen, Jr., of the McKeen Motor Car company, was president of the Vandulla at that time and Horace O. Burt, afterwards president of the Union Pacific, was a civil engineer In charge of construction of an extension to St. Louis and Crusen wa In charge of the engine which carried these to the cele bration of the completion of the Vandalia extension to St. Louis, when the last spike was driven. After working for fifteen year for th Vandalia Crusen built a steamboat to try to compete with the rullroadx, but soon lost In the venture all the money he had saved by years of hard labor. He then worked for the Big Four and the Wabash until IsM, when he received a telegram to come to Omaha and run an engine on the Union Pacific. He soon had a regular en gine and a regular run. He named hi engnie "Soda Water Sal" and that old en gine and some of Its famous run are still the talk of the old-timers on the Union Pacific. "Sal" was a peculiar looking en gine, with a straight boiler, and It cylin ders almost as big as the boiler. Many are the tales of experiences with snow drift and Indians and drifting cattle which cru tch can tell when in a reminiscent mood. At one time Soda was running In a bliz zard a 1.1 became stuck at I,odge Pole and could get no further. Ueorge Dlllard wa sent from Sidney' to help him out. They rtachrd Colton. when lul struck seven yoke of oxen and killed all but one. He tell manv tales of killing coyote and rabbit from the cab of his engine. "ltolil.y." aied the visitor, "how are you getting on with your astronomy?" "Aw, I guve It up," pouted Bobby, dis dainfully. "1 got discouraged." "In what way?" "Why, on day when our parlor was full of company, 1 remarked that 'Man' face 1 full of lines, and ma thought I meant her face and took me out to tho Woodahed and t baveu't bad such a licking la tw jrwaa."