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Hall County Pioneers Built a
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HIGH SCHOOL.
T HAS always Wn th happy
fortune of the I'latt rlvrr to
have a border population that
was conxtantly uneaoy to reach
a farther front. lldr lnnd and
freer life. Kut when the early
pioneer unyoked his oxen for the last time
It was not his Intention to turn from the
riatta valley, which h knew and loved.
And whether he opened a farm or started
a bank he had the advantage of knowing
the country and Us people.
Nearly all the prominent cities of Ne
braska have some specialty that has con
trlbuted to a greater degree than any other
factor to the growth and prestige. But
Grand Island has no specialty. Its re
Miueaa are divrsifi4 auU wU ulgh laax-
DRIVEWAT
Gossip and
Taft's l.ocUy Nnuiber.
Jl'lt Is I'resident Taft's lucky
number, relates the New York
Pre He hss four lulters In
Ms name, and he was bjrn In
Ohio, a state of four letters.
The president also is one of four
He was graduated from the
high school In Cincinnati In
brat hers.
Woodw ard
1 jTi. and w cut to Yale, which bers a four
letter name. Mrs. Taft thtn lived In Pike
Mreet, Cincinnati. The four letters In 'f.e
raiiie of that street bote luckily upon the
J resident's courtship. The wedding cere
mony was performed by a preacher whose
four-letter tinme was Hoe. Good luck
of the number extended from then to Helen
Taft, the daughter. She w.m one of four
fcholarshlps at piyn Mawr and entered
upon a four- ear ct ursu.
In l!iH Taft ai appointed president of
the United States Philippine comiulsvion.
On July 4. 1U. he ban hl career as the
jrl ci.il governor of those ular.ds. H.s
Wcrk as governor ended on Febi uary 1,
14. Secretary of Wsr Koot had four
letters In his last ncme. That augured
well for Taft. He succeeded Root as secre
taiy of war In 1104. Ten years before tliat.
In 1W. Taft had n.sdo his famous .tfcifi n
Ii:i"t Phelan In th labor strike 0 ise.
Taft could not help making a record ss
secretary of war. because he bad to deal
chiefly with the army, which Is another
ur-lettsr institution.
Coming down to his election as president
fr tour years, with four mora years lu
h'r1 ;.4, " H ft f-' ... . r,- . ... . .
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UNION PACIFIC CAR 8HOF3, GRAND ISLAND.
1
GRAND ISLAND.
haustlhle, and its people have the force,
push and enterprise which is essential to
success an are the (rifts of nature, without
which It cannot be won.
The wonderful richness of the soil,
backed hy great natural advantages, was
sufficient to form the ground work of
Grand Island. These great natural advan
tages attracted good men and made men
Rood. Their cltiicr.s were of the rest
less, energetlo type, which worked wonders
wherever they located. Grand Island also
has a goodly number of manufacturing In
dustries' and the dinner pall brigade Is as
suming Industrial proportions. The city
enjoys a prestige as a commercial and
financial center, which keeps pace with the
grow lb oX Uie country It serves and which
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IN 6TOLLKVS PARK. GRAND ISLAND.
Stories About Noted People
prospect. It Is luUiestlng to note how
largely the figure four and four-letter
names entered Into the campalfn. On
April 11, 1JOA. it was announced that 2tl
delegates were pledged to Taft out of 4H
selected In states entitled to 651 delegates.
A month before that his manager, Vorya,
said he hud 14 of 2tt delegates selected
to the republican national convention, and
forty-two were Instructed for olhxr candi
dates In that week forty-six delegates
were selected and fcrty-two contests had
been noted, of which the four Oklahoma
contests Involved Taft mer.
Major General J. Franklin Bell, the presi
dent's friend, has four letters in his name,
and the rret-Ment's military ai.le is Cap
tain Archibald W. Putt, another fo.u-letter
man. Tin number also carries into the
president's poii, as gjlf, his favorite,
Indicates. lieeiUtni Dias of Mexico, who
Is to meet tho prendent in Kl Paso on
October 13. also belong to the four-letter
fraternity.
oted JSI Athlete.
Midshipman Kenneth Whiting. V. S. N..
ho, according to recent cable dispatches,
while attached to the dated S:ates sub
marine Porpoise, now stationed at Manila,
distin juifhed himself by the daring and
dangerous feat of having himself ejected
from one of the Porpoise's torpedo tubot
while tt was submerged and reaching the
surface in safety, la well remembered both
for bis "nerve" and athleuu pi owes by
Annapolis men. While la the naval acad
emy ha played end on tiie fool bail lean.
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In turn serve It.
The welfare and fame of Hall county Is
very closely associated vlth the properity
and pride of CJrand Island. With the
progressive record of the city the develop
ment" of the aJJacent and contributory ter
ritory will keep pace. It Is Indetil the ad
jacent development which city progress he
speaks; and It is that upon which the city
progress depends. The building up of the
surrounding country Is the most Important
and gratifying feature of a'l.
Every family brought Into the county,
every farm Improved and every Institution
established, whether It be a creamery or
foundry, the raising of beets or blooded
stock, adds Just that much to the business
resources of the county. One prosperous
family on a little farm Is worth more to
Grand Island and to the county than a
tralnload of tourists traveling through tho
county. And the factory and manufactur
ing plant employing twenty-five or fifty
men and using the raw material of the
valley Is a growing asset, a continuous rev
enue producer. Labor Is one of the prima
factors In all the development, and the
community that can supply intelligent and
contented labor has an asset of great value.
It was the Germans that discovered Hall
county. And Its discovery and development
came not by chance. To subdue the prairie
has taken the rude surgery of the rougher
fibers. Hall county has been the battle
ground of strong men with nature.
In the spring of 1S.'.7 as soon as there was
grass for the teams the future settlers of
Grand Island started from Des Moines, la.
Nebraska at that time was a very new
territory, with less than 20.000 peoplo scat
tered along the Missouri river. This party
reached Omaha on June IS, and found a
little city three years old with less than
2,000 people. A few settlers had at the time
gone Into the Platte valley and had cross-.l
the Loup river about eighty miles west
of Omaha. Every four or five milts a house
was found, some with canvass roofs or
otherwise unfinished. Fremont and Colum
bus each consisting of about a dozn block
houses.
From Columbus this party Journeyed
about sixty miles farther west until they
came to Wood river. Just west of this point
and opposite a large Island In the Platte
called Grand Island, the new settlement
was located July 4, Uf7. The party ton-
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and later captained It. He was also a
"star" Hack athlete. Boxing was the
young "middy's" favorite exercise, and la
his senior year he won the championship
of the academy. As a foot bsll player
Midshipman Whiting was particularly
noted for his quickness, fierceness of play
and absolute disregard for Injury to him
self or his opponents. His pla lug in Army
Navy game was at times nothing less than
desperate. His work for athletics at the
academy was recognized by the award of
the sword "for the mldsii.pman do.ng most
fur athletics."
W'n's Hrllllaut Career.
Dr. Wu Ting-fang, the retiring Chinese
minister, and one of the bett known men
In the Imperial diplomatic service,
born In the Hainhul district, Kwng-tung.
China, about sixty-five years ago. lis w
educated In the Chinese classics at Canton
and studied English at Hongkong, lie ws
enrolled at Lincoln's Inn, London, In 1-7 ,
where he studied international law and
other Uil subjects fur two years, when
be was admitted to practice at th Lt.iis:i
bar.
Returning to China In 1T7T. he passed
through the United State and mad a
study of national Institutions and colleges
On his arrhal at Hongkong he practiced
law until 1W, when he was appmiued at
legal adviser and deputy for foiei.-n affairs
at Tientsin by 14 Hung Chang, then vl.erov
of ChllL While serving In this capacity be
became Interested In railroads and built
the first railway in Chins. Ht became pro
moter and chief director of the Kai l'u.g
Railway company, and later was appointed
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: AUGUST
Kingdom
7
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slsted of thirty men, six women and one
child; they had seventeen nke of oxe;i
and" a span of mules. The pioneers then
went to work putting un some log houses
near the present dwellings of Mrnek nnl
Stuhr farms, a little esst of the present
city, so near together they culd protect
each other In case of attack br Ind ans
In the fall of I;? the flif-t tumors ca.ne
from the west about gold belnjt discovered
at IMkes IVak. The Immense amount of
travel over this old ImmlKrant road for the
next five years furn'shed this1 settler with
a potil mnrkit for all ftirin p.odu.-e.
Of th original ploneets who came hero
forty years ago, not many yet remain ill
the city or county. At prtsent there are
living in the city of Grand Island. Christian
Menek. a retired farmer, and in the
county, William Stolley, William A. Hagge,
Kal Ewoldt, and Hy Jochm k, sr., and two
ladles, Mrs. Joelmck. wife of Hy Joehnc:;
sr., and Mis. Anna Thompsen, wife of
John Thompsen, sr.
All these early pioneers were poor from
a financial point of view. But they weru
rich In courage, energy. Industry and fru
gality. They were suc.es.fful from every
point of view and laid the foundation of
Grand Island and of Hall ccunty. Grand
Island received Its name from the largest
Island In the Platte river. In IS'X the orig
inal town site was abandoned for one on
tho railroad, about a nnlj to the north.
The first tiack of the I'nion Pacific, rail
road was laid Into Grand Island on July
lS'Jti. This construction train was drawn
by a locomotive called Os. eola. It wu
captured by the Indians six miles West of
Plum Creek In 1SGS.
The first building erected In Grand Island
was by W. Stephens on Locust and Front
streets. The first mayor of the city was
W. A. Piatt, elected In 1ST. Industrially the
present wealth of the city has depended
largely upon the farms and the farmers.
And this condition is liable to continue for
many years to come. In other Industries,
that of the railroads is of the greatest Im
portance, not only to the city, but to the
entire county. The l-'riion I'uclfic Railroad
company has large Khops located at Grand
Island where It employes in all about U50
men. This Is one of the Important division
stations of the line. Two other railroad
companies also add much to the city's
wealth and prosperity, the St. Joe & Grand
Island and the Burlington & Missouri.
The American lleet Sugar company has
an extensive factory here, employing about
250 men. This factory generally begins
operations in September and runs 100 days.
The facti ry consumes the product fro.u
about 4.000 ai res, yields about ten tons p;r
acre. About one-thlid of the beets uij
grown tuui.i.ii Grand lsiai.d. the balance
is grown In the iir.tta ed dis.ricts further
west. Th's fact ry turns out about 7.00J.0JJ
pounds of K'jar per year, and furnlsliei
from 12, Out) to l,",0uu tons of pulp for feeding
stock. This waa the first beet Migar factory
established In the United States.
The I'nion Stock Yard company has in
the last two years built extensive nev
yaids east of the city and is doing an Im
mense business in feeding slock in routtf
to the limaha and othir packing houses
from the stock farms of western -ebraska
and the stock ranse farther west.
The large canning factory usts the pro
duct, mu.ily sweet corn, troin about 6.CKX)
acres, and employes 2'M people through lh
canning season. The larc f.our.n mill
runs day and night, employing fro.u
twenty-five to thirty men. The product of
this plant, established twenty years ago,
has won for itself an excellent reputation,
and finds a market in many cities reaching
to the Pacific coast.
Grand Island has two excellunt laundries
which give the people prompt service, de
livering to any part of the city. The city
also has a broom factory, a wire fence
manufacturing plant, good foundry, new
windmill factory, candy factory, employing
forty people, and the Fairmont Creamery
company has Just completed a large plant
costing from $76 000 to IIOI.OCO.
Among the public service corporations are
the Grand Island Gas company and the
Grand Island Kleeirlc company. The city
also has its electric lighting plant and
owns Its own water works, which are
operated in connection with each other.
The telephone facilities are second to none
In the state. Two telephone companies'
by the imperial government codirector In
the railway bureau, then Interested in the
construction of railways In north China.
On the establl.-iiuient of the Tientsin uni
versity, in 1S5. he was appointed chief di
rector, and in the same year he was made
first secretary of the embassy of peave
missions to Japan and plenipotentiary for
exchanging ratlflcati tis of Hie peace treaty
effected at Chefu. He also asl'.td in nego
tiating at Peking the Chiiio-Japanese treaty
of commerce and navigation, which wu
ratified In October, ISM. In the following
year he was sent as envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary to the United
States, which office he held until 1:02. wlitn
he was recalled to China. In 1307 he was
reappointed to the same post.
Dr. Wu Tlr.g-fang has contributed nu
merous essays on economics and political
subjects to the leading American and Urit
Uh inagaxlnes and newspapers. He has lec
turd upeatediy before university classes
hero and abroad, and In 13UV the degree of
LL. D. was conferred upon hltn by the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania. He is married
and has several cnlldren, all of whom are
being educated In American and English
universities.
Tula Di.w!, r -None.
F.r.gsged to one twin, but unable to
marry her because the father insist that
both twins shall be engaged at the same
time. Is the tad predirann nt In w hich
Elmer L. Brock, ssslstant attorney general
of Colorado, Is placed.
Mr. brock met. wooed at.d won a south
ern beauty, Mlts Amelia Lavlngton, some
weeks ago, whlie on a trip to Kentucky,
and was preparing to announce the engage
ment when he was confronted by the
father, Wilbur P. Lavlngton, a lawyer of
the Blue Grass state, who forbade the en
22, 1909.
in the Beautiful Platte Valley
1 ,-
NEBRASKA SOLDIERS'
lines reach from everywhere to every
where, giving the city and the county ex
cellent servlc. Most of the farmers now
make use of the telephone, and with the
rural delivery covering most of the county,
they arc in close touch with the business
world.
The city has In the last ten years made
wondorful progress as a wholesale. Jobbing
and commission sales center; they have
two wholesale grocery and two wholesale
fruit houses. The first thing that strikes
the eye of the visitor of Grand Island Is
the clean, wholesome appearance of Its re
tall stores, a good criterion of what can be
found on the Inside. It Is very apparent to
the careful observer of Industrial and com
mercial knowledge that the city has never
forged ahead so rapidly as In the last three
years and In every legitimate branch of
commerce It can lay Just claim to having
representative establishments which are
abundantly capablo of holding their own in
any equal field with the best houses In the
Platte valley. In the last election the el'y
had the third largest vote In the state.
The Sate Soldiers' home Is located here
and Is raring for about 500 of tho old vet
erans and their wives. The t -end Island
Business college owns its building and has
an enrollment of (500 stuli'ii s. The Grand
Island Baptist college, established about
twenty years ago. has an enrollment of W0.
In no particular Is the rlty more per
tlnently to receive Judgment from the
casual visitor or the great army of travel
ing men than In the character and make-up
of their hotels. The city and hotels are
so linked together that a prejudice against
one Invariably reflects on the other. This
rlty is well supplied with hotels and they
are centrally located, convenient to the
best shopping district. The Commercial
club Is well organised with a membership
of 200 wideawake cltlsens. This club has
been very successful in securing for the
city many new Industries and their In
fluence In up-buildlng and beautifying city
is seen on every hand.
Dairying is proving to be the friend of
the farmer. It brings In money everr
month in the year and makes the farmer
more Independent than he ever was before.
Last year the farmers of this county
shipped out 200,000 pounds of butter and
120.000 gallons of cream; they also sold and
shipped out 16,000 head of beef cattle and
: 1,000 tat boss and In addition to this tut
THIRD STREET.
gagement unless the other daughter should
be betrothed at the same time.
"Now what can I do?" asked Mr. Brock,
in the throes of anguish.
"I met Amelia while I was south on my
vacation, and we were both stopping at
Rock Castle Springs.
"."he was alone then and I did not know
that she had a twin sister until afterwards.
Just before I left I lie other daughter,
Anne, nearly as pretty us Amelia, appealed
on the scene, and matters were compli
cated. "The two were always together as chil
dren and young girls and were lnseperable,
the first separation being the time when I
met Amelia. When I left Kentucky It was
with the understanding that I should re
turn, and I was happy until Mr. Lavlngton
called upon me yesterday.
"He made the situation very plain, and
that he was wrecking my happiness never
occurred to him. but he told me plainly
that he and the mother, before her death,
bad desired a double marriage for the
twins, and that he would not give his con
sent to the engagement of one until the
other one be engaged too."
Prudence ef Kreaeh Diplomat.
An amusing little adventure happened
the other day to the French premier, M.
Hi land He paid an official visit to a lit
tle town In the southeast of France, which
is famous for Its clocks and watches. The
minister opened the local exhibition, and
after the speeches the local mayor pre
sented him with a magnificent chronom
eter made In the town.
'If your excellency will allow." he said,
"we will keep the watch for a few days
and legulate It."
U. Brland, who, though a socialist, has
MaWpIT' Hi- X
AND SAILORS' HOME, OR AND ISLAND.
K
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HALL COUNTY COURT
Hall county farmers sold and shipped out
of the county 237,000 bushels of corn and
2S2.OO0 bushels of wheat.
The sheep Industry of the county is of no
small Importance. Robert Taylor has a
ranch of 6.000 acres devoted largely to this
Industry. Kennet McDonald also has a
large sheep ranch on which are some of
the best farm buildings In the county.
There are over 40,000 sheep shipped out the
county each year. One of the most pros
perous farmers Is Martin Schlmmer, u Ger
man, who came in the early days. He
owns 2,500 acres of land, under a high state
of cultivation and well stocked.
But over and above all the attractions
of the newness and swiftness of things Is
the attraction of the Platte river. It is the
mouth of the valley, for It Is the most
expressive feature of Its landscape. It
has the power of drawing attention with-
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LOOKING WEST FROM PALMER HOL'SE. GRAND ISLAND.
a sense of humor, comes from the south
of France himself, and knows that prom
ises there are not always kept. He
knew, too, that a colleague had the same
watch given to him last year, that It has
been kept to be regulated, and that It had
not yet reached Pails. So M. liriand,
premier, shook M. le Malre warmly by the
hand, told him that he was a bit of a
clockmaker himself, and would enjoy put
ting the watch lu order, and would think
while he did so of the kindness of the
town which had presented It to him. M
Brland has discovered that the watch Is
an excellent timekeeper.
College Daily Newspapers
(Continued from Page One.)
they are nearer probably to being metro
politan newspapers than any of the other
college dailies. The llliiil last year wu
made an elght-pag paper, with five
columns. At the cams time the Dally .No
braskan was enlarged to five columns, It
already being an eight-page paper. These
two papers during the last year published
more local college news than any other
dailies In the country.
For the first semester of the coming
school year the Daily Nebraskan,w ill be
edited by a boy who Is not yet 17 year
of age and who Is the youngest college
editor In the country. He 1 a brilliant
boy, with a large knowledge of newspaper
work, SBd gives promise of putting out a
paper that will be the best Nebraska has
ever had. A prominent feature of the Dally
Nebraakan. the mini and the Maroon Is
the cartoon which Is run several time a
week. This has become a fixed part of
these papers and has made them many
subscriber It Is rapidly being adopted by
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HOUSE. GRAND ISLAND.
out courting It. The faculty of exciting In
terest by Its graceful movements. The
real way to know the Platte river is not to'
glance at it here und there from the car
window. You must go to Its native haunt.
You must see It In Its youth and freedom;
you must accommodate yourself to its pace,
and give yourself to Its influence. If you
are a good walker, take the Riverside
path or across the open meadow. If you
are business tangled, tho Platte river has
Some of the best rarelillllng scenery 111
the state. The landscapes of the river'
are growing more beautiful from year to
year, notwithstanding the clearing, tramp
ling work of civilization.
All through this part of the state th
old Is giving way to the new, the savage
to the civilized, the prarle to the orchard,
and field. Tbs dawn of a new day la
breaking
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other college papers.
In the east the Yale News, the Cornell
Dally Sun and the Columbia Spectator are
the most progressive papers. They all pub
lish a great amount of local news. They are
well edited and contain several feature
that are pleasing to their class of readers.
The Michigan Dully, the Dally Callfor
ntan, the Cornelllan and the Pacific Wave
cover only s,lected departments of the
work of the Institutions they represent.
The Princetonlan and the Wisconsin Car
dinal are apparently the plutocrats among
the college dallies, for they carry a far
larger proportion of advertising to reading
matter than a..y of the others. The Kun
san Is Issued semi-weekly at present, with
prospects of being enlarged Into a dally
during the coming winter.
Of the weekly, monthly and other publi
cations published In connection with the
school of the country little need be said
beyond the fact that the editors and man
agers repeat In a smaller way the experi
ences of the editors of the college dailies.
News bus to be provided for the subscrib
ers, advertisements must be procured that
sxpenses may be met and all the details of
the business must be carried en In much
the same way as In the office of the big
gest newspaper or magaslna published.
W'ky lie Died.
Head Keeper Snyder of the Central park
loo was smiling over a newspaper aocount
cf a monkey U at bad died of love.
"It's a good story," said the head keeper.
"This reporter has an original turn cf (
mind. He's like the western Jury. A
westerner, you know, onca hanged him
self to the bedpost by his suspenders, and
the verdict cf the corner's Jury ran:
" 'Ixceasd can to his d -ath by coming .
home full and mistaking htu,seif tut his j
pants.' " Nsvr Turk TUi.es.
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