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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1918)
THE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAT, JANUARY 21, 1918. The Omaha Bee DAILY (MORNING) EVENING SUNDAY FOUNDED BY EDWAXD ROSEWATER VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR THE BEE PLBLISHOJO COMPANY. PROPRIETOR. Entered at Omaha postofOee as aeeoiU-claaa matter. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION - it. Carrier. Br inn nfi anno. ... Bar wt. ISa At hk M.M Only without 8uiid7........ ....... JOe .o KvcolRt end SnW " Ms " , ." Ktantoa witiwat Sanaa? a . Srnidsf Be eel? , " te , IN Scd notice of otiuii af address or ursfulsrltf la deUm to Omaha Um ClrcoUiioa Datiariamil MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Dm Aannlatad Pnn af arilefe The Bm It A Busbar, ft eat untltlMl in tfe. n far fmbllullon ni .11 aew. duuatelMe eradttM to It or not otaanrtM anditad la tata can, and alio tlx tonal ew pibllihed hereia. All ruble of aablieauoa of eu apaslal oiapatcbai ra alaa reeemd. """" REMITTANCE , Reran r draft, aipma or portal order. Oolj I-cnt atamra Ukaa ti I want of amall aoooanla. Peneaal tttnX auat oa Omaha, aai eutera eseBaDse. acta musiinl OFFICES "malts The Baa BuHdini. Moota 0aha Silt K M. rouncll Bluffs-U W. Mala Uaeola Uttle Bnlldiaa, IJiloaie Panels' Oai Bnitdtng. JUtar SM Plftfe ara. flt. Lmun Mnr B'k af Coauwro. Waatlaataa llll O DC CORRESPONDENCE Addnai caairnarlsadaBa Mallaf to am and adltorlal mart to a utperuata. umaba Baa, editorial DECEMBER CIRCULATION 59,541 Daily Sunday, 51,987 Arenas Mmiatiea lor tM amst. aatoarlM aoi tvara to to DvtaM Wllilum. Clrutiatlaa aianaasr. SuWrlWa leaving tfea elty ahawU bare Tha Baa mafia! to them. AaVtraaa change aa alts aa rsnaaatsA. . Shop early every day from now on. Dr. Garfield'i doe was bitter, but it did save coal ' Ladies, remember the short-hour shopping days begin today. Do your shopping early. If the weather man could only be induced to be good for a few days, how happy we might alt bel ' " - City hall inmates complain that announce ments for the city race are slow in coming. Do not worry, brethren; the lists will be well filled long before the starting flag drops. Uncle Sam is making a tempting bid for the services of "hello girls" who are linguists. In this case it is not the "voice with the smile," but the tongue that is trained that will win. . State Treasurer Hall issues a .timely warning to communities on the topic of going into debt unnecessarily during war times. This will alio apply to individuals. Expenditures on public ac count must be for necessities until the skies clear a little. . John H. Moorhead has knocked quite a chunk out of the Hitchcock-Mullen slate, by announcing his determination to run for United States sena tor. The former governor evidently thinks him self big enough to decide on his own political prospfte. Warning to big consumers that it will be well for them to pack their own ice is a trifle belated, but may yet be acted on if ffrose most concerned get busy. 'We do not want to be confronted with in ice famine next summer after what we have endured in the way of a coal shortage thU winter. Nebraska agricultural college students carried off all honors in the stock judging contest at the Denver live stock show. Nothing so remarkable in this, for it is natural for a Nebraska youth to know a good animal when he sees one, and after his intuitive knowledge has been sharpened by a little technical training, you simply can not beat him. Shorter Shopping Hours for Omaha. Beginning today, the hours for shopping in Omaha will be shortened by the omission of one a each end of the day. Stores will open one hour later and close one hour earlier. The prime purpose of this is to save fuel, an object to which all will readily contribute. It may be considered in another aspect, however. Convention has had much to do with the fixing of business hours, dealers deferring to customers' convenience in the matter, and thus has grown up something amounting to almost compact between buyers and sellers that stores must be open for certain hours. If it were possible to change our habits in a very, slight degree, it might be possible to do all the real business within the shorter time now set for expedient 'purposes, and make the custom permanent. 5 In industries where the eight-hour day has been established the results have been uniformly gratifying. The shorter work day has commanded the attention and re ceived the endorsement of economists, and its advocates have even urged that the eight-hour day be still further reduced, that more leisure time maybe enjoyed by the workers. If the rule works well for industry, it might be applied with equal good results to commerce. However, the present is not exactly the'moment for the appli cation of sweeping reforms. The shorter busi ness day to be practiced for the time in Omaha is a voluntary act on part of the business men, who solicit the co-operation of their patrons, to the end that fuel may be saved and thus a con siderable contribution be made to the general public weal. The experiment will be watched, and who can foresee to what it may lead? Just to Keep the Record Straight The sheep men in the convention at Salt Lake City on Saturday had a great time denouncing the editor of The Bee. If the sheep men will but carefully read the editorial they so fervently jumped on, they will find that it is helpful rather than harmful to their interests. It made no ref erence to the report of President Hagenbarth to their convention, but did deal with an address he had made earlier in the week before the cattle men, who also met' at Salt Lake. President Hagenbarth in the news dispatches was quoted as advocating the removal of meatless day re strictions from beef and mutton, saying the in crease in herds was putting too great a burden on the stock growers. It was to this statement The Bee's editorial was addressed. To the credit of the cattlemen, be it said, the resolution in tended to carry out the advice of President Hagenbarth was allowed to die in the committee to which it was referred. The Bee did not gar ble nor distort the remarks of the sheepmen's president, and it has nothing to take back or cor rect, save the reference to the price of wool. The market quotation was given at around 80 cents per pound for January, 1918; this was wrong, for the figures then quoted at Boston, where the price is fixed, were above $1 per pound, going as high as $1.80 for the best domestic grades at the time. The Bee has always tried to be help ful to the sheep raisers of the United States, and will continue to do so, but it owes a duty to the public that is above its interest in any industrial or social group of our people, and to this duty it is unequivocally devoted. Germany's Next Move. Reports from Brest-Litovsk bring word that the peace conference between the Germans and the bolsheviki has been abandoned, the Germans declining to accede to the demand for .withdrawal of troops from occupied Russian territory. This was the first condition set up by the bolsheviki as a condition precedent to peace, and, as such it is flatly rejected by the kaiser's representa tives. Its effect would be to give back to Russia the Baltic provinces now held by the Germans, who have in turn proposed to occupy them until a plebiscite might be taken among the inhabi tants, to determine their future connection. The outcome of such a vote, supervised by the Ger man army of occupation, is easy to foresee, (and the Russian extremists will have none of it The next move in the settlement with Russia is up to Germany. The proposal to invite the entente allies to join with Russia in a discussion of war aims de serves serious attention from all governments concerned. Russia can offer but little for the present in the way of material aid, but a con sultation such as is proposed might be the means of bringing home to the peasants who are in power a better understanding of their position. It would at least give them full and definite in formation as to the difference between the war aims of tha allied democracy and the plana of the desperate German military autocracy. Some mean must be found to get the truth before the people of Russia, and the suggested conference may offer the opportunity. New Deal on Allied Shipping. Governments of the United States, Great Brit ain and France are now to co-operate in the con trol of trams-Atlantic shipping, as well as in the other details of actual war work. This is not to be a pooling arrangement, nor an effort to con trol or fix freight rates, but will have to do with the dispatch of ships only. Port controllers on either side of the Atlantic will look after the loading and unloading of vessels, and see that they are delayed as little as possible in harbor. Chairman Hurley of the shipping board gives as his opinion the statement that new arrangement will greatly increase the efficiency of the tonnage now available. This is, ' of course, contingent on the solution of the fuel question, which Dr. Garfield thinks he has achieved. From working shipyards comes the more comforting statement that work has so far progressed on forty-nine cargo vessels, part of the lot commandeered by the government in October, that they will be ready for service by March. Eighteen of them will be in service before the end of January. This lot will add 327,000 gross tons to the ship ping under government control, and brings the transportation fleet that much nearer the point where it will meet the demands of the situation. "Ships and more ships" still is the cry, and it is finally to be answered by the ships. The German newspaper editor who talks of 'America's inability to put an army into Europe must have1 been filling up on statistics of the vin tage of 1913. We have secured enough steamers formerly owned by the Germans to transport a considerable force, without regard to other fa cilities. Something of a shock awaits the awak ening of those who put their faith in stories that Uncle Sam has no soldiers abroad. Those balky British enginemen ought to take a look at their brothers from the United States and Canada, who have volunteered by thousands, and are handling trains under fire along the French front. And, for the matter of .that, no where has the life of the engineman been more strenuous than in America this winter of bliz zards and cold waves. Beef Making in the Arid Belt How Science and Money Turned Chance to Certainty By Frederic J. Haskin. Washington, D. C, Jan. 19. On a sample bit of desert in southern New Mexico the forest service has demonstrated how the desert can be made, not to bloom, but into beef. It has shown how the arid western ranges upon which we are dependent for meat can be made to produce, under scien tific government management, about twice as much as they are now producing. The experiment of scientific range man agement on the Jornada range reserve has been going on for several years. It will take many more years to show the full possibili ties of scientific knowledge applied to cattle ranching, but what has already been done is of great promise and importance in these days of dwindling meat supply. The forest service selected for its experi ment one of the most unpromising bits of desert in the southwest. The Jornada range reserve is in Dona Ana county, New Mexico, and takes its name from the fact that it lies mainly in a great basin which was named by the, Mexicans the Valley of the Journey of Death. They gave it this pleasing name after a Mexican general tried to march his troops across it and most of them died of thirst. The average rainfall in this region is but a little more, than eight inches a year, and is some times little more than three inches. Summer temperatures of 106 are not uncommon. High winds that drink up moisture like thirsty giants blow almost incessantly. Small stock owners tried to gain a foot hold in this region, but one by one they failed and moved out In years of good rain, their herds would increase a little, but a bad year would wipe out all they had gained. Finally but one man was left, C. T. Turney, who made a success by utilizing all of the range ana water tor his one herd, ihis progressive ranchman agreed to place his stock and land at the disposal of the forest service, and to build all the fences and wind mills they wanted, provided that he should be reimbursed for these expenditures with free use of government lands for grazing. That was in 1912. Today the number of cattle which the range will carry has been in creased about 25 per cent, silos have been built, and the prickly Spanish bayonet, hitherto considered useless, converted into excellent ensilage; the disease of blackleg has been largely eradicated, and the Valley of the otlrney of Death is considered one of the est watered cattle ranges in southern New Mexico. James T. Jardine and L. C. Hurtt, the government grazing experts who have charge of the work, say that it has just begun. The government men found this range dotted with windmills at intervals of 10 or 15 miles. A low arid mountain range containing a few springs occupied one side of it. About the watering places the better forage grasses had been almost exterminated by overgraz ing, while everywhere the 'capacity of the range had been greatly reduced. The wa tering places were so far apart that weak ened cows and calves often fell dead after traveling over the desert to reach them, and then drinking their fill. Stock raising, as carried on by most of the ranchmen in the southwest is a form of gambling in which the uncertain element is tiie weather. The task of the experts was to reduce this game, with the odds against the player, to a science. aMataaaj They immediately saw what the un trained man had overlooked for a hundred years, that there were two radically different kinds of range within the experimental area of 200,000 acres. In the foothills and moun tains grew a low grass which in the fall bore rich heads of black grain, known as gramma grass, while in the Mats a coarse green grass called tobosa was the chief forage. As long as the cattle were allowed to roam at will they sought the gramma in the summer while it was growing, an? went down to the tobosa flats in the winter when this grass was dry and of little value. The experts immediately fenced off the gramma. They ranged the stock on the tobosa flats in the summer, and during the lean months from February until the summer rains began in July, they had the dry but nutritious crop of gramma to fall back upon. This not only greatly reduced the loss of stock from starvation, but it greatly improved the gramma range by giv ing it time to recuperate. The water supply was the most serious question. The method of getting water was to sink wells from 175 to 500 feet deep and erect windmills over them. This was expen sive. In fact, it was the expense of sinking wells more than any other one thing which had squeezed out the small ranchers. The experts quickly determined how many wells they could afford to sink and still produce cattle on a paying basis. They then supple mented these wells by building dams across the arroyos so as to catch freshet water. They also built one pipe line eight miles long from some permanent springs in the moun tains, thus carrying water to a part of the range which wculd otherwise have been use less. In this way they built up a watering system such that the cattle rarely had 4o travel more than two and one-half miles to get water. -j It was found profitable in especially bad years to feed some of the cattle a small amount of cottonseed cake; but this alone did not fill their needs. They must have some form of roughage. Accordingly two silos were built, and some tobosa grass was har vested and stored during the summer.'. In the winter the silos were opened and the grass fed to the cattle, but they refused to eat it. The experiment was then tried of cutting the desert plant variously known as yucca, Spanish bayonet and century plant which grows abundantly in the southwestern deserts, and is of no forage value on the ground. When this had been softened by being put through an ensilage machine and stored in the silos the cattle ate it eagerly. The experts found that the average crop of calves on this range was but 60 per cent of the herd per year. By all of the above methods and by introducing bulls of the best Hereford blood, this was increased to 81 per cent in a bad year. The need for scientific supervision of the arid cattle range is shown by the difficulty of estimating the capacity of the range. On any given range a certain number of acres are necessary, on an average, to support one head of stock one year. The cattleman, gor ing at the matter hit or miss, nearly always overstocks his range in good years and then suffers heavy loss in bad ones. The scient ists found that it was necessary to divide the range on this one area into eight different classes, the carrying capacity of each class being determined by observations extending over a number of years. It was found that one head of stock requires from 20 to 100 acres of range for its support in this region. It is evident that if similar studies were carried out upon all of the arid range lands, and the stocking limited according to ca pacity, losses would be greatly reduced. Much has been said about the passing of the open range,. with its romantic but unpro ductive methods. Few realize how complete . I - ,... mi .-7. tne cnange is to oe. i ne cattie rancn oi me future will be operated in as careful and scientific a manner as a hothouse. France Is Not "Bleeding France' Spirit of the People Indomitable and Unconquerable Janet. Stewart in Philadelphia North American. Monsieur Anatole Le Braz finds that in America today there exists a certain miscon ception of France; monsieur regrets that so often when he picks up an American news paper or an American magazine he should find in the countless articles devoted to a wholly laudatory appreciation of his country the unfortunate words "bleeding France." Monsieur insists that that unhappy adjec tive is a misfit and that every conception it gives of his native land is erroneous and ex ceptionally misleading. And monsieur has a peculiar right to speak for France, and a peculiar right to be heard in America. Anatole Le Braz is today the French rep resentative of tha old Celtic literature, whose more than twenty volumes of poetry and prose have only one theme, his own land of Brittany; several of his books have that last distinction of French literature, the crowning of the French academy; he is known throughout the world as one of the great writers of the France of the twentieth cen tury. . j But he has another right than that to Se heard in America; he was for several year the writer selected by the James Hyde foundation to lecture at Harvard; his lecture tours have taken him throughout the coun try; he was the French representative at the exercises to commemorate the settlement of Louisiana and he ( was a member of the French staff at the San Francisco exposition. He is an officer of the Legion of Honor and he has seen his three sons and his three sons-in-law march in that first army of France which, in August 1914, went out to meet the foe. One of those sons, the young est, is dead on the field of honor. "I cannot tell you," monsieur says, "how repellent is to me that phrase I meet with constantly here 'bleeding France." Now, an individual who is bleeding is generally an ob ject of commiseration, an unpleasant object to look upon and one that suggests exhaus tion and a certain lowering of vigor. Today France is the exact antithesis of that. "France is upright; she is alert in every fiber: she is indomitable. Never has she been more vigorous. She is the epitome of valor and tha expression of Unconquerable will; she is unflinching and she is girt with strength. ' "She has lost during these last three years her brightest and her best, but those who are left, if you - picture them as broken and 'bleeding,' you are displaying an unpardon able ignorance of France and the spirit of France today. "Here is an instance of what I mean., You know the great artist, Lemordant, he was be fore the war like the god of the seas, a specimen of manhood it was a joy to look upon; well, he was shot blind, absolutely blind; his work, his joy in life taken in one moment away from him. "After he came out from the hospital I went to see him in his famous studio. I for got Completely that the man was blind, so gay he was, so eager, so interested in every thing, so indomitable and so convinced that France would conquer, and conquer soon. When I rose to go I said: 'Oh, now you will show me those marvels, waving my arms to ward the walls where gleamed the pictures that have made him famous. ' "Not a shadow crossed his face. Gayly he said to me: 'Not I now, someone else will show you.' I was miserable at my cruel thoughtlessness, but when 1 tried to tell him of my grief he smiled and said: 'Oh, it is only that the eyes of the artist are closed, there is nothing to grieve about, the beauty remains and forever will remain.' "I am the father of three soldiers; the Cangcst of them fell on the battlefield of rraine. He had been blinded in one eye and as soon as he got out of the hospital he went back to the front again. One night he crawled out to No Man's Land to bring in the body of his captain, and as he was doing it they shot him. As he was dying and they asked him if he had any message to send, he said: 'Tell only to my father that I am dy ing like a Breton.' He was just 18. "That is the spirit of France; that is why I tell you that the conception of a bleeding France is an insult to my country." I TODAY I One Tear Ago Today In the War. German raider Vtneta reported (tunic off coaat of Brazil by British cruiser Glasgow. ' Americana who died for France honored at great public meeting In the Xational theater. Parte. The Day We CeJebrat. Theodore Starrett, of the building Arm of Starrett & . Thompson com pany, born Ittt. ( Conrad H. Young, real estate man, bora 1874. Joseph Krauakopf, Phlladephla rabbi and Jewish scholar, born 60 years ago today. Admiral Sir Henry B. Jackson, of the British admiralty, born 3 years ago today. William A. Wirt, originator of the so-called "Gary system" of education, born at Markle, lnd., 44 years ago to day. Frederick Madison Smith, president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, born at Piano,. 111., 44 years ago today. This Day In History. 1 S84- National house of represen tatives voted to. repeal the Iron Clad Oath bill of the civil war period. 1881 General Charles Devens, Union commander and atorncy gen eral under Hayes, for whom tha na tional army camp at Ayer, Masa, is nareed, dlftd in Boston. Born at Chil-lcfctown, Mass, April 4, 1829. Just SO Years Ago Today Notwithstanding tha long continued cold spell, farmers report chickens to be wintering well, but quail are rap idly succumbing to the severity of the weather. A number of lady and gentleman applicants for the position of school teachers were examined aa to their qualifications by County Superintend ent of Education Bruner. Mr. Da Shannon of the South Oma ha Hoof and , Horn, left for Minne apolis, where he will witness the Miller-Weir fight S. Danzinger. traveling agent of tho Phillip Best Brewing company of Milwaukee. Is In the city for the pur pose of establishing an agency for the- company a goods. O. M. Carter, who for many years has; resided at Ashtland, has resumed bis residence in Omaha. - Only one license to wed was issued due to the cold weather, according to Judge Shields. . Twice Told Tales Home Thrust ' Congressman - Elect - Bill Smith wants me to get him a Job says that he voted for me. Wife And how can such a bone head expect to hold down a job? Boston Globe. vThc Line Drawn. Pat was celebrating and he had im bibed too freely. He punched another man in the face and got haled up be fore the court The Judge told him he waa charged with striking a man. "Shure, yer honor, enn't a man have a bit of fun?" asked Pat "Yes," said the Judge, "but your right to have fun ended where this man's nose began." Boston Tran script Stumped. A new maid from the country had been engaged, and her mistress, who lived In a fine house, waa showing Mary Ellen round the various rooms and instructing her In her duties. At last they reached the best room, where the valuable pictures were kept . "Now," said the lady to the servant aa they passed before an extensive row of masculine portraits, "you must be very careful when dusting these. They are all old masters." Mary's Jam fell and an awestruck look came over her face. "Lor mum! she gasped, "who'd ever 'ave thought that you'd been married all these times?" London Chronicle. - Peppery Points Minneapolis Tribune: Times have changed since the days when the traveler received a bonus for pa tronising a particular passenger train. Washington Post: A necessary fea ture of the millennium will be a padded cell for war lords, where they can play all day with their decora tions. New York World: The shortage of paper in Germany cannot be ex treme If Berlin is willing to waste it by dropping copies of that goregous fake the "Continental Times" in the American lines in France. Louisville Courier-Journal: The dollar is worth only 45 cents nowa days on account of the advance of prices, but when a fellow has one dol lar to clink against another he still has the old fashioned feeling of inde pendence. ; , Baltimore American: Reports from the Protestant and Catholic army , chaplains In France as to the excel-1 lent condition of the morals of the. men abroad ought to silence all I charges to the contrary and reassure) the American people. Such testimony is unbiased and beyond dispute. - New York World: The preposter ousness of hereditary and autocratic power was never shown more sharply than in the political career of Kattl Schratt who has just died in Vienna. I The mrtlality of the old emperor shown her tor mnay years made her, without mandate from any public authority, an Important dispenser of , .puouc ravors. in tier tne rompaaour las made modern. Round About the State Nothing new under the sun? Look at Emerson and get wise. Emerson's breezy boosters have put out a 1918 calendar with 22 views of all but one of the best Institutions in town, done In warm brown. Regretfully the boosters' pictures were omitted. People inclined to kick about the weather might obtain relief by drink ing deeply from the fountain of op timism bubbling in the office of the Columbus News. Here's a sample: "On the whole the people of Nebras ka should be thankful tor a climate that is never as severe as that of other states, and for Just a little bet ter quality of weather, soli and peo ple than is possessed by most any other state in the union." The News leads as the Pollyanna of the press. Vlsioning the "good old summer time" In the dim distance the Nor folk News dons its worry cap and pipes trouble ahead: "How is the early morning: pest who mows his lawn while the rest of us take our final snooze going to work it under the daylight saving law when we all get up an hour earlier." Watch and wait You can't lose him! Butler County Press backs Miss Bess Houdersheldt of Shelby against all comers for the lightweight husk ing championship of the corn belt Miss Bess recently finished husking a 40 -acre field, or 1,850 bushels of corn, owned by her brother, who Is In training at Camp Funston. The job averaged 45 bushels a day, which is lively work for. a girl weighting nnlr 100 Bounds. Plan of Poultry Extension. Omaha, Jan. 18. To the Editor of The Bee: I wish to correct several criticisms which are apt to give an er roneous idea of the alms of the de partment in the poultry extensions. It is not the wish of the department that people take up the poultry busi ness in the commercial way, but sim ply to raise enough to supply them selves, it is not the idea of the de partment to kill off all males, but only the surplus. Those kept for breeding should be isolated as soon as breed ing season is over. It has been stated that the men selected by the govern ment are not practical poultry men. This is not true, aa every man on the committee has been engaged in the business for a number of years in a practical way. Our work at the Young Men's Christian association deals only with practical subjects. The York Times-News, in an editorial stated that this was a frenzy flury. We wish to contradict this and assure the York Times it would look better for them to get behind the propaT ganda and push instead of knocking, this 'might be made to apply to an the knockers. S. E. munsu.n. Allegory of War Tones, Ogallala, Neb., Jan. .18. To the Editor of The Bee: It Is amusing to hear the howl going up, anent the Garfield order to shut down the mills for five days, but I notice that Dr, Garfield stays by his guns, regardless of the senate resolution. There are so many would be statesmen, that the writer is reminded of an incident our ing the civil war. We were a bunch of raw recruits, sent down to relieve the veterans so they could go with Sherman on his march. At Tulla- homa on the Nashville and Chatta nooga Railway, a sargeant and five men, myself among them went to the timber with a six-mule team with a negro driver after wood for cooking. The sergeant put up a job with the teamster to have a little fun. Just outside of town he stopped the team and said the team would not go with out a rider on the near lead mule. The sergeant called for a volunteer to ride the mule. I was the first kid to volunteer, but I no more than touched his back till he bucked me off in the road. We all got back on the wagon and went oft with a yell. There are so many who think they can ride the near leader, they ought to be given, a chance. EDWIN M. SEARLE. Touches the Limit Lincoln, Neb., Jan. 17. To the Edi tor of The Bee: To take a perspec tive view of the trend of present events, one is led to wonder whether the world Is progressing to enlight ment or retrograding to midnight. Under the surface of things there are evil forces at work which makes that which is good seem insignificant and distant. One of these evil forces Is pure, unadulterated ignorance. In spite of our school system, daily pa pers and all history for a guide to light 'our pathway, Ignorance is still king over the human mind. If those that lead us politically, morally and spiritually are intellectu ally blind, then there are going to be many that will fall into the ditch. A reverend of Omaha was quoted as saying that the devil filled a oar full of booze in Missouri, but God turned it over in Iowa. Why did he not guide it to the police station in Omaha? He could have done so just as easily. If you can beat that statement for vicious ignorance, superstition and all that falsehood and blasphemy can produce, I would like to see your production. Then to think that state ment came from one who is a moral and spiritual leader. That statement is Just about the limit With millions starving in Eu rope and Asia, cruelty and debauchery running riot over most of the civilized world, a reverend tells us that God considers all that none of his affair but has his attention called to a car of booze through Iowa and imme diately turns it over, permitting all the men to escape, but wreaks his vengance on the least guilty of the occupants and that party a woman. Can you beat it? I give it up. SHELBY STRONG. Cost of Electricity. Omaha, Jan. 17. To the Editor of The Bee: A letter by Mr. A. C. Arend in The Bee is somewhat startling to the publlo In view of the fact that the Electrollne company makes the statement that electricity may be bought from any large elec trical company for 1 cent per kilowatt hour. Mr. Arend also questions other statements in the ad, but he does not designate what the misleading state ments are. In view of the fact that he does not designate the other mis. leading statements we will attempt to answer the matter as to the cost of electrcity. This engineer went to a local com pany, the makers of electricity to get the cost In the event we were to es tablish a plant in Omaha. The agent of the company slipped a card from his desk and made a price of three-fourths of cent to manu facturers, per kilowatt hour, If the manufacturer should use 16,000 kilo watt hours per month. To this price was added an overhead cost which would make the total cost of current to manufacturers a little less than 1 cent per kilowatt hour. When the statement as to the cost of current was made in the ad, we made the statement not on supposi tion, but on the statement of a power ful and well equipped electrical com pany. And the fact Is that any state ment In the ad may be carefully ia vestigated and found to be true. Mr. Arend should inform himself. There are a lot of things in Omaha of momentous importance that he has never heard about For instance, if Mr. Arend will take the time he will find that this engineer built a steam engine and a steam boiler here la Omaha in 1911 and 1912, and ob tained patents on both machines. And that on August 26, 1914, th.s engineer made application for letters patent oil the process commonly known as tha Rittman process, which is of record in the United States patent office. l We did not press the application' for the simple reason that we found the process to be impractical Ritt man obtained no patents. .An opinion was rendered on my application' by, an able patent attorney early In 1916. and he said that letters patent should have been granted on my aoolication. WALTER JOHNSON. Power Boats In the Missouri. Omaha, Jan. 17. To the Editor of The Bee: Now that the fuel shortage is stirring the entire country, I am going to renew a suggestion I made some years ago with reference to the establishment of power boats at our very doors. There Is an enormous power going to waste every day in the Missouri at the very doors of. Omaha. My sug gestion was that boats with water wheels could be constructed lor ine purpose of generating current My idea is that two large hulls could be censtructed, so formed side by side at say, 80 feet apart as to concentrate the currant of the river between them. In this space would be placed large wheels which would, be driven by the current The superstructure would be very simple, merely to contain tho dynamos and machinery essential to the development of electric cur rent. ' This boat could be anchored in the stream, and so arranged that it could be shifted about where found neces sary In the current. I believe this idea is practicable, and It would be a great addition to the achievements of Omaha. It wou;d not cost a very great deal to con-. struct such a boat, and try out the experiment. If it were found that one boat could generate enough cur rent to Justify the cost of its main tenance, it would be a very simple matter to add more boats as the oc casion seemed to justify. If one boat paid for itself, more would naturally follow. I would rejoice to see some of our men of means risk this much Invest ment, not only for the good of Omaha, but as a demonstration of the prac ticabllty of it for every city in the land located on a swiftly flowing j, stream. L. J. QUINBY. T MIRTHFUL REMARKS. "Have a good time while rou wer away?" v, "Yen. and I met collesre bov who can hold 200 pounds with one hand." "Well met, girlie. You only weight 135." Louisville Courier Journal. Mra. Bacon How do you like tlut hash dear? Mr. Bacon It seems to nerd somi"jlng. Mrs. Bacon Well, I can't think w.ist It can be. I put everything in It I could lay my hands on. Yonkers Statesma, . "I tried to have this telegram charged, but they demanded cash." "That's 'odd. I thought all telegrap tt--messages went on tick." Baltimore r-lcan, "I.onk at the money you could save U you didn't smoke." "Look at the revenue I made for the gov ernment by smoking. I'm doing" my hit" Kansas City Journal. "Is ha a man of his word?" "I should say so. He even return tho lead pencil he borrows for Just a minul'j." Detroit Free Press. 55c Per Gallon A Heavy, Viscous, Filtered Motor OiL ThcL VJhobs 01 Compaq GRAIN EXCHANGE BLDG. Prealiieiit. BACKACHE KILLS! Don't make the fatal mistake of neglect ing w"hat may seem to be a "simple little backache." There isn't any such thins. It may be the first warning that your kid neys are not workinir oroDerlv. and throw ing off tha poisons as they should. If thia ia the ease, go after the causa of that back ache and do it quickly, or yon may find yourself in the grip of .an incurable disease. GOLD MEDAL Haarlem Oil Capsules will give almost instant relief from kidney and bladder troubles, which may be the un suspected cause of general ill health. GOLD MEDAL Haarlem Oil Capsules are imported direct from the laboratories in Holland. They are prepared in correct quantity and con venient form to take, and are positively guaranteed to give prompt relief or your money will be refunded. Get them at any drug store, but be sure to Insist on the GOLD MEDAL brand, and take no other. Ia boxes, three sizes. 1 .BBiamB ri yt I -is the new "cold 1. fcWijf is the new "cold bottle" to enjoy with the immemorial "hot bird" a soft drink in the strictest aenae, but the liveliest, nippiest appe tizer imaginable rich ia the flavor of nutritive cereals and imported Saaaer hops. BEVO make good things to eat taste even better and it's healthful. ANHBUSKH.BTJSCH St.Loui,U8.A. THE OMAHA BEE INFORMATION BUREAU Waabinttorj, O C Enclosed find a 2-eent stamp, for which you will please send tne, entirely free, "The Navy Calendar." Name. Street "Address. . .w. .v. , v. . . . City...... State;...........