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THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: FEBRUARY 9. 1919.
DECLARE WAR ON
GOPHERS AS AID
TO STATE CROPS
County Agent Estimates Dam
age Each Year by Prairie
Pests Runs Into Millions;
Planning Campaign.
"Prairie pocket gophers caused a
damage of considerably more than
$2,000,000 to the crops of the state
of Nebraska alone during the last
year," according to Douglas County
Agricultural Agent Maxwell.
"Throughout the state the county
agents are organizing the various
districts for a crusade against tne
gophers, and now is the time to do
it. In Douglas county I have or
ganized union precinct for an in
tensive campaign against the goph
ers, and with the aid of the farm
ers 1 am sure our efforts will be
crowned with success.
Poisoning is Advocated,
"As a general rule the most satis
factory method of destroying pock
et gophers is to poison them. At
any rate, if a field of considerable
size is infested by these pests, the
exterminative measures should al
ways , begin by poisoning opera
tions. While this poisoning may
be carried on with more or less suc
cess throughout the year, the best
times to do it are the early spring
or late fall. Spring poisoning
should begin just after the frost is
out of the ground, for the gophers
take the poisoned baits at that time
readily, and there are fewer of them
to kill than there will be later in
the season.
"Because of its quick and certain
action, strychnine is the best poia-
on to use against the pocket goph
ers. The department of agriculture
of the University of Nebraska has
mixed a solution of various poison
which it sells to the agents of the
various counties of the state at
cost. These county agents, of
course, resell the poison solutions
at cost to the various farmers. This
solution is to be inserted in dried
fruit or vegetable baits, such as
parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots,
potatoes, sugar beets or apples, cut
in squares.
Should Harrow Fields.
"Owing to the fact that, as a rule,
poisoning will not kill every gopher
in the field, it is a wise plan to
smooth down all of the mounds in
the field, especially if they are nu
merous, by the use of a harrow or
plank drag a few days after the
bait has been distributed. Wherever
any mounds are rebuilt after the
distribution of poison it may safely
be assumed that living pocket
gophers are yet in the adjacent bur
rows and reapplications are in or
der. "In distributing poisoned baits it
is necessary to place them in the
main burrow of the gopher, which
can easily be located by the use of
a probe of some sort. By probing
about on a line between two adja
cent mounds from which the soil
is being thrown out the main bur
row is sure to be exposed. The
poisoned bait should then be intro
duced into the main burrow by the
hole made by the probe.
"While Douglas county pays a
bounty of 10 cents for each gopher
killed, the farmers will not collect
very much on the poisoned gophers
as they die in the ground. Being
unable to get any green, the goph
ers are very keen for the bait at
this time of the year.
"Never before was the outlook
for winter' wheat any better than
this year. I expect at least 98 per
cent of the total, crop to develop.
In the fall we will have another
'get-the-gopher' campaign, and this
campaign i hope to extend to a ter
ritory covering about one-half of
the county." :
Jim Gillan Almost
Forced to Believe That
Ghosts Walk. Around
"I never was much for believing
in ghosts, but Oh, Boyl" It was
J. M. Gillan, industrial commission
er f the Chamber of Commerce
speaking, his actions still register
ing a statcof bewilderment and excitement.-
v -
Mfj Gillan kept the secret several
days, then he just had to tcil some
body. Here it is.
Out at his home the door bell got
into the habit of putting in false
alarms, and announcing the arrival
of callers at unholy hours of the
night when there wasn't a caller
within ten blocks of the house.
Many times in the middle oi i.ie
night the blamed bell burst forth
with all its might, and Mr. Gillan
would get up. put on a smile, ex
pecting to meet at the door some'
bloated bulhonaire coming to Oma
ha to start a factory, or. a poker
game or something, but the only
greeting the commissioner received
was from the midnight air and a few
twinkling stars.-
Eventually Mr. Doorbell got bold
enough to ring out in the middle of
the day, which eventually resulted
in the downfall of the tricky instru
ment. Mr. Gillan made an investigation,
but Great Guns! he found fie bat
teries dead and in that condition the
bell had no business ringing at all.
Right then several new gray hairs
developed arcjund Mr. Gillan's ears.
The commissioner didn't want to
move in the middle of the winter so
he called an electrician, and Oh joyl
No more sleepless nights. The
electrical man found that Mr. Gillan
has a furnace, the furnace has a
thermostadt, and the thermostadt is
operated by batteries, and when the
room reached a certain tempera
ture the thermostadt raised up and
connected its electrical juice with
the door bell wiring.
"No, I don't believe in ghosts." It
was the commissioner talking.
British Soldiers Are Not to
Be Finally Discharged Yet
London, Feb. 8. (via Montreal.)
The soldiers now being released
from the British army under the de
mobilization plan are not being fin.
ally discharged, the process of dis
charge not being completed until
after tha peaca ia signed.
Four Irishmen Have Worn Omaha
Police Uniforms for Over Thirty Years
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Turnkey
Dempsey, Fahey, Haney and
Byrnes Still in the Harness
After Many Years on
Force.
In the phraseology of Sir. Dooley,
"the Irish are a tenashus lot, Hyi
nissey, and wance on the polis
force, there they -a-arel"
And Omaha has four of them
four who have worn the "blue and
brass" for more than 3Q consecu
tive years, and still are in active
service.
They have seen the police force
in Omaha gradually expand from a
village constabulary to its present
metropolitan dimensions.
All of them are, of course, long
past the voluntary retirement age
and are eligible to cease active duty
and receive a half-pay pension the
balance of their years.
Dempsey Reduced.
One of their number, Michael
Dempsey, considered the idol of the
force, attained the rank of chief, buT
a political upheaval caused his re
duction to the office of assistant
chief.
"Cap" Dempsey, as nearly every
policeman on the department calls
him, was appointed a patrolman 33
years ago, the date of his appoint
ment being October 21, 188S. He
Paris Experiences Catch in Her Throat
; At Memory of France's Dead When
Seeking to Resume Pre-War Gayety
By NABOTH HEDIN
Universal Service Staff Correspond
ent. Paris, Feb. 8. (By Mail.)
Though peace is yet far from signed,
Paris is trying hard to drop her
widows' weeds and be gay, but after
four years of mourning it is not
easy. Every little outbreak of light
heartedness seems a little forced.
There was considerable champagne
drunk when the armistice was
signed, mostly because of previous
vows but the effervescence soon
bubbled off, and two days later Paris
was back at work.
This daily grind has been kept up
incessantly for the entire war and
has contributed not a little toward
keeping the enemy at bay. Paris is
a big industrial center, as well as an
amusement resort. It is Weehaw
ken, Bayonne and Williamsburg, as
well as Broadway and Coney Island.
And for four years it has had the
war in its front yard (at times in its
vestibule), which is too close to be
forgotten in a few weeks- In time
Paris will again be light, crowded
and enticing, but I do not think it
will ever be the same. It has had
too close a call, and it will always
think of its dead.
When I speak of Paris this way I
mean the real city the people liv
ing here permanently and not the
city that changes each day. The
people that come here for short
stays live in hotels. They try to
get what new sensations they can
for their money and then move else
where. The real Paris is an indus
trial, hard-working city. To make
its acquaintance one has to travel in
the subway or the suburban trains
between 5 and 7 in the morning.
I Paris is Brain Center.
In addition to being a city of
manifold industries, it is the brain
center of the nation. I know a
professor at the Sorbonne who has
not set foot on the grande boule
vards for twenty years, and a fenc
ing master, also living on the left
bank, who has never been in the
Paris subway. Yet among the for
mer pupils of each are the am
bassadors and ministers that now
rule the nation. Entertaining peo
ple is also a laborious profession,
and the things of Paris that seem
so light and gay and trivial mean
hard work for somebody.
Never before, except perhaps dur
ing world's expositions, were, the
Paris hotels so crowded as they are
today, and when the peace confer
ence begins it is certain that they
will be still more so. To make mat
ters worse, the peace delegates have
requisitioned several hotels and an
nounce they will take more. The
tenants - have simply been dis
possessed, which is not a trivial mat
ter in these cold, rainy days, even
for people with money. Without
making reservations in advance it is
practically impossible to get a room
in any Paris hotel. Soldiers and
officers often find the greatest dif
ficulty in getting a decent place in
which to sleep.
It's The Americana
When you make inquiries ai to
the cause of this congestion you are
usually told it is the Americans,
and certainly it seems as though
tbs city was sever to full Am-
has been successively sergeant, as
sistant chief of detectives, detective
chief, assistant to the chief and the
highest rank in the department, that
of chief. He has won a reputation
for sagacity, and many of the cap
tures of noted criminals in Omaha
can at least be partly attributed to
his knowledge of their ways and
methods.
Andrew Fahey, whose service
record is eclipsed only by that of
"Cap" Dempsey, has put in 32
years, part of .the time as pa
trolman, patrol conductor, and turn
key. The latter post he has filled
at the Central police station for the
last decade.
"Andy" was born in Ireland. "Too
long by a quarther of a cinchury,"
he exclaimed when asked about his
erican uniforms. Besides the army
there is the Red Cross, the Y. M.
C. A., the Y.W. C. A., the Salva
tion Army, the Knights of Colum
bus, and a long list of lesser char
ities, each one of which has its
special insignia and cut. The only
people here do good who are not in
uniform are the Christian Scientists
and the Quakers. They find glory
enough for non-combatants in an
arm oand. .
In addition to this large person
nel, passing through Paris to vari
ous fields, there are the permanent
American administrations, for which
several hotels have been requisi
tioned. The army has taken the
Hotel Elysee Palace, one of the
largest in Paris, as an office building,
and the Red Cross has hired the en
tire Hotel Regina, Which for years
has accommodated a large number
of American travelers. The army
also has used for over a year the
Hotel de la Mediterranee as an of
fice building as well as the Hotel
Sainte Anne. The army, moreover,
used the Hotel Alexandre III as a
dormitory, and the American peace
delegation has laid hands on the
Hotel Crillon. The British delegates
are. taking the Hotel Majestic and
also the Astoria, while the Belgians
occupy the Lutetia. the largest hotel
on the left bank of the Seine. When
one considers in addition that many
hotels have been used as hospitals
since the war started, and that the
various Young Men's Christian as
sociations, British and American,
occupy fourteen hotels, it is no won
der there is a shortage. Even the
American embassy has had to take
over almost an entire apartment
house, instead of one floor, on ac
count of enlarged services.
No Building for Years
The trouble is that Paris has
grown in population, without doing
any building for the past few years,
and also that there are available no
office buildings, orooerlv soeakin?.
When you look for an office space
in Paris, no matter for what pur
pose, you have a choice among a
ground floor store, a hotel room or
suite, or a private apartment Paris
has never learned to construct any
thing else. - When a business con
cern installs itself in a Paris apart
ment the visitors are received in the
hallway, the directors meet in the
dining room, the president sits in
the parlor, and the clerks do the
work either in the bedrooms, the
butler's pantry, the kitchen or in the
bathroom. Many a stenographer
have I seen with the tvoewriter on
a board bridging the bathtub.
It is not only the Americans that
have to install themselves like that.
The French ministry of armament
occupies a large hotel on the Avenue
des Champs Elysees, the aviation
ministry is installed in an apartment
house on . Boulevard St. Germain.
and the Franco-American High
Commissioner has taken over a fam
ily hotel, making one less available
for visitors. The Maison de la
Presse occupies a modern apart
ment house, and its directors receive
visitors in what was built to be
bedrooms.
Cost Prices Soar.
The Influx of outsiders eoritrib
utes to filling hotels, boarding hous-
. Serf
UkivicJt - 2avczj
length of service, "but I'll be here
till I dhrop in me thracks I guess.
Came From the Army.
The stationing of a regiment of
intantry at fort Umaha is the prob
able cause of Sergeant "Patsy"
Havey s appointment to the Omaha
police department. He was ap
pointed shortly after his discharge
from the army in 1887. His com
pany was sent here from New York
or he might never have come (o
Omaha.
Sergeant Havey is known as the
"humorist" of the force, and as
desk-sergeant at the city jail, which
position he had for a number of
years, exhibited a wit and penchant
for practical jokes which are still
remembered among the veterans.
Ins t. now he is assigned to Chief
Eberstein's office for special duty.
It was as mounted policeman that
John Byrnes, day turnkey at the
city jail, first saw service on the
force. His appointment dates back
31 years. He is past 69 years of age
and looks not more than 50.
Age doesn't seem to count for
much with these four veteran "cop
pers", for they are on the job, rain
or shine, and performing their du
ties as well as the youngest officer
on the force performs his.
None of them ever speaks of re
tiring and though the work of 30
years may sometimes pall, they
are, like some of the prisoners they
have known, "in for life."
es and furnished apartments, and
adding to the shortage ot accomo
dations. It is the high cost, not
only of food but of household goods
which causes people who ordinarily
keep house to live in furnished
places, getting their meals at restau
rants or hotels.
Here are a few illustrations: Tea
cups which the first year of the war
were sold in Paris department stores
for (19 cents now cost 90. Electric
globes which before the war were
10 cents now are SO cents. The
cheapest Iron 'bedstead, without
mattress or spring, costs 300 francs,
or nearly $60. A "golden oak" typ
writer desk, not even made of oak,
which would have cost about $9.50
in an American department store,
I saw yesterday marked 2S0 francs,
or about $45, and a package of type
writer paper of 500 hundred sheets
which before the war was sold for
Frs. 3.90 I yesterday bought at Frs.
19.55. Everything else is in propor
tion. Transportation Shortage.
There is also a shortage and eon
fusion in transportation. People
who raised their own potatoes in
Brittany during the summer are not
allowed to have them sent to Paris,
because the military laws forbid
transports of potatoes until the
quartermaster's department has
formally decided it does not want
them. There is a shortage of freight
cars, and yet a morning paper re
ports that a whole train of them has
stood unused at Saint Cloud for
four years. Another paper reports
that at Dunkirk the French army
left 19 cars of potatoes, standing un
covered to freeze the other night,
while the civilian population of Lille
lacks potatoes.
While Spain and the South of
France, to say nothing of Northern
Africa, are gorged with fruit, the
smallest tangerine oranges, such as
grow in anv garden on the Rivera.
cost 10 cents apiece, and lemons
from 15 to 20 cents. The other
evening I bought a banana at Gare I
de l'Est. It was about the size of
my thumb and none too fresh. Price:
50 centimes, or 10 cents.,
Cannot Serve Butter
Legal restrictions pinch the hotel
guest and 6ave money for the pro
prietor. It is forbidden to serve
butter in any hotel, and as its price
is 7 francs (nearly $1.50) a
pound, the hotel proprietors find it
very easy to observe this law. It is
forbidden to serve rolls for break
fast, and each client has to buy his
own sugar according to card allow
ances, or half a pound a month.
"Continental breakfasts" have al
ways been a derision and a joke to
the American traveler. It is now
reduced to a pot of coffee and a
hunk of bread no butter, no eggs,
no sugar, no jam, and, after 9 in
the morning, no milk. (There never
was any cream.)
The cost of meals in restaurants
has gone up even faster than hotel
rates. It is now impossible to get
a meal, let alone a square one, even
in the most modest "bistro," or
hackman'a hangout, for less than
fiv franca.
0L1AEIA ADI1
THOUGHT DEAD
TO RETURN SOON
Lost Track of in Hospitals, He
Come Back to Claim
the Girl He Left
Behind.
Another case of a dead man re
turning to life was revealed by Miss
Honora Cusick, 1810 Grace street,
who has just received a letter from
ner fiance in Germany with the First
Army of Occupation. He was previ
ously reported dead.
J. W. Osborne, the man reported
dead, is a resident of Kansas City,
Kan. He was trained in the balloon
school at Fort Omaha and went
overseas with Company B of the
Second balloon squadron in Decem
ber, 1917. In the Chateau Thierry
engagement he was badly wounded
and his comrades, believing him
dead, took a photograph of some
letters of Miss Cusick which he
carried with him and returned them
to her with a letter stating that he
had been killed in action.
He was not reported as dead or
missing by the casualty lists. Many
eltorts to ascertain his death were
made by . Miss Cusick, but, all of
them ended in failure. ' .. ..
Ha Pulls Through. '- '
A letter has arrived from the sud-
posedly dead man stating that he
had been badly wounded by a high
explosive sflell, but had fully recov
ered and was as much alive as ever.
He had spent nearly three months
in the hospitals of France on the
verge ot death, out haa finally
pulled through. A hand-embroid
ered scarf valued at over $100 ac
companied the letter.
Mr. Osborne is now stationed at
Trier, Germany, and writes that he
was the first man in the Second
Balloon company to be wounded.
Many relics ot the great war nave
been sent by Mr. Osborne to 3
Cusick. A uerman helmet, a hol
ster and a revolver, a mouth harp
found in the German trenches,
poems written by American dough
boys in the trenches and post cards
taken from dead Germans compose
part of the collection.
It is expected that the return ol
Mr. Osborne to this country will
terminate in marriage, a romance
of three! years' duration. Mr. Os
borne aifd Miss Cusick are at pres
ent engaged and their marriage is
expected to take place as soon after
the return of Mr. Osborne as possi
ble. Honduran Minister Killed
in Rioting at Tegucigalpa
San Salvador. Feb. 8. Serious
rioting has occurred in Tegucigalpa,
the capital of Honduras, and the
minister of the interior, Francisco J.
Mejia, has been killed, according to
dispatch trom Tegucigalpa.
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War Cripples Will Find
Jobs With Film Companies
Carl Laemmle, President of the Universal Film Manu
facturing Co., Says That Legless Men Can Well Be
Employed in the Motion Picture Industry.
New York, Feb. 8. (Special . to
The Bee.) In answer to the plea for
"jobs for soldiers" Carl Laemmle,
president of the Universal Film
Manufacturing Co., has made the
first step in the film industry to go
further than providing positions for
returning heroes he has pointed
out that the film industry can offer
thousands of positions to wounded
men, men even who have lost one
or both of their legs in the war.
Mr. Laemmle says that althougn
there will be plenty of work for
returning soldiers, physically fit for
any kind of labor, jobs for wounded
men will be scarce indeed and
through the Universal employment
bureau he has written the surgeon
general and the adjutant general.
also the Red Cross and reconstruc
tion hospitals of the country that
his company stands ready to give
crippled soldiers positions m its
him inspection where the use ot
feet or legs ia not essential.
Rather Be a Wart in U. S. .
-v. Than Whole Eiffel Tower
Paris. Feb. !"8. (By Associated
Press.) He was spluttering with
the helpless indignation of the
man who wants to tell folks what
he thinks of them and can't pro
nounce the words, when he came
into the Y. M. C. A. headquarters.
Two gendarmes with ferocious mus
taches and friendly eyes shepherded
him into the room.
"L'AmericaineJ" they announced,
simolv. and 'turned awav with the
air of those who have done their
duty. They had learned that the
Y. M. C. A. would always look after
the American soldier in France.
'What's the matter?" asked the
secretary.
Matter? There am t anything the
matter with me," said the American
soldier angrily. "You better ask
them policemen -what's the matter
with them! Say, they couldn't hold
down a job 10 minutes in New York)
They can't even talk just make
noises."
"What did you want to talk to
Alleged to Have Broken
Contract, Suit Follows
H.M. Scott or the Scott Automo
bile company, has brought an' action
in district court to recover $11,101.24
from Charles Wagner on account of
an alleged attempt to cancel a con
tract entered into between the liti
gants. Scott states that he held a
contract for the sajf of automobile
accessories in a certain territory
and at an agreed commission.
The popularity of ROSEMONT has more tharj
justified our belief that discriminating smokers
" vff vwiu&w if to is&ncf nil in jg ugHit
EVERY leaf of tobacco is selected with the satis
faction of the individual smoker in mind.
t
Skillful blending by a master cigar
maker gives ROSEMONT a distinctive
fragrance. This fragrance can be pro
duced only by using the fine tobaccos
found in every ROSEMONT. Shade
grown wrapper, and fine Havana filler,
Fragrance is a common' sense way of
judging a cigar. Nature makes it your
guide. Smoke a ROSEMONT today.
FOUR GOOD-VALUE SIZES :
10c-15c
2 for 25c-20c
McCORD-BRADY CO., OMAHA
Distributor
"I am in hopes that other film
companies will follow our lead in
providing these crippled heroes
with jobs," Mr. Laemmle said. "The
boys who return from France with
arm or slight body wounds can get
around to look for positions after a
time, but for the fellows who have
lost one or both legs or feet this
will not be so easy.
"In Universal exchanges and lab
oratories we have several hundred
jobs that these crippled boys can
fill. Inspecting film does not tax
ones physical or mental strength
and we can afford, to pay salaries to
these boys that undoubtedly would
be in excess of those in many other
lines of work, and if other produc
ers and exchange men will ascer
tain how many jobs they can ofTer
crippled soldiers and let the gov
ernment know of them they will not
only be doing a great service to
their 'country, but also to them
selves." i
them about?" inquired the Y. M. C.
A. man.
"Oh, I just want to ask the way
back to the station, that's all. I
left my rifle and my pack in the
corner and came up to see Paris.
Now I got to go back to catch my
train."
"Where do you live back home?"
asked the Y. M. C. A. man.
"Brooklyn," said the American
soldier. '
"I'll just telephone and find out
where you left your rifle and your
pack," said the Y. M. C A. man.
A few minutes later he was ready
with the desired information, and
with directions for getting "back to
the station.
"Thanks 1" said the American boy.
"I sure am much obliged. But, say.
Paris is a funny place, ain't it? A
little cleaner than New York, maybe
but, say, I'd rather be a wart on the
nose of the Goddess of Liberty than
the whole Eiffel Tower 1"
He turned abruptly and went out.
U. S. Treasury Establishes
New Credits for Allies
Washington, Feb. 8. New credits
of $75,000,000 for Italy and $40,000,
000 for Belgium were established to
iay by the treasury. This raised the
total credits for all the allies to
$8:674,824,000, including $1,385,000,000
for Italy and $296,145,000 for Belgium.
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LATENSEil AND
T017LE COIflG
FROMSIIIP YARD
Latter Represented the Erner
gency Fleet Corporation at
Wilmington, N. C; Lat-
enser With Him.
John W. Towle, representative ot
the Emergency Fleet corporation of
Wilmington, N. C, has resigned and
will return to. Omaha February 15.
He will be followed shortly by John
Latenser, jr., who assisted him both
in the Carolina" yards and at Hog Is
land. In accepting Mr. Towle's resigna
tion, Charles Piez, director general
of the fleet corporations paid him a
very high compliment in saying that
the Carolina yards had never given
him a moment's worry and that its
was the only plant erected by the
government that cost less than the
estimated outlay.
Messrs. Towle and Latenser after
investigating conditions at Hog Is- '
land where expenditures were 100 "
per cent more than estimated, made
their report to the corporation and
the senate investigating committee,
which was accepted and the vard
freed from incompetence. Mr. Towle
was a resident engineer at Hog Is
land at the time. The two Omaha
men were later transferred and.
placed in charge of the Carolina.,
yards.
Fremont Clergyman
One of Presbyterian
New Era 60-Day Men ;
Nathaniel McGiffin of Fremont,
Neb., formerly of Omaha, has en
listed with the Presbyterian new era
sixty-day men, as a result of a con
ference with other leading Presby
terians at 156 Fifth avenue, New
York City, where he joined a strong
group of ministers and laymen to .
push the new era victorv fund of
the church for $13,000,000.
These" men have taken up head
quarters in various parts of the '
United States to direct unremitting
field service toward putting every
individual Presbyterian church "over
the top." Their campaign will ex- -tend
through February and March .
and will be devoted to convincing -all
Presbyterians of the great need
that the world has for the church's ,
spending this amount of money on
reconstruction work.
The fund will take care of return- .:
ing soldiers and sailors, stricken
Protestant churches in the war rone,
the increasing of underpaid pastors' '
salaries, and various other forms of
benevolent and educational work.
The campaign will be directed by -the
Presbyterian new erax move-. ,
ment.
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