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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1898)
' r fc VOL.. t.?V wi M& i W&t r DsiADusnou in 1000 -WsV - - price FIVE CENTSr J - j r - r . . ' ' . - ft"? ' T .9 V t mT .,- .4 " r r w 4 -j.. a -r J 1i -1W - " .a n . M B V r J" 2' LINCOLN, NEB., SATURDAY. APRIL, 23, 1898.. Ehtzkediy the posTorncB at ltncolx as SECOND CLASS MATTES. PUBLISHED EVEBY SATDBDAY IHE GNUER NHffliG AftlSHM Office 1132 N street, Up Stairs. Telephone 384. SARAH B.HABBI3, Editor. 1 Subscription Kates In Advance. Per annum 29 8ix months ; 75 Three months 50 One month 20 Single copies 05 The Courier will not be responsi ble for voluntary communications un accompanied by return postage. Communications, to receive atten tion, must be signed by the-full name of the writer, not merely as a guaran tee of good faith, but-for publication if advisable. r 8 OBSERVATIONS. U The observation of the twenty-second day of April has been recom mended by many state superintend ants of schools as Bird day. Superin tendant Jackson of our own state con curs in and emphasizes the need of such a day. The mental stimulation resulting from all intelligent con templation of nature is well under stood by the new teacher of children. Things that fly and crawl or that merely stand and grow are being watched by the sympathetic little scientists that the schools are now turning out. The Courier has re ceived from a source not clearly stated, a book whose covers are orna mented with carefully colored plates of a pigeon and a quail. The exquis itely delicate penciling of the wing feathers of the quail and the prismatic purples of the neck and head feathers of the pigeon are reproduced with an exactness exceeding the art of the painter. From a preface I gather that the covers are those of a Chicago monthly publication called "Birds" It is a. magazine calculated to direct the attention of readers, young and old; to theljeauty and utility of birds. ' The copyat hand contains suggestions mainly in verse for recitations.- A general observation and celebration of Bird day and the lessons on birds, which comebetweenwill do as much to enthrone the summer visitors from the south in the hearts of children, who are always faithful vassals of something or other, as the George "Washington day exercises have done for the father of our country. Jt The withdrawal of the cadet bat talion froiathe-university to garrison the Indian outposts will be most de pressing. The soldierly young felloAS in blue-have been a characteristic of Lincoln streets for so many seasons that their disappearance-before the time of- the 'summer vacation will cause an aching void to many besides mothers,sistersand sweethearts but the actual experience of garrison disci pline and the expeditions connected with an outpost of the army is what most of the young fellows have been longing for and they would welcome even the hardships of such a life eagerly. A summer at Fort Robin son, Assinaboine, Crook or Riley with the pay of a privateer commissioned officer, as the case might be, would answer the question of summer occu pation which torments the boys and their parents every vacation. Al though service at a fort is very seldom dangerous, the discipline is rigid and there is nothing to remind the recruit of the play-soldier experiences of the military school or university where he learned how to stand up straight. The university battalion, as a whole, is looking forward to assignment to duty in nearby forts with pleasure. The establishment of a chair of do mestic science by the regents at their late niieting is in the direction of the utilitarian and immediate application of university lectures, which is an especial characteristic of the western university. Miss Bouton, who has consented to undertake the duties of a lecturer on domestic science, in ad dition to her laboratory work, is well qualified to make the experiment a success. She has been lecturing for some years on the chemistry of foods, so that so far as she is concerned, it is not an experiment. The growth of the .agricultural college whose curric ulum bears the same relation ' to chemistry as domestic economics is aa indication of the 'popularity that awaits a properly developed depart ment of the kind jU3t established. The appointment of Mrs. H. II. Wil son as dean of the women of the uni versity is one which has met with much approval. Among "the alumna of the state university Mrs. Wilson holds almost an unique position. She has a wide acquaintance 'among the club women of the city and state, and she has kept in touch with the con temporary life and learning by taking a course of lectures at the university on two separate occasions since her graduation She has also assisted the faculty in entertaing the students and possesses their acquaintance and con fidence. The confluent experiences gained in clubs, in under graduate and post graduate work, in church and charity work, in university and in general society, as well as from the training of children and in the direc tion of an orderly household eminent ly qualify Mrs Wilson for the position which she has undertaken to fill. Be sides bringing the clubs of the state, through books and lectures, into more direct relation with the university, Mrs. Wilson will deliver a course of lectures on the English novels for which her post graduate studies have especially prepared her. To the un dergraduate young women in the uni versity she will be a friend who will present their needs to the governing body. It is hoped that from this be ginning the disposition to recognize the coeducational character of the school may expand until the univer sity is at least equal in this respect to other western institutions. Jt The movement in the new council to reduce expenses to correspond with the income of the city is watched with interest. Of course salaries can be reduced to a point where self-respecting and efficient men cannot accept them without reducing the standard of living below the rate which custom and habit has made respectable and necessary. When this point is passed only incompetent men will accept city positions and the service suffers in consequence. Though the desire of really able men to hold an office which pays only a small fraction of the amount which they are competent to earn by unofficial indusry, is what past masters in human nature have never been able to understand. The salaries therefore, can be very much reduced without decreasing to a per ceptible degree the crowd of honest and clever men who hunger and thirst after office. Compared with the amount of loafing that firemen and policemen do the salary seems large. The duties of the policemen in a place" the size of Lincoln require very little exertion. A murder does not occur once a yea'r, a robbery of any conse quence is infrequent and the only oc casion for an exhibition of courage and presence of mind is when a plain or decorated and unarmed drunk has to be clubbed into a willingness to ride in the patrol wagon.At other times the po liceman walks up the principal streets," swings his club and walks back again. The firemen have a little more to do, systematically they must groom and exercise the horses, shine the engines and form tho most impressive part of a country street procession. Several times a year they must exert them selves strenuously, but their custo mary attitude is one of waiting and complete repose. Under these condi tions the police and fire employes re ceive higher wages than their em ployers, the citizens. As to the cleri cal and executive officers of the city their compensation does not seem to be unreasonable, though it has always been apparent that the number of city employes was greater than the amount of work to be performed. If each offi cer and employe was required to per form 3G5 days work in a year, barring legal holidays, the number of jobs would be much fewer and the amount of faithful service increased. The council has evidently taken this view of the matter very much to the satis faction of the taxpayers whose turn seems to have come if it is last. Of course if the fire department made any pretensions to the discipline and effectiveness of a city fire depart ment in good standing their present salaries are not two large. But the lack of discipline and concerted action in case of fire is onlj- too apparent to a casual looker on. The salary of the chief should be enlarged rather tlran curtailed and an educated and ex perienced chief secured from a metro politan fire department. Only by such means can the property of the citizens be protected. As to the present de partment the price is certainly too high considering its inefficiency. j The senate of the United States has been called the millionaires club. It has been frequently accused of too great a tenderness for bonds and bankers. Many have supposed that the senate had inurmountable objec tions to measures or bills having a ten dency to depreciate stocks, whatever the sentimental or patriotic reason for their enactment. The senate is a body of much older men than those in the house of representatives. To many of the senators their salary is pin money, which they spend on the ele ,gant superfluities of Washington ex istence. The fluctuations of stocks have a direct bearing upon their own income by which what they eat and wear, and smoke, and where they lounge, read and sleep Is regulated. Yet the rich comfort-loving old men Of the senate have been making fiery, impassioned speeches trying to per suade hef young., men of the house, whos income will be just the same whether stocks rise or fall, that true Americanism consists, at this junc-
