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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1899)
THE COURIER. 3 are frequently placed where they are unsightly, and the electric light wires are attached to corners and roofs of private down town buildings without the consent of the owners thereof. But many holdcts of gas stock, on the other hand arc public spirited citizens whose character and efforts have made Lincoln the city it is In buying artificial light of the city for a year it Is the duty of the coun cil to buy it as cheaply as possible. Mr. Thompson has a trust to fulfil. Tiie stock holders of the gas company have elected him president of the company and he would be recreant and faithless if he were to make a poor bargain with the city. This principle is reiterated because the prejudice created by Mr. Thompson's methods of securing the present city lighting contract is obstructing an understanding with the gas company now. The lighting committee of the coun cil lias made a proposition to the com pany which involves a decrease of the cost of illuminating gas of ten cents a year until the price reaches the cost of fuel gas. If the company accepts, in four years the rate will have reach ed the price of the ordinance gas. It has also been proposed that the com pany remit $3,500 of the price of this year's gas, otherwise there will be a deficit. Of course the present council can not make any proposition which will bind next year's council, but a recommendation of the present coun ellwand negotiations made without prejudice may be effective with new members, and of course, the council will not consist entirely of new men. It has been frequently urged, in dis cussing street car matters, that the owners were non resident capitalist who bought the stock as a cold blooded investment and that the city should in consequence, get as much from them as the law allows and a little more. The Courier has at all times disapproved of such indirect and im material arguments, nevertheless they have accomplished the delay of an ad justment of the street car company's dispute with the city. In contradis tinction, the gas company is composed of citizens of high esta'e, who are a credit to the city. No member of the council and no citizen wishes to injure their business, but it is foolish to pay ten thousand dol lars more than our income for lights than we have and to be obliged to borrow the rest. The interest we have to pay on the money we have already borrowed consumes so large a share of the annual income of the city, that we cannot afford to hire a com petent tire chief, we are obliged to measure out water to the citizens by the gallon, we have no city park or city recreation grounds of any kind, such as down town play grounds or summer free kindergartens for the children of the poor. If the genera tions continue to borrow money to pay for gas or anything else, the inevitable climax will surely arrive. The Circus, It is becoming more and more the custom hero to get up at five o'clock on circus morning to watch the cars unloaded at the railroad station. Nothing that the ground and lofty tumblers, the equestrians, the trap csists and the trained quadrupeds do, Is so wonderful as the team work of the humble tent men and drivers. The six Itlngllng brothers whose circus was in Lincoln on Wednesday have accomplished a remarkablo sys tem which assigns to every man a place and insists upon a perfect per formance of all duties. Nothing in the profiles of the slxblaek-moustach- cd brothers displayed in diagonal per spective on all the billboards in Lin coln, indicate the energy and execu tive ability they must possess. Their home is In Baraboo, Wisconsin, and the show winters there. The father of the six brothers Is a harness maker and lie makes harnesses for t ho mon keys, dogs, elephants and camels, as well as for the horses. In winter the show is a little community. The ani mals are learning new tricks and the tent-men turn painters, carpenters and leather workers. After and during the night perfor mance the show is loaded into the cars and by two A. M. the workers are In their bunks asleep. At live o clock the trains arrive at their next slopping place and there is no more sleep until after the unloading, the erection of the tent, and the parade. When Mr. Ringling mis questioned about the number of hours his em ployes slept lie laughed and said they slept in the winter time, that it was a shock for a showman to hear employes making demands for sleep in the sum mer time when everybody who knew anything at all about the business realizes that there are only three hours of the night, and during those of the afternoon performance that 'a circus employe can be spared. Two performances a day, except Sundays, involve a daily putting up of miles of canvas and a daily taking down of the same. Men who have worked all the afternoon assisted by the hired girl and the lady of the house, to put up a little shade tent on the lawn can appreciate the miracle accomplished by these Ringling driven men. The afternoon performance is the most interesting. At night the ani mals arc in brilliant light and deep shadow and their huge forms loom out of and lapse into darkness like the grotesqueries of a dream or the buga boos of tremens. In the afternoon the tent is decorated and illuminated with children to whom the world-old antics of the clown arc new. to whom the ladles on horseback arc angels and their glittering belts and skirts arc jewel-starred. Then the blazzy grown up people can watch the chil dren and be legitimately and really happy too. In the evening the tent is rather oppressively full of tough looking men and overdressed women. The clowns realize that they are no longer amusing the innocent and the unsophisticated for their evening jokes are as broad as they were in ocuous in the afternoon. The End of Vacation. It is cruel to put children back into school after the relaxation of three months, in so hot a time as Septem ber. The children can not study, and the parents who are forced to return with them from cool retreats to a hot city are also martyrs to a school board's Inflexibility. It has been frequently stated that the climate is changing. It Is a matter of observa tion that the coolness reaches further into tha summer and the heat extends further into the fall than formerly. The real summer months arc July, August, and September with the cli max of heat and dryness In September, yet September belongs to the autumn denomination, and we expect cool wrather after the thirty first of Au gust. But in September even the re freshing dews fail and the morning hours arc not refreshing but stale as yesterdays. There would doubtless be many ob jections In Juno If school should be prolonged to the last of that month, but the school board would receive thanks and congratulations In Sep ternber from motherc and children on i i i i i i i t i i i t Tty State's Receptimi to ttje V .... First Regiment. . K SEPTEMBER 13. 14 15. The First regiment will arrive in squads on special trains on Wednesday from York, Beatrice Nelson, Madison, Fullerton, David Oity, Geneva, Columbus, Omaha, Broken Bow and other points. It will be the sight of a life time to wit ness the greeting on the old camp ground be tween the old fighters of '61 and these young men late from the battle line in Luzon. 'Etofi Batto or Manila will be on three nights, Wednesday, Thurs day, and Friday evening, commencing at eight thirty. This is the greatest scenic fire display ever Invented. The committee has undertajcen to provide this entertainment for the benefit of the public, at the expense of 3,000. The price of admission will be 2c, for there is no business speculation in this enterprise; the committee desiring only to come out even on the venture. The soldier guests of course will go 1n free THIS BATTLE OF MANILA is a great show, and there is no entertainment given any where in the world in this line that excels it. No one can afford to miss it. It will be the event of the year to Lincoln people in the way of enter tainment. They are making- the lake at the Fair Grounds now. y V y y farms and in the mountains. Sooner or later this will have to be done since .Mine is what May used to oe and .luly is.luae, August is .luly, and Septem ber is August. Reception to the First. The news that Senator Hay ward ex pects to be present at the reception to the First next week is received with pleasure Senator Hayward is recovering rapidly from the effects of the heat prostration. The members of the reception committee expect to see three thousand soldiers in line, a larger number than most of the resi dents of Lincoln have ever seen. It will be the sight of a lifetime and the streets will be crowded with the fam ilies, friends, and admirers of the sol. dlcrsofl80 and of the soldiers of 1809. As the veterans fall into lino and throw back the shoulders which bore heavier burdens in the Rebellion than the First's have had to bear, the sense of die continuing,uninterrupted, virile patriotism of a volunteer army which is the same today as in 18(10, will thrill the stay at-homes with hope and conviction which the hot weather has withered. And speaking of the stay-at-homes it is precisely because members of the First Nebraska are true types that we are so proud of them. They enlisted from no one school, nor did one part of the sta'e more than another contribute flowers of Its youth. It is the universal type which rejoices us. Aud the stay-at-homes have the same courage, lofty patriotism, faich and idealism which distinguishes the members of the Flrfit. I know at least twenty young men with stout arms and stouter hearts who longed to enlist but who stayed at home to support a mother or sister, or to aid a father. These boys, when the people are cheering and going wild over the First, need not feel that their moral courage is net appreciated. 1 have occasionally seen a shame-faced look on one of these deep breasted young men who arc brave enougli to run the risk of being called or thought a coward. The look is without excuse. Jn celebrat ing the return and the exploits of the First we are celebrating the quality of Nebraska's young manhood, those who went west, those who went cast and those who stayed at home. If the country were In need of thetr services, if a foreign power threatened, and the president called for thirty times the number of men from Nebraska we have sent to tliis war he would get them. Popu lists. Democrats, Republicans, in their hearts burn an unquenchable llame of love of country upon which varying opinions as to free silver, ex pansion, etc., have no effect. Women love soldiers and conquer ors. Because they are cowards they love hcros, because they are weak they welcome the strong. But the real new woman is not to be dccleved In the evidences of strength. The young fellows who have stayed at home because they were too brave and tender to desert a commonplace, monotonous duty, are wearing halos too, which their discriminating sweethearts havo placed thora. A Well-Drawn Conclusion. "Tom, I believe you have designs on that young helrtsi." "Well, what if I have? You know I am the archi tect of my own fortune. "Philadel phia Bulletin. . v ' s v.-
