THE COURIER
9
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VANDERBILTS SCRAP OVER THE PRINCE
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MRS. ALFRED VANDERBILT.
MRS. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.
The honor of being the only private family to entertain Prince Henry of Prussia during- his American visit
has been hotly contested for by the Cornelius Vanderbilts and Alfred Vanderbilts. It was early stated that the
prince will confer this distinction upon one of the Vanderbilt families before his return to Germany. It is now
announced that Cornelius will have the honor of dining1 his royal highness next Sunday. As a result of the bad
blood Alfred Vanderbilt and his wife have not been asked to be one of the party.
Tn and Jlbout . . .
Debraska
How can Nebraska escape the six
year famine that is coming to Kansas?
In the town of Harper, Kansas, a lit
tle girl baby is said to have com
menced talking at the age of three
weeks. Six words are all she pro
nounces and these are "Six years of
famine In Kansas." To this A. C.
Aradenburg, of Wausa, Neb., vouches.
For substantiation he shows a letter
from a friend in Harper, in which is
told the remarkable feat of the In
fant. According to this missive peo
ple are flocking to the town for many
miles around. After scrutinizing .the
child a few minutes and barkening to
Its strange prophecy they wend their
several ways homeward again, some
to pack up and leave the state and
others to remain for their fate. The
number who have heeded the warning
is growing to be quite Immense. In
the baby's short sentence, many are
convinced, lies the freshest message
from Divinity, one to be disregarded
a't the hearer's peril. The excitement
is spreading and at "Wausa the ques
tion is being debated whether Nebras
ka will share any in the disaster.
f
The death of a dog at Atkinson may
save the life of one or more ordinarily
careless school children. At least It
will not be from a dearth of warnings.
The children are in the habit of pass
ing their spare moments in the vicinity
of the city water plant. This is a
standplpe that is filled by windmills.
One day recently the stand pipe was
full of water with a surface of Ice
that struggled to jump over the rlm.
Every few minutes a. goodly chunk
would break loose and take a good long
drop. One of them struck a poor cur
that was lapping at a trickling rivulet
at the base of the tall tank. "With a
few convulsive kicks it relinquished
the ghost It Is the boast that Atkin
son has no pupil with a skull so thick
as to safely resist the impact of one
of these missiles and they are publicly
warned to beware.
A shudder goes through the state as
the annual sermon on playing marbles
for keeps is dragged out of the musty
pigeon-hole. It is a rare country
weekly that has nothing to say on tfils
great moral question. Look well to
to your offspring. The comma, the
whltey, the glassy, the crockery, the
mooney, are being displayed In tempt
ing array in the windows of the drug
and racket stores. It will soon be
time for the youngster to turn his dili
gence to the art of "shooting" with
unerring skill. Even now his hands
are itching for the property on exhibit.
He is feeling about his clothes for
every spare penny and nickel. More
over, and worst of all, he is famishing
for the marbles of his mates. Least
of the ills of the situation is the pros
pect of bedraggled clothes and pant
knees worn through. Alas for the
moral impetus of the urchin! The ln
vldlus germ of gambling Is planted In
his system. It will grow and mature.
What then will become of the promis
ing stub of humanity? Surely a bunco
steerer he will be if not worse. And
so on.
Why call them "spider-legged
dudes?" The Atkinson Graphic is out
with a lantern excitedly seeking this
time for Information. It Is a chronic
phrase, says the editor, and why? The
very impudence! Nobody answers.
The editor has made a personal Inves
tigation of the status of dudes, in His
community at least. There are as
many with chubby, ungainly nether
limbs as with "spider" legs, if not
more, he volunteers. A willy Is a willy
wherever you find him, he adds, and
it is not a matter of legs but brains.
Why did not the Inventor of smart
terms take that Into account? Surely
it is paramount to legs! What Is a
"spider legged dude" anyhow? Re
duced to the last analysis who can tell
what the term signifies? Nebraska
provender develops the physique of a
cholly as uniformly as that of any
other man. Relief! Relief! Give It to
the Graphic soon! 'The more It ques
tions, the more violent its puffy In
dignation! Credit Norfolk with the latest form
of business enterprise. Clubbing to
gether the commercial men have adopt
ed this scheme of materializing wealth.
It has greatly angered the smaller
business men In nearby counties. Any
man or woman In a surrounding
county who wants to stock up on
necessary merchandise Is paid his rail
road fare Into Norfolk. The club does
It and the only requirement Is that the
Investment be at least thirty dollars.
The returns are anything but satis
factory to the other dealers. To stem
the tide that is going against them
they advertise that their goods are
cheap enough to offset the Inducement
of railroad fare half a dozen times.
But It doesn't stem worth mentioning.
There is contagion in the habit of
boring for oil. Perhaps the latestven
ture is at Pawnee City. Nobody pre
tends to say oil flows about that city
In any quantity whatever. A company
has been organized, however, which
Intends to bore to a depth of 2,000 feet.
It bears a diverting difference from
other companies. It is not dead set
on oil alone, but will be content with
coal, gas or "anything else of value."
As soon as the frost Is out enough to
permit the .flow of oil or "anythrng
else" the machinery will be set to
work.
A fuel 'cheaper than coal or wood!
And Nebraska has It! It burns nobly,
say those who have experimented with
It. S. Ogden Edison of Deadwood,
South Dakota, is the Inventor. As he
is the uncle of Thomas Edison it Is
considered that his achievement Is by
no means trivial and Insignificant.
Chopped hay, straw, grass and even
weeds, make up the composition, all
together or each separate. The knack
is In the compressing. Mr. Edison has
made a machine and secured a patent
on it. the capability of which is that
of mashing this sort of debris into
sticks of from nine to twelve Inches In
length. Just the proper extent for a
stove. A factory will shortly be built
by the inventor with a capacity of fifty
tons of fuel per day. When the farm
ers of Nebraska begin to find some
thing of value In their weeds there
will be fewer plaints and pops, so It is
predicted. It Is a sorry year indeed in
Nebraska when the weeds fail.
Lives there a man with soul so
dead who never to himself hath said:
"D n that guinea hen!" Farmers
in Nebraska are beginning to learn
that, diabolical as is the voice of these
fowls, they are an invaluable adjunct
of his acres. In addition to their voice
they possess an Inordinate fondness
for worms and bugs. It is their repu
tation that they alone of all birds will
eat potato bugs. They are native to
warmer climes where they are wont to
travel in flocks. Unlike chickens they
are prone to pair off, rather than lead
polygamous lives. Being of a domineer
ing disposition their relations with the
less noisy birds are not always of the
utmost harmony. But they do like bugs.
They are considered one of the very
best of protections against Insect In
vasions. Some boys at Hays Center are hold
ing In captivity a wondrouxly beautiful
golden eagle. It was caught there
abouts In a trap recently und It has
been a question whether to save It for
the Fourth of July and release It
amidst the huzzas of tht multitudes or
let .1 go now. It eats too much. A
nice fat chicken a day Is none too much
for it and eggs are too high now to make
this u promising Investment. The
Fourth Is too far remote. Lest the
young men kill the handsome specimen
the papers are exerting themselves
hard to Impress them with Its undying
significance.
A peculiar experience was that of
Sam Prater of Falls City. It nearly
killed him. A horse recently had him
by the throat. Had the animal set
his jaws Just a trllle harder it would
have been goodbye Sam. Mr. Prater was
busy in his blacksmith shop, equipping
the horse with new shoes. While at
work, the animal, with ears lying
back, reached Us cold nose down to
the face of Mr. Prater. He looked up
and the beast took good hold of his
throat. Down hard set the teeth and
Sam was likely to perish of strangula
tion. The walls of his windpipe were
pressed tightly together though the
outside skin was very little abraded.
But the horse let loose. It was several
days before Mr. Prater recovered from
the shock, and succeeded In breathing
easy again.
c
Belvldere papers are moralizing. A
stirring evangelist was there a while
ago. After one of his most eloquent ex
hortations In which he had his hearers
traveling south he sprung the pledge
tobacco pledge. One by one the -men
slapped down their names and tossed
their wads and plugs into the church
stove. Since then the stove will not
burn. It will be canonized as a martyr
and a new one will be given its old
stand. So aver the papers In religious
accents.
SETON-THOMPSON'S REVERSES.
A nice dinner was recently given to
Mr. Ernest Thompson-Seton. There
were said to be present Mr. Gllder-Watson-Rlchard,
Mr. Bacheller-Irvlng,
Dr. Mltchell-Welr, Mr. Bangs-Ken-drlck-John,
Mr. Stockton-Ftank-R.,
Mr. James-Henry, Mr. Churchill-Winston,
Miss Johnston-Mary. Mrs.
Phelps-Stuart-EIlzabeth. and Wash-lngton-T.-Booker;
not to mention Mr.
Howells-Dean-Wllllam and Mr. Page-Nelson-Thomas.
&
A DIPLOMAT'S ANSWER.
On one occasion Lord Palmerston
was "heckled" by an audience which
demanded to know whether he would
vote for a certain measure. With an
appearance of the utmost frankness
the speaker fronted the audience. "I
will." he began. Loud cheers from the
conservatives. "Not." Yells from the
opposition; consternation In the other
ps?rty. "Tell you," calmly resumed the
speaker, amid general laughter and
good feeling. Chicago Chronicle.
"Doesn't It make you the least bit
envious to see what elegant furniture
Mrs. Eyefly Is putting into her house
next door?" "Not a bit. My husband
says it will be sold by the sheriff with
in six months and I'll be there to
buy." Chicago Tribune.
Mrs. Muggins "My husband told me
a barefaced lie when he 'came home
this morning." Mrs. Bugglns "The
He my husband told me had whiskers
on it." Philadelphia Record.
New Lincoln J0S?P;,X
139 S. Tenth
Street
Bowling Alleys
Ertrjthloc Xew and Strictly Flnt CIm
ladle Especially loyitrd
