5
ODD a BITS a OF
NEBRASKA a LIFE
THE COURIER
L
Brutality seems to lurk in this new
cure for drunkenness. Yet inebriation
is synonymous with brutality nnd per
haps kind may be offset by kind. This
new treatment, called by some a cure,
is urged upon the sore oppressed house
wife by her friend, the country editor.
It has already been adopted elsewhere.
The woman who Invented It simply
took her husband out to the cattle
yard while In his state of stupor. She
had tied his hands and feet nnd thus
he was unquestionably secure. Then
she bathed his face, hands nnd clothes
in a salt solution. The bait was Irre
sistible. The lowing klne gathered
round the prostrate, snoring man and
despite his manifestations of unpleas
ant slumber calmly licked the salted
area until the face nnd hands of the
poor fellow were raw and his clothes
were in shreds. Naturally enough the
fellow wants a divorce. The licking
sobered him, -angered him, estranged
him and, by rights, should cure him.
Women are scarce in the state. That
is the declaration of men who seem to
have made a study of the situation.
Now a plan is under way to populate
the sparse districts with eastern girls.
An enterprising firm in Cleveland,
Ohio, has the scheme In charge. Cor
respondence between It and various
mayors of the state, Nebraska City
among them, has been In progress with
the object of printing a book. In this
volume it is figured that the photo
graphs, biographical sketches nnd so
cial and financial standing of men
hereabouts who are willing to be mar
ried shall be imprisoned. Off to the
'east will go that book and the sale
among the spinsters of the effete
realms Is calculated to be something
Immense. So also are the results. Ac
cording to those who have figured on
the problem the next census should
make u different showing for the state.
One of the quickest changes of front
on record has been mnde by a negro
who lived In a western county but who
moved to Kansas. lie roared at the
railroads. His goods and stock had
been loaded onto a car and when all
was ready for the start one of his
steers broke out and got away. The
trainmen would not stop to load the
brute o n again. The poor negro
thought he was being wretchedly
wronged. That made no difference.
The train went ahead. Next day u car
arrived for the steer. It alone was
taken aboard and the darkey learned
that the corporation is far from being
as soulless ns he reckoned.
School children who are mangled un
derneath the wheels of trains surely
cannot complain thnt they were not
seasonably warned. Patiently and
watchfully the editors of their towns
have posted caution after caution, both
to child and parent. There never was
a child that did not yearn to watch the
trains come in and to stand as near to
them ns possible while they passed. In
some towns they have occasion to cross
the tracks on their way to school. In
the excess of their curiosity they ex
tend their hands far enough to touch
the passing cars, if there be any a
trick which invariably "chills the mar
row" of the editor's bones. In his
mind's eye he sees one of them slip
under the wheels to be ground and
(
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WILLIAM STUEFBR.
William Stuefer, Nebraska's state treasurer, is a native of Wiscon
sin, being born in Watertown in 1847. He Is a pioneer settler of Ne
braska, coming to West Point In 1863. From the early days he has been
prominent in the political and business affairs of his county and state.
In 18G5 Mr. Stuefer was a member of a party of surveyors which
carved out several geographical sections of the state. Mention of the
work done by Mr. Stuefer and his associates has been recorded in the
office of the land commissioner.
In 1883 Mr. Stuefer went Into the banking business and has been
identified with the commercial enterprises of his home county, Cuming,
since that time. i
He early manifested extreme interest in politics and has always been
a zealous worker for the success of the republican party. When he was
twenty-one his political life began with his election to the office of coro
ner. Afterwards he was deputy county clerk, county clerk for two terms
and served as senator In the state legislature in 1897. Besides these he
has been mayor of West Point and for fifteen years served on the school
board.
Two years ago Mr. Stuefer was nominated for state treasurer and
elected by a flattering majority. During his official term he has been in
strumental in reducing the amount of the uninvested school funds to an
absolute minimum and despite somewhat defective legislation his friends
claim that his record has been more creditable than that of any man who
has ever held that office.
GEORGE D. FOLLMEU.
Commissioner Public Lands nnd Buildings.
George D. Follmer, the present incumbent of the office of commis
sioner of public lands and buildings, hns been u resident of the state of
Nebraska for the past thirty-one years. He Is n plain, quiet, unassum
ing man of the people; he has the faculty of combining business prin
ciples with the affairs of the state and comes before the people of the
state for renomlnatlon and re-election solely upon the record he has
made as commissioner during the past two years. During this time he
hns given his time and best thought as to how he could carry out the
duties which devolved upon him by virtue of his office and to so systema
tize the work that the business of the state could be carried on In a
prompt nnd business like manner, always looking carefully Into details,
yet at the same time endeavoring to be Just anil generous to the Indi
vidual when it could be done with Justice to the state nnd within the
law.
His four terms as county treasurer of Nuckolls county and his long
acquaintance with lands and their values and his extensive experience In
business, tend to make him a useful man ns commissioner of public
lands and buildings. He has at all times endeavored to merit the con
fidence the people placed In him by electing him commissioner two
years' ago and the manner In which this has been done Is too well
known to need repetition, as the condition of the office of commissioner of
public lands nnd buildings and the records therein fully show.
?Mr. Follmer was one of the pioneer settlers of Nuckolls county. He
has been prominently Identified with the prosperity of the state and has
divided his attention between 'farming nnd the real estate business.
J
torn and crunched under the remorse
less Iron. His zeal for an exciting
newspaper story doe3 not Interfere
with his sense of duty and so he
warns.
Venerate this: it Is printed by the
Elmwood Leader-Echd for that sole
purpose: "A Plattsmouth father who
Is so fortunate as to have three or four
daughters of a marriageable age, re
cently had occasion to have his sofa
re-upholstered, and here is what he
found between the back and the cush
ion: 47 hair pins, 36 collar buttons, 3
mustach combs. 1,361 pins, 14 cigar
ettes, 6 photographs. 65 grains of cof
fee. 56 cloves. 12 pocket knives, I'M cufT
button. 14 poker chips, 1 vial of home
opathic medicine, 44 lumps of chew
ing gum. 50 suspender buttons, 15
toothpicks, 37 matches. 3 love letters. 2
dimes, 3 quarters, 1 nickel, some candy,
6 lead pencils, 1 buckle, 1 pen and 5
button hooks."
If there Is anything that will make
an evil doer quake It Is to have a
country editor talk like this: "We
know the name of the vandal nnd It is
only out of respect for honest parents
that we refrain from printing It. We
give the miscreant fair warning to
mend his ways." That Is the way the
Dawson News Boy talks. The trouble
Is over a church steal. Not one boy,
but several are mixed. In It, accused of
lifting laprobes, buggy whips and har
ness rings from wagons and buggies
tied along the street before the church
wherein the guileless and unsuspecting
owners were worshipping.
Thrpe Humboldt boys have made a
trip hammer all by themselves. They
use it in their blacksmith shop and it
is called quite an unusual piece of in
genuity by the admirers of the boys.
They are Herbert and Frank Dorland
and John Bash. The instrument is
constructed to make from 150 to 200
strokes per minute, with power of from
5 pounds to 200 at each stroke?
Death of a rather strange origin re
cently overtook the horse of a farmer
near Crete. It was a fine looking ani
mal, weighing fifteen hundred pounds.
The proud owner was plowing with It
and Its mate when suddenly It gave
signs of a queer distemper by shaking
Its head frantically. The farmer Im
mediately unhitched and it commenced
to travel round nnd round In n nar
rowing circle, faster and faster. Then
with a plunge it drove through a wire
fence and rolled dead Into a ditch.
Complications rather unusual have
arisen over a farm near Friend. Fif
teen years ago the owner was A. O.
Decker. All of a sudden he disappear
ed and nobody, high or low, could say
where he hud gone. Recently he re
turned. Just ns suddenly and surpris
ingly, to look after his farm, upon
which he had been given a life lease
by his father. It appears that he and
his first wife had not harmonized qultw
as symphonically as expected. He had
simply gone to California. At the time,
she was living In I Illinois. When she
heard of his disappearance months lat
er she thought he must have perished
somewhere and so came to Nebraska
and had the farm administered. Then
she married again. A few years after
that the husband saw a notice In a pa
per that his wife had died and he too
remarried. He has returned to Ne
braska to find that his farm has been
sold two or three times and that at
present it Is covered by a mortgage
held by R. E. Moore of Lincoln. The
question now arises, how Is the ques
tion of ownership to be determined
without loss to anybody?
Nails are a very poor diet. Yet a
two-year-old child of Central City
swallowed one not long ago and sur
vives. The babe was the progeny of
Mrs. George Raser. While playing
with various articles on the floor it
took a notion that a nail two and a
half inches long which it encountered,
would be a pleasant morsel. Forth
with it tried to swallow it and suc
ceeded. There followed much worry
In the family. Doctors were summoned
and though the child showed no symp
toms of pain it was feared that but a
(Continued on page nine.)
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