The Loup City northwestern. [volume], May 08, 1903, Image 6

About The Loup City northwestern. [volume] (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917

Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

                
The Departure of Youth.
Thi,'c are gains for all our losses.
There are l«ilms for all our pain.
Put when youth, the dream, departs.
It takes something fiom our hearts,
Ai.d It never comes again.
We are stronger and are better.
I!nd«r manhood's sterner reign:
Still, we feel that something sweet
Followed youth with flying feet.
And will never come again.
Something beautiful is vanished.
And we sigh for it in vain;
Wc behold it everywhere.
On Use earth and in the air.
But It never comes again!
—Richard Henry Stoddard.
His Second Sight
When wo are particularly anxious
to auuoy Weston at the club we have
only to start a discussion on spirit*
uallsm. Sometimes if one of the
junior members has to be punished
for cheek we tell him tall spiritualis
tic yarns and advise him to go to
Wc3ton for their verification. This
has much the same efTert as sending
a hoy to a saddler to buy strap oil.
Not so many years back Weston
was an enthusiastic spiritualist him
self. attending seances and even
writing letters to the local press cu
the subject. But he was cured some
what rudely and in a manner likely
to make a lasting impression on any
man.
You see it was tills way: About
five years ago, when Weston was at
the hight of his spiritualistic zeal, a
widow with a very pretty daughter,
reputed to lie worth a small fortune
of $1,500 a year, took a house on tno
outskirts of the town. Weston fell
head over cars in love with Daisy,
though, greatly to his chagrin, she
seemed to prefer the attentions of a
young chap in the office of a firm
of solicitors who held the office of
clerk to the magistrates. Weston
was continually at Miss Daisy about
spiritualism and tried to get hnr
mother to bring her to some of his
precious seances. But she refused to
have anything to do with them, and
I believe it was this silly fad of his
Which put her off Weston. Any sane,
sensible man, Beeing how the ground
lay, would have dropped spiritualism
and gone in for a little reality—Daisy
was worth dropping something for, I
can tell you—but where spirits were
concerned Weston was just mad. ar.d
it only made him more determined to
prove to her that his theories about
second sight and so on were correct.
1 remember that winter well. It
froze for three weeks on end. Wes
ton used to take Daisy out skating on
some flooded meadows near the sta
tion. and things seemed to be coming
to a head. He wore his heart quite
openly on his sleeve and was ready
to lick her shoes for love, but the
other chap, who just at this time
came out of his articles and got a
partnership in the firm, was making
the running pretty hot. There had
been a lot of men thrown out of work
by the cold weather and some ugly
stories were afloat about burglars,
footpads and the line Mrs. Hardy's
little house, away out by itself, seem
ed a sure marl; for gentlemen of this
rort. and Weston was never tired of
vfarning her to keep the windo.vs
bolted, and even Induced her to have
a special new lock put on the front
door.
After the frost we had snow, a
fortnight of it, and the whole town
got pretty well snowed up. Weston
did not seem himself about this time.
1 remember we remarked upon it at
the club. Perhaps his second sight
told him some crisis was at hand.
Any way, It came. It was one Wed
nesday night. There was a concert
in the town hall which some of us
went to, but the place was so full of
draughts that we were glad to get
by the fire in the club smoking room
at half time. Maybe we had sat there
for ten minutes when we heard some
one come running down the road like
a madman We all jumped up and
went to the window just in time to
He dashed out just as he was.
seo Weston, without an cverccar, u::d
•with no hat on, tearing along like a
motor car and making far more noise.
We guessed something was up. and
three of us «ut on our coats and fol
lowed. It was easy to see his foot
prints in tho newly-fallen snow; there
were still a few stray flakes in the
| air. They made straight for the
Hardys, and we turned the last cor
ner just in time to see Weston extri
cating himself from a large snow
heap, so we waited in the shadow of
{ the wall. But. perhaps. I had bet
ter tell the rest of the story as Wes
j ton recounted it to us afterward.
It appears that he was sitting at
! home cursing the weather, the cold,
i and the concert, whither Mrs Hardy
and Daisy had been conducted by the
j rival, when as he dozed in his chair
he had a vision. Quite distinctly, he
I assured us. he saw a lonely little
j house surrounded with snow and
He was on his back in the snow.
with a glimmer of light shining
through the front window, while a
man, jimmy in hand, and carrying
over his back a bag of tools, was try
ing to force the front door. In a
flash he recognized Mrs. Hardy's
house—he seemed to bear the metal
lic grating of the jimmy as it wrench
ed at the lock and splintered the
woodwork—and seeing the hand of
Providence offering him a way
straight to Daisy’s heart, he dashed
out just as he was and never stopped
till he tripped Into the snow heap.
As soon as he had extricated him
self and recovered his breath a little
he stealthily approached the house,
bending low, as he softly pushed open
the garden gate. There was the dim
light glimmering out through the
blinds of the front room and, yes,
there, crouching by the door. Jimmy
in hand, was the figure of a man.
Spurred on by love, Weston was no
coward, and, uncoated, unarmed as
he was, he flung himself upon the
burglar, grappling with him fiercely
as he loudiycalled for help. Weston is
a small man,and before you could say
".lack Robinson” ho was on his back
in the snow with a pair of hands
have strangled the life out of him had
not the door been suddenly opened
from within to disclose the trembling
figure of Daisy clinging fearfully to
the rival, while from the top of the
stairs Mrs. Hardy in bedroom attire
made night hideous with her yells.
I will draw a veil over the rest.
Weston’s antagonist was the local
locksmith, called in hurriedly to re
pair the patent lock, which had stuck
fast and prevented the door being
properl} shut. A bad headache had
kept Mrs. Hardy from the concert,
where she would not allow her daugh
ter to go unchaperoned, and she had
gone to bed early, leaving the young
people to their own devices. What
with the fright and the cold. Mrs.
Hardy was ill in bed for a fortnight,
and only got out in time to be present
when Weston was convicted of as
sault and battery before the local
magistrate, for whom the rival was
acting as clerk that day.
Daisy was married in the spring,
but I think what hit Weston hardest
was that when we helped him home
on that eventful night it was to find
his back door in splinters and every
room in the place ransacked.
Weston never mentions spiritual
ism now -Gordon Meggy in Chicago
Itecord-Heraid.
Difference in Light Rays.
Lenard rays and cathode rays are re
garded as moving electrons—that is.
trains of minute negative electric
charges flying with great velocity.
: Roentgen rays are trains of solitary
waves of radiated energy emitted at
I the impact of ttying electrons with
stationary groups of electrons, i. e.,
j solid matter.
A triend in need is a friend hard
THEIR MONEY-MAKING SCHEME
Irishmen Were Quick to See a “Goad
Thing."
A few years ago, owing to the seri
ous depredations of ratcatchers on the
banks of the Thames, the authorities
were compelled to issue notice boards
offering a reward of £5 for informa
tion, payable on conviction of the of
fender. relates London Tit-Bits. Not
manr days after the notice appeared
an Irishman was caught and. being
brought before the magistrate, was or
dered to pay a fine and costs amount
ing, altogether, to £2. Not having the
needful, Pat went into retirement at
the expense of the country. The next
morning, however, another son of
Erin appeared at the prison and, pay
ing the fine, liberated his friend. The
governor, having been in the court on
the previous day, recognized the “lib
erator" as the principal witness
against the accused. This puzzled
him, and he asked for an explanation.
"Weil," said Pat, “it’s loike this,
sorr. Tim and myself were hard up,
and, seeing the notice, Tim agreed to
be caught. I gave information against
him and this morning I drawed the
money; and now ye’re paid, we've £3
left to start the world with, and, ba
gorra, I hope the board'll stop a bit
longer."
A LAWYER S GOOD ADVICE.
Intending Litigants Would Do Well
to Heed It.
One of the old practitioners at the
Osceola (Mo.) bar tells this story of
the good counsel which a lawyer in
that town once gave a client:
Shortly after the firm of Nesbit &
Ferguson hung out their shingle an
old farmer called upon them in regard
to a land suit. Some of the parties
at issue were not residents of the
state and ft was necessary to notify
them by publication. Ferguson took
dowrn a blank and began to fire ques
tions at the farmer at a great rate,
which the honest old fellow proceeded
to answ’er after weighing carefully
each word. The blank having been
finished and put in a pigeon hole, the
client asked what it was.
“That is the adver*isement com
manding the non-residents to appear
and defend the suit.”
"And how much will that cost?"
"My friend,’ said Ferguson, calmly,
looking the old man in the eye, "if
you are going to figure on the cost
you had better stay out of lawsuits.”—
Kansas City (Mo.) Journal.
HOPE OF GETTING IT AGAIN.
Alice Roosevelt, as a Child. Had
Strong Religious Convictions.
Miss Martha Havetneyer. the
daughter of William F. Havemeyer.
at one of her reeent literary "at
homes” talked of children.
"I heard the other day,” she said,
"a story about .Miss Alice Roosevelt's
childhood. The little girl was walk
ing with her nurse on a spring morn
ing through one of the city parks.
Trotting up and down near her was
an urchin with a balloon—one ot
those big and buoyant red balloons
that children hold and look up at
fondly. The child was so unfortun
ate as to let his balloon escape in a
strong gust of wind. It soared up
and into the blue sky. It disappeared
from view. Its owner howled and
screamed in his despair.
“Alice ran up to him. She patted
him on the back. She said iu a com
forting tone:
“ 'Never mind about your balloon,
little boy. It has gone up to heaven,
ar.d when you die yon will get it
again.’ ”
Five Generations of One Family.
Mrs. Snsan I). Crossman. mother of
Elisha Crossman of Chicago, and a pi
oneer of Rock county. Wis.. celebrated
her 100th birthday at her home, five
miles from Beloit. Wis., on Sunday.
March 29. Five generations were rep
resented by fifty persons in the family
gathering assembled to c°lebrate the
event. Mrs. Crossman was born iu
Cheshire. Mass. Her grandfather
was Earl Clapp, a minute man and
major in the revolutionary war. Iu
1848 Mrs. Crossman and her husband
penetrated the wilderness to near I he
present site of Afton, Wis., and set
tled on government land. Of their
seven children four are living. One.
Mrs. Helen M. Chandler, was a mis
sionary in Siam for thirty-nine years
—Chicago Tribune.
Music.
How sweet the moonlight sloops upon
tills bank:
Here we will sit and let the sounds of
niusli'
Creep In our ears: soft stillness and the
night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Sit. Jessica, l.ook how the tloor of heav
en
Is thick Inlaid with patlnes of bright
gold;
There's not the smallest orb which thou
behold'st
But In his motion like an angel sings.
Still qulrlng to tlie young eyed cheruhlms.
Such harmony Is In immortal souls;
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close It in. we can not hear
It.
— Shakespeare,
Senator Gorman’s Compliment.
On one occasion while Senator Gor
man was speech making in Maryland
he met a lady who told him how dis
appointed she had been the week pre
vious, when the crowd was so great
that she could not get near enough to
hear what he said.
“The truth is.” complained the fair
admirer. ”1 drove fourteen miles to
hear you speak, but 1 was so complete
ly wedged in by negroes 1 could not
move a step."
“Madam,” answered the senator
wtth a gallant bow, “1 am very sorry
for your disappointn'ent, but you must
remember you are not the first jewel
which has been set in jet-”—New York
Times
PANAMA CANAL WILL SAVE
7,000 MILES OF TRAVEL
Now that the Panama canal is an
assured thing, a little study of the ac
companying map will show some of
the advantages 10 be gained.
The heavy line running south from
New York is the steamship track to
Colon, and the distance is 1981 miles.
At an average speed of fourteen knots
per hour, which is a moderate and
economical pace lor the modern
steamship, the voyage could be made
in an hour or two less than six days.
From Panama to San Francisco the
distance is 3277 miles, which, at the
same average speed, would require
niue days' and eighteen hours’ steam
ing. Say sixteen days for the ocean
voyage, and allow four days for pass
ing through the canal, and the whole
trip would be made in twenty days,
or inside of three weeks.
At present a steamer must follow
the solid line running off to the south
east to Cape St. Roque. Once around
this cape the course follows the coast
in a southwesterly direction to the
Straits of Magellan, thence out into
the Pacific, where a straight course
can be steered for the Farallone
islands, just outside of San Francisco.
On this track the distance is 12,589
miles, which at the same average
speed would require thirty-seven and
a half days' continuous steaming.
Allowing for delays in the Straits of
Magellan. ari for coaling, and the
voyage would take all of forty days;
or just double the time of the Panama
route.
Tlie sailing track as indicated by
the line of dashes is 15,(i(i(> miles, and
while our best clipper ships have
made the outward voyage in 160 to
110 days, many a good ship has taken
a full four, tive and even six months
on the voyage.
Again turn to the chart and follow
the zigzag line out around the
“Horn.” This is the actual track of
a sailing vessel, one of the last of the
good old wooden square-rigged ships
built in Bath.
The dots represent the noon posi
tions from day to day, toe voyage
commencing on June 17 from the
Delaware capes. While the straight
lines show the distance gained each
day they do not always represent the
actual path of the ship, as when the
wind is ahead the ship may tack back
and forth across the line a number of
times in the twenty-four hours.
The track indicated is 1*3,226 miles
long, but there is no doubt that the
ship covered more than 17,000 miles
on this voyage.
This voyage of 117 days was the
record run of that year, and was
especially good because the Horn was
rounded in midwinter.
The reader may wonder why the
sailing track runs so far to the east
ward on leaving New York. The rea
son is that to take advantage of the
northeast trade wind a ship must get
well off the coast to make a fair wind
of it, otherwise she would have to
beat her way along the coast of
Brazil, and thus lose much time.
Again in the Pacific this same “trade”
carries the ship far to the westward
of San Francisco, and not until she
has reached the zone of prevailing
westerly winds (above 30 deg. north)
can she swing around and head in
for “’Frisco."
Because of this same wind the sail
ing track from Panama to San Fran
cisco would be an immense half-circle.
By the canal route another great
saving can be made in going to Hono
lulu. For a steamship the distance
would be 6.C4B miles, or about 1,000
miles more than to San Francisco,
but by way of the Magellan straits
the ship would have to steam 13,200
miles, or twice as far.
The sailing vessel could save very
much, and after picking up the north
east trade on leaving Panama she
would have a fair wind all the way
to the islands, while a voyage around
the Horn would be 14,970 miles long
and necessitate a long battle with the
heavy westerly gales in that far
southern latitude.
Nothing would suit the old Cape
Horn “shell-back" better than to be
able to "cut across lots" and thus es
cape the much dreaded “corner"
which lias sent so many of his mates
to “Davy Jones' locker."
One thing more might be mention
ed, and that is the voyage to the Phil
ippines. While the distance (11,500
miles) is practically the same either
by Suez or Panama, in case of war
between this country and a foreign
power the latter route would be far
better, for many reasons.
With this canal once open for busi
ness there will be no further neces
sity of sending a big battleship on
a dangerous 15,000 mile "hurry up"
voyage to reach a place but a little
over 3,000 miles away.
FIRST STAMP
F.c
IN AMERICA.
PAID
Collectors and philatelists become
1 enthusiastic when they speak of the
famous Brattleboro, Vt., postage
( stamp, which is said to he the first
| ever used in America.
Dr. Frederick N. Palmer, who was
Battleboro’s postmaster from July,
j 1845, to November. 1848. was the in
ventor of the stamp which we re
i produce. The facsimile herewith pre
sented was prepared by the direction
of Major F. W. Childs, when he was
postmaster. This was at the request
. of many collectors.
I Dr. Frederick N. Palmer was born
In Belfast. Me., In 1815, and came to
Brattleboro some time In 183G as n
music teacher. He became a student
of the law and studied In the office of
Judge Asa Keyes. In 1840 he mar
ried Miss Ellen, oldest daughter of
Judge Keyes, and live years later he
was appointed postmaster.
It was during his three years in
cumbency that he inaugurated a num
ber of improvements in the office, and
in 184G issued the little stamp for
which collectors are now willing to
pay fabulous prices. It is stated that
one has been sold at the extraordi
nary price of $175. It is said that
only two Boston collectors can boast
of owning a Palmer stamp. One was.
bought about fifty years ago for sev
enty-flve cents. The other, bought in
1882. cost in the vicinity of $100.
It is said that a Mr. Collins of New
York has the only uncancelled Brat
tleboro stamp known to be in exist
ence. He has won the philatelic blue
ribbon for securing the rarest stamp
on the American catalogue, and that
means the whole world.
Great Britain adopted the use of
postage stamps in 1840. and Brazil in
1831. The United States did not com
menre to use them untll july
1847. "