Fjrgus County Democrat
TOM STOUT, Publisher and Prop.
Entered at the postoffice at Lewis
town, Montana, as second class mat
ter.
SUBSCRIPTION:
One year ........ $2.50
Six months .................... 1-25
Three months...................75
Official Paper of Fergus County
Lewistown, Montana.... Feb. 2, 19C9.
Notice to Subscribers.
In ordering paper changed to a new
address, mention old address also, to
insure prompt delivery. Subscribers
failing to receive their papers will
please notify this office.
TAFT'S HARD JOB.
President-elect Taft is making a de
termined effort to break up the "solid
South." He is spending much of his
time down there and is doing every
thing possible to curry favor with
the voters of that solidly democratic
region. Hie action clearly indicate
that Taft believes in looking a bit
ahead and that he has already begun
the battle for re-election, four years
hence.
Authorities differ as to the likli
hood of Mr. Taft breaking the solid
phalanx of democratic states south of
Mason & Dixon's ilne. Some claim
that there is some chance in Tennes
see, Florida, Oklahoma and Georgia.
It is pointed out that democratic ma
jorities in those states have been
steadily decreasing. This is due to
the development of manufacturing in
dustries and the practical extinction
of the old anti-bellum prejudice from
the breasts of the young voters who
comprise the third generation since
the great conflict.
Negatively, it is maintained that
the day is far in the future when the
republican party can ever hope to poll
the electoral votes of any of the
genuinely southern states. The Mo
bile Register says that the reason for
continued democratic supremacy is
that the people of the South prefer
''principal to the joys of office hold
ing."
The Richmond News-Leader ap
pears to hit the nail squarely on the
head when it says:
"By knowledge and patience, we
may mix oil and water, we may teach
a cat and a dog to live together in
peace, a deer and a hound to love each
other, a wolf and a sheep to dwell in
harmony in the same cage without
fear on one side or ferocity on the
other, but no power of skill, bribery
or cajolement, or force, will induce
the masses of the white people of the
South to give their confidence or their
support to any party which represents
or stands for negro equality in
politics."
THE POWER OF THE PRESS.
Oscar Hammerstein, the opera
manager, has just been taking a few
lessons in the power of the pres>.
Oscar had a quarrel with one of his
stars, and the New York reporters
swooped down on him for the par
ticulars, much to his wrath and in
dignation. Oscar is a hasty man and
it was in hot haste that he wrote to
the New York Press objecting to the
"seedy appearance" and "dark brown
breath" of the representatives sent
by enterprising city editors to the
Metropolitan opera house. Mary
Garden may have offended his sensi
tive ear. but to have two other senses,
those of sight and smell, outraged by
reporters was beyond Oscar's capac
ity of endurance. Two reporters to
whom Oscar had particular reference
viewed his letter as an unfriendly act.
particularly a certain part of it in
which he distrusted his financial
ability to "further purchase disin
fectants.'
As Mr. Hammerstein emerged from
a hotel one evening last week, one of
the reporters asked him for an apolo
gy. It is said in New York that had
Oscar been asked for a couple of
passes the blow could not have been
harder, but it was nothing to what
was to come. Oscar pushed the re
porter out of his way, and the re
porter pushed back. Oscar says it
was a blow, while the reporter says
he just shoved him. In any event
Oscar landed in a tree which stood
in a tub at the hotel entrance. When
he gut back to the sidewalk, the other
reporter took his turn and Oscar
went back into the tree, this time
landing on his hat. So to their other
misdeeds the reporters added dis
orderly conduct, an Mr. Oscar Ham
merstein has had his sense of touch,
smell, sight and feeling lacerated. He
caused the arrest of the reporters,
but the police judge, perhaps in a
desire to conciliate rather than en
rage the free and untrammeled Amer
ican press, dismissed the defendants
with a light and airy reprimand. No
sooner were they free than the re
portes took a few additional pokes
and punches at Oscar, for which of
fense they were re-*rrestcd by the
police and redismissed by the judge.
This teaches, or should teach, the
public the truth of that great first
principle—be kind to the reporter, or
he will get back at you.—Anaconda
Standard.
It must be admitted that Senator
Ben Tillman, the fire eating South
Carolina solon, did not emerge from
the little controversy with President
Roosevelt with his legislative gar
ments as immaculate as they were
before he entered the affray. It was
not proven that Tillman had trans
gressed any law but he was guilty of
being tangled up in some land mat
ters in a manner not altogether credit
able to a fine conception of the pro
prieties of his high public position.
In that his prediciment resulted more
from indiscretion than anything else.
Tillman is to be pitied. Since he ha^
always been looked upon as the most
uncompromising foe of official laches
makes his case all the more regrctible
While Tillman may be censurable,
his offense was not sufficiently great
to justify the elaborate and neces
sarily expensive surveillance placed
over him by President Roosevelt who
has transformed the government
secret service department into
private detective bureau to be used
only as the chief executive sees fir
President Roosevelt has a deep seat
ed personal grudge against Senator
Tillman and, for that reason, took
evident pleasure in seizing upon a
more or less flimsy pretext for
blackening the official standing of the
southern statesman. Tillmanism has
never been altogether admirable. His
rabid anti-negro attitude has not met
with unqualified favor, oven among
those people who know from personal
experience what a curse and perpetual
menace the vast horde of Africans
are to the South, her women and in
stitutions. Rut Tillman has done
great work in the United States
senate. He has not hesitated to
criticise evils in the government
which needed criticism. He has al
ways been the fearless champion of
genuine reforms. He has exposed
sham and hypocracy. For these rea
sons, it is unfortunate that a cloud
has been blown across the horizon of
his official career. It tends to de
stroy what little remaining confidence
there is in many of our people in the
integrity of our national leaders.
It now begins to look very much
as if there will be no primary election
law enacted at this session. The r
publicans have pushed the Dotilan
bill through the senate but, fortu
nately, it cannot pass the house and
even if it passed both branches in its
present form, it would hardly meet
with the approval of Governor Norris
as it is one of the poorest excuses
for a real primary law ever introduced
in a legislative assemblage. To pre
sume its passage would be to charge
the members of our state legislatur
with the most ogrcgcous stupidity o
the most reckless disregard for th
wishes of their constituents. Th
merits of the Oregon law have been
fully vindicated. The people elected
in Oregon, the man whom they b
lieve to be best fitted to represent
their state in the U. S. senate. Th
politicians of both sides were routed
and people rule has succeeded viciou
ring rule in the coast state. The Don
lan primary bill has been drawn fo
the one purpose of putting Thoma
Henry Carter back in the United
States senate. It pre-supposes that
majority of the people of this stat
are against Carter and arranges th
so that the will of this majority wil
be nullified. If the people wan
Carter they can get him under th
Oregon law and if they do not wan
him, they should not have him cram
med down their throats by the lieu
tenants of the leaginous one.
stove In? Don't you know dat future
generations is goln' to miss de um
brageous protection overhead an' dat
our grand hi Id ren is liable to bo ai de
mercy of a parasol trust? An' you
want me t-> chop wood! Lady. I'm
surprised at you!"—Washington star
it is said to be the game of Thom
Henry Carter to secure Joe Dixon
appointment as secretary of tin
terior or some othe cabinet position
and 'then have Ed Donlan, estwhil
"gum shoe candidate for governor
chosen senator. What a pretty p
Carter and Donlan would be in the Heavy wire waste paper baskets,
United States senate as the represen- w ' re ,'. s ' ze ^ inches high,
. inches in diameter at top. For
tat >ves °f the third largest state in in halls, schools, depots, etc. For sal,
the union. It is to be hoped that Joe at the Democrat Supply Department.
Dixon will not "fall" for the smooth
scheme of the oily one. The people
of this state, irrespective of politics,
are pretty well satisfied with the way
that Joe Dixon is going along in the
senate and would prefer to have him
remain there, for four more years at
least.
Although the republicans are in a
decided majority in the state senate,
the leader of that body, considering
real ability, is Tom Long, senator
from Flathead county and late demo
cratic candidate for congress. Long
is a splendid orator, the best in the
legislature, a fine parliamentarian and
not afraid to stack up against the op
position when the occasion demands.
His address in opposition to the Don
lan primary law was, by long odds,
the best speech delivered during the
present session and none of the re
publican senators made any serious
effort to answer him.
There is now before the legislature
a bill which limits the time of any
race meet in the state to fourteen
days. Two weeks is long enough for
a town or city to harbor a bunch of
touts, grafters and con men such as
follow the racing game. The mer
chants of Butte estimate that the sure
thing artists took close to $200,000
out of that city during the ninety day
race meet last year. Very naturally,
the business men of the big camp are
urging the passage of the anti-race
bill and it is certainly a measure of
commanding merit.
His Wonderful Method.
"Tou haven't been married very
long, have you?" said a guide at tbe
ite cupitvd to n young man who was
ning "Mr. and Mrs." in tlie register
for visitors at the desk at the en
ince.
IIow did you know?" demanded the
oung man.
"Oh. we get used to such people here
and can tell them every time," was
the response. "You haven't written
it name with "Mrs." very long, have
ou? I believe I can tell how long you
have been married from the signa
ture," the guide continued.
Well, we haven't been married very
long, but 1 don't see how you can tell
m the signature. How long has it
been ?"
Well, let me see." The guide picked
the book and scanned the name
closely.
You have been married five days
today," he said with an air of cer
tainty.,
'That's right, it's five days, but 1
don't see how you can tell."
The young wife had been sitting on
the marble bench during the colloquy,
and not until the couple went out of
the building did she tell "hubby" that
the guide had accosted her in the same
way and that she iiad told when they
had been married.—St. Paul Pioneer
Press.
Bavarian Distances.
In the Bavarian highlands signposts
along the roads, instead of stating the
number of miles or kilometers to the
arlous villages, give the amount of
time which the average pedestrian will
supposedly take to traverse the dis
tance. This is merely an official ex
pression of the very general custom of
the peasants in the region, who invari
ably tell Inquirers on the roads not
how far it is to a place, but how long
it takes to get there. Not only that,
but they make the system still more
unsatisfactory to the stranger by a lit
tle additional eccentricity of their own.
For instance, one asks. "How far is
It to Oberammergnu?"
"A small half hour," will be the an
swer, or perhaps "A good half hour"
or "A big half hour."
■Which is puzzling until the stranger
learns that a "small half hour" means
twenty-five minutes, "a good half
hour" thirty minutes, "a big half hour"
thirty-five minutes, "a small three
quarters of an hour" forty minutes,
aud so on.
An Economic Protest.
"Did I understand you to ask me If
I wanted work?" asked Plodding Pete
"That's what you understood, if you
understood anything," answered the
woman with a cold, steely eye and a
square jaw.
You've got some wood that needs
chopping, I suppose."
"I have."
"Lady, I'm surprised at you. Don't
jou know dat de trees gather moisture
gradually an' by slowly lettin' it into
de ground keep up a steady water sup
ply? Don't you know dat when you
leave de hillsides naked an - bare de
water comes down in a freshet, same
as beer from a barrel wit' de head
stove In? Don't you know dat future
generations is goln' to miss de um
brageous protection overhead an' dat
our grand hi Id ren is liable to bo ai de
mercy of a parasol trust? An' you
want me t-> chop wood! Lady. I'm
surprised at you!"—Washington star
Westminster Clock Tower Is the
Finest Jail In England.
BUT IT IS ALWAYS EMPTY.
The Tower Is the British Parliament's
House of Detention, and Charles
Bradlaugh Was Its Last Occupant.
The Old Prison In Former Days.
a
If the average sentenced criminal
were allowed to select his place of
confinement his choice would prob
ably fall on the Clock Tower prison
at Westminster, as that Ls the very
finest prison In Great Britain and is
able to supply comforts and luxuries
quite unknown to the ordinary Bill
Sikes.
But the law decides that members
of parliament only may be confined
in that Jail, although rank outsiders
could be committed to the Clock Tow
er for certain offenses against the
rules and regulations of parliament.
The Clock Tower prison, as it ex
ists today, was erected in connection
with the house occupied Dy the ser
geant at arms. This official is in com
plete charge of any member com
mitted to the Clock Tower, and a
member cannot easily make his es
cape, because, in order to do so, he
must pass through the house of the
sergeant.
Very few members of parliament
are committed to the Clock Tower in
these days. We have to go back many
years to find a precedent. Mr. Charles
Bradlaugh being the last member to
occupy the cells at the Clock Tower,
and he did not occupy them long, lie
was handed over to the custody of the
sergeant at arms on June 23, 1880,
committed to the Tower and released
next day.
Tlmre are two sets of cells in the
Clock Tower, an upper and a lower,
but both suits of cells are much the
same. In each there is a sitting room
of very ample proportions, well car
peted and furnished and replete with
most of the things which go toward
making one comfortable.
In each suit there are two bedrooms
—one for the use of the imprisoned
M. P., the other for the convenience
of the jailer, who must always be on
the spot in order to see that the
legislator makes no attempt to escape.
Any member of parliament sent to
the Clock Tower by order of the
speaker would he required to pay for
his own food, and if lie did not do
so he could be sued in court. Any
legislator incarcerated in the Clock
Tower would be allowed to rise in
the morning just when he pleased, and
he could retire to bed when the spirit
moved him. He could read to his
heart's content and smoke as much
as he liked, there being no restrictions
over such matters; his whole punish
ment would lie in being prevented
from joining his fellows and mixing
with them.
He would be taki~\ out to exercise,
but would always have two officials
beside him to guard against any at
tempt at escape, and his exercise
would be taken on the terrace before
the house sat for the day. Under
no circumstances would he be al
lowed to hold converse with his fel
low men. One way or another an im
prisoned M. P. would not have a bad
time of it, and he would not be kept
In confinement for any lengthy period.
But if the Clock Tower is not much
used nowadays, the Tower—the prison
of the house of commons of a former
day—was much in evidence. In olden
times a passing remark, an observa
tion obnoxious to the house, or, indeed,
any trifle, was sufficient to send the
culprit forthwith to the Tower, and
not to the Tower only, for a member
could he committed to Newgate.
Sometimes the reason for committing
a member to the Tower was somewhat
mousing, as witness the case of a
member for Southampton who once
entered the house in a drunken condl
tion and, mistaking the speaker for an
owl sitting in an ivy bush, addressed
him as such. Result—the Tower.
However, the member was released
next day and severely reprimanded
for his ridiculous behavior.
The Tower was made use of by the
'long" parliament. In one day as many
ns eleven Presbyterian members of the
house were committed to the custody
of the sergeant at arms and flung into
the Tower. And, to show that mem
bers were not committed for errors in
speech nlone,\One has only to mention
the case of Captain Churchill, who in
1S(!9 was committed to the Tower for
refusing to take merchant ships under
the protection of his man of war unless
he received a gift of £200.
In those days they had to pay stiffly
for the privilege of being sent to the
Tower, as witness an extract from the
diary of Lord Clarendon, written the
day following his committal to the
tower. He says: "Mr. Dod brought me
a note of tbe fees, which come to £130
—viz. the gpvernor, £100; gentleman
porter. £20; gentleman gaoler. £10."
When a member offends in these
Aays and requires to be "named"—al
ways a necessity before committal—he
is not sent to the Clock Tower, but ls
suspended from duty and ls not allow
ed to enter the house for so long as the
members decree.—Pearson's Weekly.
Her Idea
Mrs Muggins—! hear your husbaud
is speculating In stocks. Is he a bull
or a bear? Mrs. Buggins—Judging
from results l should think he was a
jackass.—Philadelphia Record.
Know thyself and your own place in
the universe about you. Fear no phan
toms, but face realities.—Grant Allen.
AN ANCIENT YOKEL
Not Quito Sure of His Age, but Knew
It Was Something Fearful.
During a Saturday stroll in the coun
try a pedestrian came upon an ancient
rustic engaged in breaking stones.
Drawing him into conversation, the pe
destrian eventually asked the o'd fel
low how old he was.
"Oh, I dunno," was the reply, "but 1
know I be a fearful age!"
"But you must have some general
idea how old you are."
"No, I dunno, but I know I be a
fearful age," was the only estimate
that could be drawn from him.
"All right? we'll try to- get at it in
another way," said the pedestrian,
bringing out his pencil and notebook.
"Now, how old were you when you left
school?"
"I be nine, sur, when I finished
schulln'." .
"And what did you do then?"
"Well, I was boy fur Farmer Giles
fur fifteen year."
"And after that?"
"After that 1 worked fur Squire
Noakes fur seven and thirty year."
"And what next?"
"Well, I was wagoner fur Cruker,
the carrier, fur four and forty year."
And so on, and so forth, until the final
fact was elicited that he had been en
gaged on breaking stones for a quarter
of a century. Then the inquirer ob
served, with withering sarcasm:
"So you do not know how old you
are? Well, I'll tell you. You're 378
years old on your own showing."
I dessny," murmured the ancient
yokel, with undisturbed serenity. "1
know I be a fearful age."—Liverpool
Mercury.
r
A BANKING CREDIT
'Few people realize the necessity or the
possibilities of Commercial Credit until
they see opportunities go by without
the means to take advantage of them.
The business man of today establishes a
credit. He realizes that
CREDIT
[ We invite your account and will extend
to you every accommodation consistent
with sound banking methods. ::
Means Cash When Needed
g Hla
THE BANK OF FERGUS COUNTY
1 ....... ~ | LEWISTOWN, MONTANA 1 --------------------- [
1887.....Twenty-two Years of Safe Banking.....1909
mwzssi
Why Fergus County People
Should Do Their
Business With
THE EMPIRE BANK AND
I I TRUST COMPANY □
Notice.
The copyright for Goodapeod'a map
ai Fergus county is held through as
signment by the Fergus County
Democrat and duly filed with the
Register of Copyrights at Washing
ton. AB peraons are warned not to
reproduce this map, either by print
ing, photographing or any other pro
cess. Fergus County Democrat.
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FERGUS COUNTY
DEMOCRAT