The Leon reporter., August 30, 1900, Image 8

About The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
LOST
ON THE ...
They were in the midst of a great
stretch of arid "karoo"—nothing but
red sand, unrelieved by bush, grass or
sign of, water, stretched about them.
•Arsmnd, however, rose great black
craggy rocks, with what seemed like
a sandy ravine between, but the light
was so dim Bluebell could not be sure.
She was sure of one thing: That she
had never been there before. She
could only guess that they were about
to enter a pass In the mountain which
separated Natal from the Transvaal
and the Orange Free State.
She looked at her companions. A
native "boy," short-statured and at
tired almost in rags, with a villainous
j| expression, walked beside her. On the
thsr side, mounted on. a large bay
lirse, his dark, evil face turned to
rds her, was Gerald Moore.
J»en her eyes came back to herself.
She had on the dark gown which she
littl thrown on when she had been
Aroused by the approach of the com
ttwndo a heavy tweed cloak covered
to her feet. On the latter she
•nail only the house slippers she had
put on when she left her room. A lit
tle ttiveed cap covered her disheveled
hair. That and the cloak, she con
^eluded, had been supplied by Moore.
1
She turned to him, her face like that
®'.one
who
You have done your wor«t wti
and
betrayed
IpwmHiMniinMiaiaimiiMtnMMmnimtnHmniimiMhmi
VELDT
tuiMtmmmitmtmmitmmilmititmmmmnw
CHAPTER VI.—(Continued.
At last they stopped. Some one
tame up to Bluebell, and, to her im
mense relief, she felt the horrid cloth
being untied. The next moment it
waa.. drawn from her head, and then
light, blessed fight, albeit it was only
a faint gray dawn as yet, flooded her
eyes. Bluebell uttered a half-sobbing
cry and looked around at her compan
ions, then 'at herself.
had passed through a
(rightful vigil, and come- out of it pale
•Mid. worn, hollow-eyed and heart
broken A momentary flash of her old
courage came to her as she saw the
evil-look in Moore's eyes.
"Where are you taking me to?" she
exclaimed. "Are you a man at all,
that' yoii can drag me from my home
at such a time as this, when my
father lies dead or dying, killed by
your treachery?"
I "I took you for your own safety," he
replied with a Cold smile. "Oh, you
ire quite safe with me, Mlas Bluebell
don't be afraid. We. are within a day
and a night's Journey of our destina
tlon. ^Oiice we are safely bit- Dutch soil
you shall become my wife, and then
we shall cross over ]to England as soon
as may be."
"You are the worst man that God
has left upon earth!" said the girl de
liberately. "But do you think you
will frighten me into what you,
., Gerald Moore. I am not afraid
and I will die rather than mar
iVa'm no
wfli help mS'a^fflnst you/
ffe laughed insultingly
"If it pleases you to think so, my
lady, I hare no objections. As for
jing—well, we shall see aout that.
£re are different ways of dying."
All the morning hours they jolted,
tumbled and bumped their way over
the rutty and uneven-plain. The full
dawn broke, and the sun rose in all the
glorious majesty of day.
Then, as they entered the pass be
tween the rocky hills, the full heat of
the sun began to beat down upon them.
It beat on Bluebell's unsheltered head
and gave her a racking headache. Soon
she beoame intensely thirsty, but no
water was to be seen but the pain and
weariness of her body was as nothing
compared to the anxiety, the fear, the
anguish that racked her mind.
"God, God, help me! There is none
but Thou!" she prayed again and
again. Then there came to her mind
the remembrance of Adair Rothes'
.quiet, brave, strong face, and her heart
bounded. Oh, if he only knew what
had happened, would he not try to
save her from this awful fate?
AboUo midday Moore called a halt.
He came forward to help Bluebell off
her horse, but she scornfully waved
him aside and slipped off herself.
"You can easily catch me if I at
tempt to run away," she said. Even
as the words passed her lips her heart
beat high.
Run away! Why should she not
make a bold attempt? They could not
lie very far distant from some town,
when Moore had spoken of a day and
a night's journey- And even if she
lost herself on that terrible trackless
plain, among those rocky mountains,
better that fate than the one with
Which she was threatened.
Her chance was to come sooner than
she expected.
CHAPTER VII.
"It is impossible! I cannot believe
it!" exclaimed Adair Rothes. "Mr.
Leslie's house burned to the ground,
and he himself shot by the commando!
It is too terrible for belief!"
The news had just been related to
him by a messenger, who had managed
to make his way into Ladysmith for
by this time the war had commenced,
And the battle of Glencoe been fought
and won.
Doctor Rothes had not as yet left the
town, where he had been very busy,
aldpg jfrith one or two others, in at
bndloy to the wounded and dying who
iad been Wougkt into the town and
obeyed to the house which had been
fted into a hospital. No news of
itside world, save of the army
ad ventured out to do battle with
/enemy, had reached the little town
(til now.
le messenger, a young Dutch farm
rho had come to ask if he could
|nrolled in the British army, was
lisei and frightened when he saw
alarm and horror which
pung man's face.
tiaye been told, Herr
young Dutchman
tell you no more
Leslie is dead,
te5t(teiiKklt.\h^
A STORY OF THE
BOER CAMPAIGN
IN NATAL
I*
By H. B. Mackenzie
1*
!i
"If the commando has done this
without provocation we shall not let
the matter rest there," he said. "And
what of Miss Leslie and Miss Eliza
beth, his daughter and sister?"
The young man shook his head. He
had given all his information.
Rothes could not rest until he heard
more. He arranged with the other
medical men, and, escaping from the
town, though under a heavy fire from
the enemy, he rode at as mad a pace
as he had ever indulged In, towards
New Kelso.
It was late in the afternoon when
he reached it, and, long ere he did so,
he saw a mass of black ruins through
the gum trees, which confirmed the
story he had heard.
He drew his breath in sharply, a
feeling of almost overwhelming fear
and foreboding seized upon him. Then
he rode up the avenue towards the
black ruins that had once been so firm
and sweet a home, and that had held
the dearest thing to him on earth—
Bluebell, Bluebell! Where was sho
now?
The outhouse in which the native
servants had slept was, strangely
•enough, untouched by fire* Rothes
rode up towards it, his heart beating
with dull hammer-like throbs. As
he neared it a figure emerged from the
low, mud doorway. The building was
merely a mud house daubed over with
clay. The figure was that of Miss
Elizabeth. She came quickly forward,
and Rothes saw how shockingly
changed she was.
Her hair seemed to have grown
grey, her face was like that of a very
old woman, drawn and wrinkled her
cheeks and eyes hollow and sunken,
and the latter looked as if all the ters
had been wrung out of them.
But they had not. A dry sob burst'
from her as she recognized Rothes,
and, as he clasped her hand, the tears
rushed forth. "Thank God! Oh, thank
God! It is a wonder to myself I have
not gone mad during these long days!
Never a white face that I knew to ap
peal to. But now— Oh, you will, for
charity's dear sake, for the sake of
the kind Lord above, you will seek for
my lost child. Doctor Rothes?"
He paled suddenly, holding the thin,
hard-working hand in an unconscious
ly painful grasp.
"Lost! What do you mean, Miss
Elizabeth? Is it Bluebell whe is lost?"
"'Yea,'my bairn, my little Bluebell!"
She burst into the painful, bitter tears
of old age. "Now my brother Is gone
--and God alone knows whether the
awful charge they brought against him
was true or not—I can think of noth
ing, of no one but my lost darling.
Where is she? Is she still alive? Has
death overtaken her, or something
worse? Oh, if I but knew the truth,
even if it were death, it would not be
so awful! But this uncertainty—the
Almighty above knows how I bear it
still keep sane!"
I^iin all to me. Miss Elizabeth."
RcJ|! led her to an iron garden seat
that""'the fire had been compelled to
spare, and sat down beside her, his
own face pale and set. "Tell me the
whole affair as briefly as possible, and
then I shall know what to do."
She did so, with wonderful brevity
and exactness. When she mentioned
the name of Gerald Moore, Rothes
started from his seat, his eyes blazing
then, with a gesture, asked her to go
on.
"I did not see where Bluebell was
for a long time. The leader of the
Boers examined my brother for him
self. 'He is dead there is no doubt of
it. It was an apoplectic stroke,' he
said. Then he said he must take my
brother's body with him. His orders
were to bring him dead or alive. I
prayed. I besought. Then suddenly
the servants came running to say the
house was on fire. It had been set fire
to by some of the Boers, misunder
standing an order of their leader—at
least, so they said. It was then I
learned Bluebell was gone. Sam told
me he had seen Baas Moore carrying
her off, with a cloth over her head
and when Sam had run after him,
Moore covered him with a pistol."
"You mean," said Rothes hoarsely,
interrupting her, a look in his face
that terrified the poor woman, "that
it is that villain in whose hands she
is now?"
"I tell you all I know," said Miss
Elizabeth, sobbing. "Doctor Rothes,
do you know anything? But let me
finish first. When the Boers saw the
terrible conflagration they consulted
hastily among themselves, and finally
made off, leaving me with my dead
and half-crazed servants. Well, we
carried my brother's body outside and,
without trying to save anything, I sent
Sam and Monti in search of Bluebell.
They did hot return till night, and
then without having found any trace
of her. That all happened three days
ago. We had to bury my brother our
selves." Miss Elizabeth's voice chok
ed. "The boys managed a kind of
wooden shell to lay him in, and they
buried him under the kopje nearest the
river. What else could we do?" Miss
Elizabeth wrung her hands. "Doctor
Rothes, there was no minister to say
a prayer I had to do it mysplf. Oh,
my poor brother!"
The tone of anguish in the poor
lady's voice would have touched a far
more callous heart than Adair Rothes'.
His whole mind was taken up with
Bluebell's fate, and he had far more
reason than Miss Elizabeth to mistrust
Mooi^e. Yet he laid his hand for a mo
ment consolingly on that if the poor
woman.
,'i-
Miss Elizabeth, you arfe a Christ
and you know and believe that
hand guides all the events of our
Your brother is in His hands,
know thaty^k^^iands of
,ve
yesterday morning, and I gave him
food and drink enough tolast several
daya."
"Which direction did he take?"
Rothes asked.
He had gone southwards, toward the
Tugela river, she said.
"Then I shall take the other direc
tion," said Rothes, standing up. "I am
certain if Gerald Moore, as he calls
himself, has carried her off, he has
taken her beyond British territory. I
know that man, Miss Elizabeth. He il
a scoundrel of the deepest dye!"
"What do you know of him?" sh
gasped, seizing his arm. "Oh, God for
bid that my darling should be in thl
hands of such a man, if he is what you
say!"
"I knew him in Maritzburg," said
Rothes briefly. "I learned by chance
what he was, and he knew it, and
hates me for it. He robbed a dead man
at Kimberley. That is how he obtain
ed his wealth.
"And, almost worse than that, ne
has been ,a vile spy in the pay of the
Boers. The Boers despise him but he
has been of use to them. Now I must
wait no longer, Miss Elizabeth. I must
hurry back to Ladysmith. I cannot
leave.my duties there without warning
But tonight I shall be on Moore's
track, and, please God, I shall find him
yet."
She clasped his hand, weeping.
"You are going to seek for my dar
ling? Oh, may God bless you and give
you success! It is He who has put it
into your heart to help me!"
He looked at her for a moment
Words seemed trembling on his lips
but he checked them and wrung her
hand instead.
"Good-by, Miss Elizabeth. Take
care of yourself, and make yourself as
comfortable as you can. I can't ask
you to go to a place where you would
be safer than here, for I wish to find
you when I come back. And I shall
not come back until I have found her,
with God's help. Good-by, good-by!"
He was gone, and Miss Elizabeth
was left alone with her fear and anx
iety, and only her native servants as
companions.
It was late that night when Rothes
was able to set out. He struck across
country from Ladysmith, following the
Tugela for some time, then skirting
the mountains. He had brought with
him his native boy, a lithe and hardy
little Zulu, who was as clever at fol
lowing a "spoor" as a red Indian. His
own horse was a hardy and sure-footed
animal the Zulu rode an equally
sturdy though smaller beast, bare
backed.
(To be continued.)
CATS THAT SAIL OCEAN.
All Passenger Steamers Carry a Goodly
Number of Felines.
Every large ocean liner carrying
passengers always has on board from
six to ten cats, these being apportioned
to various parts of the ship, as well as
appearing on the vessel's books as re
gards the rations they draw. And, even
beyond this, on most of the great lines
particular employes are instructed to
feed daily as a part of their duties cer
tain cats in their part of the ship.
And there is promotion for pussy as
well, for any cat that is particularly
amiable, clever and interesting is per
mitted to enjoy the run of first or sec
ond or third class saloons, according
to the popular vote. In this way cer
tain of the first-class saloon pussies
have become celebrated, especially on
the long voyage boats that go to India
and Australia, and the stewards of the
various classes, are quite commonly
eager to push their own favorite cat
into first place. Of course, there are
amazing favorites with the staff of the
ship, that are fine hunters and do not
seek "society." When the ship is in
port a certain man has the duty of
feeding the cats at regular hours and
of entering the rations in a book, but
every cat on the ship that has been
long there seems to wait with eager
ness for and to recognize at once the
professional rat catcher who always
goes to work In the hold of every pas
senger liner when it comes to dock,
and who lives by ridding ships of rats.
The "staff cats," as the stewards call
them, never leave the rat man till he
has finished his duties. Large sums
have been offered for one Mloon cat
on a great line and the itaC have to
guard it strictly from acq«Wtive ad
mirers, in whose luggage it has sev
eral times been found.—New York
Herald.
BURIAL OP SPANISH MONARCHS
Weird Ceremonial Custom as Prescribed
for Royal Obsequies.
Strange and almost weird is the cer
emonial which accompanies the burial
of Spanish kings. The pantheon or
royal tomb is at the palace of the Es
curial, situated 3,000 feet above the
level of the sea and some distance
from the capital. Only kings, queens
and mothers of kings are buried there,
the cdffins of the kings lying on one
side, those of the queens on the other.
After lying in state for several days
in the throne rooms in Madrid an en
ormous procession is formed, accom
panying the body to the Escurial. A
halt Is made on the way and the
corpse .rests there for one night. In
the morning the lord high chamberlain
stands at the side of the coffin and
says in loud tones: "Is your majesty
pleased to proceed on your journey?"
After a short silence the procession
moves on and winds up to the grand
•portal of the palace. These doors are
never opened except to admit a roj^al
personage, dead or alive. When the
casket containing the remains is at
last placed in the vault the chamber
lain unlocks it and, kneeling down,
calls with a loud voice: "Senor! Se
nor! Senor!" After a solemn pause
he cries again: "His majesty does not
reply. Then it is true, the king is
•dead!" He then locks the coffin, gives
the key to the prior (the palace of the
Escurial contains also a large monas
tery and church), and, taking his staff
of office, breaks it in pieces and flings
them at the casket. The booming of
the guns and the tolling of bells an
nounce to the- nation that the king
"|jas gone to his final resting fclace.—
Francisco Argonaut.
In tie' world ,comes
gage| to speak and
and in aLspJrit
wm
ipi
WHY THEY STAfiVE.
SENATOR HALE'S WORDS ON
THE INDIA FAMINE.
Drones Eat AU the Honey in the Hive
WhUe the Workers Starve for Suste
nance—Goldbug Imperialism Seen |at
Its Worst In That Sml Land.
hf^if
Senator Perkins of California, a few
days before congress adjourned, offer
ed petitions in the senate, asking con
gress to appropriate money for the
relief of the starving subjects of Great
Britain in India. He would not press
the matter, he said, for fear it might
insult England for the United States
government to undertake the task, of
feeding her subjects by appropriating
the public money. His only reason
for not being willing to send our
money to the relief of those whom
the government of England had rob
bed to starvation was that it might
make Lord Salisbury and Lord Cham
berlain mad at us to do so. The re
marks of Senator Perkins called up
Senator Hale of Maine. Mr. Hale pro
ceeded as follows:
"The world has been horrified al
most stupefied, at the suffering now
being endured In India. That is the
chief of England's colonies. The pesti
lence and famine are appalling to the
Imagination.
Whole families are being wiped out
of existence the babe lies dead beside
its mother. Now tne senator comes
here with a proposition that we should
appropriate money for the relief of
these people. I should like to ask the
senator what England has done for
the people of India? She has spent
tens and hundreds of millions of dol
lars In striking down and crushing re
publics. It is the most brutal mani
festation of strength against liberty
and weakness that the world has ever
seen and I am moved, therefore, to
ask the senator what Great Britain
has done to relieve the suffering of her
Indian subject? What has he in the
way of information upon this point?
What information has he as to Eng
land's action in this matter while it is
spending hundreds of millions in des
troying the Boer repiiblic?
"Do the American people realize
that the same kind of government
Which has brought starvation and
death to the common people in India
will produce the same results In this
or any other country? In India, where
the working people have been plun
dered by the tax-gatherer of all
they can produce, the high salaried
officials and the privileged trusts and
monopolies are prosperous and flour
ishing, even as they are in this coun
try under the great "wave of prosper
ity" which has. swept millions .of prop
erty into the- possession of the few,
while labor all over the country is
struggling for bread and making its
presence felt only by means of the
strike and boycott.
"In natural resources India is as
rich a country as this. The Great
Father has stored his bounties to
the human family as lavishly in that
countrj* as he has in this. Then why
are the people starving there by the
million? It can be accounted for only
by the fact that the drones have taken
all the honey from the hive and left
the workers to perish. The same kind
of drones are extracting the honey
from the American hive and by the
same process. If the workers who pro
duce the wealth have not the instinct
and courage equal to the bee, which
saves its honey by killing the drone,
then it is only a question of time
when the bones of the starving mil
lions will bleach upon the soil of
India.
"Like causes produce like effects in
all ages and climes."
COLD-BLOODED PROPOSITION.
A man that can sit down with
the happy, smiling faces of his
family around a well-laden table,
and hear the cry of a starving
child outside, belongs to a class of
animal far below the hyena. Even
the wolf will give what is left
on his bone to some other wolf, and
the horse enters no protest when some
other horse starts in to oat what is
left in his bin. Believers in Christ
and in Christ's principles feel the sting
of remorse and the blush of shame
when they hear the pitiful cries of
twenty million starving people in In
dia, and upbraid themselves for not
making an effort to relieve them still,
this fact must be taken into consid
eration. India today is exporting
wheat and grain, while Lady Curzon is
pleading with the American people to
send wheat and grain to India to re
lieve the distressed. English specula
tors in India grain officially notify
the world that it is not grain that is
needed in India but money to buy it.
Just think of that cold-blooded prop
osition, then deny if you can that the
famine in India is due to British mis
rule.—George's Weekly.
ANOTHER CUBAN SCANDAL.
Another Cuban scandal nas come to
light. This one is not given as much
publicity as the postoffice affair, pos
sibly because the victims were labor
ers, but it is none the less as outrage
ous as the other case. Thousands of
poor laborers have been at the mercy
of money sharks who, by the favorit
ism of civil administration have been
permitted to buy up the time checks
of the workmen. By the system in
vogue the money lenders, through
their small advances, which were guar
anteed by some officers and foremen in
charge of works, were enabled to have
the fuil pay of the common laborers
turned over to them. The War De
partment has been making frantic ef
forts to head off a disclosure of the
Jeandal because the Cuban administra
tion is already responsible for so many
corrupt practices, but a portion of the
story has leaked out. The department
has ordered that civil disbursing offi
cers shall make payments at or near
the working places and to the men in
dividually whose names appear on the
pay rolls. Officers in charge of labor
ers have been forbidden to guarantee
the payment of transferred .checks or
to allow any other person to make
such guarantee and every other possi
ble method is being resortejl- to in or
i-der to stop the ro
to such proportions that a full expos
ure cannot be prevented. The dishon
esty of United States officials in Cuba
has already caused the Spanish ex
officials to open their eyes in wonder
and admiration, and it wouldn't be sur
prising if a few more exposures would
start a revolution among the benevo
lently assimilated .Qubans.—Cleveland.
Artisan. '*7v.
CLASS IN IMPERIALISM.
Question—What Is the whole duty of
men and nations?
Answer—To mind their own busi
ness.
"Have men and nations ever done
this?"
"There is not an instance in record
ed history."
"Give an example of people not
minding their own business."
"The Americans in the Philippines."
"But they say the Filipinos are not
capable of self-government."
"That is their business."
"Is Spain a wise nation?"
"The wisest in the world,
"Is Aguinaldo a polygamist?"
"No we would not permit him to
be, even should he acknowledge his al
legiance to the United States."
"Would we permit him to hold
slaves?"
"No slavery is legally and morally
wrong."
"Is the Sultan of Sulu a polygamist?"
"He is and a slave holder."
"Do we permit that?"
"Oh, yes and we give him six
thousand, dollars a year to support his
twelve wives."
"Explain to the class this contra
diction." c':
"It cannot be explained. It can only
be said that in the practical details of
minding other people's' business
the canons of morality together with
all the maxims of political economy
are reversed."
"Is the departure from the strict
habits of minding your own business
expensive?"
"Very it may be said that nine
tenths of the poverty of the world is
due to this cause."
"What is this policy sometimes
called?"
"Benevolent assimilation."—Indus
trial Advocate.
TEDDY ROOSEVELT.
The gentleman in the Kansas City
convention who said that "Adlai Stev
enson is a smooth rider," not a
"rough rider," was as pat as the other
one who said that "Teddy Roosevelt
has spilt more ink and less blood than
any hero the United States has ever
produced."
"Teddy, show your teeth!"—Lead
ville Miner.
"Teddy the Terrible," in one of the
numerous articles he wrote for the
magazines, described among other
blood-curdling performances, how he
shot down a Spanish soldier, who was
fleeing and yelling for quarter.
When Captain Philip of the battle
ship Texas had directed the guns of
his vessel with such destructive effect
upon the Viscaya and Oquendo, that
both these armor-clads, scuttled and
helpless, were burning on the beach,
he called out to. his shouting crew:
"Don't cheer, men those poor devils
are dying." Then reverently bowing
his head, he asked his officers and
sailors to offer up thanks for victory
to the God of battles.
Alongside such a genuine hero as
Philip, the self-advertised Roosevelt
looks exceeding opera bouffe—Knox
ville Sentinel.
To choose Roosevelt for Vice-Presi
dent would be invoking again dangers
which experience has taught us the
lesson to avoid. Not the same dan
gers, it may be, that befell the nation
with Tyler and Johnson, but proceed
ing from the same qualities of charac
ter that made the nation regret them
in their presidencies—egotism, com
bat!
veness and obstinacy. In the pe
culiar condition of our nation's rela
tions with the rest of the world there
might be the gravest apprehension
from Roosevelt in the presidency.—
Boston Advertiser.
THE GOLDBUG VIEW OF IT.
The strong argument of our oppo
nents In this campaign is prosperity,
and they prove that prosperity by cit
ing the fact that our exports of mer
chandise gold and silver exceed the
imports by hundreds of millions of
dollars. This is considered of so much
importance that it was incorporated
as a stump speech in the belly of the
Republican platform. The theory is
that a nation that sends -away more
than she receives is getting rl6h and
one that receives more than she pays
out is getting poor. For a great many
years England's imports have greatly
exceeded her exports and strange to
say that nation has not gone into
bankruptcy. But here are two bril
liant illustrations of the Republican
contention. Egypt exports a great
deal more than she imports and that
has been the case ever since Mose3
crept out of the bull-rushes. By this
time Egypt ought to be immensely
rich but she isn't. In all the world
there is no nation so poverty stricken
and disconsolate. For a long time
Ireland's exports have immensely ex
ceeded her imports and during that
time her population has decreased
^one-half and her brave sons are hunt
ing a home -in every country in the
world, except Ireland. The facts of
impartial history show the exact op
posite to that which is claimed by the
Republicans, and if this is their best
and strongest argument we will make
them take to the woods before the
campaign is fairly warmed up.
Bryan Not a Trimmer,
One reason that Mr. Bryan is so
generally respected is that he is s'n
cere. He says what he thinks is gen
erally right, and he does not keep
quiet on any subject from fear that
his views might injure his political
prospects. It is' because Mr. Bryan
takes the position of a statesman and
a patriot rather than that of a schem
ing politician in respect to public
matters that he has such a remarka,
hold on the people. The people 11
sincere man and they are quick ti
ognji^^fc^lj£ahe appears
MANY TRUSTS OR ONE.
Most of the business of the country
is already In the hands of the trusts
and it will not be long, if present
conditions continue, until they will ab
solutely control every branch of trade.
When that Is the catae where is there
a chance of success for your boy or my
boy? He cannot commence an. Inde
pendent business of any kind, for evj
ery avenue will be closed. His only
chance will be in the overcrowded pro
fessions or as the hired man of a cor
poration. Your boy or mine may not
be bright enough to excel In the law
and we don't want to see him as a
shyster or a pettifogger. He may not
be deceitful enough to make a doctor.
He may not be pious enough for a
preacher and he can't teach school for
the pretty school ma'ams have crowd
ed him out. He might be a servant of
servants to the Standard Oil robberg
or to a railroad or the bank trust.
He might learn a trade if there were
not already a million mechanics out of
a job. .He might be a hired hand on a
farm-at-twelve dollars a^month or per-,
haps he could get a job in a depart
ment store at six dollars a week, pro
vided they couldn't get a girl at three
dollars who would do the work just as
well There is still open to him a sltl
uatlon as private in our imperial army
at sixteen dollars' a month with all
the comforts of a warm climate and
the delights of an army canteen.
What are you going to do with that
boy of yours? Don't this question
trouble you night and day? Do you
see any way out? As long as the
trusts live wealth will accumulate and
men will decay. The trusts must be
killed or your boy and my boy will
go to the wall or else live and die the
hired hand of a gresdy monopolist.
Can the trusts be killed? No they
have come to stay, but they- can be
benevolently assimilated. They can
all be merged in one universal trust
owned and controlled by all the peo
ple. This is the only way out of the
labyrinth. The more that honest and
intelligent men study this question
the clearer they see that public own
ership of all the means of production
and distribution .is the .only, .solution
of this question. But you say that
would be socialism. Of course it
would, but it is the only remedy just
the same. The people are no£ as much
afraid of that word as they used to
be. When they understand it, it is
no longer a bugbear. A million Amer
ican voters are ready for socialism to
day and are only waiting in the hope
that something may possibly happen
to give them more immediate relief If
Bryan were not a candidate for presi
dent, socialism would get. a million
votes this year., but the people believe
th,at Bryan is their friend they know
he is brave, honest, sincere and they,
hope that he will be able to do some
thing for their relief. If Bryan should
be beaten, or If when elected, he
should fall to meet the hopes of the
plain, people the social democrats will
elect a president in 1904.
lii
IMPERIALIST LOGIC.
The imperialist demonstration that
we could not have got our military
forces into China this year if we had
not forced a needless war on the poor
Filipinos a year and a half agp is. one
of those powerful exhibitions of logic
which leave everything except the
logic out of account.—Hartford Times.
And it isn't worth a continental as
logic. We can't use our forces in the
Philippines for the invasion of China.
They can't be spared. We can do
nothing in China with less than 20,030
men, and if we should take that many
soldiers out of Luzon the Filipinos
would eat up the balance. If we ever
do anything in China we will have to
raise another army at home.
Roosevelt said in his St. Paul speech,
"The expansion of a civilized people
means not war, but peace." Wonder
what Teddy considers the American
people. To expand in the Philippines
means hell in China, more hell. Gen
Sherman said, "War is hell." Any
man who has served in the Philippines
will tell you that Gen. Sherman wa3
right. And yet Roosevelt talks about
expansion being "peace."
mmm
Mr. Rockefeller says that God gave
him his property. If that be so it was
very unkind in God to take away
from him recently three million dol
lars worth of that property bv means
af one stroke of lightning.
BURIED AT CR SSROADS.
Speculation as to the Origin of Interring
a Suicide's Remains.
It has been suggested that suicides
were buried at crossroads because it
was usual to erect a cross at such
places. Those who were excluded
from holy rites were buried there as
the place next In sanctity to conse
crated ground. It was an old super
stition that the devil danced at cross
roads and that the erection of a cross
thereat would prevent such unseemly
practices. From this or some other
such superstition, such as the fear that
his ghost might walk the earth, arose
the custom of driving a stake through
the suicide's body. These plausible
theories have gained many advocates
but it Is more likely that burial at
crossroads was Intended as a mark of
indignity. The temples, or rather al
tars, of the heathen Teutons were
mostly at the junction of crossroads.
The place of execution was there and
criminals were sacrificed to the gods
hence suicides were buried at the cross
roads to give as strong an impression
as possible of heathen burial. Proba
bly, too, the publicity of such a spot,
which insured the fact that a gr^at
number of people would become di
rectly aware of the degrading conse
quences of the crime, had a good deal
to do with its selection. A curious
fact in this connection is to be found
in Plato's Laws (book ix, chapter 12).
The murderer of any of his near kin,
after being put to death, was "cast out
of the city, naked,,' in an appointed
place where three rqads meet, and let
all the magistrates in behalf of the
whsle«aii^^ carry each a stone and
of the dead
Unavoidable.
"That was a sad accident which hap-i
pened te Biggleson, wasn't It?"
"What waB it? I haven't heard
about it"
"He and Buckner went up North
fishing, and when they were out on &•
lake, nearly a mile from the
Bhore,'
their boat upset."
"Great Daniel Webster! How did it
happen? Surely Biggleston didn't rock
the boat, for I've heard him say a
thousand times that a man who would
do such a thing waB a fool. Moreover,
he has always declared that he would
never go out In a boat with a fellow
who was likely to monkey around In
It, and I'm sure Buckner wouldn't.."
"Oh, no. The accident was unavoid
able. Buckner was rowing and Biggie
son sat In the stern of the boat.
Through some oversight the bottle was
put In the bpw just-before they start
ed.?
THE SAME OLD WAY.
IWivC
Customer—How do you sell eggs?
Grocer—In the shells, mum?
Trouble In Prospect.
There was an ominous look in Mr.
Brastus Pinkley's eyes as he In
quired:
"Is dat bright-skinned callud gem
man named Mlstuh Rasbery Jabba
gwine to take you to the pahlor so
cial dis evenln'?"
"H6 hab spoke foh my condescension,
to accompti£y him," answered Mlas
Miami Brown. "I hyuh'd 'im say
Bumpin' 'bout a- kyahrldge. I -dunno
whether we's gwinier ride or walk."
"Miss Miami," was the solemn re
joinder, "I kin tell you dis much. I'a
gwinter be on han' tonight Dtt
bright-skinned cullud gam man may
walk goin' to dat pahty. But when 111
comes to gettln' home agin he'll hatter
Tide:"—Washington Stars*
J1-
Polly Gave the Servaut Away.
From Ixmdon Tit-Bits. A parrot In
a certain home was usually kept In
the dining room with the family, but
during' the1 winter was removed to the
kitchen for greater warmth. When the
cold weather was past it again made
its appearance among. the family,
whom it amused with the new remarks
It had picked up In the-kitchen.
On one occasion, when the bell had
been rung for something, the parrot
was heard remarking from his cage:
"Just listen to' that There she's at it'
Discovered in Time.
Some time ago, -at a certain village
Berkshire, an old. man of 80 was
engaged to a sweet young thing of 78.
After a betrothal of some six months
it was reported that the couple had
quarreled the rector,.on hearing,this,
went to the old man to speak to him
on the subject
"Well, Baldwin," he said, "I am sor
ry to hear your engagement with Bet
ty is broken off."
"Yes, sir," said the old man, "we
found out at last that wc could not
agree who was to eat the crusts."
Making Him Useful.
From London TH-Blts. Jack.,
would do anything for you, darling.
Jess. Would you?
Jack. Indeed I would.
Jess. All right. Go and make love
to that Allbrlght girl, and then let me
cut her out
4
mx. New Definition.
Papa, what is a broker?"
"A man, my son, whose chief effort
in life is to reduce his customers to
that financial condition expressed by
the significant term of 'broke.' For
this reason, Harry, he is called a
broker."—London Tit-Bits.
iV-. .Not Exactly BasebalL
Dolly Swift—Why are so many of the
girls fairly throwing themselves at
young Munniman?
Sally Gay—Because he is such a good
catch, I presume.—The Smart Set.
The Way He Felt.
McJIgger (sniffing)—Yum! I smellt
somebody cooking.
Thingumbob (mopping his perspir
tag brow)—I wouldn't be surprised if it
were I.—Philadelphia Press.
-The Wise Guy. :.
"When are you going to change you*
winter underclothes?"
"When the weather changes its."-?—
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
r—
GREAT TROUBLE IN CHINA.
Mr.