Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 25, 1901, Page 6

] TugtnnnAIMnX[mn B T JSEWATER, EDITOR MORNING, N ¥ BLISHED ¥ VERY TERM i ar.98.00 | b0 | 1% | Lw OF SUBSCRIPTIC puday, e Om Year Year 8 o ¥ DELIVE} Paily Bee (with Daily Beo (wi By unday Bee vaning Bee (with vening + wank §Co ot Bartmen Dally Daily Blusts ¥l and ed By Orie’ Year CARRIER ¢ Bunday), per copy... 2 | ay), per week.. 1 per woek 1ic b inday), per week.10 ding Bunday), per | sisgc 2l ¢ irekularities i delivery | addressed to City Circulation De- | OFFICES. Omaba—The Bro Bullding. South Omaba - City = Hall Twenty-Afth and M streets Council Bluffs—1) Pear] Street. Chicago- 1449 Unity Bullding. New York--Templs Court . Washington- 51 Fourteenth Street CORRESFONDENC! Communicutions rclating to news and edi. torial_mattcr whould be addre Bee, Editorial Department BUBINESS LETTERS. Buniness letters und remittances should be addressed. The Bee Puplishing Company, VUmalia. REMITTANCES, Reémit by draft, express or postal order, avable to Ahe Dee Publishing Company, nly 2-cent stamps accepted in payment of mail accounte. Personal checks, except on Omala or castern exchanges, Not accepted. THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY. BTATE Btate of Not B Bullding, | LATION. ska, Dougl: County, H huck, secretary of I Bee hy, being duly sworn, unl_number of full and Somplete coples of The Dall Morning, Evening and Sunday Bec printed during %. month of November, 1001, was as 1ol Pubiishing 0 Bays that the act 80,600 80850 80,700 80,800 80,710 30,330 Total o545 ..021,885 Loss unsold and returned coples.. 10,801 Net total sales Net dally average... GEO. Subdcribed In my presence and sworn to before me this 90th day of November, A. D. 1001, B, TUNGATE (Seal) ‘Notary Publ A Christmas greeting to one and all. Merry Christmas, Mr. have' you used —1 Santa Claus, _ Remember that Marconl I8 not to he Eonfounded with macaront, In the pirit of Christmas smile and look happy if ouly for the bemeft of your friends. « When It comes to the distribution of ig plinis Feoni the federal fruit garden Towa may always be counted on to be present with an empty basket. Christmas comes but ouce In a year, but it very rarely comes the way it has this year, first blowing cold and then blowing hot and then stopping in the widdip AT B Mr. Partridge s reported to have taken Junch with President Roos It This may be taken as un evidence that the president’s fondness for game birds s not abated. Mining experts declare that the gredt Kimberley dinmond mines can keep up the present rate of production for 144 years. Btockholders, therefore, need not tear having thelr incomes curtalled for some time. People in ordinary walks of life often envy army and navy officers. But there is a time when the elvillan has the best of it—he can exercise the great Amer fcan privilege of saying what he thinks without fear of belng called on the carpet. Uncle Sam Is not the only national personage with a surplus in his treas- ury. The Yankee of the Orient has 47,000,000 yen on the right side of the balance_ sheet. 1f Japan keeps on fol- lowing the customs of this country it will keep in the front row all the time, We are officlally informed that Gov- ernor Savage finds great satisfaction in the fact that his Christmas turkey welghs twenty-one pounds more thun the one that will grace President Roose velt's table this evenlng. This is a dis- tinguished homor which will fill the breast of the governor with unbounded pride. There I8 no imwmediate prospect that rates on Atlantic cable dispatehes will be reduced to 1 cent per word. It costs 2 cents & word to send a message frow Omaha to Council Bluffs, and it will take several years of experimenting be fore transatlantic messages can be tlashed u¢ross Lhe ocean even for 5 cents & word, gt The various combinations of window glass manufacturers are about to be amalgamated Into one big glass trust, modeled after the Steel trust. As a matter of fact there has been no com petition among the little and big glass trusts for several years, although there has been considernble friction and some breakage. An old French clock which has been in the possession of Ohlo partles for over 100 yeavs I8 alleged to have con tained documents, just discovered, which explain a little unsavory family history of the house of Bourbon. The clock was exceedingly kind to keep still about it until all the parties concerned were dead. L ] Settling matters of soclal usage In Arkansas Is a serlous problen A few days ago a pative shot and killed two men who refused to drink with him and nowt Judge Lynch thr 'ns 10 overturn precédent and bang the native. Such THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: WEDNESDAY R 25, 1901. — . CHRISTMAS. What an alluring, potential and all- | engrossing fact is the recurrence of | Christmas. No other day In the year is so wide sweeping in its influence or | %o Leneficent in its results, Time, that t« his heavy hand most things of this life, never dulls the joys and the good cheer of this day. On the con trary, as the years pass Christmas takes on an added beauty and solemnity, a warmer delight, as though the pleasures of the past were added to the present, with a touch of the promise of Christ mas yet to come thrown in, There are two sides to this day. 18 the human side, wl giving pleasure those is of inestimable value compute the henefit t come to the race from the exe of thos qualities of wind and heart which brought into play at this season. This I8 the side that 18 uearest to each of ug, but there 18 another side, which, it forgotten, takes much from the siguiti 1ce of the season. Decp in the heart Is the feeling of gratitude for the kind ness of the supreme belng, for the many | manifestations of that which vouchsated so freely to the great human family, And as we think of this realize the sacredness of this day. The Christinus spirft, as everybody has realized, Is infectious, The eallous or hardened of persons wmay be made to yield to its influence and once Infected they find a real pleasure in promoting the festivities of the season. | It Is not enough that one shall follow | the fashions of the period. To really enjoy Christmas one wust enter fully into the sentiment which governs its customs. No harm will come to anyone who becomes Infected by the Christ- mas spirit. It will give to all who ac cept it a seuson of unalloyed Lappiness, It is peculiarly and spectally a time | when the spirit of gencrosity and good | will is prevalent, when friendships are | renewed and when distrust and sus pielon are allayed by the higher and kinder impulses of human nature, ‘The Christmas spirit is wholesome and clevating and so regarding it The B wishes each and all of its readers merry Christmas. upon One 1 contemplates love, it can to we No has one clse love is we OUK WIDENED HORIZON. It Is difficult even for the most far seefng of us to reallze adequately the extent to which our horizon hus been widened in pearly every brauch of in dustrial and commerclal activity by the | new and higher position taken by the United States during the last few years. | Described In language used with spe- clal application to only one field of our business expansion, “the first gun fired | by Dewey in Manila buy o May of 1808 threw far wide of its intended mar It shot the door wide open and it can not be closed. We may deplore the | change und it may or may not be de sirable but to deplore it and to dismiss | it are alike futile, for there is no turn. ing back. It Is not even Amerlca for Awericans pow; It s the world for Americans - in cominerclal invasion and conquest, In sharing of burden, in un avoldable responsibility.” With this widened horizon, the wonder. ful transformations brought in the nineteenth century by the chaining of | steaw and electriclty to mun's use, prom 1se to be eclipsed by the achlevements of the twentieth century not yet fairly | entered. Our field operations has been enlarged, bursting the natioual bounds that formerly set limits to it | and making it a world contest for the | advancement not only of trade, but of all the professions, that together constitute our modern | vilization. Nations that have been kglng centurles behind will have to be lifted out of the lingering darkness of the middle ages and brought to the point where by properly directed effort thelr products will orm In part to our demands and give them a consum- ing eapacity for our exchangeable sur- plus. With all the natlons of the world push ing forward at somewhere near equal | pace, with none a drag or obstruction to the others, the world's advancement In every direction that contributes to human well being and human progress will proceed at strides hitherto un thought of. of arts and sclences THE FRIENDSHIP OF CHINA That the Chinese government feels most friendly toward the United States 18 not to be doubted. The minister of that country, In an address at the ban quet of the New England Soclety of Pennsylvanin, said that the oldest na tlon in the east was grateful to America for all she had done for China and ex pressed the beller that the United States would not oppress the weak, but would that justice was done. The Chl nese minister had on u previous ocen slon expressed doubt in the of congress re-cnacting the ex clusion law, Awerican trade with Ching would grow or ¢ven be malntained at the present standurd and thos in that teade are wanifesting deal of concert” in regard to this. There Is no question that the United States is lu a better position than ever before to command the confidence and respect of the Chiuese government and people. This country Las done a greut deal for China which eutitles it to the gratitude of the goverument and people of that empire, We should seek 1o strengthen the friendly reeliug that ex ists theve and In order to do this we must be absolutely fair and just. The New York Journal of Cowmerce re marks that “it I8 too wuch to eapect that such a sentiment ean persist in face of the re-enactinent of legislation 80 lnsulting ta Chinese wmerchants and 80 humiliating W every Chlnaman as that which was first cuucted in the Geary law.” That paper, referring the new exclusion bill introduced by 4 California representative, expresses the sew whether, event el u aged good methods of adjusting soclal ethics may be affective, but they are a lttle too strenuous for the average mean, opinion that no self-respecting ment, however weak, could remain in- other | the str | long exper | th |a fusult like this. It thinks it should be tolerably plain that “the anomaly of cultivating friendly relations with China with one hand and slapping her people In the face with the other cannot bly endure, “We nust either m; up our mide,” declares the Journal of Commerce, “to trent China as do nations with whom we make treatles and to whose dominfons our peo ple have free necoss for trade or travel, r we must withdraw all claim on the we | hospitality of the Chinese and frankly annout to them that the le of thelr people and thelr trac we shall be satisfidd.” That paper that “if to have the full benefit of the commerclal and industrial opportunities which the new China will offer to the world, we must be prepared to deal with it in quite a different spirit and with a totally different policy from thut which has been followed during the last ten years," ter adds we are This reflects the view of the commer lul interests represented by the paper quoted and which conslder the matter from the practical or trade standpolnt, Whether or not these interests will exert any influence upon congress, oven to extent of securing a modification of the exclusion law so Chinese far as to enable merchants to freely come to this country, remains to be seen, but a ug cffort will be wade accom plish this, There is no doubt that the policy of excluding Chinese labor will be continued, but it would seem that law might be moditied so as not to werchants of China who de sire to learn our business methods and to trade with us, — THE SUB-TREASURY SYSTEM In an address o few days ago Hon. Thomas B. Reed sald that one of the bad spots in our financial system is the sub-treasury. When the nation is pros- perous and well taxed and has superfiu ous sald the ex-speaker, the sub-treasury system s always with- drawing mon from circulation and disarranging business efforts in a very vital way. “Whether human fngenuity, suld Mr. Reed, “lu the face of popular prejudice, can devise any better way than reducing taxation, I do not dare to suy. But this can be ventured, that no nation has so great an incentive to re fuse to overtax itself as ours has.” There s in this utterance one of our most distinguished citizens, whose nce in public life and whose great ability gives him a very strong to the keep out income, of | elaiin to public attention, something for vious consideration. The sub-treasury | system bas been condewned by some of our ablest financiers and the present comptroller of the currency says in lis report that “the wistake of maintaining this system, after the business of the government and the country has long outgrown {t, should be corrected aund the business community given reliet from Its operations in taking mon out of circulation when most needed It I8 a matter which ought to attention of congress, ——— According to the annual report of the superintendent of the Sta Normal #chool that lustitution has expanded in the matter of school grounds and con tracted in the watter of school attend- ance, The school now hoasts one of the fields for athletic sport in the west and an abundant water supply, but these attractions in the way of w and grass do not seem to have checked the falling off in attendance, which Is below that of the preceding year. This plece of lnformation will hardly en conrage localities that ha been advo- ating (he promiscuous planting of new normal schools regardless of expense or probable utility. finest Th blue book shows that are in the employ of the United States government, not in- cluding those in the army and navy. The postal department gives employ ment to far the larger part of these. With all this vast army of employes there is not a nation on earth in which the people feel the hand of government so little, because nearly all these em ployes are for ministeriug to the wants { the people rather than me forcing government authority, fortheoming 220,000 peopl The agreed Pan-American congress has upon two points up to date— that u railroad to connect all the coun tries of the American continent should be built and that a bank with branches i all countries should be established. Both are doubtless worthy projects, but it will require several dollars of capital to finance th Possibly they might interest the farmer with a big crop of potatoes. Sm—he— An Ohfo plumber started to look for leak in u gas pipe, armed with a lighted candle. From results it is sup posed he found it, but the owners of several bulldings aud the widow of the plumber are unable to realize on the knowledge. When It comes to creating a real warm time the small boy and a match are not in the same class with a lighted candle and a leaky gas pipe. Awmerican friends have wmade Sir Thomas Lipton a Christmus present of a fine punch bowl. He had already een presented with several loving cups by admirers on this side of the water. There Is no reason why Sir Thomas should have to drink out of a bucket slmply because he could historie cup, uot win the | European uations are calling lustily (upon the United States to force Chile and Argentine to settle thelr differences otherwise than by war, The United States I8 always willing to act as a peacemaker, but 18 hardly willing to adopt the rowdy's rule, it any fighting is golug on, to take a hand, It our local contemporaries volce the sentiment of the managers of the andi torfum, then The Bee is not in position different to a studied plece of leglslative Lto say anythiog or do snything that will | petition, commend ftself. The assertion that the enterprise cannot be floated without more donations and subseriptions taken to be an evidence of 1ll-will, and the jocular remark that Santa Claus falled to deliver the promised auditorfum building fnto Omaha's Christmas stock ing last year Is stigmatized as an exhi- bition of meanness. Some people are so sensitive that they ought not to venture out of thelr own back yards. Is Kansas City Star. The fact remains that Cervera's fleet was utterly destroyed, and that Admiral Schley was “Johrny-on-the-spot” when it was de to th Chicago Tribune, nts of the Dauish West In to be informed that Uacle Sam has no intention of moving the islands from their present geographical location ne Th dles ought edom of the Alr, Brooklyn Eagle. The cable companies may have & mo- nopoly of the telegraph business between Bogland and Newfoundland, but we will warrant that there is nothing in their charter that glves them the exclusive use of the atmosphere. Marconi will have his innings yet. Thrift the West, Indianapolts Journal An fmpression prevails that the eastern states have the largest numbor of banks on the basis of population. Such, however, fe not the case. In New England there fs one bank to every 7,056 inhabitants, while in the western states there is A bank to every 1,086 tohabitants. Furthermore, lowa has more banks on the basis of population than any other state In the union Canandinns Waking Up. New York Tribune Now there 18- talk of constructing enor- mous mills for making locomotive engines in Canada. But Jonathan has a knack of building the best machines of that sort on this side of the border. Our Lady of the likely to excel Uncle Sam in putting together locomotives until she has gained longer experience and her faco 1s seamed with wrinkles and crowsfeet. Enows s Checking the Buffalo Express. Emperor Willlam has now etarted an in- wier vestigation to see whether the beer drunk | in factories has a detrimental effect on the character and amount of work produced However open the German emperor is to criticlsm on many scores, it must be acknowledged that he ls a man of ideas and 1s doing all he can to improve the in- dustrial conditions of his country. Th en the Water. Minneapolls Tribur Charles M. Schwab draws a fine distinc- tlon between “trusts” and “consolidations. He avers that the fundamental principle of the former is the restriction of trade, the increase of price and the throttling ot com- while the fundamental of the consolidation is just the opposite. If this definition will hold water we can wel come Mr. Schwab's declaration that the trust is dead and that the consolldation relgns in its place. By the way, Mr. Schwab's steel consolldation ems to hold a good deal of water, whether his theory does or not. An Army of Officeholders, San Franclsco Chronicle, The register of federal officeholders just published contalns 222.000 names, not in- cluding army and‘naval ofcers. The Wash- ington departments contain 23,160 employes, against 19,446 two years ago. It 18 to be presumed that the increas the country and the expanston of 1ts terri- tory would bo accompanied with an fin- | erease in the force of officeholders, but the figures presented above formidable. Perhaps the superfor character of the ser- vants which we are told civil service gives are | the country will reconctle the taxpayers to er | the enormously increased cost nance, of mainte- HOPEFUL INDUSTRIAL EFFORT. nt Conference of Representatives of or and (¢ 4 Indianapolis The general committeo chosen by the conference beiween capitalists and repre- sentatives of organized labor has been or- ganized with Senator Hanna as chairman and Mr. Gompers as first vice chairman. It is to be known as the industrial depart- ment of the National Civic Federation. It has issued an admirable statement. Ita purpose Is to do what may ecem best to promote Industrial peace, to help establish rightful relations and to endeavor to ob- viate and prevent strikes and lockouts, Wo belleve it will go far, although we believe that those who expect too much from It will be disappointed, for its work must necessarily be educative work and this Is slow. In point, we may recall the ma- chinists' etrike of last summer. Up to the pitn News. time of that strike the relation of the ma- | chinists and their employers was supposed to be all that could be desired. A few months before, at a conference of employ- ers and men, the fullest agreements were made on all points. The nine-hour day, to take effect on the first of May, was agreed to, with a certain understanding. But the machinists declared that the nine-hour day meant, as & matter of course, a continuance of the ten-hour wage. Here was a differ- ence of opinfon as to a fact. The agree. ment had provided how differences should bo settled. But the machinists refused to appeal to this and a strike began, which re- sulted in much hardship. The point of the observation I3 that the elaborate agreement for settlement went down under the first trial. And this is worth remembering when we consider the future outlook, not as by the way of defeat ing hope, but only as reminding us all that human nature is human nature and not machine nature, and that humanity only attains its ideals through many efforts and many mistakes. That the present effort will be a great help toward a better condi- tion there is every Indication. One of the strongest of the indications:is that it seems 10 bo felt that most if not all strikes in the past could have been averted if the oppos- ing Interests had first met and fairly con- sidered thelr respective rights.’ This was the statement by Mr. Mitchell, the head of the United Mine Workers, and it has the endorsement of Oscar S. Straus, who des clares that never were truer words spoken Wa belleve an examination of past strikes will bear this out, and here Is the point on which the good work of the future must turn. If, when interests appear to be en- tirely and grow arr gant and aggressive, this organizatlon shall be able to call a halty form a truce, walt for passion to cool and then attempt the work of reason, the prospect will be ens couraging Indeed, for reason galns as everything else does. A peaceable settle- ment constitutes both p nt and testt- mony for other peaceable settlements. We can not, belleve, speak encourag- ingly of this meeting under the auspices of the Natlonal Civie Federation, nor look too hopetully for substantial results it we pat- tern after the temper of its endeavor and seek to be reasonable, remembering that lessons are slowly learned and that our successes are omly built on our failures. opposed capitalists wo too principle | d prosperity of | , DECEMBE ROUND ABOUT NEW YORK Ripples on the Carrent of Life in the Metropolts. T. Camerford Martin, editor of the Elec trical Review and an expert electrical matters, does not belfeve that wireless tele graphy, no matter how well established will supersede ocean cables, for a long time at least ‘8o far as is known,' he says in an Interview, '‘there Is no means of preventing successtully the interference of wireless signals, and until they become automatically selective it would seem that only one station on each side of the Atlan- tie, or even on each side of New York bay | would engage in the business Even during the recent yacht races the wireless telegraph signals were in utter confusion until peace was patched up, en- abling each party in rivalry to send mes- sages for a few minutes at a time. Even should this difficulty be overcome, as it doubtless will be, I find {t hard to belleve that it will be so entirely removed as to involve the complete supersession of ca- bles." on Three fashionably and richly dressed young women from New York City arrived in Nyack, N. J., by train last Thursday, ac | companted by an undertaker from the city, | bringing with them in an elegant satin lined casket, inclosed in a fine oaken box, the remains of a pet dog for burlal. A yack liverman furnished a closed carrfage for the three woman and an opeh wagon to convey the corpse to its burlal place. The party drove up to the house of an old grave digger, took him along on the seat of the open wagon and drove rapldly out in the country, where, in & rural cemetery, a grave was dug and the remains of the pet dog were burfed. The women, said a epec- tator who happencd to be on the premises, wept when their pet was put under the ground “Speaking of names for hotels and apart ment houses,” safd a New York man of ex- perience, “I have come to the conclusion that one cannot be too careful “I was Interested a short time ago In a new summer botel that was approaching completion. We wanted an odd and taking name that would sound well and look nice fn print. After a long search we hit upon one that seemed just the thing. It was pretty, musical and of the right length. A lady who visited in our family had heard of out west and had remembered it because it had struck her fafcy. “We adopted it, but some one advised us to find out what it meant. I therefor wrote to a friend in Denver, and he looked it up. When his answer came we dropped the name suddenly. It meant ‘The place Where they raise bugs.' " A promoter in London {n whom the pro- jective imagination is edeveloped to an enormous degree |s searching New York for capital to hack the erection of a fifty-four- story office building on Broadway. The scheme has been developed so far that plans have already been drawn and a block front in the district south of the Astor house— the exact location cannot be divulged for obvious reasons—has been selected as a site for the structure. There s no bullding law to prevent, and | competent authorities say that from an en- gineering standpoint the profect is entirely teasible. All that stands between the Bos- ton genfus and the realization of his dream 1s a dozen million dollars or so By his figures the bullding will yleld a gross yearly income of $1,600,000, and when the running expenses are deducted, he con- tends, enough will still be left to pay the intercst on the $9,000,000 in bonds, the sale of which is to be the company's chief hope of getting launched, and also an enticing dividend on the $9,000,000 of stock which an eager public 18 to be permitted to absorb at reduced rates. Calvin §. Brice's son does not have the ear for music that was possessed by his father, He is a member of the municipal councll of Greater New York and gravely | introduced a law compelling organ grinders 1o pey $1,000 per year for a license instead o8 $2, as at present. The measure was withdrawn when the other councillors laughed at it A friend said to Mr. Brice: | do 12" ““Because they all play ‘The Holy City' and are driving the public crazy,” was the answer. “Why did you carriage stand on Fourteenth Fifth and Sixth avenues, is one of the greatest manifestations of | the trustfulness of human nature to be | seen in New York, reports the Sun. Fa- cilities for checking babies in department stores are not always very great At just | the center of that block on Fourteenth street on the north side of the way, there bappens to be a strip of fence Inclosing a yard that makes a quiet break in the long line of stoops and store entrances. Here It is that those women who do their buying with a baby carriage attachment in which the infant and the purchases are together transported abandon thelr Incumbrances temporarily, while they shop in the stores across the way. Many of these mothers take their bables with them, leaving the empty carriage unchained to the fence and entirely unguarded. But every now and then some woman in the belief, perhaps, that the supply of babies exceeds the demand, or from some special trust in human nature, leaves her baby in the carriage to sleep undisturbed until her return, Sometimes a small child, who has reached the unfortunate age when it is obliged to carry itself, is put im charge of a number of the perambulators, but very frequently they have not even this sort of a guardian. The sight is so common that few of the people who hurry along tarry to notice it, and it is only on rare occasions that a lonesome howl from one of the carriages causes some sympa- thetic stranger to stop and wonder. The baby | strect, beween 'S BURDEN." What A nns Ave Rubbing Against the Philippines. Minneapolis Journal, For lovers of tho strenuous life Philip- pine news continues full of warm Interest. “They will make it a desert where birds cannot live,” says @ laconic dispatch from Manila, outlining the arrangements made for the marines, the Seventh, Ninth, Elev- enth, Twelfth and Twenty-sixth infantry regiments to devastate the island of Samar. This, lndeed, 16 “terriblo punishment,’ the dispatch calls it Now comes General Chaffee to say “History affords practically no paralle] of a whole people thus practically turning traitors, and in the genius of no other peo- ple was ever found such masterful powers of pcy and dissimulation, but it s needlews to say that no powerful state was ever erected or ever can be erected on such fmmoral and unenlightened foundations.” Let no man who advocated setting hand to the Philippine plow cry out agalnst the work in Samar or grow faint-hearted be- cause of General Chaffee’s plain words, re- vealing with cutting clearness the magai- tude of the task of governing such a treacherous, duplex and cunning race. The subju ion of Samar is tbe corollary of holding the Philippines. With such a tenacious and elusive foe the only way to conquer is to make war terrible. Some- times the severest measures are the most Lumane Great mations were made for | tasks. Wo nave one 1n the Philippine sec Ereat CENSURING GENERAL MILES, Kansas City Star What s the splendid captivity of General Miles as compared with the freedom of the humblest citizen in this town, who may empty his mouth ef tobacco julce on the grocery stove to assert that Admiral Schley is all right? Chicago Tribune: Geueral Miles' inter- view—rash as it was—has ono conspleuous merit—1. e, the merit of truth. It may have been “indiscreet,” but it was true. Genoral Miles manitestly ia a soldier who believes that “Indiscretion” may be the bet- tor part of valor. However, the mischief has been done. The words have beon ut- tered. They have gone abroad Chicago Record-Herald There s this much to be sald of General Miles, he ac- cepted the reprimand, both as administered personally by the president and as com- municated by Secretary Root, with the silent dignity of a tried soldier who, what- ever may be his faults and errors—as evi- denced in this case—has never failed in the deference due to his superlors in rank St. Louls Globe-Democrat: General Miles' opinion, which was am endorsement of Dewey's finding in the court of inquiry, is the opinion of nine out of every ten of the American people, but men in the mili- tary and naval service of the country have not the right to express views om public controverted questions which Is possessed by private citizens. It i time that thie truth was made plain, Kansas Clty Journal: On general pri | ciples the American public will mot be dls- pleased to see both the army and navy “taken down a peg.” Our fighting men are the bravest on earth and they seldom | tail fn any duty during the crucial test of war. But there is no denying the faot that it let alone the officers of our mill- tary establishment—though but the serv- ants of the people—gain exalted ideas of thelr own personalities and begin to re- gard themselves as the units of a certain sort of aristoeracy Chicago News: The facts remain that while the procedure has thus been strictly according to precedent and none of the pre- scribed regulations of official etiquette have been broken a vast majority of the public 13 still of the opinion that both Admiral Dewoy and General Miles spoke the truth and thought by so dolng to protect a fellow officer from Injustice. It has been polnted \out already that the majority finding of the court of Inquiry did not take cognizance of some very important testimony contributed by officers who were in a position to judge. That fact Is fixed in the public mind and although the action taken Satur- day prosumably marks the officfal close of the controversy it does little to remove this fmpression. IRSONAL NOTES. Those Bulgarian brigands might obtain the rest of their prize money by coming to this country and going into vaudeville, Captain John Cobb, an American who b lived in Morocco for more than thirty year 1s going to present an Arablan saddle horse to President Roosevelt. John Le Farge, the artist, has just com- pleted a memorial window for the Ames Memorial church at North Easton, Mass. in memory ot Mr. Oakes Ames and his two sons. New York theater ticket speculators ask the courts to enjoln people from interfering with their business. It has been declared illegal, but the nerve ot the speculator ls unlimited.. Jan Kubelik brought with him four violin: three made by the most celebrated makers of the world and one made by his father when ho was a boy because he could mot afford to buy him one. General Caséius M. Clay is living at his home near Richmond, Ky., alone, even r fusing to hold any communication with his neighbors. His house Is literally a gold mine for the collector of antiquities. It was the after-dinner oratory of Judge Charles H. Darling, just appointed assistant secretary of the navy, that first attracted President Roosevelt's attention to him. He 1s a Vermonter and the only wit in the department. Prof. H, R. Meyers declares that a dafly newspaper should go into every school room, there to be discussed like any text book He regards the study of clvil government and the English language as incomplete without this accessory. General Shattuc of Ohio, chalrman of the committee on immigration and labor of the houso of representatives, has long been proud of his taste in fancy waistcoats, solitaire dlamonds and flariug cravats, all of which adorn his expansive front. SAVE THE OLD HYMNS, Against Retiring Favorites nllowed by Age. hicago Tribune It was & gorry day for the hymnals when Prof. Triggs sent forth his sarcastic opin fons as to the merits of varfous popular hymne. 1t ccems to have aroused a desiro for revision among some of the denomina tions. Curiously enough, its most disas- trous effects are visible among Methodists, who of all others would be expected to cling to the old hymns which so often bave bean thelr songs of victory At the recent general conference of that church commissioners were appointed to revise the hymnal. Subcommittees have boen selected to carry out the detafls and they will report in March next. It Is learned already that three of the most ad- mired hymns, and the three perhaps which have brought more comfort to the sorrow- ing and the grief-stricken than any others, are doomed to dismissal from the hymnal These are ead, Kindly Light” “He Leadeth Me™ and “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” It 18 remarkable that Newman's great hymn, “Lead, 'Kindly Light,” which even Prof. Triges excepted from his censure, and which commends Itselt both as liter- ature and as an expression of devoutne: should be excluded. This and the other two hymns, which are universally popular, are to be tabooed, it Is sald, bocause they are not definitely theologlcal fn statement of doctrine. Cardinal Newman's hymn not speclally recognizing Christ; “He Leadeth Me,”" a paraphrase of the well-known psalm, because it makes no allusion to the media- tlon of Christ, and “Sweet Hour of Prayer because {ts closing llnes Indicate that prayer ends here. If thess statements be correct, it would seem as though the com- missloners were growing finical and laying more stress upon dogma than upon devo- tion. But worse remains. It Is Intimated that Bishop Heber's two great hymus, Brightest and Best of the Soms of the Morning” and “From Greenland's Icy Moun- tains,” are also marked for condemnation, the first because it s an ode of praise to the Star of Bethlehem and the other because it instructs people only fn geography! Is it not time for the Mothodist laity to rise in protest, or at least to find out whether these reports are true, for it these hymns are to go, there is Do reason why “Come, Ye Disconsolate,” “Coronation” and the “Doxology”” may not have to go also. They are no better and no worse than the others marked for ejection from the hymnal, Is there any surer or more pleasant way of golng from “Jordan's Stormy Banks' “To Canaan's Fair and Happy Land” than to the music of these simple old hymns of the old-time ‘‘meetin’ house? GOOD CHEER. Protest Cleveland Platn Dealer to_hang up any mistlet “No, I'm not. 1 and George asked Chicago Tribune: ome up last year it wasn't asparagus.” “That's Blobbs, the or, 18 1t?" { Scott, no! You're thinking of an- other Blobbs. 'This one's a soother. He's a Standard Oll stockholder.” Judge: Ella—Are you to have any mistle- toe at your house? Stella—Certainly not. vite men to kiss me. Philadelphia Press: sir,” cried the indj| guaranteed your me; 1 don't have to in- “You're a frand, nant tlent. “You fcine fo cure after my dear sir,” medicine man, * everything else." replied the fake probably you haven't tried Washington Star: “T take it that you are onie of the men who nbver forgets his n No.” answered Senator Sorghum, who had dined unduly the day previous and was a littla morose; “there’'s no danger of my forgetting my friends, not so long as my friends need influence or money." Cleveland Platn Dealer: burcau I8, experimenting with wireless telography.: “Wouldn't it be awfully cute if they could slgnal Boreas or Neptune, or some of the rest of those old dears. Cleveland Plain Dealer: “My husband #ays your husband is a great smoker.' My husband a great smoker! No, in- deed. Why, do you know there actually are a lot of thode clgars 1 gave him last Christmas still left in the box. “The weather Baltimora American: The ex-wire mag. nate glared at the luckless inventor of wire- less telegraphy with unchecked wrath, When do I get the royalties you ows me for the use of my alr?’ he roared The poor inventor stumbled from the room, his mind already busy over the problem of devising an effective transmit- ting agent that would be a substitute for atmosphere, HAIL, HAPPY TIMB! ‘W. J. Lampton {n New York Herald. Hall, nappy time, It is not quite certaln whether the alr is beyond the reach of modern combina- tions. The action of a cable company In seeking to enjoin wireless telegraphy strongly hints at an aerlal combine. The scheme, however, 1s still in the air. AN IRRIGATION PRECEDENT. What Great Britain Has Done in Arid Pxrt of the Nile Valley, San Franeisco Call. President Roosevelt's cordial {ndorsement of the policy of providing irrigation for the arid reglons of the country, wherever such irrigation can be ecomomically maintaine has had the effect of bringing the issue into the domain of practical politics, It has been under discuselon a long time and sev- eral tentative measures have been enacted by congress for dealing with it. The pros pects are that it may now be soom taken up in & comprehensive way and a scientifio plan devised for redeeming millions of barren or semi-barren acres. It any precedent were needed to demon- strate anew the value of irrigation carried out on & large scale it would be found in what has been accomplished by the British in Egypt. In a recent report on the sube ject Lord Cromer states that since 1885 the government of Egypt has expended over $35,000,000 on public worke connected with the Nile. That is an enormous outlay for & country so poor as Egypt, but the results prove it to have been one of the most suc- cessful achievements of British rule. It has had the effect of doubling the cotton crop and adding upward of $26,000,000 an- nually to the income of the people. Basing conclusions upon the results thus obtained by Improved irrigation facilities in lower Egypt the British are sanguine that an even larger proportional benefit will be derlved from comprehensive irrigation along the upper Nile. It s proposed to dam one of the lakes which form the sources of the Nile and so create a huge reservolr to draw upon at need. Sir Willilam Garstin, who has charge of the engineering probleme involved In the scheme, states in & recent report that a series of dams and canals can be €o_cons structed that the completed work will not only provide irrigation for millions of arid acres, but will also drain extensive swamps and, finally, improve the navigation of the upper Nile as well. The accomplishment of three such important benefits by a single scheme of tmprovement will certainly rank among the best things the white man has yet performed in the task of improving the condition of inferior races. What Great Britain is doing for the poor people of Egypt the United States can cer- tainly undertake to do for the benefit of its own people. Modern engineering s quite equal to any task the policy will im- pose upon it. We cannot afford to let Egypt beat us o the work of turning the desert into a garden. | When all the w With joyousness, Or should be; And, llkewise, hall everybody! All hadi! What's the odds, 1f here and there the gods Are not propitious? What if they, Upon, thie carth-glad day, ithhold some of their goods? Don't they as well Withhold ‘some of thetr flls? There may be bills To pay, But not today; And aren’t some patd? But If they're not, Great Beott! Just think what credit you have got, And make of that a Christmas gift To lift You from the hole And cheer your soul. in rhyme Porhaps Dame Fortune slaps Your jaws, And gives you cause And after awhile Bhe'll smile; But if she doesn't, Then bear in mind that she Provides you with much company. Brace up for Christmas, Good Lord! Man, You ought to kuow you can If you half try, Go watch the children. ‘What a little thing Makes every youngster shout and eing And do you do_that little? Don't you know The bik things mostly aro for show, And that it s the little are The steps that lead you (0 your star? Say, THii 18 not the day For dumps, and you Must Kot vouraclf out of them p. 4. g What if you have not power and pel Shake off the burden of yourselt And bo & free man. Free to do just what you can. No more i asked. hera no lnws Yet mado compelling Banta Claus To give up million: Nor are you Compelled to do What you cannot, But by the good Bt. Nicholas, A law should be To make a man Do what he can Now, smile, confound you, And ‘the light of that one smile Will break the night You've hung around you. Say, stop vour sighs You know that sunlit skies Are over there beyond the gray, And that upon this Christmas day You ought to shove the clouds away And let the everlasting blue Shine through Then, why In thunder, don't you try To shove, Instead Of wstanding there with grooping head And heavy heart? i A move on; start, Hero's w Merry' Chriatmas to the world, And where 1t lsn't, go Do your best \\Hll all the rest, And ot will_make 1t wo Now, light up the Christmas tree, Get Jolly, Scatter the bay and the holly, 4na siing Merry ristmas into everything.